FAIRBANKS, Alaksa, October 2, 1911--
The biggest mine accident to have happened in the North
occured on the Shakespeare group or No. 19 Dome Creek, on
Wednesday afternoon last in which 14 men were imprisoned
for 90 hours in the frozen gravels, 180 feet below the
surface. Dome Creek flows NW 7 Miles to Chatanika River,
16 miles North of Fairbanks. It runs parallel to the
Elliott Highway.
The miners hoisted the pay through an old shaft which had
been timbered some six years previously, and the ground around
the shaft had thawed back for 15 to 30 feet.
The foreman had gone up to the surface, and on the bucket's
next trip the rotten timbers of the shaft collapsed
and the shaft filled with mud.
The alarm sounded and in a few minutes the rescue work
began.
About 200 miners from surrounding creeks came to assist,
some from as far as Chatanika and Ester.
One group of rescuers began digging out the collapsed
shaft.
Another started on an abandoned shaft that they believed would
strike a drift that would lead to the imprisoned men.
The first crew encountered a steam pipe which had been broken off
in the cavein at a depth of 50 feet.
By 11 o'clock Thursday morning they managed to contact the
imprisoned men, who asked for water which was immediately
poured down the pipe and caught in gold pans below.
All were safe although one had been buried briefly under
a small slide at the time of the accident.
They complained of intense cold and of hunger and thirst,
but the air was all right.
They had built fires from pickhandles and wheelbarrows.
The men were "much cheered" when the rescuers poured water
and "stimulants" down the pipe followed by hot coffee and
hot soup.
In the meantime a third party was working in solid ground
60 feet from the shaft with a keystone drill which had
been obtained from Ester Creek.
By 10 o'clock Friday night the drill, after working for
26 hours straight broke through to the drift where
the shivering miners were imprisoned.
This work was under Walter Fisher, a very capable drill man.
The rescuers had prepared long cylindrical tubes in which to
lower food and other articles to the men below.
The first thing sent down was tobacco, soon followed by
blankets, food, underclothing, candies, matches, newspapers,
anything that would add to their comfort that could be fitted into
the tubes.
While the other crew continued to work on the old shaft toward
that in which the men were imprisoned, Fisher and his team
began to enlarge the drill hole by thawing it with a jet of hot
water.
This tactic was so clearly successful that other rescue operations
were suspended.
Nearly 90 hours after the initial alarm, Walter Fisher was
able to enter the tunnel and within an hour all 14 of the men
were back safe among their comrades. A mining engineer who
witnessed a great deal of the rescue work said the entire
body of men were deserving of unstinting praise for their
generous response and the tireless energy which they put into
the work till the last man was out of the hole.
As I write this column, soft fluffy snow blankets our town.
Walking through our downtown neighborhoods, frostladen
trees sparkle in the winter sun.
Again I marvel at the sheer beauty of our town in winter time.
The town would be festive without artificial Christmas decorations.
Cabins clothed in white remind me of favorite fairy tales.
Empty lots and discarded junk hidden under the snow throw
intricate shadows transforming the mundane and ugly into
a winter wonderland.
Icicles on the eaves, often imitated for our indoor
decorations, are sheer magic.
This is our town at its most festive.
I have often wished to be an artist, capable of capturing the
beauty of secluded streets, our water front, or a small
abandoned cabin suddenly transformed into something special
by a covering of snow and the light of the moon.