Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1893 — DOWN A MINING SHAFT [ARTICLE]

DOWN A MINING SHAFT

TEN TIMBERMEN DASHED TO DEATH. A. Coupling: Pin Breaks After the Cage Has Beached the Hajface, and the Men Drop More than Three Thousand Feet. A Fearful Plunge. Ten tlmbermen were dashed to pieces j In the Red Jacket perpendicular 6haft of the Calumet and Hecla at Calumet, Mleh., Sunday noon. The miners were coming up in the cage to dinner and. the engineer hoisted the cage against the timbers of the shaft, when the coupling pin broke and the men and cage dashed downward, over 3,000 feet, to the bottom. The names of > the killed are as follows: Allen Cameron, son of Captain Cameron, In charge. Je.mes Cocking, single, supporting widowed motner. Andrew Edno, aged 40, married. John Hicks, single, aped 24. Michael Leavitto. widower. John Odgers, leaves widow and several children. Joseph Pope, leaves widow and one child. Con 8. Sullivan, single, aged 4). James Trevni, leaves widow and three children. Kobert Wuopia, leaves widow and three children. Never in the history of iopper mining has so serious an aocident occurred. Sunday work in the mine is only done in the line of repairs to the ma hinery and timbering up the wall of the shafts. The ten men killed went down in the morning so timber the mine, had worked all the forenoon and stepped into the bucket to be hoisted 3,150 feet to the surface to get their dinners. The time consumed in being hoisted is usually but a minute by the powerful eng nes used. C'tuse of the Accident. The cause of the accident was a faulty indicator, which did not show the brakeman in charge of the hoisting apparatus when the cage had reached the top of the shaft. Ernst Tulin, the engineer, says his indicator showed 750 feet more to hoist. He could not stop the machinery in time, and when the iron car struck tho beams at the top of the shaft the coupling pin or the steel wire rope by which the car was suspended broke, letting the ten occupants of the cage down to a fearful death at the bottom of the shaft, 3,000 feet below. The wife of Joseph Pope, one of the miners, had come to the mouth of the shaft with his dinner. She saw her husband come up, spoke to him lovingly, but was crazed when she saw the cage dart upward then drop out of sight. Many pitiful scenes were witnessed at the mouth of the shaft. Most of the ill-fated men had families and when the first rumor of tho awful accident spread wives and children hastened to the scene, hoping that the report had been false, but finding instead that it was only too true and that many of them were widows or orphans. There are two men employed in the mine who aro congratulating themselves on escaping the terrible death their comrades met. Twelve men went down into the mine in the morning, but one of them was taken sick and was sent to the surface, accompanied by one of his comrades. Searching for the Bodies*

