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| Successful Mine Rescues in November |
| 1871 |
Nevada Gulch Mine Cave-in, Deer Lodge, Montana — Peter Coffey came in from Nevada Gulch for Dr. Mitchell and gave account of one of the most remarkable mining accidents we have heard of. It appeared that on Nevada Creek lived, remote from any other person, William Cleghorn, a miner of intelligence and industrious habits. The mail-carrier, on the previous Friday or Saturday, in going by, left his papers at the cabin and wished to borrow a mule from him, but seeing no one about, went on his route. On returning on Thursday be found the cabin still tenantless, and the papers remaining where he had placed them. This unusual occurrence aroused his suspicions and remembering he had seen tracks in the snow leading from the cabin on his last trip, he searched for and found them, and could find no returning track. He followed them to a drift in a bar, found that there had been a cave, and that Cleghorn was caught by it. Summoning help, the miners succeeded in reaching and rescuing the unfortunate miner and Mr. Coffey a few minutes later started for Deer Lodge, without ascertaining many facts, as Cleghorn wandered in his mind when he was saved, though he was conscious and rational when Coffey left. His head and chest were not caught in the earth, but his hip-joint was injured, if not dislocated, and his right leg crushed above the ankle. The drift was only a few feet below the surface, and he told them that on Sunday he could distinctly hear the miners walking and talking on the bar above, while he lay there crushed, famished for food and drink, in mortal pain, unable to attract their attention, and thus he lay for five and a half days. Mr. Cleghorn was a man of powerful build, weighing over 200 pounds, but it was said he was reduced to a skeleton when exhumed. Dr. Mitchell left immediately to attend him. He reported Cleghorn living and likely to recover. His hip was dislocated. Dr. Mitchell would amputate his right leg below the knee. Source document 
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| 1875 |
Chauncey and Grand Tunnel Mines Cave-in, Plymouth, Pennsylvania — Excellent mining knowledge or just lucky. You be the judge. A letter received on November 29, 1875, from Wilkesbarre, Pa., stated that the most extensive and serious mining casualty ever known in the Wyoming Valley, occurred at the Chauncey and Grand Tunnel mines, about two and a half miles south of Plymouth. About two weeks prior, Mr. Roberts, one of the proprietors of the Chauncey mine, noticed that the roof of the opening was working in a most extraordinary manner and was convinced that the mine was doomed to certain calamity. Upon seeing this, he gave orders for the men to leave the mine as soon as possible, and remove as much of the company's property as could be taken out on the spur of the moment. The miners, totaling 125 left, taking with them the implements of their calling, and two hours later the mine caved in. The effects were truly terrific. Huge boulders were thrown out of the mouth of the tunnel by compressed air, as if they had been pebbles, and the shock of the crash was like an earthquake. Source document
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| 1878 |
Sullivan Mine Explosion, Sullivan, Indiana — As a result of an explosion in the Sullivan mine, eight men were killed by the shock or soon died of suffocation. There were at the time 27 miners at work, of whom 15 were in the lower vein. Seven of these were saved after a lapse of over an hour, but how they managed to survive in the dense fumes and damp was a mystery. The 12 men on the upper vein were badly stunned but unhurt. Joseph Handford, Tom Irwin and Jack Smith distinguished themselves for their bravery in periling their lives to save the living and the recovery of the dead. The last named especially won the commendation of the whole community.
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| 1888 |
At 5:30 p.m. on November 9, an explosion occurred in the Frontenac Shaft No. 2 of the Cherokee and Pittsburg Coal Company. At 4 a.m. (10 hours), five had been rescued, and at 1 p.m. (19 hours), four more were brought out alive.
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| 1892 |
Hazledell Colliery Cave-in, Centralia, Pennsylvania — A cave-in occurred at the Hazledell Colliery at Centralia, operated by L. A. Riley & Company, where eight men were imprisoned in the mine for some hours, and two others were quickly taken out very badly injured. This colliery was situated about two miles from Ashland. The two men first rescued were Ira Rothermel and his son William from Mount Carmel. The cave-in was caused by the robbing of a pillar, or column, of coal that was left standing to support the roof. The work of rescue was under the direction of Superintendent Edward Williams. Those who were entombed included John Ketman, Jr., Robert Stahler, John Ryan, Allen Hoffman, Henry Martin, Frank Ryan, Thomas McDonald, and a Polander, name unknown. After his rescue, Ira Rothermel died from his injuries. He had a broken leg and was injured internally. Source document
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| 1893 |
Pittsburg and Lake Angeline Mine Cave-in, Ishpeming, Michigan — A large fall of ground occurred at the Pittsburg and Lake Angeline mine imprisoning three miners. Two were rescued uninjured, shortly after the fall, but the other man, John Rowe, remained buried and was dead. Source document
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| 1897 |
Central Mine Fire, Houghton, Michigan — After fire broke out in the Central mine and the miners ascended to the surface, it was discovered the three men were still in the mine. A relief party descended into the mine and by almost superhuman efforts rescued the imprisoned men, who were well exhausted. The mine openings were all been sealed airtight and the fire would be suffocated. Source document
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| 1898 |
Sampson Mine Cave-in, Lone Elm, Missouri — Three miners, Joseph Childress, Trix Krokoskia and William Schmulback, narrowly escaped being buried alive in the Sampson mine at Lone Elm. Fourteen men were working in the mine when several falling rocks warned them that a cave-in was threatened in a drift in which they and Hawkins were working. Hawkins hurried out and escaped, but 50 tons of earth and rock fell from the roof and sides of the drift, imprisoning his three companions. Help quickly came and the rescuers worked for four hours before they got the entombed men out. All three were alive and uninjured. Source document
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| 1901 |
Four days after the start of the Pocahontas Baby mine fire in Pocahontas, Virginia, Fritz Moulter was found barely alive, entombed in a room on the east side. Six physicians worked with him before he was restored to consciousness.
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| Packer No. 5 Colliery Cave-in, Girardville, Pennsylvania — Stephen Casper was rescued after being trapped for more than 12 hours in the Packer No. 5 Colliery at Girardville, Pennsylvania. He was uninjured but badly frightened. This was the second time Casper experienced such an ordeal, having been entombed in a similar manner in a mine near Wilkes-Barre several years earlier. No further information on the latter incident involving Mr. Casper has been found. Source document
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| Abandoned Anthracite Mine Rescue, Pittston, Pennsylvania — John Zuranki was rescued in a pitiable condition after spending 4 days lost without food and light in an abandoned Anthracite mine near Pittston, Pennsylvania. He was discovered accidentally by a watchman who had entered the mine. Zuranki was not missed from his boarding house since he told his family he was going away. Source document
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| 1902 |
Luke Fidler Mine Explosion, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Several miners working near the scene of the accident made a rush for the foot of the shaft and were overcome by the after damp following the explosion. They were rescued after an undisclosed period by the relief party and sent at once to the gangway.
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| 1903 |
Ferguson Mine Explosion, Dunbar, Pennsylvania — After an hour of frantic search, nine miners were picked up by the rescuing party in different positions of exhaustion. As they reached the open air they fell prostrate in the arms of their wives and children, who had spent that long, weary hour at the pit's mouth fearing that they would never see their loved ones again. Their faces were blackened, their hair scorched and clothing burned almost to shreds from the flames that followed the explosion.
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| 1904 |
Hudson Coal Company Fall of Person, Jersey City, New Jersey — Buried under ten tons of coal, with life sustained by means of a piece of gas pipe forced through the heavy mass, while his comrades worked heroically to rescue him, was the experience of Hugh Kelly, an employee of the Hudson Coal Company. Kelly had been at work on the top of a thirty-foot trestle, up to which big steel cars, each carrying fifty tons of coal, were run from the barges. Kelly was on a car fastening the brakes when another employee, Thomas Haggerty, pulled the lever which releases the coal from the bottom of the car. Kelly fell with the coal thirty feet, and in an instant was buried under tons of it. Kelly's fatal plunge was seen by Haggerty and his cries for help brought other employees, headed by the superintendent of the yard, to the scene. A long piece of gas pipe was shoved down through the coal, and fortunately reached the entombed man, who was thus saved from suffocation. When Kelly was reached his teeth were clinched viselike on the end of the gas pipe. An ambulance was summoned and Kelly taken to the hospital, where an examination proved that his injuries were fatal. Source document
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| 1906 |
San Toy No. 1 Mine Shaft Disaster, Corning, Ohio — Three men, who clung to the cage in which they were riding, were saved after an undisclosed period. The men were ascending in the mule cage when the door, which had been left open, caught against the sides of the shaft. Five were killed when they were thrown from the cage and fell 150 feet to the bottom of the shaft.
