THE SUMPTER MINER
Wednesday, March i$, igu
FIRt AT THE
SNOW CREEK
Fire lit thu Snow Crook initio nt
noon yesterday deHtroyed thu hoard
i iiK houso. 'iHHiiy ollloo, manager's
iptarlors, store hotiHo iitid adjoining
hulldiugH. Tto Htanif) mill, 200 foot
distant, caught lire, hut wiih Hiivud hy
tho liorolo oll'tirts of h bucket brigade.
Tlio blazo originated from 11 de
fective flue in th room of Hook
keeper Kf liner, ou the top story of
thu 11111I11 hoarding lio-ne building.
Thu alitrin was glveu jutit iih the mill
whiHtlo blow for noon. The big log
building wiih soon completely en
volopod in flmiios, ho tout the volute
tuttr lire hriuHtlo whh forced to con
tout ItHulf with effortH to save the
ooutuiitH of the group of burning
huildingH A tulophouo mossagu to
Uroonhoru City brought holp. Mini
ugor Fred IK Smith loHt ell of IiIh
liorHotnil olf outs mid Mrs. Smith Hiivod
hut very iittlo of hor holonglngH.
Valuable iniiio iniipH in tho ullleo
room worn doHtroyod, together with
nil of (lio mine HtipplioH, hiioIi iih
tools, ciuiilloH, duel, fiiHo, oto., in
thu top Moor of a .'i-utory building
adjoining thu hoarding Iiouho.
When tint mill naught lire, from
ll.vt iik npiirltH, nil effortH wuro COII
cuntratod upon saving thut structure.
Thu mill for thu piiHt mouth Iihh boon
running 12-hour shift ou Psyche ore.
Vesturdity morning u double shift wiih
employed for thu flrnt (lino.
Thu tiuruiid tiulldiiiKH wuru oovurud
hy prmitluiilly no iiiHiiituoo mid thu
(mh will total fll.OOO.
Mauagor Hmlth will at unco re
build. Alioady workmun are erect,
lug m temporary hoarding house,
whl (di will bo nuiuplotod by tomorrow
nielli.. Ponding thu provinlon of a
now bunk Iiouho for thu men, tlioy
will Hud (iiiiirtoiH at Croouhurn, ho
that thoro will bo no coHHiitlnn ot
oproatiotiH at thu initio.
Thu moHriuut. from thu Know Crook
Hliatt Ih being driven by contract,
and thu woik will proceed unlnior
ruptodly. Thu Psyche and Dladum,
which are being opuratud by thu
Snow Crook oompauy, will iiIho con
tiiiuu. Consulting Hiiglnoor W. W. Mlmor
lutt for thu tiiiuu ou thin tnornlng'H
trinti, carrying an outltt of clothing
for .Manager Hmlth, who luHt every
thing except thu Hiiit of oorduroyH ho
wore.
Mih. Smith and unlld arrivod
thin uftuiiiooii to ruinaiu until a new
hullliug is providod for her nocoino
latlou. iMiiHt of thu Snow Crook, Psycho
and Diadem ttiapH wuru fortunately in
thu Sumpter olllito of Consulting F.n
g incur Klmor.
Lute reports Htato that Manager
Smith wiih riliKhtly biiinud, by work-!
i iii ton near thu Haines, and that I
anions things hiivoi! was thu lire ex
tiugiilhlior. Mike Carney, iniHtor mechanic,
while lighting lire, dropped tfiUU in
paper tiiouuy from bin pocket ami it
wiih burned.
I. X. L. Shut Down.
Ponding the purchase of heavier
pouipf, ot doi for which huvu been
plaoed by Uouoral Manager Fred T.
Kelly, thu 1. X. L. mine, in the
Creouboru district, Ih abut down.
Fine printing at the Ml tier office.
HORROR IN
OLD MINE
PontmiiHtor Frtnk Jowott wiih In a
reminiscent mood this morning, and
while waiting for the train, told a
Minor reporter of the time ho work
ed In the old Virtue mine, under the
Cray ion regime worked in every
part of tho property fro n collar to
Hiimp, from the 800-foot pumpHtatiou
to tho a pox of tho mill, in olmout
every stopo and drift.
"I waB wbeeliug out a car of ore
when Jim Maddox was InHtantly
killed in an exploHiou 100 feot
away," said Mr. Jewett. "Maddcx
and John Higglus were shift tnatcH.
