All members of the Colorado Scientific Society attending the 127th Regular Meeting held at the Masonic Hall in Cripple Creek July 1st, 1895, visited on the 2nd of July the Portland Mine.
Both parties who had been around visiting other mines met at this point at noon and partook of an excellent lunch provided by the management of the property.
The Anna Lee claim, one of those operated by this company, was first visited. The shaft follows down a chimney of ore, or rather an old geyser, 90 feet long and 20 to 40 feet in width, beyond which the ground has no value.
The ore is a pudding stone, the cementing substance being ore and lime.

THE BURIED MINERS
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Work of the Rescuers on the Anna Lee.
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AS YET WITHOUT RESULT
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Hundreds of Sorrowing Friends on Watch.
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SUSPENSE IN TERRIBLE
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Six Shifts of Sturdy, Fearless Men Every Twenty-Four Hours Digging in a Mass of Falling Rock and Dirt
— Every Possible Speed Being Made to Reach the Entombed Men
— False Reports.
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There is a shade of sadness surrounding the Anna Lee and the Scranton mines on Battle mountain and extends all over the Portland properties. The men about the offices who were formerly light-hearted and gay, at all times chaffing and joking with each other, are now to be seen sitting very quietly smoking their pipes or with their chins resting in the palms of their hands, with elbows on their knees.
They seldom speak, only to answer questions propounded by relatives of the unfortunate men or to representatives of the press. The expression of sadness on these men's faces is so apparent that only a glance at them is sufficient to convince even a casual observer that the less said about the affair the better.
The only words that pass among them is to ask "Is there any news?" or "Have they found them yet?".
These questions usually go unanswered and nothing more is said until the next shift comes off and the same thing is repeated.

Curiosity seekers leave the city in high spirits and their laugh and jests can be heard as far up as the railroad but as the distance lessens from there to the mine everything becomes quiet by degrees and when they reach the deep, black hole they are as still and sad as if they were looking into the grave that had been opened to receive the remains of a mother or a close relation.
Everything is most orderly. All that is possible to do is being done and the six shifts of men who are at work trying to find the bodies are working under great difficulties.

They are working from fifth level on the Scranton and are working upwards. The air is very bad and the loose dirt fall continuously from the top making it extremely dangerous to the workmen.
Within the last twenty-four hours a headway of ten feet had been gained. At this rate the cage is expected to be found about 1 o'clock this morning.
The theory extended now is that all the men had anticipated a cave and had boarded the cage to be taken to the top when the crash came and all died there together. The reason for this is that some tools were found near the fifth level that had evidently been left by the men making a speedy exit, as if they had been coming out as usual they would have brought their tools along.
The cable indicates that the cage is at the fourth level, but this not certain as the rocks might have taken up many feet of the rope when the fall came.

When it became noised about last night that the bodies were expected to be found crowds of people flocked around the Scranton shaft eager to catch a glimpse of the first form that would be brought to the surface.
It was necessary to appoint guards to keep the masses out of the engine room in order that they would not interfere with the workings; Some of the more ignorant of the crowd considered this very unjust and made some incendiary talk, but nothing radical was done and at a late hour they were still about the property.

There is great deal of talk among the miners who have been working in other mines on this hill as to the safety of the shafts. Some have been reported as saying that they would not go to work in the morning or any other time until the shafts were retimbered and made perfectly safe.
One of the men was telling on the streets that the timbers in a certain mine had sprung two inches within the last twelve hours, but he refused to say what mine it was in for fear he would be unable to obtain employment in the future.

James Doyle, one of the owners of the Portland properties, states that none of men have made any complaint about any other mine being in a dangerous condition. He says that none of the timbers have given a particle in any of the shafts in which he is interested and says the men are cautioned to be on the lookout for anything that might lead to an accident and report the matter at once to the office.

It was reported in this city the men had quit work on the mine on account of the danger and of some disagreement they had with the management. This is denied at the mine and Mr. Doyle stated that the men were all at work.

Later—At 12 o'clock the men working to secure the bodies of the men were within five feet of where the cage is supposed to be, but so far nothing has been found. A new shift of men have just gone to work and in course of an hour will more than likely find the cage.

Excitement increases among the crowd on the outside as the men near the place where the bodies are supposed to lie. Every precaution is being taken to prevent an accident from occurring and the excavation is being carefully timbered.
Mr. Doyle makes the assertion that some of the bodies will be recovered before morning.

The Portland main ore-shoot was caused by a junction of three veins, one having a N. W. course, the second a N. E, course, the third, a small cross-vein ; size of ore-shoot is from 12 to 30 feet wide, pinching to 6 feet; its length is 175 to 225 feet. Until a depth of 400 feet the shoot pitched S. W., at angle of 52° near surface. At 400 feet in the granite the shoot straightened, and at 600 feet dipped north 85°. There are values in the vein from the Black Diamond to the Anna Lee, a distance of 800 feet.

Denver - The persistence of good ore at depth is proved in all cases of deep exploitation within the Cripple Creek district. The latest proof of such is on the 21st level of the Portland mine, in the Lee claim. Here, a bulk sample taken across 5-ft. vein, assayed 14 oz. gold per ton.
In this instance it was found that, on screening the same ore, the fine carried much less than the crude, or a little better than 4 oz. gold per ton.
The present condition of this district warrants optimism.