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Mine Disaster Calendar | ||||||
Miners and others rescued after being trapped underground
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| 1938 thru 1927 Rescue events are listed in descending chronological order | ||
| DEC 1938 | Butte King Mine Cave-in, Sterling City, California — Trapped two days in a mine cave-in, Bruno Rhinehardt, 39, was rescued from a "living death" and rushed to Butte county hospital suffering serious injuries. Rhinehardt was imprisoned by a cave-in at the Butte King mine at Sterling City, a mountain town 30 miles east of Chico. Source document 
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Maryd, Pennsylvania — Frank Morzarko was rescued by nearby miners after being entombed 40 feet beneath the surface for two hours. The 50-year-old miner had been working in a bootleg coal hole operated by John Blonis at Maryd, near Tuscarora, when he was caught in a fall of coal and dirt. Other miners nearby rushed to liberate the entombed man. They were assisted in this work by investigating officers of the Tamaqua detail, State Motor Police. Rescue workers dug through from another bootleg hole to reach him and bring him to the surface two hours later. The man suffered only from shock. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Trevorton, Pennsylvania — Anthony Makoski, 21, escaped serious injury and possible death when he was trapped in a bootleg coal hole by a slide while mining on Cameron Mountain, near Trevorton. Makoski, working with Theron Cressinger, and Ralph Holdren, Sunbury, R. D. 1, was in the hole when the slide started to cave in. Fortunately, he was not totally covered, the debris going to his shoulder line, and his two companions were able to extricate him. He was taken to Mary M. Packer hospital and given treatment. An x-ray picture showed that he was suffering with a fracture of the right leg in addition to minor bruises and cuts. He was reported in good condition. The fact that the hole had not been worked long and was not deep prevented the accident from being more serious. Source document
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| NOV 1938 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania — Two miners, William Bokuniewicz, 52, and Joseph Comisky, 18, were rescued 40 hours after they were trapped in a bootleg Anthracite mine cave-in at Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Hospital attaches said both were in fine shape but were being guarded against pneumonia. Source document
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| Nydegger Mine Cave-in, Mill Creek, West Virginia — Freed after eight hours of work by their comrades, two miners who were trapped under a big rock were in serious condition in an Elkins hospital. Attendants said they doubted if Samuel Jenkins, 35, would recover. Ralph Starr, 26, was severely but not critically hurt, they said. The men were hurt in the Nydegger mine, near Mill Creek. Source document
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| Lehigh Navigation Mine No. 6 Cave-in, Coaldale, Pennsylvania — Two men were rescued alive from beneath a rush of coal in a chute on the fourth level of the No. 6 mine of the Lehigh Navigation Coal Company. The accident victims, Michael Rock and Frank Byer, were engaged in placing plank in the chute when the rush occurred. Rock was completely covered and Byer was covered to the shoulders. Rescuers worked from 11:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon (3 hours) when they freed Rock, and an hour later (4 hours) succeeded in freeing Byer. Both men were able to walk from the workings and physicians said they had escaped serious injuries. Rock, who had been covered, told rescuers his head was protected between two large lumps of coal, permitting him to breathe. Byer's head was free at all times. Both men refused to go to Coaldale Hospital for physical checkups, declaring they had escaped injuries and did not suffer any material evidence of shock. Source document
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| OCT 1938 | Lilly Meade Mine Rescue, Owensburg, Kentucky — Dolar Johnson, 54, was rescued after being lost for four days in the Lilly Meade Company mine. Johnson, a miner of 25-years experience, became lost when his carbide light went out. He suffered no ill effects from being without food and water for that period. Source document
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| SEP 1938 | Oneida No. 1 Colliery Cave-in, Oneida, Pennsylvania — Andrew Kakley, 66, was rescued uninjured three hours after he was trapped behind a fall of coal and rock in the No. 13 east slope of No. 1 Colliery at Oneida, operated by the Maurie F. Coal Company. He was working with John Polegra and Steve Roble, both of whom were able to crawl to safety through an air hole. Their exit, however, which was on a steep pitch, was too much for the older member of the trio to navigate. Kakley was rescued by Andrew Mehalick. Source document
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| Phelps Dodge Mine Cave-in, Bisbee, Arizona — Thomas A. Hightower, 50, was recovering in Copper Queen Hospital after having been entombed for twelve hours by the collapse of timbers in the 900-foot level of the Phelps Dodge Mine. Hightower was working alone in the shaft, timbering a tunnel when a supporting wall gave way. Rescue crews dug him out unconscious. Source document
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| AUG 1938 | Shawnee Mine No. 4 Cave-in, Peckville, Pennsylvania — Four miners were trapped for almost nine hours after a cave-in occurred in the No. 4 slope of the Shawnee Coal Company at Peckville, Pennsylvania. The cave-in occurred when a runaway loaded coal car demolished mine props at the mine entrance. The four miners were treated for shock at the Mid-Valley Hospital. Source document
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| Unnamed Anthracite Mine Powered Haulage Accident, Scranton, Pennsylvania — Five miners became trapped when deep in an Anthracite mine when a coal car they were riding hurtled out of control down a steep slope and crashed through timbers supporting the tunnel roof were rescued alive and unharmed after an undisclosed period. Source document
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| JUL 1938 | Praco No. 7 Rock Fall Disaster — A roof fall occurred in this mine, trapping nine men, three of whom were rescued alive, severely shocked, with minor injuries. One rescued alive, died, probably from shock, en route to the surface, and the remaining five bodies were dead when recovered. | |
Five miners, buried alive for more than 48 hours following a cave-in at the Veta silver mine at Duncan, Arizona were brought safely to the surface by rescue crews. The entombed men were Alfred Gillenwater, G. C. Robinson, D. H. Grissom, E. D. Wright, and Albert Carlson. Source document 
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Michael Shurpenski, 45, recuperated in the Shamokin State Hospital after being saved from death in a mountain coal hole where he was entombed for nearly an hour. He was rescued by WPA workers employed on a nearby road project. Source document
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| American Eagle Collieries Cave-in, Ameagle, West Virginia — Spurred on by the cries of a trapped comrade, rescue workers brought George Nessos, 59, out from beneath a slate fall and went back again for another miner they feared was dead. Nessos was taken to a hospital for treatment of severe injuries. Farther back in the American Eagle Collieries company mine the workers expected to find the body of Clyde Compton, 30. They had heard nothing from him since the big pile of slate fell first fell. Source document
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| JUN 1938 | Butler Slope Explosion, Pittston, Pennsylvania — Rescuers were successful in bringing six miners to the surface after an undisclosed period. Seriously injured were John Waskiewicz and Peter Morgantini. They were treated at the Pittston Hospital for skull fractures and severe burns. Others hurt were Warner Posdzich, Peter Wasluk, Patrick Nardone, and Joseph Lusto. Lusto was the only one who reached the surface unaided. Clutching an injured wrist, he staggered out of the mouth. His wife, screaming, darted from the crowd and into his arms. | |
| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Ashland, Pennsylvania — A father and son, trapped for two days in a makeshift Anthracite mine were freed by rescuers. A physician said both Peter Shinskowsky, 48, and Peter, Jr., 17, appeared to be in good condition. Source document
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| MAY 1938 | Oliver Jones Mine Hoisting Accident, Commerce, Oklahoma — While being hoisted out of the old Oliver Jones Mine in a bucket, the cable snapped and Bill Sholtz and Dick Kelton plummeted to the 200-foot level causing an avalanche. Mr. Sholtz and his fellow passenger were hemmed in and crushed by rocks. Both Mr. Kelton's legs were broken. Writhing in agony, the men did not give up hope. They prayed for a swift rescue. It came two and a half hours later. Men summoned by the hoist operator dug them out and carried them to the surface. Mr. Sholtz died in a Miami, Oklahoma hospital two hours after his rescue. Mr. Kelton was on serious condition. The rescuers' work did not end when the two men were taken out. Trapped with them at the 200-foot level were four other men. With the hoist shattered and the shaft entrance blocked, their one avenue of escape was blocked. They huddled together in the darkness while men from nearby mines flocked with picks and shovels to aid in the rescue work. The rescuers finally dug through an abandoned slope connecting with the Oliver Jones mine and carried out the trapped men. The mine, abandoned years before as "played out ," had been rented by the seven men who manned it. Through makeshift operations, they sought to eke a living out of the abandoned property. The practice was known as "gouging" and was common in the tri-state zone. The bucket and the initial avalanche struck and killed Fred R. Rosson. Source document
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| MAR 1938 | Unnamed Mine Cave-in, Birmingham, Alabama — Oliver Busby, 49, mine foreman, saved Coleman Burrell, 25, trackman's helper, from bleeding and a cave-in in a mine, Birmingham, Alabama, March 28, 1938. When runaway mine cars in a coal-mine collided with standing cars, Burrell was knocked to his knees between the ends of two cars, the cars coming to a stop after one of them had dislodged two roof supports. The roof began slowly to sag above Burrell. Burrell's leg was caught under a car and was fractured; and blood was spurting from a severed artery. Busby crawled under the sagging roof to Burrell. Lying on his side in a confined space on the floor, he pressed the artery, stopping the flow of blood almost entirely. He was thus engaged for 10 minutes, all the time regarding the sagging roof with apprehension. The car was then raised, and Burrell was carried to safety. A very short time later roof timbers came to rest on the car alongside of which Busby had lain; and a large rock slid down on it, followed by a fall of small rock. Burrell's leg later was amputated. Mr. Busby was awarded the Carnegie Hero Medal for his bravery. Source document
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| McKinley Farm Mine Cave-in, Clintonville, Pennsylvania — A cave-in occurred at the coal mine of Mike Serge on the McKinley farm. Leaving the tipple, one of the cars got loose, and it ran into the mine and dislodged the timbers. Approximately 30 feet of the entrance entry to the mine was closed, leaving four men trapped inside. They were rescued within four hours from the time the mine was closed shut. Source document 1
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| Delaware and Hudson Coal Mine Cave-in, Silverton, Pennsylvania — Peter Koresky, 65, of Llewelyn, who was trapped in the shaft of the Delaware and Hudson Coal Co., at Silverton, near Llewelyn, had a narrow escape from death, when rescued after about five hours imprisonment. He received treatment at the Pottsville hospital for shock, bruises and bad lacerations of the head and body. Source document
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| FEB 1938 | Lehigh Valley Mine Inundation, Jeanesville, Pennsylvania — Seven out of eight miners were rescued after being trapped for 18 hours in the flooded Lehigh Valley Coal Company mine at Jeanesville. The eighth man, Paul Kuritz was found dead. The rescued men were Michael Olexa, Joseph Fidishin, Stephen Stefranko, John Lavaraski, Andrew Havrilla, William Davis, and Paul Molnar. Source document
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| Bootleg Mine Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Entombed six hours, Nicholas Wisneskie, was rescued from a coal hole near the St. Francis cemetery at Shamokin. Protection afforded by a large slab of rock which fell in a leaning position against the side of a mine buggy, saved Wisneskie from being crushed. The entombed man, who refused to be taken to the hospital, went to his home with only minor injuries. Source document
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| Parriette Mine Cave-in, Roosevelt, Utah — Roy Campbell, 43, was killed and two others, one of them Campbell's son, were rescued after being entombed for six hours in a mine cave-in. Campbell was crushed between 50 tons of gilsonite. He was working 800 feet underground in one of the mine's deepest shafts. Campbell's son, Darwell, and Everett Pope, another workman, started to his rescue when they were cut off and trapped by a second cave-in. Rescuers reached young Darwell and Pope six hours after the slide. The pair had been able to breathe through the rocks. Source document
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| JAN 1938 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Minersville, Pennsylvania — George Todack was rescued from a bootleg coal
hole he was entombed in a for several hours. He was transported to the Pottsville Hospital, suffering with a possible fracture of the left leg, shock and exposure. His condition was listed as fair. Source document
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| South Wilkes-Barre Colliery Cave-in, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania — Michael Samhoski, 22, was rescued quickly after an undisclosed period after he was buried under a fall of rock in the South Wilkes-Barre Colliery of the Glen Alden Coal Company. He was taken to General Hospital, where he was treated for lacerations of his scalp, neck, face, left eyebrow and nose. Source document
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| Marriott Farm Mine Cave-in, Versailles, Missouri — William June, 19, was rescued alive after being buried for hours when a cave-in in a tiff mine covered him and 50-year-old Orb Marriott. Marriott was found dead. June and Marriott were working the small mine on Marriott's farm when the clay and dirt of a sidewall rolled down upon them. June was in a waist-deep hole he had dug and said he believed this saved his life as he was able to get air. Marriott died from suffocation. Ray Jones, 15, erroneously reported trapped in the slide, was the youth who discovered the men were imprisoned and who spread the alarm which brought scores of miners and farmers to the rough Ozark farm of Marriott. Source document
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| DEC 1937 | Briar Hill Mine Rescue, Pinckneyville, Illinois — Lawrence Lee, a 28-year-old bookkeeper, was led to safety after being lost for 41 hours in the Briar Hill workings near Pinckneyville, Illinois. He had gone into the mine to explore some new workings and bring out some empty powder kegs. On his way out he miscounted the rooms he had passed and somehow got lost. His clothing ripped and his legs torn and bleeding, he wandered around in the dark until he ended up in the nearby Beaucoups No. 6 mine, whose fans were operating. Feeling the air current on his face, he following it in the dark until he reached an air shaft where he shouted for help and was rescued. Source document
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| NOV 1937 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania — Rescue workers freed the second of three bootleg miners trapped Friday by a cave-in in a makeshift mine slope near the Potts colliery of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. After an undisclosed period, Charles Ruganis, 34, was taken to a hospital in a serious condition with a fractured arm and a possible fracture of the pelvis. He was also suffering from shock. John Plichesski, 29, died soon after he was brought to the top of the slope the night before. Charles Bolinski, 55, remained in the mine. He had not been heard from since the cave-in occurred. Source document
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| Lytle Colliery Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Two miners were saved from death in the Lytle Colliery where they had been imprisoned for more than twenty-four hours. Rescue crews, working in relays, rescued Harry Hunter, 44, and Albert Muraski, 34, after tunneling through many tons of rock and coal on the fourth level. They were taken to a Pottsville hospital for observation. Physicians said their condition was not serious but that they would be detained until all danger of pneumonia was past. Source document
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| Abandoned Mine Fall of Person, Duelwel, Missouri — Joe Snyder, age 10, was rescued from an abandoned mine shaft, 90 feet deep, two hours after he had fallen into the shaft while fleeing to his home following a fist fight with two schoolmates. Examination at a hospital showed the boy suffered a broken back and skull fractures. His condition was described as critical. Source document
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| SEP 1937 | Jermyn Mine Cave-in, Scranton, Pennsylvania — John Wannish, 28, was rescued after being entombed in the
Jermyn Mine of the Hudson Coal Company for an undisclosed period. Four other workers who were trapped with Wannish were brought to the surface the night before around midnight. Suffering from head injuries, Wannish was taken to Carbondale Hospital. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania — Two miners entombed overnight in a mine air hole on the mountainside four miles south of Tamaqua, were rescued. William Lucas, 24, and Kenneth Lutz, 23, protesting that they were "all right," were rushed to a hospital for observation immediately after a rescue squad dug through the last of tons of rock to reach them. Lutz and Lucas, accompanied by a third miner whose name was not learned went out to the mountain hoping to find a vein of coal. Lutz and Lucas entered an air hole on the mountain, the third man, who remained on the surface, gave the alarm after a cave-in closed the entrance to the hole. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania — Entombed 7 hours his first day in a bootleg coal hole operated by his three sons, Steven Koperna, 57, was rescued alive from his underground prison near Pine Knot Colliery in the Heckscherville Valley. Koperna was walled in when the workings collapsed. He was reported slightly injured, taken immediately to the Good Samaritan Hospital in Pottsville, to be treated for shock and exposure. Koperna said: From the time I was trapped until I was rescued, I prayed to God to save me and I promised Him I would never work another day in a bootleg coal hole. Now that I'm rescued alive, I thank God for my rescue and I'm going to keep my promise." Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Grier City, Pennsylvania — Gus Sincavage was rescued after an undisclosed period after being caught under a fall of coal and rock while working in a bootleg mine in Grier City. He was taken to the Locust Mountain Hospital for treatment. Source document
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| Gowen Colliery Cave-in, Hazleton, Pennsylvania — Michael Kowalsky, a miner at the Gowen colliery of the Buck Mountain Coal Company, was rescued alive yesterday after being buried under a fall of coal for two hours. Hospital attaches said that he walked from an automobile into the Hazleton Hospital. He escaped with abrasions of the face, nose and legs. Source document
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| Badger mine Fall of Ground, Butte, Montana — William E. Church was rescued by fellow-workmen after being trapped for 15 hours by a fall of ground in the Badger mine. Church, with three companions, had been working on a sill over a fill stope, when the ground gave way. Church dropped 18 feet. His companions could hear his cries for help but could not see him. They gave reassurance as they worked. Church was protected by the timbers from rock and earth pressure. He was not injured. Source document
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| AUG 1937 | Gopher-Boulder Mine Cave-in, Holden, California — Frank Libby was rescued after being trapped for several hours in the Gopher-Boulder Mine. The cave-in occurred when a tractor operating on the surface crashed into some old workings, precipitating a shower of giant boulders into the open cut where 2 miners were working. The second miner, Harry Achzig, was killed in the accident. Source document
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| Abandoned Coal Mine Rescue, Marion, Illinois — Jesse Wilson, 30, was rescued 2 days after becoming lost in an abandoned coal mine near Marion, Illinois. Wilson, a mine owner, had entered the pit with the announced intention of exploring the workings which were adjacent to abandoned workings of a deep shaft mine no longer operating. The search for Wilson began when he failed to come out at 5 p.m. with the other workers. Source document
