The Perilous Depths of the Newcastle Mine
A rare eyewitness account from 1,000 feet below the earth, where miners fight 'black damp' and underground fires to power a growing Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A reporter of the Post-Intelligencer visited the Newcastle Coal mine, and went over it from top to bottom. Guided by Mr. Wm. James, the assistant superintendent, he descended 1,000 feet below the surface of the earth. Here, the men were busy switching cars and preparing to begin their work. In the chambers, the air had previously been so saturated with 'white damp,' generated by blasting powder, that four men were overcome by it. Recently, however, air courses have been repaired, and now each miner feels a cool draught of fresh air. At one place, 700 feet down, large icicles are formed where air strikes dripping water. The reporter was rushed into a corner of the room to be safe from the choking, grinding, and falling chunks of coal. In the 'No. 2 lift,' a fire has been burning and smouldering for the last four years. The outlet is secured with loads of sand and gravel to prevent the fire and 'black damp'—a rank poison that kills instantly upon inhalation—from escaping into the active parts of the mine. The miners are a set of jolly, independent men who delight in showing their hospitality to strangers.
“Black damp, the thick, heavy gas generated in all coal mines where fresh air is not circulated, is more dreaded by the miner than anything else on earth. It is a rank poison, and animal life is destroyed the moment a portion of it is inhaled.”
This 1886 report highlights the extreme human cost of the industrial energy that fueled Seattle's early expansion. While the 'black damp' and underground fires are no longer the primary threat to workers, the tension between worker safety, labor rights, and the relentless pressure of regional development remains a defining struggle in the Pacific Northwest.
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