Ten Dead in Mine Disaster
Wellsboro Gazette, Pennsylvania
January 17, 1902
South McAlester, I.T. (Okla.) Jan. 15. -- Ten miners lost their lives in the explosion Monday evening in mine No. 9 of the Milby and Dow Mining Company, at Dow, I.T.
The victims were:
Jack McCoy
W. F. Keith
B. F. Farhurst
E. M. Prichard
Bert Gatlin
John Beminas
Thomas Blua
John Blua
M. H. Dow
John Beattle
The ten men who lost their lives were the only persons in the pit and none was left to tell the story. All the bodies were recovered, and as none was burned the conclusion is that death was due to after damp. The explosion did not injure the shaft, which was a new one, and the fire that followed was put out before it did much damage. The sound of the explosion was heard plainly at the surface and rescuers immediately went to work.
The explosion occurred at a depth of 240 feet. The machinery was not injured and miners working at the mouth of the pit descended as soon as safety would permit.
The bodies were found close together. The fire was extinguished before it had reached any of them and the last body was brought to the surface before midnight. The victims had been in the employ of the company for some time and most of them were men with families.
The mine had not yet been thoroughly opened. Experienced mining men say it is remarkable that gas should have accumulated in sufficient quantities in a new mine to cause an explosion.
