Heat of the Comstock Mines . 
799 
1879-] 
heat, but which may have been due to drinking ice-water ; 
and another death is charged to a cold taken while cooling 
off after being partially overcome with heat. Though con- 
trary to the rules of outside hygiene, the miners resort to 
copious draughts of ice-water or to exposure to strong cold 
air currents for recovery from overheating, and usually with 
impunity. The cold air cooling is considered the safer 
method ; but to gain time Mr. Church commonly chose the 
ice-water, and never felt any ill effedts from it. With seve- 
ral thousand cases a day of rapid cooling off by one or the 
other of these methods, it is surprising that fatal conse- 
quences have been so infrequent. 
The next case illustrates the violent effedts which ex- 
cessive heat may have upon a person not accustomed to it : 
— “ On Friday, Odtober nth, 1 878, John McCauley went to 
work for the first time in the Imperial Mine. He was cau- 
tioned against over-exerting himself in the extreme heat of 
the lower levels. He replied that he thought he was strong 
enough to stand anything, and paid no attention to the 
advice. At half- past two in the afternoon he was brought 
to the surface in an unconscious state, and died the next 
morning at half-past ten o’clock.” 
Two other cases very similar to this have occurred in the 
Imperial within a few years. This mine is excavated in one 
of the hot spots of the Comstock. 
The hot drift on the 1900 level of the Gould and Curry is 
the scene of the most serious of these casualties due to 
heat. Five men were sent there in June, 1878, to load a 
donkey-pump on a car. The work was so exhausting that 
when the pump caught on a plank they were not able to 
move it. They seem to have been in a state of mental con- 
fusion, but felt that they could not remain longer. Starting 
up a winze which connedts with the 1700 level one man fell 
on the way, and the others were afraid to stop to help him, 
but pressed on, reaching the 1700 level in half an hour 
from the time they left it. They were very confused and 
nearly speechless, and hardly realised what had occurred. 
Three men went down to the rescue, and found the fallen 
man still alive. Clearing the pump they got into the car 
and signalled to hoist, but on the way up the winze the man 
they had gone to rescue reeled and fell off. The car was 
stopped at once, but he was jammed between it and the 
brattice so fast that the others left him and went for help. 
They all gave out, two half-way up, and the other just as he 
reached the 1700 level, where a friendly hand pulled him 
up. A new rescue party went down and found two men 
