Blast in Mine Fatal to Five
Charleston Daily Mail, West Virginia
May 12, 1942
Fort Smith, Ark., May 12 (AP) -- Five miners were killed and two other were seriously injured in an explosion late yesterday at the Peerless Coal Company mine at Excelsior, 15 miles southwest of here.
Among those killed were:
George Young, 53
Arthur Baggett, 32
Newt Durham, 32
A. W. Hann, 50, all of Greenwood, Ark.
Seriously burned were:
Harris McAllister, 30
Tony Farrante, 35
W. H. Lewis of Greenwood, president of the mining company, said the accident apparently was caused by the explosion of gas or dust. He said the five had been killed instantly. The explosion occurred about 1,500 feet underground in this western Arkansas slope mine.