The mouth of the shaft was closed at once. A searching party went down ( aluiuet No. 4 shaft, o\er a half mile away, and went through the cross-cut or tunnel to search for the remains. Although thousands of miners and others had gathered around the fatal shaft, all were painfully silent. The terrible fatality seemed tq have overawed them, General Manager Whiting and Superintendent Duncan are almost crazed by the awful responsibility which the accident he;? thrust on them. Did the indicator fall to work, fail to inform the engineer when the cage had reached the surface, as he 6ays, or did he become careless and fall to stop the engine at the proper moment? These are the questions that are being a9ked and the investigation is expected to determine. The miners demand a rigid investigation bv the mine inspector and by a coroner’s jury. WEATHERED THE RUN. A Milwaukee Bank Secures Plenty of Money to Pay Depositors. For the first time in twenty years a Milwaukee bank has been subjected to a run. It was the Plankinton bank that was compelled to meet the onslaught of frightened depositors, and It stood the ordeal In excellent style. The heavy depositors in the bank stood by it, and even when the run was in progress solid business men were calmly making deposits. For an hour or so during the morning the bank had a close call. The representative sent to Chicago to draw funds to the bank’s credit missed the regular train and the bank officials were frightened. The messenger chartered a special train, however, and arrived in tho nick of time with something over $150,000 in cash. The special train on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad which brought the money was composed of a locomotive and an express car. It made the run in exactly two hours and fifteen minutes and just four minutes after the train dashed into the depot the money was at the door of the bank. Assistant Cashier Moody, who went to Chicago to secure the funds, was so wrought up by the importance of his duty that when the money in his charge was safely in the bank he fell in a faint. The flight of the special from Chicago to Milwaukee was fraught with excitement. Scarce a hundred yards had been traversed before the train was running at very nearly full speed, and the run was maintained out of the Chicago yards, the fastest time ever made by a train within the lake city. Once out on the prairie the lever was thrown wide open and there began such a ra-e against time as man never witnessed before. Everything gave way to the special. Even the fast passengers were sidetracked at way stations. Not for a moment during the entire journey was the speed of the train slacked, except at the railroad crossings and on enter ng Milwaukee. The scene in the bank was very interesting. Depositors were crowded against the counters, all endeavoring to get in first, and prominent men in banking and business circles were delivering short speeches, assuring them of the safety of the bank and their money. Among those who spoke to the crowd were Gov. Peck, Frank Bigelow, Cashier of the First National Bank, and Frederick T. Day, President of the Plankinton Bank. Better Feeling In Indiana. According to an Indianapolis dispatch the panicky feeling caused by the suspension of so many banks throughout Indiana is passing away. It is possible that there are a few more of the country banks that may have to close their doors, but thp feeling is that the worst is over. There have been in all ten failures of banks in the State as a result of the failure of the Columbia National of Chicago. It is announced by John YV. Paris and J. i Shannon Nave, of Indianapolis, that the four banks in which they are inter- . ested will, reopen within a few days. The Capital National Bank, which closed Its doors last Thursday, is in I charge of Bank Inspector Young, of Pittsburg. He made an investigation and found the cash on hand to be the amount announced by the bank. Presi-

dent Wilson still believes the bank will reopen. WOMAN’S GREAT FORUM. Representative! of All Nations Meet In Convocation at Chicago. At 10 Monday the Woild’s Congress Auxiliary of the World’s Columbian Exposition was formally opened in the hall of Columbus in the new Chicago Memorial Art Palace. One hour later, in the same hall, began the first session of the week’s worl of the world’s congress of representative women. Y\ hen the meeting of the Auxiliary was called to order Prof. David Swing offered the invocation. President Charles C. Bonney delivered the opening address. His greeting was extended to the leaders of progress, friends of leaning and virtue, and workers for the welfare of man. Continuing, Mr. Bonney referred to peace as the new leader in the new age, in whose service the universal fraternity of learning and virtue shall be proclaimed, as the best means by which ignorance, misunderstanding, prejudice and animosty can be removed, and intelligence, charity, productive industry and happiness be promoted The objects of the World’s Congress Auxiliary recounted by Mr. Bonney are: To sum up the progress of mankind in every department of enlightened achievement, to review the actual results of that progress, to note the lesson it teuches and the defects and difficulties that still remain, to state in clear, concise and yet comprehensive terms the important unsolved problems of our time; to put in definite form the living questions of the day which yet demand answers from living men; to suggest in brief but lucid terms the means by which obstacles may be overcome, difficulties romoved, defects supplied and further progress made; to bring all the departments of human progress into harmonious relations in a great intellectual and moral exposition. Following Mr. Bonney’s formal address, Mrs. Charles Henrotin, Y'ice President of the woman’s branch of the auxiliary, spoke upon the “Work of the Woman’s Branch. ”