Maddox lout hlH caudlo stick in a
muck heap, and rigged up a 'crab'
with wire to hold tho caudle. He
and iliggitiH weut into the powder
magazlue under ground and were
making wet cartridges, when Mad
dnx'a crab fell on the floor of tho
chamber, Igniting Home Iooho pow
der, dropped by powdoi inonkoyH
In making wet cartildgeH, which
are formed by digging out thu end
uT a Htick uf powdor and inserting a
cap. Maddox and Iliggius made
Huperhumau efforts to put out tho
burning powder, nut when some
Iooho caps began to go olf they
gave it up and
ward the face of
gins toward the
hoping to lesson
ran Maddox to-
the drift and Hig-
Hhaft. Maddox,
the forco of the
exploHiou which ho knew waH coin
ing, picked up a ftO-pouud box of
powder when he Htartud but dropped
it before lin had gone very far,
not doHirlng to bo caught with hucIi
a deadly load when thu concussion
came. When it din come, nig
gitiH wiih lifted up and hurled fiO
feet, lighting ou bin hands and
knooH. MarveloiiHly euough, no
botioH were broken, nudjjiftor cover
ing IiIh huad with IiIh jacket to keep
the deadly powder fiunoH out of
IiIh iiiugH, he mauagud to crawl to
Hiifety. 1 1 in heart stopped beating
twice buforu ho with brought to the
Hill face, hut he Ih alive and kicking
today.
"Ah I Haiti before, 1 wiih wheeling
a car when the explosion occurred,
and the tlrst thing 1 knew the car
wiih blown olf the trauk and 1 wiih
knocked galluy-woHt and crooked. It
Hooint'd that every drop nt water in
the mine wiih gathered up hy the
blunt and whipping Htigingly into my
face,
"Wn found Maddox hanging head
down by one trnusor leg fiom a
Hpiku iu tho timtiorod drift, 10) feet
from the powdor chamber. Kvory
bone in IiIh body wiih broken. When
1 helped lay him out that night, his
artiiH and logs were like limber ropes
from broken bones.
"The accident wiih the fault of the
foreman, who had the reputation of
being a Hortof slave driver. Maddox
and JliggiiiH were workiug in the
face, and after putting In a round of
holes, were called olf by the foreman
U clean out the track in the main
i
drift, lu preparation foi a visit
from i
the owner, CJeorge Y, tiraysou, the
following morning. He ordeied the
hnya to hurry up and get hack and
tire their round befoie going ot! shift.
It was while cleauiug out the track
that Maddox dropped his candlestick
and after soarahlng for a few mluutea,
was ortlered by the forotuau to rig up
his crab. Had Maddox beeu glveu
time to go up above for a new caudle-
i
stick, he would probably be alive to
day. "A boo-doo fullowed Jimmy Hig
glus' shift mates. Just before Mad
dox was killed, Uiggius and a part
ner were puttiug in a heavy Btull,
using long poJpb for ikidt. 'One of
the polos dropped, end-on, and went
olear through the breast of Iliggius'
pal. Hack in Leadville, while te in
hering a stope, the roof gave way
and crushed a Bhift-mate of Jimmy's
to death. 1 always fought shy of
workiug ou Jimmy Uiggius1 shift."
GEOLOGY OF
CENTRAL OREGON
A region that ia new to both geol
ogists aud topographers is described
by Prof. Israel 0. Russell in a pre
liminary report ou the geology aud
water resources of ceutral Oregon,
recently' published by the United
States geological survey. No de
scription of the physicial features,
water resources, or geology of this
region is iu print, aud the only map
that Prof. Hussell found available for
use during his reconnaissance which
took place in the summer of lilO.'J,
wiih a map of tho statu of Oregon,
drawn to a scalo of 12 miles to tho
inch, publiHhed by the general land
otlloe.
The route followed by Prof, litis
soil aud his assistants led from Hume,
Oregon, westwaid through the west
oru part of Harney couuty, by way
of Priuovlllo aud Sisters, thence
southward through the northwest
portion of Klamath county to Fort
Klamath, and thence westward
across the Cascado uiouutaius to
Medford iu Jackson county.
I'lxi ini. i.iii ovum I mill I lull mliia flin
extreme northern part of the Croat
Him in (an men of about '210,000
hi I u a re miles, situated principally in
Oregon, Nevada, Utah and south
eiiHteru California, from which uo
HtreaniH How to the ccean) and a part
of the diainauo area of Dos ChutOH
river anj its principal tributary,
Crooked river, which joins it from
the east.