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| Unnamed Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania — Two miners are rescued and 1 miner was killed when a cave-in occurred at an Independent Anthracite mine at Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. John Micomanico, 56, was rescued and hospitalized after being buried up to his neck for 8 hours. Benedicto Riccoletti, 36, and buried up to his knees was freed after 2 hours. A third miner, Angelo Lorendi, 48, was suffocated and died in the incident. Source document
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| Defender Mine Fall of Person, Amasor City, California — Clyde Wright, a diamond drill operator, fell down the Defender Mine shaft. He suffered a fracture of one arm, cuts and bruises. He was taken to the Sutter Hospital in Sacramento for treatment. Source document
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| JUL 1937 | Baker Mine Explosion, Sullivan, Indiana — Four men, burned badly but still alive were rescued from the Baker coal mine shortly after the explosion trapped them and about 20 other miners. Within the next two hours, eight more were rescued alive from the fire-swept area. Only two of them had escaped severe burns. | |
| Summitville Gold Mine Cave-in, Summitville, Colorado — Seven miners said they sang songs and "swapped yarns," while waiting nine hours to be rescued from a slide-closed tunnel in the Summitville gold mine a thousand feet below the surface. Three of the men narrowly escaped being trapped beneath hundreds of tons of falling rock. The slide broke through a chute paralleling the manway and closed the entrance to the tunnel. The trapped men signaled to their fellow workers outside they were safe by tapping on an airline. Compressed air was pumped to them during rescue operations and they were equipped with carbide lamps. Crews directed by Edward Thornton, general superintendent, finally broke through the loose rock and delivered the imprisoned men. The mine is in the San Luis Valley in southwestern Colorado, not far from Alamosa. Source document
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| Independent Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Llewellyn, Pennsylvania — Four miners trapped 400 feet underground by a fall of coal in a shaft near Llewellyn walked to the surface tonight, grinning over their escape and scorning medical attention. A crew of 50 workers dug through a 40-ton cave-in to get the men out. The rescue followed four hours of digging by works progress administration workers and miners in the shaft 3 miles from Pottsville on the property of the Delaware and Hudson Coal Company. The four miners were Arthur Artz, 26; Al Acaley, 40; Albert Wise, 24; and Ralph Neidlinger, 45. Only Wise went to a hospital for examination after coming to the surface. He was found to have suffered no ill effects and went home. The others insisted they were "all right." Source document
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| JUN 1937 | Abandoned Quarry Fall of Person, Lansdale, Pennsylvania — Nine-year-old, Salvatore Onorato, was rescued after he plunged with his bicycle over the side of an abandoned quarry. He was rescued after clinging for 30 minutes to a projecting rock. Ross Smith, also nine, who was with Onorato, rode two miles on his own bicycle for aid. Magistrate Howard F. Boorse and three other men lowered a rope to the stranded boy and pulled him from the pit. He was injured slightly. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania — Dorne Starkey, 15, was rescued alive after being buried for an undisclosed period under a slide of rock in a coal hole just north of the Reading Company depot at Mahanoy City. His companion, Walter McClaren, 17, narrowly escaped the rush. McClaren rushed into Mahanoy City to summon aid, and within a short time a force of men arrived at the scene to find Starkey trapped with heavy rocks pressing against his right ankle. With considerable difficulty the youth was freed and found to have escaped with a crushed ankle and suffering from shock. Source document
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| Reliance Colliery Cave-in, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania — John Zankoskie, 50, was trapped for four hours in a rush of coal in the Primrose vein of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company's Reliance Colliery, near Mount Carmel. Throughout the greater part of the miners period of imprisonment, Dr. A. B. Buczko, company compensation surgeon in the Mount Carmel district, was at the unfortunate man's side, administering surgical and medical treatment and aiding in maintaining his morale. Zankoskie was taken to the Shamokin Hospital, where he was under treatment for a mangled right leg and shock. He was expected to recover. Source document
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| MAY 1937 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania — William Hosler, 26, was rescued after a 20-hour entombment in a bootleg Anthracite coal hole. Hosler suffered possible fractures of his left arm and right leg. Twelve fellow miners helped to remove the tons of earth that trapped him. Source document
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| APR 1937 | Unnamed Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania — Anthony Vinscavage, 48, entombed for 27 hours by a cave-in in a "bootleg" coal hole on Pitch Mountain was rescued and taken to Coaldale Hospital where physicians said he was uninjured but suffered from shock. Vinscavage was engaged with his son, John, 19, in placing timbers in the coal hole when the cave-in occurred. The son escaped and summoned help. Contact with Vinscavage was established by rescue squads who were able to give him a coat, food, and stimulants. When brought home from the coal hole, Vinscavage wanted to walk home to Tamaqua but yielded to the advice of his rescuers that he go to the hospital for examination. Source document
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| Unnamed Independent Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Eagle Hill, Pennsylvania — Independent miners, Stanley Pushka, 45, and Anthony Gristitus, 50, became entombed by a cave-in in their mining operation at Eagle Hill. Working on opposite sides of their shaft, 60 feet from the surface, the two men had plunged into openings on either side when they heard the roar of the fall. Grititus, it is believed, fell into water-filled workings of an old mine vein below the surface of his own shaft. While rescue workers, laboring In cramped positions, dug and timbered their way ever nearer the spot where Gristitus body was believed to be, those who were directing their efforts expressed the opinion that the dead miner would not be reached for some time. Meanwhile, Stanley Pushka, 45, had been removed alive by rescue workers at 6 a.m., after being trapped for nearly 24 hours suffering only from shock and bruises. Pulled to the surface, Pushka walked away from the hole and said he didn't want to go to a hospital. Friends persuaded him to enter the Pottsville Hospital ambulance which had been on the scene since early the day before. Source document
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| MAR 1937 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — After more than 12 hours, six-foot, 330-pound Willie Politis was rescued from tons of earth and rock in a mountain coal hole. This was the second rescue needed for "Big Willie" within a few weeks. Source document
One news article found spells his name William Tavolitis and states he was trapped for 15 hours in the abandoned Burnside mine of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. Source document
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| Coaldale Colliery Cave-in, Coaldale, Pennsylvania — Joseph Filowic, a miner at the Coaldale colliery of the Lehigh Navigation Coal Company was rescued after being confined for 3 hours by a fall of top rock. Rescue crews were at once rushed to the scene and worked feverishly to free the man. After being freed, Filowic was able to walk home evidently none the worse for his experience. Source document
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| Miner Victim of Mysterious Ailment, Locust Gap, Pennsylvania — Bernard Cannon, 33, an employee at Locust Gap Colliery, was found lying unconscious on a mine gangway where he had been working alone. He was taken to the Fountain Springs Hospital, conscious and reported recuperating. The plight of Cannon was mysterious. The man didn't know what happened, whether he collapsed through illness, was overcome by gas or was injured. Surgeons at the hospital, after restoring Cannon to consciousness, began a diagnosis of his condition, but had not determined the cause of his ailment. Source document
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| Denver Fire Clay Mine Cave-in, Golden, Colorado — Three cold and hungry miners fed nothing but frankfurters through a pipe dragged themselves to safety after being imprisoned 18 hours in a clay mine cave-in of the Denver Fire Clay Company mine. Cheers of 15 other miners echoed through the damp mine as the last of the three, uninjured, wriggled through to greet rescue workers. "Boy, we're glad to get out of that place," they agreed. "It was chilly in there but not cold and the "weinies" helped a lot, but that old daylight looks better to us than anything in the world." The men were Roy Towles, 42; W. J. Foreman; and Peter Bauler. Foreman and Towles were timbering the mine tunnel 200 feet from the portal when suddenly the tunnel ceiling gave way. Source document
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| FEB 1937 | Robert Johnson spent eight days without food in utter darkness in an abandoned Flemington, West Virginia coal mine. Guided by his weak cries, Bill McDonald, Minor Cleavenger and Lon Smith found the man and brought him out on a stretcher. Source document
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Fleck Coal Company Mine Cave-in, Carnegie, Pennsylvania — His face still marked by the grit that had pierced his flesh when he was buried under tons of coal and shale in the cave-in of an abandoned mine near Carnegie, Jacob Wright yesterday lay on his hospital cot and painfully told the story of the entombment that nearly cost him his life. Fearful for the health of his three-week-old son, Jacob, Jr., Wright set out yesterday morning to get coal to warm the ramshackle wind-swept dwelling on Hope Hollow Road in which he and his family make their home. Dragging a pick after him, Wright wormed his way into a small tunnel angling into the shaft of the abandoned Fleck Coal Company mine, from which poverty- stricken families in the little valley settlement obtained their fuel.
"I was crouched low, picking away at the roof, and I must have cracked one of the supporting ledges of coal," Wright said. "The first thing I knew the whole roof of the tunnel had caved in, smashing me to the ground." "My arms got pinned, but I kept trying to work them loose, so I could poke some air holes through the rock and dirt. I don't know whether I was hurt or not. I only knew that I had to get air. "Then I lost consciousness. When I came to, they were working on me out on the hillside."The rumbling of rock down the steep slope above the mouth to the tunnel first apprised neighbors of the accident. Hearing the noise, Homer Phillips, a neighbor of Wright, exclaimed, "I wonder if that's at the mine?" He and his wife rushed to the tunnel and saw Wright's legs protruding from the debris that cluttered the entrance. Their cries aroused others, and a rescue crew soon was working feverishly to free the entombed man. Twenty minutes after he had been trapped by the cave-in Wright was dragged, unconscious, from the tunnel. A neighbor revived him by artificial respiration. He was rushed to Mercy Hospital, and X-rays taken to determine the extent of his injuries. Source document
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| JAN 1937 | Delano Mine Cave-in, Montello, Nevada — Entombed for a day 300 feet underground, two men were rescued from the Delano mine and brought to Montello, suffering little ill effects. The miners, Jess Baker and a man named Harris, were trapped by a cave-in at the mine. Rescuers succeeding in penetrating the tons of rock and dirt and opened a passage to the two men. Source document
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| Beaver Brook Colliery Cave-in, Hazleton, Pennsylvania — A rescue crew worked for nearly two hours to dig William Letcher out from under a fall of rock in the Beaver Brook Colliery, where he was employed. His right side was paralyzed. Source document
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| DEC 1936 | Pioche No. 3 Mine Cave-in, Pioche, Nevada — Six miners were rescued from a cave-in in the Pioche No. 3 mine after an undisclosed period. The first three were freed uninjured during the overnight hours and the last three were rescued shortly after noon. Only one the last three was injured having been buried to his chin in broken rock. One of his arms and 4 of his ribs were broken. Source document
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| Alden Coal Company Hoisting Rescue, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania — Ten workers in the Alden Coal Company colliery were rescued after an undisclosed period from a cage hanging precariously in a 1,200-foot vertical shaft. The cage was jammed against the walls of the shaft by ice. The miners were brought to the surface one at a time with a block and tackle arrangement. Source document
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| Unnamed Mine Shaft Entrapment, Leon, Iowa — Five miners offered heartfelt thanks to 40 of their neighbors and friends who quickly saved them from imprisonment in a mine to which the entrance was suddenly closed. Two hundred seventy-five feet underground, the men were trapped when a tipple broke, wedging a three-ton cutting machine which was being lowered into the mine. It took six hours to cut a hole in the bottom of the safety cage, which also stuck in the shaft, and raise the five men to the entrance, one by one, with a rope. Source document
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| Neighborhood Coal Hole Rescue, Scranton, Pennsylvania — The drive for legislation to prevent mine caves was given impetus with the rescue of four persons from a 35-foot pit in their own back yard and announcement of a program by the Scranton Surface Protective Association. Guido Ciaucci, 12, walked into his backyard and plunged headlong into the pit, caused by a mine cave-in. His sister, 19, answered his cries for help and also was trapped. She was followed by Mrs. Mary Zibi, 40, and her daughter, Esther, 5. Firemen rescued them with ladders. The protective association, pioneer in the fight to prevent caves, adopted a legislative program calling for creation of a State Anthracite Commission to have powers over the principal problems of the industry. The commission would deal with cave problems, mining and marketing, control of bootleg mining, and would study means to halt unemployment. Source document
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| NOV 1936 | Abandoned Mine Shaft Fall of Person, Merced, California — Alvin Peterson, 22, was critically injured as the result of a fall down a 150-foot abandoned mine shaft. Peterson suffered a fractured pelvis, spine injuries, possible basal skull fracture and internal injuries, arm injuries and numerous lacerations and bruises. He was rushed to the hospital by Dr. J. S. Webster of Mariposa. Source document
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| Abandoned Anthracite Mine Rescue, Morris Ridge, Pennsylvania — Rescuers found Andrew Chuba, 19, and Michael Bolick, 18, alive yesterday after 7 hours entombment in a coal hole at nearby Morris Ridge. The youths were taken to an Ashland hospital suffering from shock. They were trapped after they entered an abandoned hole. Source document
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| Unnamed Mine Asphyxiation, Schullsburg, Wisconsin — Albert Radke, 35, was recovering from gas poisoning after being rescued by Elmer Bertham, his partner, from a local mine. When Radke was overcome, Bertram withstood the gas long enough to get a car, load Radke into it and come up the shaft. Source document
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| Independent Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Trevorton, Pennsylvania — Trapped in a rush of coal in an independent mine near Trevorton, Jacob Smeltz, Sr., 65, suffered severe internal injuries and his son, Jacob. Jr., escaped with minor contusions. The aged independent miner was in the Mary Packer Hospital, where his condition was reported as fair. Father and son were at work at the bottom of a 60-foot shaft when the fall occurred, burying both men. Jacob Smeltz, Jr., was buried to the shoulders but was able to shout to his brother-in-law, Kenneth Williams, who was at the head of the shaft. Descending to the foot of the shaft, Williams was successful in extricating Jacob, Jr., and the two then rescued the completely covered aged miner. It was with difficulty they managed to hoist the injured man to the surface, where a truck hurried him to the hospital at Sunbury. Source document
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| OCT 1936 | Bootleg Coal Mine Cave-in, Williamstown, Pennsylvania — Peter Rono, 41, was seriously injured and his two companions escaped injury when a rush of coal caught them in a bootleg coal hole north of Williamstown. Rono was caught under the rush and had a vertebra in his back broken, several ribs fractured and a possible fracture of the left foot. He was rescued after an undisclosed period by his two companions, Archie Shuttlesworth and Paul Garber, who dodged the fall, and was taken to the hospital after receiving first aid treatment from Dr. William Connelly. He was conscious when admitted to the hospital and his condition regarded as fair. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Green Ridge, Pennsylvania — Joseph Lashendock, 28, and his brother, Andrew, 23, of Marion Heights, were rescued after being covered by a rush of coal for nearly 2 hours. Joseph had a probable fracture of the leg and minor bruises, while Andrew escaped with a few scratches. Rescuers went down immediately, and several times had the men almost free, only to see them covered again as the soft coal continued to rush in from the soft, two-foot coal vein from above. A discharge of dynamite, fired at quitting time last night, is believed to have loosened the coal above, but the top did not break through until today. Following the heroic rescue, Joe was taken to the office of a local physician, while Andrew, suffering only from slight shock, was taken to his home. Source document
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| Jordan Mine Lost Miner, Fairmont, West Virginia — Rescuers found Pat Dailey, 40, who had been missing for hours, asleep in the Jordan mine of the Consolidation Coal Company. He said he became confused while walking out of the mine, wandered for a few hours, then laid down to sleep. Source document
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| SEP 1936 | Macbeth Mine Explosion, Logan, West Virginia — An explosion of gas and dust resulted in the death of 10 men, and the injury of one man by afterdamp. This man was rescued after an undisclosed period and revived. The explosion was restricted to 12 and 13 Right entries. Gas had accumulated near the face of room 14, 13 Right entry, when a door was left open. An arc from a splice in the cable of a cable-reel locomotive ignited the gas, and dust propagated the explosion. Its spread was stopped by rock dust placed in the entries some months earlier and by a pool of water on 12 right. Cause of Explosion: Ignition of gas by a cable reel locomotive. | |
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| AUG 1936 | Following a 72 hour entrapment in the burning Esry Mine near Moberly, Missouri, two of four men were rescued. The deceased were Ed Stoner, one of the owners, and George Dameron. The rescued men were Demmer Sexton and Jack McMann. | |
| Anthracite Bootleg Mine Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Edward Hartley, 23, was rescued several hours after he became a cave-in victim in a bootleg coal hole near Pottsville. Hartley was conscious when he was removed, however, he was unable to walk since he was engulfed in rock and dirt up to his neck. He was transported to the Pottsville Hospital where he was listed in fair condition. Source document
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| Unnamed Mine Fire, Downieville, California — A faithful dog ran 900 feet through a fire and smoke-filled tunnel and attracted two miners to the entrance where flames which soon would have trapped them were raging. The miners, Joseph Stark and his son, Herman, left a fire in the stove in their quarters in the mine mill before they entered the tunnel. The stove pipe became hot and ignited dry timbers. The dog ran through the blaze into the tunnel and barked until he summoned the two men. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania — Simon Kapaczewski, an unhired miner, was rescued from his makeshift mine after he was entombed for 11 hours. Kapaczewski was caught by a fall of rock far down the jagged hole yesterday afternoon. Other unhired miners heard his screams and for hours shoveled at the several tons of rock. He was removed to a hospital. Source document
