Misc.: Introduction: Pennsylvania Mine Accidents 1869-1916 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gerald E. Sherard shepard224@hotmail.com ============================================================================= Access the lists at http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/xmisc/mineaccidents/ http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/xmisc.htm for other archived files. ============================================================================== PENNSYLVANIA MINING ACCIDENTS 1869 - 1916 By Gerald E. Sherard (December 2006) During the earth's Caboniferous Geologic Period, 250 to 400 million B.C., material was deposited that eventually transformed to anthracite coal. At that time most of Pennsylvania was a flat, hot, moist plain covered with steaming swamps thick with tall trees and wide spreading ferns. In 1762, Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming Valley discovered the anthracite coal seams. At that time, the estimations are that 16 billion tons of coal lay within the anthracite seams in northeastern Pennsylvania. Exposed anthracite coal outcrops surfaced along the banks of the Susquehanna River. In 1820, the first recorded anthracite coal company was the Lehigh Coal Mining Company. By 1900, the historical total fatal and nonfatal accident count in anthracite mines was estimated to be over 13,000 men, women and children. By 1914, annual employment at anthracite mines had reached 180,000 workers. In 1917, anthracite coal production peaked at over 100 million tons (4). In the United States, the first reported mine explosion was in 1810 in Virginia. Prior to 1920, mining was an unhealthy and dangerous occupation. There were no rules to ensure safety in the industry, whether in the mine, mill, or smelter. In the early 1900s, laws to improve and monitor mine safety were enacted by both states and later by the federal government. It took many years for the companies to implement regular reporting of the accidents, but the number that were reported were impressive. In the early 1900s, over an eighteen month period, a mine worker's chance of being crushed, asphyxiated, burned, blasted, drowned, or similarly maimed or killed was more than one in a hundred. If you worked in the mines for twenty years, your overall risk increased to more than one in five. Since 1900, more than 104,000 miners have died in accidents in the U.S. with most of these fatalities occurring from 1900 to 1978. The peak year for U.S. fatalities was 1907 with 3,242 fatalities. In addition many more miners suffered disabling and life long injuries in nonfatal accidents. Accidents sometimes occurred on the way to and from work. Courageous, was the miner who rode the huge ore wagons to and from work, often fully loaded and picking their way along steep shelf roads hugging the sides of steep hills. Once the miner got to the mine, he was lowered down a poorly lit shaft in an ore bucket or cage, often several hundred feet, to his working level. How would you like to ride up an ore bucket or wait for a ride if you and your co-workers had to suddenly escape from a mine shaft several hundred feet down? Once down to his working level, the miner had to contend with moving tram cars, steam lines, electric wiring, machinery of various types, and the heavy, hot, and massively vibrating drills. Supporting timber if poorly positioned, or if the wood became water-soaked and rotten, or with minor shifts in the earth's crust, tons of rock would suddenly fall, trapping or crushing the miners. The mine's structures and supports were wood, and fire was a constant threat. Coal mines were often filled with odorless and tasteless methane gas. Canaries, birds that were easily stressed and sensitive to toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and methane, were used up until the 1980s when they were replaced by hand held electronic detectors. Coal mine explosions due to methane gas have continued to the present. As many, perhaps more, men have died from gases and lack of oxygen (known as after -damp) than have been killed by the blast and heat. Mine explosions often are caused by a combination of factors, including concentration of methane in air, formation of clouds of dust, and the presence of a flame or spark. The worst U.S. coal mine disaster occurred December 6, 1907, at the Monongah Nos. 6 and 8 Mine at Monongah, West Virginia, in which an explosion killed 362 miners. This disaster compelled Congress to create the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1907. 