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| 1907 |
A cave-in deep inside the Draper Mine at Gilberton, Pennsylvania, followed by an inrush of culm and water from the surface trapped Michael McCabe for 87 hours before rescuers managed to free him. He was released from his prison barely alive. Source document 
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| 1909 |
There were tales of unbelievable suffering and endurance following the Cherry Mine Fire. One group of miners, 500 feet underground, had built a wall of mud, rocks, and timbers to block off the poisonous gases. They were in total darkness with only a pool of water leaking from a coal seam to drink. After 8 days of confinement, they could bear it no longer. They tore down the barricade and began crawling through the tunnels. Finally, they heard the sounds of a search party. Twenty-one men still alive from this group were rescued. 259 miners were killed in the disaster.
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| London Mine Fire, Ducktown, Tennessee — Eight men imprisoned in the London mine of the Tennessee Copper Company as the result of a shaft house fire, were rescued. None were injured. Mine Expert Ramsay, of the rescue station recently established by the federal government at Knoxville, arrived with helmets. The helmets were found to be of such weight that they could not be worn with ease into the levels and they were returned to the surface and abandoned. A rescue party of three was then formed and without helmets descended the shaft, finding the eight men on the sixth level. The miners were protected from smoke and gases by a partition they had built. Source document
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| Copper King Mine Cave-in, Reno, Nevada — Charles Moody and Harry Anderson, miners who were buried under tons of rock and timbers in a cave-in in the Copper King mine were rescued alive. Falling rock warned the men that something was wrong and gave them time to crawl up to the 170-foot level. They had barely reached safety when the cave-in occurred. Forty men worked 47 hours to rescue the buried miners. Source document
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Unnamed Mine Explosion, Gilchrist, Illinois — James Bennie helped to save Andrew Bogus and assisted to save Edward Wyatt from suffocation, Gilchrist, Illinois, November 22, 1909. Bogus, 29, and Wyatt, 41, shot firers, were in a mine when an explosion occurred, extinguishing their lights, damaging the ventilating system, and making useless one of two hoisting cages. Ten minutes after the accident, Bennie, 51, miner, with a lamp in his cap, descended steps in a section of the air shaft, followed by two officials of the mine. When he was 15 feet from the bottom, he found the steps gone, and he dropped, in darkness, to the bottom. The other men followed him, and they walked about 285 feet through smoke-filled entries and found Bogus and Wyatt. The former was delirious, and the latter was unconscious. While one man remained with Wyatt, Bennie and the other walked toward the hoisting shaft with Bogus, a distance of more than 425 feet. The smoke grew denser, and after a time Bennie proceeded alone. When he felt that he was being overcome by gas, he stooped close to the floor until he felt somewhat revived and then made his way back to Bogus and the other man. He again went forward alone, reached the shaft, and called to have a cage lowered. He did not wait for the cage but returned and helped get Bogus to the shaft. After the three were hoisted, Bennie again descended and went with other men to where Wyatt and the other man had been left. The air in the mine was then better, and all left in safety. Bogus recovered, but Wyatt died three days later of pneumonia, brought on by the inhalation of smoke or gas. James Bennie was awarded the Carnegie Hero Medal for his bravery. Source document 
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| Greenwood Colliery Fall of Person, Scranton, Pennsylvania — John Duff, a Greenwood colliery miner who walked into a shaft and fell a distance of 124 feet was not only alive, but, as far as could be ascertained by the doctors, was not seriously injured. There was a foot of water In the place where he landed. Source document
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| 1910 |
Fifty men who were working in the section of the Shoal Creek No. 1 Mine where the explosion occurred were rescued after an undisclosed period according to the mine management. Six miners died in the incident.
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| Fremont Mine Fire, Carson City, Colorado — The 200 men caught in the Fremont mine of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company were all hoisted to safety after the fire started in the mule stable underground. The miners were hoisted to the surface one by one, through an air shaft which offered the only way of escape. The Fremont mine was worked through two shafts, a haulage shaft and an air shaft. It was believed all the men in the mine were on the air shaft side of the fire and made their way safely to the surface. The mule stable, where the fire broke out is about 1,500 feet from the bottom of the haulage shaft. Source document
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| Jumbo Mine Explosion, Jumbo, Oklahoma — After an undisclosed period, just one miner was rescued from the shaft explosion of the Jumbo Mine, operated by the Choctaw Asphalt Company of St. Louis. Five miners descending in cars were blown to atoms and eight others were entombed and asphyxiated by the deadly fumes. |
| Victor American No. 3 Mine Fire, Delagua, Colorado — 18 miners were rescued from behind barricades 5 days and 21 hours following a fire in the Victor American No. 3 mine in Delagua, Colorado. 79 miners were killed in the disaster. Source document Source document 2
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| 1911 |
Bottom Creek Mine Explosion, Vivian, West Virginia — By heroic work the rescuers reached the scene of the disaster after an undisclosed period and found engineer Alexander Williams and 3 other men who were brought out alive. All were injured. Hoping to reach others of the entombed men the rescuers pushed the work with all haste. One after another they found the victims and by midnight all but two had been brought out of the mine. The dead included 4 other engineers.
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| Needmore Zinc Mine Explosion and Cave-in, Oronogo, Missouri — A cave-in, caused by an overloaded mill hopper, caused six men to be buried alive for an undisclosed period in the Needmore Zinc Mine at Oronogo, but they were rescued soon afterward when a hole was blasted through to them. The pumps were disabled by the crash of earth, which took down the mill and all machinery. The mine was operated by J. H. Magee and John Newland of Carthage. Source document
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| 1912 |
Horn Silver Mine Explosion and Cave-in, Frisco, Utah — A party of 7 was entombed for 14 hours following an explosion and cave-in at the Horn silver mine near Frisco, Utah. The group, which included the 2 teenage daughters of the mine foreman, was on a sightseeing tour of the mine. The group was imprisoned at 10 o'clock the night before when an explosion occurred. A cave-in that followed blocked their exit until rescuers removed the mass of earth and timbers. Source document
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| Delaware and Hudson Mine Fall of Person, Scranton, Pennsylvania — To fall down a distance of 68 feet and escape uninjured, except for slight lacerations of the scalp and face, was the unusual experience of Sank Mimce, 31, of Olyphant. While standing at the opening of the Delaware and Hudson mine shaft, Mimce suddenly became dizzy and tumbled down the shaft pit. That he was not killed was due to the fact that there was three feet of water at the bottom of the shaft and this broke his fall. Source document
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| 1913 |
Sunday Creek Mine No. 9 Lost Miner, Shawnee, Ohio — Ben Arbaugh, 37, was rescued from the Sunday Creek Mine No. 9, after being lost for three days and nights in an abandoned part of the mine without food or water. He went into the mine on October 31st to get some tools and became confused. He wandered into an old tunnel and tramped for hours trying to find his way. Arbaugh's lamp finally burned out and he groped around in the dark for 48 hours. Exhausted and partly overcome by black damp, he gave up all hope of escape. When found he was in a semi-conscious condition, but soon regained his senses after being brought out to light and fresh air. He would recover. Source document
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| Richards Colliery No. 1 Slope Cave-in, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania — Joseph Stankoskie and Charles Wycotski, of Mount Carmel, were working in the Richards Colliery No. 1 slope, east 9 vein, No. 11 breast. The breast was 60 feet long, and 12 feet from the face there, was a blind heading. The men fired a shot and the top ran away. Before firing the shot the men had gone into the blind heading for protection and when the top ran, they were closed in. The accident occurred at quitting time. The miners failed to report off after quitting time. Safety Inspector Michael Mannion made an investigation and discovered the accident. In a short time, there was a force of workmen engaged in removing the coal that blocked the manway and in fifteen minutes the two miners were released. They were not injured in any manner. Source document
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| 1914 |
Bonar Mine, East Bernstadt, Kentucky — Three men were overcome by powder smoke. They were rescued by the State mine inspector and the mine superintendent. One miner was revived by artificial respiration; the other two died. Source document
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| Sibley Mine Cave-in, Ely, Minnesota — Entombed for five days and nights in a black hole ninety feet below the surface in the Sibley mine, Joseph Skusik gasped out a tale of horror from his hospital cot last night. For 112 hours Skusik fought hunger, thirst, and fear that he was going mad. A few yards away, in the blackness of the mine drift, he heard another miner, imprisoned by the cave-in, shouting to him in despair while the dirt seeped slowly down for hours and hours. "Then the dirt came with a rush" said Skusik. "I heard him yell once — Then it was all quiet and I knew he was gone." The body of the smothered miner was brought to the surface when Skusik was hoisted to the top of the shaft. It lay a short distance from the spot where rescuers found Skusik. Efforts to find four other miners entombed in the cave-in were redoubled while their wives and little children waited about the hospital where Skusik lay. Mine officials, however, held out little hope for finding the men alive. Source document
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| Fall of Top Rock at West Brookside Mine, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Two men were imprisoned for four days, when they were rescued by a party led by company officials. Source document 1 Source document 2
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| 1915 |
Northwestern Mine Explosion, Ravensdale, Washington — A rescue party under the superintendent at once commenced recovery and repair of the auxiliary slope and rescued 4 men; 3 were unconscious and were given artificial respiration, but 1 died.