ROBBED AT THE FAIR. X. B. Martans, an Aged Californian, Loses His Fortune. The first big robbery that has occurred at the World’s F’air grounds has been reported to the police at the Central Station. The victim was N. B. Marians, 70 years of age, who came from Woodland, Cal. He was robbed of $4,101), which was taken from him by a pickpocket as he was crossing the bridge from the Electricity to the Manufactures Building. Mr. Martans had a farm in California, but his wife and child being dead, he sold his property and concluded to take a trip to Coblentz, Germany, where he was born. With the s4,l' 0 obtained from the sale of all he had in th,e world, he left California, and, ariving in Chicago, he went to the Fair with the money in a large pocket-book which he carried in the inside pocket of his overcoat. T passed through the crowd," said the old man, “with my overcoat unbuttoned. I felt no one touch me, bus when I had reached the other side oi the bridge the pocketbook was gone. I saw a Columbian guard and at once went up to him and told him of the loss. ‘You should take better care of your valuables,’ said he. ‘I have no time to bother with you.’ That was all the satisfaction I got and I did not know what to do. It was all I had in the world and was the savings of a lifetime. Everything is gone and I am 70 years old—too old to begin once again. ” Even the hardened policemen were affected by the old man’s pathetic story.

SHIP SUNK IN A COLLISION. Nine Passengers and Sixteen of the Crew Lose Their Lives. The captain of the steamship City of Hamburg, which arrived at Swansea irom Hamburg, reports that his vessel collided in a fog off Trevose Head, coast of Cornwall, with the ship Countess Evelyn, bound with passengers and iron ore from Bilbao, Spain, to Newport, Wales. The captain of the Countess Evelyn jumped aboard the City of Hamburg, and Ma‘e Richards crawled to her through a hole in the Countess Evelyn's quarter. Ninety seconds later the C ountess Evelyn went under with her crew of sixteen, and with nine passengers. Boats were lowered at once from the City of Hamburg, but the search in tne fog proved almost useless. Seaman Jarbin was picked up, but he died a few minutes after having been brought aboard tho steamship. The dead body of a little girl was also found. Otherwise the attempt at rescue was resultless.

Chief Miag’oV* Squaw Is Dead. AVash Mingo, the chief of the Kaw Indians, has converted the Kaw Reservation, in Indian Territory, into a place of mourning. Me-He-Naw, for fifty j years his favorite squaw, is dead and ' has been buried with all the honors of the Indian burial rites. In the tomb was placed a pound of jerked beef, a quantity of bread, and a gourd of water to strengthen the weary spirit of the departed squaw on her third day’s journey to the celestial home of the Great Spirit. Immediately after the interment the chief had three ponies lariated and choked to death on the newly made grave as a sacrifice to his departed wife. Gov. Waite 01 Indian Outbreak*. Gov. Waite, of Colorado, who wrote a letter to President Cleveland charging the Indian agent with negligence and incompetency and with being practically responsible for the periodical troubles in t olorado and the Southwest, has supplemented his caustic letter with an interview, in which he scores the present system of controlling the Indians. He holds that the only remedy is to confine them to their reservations and to keep an eye on the agents, who, he believes, are primarily responsible for the outbreak, because they allow the tribes to take an annual hunt in Colorado. Marriage Put to Bad Uses. A novel swindle is being worked in the interior counties of Ohio and adjoining States. A very clerical-looking man appears at the house of a prosperous farmer and announces he is a minister who is go*g to preach in a neighboring church. Soon after a young couple ride up and ask the farmer to direct them to a minister, as they wish to be married. The preacher offers his services, the ceremony is performed, and the minister asks the farmer and his wife to sign the marriage cerrific-ate. They readily do so, and soon receive notice of a note in bank. Vanderbilt’< New Steam Yacht. Mr. Vanderbilt’s new steel yacht, the Valiant, was launched Saturday from Laird’s shipyard, in the Mersey, England. The Valiant is intended to replace the shipwrecked Alva as Mr. Vanderbilt’s private pleasure yacht. She is 320 feet in length with a beam of 3b feet 6 inches and depth of 24 feet Her draught at the load line is 15 feet; she has two sets of inverted triple expansion engines of 2,250 indicated horse power, and has a speed of seventeen knots an hour. The Valiant is undoubtedly the finest steam yacht in existence. The cruiser Atlanta has left New York for Nicaragua.