1910 was the year of the largest number of major mine disaster events in the United States overall (19 coal, 6 metal/nonmetal). Also in 1910, the Pullman Company made the first mine rescue railroad cars for the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The cars were former Pullman sleeping cars which had been remodeled. The chief work of station and car personnel was to investigate as quickly as possible the cause of a mine disaster, assist in the rescue of miners, and give first aid; and as ordinary routine, to train miners in safety, in rescue and first-aid equipment and methods, and to examine safety conditions at mines and recommend improvements. The cars continuously visited mining centers in all States to present demonstrations, lectures, and training. When a mine disaster occurred near a station, the employee in charge, with available help and equipment, proceeded at once by train or other transportation to the mine. When a rescue car was used, it was moved by a special locomotive or connected to the first appropriate train available. In the initial 5 years, 300 mine accidents, including explosions, fires, and cave-ins, were investigated. In approximate totals, 290,00 people visited the stations and cars; 230,000 attended lectures or demonstrations; 34,000 were given training in rescue- and first-aid methods, and 11,700 training certificates were issued, increasing continuously from 509 in 1911 in 4,258 in 1915 (ten districts). In general, early mine accidents were blamed on God or carelessness of the miner. Such attitudes on the part of the mine owners, the courts, and government agencies continued well into the twentieth century. In the year 2004, over 6000 miners died in accidents in China. This attitude still persists in some parts of the world. In the U.S., coal mining today is far more safer than it was 100 years ago. Only 22 miners died in the United States in the year 2005. There are more people killed in farming accidents in the U.S. today than in coal mining accidents. During the period 1887 through 1891, 92% of the coal miners in Pennsylvania were immigrants. The following is a breakdown of the nationalities: Irish 22% Welsh 19% Polish 19% English 16% Hungarian 10% Americans 8% German 5% Italian, Swedish, Scotch, French, Canadian, Austrian, etc. 1% The major mine accidents in Pennsylvania which resulted in a large number of fatalities at one time were usually caused by fire or gas and dust explosions in underground coal mines. Pennsylvania's major mine accidents prior to 1917, their causes, and number of men killed are as follows: September 6, 1869, Avondale Mine, Plymouth, Luzerne Co., PA, uncontrollable fire, 110 killed. At 10 am, Sept. 6, 1869, one of the worst disasters in the history of US anthracite mining occurred at the Avondale Mine. A fire, originating from a furnace at the bottom of a 237 foot shaft roared up the shaft killing 110 miners, 80% of whom were Welsh. On Sept 9, 1869, the last body was removed from the mine. The disaster also killed 2 boys, ages 10 and 14, who began working just that day. 61 victims were laid to rest at the Washburn Cemetery on the west side of Scranton, PA, September 9, 1869. June 16, 1890, Hill Farm Mine, Dunbar, PA, gas fire, 31 killed. June 28, 1896, Twin Shaft Mine, Pittston, PA, roof fall, 58 killed. July 10, 1902, Johnstown Mine, Rolling Mill, PA, gas explosion, 112 killed. January 25, 1904, Harwick Mine, Cheswick, PA, blown out shot explosion, 179 killed. December, 1, 1907, Fayette City Mine, Naomi, PA, gas and dust explosion, 34 killed. December 19, 1907, Darr Mine, Jacobs Creek, PA, explosion, 239 killed. November 28, 1908, Rachel & Agnes Mine, Marianna, PA, explosion, 154 killed. April 7, 1911, Price-Pancoast Colliery, Troop, PA, fire, 73 killed. April 23, 1913, Cincinnati Mine, Finleyville, PA, explosion, 98 killed. Most fatalities resulted from accidents involved one or two people. During the period 1887 through 1891, 26 percent of all mining accidents in Pennsylvania were fatal. Usually those killed or injured were miners and laborers. Drivers and runners also incurred many fatalities and injuries. The leading cause of these fatal accidents in decreasing order of frequency are listed below: 1. Falls of coal roof - the most common cause of fatalities 2. Crushed and run over by mine cars inside of underground mines 3. Falls of coal face or rib 4. Explosion of powder and blasting 5. Falling down shafts 6. By miscellaneous causes outside of mines on surface 7. Explosion of carbureted hydrogen (CH4 or methane) gas or coal dust 8. By miscellaneous causes inside of underground mines 9. Killed by cars outside 10. Kicked by mules 11. Caught in breaker machinery 12. Boiler explosions 13. Killed by falling bucket 14. Caught by carriage (cage) in shaft Mining has many unique terms. A glossary of these terms is found in Bibliography References 5 and 6 below. Some of the more common terms are: Anthracite: The hardest type of coal with a very high heat value, used for home and industrial heating. Bituminous coal: Medium-hard coal with a high heat value, used to generate electricity and to make coke which is used in the steel industry. Boss: Any member of the managerial ranks who is directly in charge of miners. Brattice worker: A worker who constructs ventilating partitions of fabric, board or plank lining in mine passages to confined the air and force it into working places. Breaker: Mechanical equipment into which coal is dumped from cars or conveyers and the coal is broken up and screened. Coal: A black rock consisting primarily of carbon formed from remains of trees, ferns and other plants that died and were compressed under heat and pressure from ice during the Ice Age and from the buildup of earth deposits. Colliery: British name for coal mine. Culm-driver: Worker who removes the anthracite fines that will pass through a screen with 1/8-inch holes. Door Tender or Door Boy or Trapper: One whose duty it is to open and close a mine door before and after the passage of