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| Boomer No. 2 Mine Explosion, Boomer, West Virginia — 27 miners were rescued from behind a barricade seven hours after an explosion in the Boomer No. 2 mine in Boomer, West Virginia. Source document
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| 1916 |
Bessie Mine Explosion, Palos, Alabama — About 15 hours after the explosion, a trained apparatus crew of 5 men found 3 men at a break in the air line. The party was then about 1,000 feet from fresh air, and the men were able to proceed to safety with the aid of the apparatus crew. Thirty men were killed by the explosion, 5 escaped unassisted, and 3 were rescued as noted. Source document
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| 1917 |
Henry Clay Mine Coal Slide, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Michael Jacobs, covered by five wagon loads of coal in a chute at the Heading Company's Henry Clay shaft was smothered for an undisclosed period when Frank Smith, fireboss, appeared. Amid great peril, he caused the coal to flow into a gangway and rescued Jacobs, who was in a critical condition. Source document
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| 1918 |
Consolidated Mine Cave-in, Plymouth, Pennsylvania — Vinve Frizonti, a young Italian miner, was rescued after being trapped for 14 hours by a cave-in at the Consolidated mine near Plymouth, Pennsylvania. Frizonti was caught at the 1000-foot level when the crash came. He was standing by a drilling machine and this prevented the falling rock crushing him to death. He was unhurt except for bruises. Source document
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| 1919 |
Gold Hunter Mine Cave-in, Mullan, Idaho — Emil Sayko and Peter Grant were rescued 14 days following a cave-in at the Gold Hunter mine near Mullan, Idaho. When they were finally reached, Grant and Sayko were wrapped in blankets and their eyes were bandaged to protect them from the unaccustomed light. They were described as "looking fine," although "a trifle weak." In the same incident, Jacob Delmarh and James Collins were rescued from a secondary cave-in after being trapped for 15 hours. Source document
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| 1920 |
Arnold Mine Fire, Earlington, Kentucky — Ten miners were rescued from the burning Arnold Mine. The rescue was effected by tunneling around the fire which had shut off the single entry of the mine and came 20 hours after the flames broke out. Source document
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| Crescent Mine Fire, Peoria, Illinois — One hundred and fifty miners were rescued from the Crescent mine after being trapped for more than an hour. The fire was caused by a spark from a circuit breaker. The miners were freed by an escapement in another part of the mine. Several were overcome by smoke. Considerable damage was done to the mine. Source document
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| 1921 |
Monarch Mine Fire, Louisville, Colorado — Following an outbreak of fire in the surface buildings of the National Fuel Company's Monarch mine, nine men who were reported to have been trapped in the mine were said to have been rescued through an air shaft. Source document
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| 1922 |
Dolomite No. 3 Mine Explosion, Dolomite, Alabama — An unidentified foreman assembled thirty workers after the blast took place and ordered all to remain with him and work on fixing up brattices with stones and canvas to shut off the dreaded afterdamp gas that he felt sure was to follow the explosion. When the fans started up again, the air cleared sufficiently to indicate that it was safe to tear down the temporary wall and the foreman led his men out. One miner, who objected to remaining with the rest of the men was found only a few feet away from the temporary brattice. He had become a victim of the gas.
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| Reilly No. 1 Mine Explosion, Spangler, Pennsylvania — 33 miners were taken out alive after an undisclosed period, but three succumbed to their injuries. Of the remaining 30 rescued, all were at the Spangler Hospital and the attending physicians, who were doing everything in their power for them, said all would recover.
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| Anthracite No. 4 Mine Explosion, Cerrillos, New Mexico — 14 injured miners were rushed to the surface by the volunteer rescue crew and were taken to a doctor's, a dentist's offices and a nearby home, which were hurriedly turned into hospitals. Women of Madrid worked as nurses with the aid of doctors and other volunteers. First aid was administered here, then the injured were placed in a box car and taken to Albuquerque, where they were placed in hospitals. The injured were burned and in some cases their arms or legs broken.
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| Anthracite Mine Cave, Branchdale, Schuylkill County, PA — Mrs. Loretta Kehler, 71, was found alive in a mine cave near the Otto Colliery after being missing for a week. A party of men who had given chase to a rabbit heard her cries for help and rescued her. Source document
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| Hamilton No. 6 Mine Explosives Detonation, Cherokee, Kansas — Thirteen men, trapped in the pit of the Hamilton Coal & Coke Company's No. 6 mine explosion were all rescued alive after an undisclosed period. Reports at first thought these men to be dead. The explosion was caused by powder. Source document
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| 1925 |
Trenton Coal Mine Cave-in, Trenton, Missouri — Seven miners dug their way to freedom after having been entombed for eleven hours more than 200 feet underground by a cave-in of the shaft of the Trenton Coal Mine. They were none the worse for their experiences. They had taken food into the mine with them and there was ample air supply. Rescue workers, who had dug feverishly at the fallen earth and rock shutting the men in, heard the click of shovels on the other side of the barrier. Soon the entombed miners tunneled through to the open passage. Source document
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| 1926 |
Six miners were trapped by water in the Tomhicken Mine of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company in Pennsylvania on November 16, 1926. One man died, but five men were rescued 8 days later. The five rescued were Henry Kirchdoerfer, August Yensick, Michael Lorincz, John Gondera and Mike Lawrence. Source document 1 Source document 2
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| Mound Mine Explosion — An explosion killed 5 of the 18 men in the mine. Two died of burns and 3 from carbon monoxide poisoning. Two injured men were rescued several hours later and 11 escaped uninjured. Gas accumulated by the wrecking of a door, was ignited by the arcing of a trolley wheel of a locomotive. Coal dust was ignited, but the explosion was stopped by rock dust and water on the entries.
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| Morea Colliery Mudslide, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Two men entombed when a mud swamp gave way blocking the entrance to the Morea Colliery were brought to the surface uninjured. The men who were trapped were rescued after 13 hours of feverish work by squad of 50 men assembled by officials of the Madeira, Hill and Company, owners of the mine. Source document
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| Gardner Mine Fall of Person, Brazil, Indiana — Buck Carter, a coal miner, was injured seriously when he fell down the shaft of the Gardner mine. He was suffering from a fractured skull and injuries to his back besides severe lacerations. The mud and water at the bottom of the shaft broke the force of the fall. He was taken to the Community Hospital at Brazil. Source document
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| 1927 |
Turkey Run Colliery Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Rescuers worked more than ten hours to release Julian Jecken, a miner who was imprisoned in the Turkey Run colliery after being caught under a fall of rock and coal. He was removed at once to the Locust Mountain State hospital, where it was said he was suffering from contusions, a possible fracture of the pelvis, and lacerations on the forehead. He was treated by the company surgeon of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company immediately after being released from his precarious position. The injured man's condition was reported as serious. Source document
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| 1928 |
Anthracite Mine Hole Fall of Person, Centralia, Pennsylvania Anthony Ravenis, age 5, was playing with companions when he slid under a guard rail about a deep mine hole and dropped into the water far below. He managed to hang on to some bushes until companions got ropes and help and succeeded in getting him from the hole. Source document
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| 1929 |
McNeil Coal Company Mine Cave-in, McGregor, Colorado — Three miners entombed 400 feet below the surface in the rock works of the McNeil Coal Company mine were liberated. A crew of 50 men had worked in relays for 13 hours clearing away an avalanche of dirt, rocks and coal which had blocked the way. The entombed men were suffering from intense cold but otherwise were none the worse for their experience. They were supplied with air through a pipe. Source document
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| 1930 |
Lutie No. 5 Mine Explosion, Lutie, Oklahoma — The explosion sealed only one entry, known as number 10 1-2. About 17 men were said to be in this entry. Workmen reached entry 10 1-2 about two hours after the explosion and brought one man to the surface alive. Two other miners, L. B. Boyd and Lon Swindle were brought out of mine alive but later died in Hartshorne Hospital. Bodies of the other men were brought up slowly and taken to a morgue.