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| JUL 1936 | Anthracite Bootleg Mine Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Enock Kuklinskie, 35, was rescued 22 hours after being trapped in a 30-foot make-shift mine near Shamokin, Pennsylvania. He was hospitalized in serious condition. Source document
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| JUN 1936 | Caught by crumbling rock and fallen timbers in a Helena, Montana mine, Ed Moore became held firmly by the jam. One of the owners, John Brophy, who was working with him, managed to get out and get help. Despite being warned by Moore not to come down, rescuers worked for four hours to free him and return him to his wife and daughter, who were waiting on the surface. Source document
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| Dugger-Martin Mine Explosion, Paxton, Indiana — Ivan Alexander was rescued alive from the Dugger-Martin coal mine, several hours after he had been overcome by gas while attempting to find two other men believed killed in an explosion. The two men still in the mine were believed to have been killed in the explosion. Source document
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| Anthracite Bootleg Mine Rockslide, Greenwood, Pennsylvania — Arthur Ulko, 18, was saved from death after an undisclosed period by several companions after he was pinned in a hole while digging coal in Greenwood. A slide of rock was reported to have caught Ulko and buried his left leg. Friends succeeded in removing the rock and had him taken to the office of Dr. Serafine Wandalowski. Ulko's injuries were described as brush burns of the left leg and left arm. He also suffered from shock. Source document
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| MAY 1936 | Abandoned Mine Rescue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Two would-be copper thieves were rescued and arrested 15 hours after they became lost in an abandoned coal mine near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Police arrested Arthur Tonner, 35, and Robert Dyer, 36, after they were rescued from 15 miles of tunnels by a crew from the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The officers said Tonner and Dyer went into the mine to hunt copper wire while another man, Edwin Miller, 35, stayed above ground, on guard. Miller was also arrested. Source document
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| APR 1936 | Clyde Westcott Mine Fall of Person, Mt. Sterling, Ohio — Raymond Blackstone, 28, was injured when the coal car which he occupied fell down a 35-foot shaft of the Clyde Westcott mine, three miles south of Mt. Sterling. He was reported in critical condition in Bethesda hospital. Blackstone suffered a fractured skull and a broken jaw. Portions of wood driven into his brain and skull by force of the fall were removed yesterday by the attending physician. He was found unconscious at the foot of the shaft by Robert Lane, a pony-driver in the mine. After an undisclosed period, fellow workmen assisted in bringing him to the surface where first aid was given. He was taken to the hospital in the Bateman ambulance. The injured man had been employed at the mine for three years. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania — Anthony Treskoloski was rescued after 48 hours from a cave-in near Shenandoah by fellow-workers who tunneled through the hillside beneath him. His condition was not serious. Source document 1 Source document 2
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| Modern Sand and Gravel Company Cave-in, St. Louis, Missouri — Herbert Thimm, 37, an oiler for the Modern Sand and Gravel Company, was buried in a sand cave-in at the company's plant at the foot of Rutger street for more than an hour but was rescued uninjured by police and firemen. Thimm entered an opening in a loading station when a sand slide started from a large pile. He grasped the sides of the opening to keep his head from being buried and fellow workmen put a steel cylinder about his head to prevent suffocation. Police and firemen put ropes under Thimm's armpits, and he was dragged out. Source document
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| MAR 1936 | Gus Brown and his three husky sons rescued "Fannie, their pet pony from the family coal mine in Louis Hollow near Crooksville, Ohio. Fannie, trapped 19 days due to a cave-in, emerged sleepily and appeared none the worse for her experience. The pony, led through hastily-driven shafts was taken into the Brown home and given a warm place by the kitchen stove. Source document
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| FEB 1936 | Bird Camp Gold Mine Avalanche, Ouray, Colorado — 20 miners were trapped for 10 hours in a tunnel of the Bird Camp Gold Mine by an avalanche of snow. Two men and a woman were killed when the avalanche roared down Devil's Slide of Chicago Hill smashing a bunkhouse and closing the mouth of the mine tunnel. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Kulpmont, Pennsylvania — John Butcher, 42, had a miraculous escape from death when he was trapped for three hours beneath a fall of top coal in a bootleg coal hole. A nearby miner heard the fall and investigated and found the roof and side had fallen in. The rescue workers were amazed when they found Butcher alive when they uncovered his head. He was treated at the Shamokin hospital for shock and contusions of the back and right arm. Source document
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| F. W. Jennings Coal Chute Asphyxiations, Pittston, Pennsylvania — Buried under 40 tons of coal for 15 minutes, Dominick Cardone, was suffocated and died at the retail coal chutes of F. W. Jennings in Pittston. A fellow worker, Nicholas Mancini, 24, was rescued before he smothered and was recovering from the shock of his experience in Pittston Hospital. Cardone was pronounced dead by Dr. B. S. Androsky and Dr. C. W Prevost after rescuers had worked steadily for 45 minutes with a pulmotor to resuscitate him. The accident happened while Cardone and Mancini were in the pit attempting to open the frost-choked chute for a retail coal driver. Above them a hopper car was emptying coal into the bin. It was believed that the fuel loosened the frozen coal in the chute to send a deluge down upon the two men. Members of Eagle Hose Company and other men in the near vicinity hurried to the rescue. They reached Mancini within a few minutes but labored for a quarter hour before getting to Cardone. While the rescue work was in progress. Fred Donofirio, 48, who was in charge of Cardone and Mancini, returned from a business errand to the central part of the city. He was overcome at the tragedy that occurred during his absence and was so affected by shock that he was taken to Pittston hospital for treatment. His condition was listed as good. Source document
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| JAN 1936 | Racketbrook Culm Bank Slide, Carbondale, Pennsylvania — Rescue crews succeeded in extricating Joseph Zukowski, 16, from the Racketbrook culm bank where he had been trapped for two hours while digging coal. Zukowski and three neighborhood companions went to the Racketbrook dump to pick coal. Heavy frosts of recent weeks had cemented the surface, consisting mostly of slate and rock, into a hard mass and the four assumed they were working in comparative safety. In the midst of their labors, they sensed the danger of collapse and scrambled for safety. All but Zukowski escaped. He was at first buried up to his chest, then up to his neck from a further slide of material. Once freed, Zukowski was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was held for observation, suffering from shock and probable internal injuries. Source document
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| DEC 1935 | Wolf Run Mine Explosion, Amsterdam, Ohio — 20 miners were rescued from behind a barricade 1 to 2 hours after an explosion in the Wolf Run mine at Amsterdam, Ohio. Four miners were killed in the incident. Source document
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| Unnamed Tunnel Cave-in, Los Angeles, California — Ed Olinger, 41-year-old hard rock miner trapped for an undisclosed period in a deep underground tunnel through which he sought to reach a hidden chamber believed to contain buried treasure, was freed by firemen. Olinger was hurried to a hospital where his legs were found to be paralyzed. The condition was believed to be only temporary, however. He had been buried for hours up to his armpits in fallen earth. Source document
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| Lehigh Navigation No. 9 Colliery Cave-in, Panther Creek Valley, Pennsylvania — Steve Serina was rescued alive after he had been trapped several hours back of a heavy rush of rock and coal at the Lehigh Navigation Coal Company's No. 9 colliery in the Panther Creek valley. Serina was at work alone on the gangway at the time of the accident. Other workmen had gone from the working place to obtain required material. When they returned it was to discover the fall and the entombment of their fellow workman. Rescue forces worked heroically several hours to find Serina safely hidden on a ledge. He was uninjured. Source document
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| OCT 1935 | Independent Mine Cave-in, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania — Peter Baxter, 38, was released from his underground prison 22 hours after he and another miner were caught in a coal slide producing a cave-in. The incident occurred at the Independent mine owned by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. The doctor at the Ashland Hospital reported Baxter's condition as good, saying he only appeared to be suffering from shock and exposure. The other miner, John Stankowski, was believed to be dead. Source document
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| Unnamed Coal Mine Cave-in, Steubenville, Ohio — John Henry Wiggins helped to rescue Richard S. Riser from a mine cave-in, Steubenville, Ohio, October 14, 1935. While Riser, 51, was working in an entry five feet high in a mine, a rock 30 feet long, 10 feet wide, and two to three feet thick fell from the top, knocking him down close to a rail of a track and pinning his right arm and left foot. His left knee was pressed against his chest, causing him to breathe with great difficulty. Wiggins, 48, mine loader, ran to the rock and at a point 12 feet from Riser lay prone and crawled under it toward Riser through an opening 14 inches high. The rock rested mainly on refuse coal, and as Wiggins crawled, he pushed rock fragments from in front of him and stacked them to aid in preventing the rock from sinking lower and crushing him. Reaching Riser, he tugged at his left foot and forced off Riser's shoe but was unable to free his foot. Riser urged him to break his leg, if necessary. Wiggins crawled back to the opening, got a jack handle, again crawled to Riser, and tried to raise the rock by means of the handle but failed. He then took hold of Riser's ankle with both hands and pulled his foot free, crawled backward for four feet, and pulled Riser's leg to a straight position. He removed rock fragments from around Riser's right leg and then tried to pull Riser's arm from its wedged position. Failing to do so, he crawled back to the opening and clear of the rock. He had been under the rock for 20 minutes Later the rock was raised by means of jacks, and Riser was dragged from beneath it. His arm was paralyzed. Two other men who were caught under the fall were killed. John Wiggins was bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for his bravery. Source document
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| JUL 1935 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Trevorton, Pennsylvania — Charles Hauser, 48, sustained a compound fracture of the right leg, lacerations and other injuries of the head, face and body yesterday while robbing pillars in a coal hole near Trevorton. Working on a pitch, he lost his balance when a rock fell out of the top and struck him on the head. Hauser, plunging down the hole, caused a slide which buried him for fifteen minutes. Unconscious when rescued, he was taken to the Shamokin State Hospital for treatment. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, West Glendower, Pennsylvania — Trapped in an independent mine operation at West Glendower, Edward Kimmel, 30, was rescued alive four hours later and escaped with comparatively minor injuries. Kimmel and two fellow workers were driving an independent mine hole when the workings suddenly collapsed, trapping Kimmel in back of the fall. His companions summoned aid from nearby holes, and within a short, time a large force of men was engaged in removing debris. After four hours, the mass of rock and coal was penetrated and Kimmel was found alive. A physician gave Kimmel medical and surgical attention at the scene and he was conveyed to his home where he was expected to recover. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Asphyxiations, Bunker Hill, Pennsylvania — The presence of mind and courage of Bert Hoffa, 15, was responsible for the rescue of the boy's grandfather, John Bainbridge, from a damp-filled mine hole on the mountain north of Bunker Hill. Bainbridge, a former borough fire chief, was at work in the mine hole with his grandson when he was overcome by black damp. The boy, weakened himself and barely conscious, managed to drag his grandfather 100 feet underground to a point where the air was clearer. There, almost exhausted but realizing that both might die if help was not secured, he climbed to the surface. The boy's sudden emergence into pure air caused him to collapse unconscious at the top of the miniature mine, where he was found by a party of miners working nearby. He was taken to his home, where he was revived by a physician. Both damp victims would recover, physicians said. Miners who found Hoffa and participated in the rescue of Bainbridge declared that the boy's feat of dragging his grandfather to safety was almost unbelievable in view of the youth's slight physique and the fact that he was severely affected by the damp himself. Source document
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| Menzel Mine Cave-in, Redding, California — After nine hours of frantic rescue work, Walter Straight, 47, a miner employed in the Menzel Mine, walked from the tunnel uninjured. He had been imprisoned in a slide of thousands of tons of broken granite since the previous day. Four workers in the mine immediately started removing the debris, in which Straight was buried shoulder high, and called for help from nearby Iron Mountain. The Mountain Copper Company superintendent rushed eight men to the scene to assist in the rescue. Working in shifts, the miners dug throughout the day, relieved as soon as they became exhausted. Source document
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| Lowry Farm Mine Asphyxiation, Thomas Hill, Missouri — Roy Dale, a 25-year-old miner was unconscious for nearly three hours from effects of carbon monoxide gas, after he was overcome in a mine near Thomas Hill. He was taken to McCormick Hospital for treatment and recovered. Dale and his father had been operating a slope mine on the Tom Lowry farm near Thomas Hill. Working at the mine, they were pumping water, using a gasoline engine inside the mine to operate the pump. The belt on the engine had been slipping and not working properly. As they worked on the engine, they noticed the gas and realized they were becoming weak, so both started up the slope for the mine entrance. When they were about 40 feet from the opening, Roy fell. With assistance, young Dale was carried out and rushed to his home in Huntsville for treatment, and then was taken to the hospital. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Asphyxiations, Wiggans, Pennsylvania — Three miners were overcome by black damp after being trapped in a bootleg coal hole near Wiggans, and transported to the Locust Mountain Hospital for treatment. Whether or not the afterdamp followed a discharge of dynamite or an explosion of gas had not been determined. Those removed from the hole and rushed to the hospital in a truck were: Joseph Costa, Emanuel Garcia, and James Gonzales. Their condition was reported as good. Source document
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| Wickwire Spencer Steel Plant Coal Hole Fall of Person, Tonawanda, New York — After being a prisoner for three nights and two days at the bottom of a 20-foot coal hole in an unused part of the Wickwire Spencer Steel company plant, Ruth Cornere, 20, was taken to the Millard Fillmore hospital while police were investigating her story. Slightly hysterical, hungry, and suffering from a bruised ankle and arm, Miss Cornere was taken out of her dark prison by two employes of the company who heard her weak cries. She wore only beach pajamas. Police sent her to the hospital in an ambulance. They said Miss Cornere told them she went for a walk near her home Friday evening and can remember little after that except that she was in a Niagara street restaurant. Source document
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| JUN 1935 | Unnamed Mine Cave-in, Dillon, Montana — Although he was trapped for four hours at the bottom of a 120-foot shaft by a cave-in, George Mickich escaped with a severe nervous shock. Mickich was working with several others in the mine at the time of the collapse but was separated from them. The others immediately launched rescue operations and succeeded in releasing the man, to whom they continually shouted words of encouragement. Source document
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| MAY 1935 | Simpson Mine Cave-in, Carbondale, Pennsylvania — George Gill, 40, has his foreman John Yancheck to thank for being rescued alive after being trapped under a fall of rock in a slope of the Simpson Coal Company when Yancheck imperiled his own life to return to his fellow workman. With only his hands and a stick, the only instrument available, Yancheck removed a huge pile of loose culm and dirt from his head, saving him from being smothered while others were coming to his rescue. He was left with all except his head buried under a mass of rock and dirt, and it was nearly five hours that his body was entirely uncovered, permitting his removal. Gill was transferred by ambulance to St. Joseph's Hospital where he was found to be not dangerously hurt, suffering from bruises of the body and shock. Source document
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| APR 1935 | U. S. Gold Mine Cave-in, Butte, Montana — Trapped nine hours beneath 25 feet of rock in the U. S. mine near Butte, Harvey Konen, 45, had suffered only a few scratches and bruised when rescued by a crew of 20 men. Konen descended the 60-foot shaft of the gold mine shortly before 9:30 a.m. After hearing dangerous rumblings above him, he was ascending a ladder when the timbered shaft crashed in ahead of an avalanche of rock. Workers at the shaft rushed to Butte and recruited veteran miners who were taken to the property where an opening was made in the caved-in shaft and Konen was brought to the surface. Source document
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| Abandoned Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Newtown Hill, Pennsylvania — Roy Gauntlett, 32, was rescued from an abandoned mine working at nearby Newtown Hill, where he was held trapped by a fall of coal for eight hours. Gauntlett was taken to a hospital to be treated for exposure and exhaustion. A score of men tunneled through the fall to the spot where he was buried, while he directed the rescue. Source document
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| MAR 1935 | Unnamed Coal Mine Cave-in, Starford, Pennsylvania — John S. Korfonta sustained fatal injuries attempting to help rescue Francis R. Yaros from a mine cave-in, Starford, Pennsylvania, March 11, 1935. While Yaros, 21, was close to the face of the coal at the end of a heading of a mine, a rock six feet and a half in diameter and from two to 15 inches thick fell from the roof onto him. The rock lay two feet from the face of the coal between two parallel rows of posts eight feet apart. Only Yaros's feet and ankles extended from under the rock. Frank L. Russell, Jr., heard the crash and went to another heading, where he notified Korfonta, 46, miner; J. Clair Irvin; Joseph C. Resovsky; and another man. Irvin, closely followed by Russell, Resovsky, and the other man, hurried through a crosscut and the heading to the rock and then crawled over it to positions between the rock and the face of the coal. Russell placed a crowbar beneath the edge of the rock, and his companions placed their hands beneath the rock to lift it. Korfonta then reached the rock and began to crawl over it. Another rock, five feet wide and eight inches thick, fell and knocked him aside onto loose slate. Slate dribbled from the roof, and the men feared another fall. After standing aside a moment, Irvin and Resovsky lifted a part of the rock, which had been split by the second rock, from Yaros's legs. Russell and Resovsky then lifted the rock from Yaros's back. Irvin grasped Yaros's ankles and pulled him to the face of the coal. Russell and Irvin then carried Yaros toward the other side of the heading, the roof of which was amply supported by crossbeams, then for 25 feet over a pile of slate to a safe part of the heading. Resovsky remained with Korfonta. Russell ran to the entrance of the mine for help. Irvin returned to the rock and crawled over the loose slate to Korfonta and Resovsky. He and Resovsky then carried Korfonta over the same course to the crosscut and the other heading. In the meantime, Yaros died. Korfonta was placed in a minecar and hauled out of the mine. He died of his injuries that evening. J. Clair Irvin, Frank L. Russell, Jr., Joseph C. Resovsky and John S. Korfonta (posthumously) were bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for their bravery. Source document