a train of mine cars. The doors are located intermittently throughout a mine to isolate dangerous gases and explosions. Drift: An entry driven horizontally into a coal seam on the slope of a hill. Footman: A laborer who adjusts the height of the gate in the chute leading from the crusher by means of a lever, to regulate flow of crushed coal into vibrating screens that separate coal into various sizes prior to shipment or refining. Frog: The point of intersection of the inner rails, where a train or tram crosses from one set of rails to another. The frog is in the form of a V. Headman : The hoist operator in a mine shaft. Inundation: A flood of water. Jig boy: A person who connects and disconnects the link or coupling connecting tubs (cars). Rib: The side of a pillar or the wall of an entry. The solid coal on the side of any underground passage. Runner: A person who accompanied moving tubs (cars) for transporting coal on its way to the shaft. Sinker: A person who sinks mine shafts and puts in supporting timber. Skip: An elongated iron or steel self-dumping bucket or car equipped with small wheels usually running on guide rails used to haul ore through the mine. Skips can be used to haul ore at ground level or can be hoisted up a shaft. Slate-picker: Worker who removes a compact, fine-grained metamorphic rock that possesses slaty cleavage and hence can be split into slabs and thin plates. Most slate was formed from shale. Sub-bituminous coal: Coal that contains less moisture than lignite and is mostly used to produce steam for electricity generation. Tipple: Originally the place where the mine cars were tipped and empted of their ore, and still used in that same sense, although now more generally applied to the surface structures of a mine, including the preparation plant and loading tracks. Tommy Box: A metal container in the shape of a slice of bread used to store sandwiches. Trapper: see Door Tender or Door Boy Wheeler: A laborer who pushes loaded mine cars on tracks from underground working places to haulage roads where they are hooked up to a locomotive and hauled to the surface, shaft, or slope bottom for hoisting. A pusher may, at bituminous mines, shift empty and loaded cars in and about the tipple, where coal is prepared for market. Boys often started working in the mines and advanced to more responsible positions with age and experience. The job progression sometimes was from Breaker Boy to Door Boy to Driver to Runner or Laborer and finally to Miner. If you know which mine your ancestor worked and they were United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) members and you have the Social Security number you might be able to get their work records from: UMWA Health and Retirement Funds 4455 Connecticut Avenue Washington, DC 20008 Attention of Records Manager Mine safety monitoring today is a major responsibility of the United States Mine Health and Safety Administration (MHSA), U.S. Department of Labor. In 1995, the MHSA replaced the U.S. Bureau of Mines which became active in 1910. A central depository and archive for the mining information they collect is the Technical Information Center and Library National Mine Health and Safety Academy 1301 Airport Road, Beaver, WV 25813-9426 email: MSHALibrary@dol.gov fax 304-256-3372 Phone 304-256-3267 or -3229 http://www.msha.gov/training/library/library.htm This MSHA library has a fatality archive database of accident investigation files for the United States mining industry: http://www.msha.gov/TRAINING/LIBRARY/FatalRecordsSearch.asp or http://arllib.msha.gov/awweb/main.jsp MSHA Library Fatal Accident Archive Search Form. As of April 2004, there were 23,500 reports in this database with 32,767 names, but the collection is expanded on a regular basis. Most of the fatalities are after 1900. Nationally the database appears to list about 25% of all reported fatal accidents. By knowing the Location of Archive Report one can obtain a copy of the official federal report. The official federal reports are much more lengthy and detailed than the reports found in the state annual reports. In 1998 (Reprinted 2001), the Mine Safety and Health Administration published a three volume index, Historical Summary of Mine Disasters in the United States: Volume I - Coal Mines - 1810 - 1958, 280 pages Volume II - Coal Mines - 1959 - 1998, 137 pages Volume III - Metal and Nonmetal Mines - 1885 - 1998, 71 pages These publications contain listings of both fatal and nonfatal accidents by date, name and type of mine, location, number killed or injured, and nature of the accident. Names of miners are not provided. However for the fatal accidents, there usually is provided a summary from the official federal accident report. These books usually only cover major fatal accidents claiming three or more lives and do not cover most nonfatal accidents. These books were initially issued as nine microfiches and are available at large libraries in the Government Publication Reference section under Call Number L 38.2:H 62/SUM./V.1-3. Beginning about 1872, annual mine reports were prepared by the Pennsylvania Department of Mines. To find these reports go to a state historical society library, a large library, or a mining university or college library Internet web site and do a search on the key