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 The accident was in what was known as the east heading. Between forty and fifty men were in the mine at the time. Five were brought out alive from the east heading after an undisclosed period, while none of the men in the other parts of the mine were injured. (From the News and Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, May 23, 24, 26, 1900) Five were brought out alive from the east heading, while none of the men in the other parts of the mine were injured. All the bodies were horribly burned, and they were recovered during the night as the mine was not damaged very much. A survivor, brought up from the east heading and resuscitated, said he heard a report like a dynamite shot and the next instant the firedamp exploded. The superintendent, who came from Pennsylvania 2 years before, was in the east heading and was killed. Twenty men were killed outright, and 3 others died after being rescued. It was thought that the gas accumulated and that one of the flame safety lamps with which the men worked became overheated or was hit, breaking the glass and gauze. Coal was mined by pick and blasted by battery. Dynamite was used because it will not explode gas. Pennsylvania men own the property; extensive improvements were made since the explosion in December 1895, and the mines had been thought safe. The Cumnock Mine Disaster Galveston Daily News, Texas May 23, 1900 The names of the dead follow: Whites:
Within an hour after the explosion the work of rescue began, and by night all the bodies, except one, that of Slim McIntyre, had been brought to the top. John Connelly the Mine Superintendent, leaves a wife and three small children This is the second explosion this mine has had within the past five years the former one having occurred on December, 28, 1895, when forty-three men lost their lives. The bodies were prepared for burial last night, and the funeral took place today. |
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