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| Union Collieries No. 6 Mine Cave-in, Newfield, Pennsylvania — Two miners, entombed 300 feet underground, were rescued by 60 of their follows who dug untiringly for eight hours. The men, Gasper Kern, 51, and Mike Kurmisky, 20, were uninjured but exhausted. They were given first aid and ordered to bed. The pair were trapped in the No. 6 mine of the Union Collieries company at Newfield after tons of rock fell, cutting off their escape. Fellow workers dug for five hours, not knowing whether the men were dead or alive. Finally they heard voices and redoubled their efforts. They dug through 30 feet of debris, about a mile and a half in the mine, before reaching the men. Source document
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| FEB 1935 | St. Clair Coal Co. Mine Cave-in, St. Clair, Pennsylvania — Trapped by a fall of rock for an undisclosed period at the St. Clair Coal Company, Franklin Zondorhin, 49, was admitted to the Pottsville Hospital late last night for treatment of his injuries. His face and head were lacerated severely in the mishap and numerous sutures were necessary to close the wounds. Source document
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| Trapped Dog Rescue, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania — Seven coal miners pitched in and helped their comrade, George Erbe, rescue his fox terrier dog, trapped 30 feet below solid rock. The pup called "Bum" was caught beneath the ridge of rock when he and three other dogs were chasing a fox. The other dogs came out at the call of their masters, but "Bum" did not appear. Erbe summoned his miner friends who brought picks, shovels and dynamite. Though the weather was near zero, the men blasted away at the rock and chipped at the boulders for four days. After four days of digging, one of the men crawled down into the hole and heard the faint barking of "Bum." The rescuers reached him within a few minutes. They found "Bum" whimpering from hunger and cold, but otherwise the pup was uninjured. Source document
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| United Gold Mine Fire, Cripple Creek, Colorado — The rescue of Ernest Kuri and Jack Silver from the bottom of a 65-foot mine shaft in which they had been trapped by fire was effected after a group of men directed by Sheriff Ed Vinyard spent 15 hours conquering the blaze. Although shaken by the harrowing experience of facing death as the flames slowly ate their way down the mine shaft, the two miners were uninjured. The fire broke out in the hoist house above the shaft, spread to other buildings and had started on its way down the shaft before it was noticed and an alarm spread. Sheriff Vinyard headed a group of 25 volunteers. Efforts to conquer the flames with chemicals failed and several truckloads of sand and water were hauled to the mine. When the flames were checked the trapped miners were brought to the surface by a rope lowered into the shaft, the windlass having been destroyed. We just sat and prayed when the fire broke out, Kuri said. We had just about given up hope of getting out alive when someone dropped some rocks into the shaft to let us know they were trying to get us out. The property was owned by United Gold Mines Company. Source document
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| Consolidation Mine Cave-in, Cumberland, Maryland — Christopher Krause, 55, and William Griffith, Jr., 30, were safe in their homes, unharmed except for the 16-hour exposure to mine gases while imprisoned in the shaft of Consolidation Mine under a fall of rock. The men became trapped and rescue crews began the tedious task of removing the heavy rock and debris. Rescue was effected after relay crews labored 16 hours. Source document
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| JAN 1935 | Utica Mine Fall of Ground, Angels Camp, California — Gus May, miner, narrowly escaped death while at work on a filled shaft of the Utica Mine, 2,000 feet below the ground. The fill began to sink and the fire department battled mud and water for an undisclosed period to rescue him from the muck. May was unhurt but suffered from chills. Source document
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| Stanton Colliery Landslide, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania — John Roberts, 56, was almost completely buried beneath a dirt bank slide at the Stanton Colliery at 6 p.m. the evening before, while he was picking coal. Unable to extricate himself, he endured a nightmare until employees on their way to work in the morning, more than 12 hours later, found him unconscious. Though suffering from shock as well as injuries to both legs, hips and abdomen, Roberts condition was regarded as not serious. The slide that buried him also kept much of the cold away from his body, or he would have frozen to death, it was stated at the hospital. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Marlin Lauer was seriously injured when he was covered by a fall of coal in a bootleg mine near Shamokin. He was rushed to the Shamokin State Hospital where an examination disclosed that he had a fracture of the left leg, chest injuries, lacerations of the scalp and face, and possible internal injuries. The accident occurred shortly after Lauer and several companions started work in their operation. Lauer was at the bottom of the hole when the fall occurred. He was rendered unconscious when a piece of coal struck him on the head. He was revived by rescuers after being carried to the surface after an undisclosed period. Source document
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| Juneau Mine Rescue, Durango, Colorado — Stricken four days earlier by paralysis at the Juneau mine, Joe Bari, 60. miner, will live, physicians said, because of the heroic efforts of four Durango men who dragged him on a toboggan 13 hours across 19 miles of snow-drifted mountain trail. Source document
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| Hammond Mine Elevator Entrapment, Girardville, Pennsylvania — Ten miners were imprisoned in a mine cage 350 feet underground for four hours when safety catches on a cage jammed as the men were being lowered into the Hammond mine at Girardville. Repairmen descended into the 750-foot-deep shaft and freed the trapped workers. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Asphyxiations, Wiggans, Pennsylvania — Three miners were overcome by black damp after being trapped in a bootleg coal hole near Wiggans, and transported to the Locust Mountain Hospital for treatment. Whether or not the afterdamp followed a discharge of dynamite or an explosion of gas had not been determined. Those removed from the hole and rushed to the hospital in a truck were: Joseph Costa, Emanuel Garcia, and James Gonzales. Their condition was reported as good. Source document
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| DEC 1934 | Wyandotte Dragline Rescue, Wyandotte, California — When the lights on a Wyandotte dragline dredger suddenly went out as he was about to go on his midnight work shift, Charles Anderson of Oroville fell into a 12-foot prospect hole in which there were six feet of water. His calls for help were heard by a fellow employee who threw a cable down the shaft to Anderson and then called to Anderson's son, nearby in an automobile, to throw the car head-lights over the hole. Wallace found a ladder, tied a rope on it and threw it down the shaft to Anderson who climbed out safely. Source document
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| NOV 1934 | Harmon Mine Cave-in, Placerville, California — Rescued after being entombed by a mine cave-in for 16 hours, Owen W. Terry declared he would return to his job despite his harrowing experience. Terry, superintendent of the Harmon Mine was uninjured but was still and sore from being pinioned by heavy timbers, which prevented a huge boulder from crushing him. He was trapped by the rock fall which killed another miner, William Stonerook. Source document
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| Unnamed Mine Cave-in, Charleston, West Virginia — Imprisoned for more than 24 hours in a tiny wet niche in the mine wall behind a huge pile of slate and jagged rock, Toni Tianosi was rescued by fellow-workers who labored day and night, working in 20-minute shifts to dig him a tunnel to freedom. He was taken to his home — to bed, to rest, and most important in Toni's opinion, to get warm. Source document
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| Abandoned Lincoln Colliery Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Charles Barr, of Pine Grove, was reported recovering from a harrowing experience of being entombed for more than six hours in an abandoned mine shaft. A rush of earth and coal trapped Barr in the abandoned workings at the Lincoln colliery. Twenty men digging in shifts rescued him. Source document
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| OCT 1934 | Bootleg Mine Cave-in, New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — John Coyle, age 63, was rescued after 20 hours from a bootleg mine hole near New Philadelphia. Coyle owed his life-saving rescue to a group of volunteers that drove a 90-foot parallel shaft to reach the trapped miner. Physicians at the Pottsville Hospital reported that Coyle was suffering from severe shock and exposure. Source document
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| West End Mine Cave-in, Mocanaqua, Pennsylvania — Silver Miczalowski, 28, was rescued after being trapped in a slide of coal for an hour and 20 minutes at the West End Coal Company in Mocanaqua, Pennsylvania. He was completely covered, but loose debris around his head allowed him to breathe until rescued. Source document
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| SEP 1934 | Independent Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Turkey Run, Pennsylvania — John Birchess, 22, was rescued after being trapped for four hours in a coal hole near Turkey Run. He was covered almost to the neck, suffering injuries of the left chest, left hip, both knees and legs. He was removed to the Locust Mountain Hospital, where his condition was said to be serious. Birchess was working an "independent" mine hole with his partner when he was caught by a fall of dirt and rock. Source document
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| Independent Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Wiggans, Pennsylvania — Michael Mensick, 32, of Shenandoah, was at work in an independent mine operation near Wiggans when he was buried
under a rush of rock and debris. Fellow workmen quickly effected rescue of the unfortunate miner, but not before he had suffered severe head and chest injuries. He was taken to the Locust Mountain state hospital, at Shenandoah, for treatment. Source document
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| AUG 1934 | William Jones, 35, from Minersville, Pennsylvania was rescued from a rock slide in a Bootleg anthracite mine where he was trapped for more than 24 hours. Source document
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| Derby No. 3 Mine Explosion, Big Stone Gap, Virginia — After an undisclosed period following the 7 a.m. explosion, two men, Lawrence Fleener and Walter Bayless, were brought out alive and were taken to the Stonega hospital for treatment. Artificial respiration was resorted to in vain efforts to save some of the others. | ||
| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Upper Donaldson, Pennsylvania — Harold Dinger was entombed in a bootleg mine hole when a rush of coal and debris covered him as he and a group of men including his father and brothers were working the hole. He was rescued practically uninjured after an undisclosed period. The group, including his father, H. Dinger, a brother, Lester, Herman and Harry Myers were working the coal hole with Harold in the hole digging. He dislodged a large rock which precipitated the slide. Aside from shock and bruises he was uninjured. Source document
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| Wolfe Colliery Cave-in, Oneida, Pennsylvania — Joseph Thomas, of Oneida, near Hazleton, was recovering at the Hazleton state hospital from severe shock and injuries suffered when he was buried seven hours beneath a fall of coal and rock at the Wolfe Colliery, of the Wolfe Coal Company, where he was employed as a miner. Source document
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| JUL 1934 | Unnamed Coal Mine Cave-in, McComas, West Virginia — Joseph James Ellis and Armado Bucchi helped to rescue Walter J. Church from a mine cave-in, McComas, West Virginia, July 28, 1934. As Church, 31, was standing between the side wall of a room in a coal mine and a mine car that was three feet from the wall, a block of slate eight feet long, six feet wide, and eight inches thick dropped from a long crack in the roof, covering the car and extending to within four inches of the wall. Church was knocked to his knees, and one arm was pinned against the top of the side of the car. Ellis, 45, miner, who was between the end of the car and the face of the coal, was struck a glancing blow by the slate and then got out of the room. He heard slate dribbling from the roof and knew that dribbling slate often preceded a fall. Calling that there had been a fall and getting an axe, Ellis crawled on his hands and knees four or five feet under the slate, which was but three feet above the floor, and chopped the side of the car four or five inches from Church's arm. Another block of slate similar in size to the first then dropped on the first block, crushing the sides of the car so that the slate was but two feet above the floor. A little later Ellis and Bucchi managed to move the side of the car, freeing Church's arm. The three then backed from beneath the slate. Church's arm was later amputated at the elbow. He recovered otherwise. Messrs. Joseph Ellis and Bucchi were given the Carnegie Hero Award for their bravery. Source document
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| Peabody Mine Cave-in, Sullivan, Indiana — Caught beneath a heavy fall of slate, John Owen, a miner, dug himself out after five hours of painful effort. He was severely crushed but would probably recover. The slate fall occurred at the Peabody mine near Sullivan. Source document
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| JUN 1934 | Dorrance Colliery Cave-in, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania — Buried beneath a fall of coal, Joseph Swelgoskie suffered possible fractures of the small bones of his left foot at the Dorrance Colliery of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company. He was rescued by fellow workmen within a few minutes after the fall occurred. Admitted to General Hospital, Swelgoskie was reported in good condition. Source document
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| Abandoned Diamond Colliery Rescue, Scranton, Pennsylvania — The wanderings of two North Scranton boys in the darkness of the abandoned Diamond Colliery of the Glen Alden Coal Company, ended after — 75 hours — of torturous travel through pockets of blackdamp and perilous cave squeeze areas. Their underground journey was terminated in a thrilling rescue by Fuhrman Ballus, who on his second attempt in two days to locate the boys, found them without lights, huddled against the gob. The youths, Walter Gilasavage, 13, and John Stasko, Jr., were sadly the worse for their experience when brought to the surface. Both boys were exceedingly nervous and exhausted almost to the point of emaciation. The youngsters each lost nine or ten pounds in the adventure and had been without food for three days. The only water available was the subterranean drippings of sulphur water. Gilasavage was taken to the state hospital and was examined. His physical condition was reported as good considering shock and his long vacation from the dinner table. Stasko was treated by a physician and was removed to his home. Both boys had bruises on the leg from tearing along the road and vaulting over fall of roof. The boy were so weakened as to be scarcely able to follow Ballus over the gangway as he piloted them to the surface. Source document
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| Unnamed Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Aristes, Pennsylvania — Entombed for nearly eight hours in a coal hole sixty feet deep near Aristes, Stephen Popilchock, aged seventeen, summoned enough strength to escape from ambulance attendants and make off to his home in a friend's automobile, following his rescue. While being carried from the mine hole on a stretcher to the ambulance, Popilchock startled his rescuers by suddenly leaping from the stretcher and running to the automobile of a friend, he was driven home and apparently was none the worse for his experience. Source document
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| MAY 1934 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Scranton, Pennsylvania — Trapped more than three hours by a slide of earth and shale while he was cutting coal in a mine opening, Charles Mickel, 38, today owed his life to a rescue squad which worked to free him despite the constant danger of another slide. Immediately upon his exit from death, Mickel was greeted by law enforcement and taken into custody on charges of forcible entry, assault and battery, and malicious mischief made by Mrs. Helen Smith. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Tremont, Pennsylvania — Frank Houser, 44, of Tremont, had a miraculous escape from death by suffocation when he was buried yesterday under a rush of coal near his home while engaged with other workmen in screening culm from an abandoned bank. He was caught in a hole when the sides collapsed and was held prisoner 15 minutes before fellow toilers effected his rescue. Houser, victim of internal injuries and shock, was removed to the Pottsville hospital. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Pine Grove, Pennsylvania — Entombed for seven hours James Farrell, 22, of Lorberry Junction, near Pine Grove, was rescued from a mine hole in which he was digging coal. Rushed to a hospital, he was treated for shock and held for observation of possible internal injuries. Farrell was digging with another man on a private mining property when the timbers gave way and buried him under a rush of earth. His companion escaped. Source document
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| Jeddo-Highland No. 4 Colliery Cave-in, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania — Trapped in a mine breast after thirty feet of gangway caved in at the No. 4 Colliery of the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company, five miners were rescued uninjured after an entombment of over four hours. The trapped miners included Peter Brobowski, George Clarco, Frank Mussolino, Fred Wald, and Nicholas Parenti. A rescue squad of fifty men worked for more than an hour before establishing communication with the men. Source document
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| APR 1934 | Sinclair Mine Fire, Switz, Indiana — Five miners escaped death in the Sinclair mine after fire broke out there. They walled themselves into a space 24 by 12 feet for an undisclosed period more than 100 yards away from the blazing wooden shaft, and awaited rescue. The rescued miners were Jack Hineman, Dennis Combs, Thomas Barnett, Henry Johnson, and Roll Himebrook. Source document
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| MAR 1934 | Nichols Coal Co. Powered Haulage Accident, Centralia, Missouri — George Noel, 19, suffered a wrenched back
and severe lacerations of the hands after falling sixty feet down a shaft of the Nichols Coal Company where he was working. It was believed that another worker lost control of the machinery which operates the shaft elevator upon which Noel was standing. After an undisclosed period, Noel was taken to the Boone County Hospital. Source document
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| West Kentucky No. 10 Mine Fire, Wheatcroft, Kentucky — Five men lost their lives during a fire at this mine. Evidently, the fire was discovered by the fire boss, but men were permitted to go into the mine. At one point, a man-trip with twelve men was pushed into the smoke, but all escaped except one man who was later found dead about 70 feet inby fresh air. Of the five persons losing their lives, one was rescued alive after an undisclosed period but died on the way to the surface. The deaths were caused by inhaling carbon monoxide. Evidently, the fire resulted from blasting coal at the face of Room 64 off 10 Right entry, presumably with pellet powder. | ||
| Indian Head Colliery Cave-in, Tremont, Pennsylvania — Earl Beard, 30, had a narrow escape from death or serious injury when he was entombed for three hours at the Indian Head Colliery near Tremont. Following his removal from the debris Beard was taken to the Pottsville Hospital where it was found he was only suffering from shock and lacerations. Beard was employed by the Bazley Construction Company, in a stripping operation at the Indian Head Colliery. He was drilling coal at the time of the accident. A fall of dirt and coal occurred, completely burying him. Fellow workers immediately started rescue work to uncover the buried man. Dr. J. W. Schultz, of Tremont, gave first aid treatment and removed him to the hospital, where his condition was reported as good. Source document
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| FEB 1934 | Glen Rogers No. 2 Mine Explosion, Glen Rogers, West Virginia — 38 miners were rescued from behind a barricade several hours after an explosion in the Glen Rogers No. 2 mine in West Virginia. Four miners were killed in the incident.
