Tank's Poetry
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united states mine rescue association
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Tank's Poetry |
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Location: 35° 32.709′ N, 79° 14.391′ W. Marker is in Sanford, North Carolina, in Lee County. Marker is on Cumnock Road, 0.3 miles north of U.S. 421, on the right when traveling north. Photographed by Michael Buckner Source: The Historical Marker Database 
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Successful Rescue After pumping fresh air into the shafts following the Cumnock mine explosion, several miners were prevailed upon to venture down and investigate. They found and brought out 24 men from shafts Nos. 2 and 3. Five or six of them were badly wounded and some of them would probably die; others were slightly wounded. Terrible Mine Disaster in North Carolina Daily Herald, Delphos, Ohio December 21, 1895 After pumping fresh air into the shafts several miners were prevailed upon to venture down and investigate. They found and brought out 24 men from shafts Nos. 2 and 3. Five or six of them were badly wounded and some of them will probably die; others were slightly wounded. A mule and two men were killed in slope No. 2. After considerable delay the searching party entered slope No. 1, where they were greeted by a most horrible and ghastly sight. Dead men fearfully mutilated were found, some of them partly covered with pieces of coal, timber and other debris. The searching party came up and reported what they had found. At 4 o'clock, 10 or 12 miners went down to bring up the dead bodies, but were soon compelled to return to the top on account of the afterdamp and up to the present time none of the dead have been recovered. It is believed that 48 men were killed. Several of them were negroes and foreigners, and the rest natives of North Carolina. Several had families living at Cumnock. Eight of the dead miners were from Pennsylvania and expected to return to that state tomorrow to visit relatives.
Two men who escaped from the shaft called to two friends who were not more than 20 feet away to come up, but they were already dead, or unable to make a reply, and were left by their companions. The coal mines are the largest in North Carolina. They are owned by the Langdon-Heshey Coal Mining Company. The mine consists of four tunnels and is 450 feet deep. A quantity of dynamite was in the mine and it is believed that it accidentally exploded. |
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