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| Millfield No. 6 Mine Explosion, Millfield, Ohio — 19 miners were rescued 10 hours after the explosion. The miners, most of them unconscious, were found behind a ventilation partition. John Dean, Inside Foreman, is credited with saving the lives of the rescued miners, including him. Dean and the other miners erected and gathered behind a ventilation partition which protected them from the deadly gases. Dean risked several trips into the smoke-filled entries to carry some of his comrades to safety before he collapsed and had to be carried to safety.
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| Lehigh Navigation No. 1 Colliery Cave-in, Cranberry, Pennsylvania — Florian Pucchule, 45, a miner employed by the Lehigh Navigation Coal Company, was instantly killed at 9 o'clock yesterday morning when he was caught under a rush of coal in the No. 1 slope of the Cranberry operations. He was completely buried, and it required six hours to extricate the body. Pucchule's laborer had a narrow escape from also being buried alive. He escaped the main rush of coal was quickly rescued unhurt after an undisclosed period. Source document
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| 1932 |
Unnamed Anthracite Coal Mine Cave-in, Avoca, Pennsylvania — Robert Hughes and Joseph P. Tigue helped to rescue Thomas A. Coleman and Louis J. Doran from a mine cave-in, Avoca, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1932. While Coleman, 37, miner, and Doran, 45, mine laborer, were digging coal in an abandoned entry that connected with a narrow shaft, a collapse occurred. Coleman was buried under shale at the bottom of the shaft. Doran was knocked to the floor of the entry and lay under shale four feet deep 18 feet from the shaft. Using their hands, Hughes, 50, miner, and Tigue removed the shale from Coleman. Occasionally shale sloughed off the sides and dropped from overhead. In three hours they removed enough shale to free Coleman, who was pulled out. Hughes and Tigue worked all afternoon and far into the night to make a trench to Doran. They erected posts, piled the shale behind boards resting against the posts, and finally reached Doran. While they were removing debris from over him, the sides of the entry caved in. Hughes and the other man ran to the shaft and were hoisted out. During the remainder of the night and the next morning all of the shale and other debris was removed by men under safe conditions, adequate braces having been placed, and Doran was taken out. He suffered injuries from which he died seven hours later. Robert Hughes and Joseph P. Tigue were bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for their bravery.
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| Brookside Colliery Inundation, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Four miners were rescued after an undisclosed period from the flooded Brookside Colliery near Pottsville, Pennsylvania. A shot fired by workers released an underground pocket of water. The four trapped men waited for hours for the aid they knew was coming toward them. Charles Deichert, 23; and Simon Bohr, 36; drowned in the incident. Source document
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| Jackson Hill Mine Cave-in, Portsmouth, Ohio — Trapped under a fall of slate, Robert Hayslett, 40, and James DeLong, 40, were rescued after an undisclosed period by fellow workmen at the Jackson Hill coal mine. Hayslett was injured seriously. Source document
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| Pennsylvania Colliery Cave-in, Green Ridge, Pennsylvania — Albert Dellabrida, 28, narrowly escaped death when a rock estimated at a ton rolled upon him at the Pennsylvania Colliery at Green Ridge. Dellabrida and his three buddies, Sylvester Getrick, Mike Kulick, Ralph Bridy were working in No. 1 slope, east No. 5 vein at the time of the mishap. All the miners but Dellabrida escaped from a large piece of top rock which fell near where the group was working. The unfortunate miner failed to escape from the scene in time to avoid the rock which rolled upon him and held him prisoner for a half hour. The three buddies, with the aid of another succeeded in extricating the injured man from beneath the rock. Dellabrida was rushed to the Shamokin state hospital where his condition was reported to be not serious. His injuries were confined to the body. Source document
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| 1933 |
Five men were rescued from a mine after an undisclosed period in South Scranton, Pennsylvania following a cave-in. Two of the men, Paul Mariello and Carmel Comparta, were seriously hurt, suffering from internal injuries. The other three men left the scene before they could be identified. Source document
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| 1934 |
Harmon Mine Cave-in, Placerville, California — Rescued after being entombed by a mine cave-in for 16 hours, Owen W. Terry declared he would return to his job despite his harrowing experience. Terry, superintendent of the Harmon Mine was uninjured but was still and sore from being pinioned by heavy timbers, which prevented a huge boulder from crushing him. He was trapped by the rock fall which killed another miner, William Stonerook. Source document
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| Unnamed Mine Cave-in, Charleston, West Virginia — Imprisoned for more than 24 hours in a tiny wet niche in the mine wall behind a huge pile of slate and jagged rock, Toni Tianosi was rescued by fellow-workers who labored day and night, working in 20-minute shifts to dig him a tunnel to freedom. He was taken to his home — To bed, to rest, and most important in Toni's opinion, to get warm. Source document
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| Abandoned Lincoln Colliery Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Charles Barr, of Pine Grove, was reported recovering from a harrowing experience of being entombed for more than six hours in an abandoned mine shaft. A rush of earth and coal trapped Barr in the abandoned workings at the Lincoln colliery. Twenty men digging in shifts rescued him. Source document
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| 1936 |
Abandoned Mine Shaft Fall of Person, Merced, California — Alvin Peterson, 22, was critically injured as the result of a fall down a 150-foot abandoned mine shaft. Peterson suffered a fractured pelvis, spine injuries, possible basal skull fracture and internal injuries, arm injuries and numerous lacerations and bruises. He was rushed to the hospital by Dr. J. S. Webster of Mariposa. Source document
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| Abandoned Anthracite Mine Rescue, Morris Ridge, Pennsylvania — Rescuers found Andrew Chuba, 19, and Michael Bolick, 18, alive yesterday after 7 hours entombment in a coal hole at nearby Morris Ridge. The youths were taken to an Ashland hospital suffering from shock. They were trapped after they entered an abandoned hole. Source document
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| Unnamed Mine Asphyxiation, Schullsburg, Wisconsin — Albert Radke, 35, was recovering from gas poisoning after being rescued by Elmer Bertham, his partner, from a local mine. When Radke was overcome, Bertram withstood the gas long enough to get a car, load Radke into it and come up the shaft. Source document
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| Independent Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Trevorton, Pennsylvania — Trapped in a rush of coal in an independent mine near Trevorton, Jacob Smeltz, Sr., 65, suffered severe internal injuries and his son, Jacob. Jr., escaped with minor contusions. The aged independent miner was in the Mary Packer Hospital, where his condition was reported as fair. Father and son were at work at the bottom of a 60-foot shaft when the fall occurred, burying both men. Jacob Smeltz, Jr., was buried to the shoulders but was able to shout to his brother-in-law, Kenneth Williams, who was at the head of the shaft. Descending to the foot of the shaft, Williams was successful in extricating Jacob, Jr., and the two then rescued the completely covered aged miner. It was with difficulty they managed to hoist the injured man to the surface, where a truck hurried him to the hospital at Sunbury. Source document
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| 1937 |
Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania — Rescue workers freed the second of three bootleg miners trapped Friday by a cave-in in a makeshift mine slope near the Potts colliery of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. After an undisclosed period, Charles Ruganis, 34, was taken to a hospital in a serious condition with a fractured arm and a possible fracture of the pelvis. He was also suffering from shock. John Plichesski, 29, died soon after he was brought to the top of the slope the night before. Charles Bolinski, 55, remained in the mine. He had not been heard from since the cave-in occurred. Source document
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| Lytle Colliery Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Two miners were saved from death in the Lytle Colliery where they had been imprisoned for more than twenty-four hours. Rescue crews, working in relays, rescued Harry Hunter, 44, and Albert Muraski, 34, after tunneling through many tons of rock and coal on the fourth level. They were taken to a Pottsville hospital for observation. Physicians said their condition was not serious but that they would be detained until all danger of pneumonia was past. Source document
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| Abandoned Mine Fall of Person, Duelwel, Missouri — Joe Snyder, age 10, was rescued from an abandoned mine shaft, 90 feet deep, two hours after he had fallen into the shaft while fleeing to his home following a fist fight with two schoolmates. Examination at a hospital showed the boy suffered a broken back and skull fractures. His condition was described as critical. Source document
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| 1938 |
Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania — Two miners, William Bokuniewicz, 52, and Joseph Comisky, 18, were rescued 40 hours after they were trapped in a bootleg Anthracite mine cave-in at Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Hospital attaches said both were in fine shape but were being guarded against pneumonia. Source document