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| Jermyn Mine Roof Fall, Carbondale, Pennsylvania — Three miners, trapped by a roof fall in the Jermyn mine of the Hudson Coal Company were rescued unharmed. They were entrapped for three hours before rescuers succeeded in digging to them through tons of debris. The victims were Tony Roman, his son, Joseph, and Michael Loftus. Source document
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| JAN 1934 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Taylor, Pennsylvania — Trapped for more than two hours in a cave-in which occurred in a bootleg mining operation in Taylor, Dominick Coppola, 22, was found suffering from internal injuries and shock when rescued by Scranton and Taylor police. He was taken to the State Hospital. Coppola and Samuel Karus were digging coal, police said, when the cave occurred, burying Coppola to his waist. Karus escaped unhurt and gave the alarm. Source document
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| Adolphus Pyers Farm Mine Cave-in, Millersburg, Ohio — Harry McGovern, 60, was imprisoned in a coal mine on the Adolphus Pyers farm, three miles west of Millersburg, for nearly 10 hours by a cave-in at the mine. He was severely bruised and cut and was in a serious condition as a result of exposure. McGovern, who is a bachelor and lives at the Henry Schlarb home, works In the Pyers mine alone. When he failed to return from work searching parties were quickly formed. He was found imprisoned by a cave-in about 300 feet from the mouth of the mine. A large amount of stone and dirt had fallen on him. He was removed to the home of his brother, Ellsworth McGovern of Paint Valley, where a medical examination revealed that no bones had been broken. Eugene Cutshaw, who helped liberate McGovern, was confined to his home from the effects of exhaustion while attempting to remove the slide. Source document
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| DEC 1933 | Carson Hill Mine Fall of Person, San Andreas, California — Herman Cordes, Jr., had a bad scalp wound and he was bruised and shaken. Yet Herman was not complaining. He thought it could be worse. Cordes fell 100 feet in an ore stope at the Carson Hill Mine. Fellow workers were about to dump a carload of rock when they heard shouts at the bottom of the stope. They held back the ore and rescued Cordes. Six stitches were taken to close a cut on his head. Source document
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| Idaho Maryland Mine Cave-in, Grass Valley, California — Nineteen men of the night shift of the Idaho Maryland mine, headed by Foreman Charles Mills, were freed after being trapped for 7 hours by a cave-in of the 1,000-foot level. Source document
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| NOV 1933 | Five men were rescued from a mine after an undisclosed period in South Scranton, Pennsylvania following a cave-in. Two of the men, Paul Mariello and Carmel Comparta, were seriously hurt, suffering from internal injuries. The other three men left the scene before they could be identified. Source document
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| OCT 1933 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania — Michael Lukash, 45, was rescued after being trapped for 17 hours in a makeshift mine near Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. The walls collapsed as he was carrying out one of the few remaining sacks of coal. Source document
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| Unnamed Coal Mine Lost Person, Downs, West Virginia — For seven days and seven nights without food or water and groping in utter darkness, Charles Montgomery, 64, wandered helplessly through the maze of an abandoned section of a coal mine at nearby Downs. Hardly able to walk, his shoes cut to pieces by jagged slate in the old mine tunnels, the weary miner was rescued far from the point at which he had entered the workings. "Give me a drink of water," was his first cry after two members of the rescue party found him tramping aimlessly in search of the main shaft. Absent from the mine for a week, he entered and decided to look around a bit. In an abandoned section, his light failed. A search began after his family reported him missing and his dinner pail was found at the mine entrance. Source document
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| McCormick Mine Cave-in, Jacksonville, California — Ed Wilcox, 30, miner at the McCormick Mine near Jacksonville, narrowly escaped death in a cave-in on the 180-foot level when a portion of the tunnel roof fell on him. He saw the slide coming as he was working and attempted to get out, but both of his legs were caught. The left leg was broken in two places, and the right knee was injured. Wilcox was pinned in the tunnel for two hours while fellow miners worked to dig him out from under the dirt. He was rushed to the Sonora Hospital by ambulance and treated by Dr. H. D. Rose. Source document
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| Abandoned Mine Lost Person, Indiana, Pennsylvania — Suffering from shock, exposure, and exhaustion after spending 18 hours in a dark, partly flooded old mine, nine-year-old Milton Hancock was barely able tonight to tell of his weird experience. "I was too scared to sleep, I just walked and hollered and then sat down," the youngster told Dr. E. M. Bushnell of Black Lick, who was called after a posse found Milton this morning. Barefooted and wearing summer clothing, the boy went into the mine with his uncle, Louis Hancock, yesterday to salvage some coal for the house. Milton wandered away and became lost. The uncle hunted, then called friends and firemen. Sheriff A. Eugene Wilson, his deputies and highway patrolmen took up the search through the labyrinthine of passages in the mine, which has not been worked regularly since the World war. Source document
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| SEP 1933 | Truesdale Colliery Inundation, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania — After a 14-hour entrapment, four miners dug through cave-ins and waded through neck-deep water to reach rescue from the flooded Truesdale Colliery. Source document
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| JUL 1933 | Twelve miners were rescued after having been trapped for three hours by a fall of coal in the Locust Gap mine operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company at Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania. Source document
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| JUN 1933 | Joseph Terescavage, a 56-year-old miner, from Shamokin, PA was rescued after having been entombed for two days in the collapsed Madeira Hill mine near Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania. Source document
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| MAY 1933 | Unnamed Mine Rock Slide, Feather River Canyon, California — Imprisoned for hours by a rock slide in the Feather River Canyon, Frank Bane, 62, miner, was recovering in a hospital at Quincy, California because his dog hovered close to him and kept him warm and because rescue workers refused to give up efforts to save him. He was rescued by sixteen men, who worked feverishly to extricate him when he was pinned beneath a mass of rocks and dirt that broke both his legs, a shoulder and several ribs. He was brought to Quincy on a stretcher. Source document
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| MAR 1933 | Bootleg anthracite miner, John Cheslock, was rescued from the abandoned Sayre colliery near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. In a state of collapse, but conscious, Cheslock was rescued following a 4 day entrapment. Sadly, John Cheslock, Jr., 27, entombed in the abandoned mine near for more than 100 hours after he was trapped by a slide of earth and rock, died in Ashland State Hospital, 12 hours after he was rescued. Mr. Cheslock was trapped in the abandoned working while picking up coal with Stanley Orluskie. Orluskie escaped when he grabbed hold of a ladder as an avalanche of dirt rushed down on them. Cheslock was swept down the untimbered mine hole. After sinking a shaft 775 feet, they finally reached Cheslock. He was removed to Ashland State hospital. First examination of the youth revealed that his injuries were not serious. Physicians at the hospital believed his death was due to shock. Source document 1 Source document 2
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| FEB 1933 | Lucky Baldwin Mine Fall of Person, Placerville, California — Lester Simmons, engaged with companions, climbed about 30 feet down the shaft, part of the abandoned Lucky Baldwin mine, to bring out some iron ore. He slipped from the ladder, his friends said, and fell about 5 feet before his clothes caught on a piece of timber. He dangled in the shaft for an undisclosed period, which mining men said was between 1,000 and 1,500 feet deep, until his companions lowered a rope and brought him to the surface. Source document
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| Anthracite Bootleg Mine Cave-in, North Scranton, Pennsylvania — Three North Scranton youths
were rescued after they had been trapped behind a cave in a bootleg mine operation not far from their homes, suffered no injuries, but were badly scared when taken out of the mine by rescuers. The trio, James Walsh, 17; John Hopkins, 20; and a youth known only as "Chicago" had entered the mine opening the previous night at 11 o'clock. They had been digging coal 16 minutes, police said, when a cave occurred and blocked the opening. Other young men outside gave the alarm, but it required more than two hours to dig through the cave to reach the young men held prisoners by the fall of coal and rock. Source document
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| JAN 1933 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania — Imprisoned by a fall of earth and silt for more than six hours. Joseph Symborski, 21, was released from a mine hole in the vicinity of the old Lehigh Valley railroad cut west of the Elmwood slope. Reports from the Locust Mountain hospital said that his condition was improving. His injuries were announced as contusions of the body. Source document
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| Bootleg Mine Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Buried to his neck when a slide caught him at the bottom of a bootleg mine hole, Charles Zawacki, 38, had a miraculous escape from agonizing death, 40 feet below the surface. Volunteer workers rescued Zawacki alive after 15 hours laborious shoveling and timbering. The man was taken to the Shamokin State Hospital, where an X-ray examination revealed no broken bones. He was sent to the men's ward, however, to be treated for shock and exposure. Zawacki was digging coal at the bottom of the narrow pit when one side caved in, burying him to his neck. Following the cave-in, a companion went down into the hole and raked the loose dirt and rock away from the entombed man's neck so he could breathe easier. The task of uncovering the man was then begun. Source document
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| Pennsylvania Mine Asphyxiation, Grass Valley, California — A heroic rescue of Russell Miller, victim of bad air in the Pennsylvania Mine occurred when Donald Pascoe, a young miner, descended alone into the mine and found Miller after an undisclosed period in an unconscious condition at the bottom of a winze on the 1,700-foot level. Pascoe, himself feeling the effects of the impure air occasioned by the fact the ventilating equipment of the mine was out of commission through lack of water, succeeded in transporting Miller 4,000 feet to the hoisting station, where he was taken to the surface. Miller, Pascoe, and Sam Veale were sent into the mine to adjust pumps and other machinery for a temporary shutdown. Pascoe and Veale completed their work and returned to the surface, only to find that Miller had not appeared. It was then that Pascoe re-entered the mine alone to search for his companion. Source document
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| DEC 1932 | Morgan Jones Mine Explosion, Madrid, New Mexico — Following the first impact of the explosion, some ten men near the outer edge of the area made a dash for the main passageway. Three of these, including Jimmie Taylor, 19, son of H. L. Taylor, assistant superintendent of the company's Madrid mines, were overcome. They were picked up and carried out safely by their comrades. Andrew Sampria, rushing out, picked up a prostrate form and carried it with him. When he had reached the area of clean air, he learned that it was his own son, Pete, he had rescued. | |
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Trapped Rescue Workers Rescue Themselves Moweaqua Mine Explosion, Moweaqua, Illinois — Cut off by a fresh fall of rock and shale, twenty-three rescue workers had to dig themselves to safety in the community cooperative Moweaqua coal mine. The fall occurred shortly after the rescue squad discovered two more bodies in the north shaft of the mine where most of the 54 men trapped there the previous Saturday were working. Seven men were still unaccounted for but there was no hope they might be found alive. The group of 23 workers were cut off from the main shaft for a short time when the roof of one of the tunnels collapsed. They succeeded in digging their way through to safety. Source document
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| NOV 1932 | Unnamed Anthracite Coal Mine Cave-in, Avoca, Pennsylvania — Robert Hughes and Joseph P. Tigue helped to rescue Thomas A. Coleman and Louis J. Doran from a mine cave-in, Avoca, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1932. While Coleman, 37, miner, and Doran, 45, mine laborer, were digging coal in an abandoned entry that connected with a narrow shaft, a collapse occurred. Coleman was buried under shale at the bottom of the shaft. Doran was knocked to the floor of the entry and lay under shale four feet deep 18 feet from the shaft. Using their hands, Hughes, 50, miner, and Tigue removed the shale from Coleman. Occasionally shale sloughed off the sides and dropped from overhead. In three hours they removed enough shale to free Coleman, who was pulled out. Hughes and Tigue worked all afternoon and far into the night to make a trench to Doran. They erected posts, piled the shale behind boards resting against the posts, and finally reached Doran. While they were removing debris from over him, the sides of the entry caved in. Hughes and the other man ran to the shaft and were hoisted out. During the remainder of the night and the next morning all of the shale and other debris was removed by men under safe conditions, adequate braces having been placed, and Doran was taken out. He suffered injuries from which he died seven hours later. Both men were bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for their bravery. Source document
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| Brookside Colliery Inundation, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Four miners were rescued after an undisclosed period from the flooded Brookside Colliery near Pottsville, Pennsylvania. A shot fired by workers released an underground pocket of water. The four trapped men waited for hours for the aid they knew was coming toward them. Charles Deichert, 23; and Simon Bohr, 36; drowned in the incident. Source document
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| Jackson Hill Mine Cave-in, Portsmouth, Ohio — Trapped under a fall of slate, Robert Hayslett, 40, and James DeLong, 40, were rescued after an undisclosed period by fellow workmen at the Jackson Hill coal mine. Hayslett was injured seriously. Source document