words of report inspector mines Pennsylvania. These reports may not only contain names and details for fatal and non-fatal accidents, but also cover strikes, details of mining operations at specific mines, production and operation details for specific mines, names of inspectors, pictures, certification for shot firers and inspectors, names of specific mine personnel, etc. Fatalities and non-fatal accidents with injuries are listed in tables in the books. Specific names are listed in these tables, but these names were not indexed in an alphabetical index for the entire book. The accidents are usually listed in the tables for various regions of a state by date of the accident. The web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~paluzern/mines.htm Pennsylvania Mine Accidents lists many fatal and non-fatal mine accidents in Pennsylvania from the state's annual mine reports. The years covered by this web site are 1869 (Avondale only), 1872, 1875, 1877, 1879, 1881 through 1884, 1888, 1890, 1897, 1911 and 1918 (1915 is Anthracite only). The Pennsylvania State Archives http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/Coal%20Resources.htm , Research Guide - Coal Records only has records of mine accidents for the years 1899-1973 for both Anthracite and Bituminous Mine Districts. The Archives does not have individual coal mine personnel records. In the Pennsylvania annual mine reports, the accidents, both fatal and non-fatal, are usually listed in tables for various regions of the state by date of the accident. Information provided in the reports usually is: Date of accident, Name of person, Nationality, Occupation, Age, Married or Single, Name of colliery, County, and Nature and cause of accident in brief. Fatal accidents also are often described on other pages with a detailed description of the accident circumstances. These Pennsylvania reports are usually found under Library Call Number TN805.04 A29. The following is a summary of the types and years of publication used as references in the attached database (subscript a denotes anthracite; subscript b denotes bituminous): Reference No. Title 55 & 56 Reports of the Inspections of Mines of the Anthracite Coal Regions of Pennsylvania, ca1871-1882 55(25) Southern District 55(27) Middle District 55(29) Eastern District 55(38) 3rd District 55(39) 2nd District 55(40) 1st District 55(48) Schuylkill District 57 Reports of the Inspections of the Anthracite and Bituminous Coal Regions of Pennsylvania, 1883-1896 58 Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, 1888-1896 59 Report of the Bureau of Mines of Pennsylvania, 1897-1902 60 Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania (Anthracite and Bituminous Parts), 1903-1916 Large university and public libraries, the Pennsylvania Geological Survey Library, and the State Library of Pennsylvania may have the reference reports. The books are usually under library Call No. TN805.04 A29 See the web site http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/bmr/historicalminingreports/years/reports????.htm but use the year of the report in place of the question marks. If you have difficulty finding the record in the referenced report in the attached database, do not have access to the referenced report, or are interested in helping add data to the database, contact Jerry Sherard, 429 South Moore St, Lakewood, CO 80226-2629 (include SASE) or email: shepard224@hotmail.com. Below is an alphabetical index by miner's name for fatal and non-fatal mine accidents in Pennsylvania for the years 1869, 1871, 1872, 1875, 1877, 1879, 1880, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1887, 1888, 1890 through 1914, 1915 (Anthracite), and 1916. Given in the index is: the name of the miner, date of the accident, miner's age, colliery (mine name), whether fatal (F) or non-fatal (N), page and reference (a for Part I Anthracite and b for Part II Bituminous) from which the information was extracted. In the index, only the colliery or mine's main characteristic name is given. If there is a Number given after the main colliery name, the Number usually refers to a particular entry number, shaft number, slope number, breaker number, etc. Additional descriptive names such as tunnel, vein, drift, stripping, breaker, slope, shaft, coal, etc. are not given. Date of accident or date died is indicated by a d following the date. Often, the date of accident was also the date died for fatal accidents. References: 1. Sherard, Gerald E., Researching An Ancestor's Mining Accident, published 2006, 43 pages, 1934 records, sort by city ; state, mine name, and accident date given. 2. http://www.coalcampusa.com/westpa/index.html Western Pennsylvania Coalfields 3. http://www.rootsweb.com/~paluzern/mines.htm Pennsylvania Mine Accidents 4. http://www.gendisasters.com/pa/ Pennsylvania Mine Disasters 5. http://www.msha.gov/District/Dist_01/History/history.htm History of Anthracite Coal Mining 6. http://website.lineone.net/~coalmining/DictionaryK.htm Coal Mining Glossary 7. http://xmlwords.infomine.com/xmlwords.htm Dictionary of Mining 8. http://www.msha.gov/TRAINING/LIBRARY/FatalRecordsSearch.asp Mine Safety and Health Administration 9. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/anthracitehistory/ Anthracite Coal Mining History Group