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| Nydegger Mine Cave-in, Mill Creek, West Virginia — Freed after eight hours of work by their comrades, two miners who were trapped under a big rock were in serious condition in an Elkins hospital. Attendants said they doubted if Samuel Jenkins, 35, would recover. Ralph Starr, 26, was severely but not critically hurt, they said. The men were hurt in the Nydegger mine, near Mill Creek. Source document
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| Lehigh Navigation Mine No. 6 Cave-in, Coaldale, Pennsylvania — Two men were rescued alive from beneath a rush of coal in a chute on the fourth level of the No. 6 mine of the Lehigh Navigation Coal Company. The accident victims, Michael Rock and Frank Byer, were engaged in placing plank in the chute when the rush occurred. Rock was completely covered and Byer was covered to the shoulders. Rescuers worked from 11:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon (3 hours) when they freed Rock, and an hour later (4 hours) succeeded in freeing Byer. Both men were able to walk from the workings and physicians said they had escaped serious injuries. Rock, who had been covered, told rescuers his head was protected between two large lumps of coal, permitting him to breathe. Byer's head was free at all times. Both men refused to go to Coaldale Hospital for physical checkups, declaring they had escaped injuries and did not suffer any material evidence of shock. Source document
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| 1939 |
Butterfield Canyon Mine Cave-in, Bingham, Utah — Keith Brown, 28, died in the Bingham hospital of a broken neck suffered in a mine cave-in. The victim's brother, Burl Brown, 32, was in fairly good condition. He suffered several broken ribs in the same accident. Officials of the Combined Metals Reduction Company said the cave-in occurred in a slope of the company's Butterfield Canyon mine when timbering gave way while the two men were working. Both men were almost completely buried under timbers and earth and were rescued with difficulty. Burl Brown aided his rescue by crawling out of his hip-length rubber boots, but it was almost two more hours before his brother was extricated. Source document
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| Wilson Mine Fall of Person, Lake Lynn, Pennsylvania — Trapped in a large coal bin after he saved himself from probable serious injuries by catching a two-by-four beam, Millard Johnson, 27, held on for nearly half an hour before his screams attracted a trucker, Leslie Morgan, who rescued the man a few minutes before a heavy car of coal dumped into the bin. Johnson was mending the track end at the Wilson mine, operated by J. L. Corbin of Lake Lynn, when he fell into the bin. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania — Rescue workers found Edison Schlauch, 34, dead under tons of debris in a coal hole two miles northeast of Mahanoy City. Two companions, Anthony Nackoviski, 21, and Peter Bogdanovicz, 31, both of Shenandoah, were rescued after an undisclosed period. Both suffered shock and exposure but otherwise were uninjured. The Deputy Coroner said the cave-in buried Schlauch but that the two other men were caught near the roof of the hole in such a way that they were able to breathe. Source document
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| Alaska Colliery Cave-in, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania — Joseph Wydra, 34, and Robert Morgan, who were rescued after having been closed in several hours in the mines at the Alaska colliery were still feeling the effects of the dampness of their confine but otherwise were alright following their experience. The fall which trapped them was a heavy fall and enclosed the two men in the pillar hole until they were finally rescued nearly 5 hours later. The night foreman discovered the plight of the miners and immediately summoned other bosses and workmen to begin the work of breaking through the barrier of rock and debris. Source document
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| 1940 |
Penn-Anthracite Collieries Company Cave-in, Scranton, Pennsylvania — Julius Yankowski was rescued after spending 49 hours trapped by a cave-in in a mine operated by the Penn-Anthracite Collieries Company near Scranton, Pennsylvania. His companion, James Long, was found dead when reached by rescuers. Source document
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| 1941 |
Davis Coal and Coke Mine No. 25, Thomas, West Virginia — A localized explosion occurred in this mine. Three men were killed by asphyxiation and burns and one man who was rescued from the explosion area was resuscitated. The ignition was caused by opening a non-permissible flame safety lamp by a fire boss in the presence of an explosive mixture of methane and air near the face of the working place. Source document Final Accident Report (53 Mb)
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| 1942 |
West Kentucky No. 10 Mine Explosion, Providence, Kentucky — Following the West Kentucky No. 10 explosion, the rescue party headed by District Mine Inspector James Fugate brought out nine trapped miners after an undisclosed period. They were unable to reach six other victims in time to save their lives.
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| 1943 |
American Rolling Mill No. 3 Mine Explosion, Nellis, West Virginia — Nine men lost their lives and two others were hurt after a gas explosion wrecked a section of the No. 3 mine of American Rolling Mill Company. Only eleven men were in the mine at the time of the blast, the first in seventeen years, said Superintendent A. E. Oakley. Two were brought out alive after an undisclosed period and sent to hospitals at Charleston, twenty-five miles away. The blast occurred in a mechanical loading section two and a half miles underground. The rescued men were William Barker and Lawrence Vincent. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Three bootleg miners were recuperating at their homes after a nerve-shattering experience, in which they were entombed 34 hours in a coal hole before being rescued. They received bruises and lacerations when trapped in a collapsed bootleg mine shaft but suffered mostly from exposure. When the rescuers broke through the barrier, they formed rope slings to haul the entombed men from the mine. They were wrapped in heated blankets and taken to Shamokin Hospital where they were treated and kept under observation for 24 hours, before being allowed to return home. The three miners rescued were Nicholas Logush, Theodore Horoschak and Jacob Merena. Source document
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| 1944 |
Maryland Fuel Mine Cave-in, Lonaconing, Maryland — William Reiber, 49, of Douglas street, was rescued from the Maryland Fuel mine after being pinioned for two hours by a cave-in of timber supports. Reiber suffered a fractured right leg and was admitted to Memorial Hospital. The mine was owned by the Jenkins Coal Company. Source document
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| Boothton Mine No. 2 Cave-in, Birmingham, Alabama — Three coal miners, trapped more than 2 days in the No. 2 mine of the Boothton Coal Mining Company were rescued unharmed, it was revealed by D. A Thomas, company president. The trio, Lewis Lawley, Ellis Boothe, and Leslie Patton were entombed 8,000 feet from the mine entrance. Rescue squads who reached them passed food through holes in the barrier. Source document
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| Abandoned Mine Shaft Fall of Person, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — John Stebila, 16, was a patient in serious condition at Shamokin Hospital, the result of an accident which befell him as he was assisting in fighting a forest fire. The youth was a member of a fire-fighting group which was summoned to battle a blaze near the mining community. According to companions who took him to Shamokin Hospital, he fell a distance of more than 250 feet to the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft. Rescue workers worked for some time before they were able to bring the injured boy to the surface, and he was then taken to Shamokin Hospital. Doctors at the hospital said the accident victim sustained compound fractures of the hip, lacerations of the scalp, pelvic injuries, and a possible skull fracture. Source document
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| 1948 |
John George Lease Mill Entrapment, Wardner, Idaho — George A. Scheurich was rescued after being buried for four hours under seven feet of muck in a chute at the John George lease mill in Wardner. Fellow millmen and Bunker Hill employees rescued him by tearing out the sides of the ore chute. Scheurich was alone when the accident occurred and it is believed he was walking on top of the muck when it started to roll. He was uninjured, but suffered from cold and cramp and was being kept in the hospital for observation. Source document
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| 1949 |
Maple Hill Colliery Cave-in, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania — Rescuers brought out 15 weary coal miners early today who had spent eight hours trapped behind a rock fall 900 feet underground. The trapped men dug continuously during their captivity to help rescue crews working from the other side clear away the tons of rock, coal and dirt which blocked their path to freedom. Physicians who examined each of the men as they came to the surface said that they suffered no ill effects. They were sent home to rest. The men had been trapped in the No. 6 slope of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company's Maple Hill colliery when a runaway mine car jumped the track and knocked out timbers supporting the sides and roof of the tunnel. The crashing timbers and a warning rumble alerted the men, but the sides and roof of the tunnel collapsed with a roar before they could flee. The rock fall occurred only two hours after the men started working yesterday afternoon. All 15 had enough food in their lunch boxes. Source document
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| Alaska Coal Company Mine Cave-in, Hinton, West Virginia — Howard Daniels, 41, of Beelick