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| Pennsylvania Colliery Cave-in, Green Ridge, Pennsylvania — Albert Dellabrida, 28, narrowly escaped death when a rock estimated at a ton rolled upon him at the Pennsylvania Colliery at Green Ridge. Dellabrida and his three buddies, Sylvester Getrick, Mike Kulick, Ralph Bridy were working in No. 1 slope, east No. 5 vein at the time of the mishap. All the miners but Dellabrida escaped from a large piece of top rock which fell near where the group was working. The unfortunate miner failed to escape from the scene in time to avoid the rock which rolled upon him and held him prisoner for a half hour. The three buddies, with the aid of another succeeded in extricating the injured man from beneath the rock. Dellabrida was rushed to the Shamokin state hospital where his condition was reported to be not serious. His injuries were confined to the body. Source document
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| OCT 1932 | Unnamed Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Pittston, Pennsylvania — Trapped by a cave-in 1,000 feet underground in Pittston, Pennsylvania, Park Tucker, 21, was rescued after an undisclosed period. His resulting injuries included a severed arm and his legs broken in 13 places. His two work companions were killed in the disaster. While trapped Mr. Tucker prayed. "Deliver my body and soul, Lord." he said he prayed," and I ll promise to preach the Gospel the rest of my life." Mr. Tucker stated that he spent 13 months in a hospital and resumed his schooling in the seventh grade at the age of 23. He later attended Wheaton Academy in Illinois and Houghton College in New York in preparation for ministerial studies. Mr. Tucker graduated from the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and on October 1, 1943, he was ordained before a congregation that packed the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chillicothe, Ohio, fulfilling the vow he made years before. Source document
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| SEP 1932 | Unnamed Mine Cave-in, Redding, California — Happy Holbrook, 42, a miner, was released from a 40-ton rock trap which kept him imprisoned for more than 12 hours while a crew of men worked frantically to release him. Holbrook suffered no serious injury from the accident, with the exception of a severely pinched leg. While excavating at the mine, a large quantity of dirt gave way, causing the heavy rock to pin him down. He was fed during the work of releasing him, and chatted cheerfully with the rescue crew. Source document
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| AUG 1932 | Abandoned Badger Mine Fall of Person, Little Lost River, Idaho — Ole Meddaugh, 50, Little Lost River miner, was suffering from an imprisonment of six days and nights in an abandoned mine shaft 45 miles east of Arco, Idaho. He was rescued the day before in a weakened condition after his continued absence had given rise to fears for his safety. A week earlier Meddaugh lowered himself with a rope for 60 feet into the abandoned shaft of the Badger mine and descended the remaining 40 feet to the bottom of the shaft on timbers. When he attempted to ascend the timbers gave way and he saved himself from dropping to the bottom by hanging to a projecting rock. Since he was unable to reach the dangling end of the rope, he found a seat on a rock and waited for help to arrive. Source document
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| JUL 1932 | Yatesville Mine Cave-in, Pittston, Pennsylvania — Two unemployed miners were killed when they were trapped in a mine tunnel at the Yatesville mine. The roof of the mine opening collapsed. A third unnamed man was rescued alive after an undisclosed period. The dead were Salvatore Mantagna, 39, and Sam Duminuco, 30. The three became trapped when the roof collapsed, and a slide of earth blocked the opening of the tunnel. One of the men managed to escape when he heard the rush of earth but too late to signal his fellow workmen. According to officials at the workings, the men were illegally bootlegging coal. Police had begun a campaign of arrests to break up the practice because of the numerous fatalities. Source document
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| JUN 1932 | Silver King Western Mine Cave-in, Park City, Utah — Rescuers toiled 30 hours to free six Silver King Western miners, after having furnished the imprisoned miners fresh air, food, candles and electric heating elements. The six miners, caught behind a cave-in in a drift Friday noon, were released, none the worse for their experience. Their greatest discomfort was suffered from the water until it was drained. The water rose to a depth of four feet and the six men took turns in sitting on the one ore car in the drift which could accommodate only three men at a time, forcing three to stand in the water. Source document
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| MAY 1932 | San Gabriel Canyon Gold Mine Cave-in, Covina, California — Mrs. Naomi Jarvis was killed when a cave-in occurred in an unnamed gold mine in the San Gabriel Canyon near Covina, California. Mrs. Jarvis and another miner, David Workman, were caught in the collapse. Mr. Workman was freed from the material by rescuers after an undisclosed period. Source document
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| Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania — Milton Frantz, 20, Tamaqua, buried in a sitting posture for 22 hours and rescued apparently unhurt died suddenly at the Coaldale State Hospital, a victim of "shock" according to the hospital records. Frantz was removed from a mine breach in which he had been trapped at the bottom of a narrow hole by a collapse of earth while he was digging for coal in a "homemade mine." The hole was so narrow that only one rescuer at a time could dig his way toward the trapped youth. Most of the time there was no room to swing a shovel and the dirt had to be scooped away by the handful. Meantime Frantz sat in a cramped position unable to move. A heavy iron plate, used to support the sides of the excavation, lodged in the opening just above Frantz's head and kept him from being completely buried and suffocated. Acetylene torches cut the plate away. The plate was so near Frantz's head that he suffered burns from the flame. After the removal of the plate, Frantz was fed and given restoratives. He was conscious and conversed with the rescue party, all expert miners. When he was finally freed and taken to the hospital, doctors report he was not seriously injured. But shock and exposure contributed to a relapse which caused his death unexpectedly. Source document
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| APR 1932 | Mary Ann Lead and Zinc Mine Shaft Entrapment, Picher, Oklahoma — Toddling after his workbound father, Gerald Collins, age 3, fell into a 250-foot drill hole and became wedged in the hole about 20 feet down. He remained trapped there for 11 hours until rescuers dug a parallel shaft to reach and free the child. Source document
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| Lehigh Navigation Co. No. 8 Colliery Cave-in, Coaldale, Pennsylvania — Buried up to his neck in coal and debris since up for an undisclosed period, John Slavy, a miner, was rescued. Slavy was trapped in the No. 8 Colliery of the Lehigh Navigation Co. when a rib in a gangway collapsed. Taken to the Coaldale State hospital, his condition was reported as good. Source document
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| Midway Mine Fire Asphyxiation, Picher, Oklahoma — Marked improvement was reported in the condition of Garfield Gray, who was overcome by gas at the Midway mine while extinguishing fire among timbers underground. Gray was dismissed from Picher hospital, where he was taken after being gassed. When taken to the hospital he was in a semi-conscious condition, and it was several hours before he fully regained consciousness. In becoming overcome by the gas he fell to the ground, being discovered by fellow-workmen within a few minutes. Source document
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| Hammond Collieries Cave-in, Girardville, Pennsylvania — Four imprisoned miners were rescued after 15 hours behind a fall of coal in the Hammond Collieries near Girardville. The four were rescued after a crew of 20 men had worked cautiously all night lest their boring loosen more coal. They kept up communication with the imprisoned miners through a compressed air pipe. Source document
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| FEB 1932 | Bootleg Anthracite Mine Cave-in, Port Carbon, Pennsylvania — Joy of the wife and three children of Joseph Datorick, 28, of Port Carbon, was turned to sorrow, with announcement by surgeons at the Pottsville hospital that the entombed miner rescued after having been held prisoner 24 hours 40 feet below the surface in a bootleg mine shaft is dying. Datorick was apparently unhurt when rescued last night, and his family rejoiced after a night and a day of terrible uncertainty. No bones were broken, but this afternoon it was discovered he was not only suffering from serious internal injuries, but also from excessive loss of blood. Surgeons said there was a great pressure constantly on the miner's body from the tons of earth under which he was buried. The pressure forced blood out of the lacerations and scratches he suffered about his entire body from the jagged rocks which closed him in. Source document
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| DEC 1931 | Abandoned Mine Cave-in, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Clarence Bohman, 31, trapped by a fall of slate and dirt digging coal in an abandoned mine near his home was rescued by nearby residents after an undisclosed period. Source document
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| OCT 1931 | Two miners who never gave up hope after 4 comrades were killed in an explosion in the Mocanaqua Mine of the West End Coal Company were rescued after 133 hours of entrapment. The survivors were John Thomashunis, age 40, and John Metz, age 22. | |
| Kehley Run Colliery Coal Rush, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — John Burgness, who was picking coal on the rock bank of the Kehley Run Colliery, was caught in a rush, and was buried to his hips for about one-half hour before rescue workers could remove him from a very dangerous position. The men who formed the rescue party had to work very carefully due to the condition of the mine breach in which Burgness was held prisoner. They finally succeeded in getting the man out of the hole and to safety. It was said at the Kehley Run colliery office that the man was not injured. The accident occurred about 1,000 feet east of the breaker. Source document
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| SEP 1931 | Aukstock Carter, 30, was rescued after an undisclosed period following a cave-in in an unnamed coal mine near Charleston, West Virginia. His rescue came after company physician, Dr. W. B. Davis, amputated his right arm.
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| AUG 1931 | Unnamed Mine Cave-in, Silver City, Nevada — William Donovan, miner, was rescued after three hours of frantic digging after becoming buried in a cave-in. Only his head was protruding when rescuers began their work. Loose rock and fresh slides threatened to bury the entire rescue crew. Source document
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| Richards Colliery Coal Rush, Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania — Joseph Yusinski, a miner employed at the Richards Colliery of the Susquehanna Collieries Company, had a miraculous escape from sometime later by a force of rescuers. Yusinski was employed as a miner in a breast in the west No. 10 vein, first lift, south dip workings. He was taking a skip off the rib of the breast to prepare a manway when he started a serious rush of coal. Realizing the danger, Yusinski flattened himself against the rib at a heading, thus leaving a small air pocket about him when he became buried in the coal. Rescuers were rushed to the scene and a half-hour later succeeded in rescuing the miner alive. He had escaped with a few minor bruises. Source document
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| JUL 1931 | Jesse Engle rescued Charles Napier from a mine cave-in. While Napier, 31, was working beside a mine car in a mine, a rock weighing approximately 56 tons fell from the roof, knocking him down, and rested on hard-packed coal 20 inches above the floor. The fingers of one of his hands were pinned between the rock and the top of a box on the car, and his other arm was pinned under the end of the car. For 40 minutes, Engle he made thrusts against the top edge of the box with iron bars, chipping it, and inserted wedges. Napier then was able to free his hand. Engle then reached under Napier and helped him free his other arm. Engle backed out from beneath the rock, and Napier followed him. The rock settled four inches during the act, and a half-hour later the rock had crushed the car and settled within three inches of the floor. Two of Napier's fingers had to be amputated. He was not otherwise injured. Mr. Engle was awarded the Carnegie Hero Award for his bravery. Source document
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| MAY 1931 | Unnamed Coal Mine Cave-in, Clearfield, Pennsylvania — Seven youths were rescued from a mine in which they had been trapped by a cave-in for 10 hours. Rescue workers cut a shaft from the top of a hill overlooking the mine and pulled the youths to safety with ropes. Two sons of the owner of the mine were digging coal when the five other youths entered and asked them to play baseball. The seven started for the entrance, but near the surface their car jumped the track and struck a prop. The roof collapsed, and slate closed the entrance. Source document
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| APR 1931 | Tunnel Ridge Colliery Cave-in, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania — After being entombed in a gangway at the Tunnel Ridge colliery for about eight hours, rescue crews found Charles Walaconis uninjured. Twenty feet of debris separated Walaconis from freedom. When the entombed man responded to tapping signals on a pipe line that ran through the debris, the rescue party worked faster in the hope of reaching the man before serious injury or death could occur. He was guided by instructions carried over the pipe line and was finally taken to his home without a scratch. Source document
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| FEB 1931 | Powderly Colliery Roof Fall, South Carbondale, Pennsylvania — Two of the five Carbondale men, Frank Cretelli and Alex Docalavich, who were entombed in the Powderly colliery of the Hudson Coal Company, South Carbondale, at 10:30 o'clock yesterday morning, were rescued alive by fellow workmen. Neither was seriously injured but both suffered greatly from shock following their removal from their hazardous positions in which they were forced to remain for more than seven hours. The body of John Caruso, one of five men entombed was recovered and no trace has been found of John Rogish, 62, and Thomas Chadwick, 59, both of Carbondale. Source document
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| Enterprise Colliery Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Bidding one another goodbye when they were trapped beneath a fall of coal and rock at the Enterprise colliery, Ralph Kerstetter, 38, and Clement Poliniak, 37, awaited an anticipated second fall which they knew would completely cover and smother them, when the former suddenly detected a small aperture, leading from the prison-like cell in the mines and through which he made exit and subsequently rescued his companion, the latter having suffered numerous injuries when crushed under rock and coal. Kerstetter escaped with minor injuries.
