100 years ago in North Idaho: 3 miners die in fire at Morning Mine in Mullan

Three miners were dead and 30 others overcome by fumes during a fire at the Morning Mine at Mullan, Idaho.

During a shift change at the 1,400-foot level, the miners discovered that gas fumes had ignited a fire. One man was unconscious and two other miners died in an “ineffectual attempt” to save his life. One of them died while attempting to drag out his body.

Most of the other 30 rescued miners were brought up through the fire zone in the “cage.” None of them suffered burns, but they all suffered various degrees of smoke or gas inhalation. About 10 of them were being treated in a Mullan hospital, and all were expected to recover.

The bodies of two of the dead miners had been recovered, but the third was still in the mine.

As of midafternoon, the fire was still raging at the 1,400-foot level, and smoke was issuing from the mine.

From the game beat: The sound of spring in 1923 Spokane was, apparently, the clicking of marbles.

As the snow melted, the challenges of little boys playing marbles rang across playgrounds.

“Knucks down!” “Agates up!” “Quit yer fudging!” and “It’s my lag!” and similar expressions were in the air.

A reporter from the Spokane Daily Chronicle posed the question: “Do the youngsters play for ‘keeps’?”

He answered in the affirmative, by saying, “There might be a game of ‘funs’ being played somewhere in the city, but it would tax the efforts of an experienced traveler to find it.”