Knob, received treatment at the hospital, after being removed from under a slate fall at the Alaska Coal Company near Hinton, where he was trapped for about three hours. He was to be X-rayed for possible fractures, but the extent of his injuries was not fully determined, although he suffered shock and exposure. Source document
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| 1950 |
Auchincloss No. 2 Mine Cave-in, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania — Walter Legins, 39, coal mine shaftman, helped to rescue Stephen C. Grozio, 49, coal mine shaftman, from a cave-in in a mine, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, November 20, 1950. At night while Grozio and two other men were at work on a platform in a mine-shaft 1,160 feet below ground-level, a cave-in occurred above them. Grozio jumped quickly onto a cage partly protected by a metal canopy in an adjoining section of the shaft, as a huge mass of debris struck the platform and demolished it. The other two men fell with the debris from 250 feet above the bottom of the shaft. The cage was wrenched from its guides but remained suspended 150 feet below a landing. The rumble of falling debris was heard at the surface, but the extent of the cave-in could not be determined. A group comprising two foremen, Legins, and three other men entered the mine at another shaft and reached the landing. Visibility into the damaged shaft was negligible, but all noted that a section of the shaft opposite the landing had fallen away. Crozio's head-lamp was dimly sighted. In response to calls, Grozio apprised the others of conditions and told them his hands were numbed. Only Legins volunteered to descend to Crozio. Although aware that another cave-in might be imminent, Legins with a rope tied to him entered the shaft and was lowered to the cage, where he removed the rope. Using a metal bar, he broke away an obstruction in the shaft above the cage. Calling repeatedly to the landing with directions for the raising and lowering of the cage, Legins and Crozio after 20 minutes engaged the guide and were drawn to the landing. Legins and Grozio were taken to the surface. After extensive digging operations, the bodies of the other two men were recovered; and the shaft was closed permanently. Crozio was chilled, and he and Legins were nervous. Both recovered. Walter Legins was bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for his bravery. Source document 1 Source document 2
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| 1951 |
Blue Flame Mine Rescue, Plano, Iowa — Eugene Welch, 40, trapped 125 feet underground, was released by
his fellow workers afternoon a few hours after a doctor was critically injured in a plunge down the mine shaft. Welch underwent amputation of his right leg below the knee following his rescue by fellow miners. Dr. C. L. Richey, 44, was in "very critical condition" from multiple fractures suffered when the cable broke on a cage in which he was being lowered into the mine to aid Welch. Welch's leg was drawn into the cutting chain on a coal-cutting machine while he was working in the Blue Flame coal mine a mile south of Plano. The men were working in a space 28 inches high when Welch's trouser leg caught in the endless chain which is used to cut into the vein of coal. Source document
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| Unnamed Mystic Coal Mine Tragedy, Mystic, Iowa — Dr. Granvil L. Richey, 44, who was injured seriously November 6 at Centerville, lowa, while attempting to descend into a mine shaft to administer aid to a stricken miner, was reportedly in an improved condition at St. Mary's hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, after undergoing a series of operations as a result of his injuries. Dr. Richey suffered a broken nose, jaw, left leg, right heel and ankle, when a cable broke while he was descending into the shaft to aid the miner, plunging the elevator and its occupant 125 feet to the bottom of the shaft. The Centerville physician, a graduate of Columbus high school and Indiana university medical school, was the medical director at St. Joseph's hospital in Centerville, where he was taken immediately after the accident occurred. The miner the Doctor was going down to aid was Eugene Welch. He was caught in a cutting machine. His leg required amputation in hospital 3 hours after the accident. Note: No mention of the name or owner of the mine where this accident occurred could be found in multiple news articles other than to say it was a coal mine located near Mystic, which is northwest of Centerville, Iowa in Appanoose County. Source document
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| 1954 |
Abandoned Anthracite Coal Mine Fall of Person, Shaft, Pennsylvania — Alden A. Hartz, Jr., 27, construction worker, rescued Catherine M. Murphy, 72, from a cave-in, Shaft, Pennsylvania, November 23, 1954. Mrs. Murphy was crossing a field near her home when a cave-in occurred above an abandoned coal mine underlying that area. Ground gave way beneath her; and she fell into a hole 70 feet deep caused by the cave-in, landing on a mound of fallen earth which rose 20 feet above the bottom of the hole. She sustained severe injuries and partially was buried by earth. The hole was four feet wide at the surface and thence downward to the bottom widened irregularly to 40 feet, the sides having numerous overhanging protuberances. Attracted by the screams of Mrs. Murphy, Hartz and others gathered at the hole. A 20-foot ladder was placed on the ground across the hole. Although he could observe that the sides of the hole were unstable, Hartz, who observed others already there were reluctant to enter the hole, volunteered at once to descend to Mrs. Murphy and tied the end of 150-foot rope to himself. He was lowered into the opening carrying a hand lamp. Three men played out the rope, and another man lay prone on the ladder to guide the rope as Hartz was lowered 50 feet to the mound. Descending 12 feet on the mound, he found Mrs. Murphy and freed her from the fallen earth. She became unconscious. He had difficulty obtaining footing on the muddy slope and called to the men above to pull slowly on the rope. Hartz drew Mrs. Murphy to the top of the mound. He saw small stones and dirt falling from the sides of the hole and realized another cave-in might be imminent but removed the rope from himself and fastened it securely to Mrs. Murphy, deciding because of her injuries to have her taken up separately while he waited on the mound. At Hartz's call the men lifted Mrs. Murphy to the surface. The rope was returned to Hartz, and he was drawn rapidly from the hole after being in it seven minutes. Mrs. Murphy was rushed to a hospital but died of her injuries two days later. Hartz was nervous but recovered. Mr. Hartz was bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for his bravery. Source document
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| 1955 |
Union Pacific Coal Mine Cave-in, Rock Springs, Wyoming — Rescuers dug frantically today in their attempt to reach the last of three men trapped by a cave-in at a Union Pacific coal mine near Rock Springs. One of the other two miners, Louis Julius, 38, was rescued apparently in good shape, but his companion, John Nesoit, 41, a mine foreman, was crushed to death a few yards away. Julius owed his escape to his machine under which the rescuers found him huddled after seven hours of frantic digging. Source document
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| 1957 |
Unnamed Coal Mine Entrapment, Stockdale, Pennsylvania — Robert P. Thompson, 14, schoolboy, died after rescuing John T. Vingless, 13, schoolboy, from a cave-in, Coupon, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1957. While John and Robert were digging for coal in a small pit four and a half feet deep at an abandoned strip mine, one side of the pit collapsed and clay, slate, and coal in a high ridge above it slid onto them. Both boys, who were kneeling in the pit with their heads two feet below the top, were covered chest-deep. John's hands were pinned, and a lump of slate 18 inches square and four inches thick rested on his head, pressing his face into the clay so that he barely was able to breathe. Although he had sustained serious injuries to his back, chest, and legs, Robert freed his hands and dug himself out. Unable to stand, he began crawling toward a nearby road to summon help, but at John's pleas he dragged himself back to the pit. Although in considerable pain, he moved the lump of slate from John's head. John then dug himself out with some assistance from Robert, who removed several small pieces of slate. John walked and Robert crawled 200 feet to the road, calling for help. John's mother was attracted, and the boys then were removed to a hospital. John sustained a wrenched back and hip injuries but recovered. Robert's injuries were extensive, including damage to his spinal cord, which caused his death later in the day. Robert P. Thompson was posthumously bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for his bravery. Source document
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| 1962 |
After falling 200 feet down the abandoned Idaho Bride gold mine near Idaho Springs, Colorado and spending 14 hours in the mirky depths, Airman Chester West was rescued. It took rescuers, led by District Mine Inspector, Norman Blake, three hours to lead West out of the winding tunnels. Source document
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| 1964 |
Abandoned Quicksilver Mine Fall of Person, San Jose, California — To Eric Proter, 12, of San Jose, the abandoned quicksilver mine suggested adventure and the unknown. But it almost became his grave Friday. The boy crawled about 150 feet into the lateral shaft when he fell suddenly into a 10-foot-deep hole. His cries were heard by a companion who summoned help. Highway Patrolman Americo Gonsalves crawled into the hole and rescued the boy. Source document
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| 1968 |
Eight miners were rescued five hours after explosions ripped through the No. 9 mine in Mannington, West Virginia owned by the Consolidation Coal Company. 13 other miners managed to exit the mine shortly after the 1st of at least 3 explosions tore through the mine. This disaster, which killed 78 miners, triggered Congress to pass the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. See video.
