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Cardiff Coal Company
Horton Mine Fire

Horton, Kanawha County, West Virginia
December 4, 1905
No. Killed - 7

1905 West Virginia Annual Report  PDF Format
Successful Rescue

Seven miners who were in the more remote sections of the Cardiff Coal Company's Horton mine were unable to get out and were overcome by smoke.  After an undisclosed period, they were rescued, but only two of these men could be revived after being brought out.


Smoke from Burning Stack Proves Fatal to Workmen
Evening Record, Greenville, Pennsylvania
December 6, 1905

Charleston, W. Va., Dec. 6. -- At Horton, on Cabin Creek, in this county, seven coal miners were suffocated.  They were working in a drift mine when the wooden stack of the ventilating furnace caught fire and was consumed.

The men outside busied themselves with trying to put out the fire, and failing in that, with keeping it from spreading to other structures in the immediate neighborhood, paying no heed to those in the mine, not supposing them to be in danger.  But there was a strong draft from the burning stack directly into the mouth of the mine and the smoke rushed in with overwhelming fury.

The miners, who were in the more remote sections of the mine, were unable to get out and were overcome with the smoke.  There were seven of these, and but two could be rescued after being brought out.

The Horton mine is the property of the Cardiff Coal Company, which has eight or ten mines in the Cabin Creek field.

The deceased:
  • Moses Chapman
  • H. S. Combs
  • Harvey Crabtree
  • John Gowens (Robert's brother)
  • Robert Gowens, age 14 (John's brother)
  • J. W. Vass
  • John Waterson
See Other Children Killed in Mining




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