Allegany County MD Archives News.....Elk Garden Mine Disaster, 1911 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/md/mdfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Shawn McGreevy [shawnmcgreevy@geatz.com] "News Tribune" Elk Garden, West Virginia, 28 Apr 1911: "ELK GARDEN MINE DISASTER-GAS EXPLOSION IN NO. 20 MINE- The Town in Deepest Mourning - Twenty-Three Dead-Heroic Work of Rescuers- For more than 30 years Elk Garden, Mineral County W Va, has been the center of one of the most noted mining districts in the eastern section of the United States. Thousands of miners have worked in the different openings in that section and many millions of tons of coal have been shipped from that point, and, as has been the history in all mining districts, there have been numerous accidents and sad fatalities, but never before has there been a mine disaster in that region that paralleled, or even approximated, the shocking calamity of last Mon. morning, when twenty-three men, all citizens of Elk Garden, except one, were suddenly ushered into eternity by an explosion in Mine No. 20, which is owned and operated by the Davis Coal and Coke Company. This mine is at the foot of the mountain about half a mile below Elk Garden, and on the main line of the Western Maryland Railway, between Chaffee and Blaine. Mr. Robert Grant is superintendent of that and all the other mines owned and operated by the same company in the Elk Garden region. Work in all mining districts has been slack all winter and No 20 has been working regularly only two days in each week. Monday was not a regular work day for that mine, had it been many more men would have lost their lives in that awful disaster. the twenty three victims of that explosion were there cleaning up - sprinkling the mine and arranging for the next day's work. The explosion occurred about 8:30 AM and soon the sad intelligence was carried to wives, mothers and children that their loved ones who had left them but two hours before for a day of toil by which to win bread, were entombed in that mine. Within a short time, hundreds of men, women and children had assembled at the mine opening and the lamentations of the bereaved were heart-rending. Superintendent Grant at once assembled all of the men available and began the work of rescue. Men were dispatched from other sections. A large number came from Thomas WV. The officials of the Davis Coal and Coke Co. immediately called the Dept of Mines at Washington and the Government hurried their rescue car to the scene of disaster from Wilkes-Barre Penn, where it was stationed. Regular and special trains brought crowds of sympathizers and rescue workers from different sections and the work was kept up day and night with frequent relays of forces of men. The parties could work in the mines only an hour at a time because of the poisonous gasses, and the work was necessarily slow. four of the rescuing party, Wm Willis, Geo. May, Martin Garvey, Mine Supt. of Thomas and Supt. J W Paul, of the Government Bureau of Mines, were overcome by gas Tues afternoon and were revived only after very heroic treatment by mine expert rescuers and physicians. By Mon. night they had found but one body, that of Wilbur Shears; about midnight five more were taken out. During the day Tues nine other bodies were found and Tues evening they found five others. Not until Wed noon were all of the bodies found and brought out of the mine. Some of the bodies were blackened, burned and mangled. In many instances they were buried under tons of slate; in other instances death came solely from inhaling the heat. A temporary morgue was made of a nearby building and inquests were held there. The miners have been working on short time all winter and it is feared that the families of some of the victims may be in want. It is thought that some action looking to their relief will be taken by the directors of the Company. It is thought that the explosion was due to the accumulation of gas and dust inn the mine. The fan had not been running for some time until it was started Monday morning. the bodies of thirteen men were recovered Tues. morning. They were: John Pritchard, married, hair and moustache burned off, body burned, asphyxiated. Arthur Pritchard, single, head burned and squeezed, death from fractured skull. William Pearson, married, death from fractured skull. John F White, Sr., widower, death from lacerated thorax. William Hetzel, married, death from carbon monoxide. James Brown, married, death from asphyxiation. Hawthorne Patton, single, death caused by shock. Leo Dempsy, single, suffocated. James Dempsy, married, slightly burned, death from inhaling heat. Harry Trainum, married, death from inhaling heat. Charles Wilson, single, death from inhaling heat. Edward Hershberger, married, death from inhaling heat, slightly burned. Thomas Wilson, face lacerated and head fractured, death from inhaling heat. The body of Wilbur Shears, who died from asphyxiation, was taken out Mon. night. Five of the bodies were buried Wed and the rest were buried Thurs. In another part of this paper can bee seen a complete list of the 23 names." "Piedmont Herald" Piedmont, West Virginia, 28 Apr 1911: Monday morning April 24, at 8:30 o'clock