100 years ago in Mullan, Idaho: Rescuers try to save miners caught in cave-in

A dramatic rescue attempt was underway at the Hunter Mine in Mullan, Idaho, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported.

Miners P.P. Grant and Emil Slayko were caught in a cave-in 1,500 feet deep, and rescuers did not know at first whether the men had been killed outright or were trapped.

When rescuers got within 50 feet of the site, they believed they heard tapping from the two men, indicating that they were “well and safe.”

However, the progress of the rescuers had slowed dramatically as they tried to get through the rubble. The “signals” from the men later stopped.

Miners who had been near the cave-in reported that it had not been caused by an explosion but by the roof “simply dropping off.”

From the Wobbly beat: Spokane city commissioners (the equivalent of today’s City Council members) gave unanimous consent to purchase two heavy Browning machine guns and 50 riot rifles.

Why?

To be prepared for Wobbly riots.

Tensions remained shockingly high in Spokane, mainly in reaction to a violent altercation between Wobblies and American Legion men in Centralia that left five dead on Armistice Day.

The Spokane police chief ordered his officers to “arrest all known I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World),” the Chronicle said.

No riots had occurred in Spokane, but the Chronicle ran a front page photo of a large crowd on Trent Avenue, taken while police were searching for 1,000 men at workingmen’s hotels and pool halls.