The Mystery Tower

Sitting next to the hoist building at the Allouez-Douglas Mine stands a mysterious structure. It’s a wooden tower, rising three stories in height. While it stands separate from the rest of the building, it is connected to is by a series of pipes high up on the structure. At the tower’s top sits an array of pipes, which end in what looks like spray heads. A short railing rings the perimeter of these pipes, but there seems to be no way of egress to the top. It’s a structure we haven’t seen near any other hoist. Lets take a closer look.

At the top of the tower sits a platform, which is surrounded by a short railing. A metal framework rises a good six feet or so above the platform, on which are supported two parallel pipes. Off these main pipes are a collection of “branches” which end in what looks like sprinkler heads. It looks almost like a shower, one raised a good three stories off the ground.

The “shower heads” are connected by two pipes which drop down under the platform and then turns back into the hoist building. Their size suggests that they are simply water pipes.

Also coming out of the tower platform is what looks like a drain pipe. The pipe comes down from the center of the platform and then makes a right turn into the hoist building.

Here on the face of the hoist building the two water feed pipes (top pipe) and the larger drain pipe (lower pipe) enter the hoist from the tower.

My theory is that this is some sort of condenser set up. Super-heated water is pumped up to the sprinklers, which spray the water down onto the platform. During the process the water cools substantially and is collected in the drain line. The cooled water is then brought back into the building. Such a condenser is a normal part of a steam powered system, although they usually take the shape of cooling ponds at ground level. It all makes some sense except for one thing: there is no steam engine here.

The age of this mine and the electrical hook-ups and equipment at the back of the building would suggest this was an electric hoist and not a steam hoist. (there is also the lack of a boiler stack) Since the hoist is electric, steam would not be needed for anything, and the condenser would not be needed. So I’m confused. Either the hoist was steam powered, or there was another steam engine in the building used for another purpose, or the thing isn’t a condenser at all. Either way its a mystery, and one I don’t know the answer too. Perhaps someone out there can shed some light on it.

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