Kerstetter and Poliniak were employed as buddies in a breast at Enterprise slope. The former was engaged in drilling a hole in rock while Poliniak was close by shoveling down coal and rock when without the slightest warning the liners supporting great quantities of rock and debris broke out directly over the two workmen, pinioning them beneath. Poliniak was buried to a point above his waist, while Kerstetter was in a more secure position. Imprisoned in the darkened underground cell, as their carbide lights had been extinguished by the unexpected rush, the two men were horrified to hear the top over them rumbling and cracking and evidencing a second sudden rush. It was while thus imprisoned and certain of the coming of death, that the men exchanged their farewell blessings upon each other and then awaited the coming of the expected fall. Cautiously moving one hand and arm, Kerstetter was successful in reaching to his pocket despite the tight quarters, obtained a match and lighted his carbide lamp. Slowly moving it about in search of a possible means of exit from behind the fall, the workman warned his buddy not to struggle and after a time Kerstetter was successful in making a small aperture. Gradually he widened the opening until it was of sufficient size to permit him to crawl thru. Once free of the debris and disregarding the threatened break at any moment of the top, Kerstetter quickly set about to effect the rescue of Poliniak, who was tightly held behind the shattered liners and beneath rock and coal. After considerable work, Kerstetter rejoiced in being able to extricate his painfully injured buddy, whom he dragged to a place of safety while he went to summon aid. Both men were removed to the emergency hospital at the colliery, where their injuries were dressed, after which they were taken to their respective homes. Kerstetter suffered but slight bruises and lacerations, while Poliniak was less fortunate, having been badly injured about the legs, hips and back and it will be several weeks before he will be able to resume work. It was estimated that the men were held prisoners in the fall for more than two hours before Kerstetter was successful in effecting an opening to make his escape and then effect the rescue of his buddy. Source document
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| JAN 1931 | Seven miners were rescued after an undisclosed period following an explosion in the Little Betty Mine at Dugger, Indiana. The men who were rescued had barricaded themselves in an entry off one of the main corridors. Those rescued included Locie Hale, William Bedwell, Ben Snyder, Herman Brown, Charles Love and Charles Centers, all of Linton, and Jule Wellington of Sullivan. | |
| Unnamed Gold Mine Fire, Centennial, Wyoming — Three men trapped four hours in a gold mine by a fire were rescued alive. They were Bernard Holtum, owner of the mine, and two brothers named Crites. The men were working in the 1200-foot shaft when the fire started. Source document
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| Mitchell Tunnel Rescue, Livermore, California — Imprisoned for 24 hours in the Mitchell Tunnel of the Hetch-Hetchy water system, 20 miners were brought to the surface, uninjured, but weak for the want of food. Oscar Nelson, 39, was the first man brought to the surface. The others were brought to the surface within half an hour, and were being taken care of at the first-aid headquarters. Source document
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| NOV 1930 | Millfield No. 6 Mine Explosion, Millfield, Ohio — 19 miners were rescued 10 hours after the explosion. The miners, most of them unconscious, were found behind a ventilation partition. John Dean, Inside Foreman, is credited with saving the lives of the rescued miners, including him. Dean and the other miners erected and gathered behind a ventilation partition which protected them from the deadly gases. Dean risked several trips into the smoke-filled entries to carry some of his comrades to safety before he collapsed and had to be carried to safety. | |
| Lutie No. 5 Mine Explosion, Lutie, Oklahoma — The explosion sealed only one entry, known as number 10 1-2. About 17 men were said to be in this entry. Workmen reached entry 10 1-2 about two hours after the explosion and brought one man to the surface alive. Two other miners, L. B. Boyd and Lon Swindle were brought out of mine alive but later died in Hartshorne Hospital. Bodies of the other men were brought up slowly and taken to a morgue. | ||
| Lehigh Navigation No. 1 Colliery Cave-in, Cranberry, Pennsylvania — Florian Pucchule, 45, a miner employed by the Lehigh Navigation Coal Company, was instantly killed at 9 o'clock yesterday morning when he was caught under a rush of coal in the No. 1 slope of the Cranberry operations. He was completely buried, and it required six hours to extricate the body. Pucchule's laborer had a narrow escape from also being buried alive. He escaped the main rush of coal was quickly rescued unhurt after an undisclosed period. Source document
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| OCT 1930 | West End Mine Cave-in, Mocanaqua, Pennsylvania — August Carucci, 30, was resting at home after being trapped in a cave-in for 14 hours in the mine of the West End Coal Company at Mocanaqua, Pennsylvania. Source document
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| SEP 1930 | Red Ash Colliery Cave-in, Plymouth, Pennsylvania — Nine men were trapped yesterday at the Plymouth Red Ash Colliery by a cave-in and excitement ran high as reports of loss of life spread. A crowd outside the slope waited anxiously for news from the inside until officials calmed their fears with the prediction that there were probably no fatalities. The entombed men were released uninjured after being imprisoned a few hours. Excellent rescue facilities were responsible for the quick delivery. New forces of men were put to work after the rescue clearing away the debris. Timber men following them restored damaged props. Source document
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| AUG 1930 | Scranton Mine Subsidence, Scranton, Pennsylvania — Ralph Massankiel, age 25, and William Williams, age 52 were caught in a residential fall of ground in Scranton, Pennsylvania which trapped them for 9 hours. Williams body was free above his hips and no more than Massankiel's head was free during their ordeal. This was the second of 2 subsidence events that took place. The first occurred at 2 a.m. and the one which caught these two men occurred while workmen were repairing damages from the first. Source document
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| Hudson Coal Mine No. 3 Cave-in, Carbondale, Pennsylvania — Edward DeLaney and Nicholas Muschamto, miners at the No. 3 shaft, Hudson Coal company, were entombed for more than six hours by a rock fall on Saturday afternoon and made their way to safety only after rescue workers drove a tunnel through the debris. Presence of mind of the men, who are said to have run behind the fall as they heard the roof cracking over them, saved the two from being crushed under the rock and coal. Neither of the men was injured. The rescue squad brought the entombed men to safety without any great difficulty. Source document
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| JUN 1930 | Waterworks Tunnel Explosion, Detroit, Michigan — Fifteen men in a waterworks tunnel 227 feet below the surface of the Detroit river were rescued after an undisclosed period following a premature explosion of a dynamite charge. Six laborers were killed and six were injured in the accident. The injured were rushed to the hospital while rescue gangs started mining for those trapped in the tunnel by sand and rock. The explosion occurred in a tunnel in which the men were working when an electric drill struck a charge of dynamite. Source document
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| APR 1930 | Carbonado Mine Explosion, Carbonado, Washington — 16 miners were rescued from behind a barricade several hours after an explosion in the Carbonado mine in Carbonado, Washington. Source document
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| MAR 1930 | New Peerless Mine Explosion, Helper, Utah — Eight men escaped alive after the blast. A. L. Ross and L. S. King were burned about the face and hands and badly gassed. They owe their lives to Vic Bain and Tony Canrinker, who placed the injured men in a mine car and signaled to have it drawn from the mine, but the apparatus was damaged by the explosion and failed to function. Bain and Canrinker then carried Ross and King toward the entrance of the mine until they encountered fresh air. Others rescued were B. W. Hall, Ole Swenson, Roy Story and Frank Hensley. | |
| Wolf Run Mine Fire, Amsterdam, Ohio — Owing their lives to the desperate work of the Steubenville Fire Department and mine rescue squads, 87 miners were brought out of the mine after an undisclosed period. About a dozen of them were unconscious when carried to the surface. Two rescuers, Sidney Wales and Arnold Horton, collapsed from exhaustion after trampling for miles searching for workmen. Two other miners died in the accident. | ||
| G. Pabst Mine Cave-in, Ironwood, Michigan — Caught by a fall of ore in the G. Pabst mine, Steve Barnes was rescued uninjured after two and one-half hours work by fellow employees. Barnes partner escaped the rush of ore and summoned help. Barnes was buried to his shoulders, which made the task of freeing him difficult. Source document
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| FEB 1930 | Standard Coal Company, Standard Mine Explosion — Five were rescued by crews from nearby mining communities. The five, taken out after an undisclosed period, had bratticed themselves from the deadly gas fumes, far back in the workings and had left notes directing their rescuers where to find them. | |
| Ellangowan Colliery Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Felix Zegunis was rescued after an 8-hour entrapment in the Ellangowan Colliery at Pottsville, PA. A fall of coal occurred in the pillar hole, middle split, knocking out timber and shutting off his escape. The rock hole was closed above the fall. The miner's buddy was coming up the manway when the fall occurred. He gave the alarm and, in a few minutes, officials had a big force of rescuers at work. Source document
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| Wildcat Mine Cave-in, Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania — George Schadel was painfully injured when entombed as the result of a fall of coal at the "Wildcat," formerly the Lawrence Colliery, located near Mahanoy Plane. Schadel, a loader boss, and Elmer Evans, a motor runner, entered the mine early in the morning to reset some timbers at the bottom of the slope. They were engaged in the work when a terrific fall of top occurred, burying Evans beneath it and entombing Schadel back of it. Other workmen heard the fall and rushed to the scene. From behind the fall, they heard the moans of Schadel and later learned from him that Evans had been caught under the rush of coal. Hurried rescue work was started but it was not until 1:00 p.m. that the rescue party succeeded in reaching Evans body. He had met instantaneous death; his body having been frightfully crushed. An hour later Schadle was released from back of the fall, suffering from severe bruises. He declared that when the fall occurred, he had stepped back to get some tools, thus miraculously escaping the fate of his fellow workman. Source document
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| JAN 1930 | Lillybrook No. 1 Mine Explosion, Lillybrook, West Virginia — After an undisclosed period, the bodies of eight men, six of whom were Negroes, were recovered. R. L. Meadows, one of the injured men, was found lying with the dead. He was considered by physicians to have a chance for recovery. | |
| Jermyn Mine Cave-in, Jermyn, Pennsylvania — Patrick McAndrew was rescued 2 hours after being trapped by a large cave-in at the Hudson Coal Company's Jermyn mine. He sustained a broken hip and was recovering at the State Hospital in Scranton. Three others died in the same incident. They were Harold Vansickle, James Charles, and William McAndrew, Patrick's brother. Source document
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| Blackstone Mine Cave-in, Rutland, Ohio — Harry France, a miner in the Blackstone Coal mine at Rutland narrowly escaped death when he was completely covered by slate and stone as a part of the mine collapsed. The falling stone and slate miraculously fell in such a way that the miner suffered only cuts and bruises. His calls for help summoned fellow-workmen, who rescued him a short time later. Source document
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| DEC 1929 | East No. 5 Mine Explosion, Stotesbury, West Virginia — 12 miners were rescued from behind a barricade three hours after an explosion in the East No. 5 mine in West Virginia. Two miners were killed in the incident. Source document
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| Old Town Mine Explosion, McAlester, Oklahoma — Two miners found their exit blocked after the explosion. At this point, one of these men, Frank Gonzales, saw a third miner, Arnold Kissinger, collapse. Mr. Gonzales and the second miner, Joe Ponsella, next dragged Mr. Kissinger into a room where there wasn't much smoke and worked with him for about three hours. "After a while, said Gonzales, when no one came to help us, we believed we would die. I said my prayers but I was not scared." Rescue workers reached the three men five hours after the explosion. | ||
| Croft Mine Cave-in, Crosby, Minnesota — Rescuers were denied seeing the victim of this cave-in continue a normal life. For six days they toiled and successfully released Gus Snyder, 47, from his tomb. He was removed from the mine to the hospital, but due to his extensive internal injuries he died there. Source document
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| Brock Mine Cave-in, Cassville, West Virginia — Three men, trapped by a fall of coal 200 feet in length in the Brock Mine of the Continental Coal Company at Cassville were rescued after an undisclosed period. A crew of 100 men worked with cutting machines in the hope of saving the lives of the three. It was thought they might have been crushed by the fall. Source document
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| NOV 1929 | McNeil Coal Company Mine Cave-in, McGregor, Colorado — Three miners entombed 400 feet below the surface in the rock works of the McNeil Coal Company mine were liberated. A crew of 50 men had worked in relays for 13 hours clearing away an avalanche of dirt, rocks and coal which had blocked the way. The entombed men were suffering from intense cold but otherwise were none the worse for their experience. They were supplied with air through a pipe. Source document
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| SEP 1929 | Terrible Edith Mine Fire, Murray, Idaho — Three miners were rescued from the Terrible Edith silver-lead mine. They had been trapped for several hours by fire which swept the mine portal. Rescuers from the Hecla Mine reached the imprisoned men who were crouched behind a barricade. Source document
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| Calaveras Copper Mine Cave-in, Copperopolis, California — Tons of rock loosened in a cave-in on the 1450-foot level of the Calaveras Copper Company at Copperopolis trapped five men. An hour later, one miner had been rescued, crushed badly but alive. J. Davis, shift boss, began immediate rescue operations, and sent word to Angles camp for physicians and other medical assistance. Miners returning to the top works in the 1450-foot level reported hearing the screams and groans of one of the trapped men. Others, they fear, could not have survived and were killed. Source document
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| Buck Mountain Colliery Cave-in, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania — Buried alive in a sitting position for twelve hours, Edward Warning, a miner, spent the time while waiting for what seemed certain death for himself in a futile struggle to keep alive one of his mates, the foreman of a crew of six men, trapped by a cave-in here yesterday. After a frantic struggle rescuers finally reached the buried men. Warning and another worker, Edward Mokaitis, were still alive, but William Wolfgang and three others were dead. Warning was working beside Wolfgang, the foreman, when the cave-in occurred as the men were setting tunnel supports in the south side of the Buck Mountain colliery workings of the Lehigh Valley Company. A fallen timber held Warning down, but he was kept free of the clay by the collar of the timbers set. During the hours in which the rescuers were digging, Warning could reach Wolfgang, who was almost buried, with more earth sliding on him. Warning managed to keep clay brushed away from the foreman's nose and mouth to permit him to breathe, but after hours of this struggle in their tomb Wolfgang died from internal injuries. It was some time after Wolfgang died that the rescuers reached the buried men, but before that time they had heard the voice of the miner trying to encourage the man under the earth beside him. Warning, who was 42, was in the Locust Mountain Hospital on the road to recovery. Mokaitis, the other man rescued, was caught only by the tail end of the fall, suffering a dislocated shoulder and head injuries. He was at Ashland Hospital. Source document
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| Aladdin Divide Mine Cave-in, Chico, California — Charles Ernest Richards was rescued from a cave-in in the Aladdin Divide Mine near Chico. From his bed In the Enloe Hospital Mr. Richards yesterday expressed his intention of returning to the project whereby only a few inches he escaped meeting death with Jess C. Burton, a fellow employe, beneath a mass of love rock. Held a prisoner for at least half an hour when a huge boulder pinned his arm and leg down. Mr. Richards related how he lay in the tunnel, 400 feet from the portal and hundreds of feet below the mountain side, fearing that each moment would bring another cave-in that would crush the life from him as the first one had his fellow worker. So hoarse from continually crying out for help that he could hardly talk above a whisper. For what seemed to him a matter of hours, but which later proved to be about half an hour, he lay in the shaft, hoping that each moment would bring rescuers. His cries for help were not heard until Emil Shultz, a fellow employe, heard him. Source document
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| AUG 1929 | Sherman Mine Explosion, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — After an explosion struck the Sherman Coal Company mine near Pottsville, Pennsylvania, forty trapped miners were rescued after 1 hours of absolute horror and hopelessness. A second explosion rocked the colliery, sending another sheet of flame roaring through the corridor. This flame seared the rescuers "like a breath of hell," as one of them described it. The rescue squad made its painful way back to the surface and the four injured were rushed to a hospital. The third blast occurred, literally blowing the imprisoned men through the chute to safety. All the men who were in the mine made it safely to the open. Source document
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| JUN 1929 | Three miners became ensnared in a cave-in at the 750-foot level of the South Eureka Mine, Sutter Creek, California. George Carevich escaped unaided and reported the accident. After several hours, Thomas Rodovich, who was entombed with Mike Matlick, was taken out alive but badly lacerated. While no further news about Matlick could be found, it was agreed by company officials that his chances of survival were slim. Source document
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| Empire Lead and Zinc Mine Cave-in, Picher, Oklahoma — Robert Luster and Charles Ashen, miners, were alive after being buried in a rock avalanche in the Empire Lead and Zinc mine. They were painfully injured. Source document
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| Abandoned Mine Fall of Person, Franklin, Pennsylvania — Suspended on a rock, 80 feet down in an abandoned coal mine, with a pool of water below, William Harrison, 10, was rescued suffering from a broken leg, cuts, and bruises. He was removed to Grove City Hospital. The boy and a playmate went to the shaft and attempt to throw a heavy club into the hole. A nail in the wood caught in the boy's clothing and caused him to plunge into the opening. Rescuers worked for more than an hour before bringing the lad to the surface. Source document
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| MAY 1929 | Nesquehoning Colliery Cave-in, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania — John Prelana, 40, was rescued after being buried alive for fourteen hours from a fall of rock in the No. 2 shaft of the Nesquehoning colliery, near Tamaqua. Andrew Sweetick, 38, died in the accident. Source document
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| APR 1929 | Frisco Mine Cave-in, Wallace, Idaho — Oscar Johnson and John Amonson were rescued 48 hours after a cave-in occurred at the Frisco mine at Wallace, Idaho. The cook of the Frisco mine was the chief hero of the rescue party. At 2-hour intervals, food was carried up the mountainside including great bowls of savory smelling soup and warm milk which were passed through a pipe to the trapped miners. Source document
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| MAR 1929 | Kinloch Mine Explosion, Parnassus, Pennsylvania — Lawrence Allshouse, aged 28, was found alive and carried from the pit. Still alive after lying in an injured condition for twenty-seven hours, Allshouse was removed to a hospital where it was said he probably would die. He was semi-conscious. | |
| Delano Copper Mine Cave-in, Contact, Nevada — Charles Chambers was rescued alive in a severely shocked condition after workers had tunneled through debris on the 100-foot level for three hours. The rescue squad was directed by faint cries of the victim. Both he and his brother Jack were working together when the tunnel collapsed. No trace of Jack was found in the mass of ore surrounding Charles. Source document