The reliof of tho surface iu ceutral
Oregon prosouts well marked con
trusts, ranging ftotn nearly level,
featureless desert valley i, where the
gMiieral elevation is about 4000 feet,
to the rugged, Huow-clad summits of
tho Cascade mouutaius, thu loftiest
of which, Mount Jetfersou, reaches a
hoight of about 1 0,1)50, feet.
The most extensive tract uf nearly
level laud is situated in the geo
graphic center of the state aud is in
part named uti the maps of the (heat
; Sunny doHort. This region, termed
"naudy," ou account uf the thick
shout of pumiceous sand aud dust
that covees large portions of it, ex
tends from the south ceutial part of
Crook couuty southeastward, across
the northeastern portion of Lake
couuty and far into Harney couuty.
Its length is about lf0 miles aud its
width from UO to HO miles. So uearly
uniform is the surface that one might
drive throughout its leugth without
meeting any greater
obstruction thau
the rigid sagebrush so arid is there
gion without thidlug a single
watering place for men or animals.
The valleys betweeu the mouu
taius, buttes aud hills are iu geu
eral level floored, owiug iu part to
the deposit of alluvium brought
from the uplauds by streams, but
maiuly to the exteuslve lava flows
aud the wide distribution of frag-
mental material blown out of vol
canoes iu the condition of gravel and
dust. Sheets of basalt which have
invaded the valleys aud given them
level floors occur widely throughout
the central port of tho stute, and iu
many localities form the present sur
face. These Java sheets range in
tbickues) from 80 to 100 feet up to
probably several buudred feet.
Few localities of the coutiuentol
portiou of the United States present
to view a greater extent of moun
tains or offer for study a more in
teresting Bfsatnblage of topographic
forms thau may be beheld from tho
summit of any one of the many Iso
lated voloauio cones aud orators that
rise from the Bage brush valleys and
broad desert plains of central Oregor ?
From these elevations the distribu
tion of the trees of the regiou may
also be well observed
The dark forest mantle which
clothes the entire Cascade range, with
the exceptiou of its higher spires and
more lofty craters, may be seen de
scend lug their eastern slopes and ex
tending far out ou the lower aud less
rugged country adjacent to their well
defined base, ending in an irregular
line lu the shadelesh valleys.
Prof. Kusseil doscribes the main
foaturos of tho region iu detail, by
counties. His report, whioh is listed
as bulletin No. 1252, is illustrated
with l!4 plates. It is among the Biir
voy's frco publications aud may bo
obtained on application to tho direc
tor of the Uuited State i geological
survoy, Washington, D. C.
6R4NT COUNTY SHEtP
KING A GLOBE-TROTTER
0. S. j. Smith, the sheep king of
Oratit couuty, passed through Sump
tor yosterday ou route to Euglaud.
With his luggage was a gigantic
traveling hag, decoiatod with foreign
labels from St. Petersburg, Moscow,
Horlin, Anmtordain, Paris, Switzer
land, Italy, India. Austrailia and
New Zealand. Mr. Smith and his
brothers own innumerable sheep,
which range in (Srant, Harney and
Malheur couuties. He is a vory
wealthy man and has oircumni.vigated
tho globe twice. He enjoys au op
portunity thl9 your to contract his
entire 100") wool clip at 17 conts,
but is holding tot a higher figure,
which ho beliovos inevitable,
"Cius" Smith, as ho is familiarly
kuowu throughout the interior, lett
eastern Orognu six years ago for
South Africa and served with dis
tinction through the Moor war. l!o
comes from an old l-Juglish family.
Has Unbounded faith.
S. 1). Fobs, of Chicago, the now
ptcBidutjt of the Standard miuu, in
hu iuterview with a Peudletou news
paperman, says that he has unbound
ed faith iu the Sumpter district.
The eastern Oregou gold fields, how
evor, have been given somewhat of a
lack eye iu eastern iuvestmeut cen
ters, he nays, Dy uupriuoipaled pro
motbrs who have buncoed people by
explotiug properties ot little worth.
All Ready for Sluicing.
Frauk O. Quckuuui, joint owner
with Frauk Muzzy of the rich Mar
shal group of miues, near Tiptou,
came iu from the property yesterday,
haviug passed Muzzy, who went out
that way on a visit. Mr. liucknum
reports everything in readiness at
the Mariball for aotive sluicing oper
ations as soon as the weather will
permit.