Funkhouser Slate Quarry Explosion

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Funkhouser Company
Funkhouser Slate Quarry Explosion

Delta, York County, Pennsylvania
November 30, 1936
No. Killed - 7

Bureau of Mines Investigation Report

From the Google News Archives:

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The Evening Independent, Dec. 1, 1936
St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 1, 1936
Gettysburg Times, Dec. 2, 1936
Gettysburg Compiler, Dec. 5, 1936

Seven People Killed by Explosion of Dynamite
Titusville Herald, Pennsylvania
December 1, 1936

Delta, Pa., Nov. 30. -- An explosion of dynamite killed seven men today at a slate quarry in southern York County, a stone's throw from the Mason-Dixon line.

Six of the victims, two of them brothers, were mangled almost beyond recognition. The seventh, Frank Weaver, died a short time later in a York Hospital.

The dynamite exploded with a terrific roar as workmen were carrying it toward the tunnel of the slate quarry. Officials of the Funkhouser Company, operators of the quarry, were unable to explain the accident.

None of the other 65 workmen was near enough to see whether the men dropped the dynamite or what caused the blast.

Five of the dead were employed by the Funkhouser Company.

They were:

Luther Williams, 25
Ralph Weaver, about 28, son of Frank Weaver
Lush Lynn and Winston Lynn

The other two, Lee Jones, 18, and Roy Ayres, 18, both of Delta, were not employed there, a company clerk said.

The dynamite was intended to blast a slate "hill."  The company grinds the slate into dust and uses it in roofing material.

Headquarters of the company are in Westminster, Md.  M. R. Maley, superintendent, was at Westminster when the blast occurred.

A company engineer was dispatched to investigate.  Coroner L. U. Zech of York County started an official probe.

Funkhouser CompanyFunkhouser Slate Quarry Explosion

Funkhouser Company
Funkhouser Slate Quarry Explosion