Among the 21 miners rescued from the Mountaineer Coal Co. (Consol) No. 9 mine was Matt Menas, Jr., whose father died in a similar disaster in the same mine 14 years earlier. The explosion on Nov. 13, 1954, killed 16 men. The mine at that time was owned by the Jamison Coal Co., and was called Jamison No. 9. See Video. Source document
Here is a list of the other miners rescued, all of whom are from the area around Mannington, Fairmont and Farmington: Byron Jones; Nathaniel Stephens, 48; Charles Biafore; Nick Rose, 23; Roy Wilson; James Herron; Paul Sabo; Walter Slavikosky; Henry Conway; Nezer Vandergrift, 48; Ralph Starkey, 41; Lewis Lake, 55; George Wilson, 54; Alva Davis, 29; Raymond Parker; Robert Bland; Robert Mullen; Gary Martin; Charles Crumm; and Brad Hillberry.
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| Abandoned Coal Mine Lost Persons, New Straitsville, Ohio — Terry Allen Collin, 11, flashed a bright smile on his grimy face after being lost for more than 24 hours in a mine and said, "I'm all right, Mom." Terry and Stephen Perrin, 19, had crawled through a cave-in leading into the mine. They wandered through the mile-long, meandering tunnel of the coal mine which had been abandoned about 50 years ago. The youths lighted candles, stepped through a "clubroom" filled with model airplanes, old snakeskins and then began exploring deeper than they had before. "I left my jacket at the entrance," Terry said. "So, anybody coming along would know we were inside. We had candles when we started, but they didn't last so long. So, we just sat down and waited. I kept dropping off to sleep and then waking up. Boy it wasn't easy down there. It's not so warm." Several dozen rescuers from a sheriff's office, local fire departments and the State Bureau of Mines took part in the search. Source document
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| 1969 |
Cardinal Silver Mine Cave-in, Carrietown, Idaho — Four miners were rescued from a cave-in at the Cardinal silver mine in a remote central Idaho area after being trapped for nearly three hours about 600 feet underground. The Cardinal was mining lead and silver 18 miles west of Ketchum, near Carrietown, an old ghost town. The mine, one of the oldest in Idaho, was founded in the 1800s and had been idle for many years until Cardinal Mining Company resumed operations. None of the men were caught under the falling debris, but the slide blocked their escape from the mine. Source document
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| 1970 |
Hasting Mine Fall of Person, Deemstown, Pennsylvania — Harry T. King, 25, was seriously injured when he fell about 300 feet after slipping from a cable in a shaft of the Hasting Mine at Deemstown, Pennsylvania. King was rescued four hours after he fell. Firemen had to enter the bottom shaft through the mine and plodded a mile and a half to reach King. The mine is owned by Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. Harry Dale King, 21, cousin of the injured man, also had been sliding down a cable but saved himself by stepping onto a beam about 350 feet from the bottom of the shaft. Companions were outside the mine and called police when the Kings failed to return. Source document
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| Abandoned Mine Shaft Fall of Person, Sparks, Nevada — A Sparks boy was rescued after he became trapped for two hours in an abandoned 110-foot mine shaft. Chris Hammond, 12, suffered a cut on his right leg but otherwise was unharmed before firemen pulled him to safety. Hammond and a friend, Stephen Marcoe, 12, were exploring an area dotted with abandoned shafts. Hammond said he attached a rope to a fence and climbed down the shaft. The rope broke about 25 feet from the bottom. The Marcoe boy ran for help. Source document
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| 1971 |
Grays Knob Coal Mine Cave-in, Harlan, Kentucky — Jessie Cornett was rescued after spending 9 hours trapped from a roof fall in the Grays Knob Coal Company mine near Harlan, Kentucky. The 25-year-old miner was operating a coal cutting machine when he spotted the rock begin to fall. He managed to duck under the steel cage of the machine for protection. Four hours passed until he heard his name shouted by the rescuers. Before that, his co-workers thought he was dead. Source document
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| Abandoned Mine Fall of Person, Scottsdale, Arizona — Steve Ball, 14, was listed in satisfactory condition after he was rescued from a 150-foot-deep mine shaft near Scottsdale. He sustained arm and shoulder injuries when he fell into the mine. Ball was hiking in the area with several companions when the accident occurred. Officials said Ball was the sixth person to be pulled from this abandoned mine shaft in two years. Source document
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| 1979 |
U.S. Steel Mine Cave-in, Somerset, Colorado — Less than two hours into the afternoon shift at the U. S. Steel Mine near Somerset, two workers were suddenly buried in a cave-in. Bruce Lewis, 21, died instantly when tons of rock fell from the ceiling of the mine. Jesse Erickson, who was working with Lewis, was in a mining machine that was imprisoned in rock when the ceiling fell. It would be 10 hours later before he would see the outside again. Erickson was rescued from the air pocket after about 10 hours. He said at least 30 feet and untold tons of rock separated him from his rescuers. Source document
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| Abandoned Mine Shaft Fall of Person, Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania — Following a systematic ground search conducted by the Civil Air Patrol, a Glen Lyon hunter who had fallen into a mine ventilator shaft was rescued. The hunter, Andrew Sweeney, had been missing for more than two days when he was located. Sweeney, who had fallen into the shaft and was on a ledge 80 feet below ground. Rescue efforts were begun immediately, and a medic was lowered into the shaft to make sure Sweeney was alright. Two men were then lowered into the shaft to help put Sweeney in a harness and pull him out of the shaft. Approximately 150 Civil Air Patrol members from Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Reading and Allentown, assisted with the successful search and rescue effort. Source document
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| 1980 |
Gold Miner Rescue, Shasta Dam, California — Ted Schjoth, 42, who was injured while panning for gold was rescued by Shasta County sheriff's deputies and volunteers after he was spotted by the crew of a California Highway Patrol helicopter. Sheriff's Capt. Gene Toten said Schjoth suffered a broken leg and was unable to return to his vehicle, which was parked about three miles away along Little Squaw Creek west of Shasta Dam. Schjoth told his rescuers he fell off a 20-foot embankment several hours earlier. Because of the rugged terrain, Schjoth was carried for about 2 miles on a litter to a location where the helicopter could land. He was flown to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, where he was listed in "satisfactory" condition. Source document
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| 1983 |
Tire Hill Mine Lost Miner, Tire Hill, Pennsylvania — For nearly 30 hours, George Havrilak, 56, was as alone as any man ever was, in a place as dark as it ever gets. The veteran inspector, who started working at the mine in 1946, failed to come out by shift's end. The rescue teams, three from nearby mines and one from the state converged on the scene and began their search. Havrilak was led to safety from the Tire Hill Mine of the Bird Coal Company by one of four rescue teams that had been working in relays, searching the pit for some trace or the body of Havrilak.
Havrilak explained what happened when he went into the Somerset County mine, which had been closed since 1980.
I go in every day and examine the mine. I look for any methane gas buildup. I check the air, the water level and keep watch on the ventilation. I usually stay in until 3 in the afternoon, and I try to cover most of the mine. What happened was that my head light went out. I guess it wasn't charged right ... sometimes that'll happen. It's battery-operated, it's charged every day. All you do is just plug it in. I don't know what happened this time. I would say I had been in about four or five hours ... it must have been about 12 or 1 o'clock when it went out.
I had a buglight, but I slipped and fell, and it fell off my belt and I couldn't locate it. It doesn't put out much light, but it gives you enough to walk by. When the light went out, I waited a while and then decided to work my way out. I got in the air current ... I faced the air ... and I knew I could get to the air shaft and then I could find my way out. I was never panicky. I knew all the time I would make it out. I knew if I kept the air in my face, I would get out. I didn't want to work up too much of a sweat. I would go along a bit and then I'd rest and then I'd go and then I'd rest. I knew I had a long way to go. I knew where I was. I know that mine real well. It's just that it's hard to make any time in the dark.
