Montana oil and mining journal., 1938-04-02

street and spread from mouth to mouth
with lightning rapidity. Investigation
| proved the awful news only too true and
! hundreds of citizens wended their way
up the hill to the scene Of the calamity.
A reporter for the Inter- Mountain ar
rived at the Anaconda mine shortly
after 9 o'clock and found the hoist and
the vicinity crowded with excited
miners, while dense volume OF smoke
was pouring from the shaft.
Absolutely nothing could be done
with the fire, and the attention Of
half dozen prominent physicians, who
had been summoned to the scene, was
being directed to the reSlLScitation of
five partially suffocated men who had
been taken out of the shaft. 1t was
almost impossible to get any informa-
ton. Mike Carroll, foreman Of the
Anaconda, was somewhere in the
depths Of the st. Lawrence and no one
could be found to volunteer any infor-
nation.
Where Il Broke Out
Neil McCabe, one of the st. Law
renee miners, was telling his associates
about the origin of the fire when 8
reporter caught the following particu-
lars: The miners in the Anaconda and
O'Clock In the morning and the day
shift comes on at 2 o'clock. Shortly
after o'clock McCabe was working on
the 500 level in the ST. Lawrence when
he discovered fire in a croSS-cut. It
was very small when he saw 1t and
as he described it, there were only three
posts burning. McCabe whipped off his
coat and set to beating the flames,
thinking he could eXtinguiSh the fire In
this manner. 1t took him but a few
moments to discover that he was MAX
ing no headway, so he ran back, sum
moned some of his fellow workmen,
got hose, connected with one of the big
water columns and rushed back into |
the croSS-cut with the nozzle. The
progress Of the fire, however, had been
so rapid they could not get near it and !
although they kept the hose playing
for some time the smoke finally forced
them to retreat TO the surface.
AT a quarter past o'clock a gem
eral alarm was sounded and everybody
IN the mine was made aware of the I
Tire. There were comparatively few
men In the Anaconda and st. Lawrence
when the fire broke out.
Change Of Shifts
Inere were some men ON the TOO I
level Of the st. Lawrence who were
working on eigft-hoIr shifts. So far
as known there was nobody in the
mines who did not get to the surface.
1nere are rumorS OF men missing but
IN the excitement prevailing no def
mite knowledge Of the facts could be
obtained.
Into the Anaconda
1.-THE Anaconda and st. Lawrence
are adjoining mines, owned and op-
Grated by the same company. The
mines are connected on every level
down to the 300 Of the st. Lawrence.
The 100-foot level Of the st. Lawrence
connects with the 200-foot level of the
Anaconda s1r 81
created by the fire caused the air to :
suck down through the levels TO the
Anaconda and carried the smoke I'D
the Anaconda shaft.
Thus the workings Of the st. Law
renee were left clear Of smoke while
those OF the Anaconda were filled and ,
the fire doubtless progressed into the
Anaconda timbers
How They Died
While the smoke was issuing from
the Anaconda shaft, men came for
ward willingly and volunteered to go r
down and try to get out whatever i
powder there was in the mine in order (
to save the mine as much as possible I
from the disaster of the fire. A number c
were lowered into the shaft and it is
IN this manner that the four unfor-
tunate men lost their lives. The four
men known to be in the mine having
gone down in this manner are: Pat
Henry Page, Jerry Sullivan
and Tim Keleher.
THE first named is a married man
and has family residing in Dublin
gulch. So far as known the other three
are unmarried, although this cannot i
be stated positively. Henry Page is the !
young miner who won the prize at the /
rock-drilling contest at the Miners O
Union picnic this year Page and
Keleher we're on the cage coming out
of the mine when they were overcome
by the smoke, lost consciousness and
fell off; their mangled remains are
now undoubtedly In the sunp 1000 feet
below the surface. c
''The location of others in the mine {
Is not known exactly but 1t is thought
they are at the 8O0-foot level. They
are undoubtedly dead as no man could 2
1--we five minutes in the smoke. I
"As has been stated, there are rumors
of other men being in the mine but J
these rumorS cannot be verified as {
Foreman Carroll and the bosses are =
all at work below the surface in the
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