Fire Takes the Jay Gould Shaft House at Chewelah
A Friday-night blaze destroyed the mine's shaft house, its tools and cable, and the blacksmith shop — blamed on heat from the compost packed around the water pipes.
The shaft house at the Jay Gould mine, at Chewelah, was totally destroyed by fire last Friday night, and in addition to the loss of the building considerable damage was done to the tools and cable, and the mine blacksmith shop. The fire is supposed to have originated from spontaneous combustion from the heating of the compost used to protect the water pipes.
“The fire is supposed to have originated from spontaneous combustion from the heating of the compost used to protect the water pipes.”
A shaft house was the working heart of a hard-rock mine, so one winter night's fire put men and machinery out of commission in a county that lived on ore and timber. Stevens County's resource economy is gone now, but the pattern — a single fire or closure wiping out a community's paycheques — still has a Pend Oreille County echo.
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