Havrilak said he knew rescue teams would be searching for him, and he believed he and the teams must have passed each other several times during the search. He noted, though, that the mine has a lot of entries ... and there are cross cuts. It's pretty easy, I guess, for someone to go up one and you're in another one and nobody knows where someone is. I didn't hear them, and they didn't hear me. That's the part I can't figure out. How could we have passed each other a couple times without them noticing me or hearing me?
As a precaution, Havrilak was transported to Johnstown Memorial Hospital for observation. Source document
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| 1985 |
Following an avalanche at the remote Bessie "G" gold mine in Colorado's San Juan Mountains, rescuers, including officers from the LaPlata County Sheriff's Department worked for 24 hours to rescue Lester Jay Morlang. His partner, Jack Ritter, died of suffocation when the men were buried around 6 p.m. Source document 1 Source document 2
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| 1990 |
Abandoned Mine Rescue, Cave Creek, Arizona — Michael Clark, 18, fell 60 feet into an abandoned mine shaft, breaking both legs and a hip, but survived. It took rescuers nearly 10 hours to extract Michael Clark, 18, from the mine near Cave Creek after his fall. Clark was camping with friends in the Tonto Hills area when they decided to explore a mine tunnel. They had walked in about 300 yards when Clark fell through flooring. Source document
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| 1991 |
Unnamed Abandoned Noncoal Mine Rescue, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah — Kent Parker, 16, of Sandy fell down a 50-foot shaft near Alta while snowboarding. He did not see the shaft until he was airborne in it. His companions did not see him fall and continued down the mountain. He was trapped for 90 minutes before being discovered. It took an hour for rescuers to remove him from the shaft. He suffered a concussion and hypothermia and was hospitalized for several days. Source: Salt Lake Tribune, November 3, 1991.
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| 2010 |
Abandoned Mine Rescue, Longswamp Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania — More than 50 rescue workers labored for seven hours to hoist four Berks teenage boys to safety after they found themselves trapped at the bottom of an old mineshaft in Longswamp Township. Camping with four others near Bear Creek Mountain Resort, the teens decided to climb down the mine shaft to explore surrounding caves. A youthful indiscretion, a good story for the grandkids until one of them lost his grip after making it more than halfway down. The unidentified boy fell 30 feet to the shaft's floor, knocking himself unconscious. Three of his friends climbed down to make sure he was OK and realized they couldn't get out, either. They called police and the remaining campers hiked out half a mile through dense woods to meet rescue officers. From there, emergency officials shuttled supplies in via all-terrain vehicle. As dawn approached, emergency workers realized the shaft was much deeper than they expected. Enter the Lehigh County Technical Rescue team, which rappelled down four rescuers to attend to the stricken campers. With hypothermia setting in, paramedics administered warm intravenous fluids to boost their body temperatures. Finally around 9 a.m., the last teen was hoisted to the surface. The rescued boys were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest for treatment of hypothermia and the fall victim's head injury. Source document
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| Rescuer Deaths in November |
| 1901 |
Baby Mine Fire, Pocahontas, Virginia — While the fires were being fought, a small explosion occurred, which injured no one, but blew out some of the brattices and allowed the smoke and gases to pass through into the adjoining West Mine. Nine men in the West Mine were overcome by smoke and suffocated. On November 22, 1901, a rescue party of eight men was also overcome by gases in the West Mine and suffocated.
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| 1903 |
Kearsarge Gold Mine Fire, Virginia City, Montana — At the first alarm the 170 employees hastened to extinguish the flames. The Mine Superintendent entered the tunnel through the fire and smoke to warn the entombed miners and to aid them to escape. He returned and tried to enter the mine by the air shaft but fell from the ladder and was killed.
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| 1908 |
Zeigler Mine Fire, Zeigler, Illinois — A fire broke out in this mine after the day shift had left the mine. The fire was caused by crossed electric wires and although it was originally very small, it was expanded and originated several explosions and eventually brought about the death of 31 men who attempted to put it out. Once Draeger helmets were purchased, a single man wearing one of the helmets was sent into the mine to reconnoiter. It is reported that the cartridges were caked and the man panicked, pulled off the helmet and perished.
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| Utah Copper Company Mine Asphyxiations, Bingham, Utah — Details of the death of four men in the workings of the Utah copper company's mine at Bingham emphasized the reckless heroism with which the last three victims fought their losing fight with an invisible, intangible foe, deadly powder gas. Three rescuers went into the mine in search of Italian miner, Dominick Shatto, and another miner thought to be missing. Foreman F. Kent Smith started down an incline tunnel, followed by Hugh Burns and George Wilson. They did not return. Other mine employees waited a reasonable time and then ventured into the tunnel after taking the precaution to tie ropes to their waists. The ropes saved their lives, for the first inhalations of the foul air robbed them of their strength and when dragged back to the surface they were unconscious. Source document
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| 1909 |
St. Paul No. 2 Mine Fire, Cherry, Illinois — Six times, Mine Manager John Bundy went down in an iron cage to rescue trapped miners. He emerged six times, black and sweating, lifting survivors into the sun. But on the seventh trip, Bundy and eleven volunteers were burned alive. When the cage was hoisted, it held a charred and flaming pile of bodies.
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| 1910 |
Victor American No. 3 Mine Fire, Delagua, Colorado — A member of the rescue crew who gave his breathing apparatus to one of the four men found behind a barricade stayed behind to wait for the party's return. He was later found overcome in another part of the mine and died the next morning.
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| 1911 |
Adrian Mine Explosion, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania — It is believed that the six dead miners, realizing that there had been an explosion, dropped their dinner buckets and ran further into the mine to rescue their fellow workmen. The dinner buckets were found about a mile and a half from the innermost workings of the mine, which is five miles from the entrance.
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| 1916 |
Jamison Coal & Coke Company Asphyxiation, Greensburg, Pennsylvania — William Kirkley was overcome by gas while searching for a miner who was sent into the mine to make some repairs. Kirkley's body was found in an abandoned working which had become gaseous. It was later learned that the workman he thought was lost had exited the mine before Kirkley went in. Source document
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| 1917 |
Jamison No. 7 Mine Explosion and Fire, Barrackville, West Virginia — On November 13, 1917, in an incident related to the initial disaster which occurred in October 1916, Samuel T. McMahon and Bryce Warren lost their lives while wearing Fleuss oxygen breathing apparatus in a sealed fire area in the No. 7 mine of the Jamison Coal & Coke Company, Barrackville, West Virginia.
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| 1948 |
Nethken Mine Asphyxiations, Kitzmiller, Maryland — One of those suffocated in the Nethken Mine was a miner, Robert Jackson from Kitzmiller, Maryland, age 25, who had gone down the shaft to warn the other 4 miners of the danger and lead them out. He had been married less than 6 months.
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| 1957 |
Unnamed Coal Mine Entrapment, Stockdale, Pennsylvania — Robert P. Thompson, 14, schoolboy, died after rescuing John T. Vingless, 13, schoolboy, from a cave-in, Coupon, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1957. While John and Robert were digging for coal in a small pit four and a half feet deep at an abandoned strip mine, one side of the pit collapsed and clay, slate, and coal in a high ridge above it slid onto them. Both boys, who were kneeling in the pit with their heads two feet below the top, were covered chest-deep. John's hands were pinned, and a lump of slate 18 inches square and four inches thick rested on his head, pressing his face into the clay so that he barely was able to breathe. Although he had sustained serious injuries to his back, chest, and legs, Robert freed his hands and dug himself out. Unable to stand, he began crawling toward a nearby road to summon help, but at John's pleas he dragged himself back to the pit. Although in considerable pain, he moved the lump of slate from John's head. John then dug himself out with some assistance from Robert, who removed several small pieces of slate. John walked and Robert crawled 200 feet to the road, calling for help. John's mother was attracted, and the boys then were removed to a hospital. John sustained a wrenched back and hip injuries but recovered. Robert's injuries were extensive, including damage to his spinal cord, which caused his death later in the day. Robert P. Thompson was posthumously bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for his bravery. Source document
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| 2013 |
Revenue-Virginius Mine Asphyxiation, Ouray, Colorado — A miner, Nicholas Cappanno, did not return from an area of the mine where an explosive had been previously detonated. The shift foreman, Rick Williams, went in to search for him. Eventually they were both found by other miners working in the area, and those miners immediately evacuated the mine. Mine rescue teams entered the mine and found the two others. During the recovery operation, they detected fatal levels of carbon monoxide. The teams brought the victims to the surface. Twenty miners were taken to the hospital, and three were kept overnight. All 20 were subsequently released. |
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