a violent gas explosion occurred in mine No 20 by which 23 men lost their lives. The force of the explosion seems to have been in Dean and Baldwin headings. As soon as the report went out that a violent gas explosion had occurred in No 20 mine, a feeling of horror came over the people as the rushed to the scene of the accident. The fan, which had been started early that morning, was uninjured. Supt. Robert Grant, mine foreman, John Kenny, cashier, R. M. Dean, and mine foreman, B. S. Coleman of 14 mine were soon on the ground and had the situation in hand. A guard was placed at the different openings. Crowds of people collected but good order prevailed. Bolts of bed ticking and other goods were hurriedly brought to the mine to construct temporary brattishing to get air into the mine. All the brattice had been blown out by the force of the explosion. During the day, Supt Orestes Tibbetts, with 6 or 8 picked men from the WV Junction; Supt Martin Garvey, of Thomas; Supt P. J. Branan of Coketon, arrived. They assisted in an pushed forward the work of brattishing the mine headings. Mine Inspector, Mr. Plaster, arrived in the afternoon. Larger grew the crowd as the work progressed. Men, women and children made their way to the scene, but the women and children kept at a distance from the openings. Wilbur Shears was found first, several hours before any of the others were reached. He was some distance from the others. No other bodies were rescued until Mon night. five special trains came to the scene on Mon. This mine is but a few hundred yards from the Western Maryland RR at the foot of the mountain below Elk Garden. Mon night a special train brought General Superintendent Lee Ott from Cumberland. He had been at Baltimore. C. H. Smith, Vice President, and Gen Manager Durham, Coal & Iron Co, Ky., former assistant of B. F. Bush, with others arrived Monday night on special train. D. C. Hershiser, train dispatcher from Cumberland, arrived Tuesday morning and established telegraphic communication from the mines. The Government Rescue Car No 1, Wilkes-Barre, Pa, arrived early Tues morning. Conductor D. A. Moran was in charge of this train, which made the run in eleven hours and thirty minutes. The rescuers began at once to train miners in the use of oxygen helmet which would enable them to go ahead of the air in the work of the rescue. These helmets aided materially in the work. By eight o'clock, fourteen bodies had been rescued, one in the Atlantic and thirteen in the Dean heading. The other nine bodies are in the Baldwin heading. The work is beginning to tell on the men, though they work by section. The bodies of the fourteen miners were brought out in mine cars, two at a time, and taken to a building for identification. Wagons were provided and the bodies were conveyed to Elk Garden where undertakers, F. C. Rolman and Wm. H. Kight took charge of them jointly. Festival and Moody's halls were both converted into morgues. The undertakers from Blaine are assisting in embalming the bodies, and Gordon B Greer, of the Clarksburg casket Co, is assisting. By nine o'clock Tues night all the entombed men were rescued. Some are badly bruised by falling rocks and faces and hands are burned. The hair is entirely burned off the heads of several. The morgues were open to the public an hour or more late Tues afternoon. It was then that the full realization of the disaster came in full force. No funerals will be held until Thursday. Following is a list of the 23 dead: James Dempsey, married Leo Dempsey, single Ed Hershbarger, married Wm Buski, single Thomas Yost, married Harry Trainum, married Wilbur Shears, married John White, widower Wm Pearson, married Geet White, single Hawthore Patton, single Frank Pugh, single Wm Pugh, single James Brown, married Temor Runion, single John Prichard, married Arthur Pritchard, single Wm Hetzel, married John R Wilson, married Charles Wilson, single Thomas Wilson, married Lester Wilson, married Roy Wilson, married All the dead are Americans except Wm. Buski. Some of our best citizens are numbered with the dead. Our town is in deepest mourning. Everyone feels the heavy stroke. People retired Mon night, but could not sleep. The suspense was awful. May we never witness such a scene again. Tuesday afternoon afternoon several of the rescuers were overcome by the after-damp. George May was brought from the mine unconscious an the physicians worked with him for some time. Martin Garvey, superintendent from Thomas, was also in a critical condition for a time. Drs. Keim, Copeland, and two other physicians were at the mines at the time. Coroner F. C. Rollman has begun an inquest, but it will not be concluded until after the funeral services. A free commissary was established at the mine by the Company and lunches given to everybody that came to the scene of the disaster, which was open night and day. Inspector L. D. Vaugh, formerly of this place, was on the ground today. Friends and relatives of the deceased are coming in on every train. The remains of Wm Pearsonn were taken to Lonaconing Wed. morning where the body will be interred on Thursday." This file is located at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/md/allegany/newspapers/elkgardenmine.txt