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| FEB 1929 | Twin Falls Avalanche, Twin Falls, Idaho — Miners working in a canyon near Twin Falls, Idaho, dug in the snow an hour to rescue a fellow worker buried in a slide. The miner was unconscious and almost frozen to death but physicians said he probably would recover. Source document
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| No. 8 Mine Cave-in, Coaldale, Pennsylvania — Imprisoned eight hours beneath slides of coal and earth that buried him twice when rescue was in sight, Robert Parfitt, 25, was liberated alive from a shaft in the Number 8 mine at Coaldale. He had been kept alive during the day by means of oxygen lines brought to him when the debris was first removed from about his head, shortly after the accident happened. The debris was cleared and an oxygen line placed at the nose of Parfitt as the workers began clearing the remainder of his body. They had nearly liberated him when another fall buried Parfitt again. The work was resumed once more and was near completion during the afternoon when another fall imprisoned Parfitt. The work was resumed a fourth time and the workers were able to bring Parfitt from under the debris. Parfitt was taken to the Coaldale hospital where he was reported as resting comfortably and was expected to recover. Source document
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| JAN 1929 | Shenandoah Colliery Cave-in, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania — Anthony Benasheski was rescued after being entombed for one hour behind a fall of rock at the West Shenandoah colliery of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. He suffered a fractured ankle. Source document
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| Harco Mine Fall of Person, Harrisburg, Illinois — Everett Bowlin, a Harco coal miner, was recovering from injuries suffered in a miraculous escape from death. Confused by a cloud of steam which belched from a 500-foot mine shaft, Bowlin stepped into the opening, thinking the hoist was at the top. After plunging approximately 300 feet he managed to grasp the ropes which operate the cage, and for 15 minutes held on until the cage raised to meet him. Then he collapsed on top of the cage and was hoisted to the surface. Source document
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| NOV 1928 | Anthracite Mine Hole Fall of Person, Centralia, Pennsylvania Anthony Ravenis, age 5, was playing with companions when he slid under a guard rail about a deep mine hole and dropped into the water far below. He managed to hang on to some bushes until companions got ropes and help and succeeded in getting him from the hole. Source document
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| OCT 1928 | McAlpin Mine Explosion, McAlpin, West Virginia — A coal dust explosion occurred, killing six men. There were twenty men in the mine at the time of the explosion. Sixteen men escaped the affected area; two of this number started to erect a barricade but were rescued shortly after starting construction. The explosion was undoubtedly started by a firing of an "adobe" shot on a piece of sandstone. | |
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| AUG 1928 | Irvona No. 3 Mine Explosion, Coalport, Pennsylvania — A gas and dust explosion occurred in this mine. There were 102 men working on the shaft, but some left the mine and only 14 were in the affected section when the explosion occurred. Eight men were killed by violence, five were overcome by afterdamp and one man, Marina Coccia, who was overcome, was rescued and resuscitated after an undisclosed period. The explosion was probably caused by an open-type mining machine, another of the long list of electrical ignitions in closed light mines. | |
| Old Orchard Mine Asphyxiations, Cambridge, Ohio — Benjamin and William Kissenger, brothers, aged 28 and 26, were rescued from the abandoned Old Orchard coal mine, after being overcome by gas in the old workings for 30 hours. They were revived and tonight and apparently are out of danger but were too weak to relate their unusual experiences. The thrilling rescue of the brothers was effected by State Mine Inspector Jerome Watson and a crew of experts from his office In Columbus. Several attempts were made to find the men which proved unsuccessful because of the dread black damp. Late in the afternoon, after the rescue car had been brought to the scene, the squad found the unconscious men 3,000 feet from the mine entrance. Search for the Kissenger brothers was started after they had failed to return home from an expedition to explore the abandon workings. The state mine inspector rescue office was notified, and Watson, with his squad, rushed to the scene. Fresh air was pumped into the old mine, enabling the workers to search for the men in comparative safety. The Old Orchard mine had been closed for the previous 15 years. Source document
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| Buckhorn Mine Cave-in, Buckhorn, Pennsylvania — Trapped four hours in a mine in the Buckhorn district, Jesse Marlett, 22, John Lauer, 28, and John Biggleman, 36, narrowly escaped death. They were rescued from an air shaft after being trapped by a fall of dirt at the entrance of the mine. The cave-in was not discovered until truck drivers, failing to find anyone at the entrance made an investigation. The cave-in was discovered, and a search made for the three men. Assistance was sent from adjoining mines and after attempting several means of communication with the entombed men, it was decided to try the air shaft. Russell Lauer, nephew of the mine owner, descended the shaft and located the trio. The three men were considerably weakened by the long stay in the mine. Source document
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| JUL 1928 | Locust Springs Colliery Inundation — A dam burst without warning and flooded the shaft in the Locust Gap Colliery. Hearing the rush of the water, forty-nine men barely had time to reach a travelway, crawl into safety holes and make their way to the No. 1 level where they were rescued after an undisclosed period. Only one of the men, James Carey, of Girardville, required medical attention. He suffered from shock. | |
| JUN 1928 | National No. 1 Mine Explosion, National, West Virginia — Five miners were killed and seven others were injured seriously when an explosion occurred in the National mine of the National Fuel Company. All other men in the mine at the time escaped or were rescued alive. Ten men, rescued alive after an undisclosed period, were rushed to a hospital. Seven were burned and otherwise injured. The National mine is a drift operation and normally employs about 100 men. Two of the injured were not expected to live. The blast occurred shortly before the night shift was scheduled to leave the workings. Twenty-five miners were in the mine and thirteen escaped or were rescued. Most of them suffered injuries of a less serious nature. The injured were brought to the Monongalia county hospital here. The explosion, it was said, was caused by gas. Source document
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| MAY 1928 | Frank Bucsha was found alive and said to be in good condition after he was found 55 hours following
the Mather Mine explosion in Mather, Pennsylvania
on May 19, 1928. 195 miners were killed in the blast of the mine owned by Pickands-Mather and Company. Another miner, John Wade, was rescued from the same mine after 147 hours. Mine officials said he must have been wandering around in the mine and was missed by the rescuers. Source document
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| FEB 1928 | Mama No. 3 Mine Explosion, Jenny Lind, Arkansas — Immediately after the early morning explosion in the Mama No. 3 mine, every miner in the district and volunteers were hurriedly formed into rescue parties. Shortly before noon, an entrance was blasted into the tomb where the miners were trapped and 105 men were rescued. About 35 of these were injured in the explosion and others were suffering from the effects of gas. | |
| One miner was found alive after an explosion at the Kinlock underground coal mine of the Valley Camp Coal Company in Parnassus, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. The rescued miner was trapped for nearly 1 day. 12 miners were killed in this accident. (Parnassus was later renamed New Kensington). | ||
| Buck Run Colliery Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — After being shut in by a rush of coal in the Buck Run Colliery for 24 hours, John Drenosky was rescued and removed from the mine uninjured. Source document
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| Potts Colliery Cave-in, Ashland, Pennsylvania — Henry Knock, 51, was entombed for three hours in the Potts Colliery at Ashland, Pennsylvania. He became trapped when falling timber caused the top to give way and close in on him. Source document
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| JAN 1928 | Eight miners were brought out of the Peabody Coal Company Mine No. 18 alive and uninjured. They were: Bill Reed, Alex Hamlin, Tony Strauss, Charles Peebles, Will Allen, Ruel Parks, Charles Mitchell and James Benn. Reed crawled out of an air shaft while Hamlin and Strauss were in another part of the mine and built a protecting wall to prevent the deadly gas from reaching them. W. E. Wade, another rescued miner was suffering from the effects of gas. | |
| Gaylord Mine Cave-in, Plymouth, Pennsylvania — Thirteen mine workers, trapped in the Red Ash vein of Gaylord Colliery at Plymouth, were released from their entrapment last night after having been imprisoned for seven hours behind a barricade of top rock and timber, caused by a fall. All were uninjured save for a severe fright. The fall occurred as the mine crew was walking down the plane in their lunch hour. They were warned of the coming fall by fellow employees and managed to reach a place of safety from the flying debris, although they found themselves blocked from exit. Rescue crews, hurriedly organized, released the captive men. The Gaylord mine was the scene of a disaster in February, 1894, when thirteen men were killed. Strange to say that accident occurred on the thirteenth of the month, while in this disaster, there were thirteen workers imprisoned. Source document
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| Oneida No. 1 Mine Cave-in, Hazleton, Pennsylvania — Just before 2 o'clock on the morning of January 17, the nine entombed men who were caught behind a rush of coal in the Oneida No. 1 mine were rescued. None of the men suffered any injuries or appeared weakened by this ordeal of more than twelve hours — imprisonment. Officials of the company announced last night that a barrier of coal more than 50 feet in thickness blocked the gangway. A hole about four feet in height was driven over this fall of coal to allow the men an avenue of escape. Source document
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| DEC 1927 | Luke Fidler Colliery Cave-in, Shamokin, Pennsylvania — Twenty-one hours after they had been entombed in the Hickory Swamp slope of the Luke Fidler colliery, two men were rescued alive, without a scratch to show for their experience. The men, John Kowloski, and Wasil Rapunski became entombed when a shot of dynamite they had fired brought down tons of coal and earth, blocking the slope in which they were working. Mine officials began an investigation when wives of the two men told them the men did not return home after work. It was the first day of work for both men as miners in this mine. Source document
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| Coal Hollow Mine Cave-in, Princeton, Illinois — William Glover and James Terrando were saved by a pile of coal they had mined when a cave-in occurred at the Coal Hollow Mine near Princeton. The men were working alone in a pocket of the mine and had a large quantity of coal piled and when they heard props crashing above them took refuge behind the coal. A great slide of earth came upon them, partially covering them, and it is believed that the coal saved their lives, holding back the full force of the slide. Miners in a nearby room heard the fall and rushed to the rescue and within half an hour they were freed. Both were recovering in the Princeton hospital. Glover received a deep scalp wound, a fractured shoulder and a badly bruised ankle. Terrando's injuries were cuts and bruises and were not serious. Source document
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| Lehigh Coal and Navigation No. 9 Colliery Inundation, Lansford, Pennsylvania — Joseph Valenski, a contract miner was overcome by a rush of water and coal at the third level of the No. 9 Colliery of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. Joseph Shirla, 35, was badly injured by the same rush, but was rescued before he was engulfed. Four other men working in the same compartment escaped when the rush of coal and water swept in another direction. It was at first feared that four men had been trapped, but when the rush subsided, it was found Valenski had been forced into an air gangway but that the others had reached another shute higher than the source of the slush. When the cry was raised that the water had broken through, Earl Cunning, a bottom man at the fourth level, deserted his post and ran through the galley warning the men. This act saved several lives, as the employees in the lower level made their escape through a mule-way, as the water came pouring down the shaft and overflowed the sump. Source document
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| NOV 1927 | Turkey Run Colliery Cave-in, Pottsville, Pennsylvania — Rescuers worked more than ten hours to release Julian Jecken, a miner who was imprisoned in the Turkey Run colliery after being caught under a fall of rock and coal. He was removed at once to the Locust Mountain State hospital, where it was said he was suffering from contusions, a possible fracture of the pelvis, and lacerations on the forehead. He was treated by the company surgeon of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company immediately after being released from his precarious position. The injured man's condition was reported as serious. Source document
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| OCT 1927 | Mammoth Mine Fire, Mammoth, Utah — Twenty-five miners who were trapped for 4 hours on the 1300 foot level of the Mammoth Mine were rescued. None of the miners suffered serious effects from their imprisonment. Source document
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| Peck Mine Powered Haulage Accident, Scranton, Pennsylvania — Between forty and fifty miners, trapped in the Peck Mine of the Glendale Coal Company were rescued after an undisclosed period. All were in good condition and apparently suffered but slightly from their imprisonment. The men were shut off from the outside world when a wheel in the tower of the colliery collapsed, dropping the heavy steel cable bolding a mine cage filled with rock. The cage ran wild down the shaft and became wedged just above the Hudak vein, which was the upper level of the mine and 200 feet below the surface. More than 200 workers in two lower veins got out through an opening so small, that some of the stouter miners had their clothing torn off as they were pulled through the tiny holes in the earth. The men in the Hudak vein, however, had no other way out except through the main shaft and were forced to wait until the obstruction could be cleared. Source document
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| SEP 1927 | Brindle Mine Asphyxiation, Latrobe, Pennsylvania — N. Mack Morley lay for 6 hours in the Brindle mine before he was finally rescued. Fastened together with a rope so that if one of their number was overcome by the treacherous blackdamp the others could drag him, three members of a rescue crew, succeeded in getting through the pocket of gas which for hours had baffled their efforts to rescue Morley. Working as quickly as possible, the first man in the chain passed his arms under the prostrated man and he was dragged to safety. The successful rescue attempt had been preceded by a number of futile efforts to reach the miner. The chain of men which finally succeeded in making the rescue was composed of: Kermit Topper, Andy Hefflefinger, and Floyd Hefflefinger, with the latter in the lead. Morley was unconscious when rescued. He was placed in Gosnell's ambulance and rushed to the Latrobe hospital. Source document
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| Clarence Lozier Mine Cave-in, New Derry, Pennsylvania — Benjamin Rosman, a miner employed at the Clarence Lozier mine at New Derry suffered a fracture of his right leg and had an artificial leg smashed off near the hip when he and his brother William Rosman were caught under a ton of rock which fell from the roof. William suffered a fracture of the right ankle. Both men were brought to the Latrobe hospital after an undisclosed period. Benjamin had just raised his pick into the air to test the roof when the huge rock fell without warning, pinning both men beneath it. Source document
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| Mather Mine Lost Person, Mather, Pennsylvania — Earnest Grewshock, aged 44, was rescued by a searching party after being lost for 18 hours in the Mather mine. He appeared none the worse for his experience when brought to the surface. Source document
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| AUG 1927 | West Kentucky No. 7 Mine Explosion, Clay, Kentucky — Sixteen of the miners who were preparing to come to the surface at the time of the explosion were rescued after an undisclosed period. They were 10 white men and six negroes. None of them was seriously injured. The explosion wrecked the cages used to lift the miners and coal from the pit and those saved had to be carried through a mine hole used to circulate air. | |
| JUL 1927 | New Jersey Zinc Company Mine Asphyxiation, Franklin, New Jersey — One man died, and two others were in a serious condition in Franklin Hospital because of having been overcome by gas in the lower levels the New Jersey Zinc Company mines in Franklin. The dead man was Harry Sheldon. The men in the hospital were Mike Kiski, mine foreman, and a laborer who attempted to rescue Sheldon. Four other workmen were overcome during the rescue work but were not taken to the hospital. Source document
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| Hauser Construction Rock Quarry Rockslide, Marshfield, Oregon — Ben Bennettson was rescued from a tunnel at the Hauser Construction Company rock quarry on Coos River after being entombed for twenty-four hours. Bennettson was drilling a tunnel underneath a rock cliff for a charge of dynamite when a rockslide of hundreds of tons shut off the entrance. More than 100 men had worked to release him. Air in the tunnel and air filtering through the rocks saved him and he was able to walk when brought to daylight. Source document < |
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| MAY 1927 | Delagua No. 3 Mine Explosion, Delagua, Colorado — One hundred and thirty two men were in the Delagua No. 3 mine at the time of the blast and all with the exception of the dead and one injured man reached the surface safely through air shafts. John Walker, 62, was seriously injured and was brought out of the mine four hours after the explosion. | |
| APR 1927 | Federal No. 3 Mine Explosion, Everettville, West Virginia — Nine men were cut off in the south main section until one came out through the smoke and returned with a party wearing self-rescuers. The eight men who had barricaded themselves in a room were supplied with self-rescuers and walked out after an undisclosed period. | |
| Gimlet Colliery Cave-in, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania — Joseph Dragon and Steve Kieski were rescued from their 20-hour entrapment in the Gimlet Colliery of the Shipman Coal Company. The two miners became trapped when a squeeze closed the manway. After a span of 25 feet of heading was opened, rescuers worked night and day to drive a pillar hole 50 feet up the pitch. Source document
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| Wise Mine Inundation, Henryetta, Oklahoma — Nineteen miners were rescued after an undisclosed period from the flooded Wise mine near Henryetta, Oklahoma. Two mules had also been trapped and the men. Knowing what it meant to be imprisoned underground, the rescued miners volunteered to work without pay to man the pumps and free the mules. Source document
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| FEB 1927 | Joseph Schultz, a miner at the Henry Clay Colliery near Shamokin, Pennsylvania was entombed 4 hours in a blind heading after a pillar crumbled when disturbed by a shot. He was penned behind hundreds of tons of coal and rock in a space about 3 feet wide and 6 feet long. Rescuers found him exhausted.
Source document
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| Archbald Mine Cave-in, Taylor, Pennsylvania — Three mine workers crawled to safety after being held prisoners by a massive fall of roof in the Archbald mine of the Glen Alden Coal Company at Taylor for 27 hours. The men seemed to show no ill effects for their experience. After being examined by physicians at the mines they were taken to their homes and today seemed to have recovered completely from their nerve-racking incarceration. The trapped men were: Michael Kleback, aged 27; Peter Saynuk, aged 22; and Stanley Glinko, aged 19. Source document
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| Highland Mine No. 5 Cave-in, Highland, Pennsylvania — Andrew Zippi, and his laborer, Andrew Danko were both caught under a fall of coal in the Highland No. 5 mines of the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company and held prisoners for three hours. The men were found by members of the night shift who were reporting for duty. A call for help was immediately sent and thirty men responding to the call. The thirty men loaded 30 cars of coal and rock, and they succeeded in freeing the two men. At the hospital, Zippi was found to be suffering from injuries of the back and contusions of the body, and Danko, his laborer, was found to be suffering from injuries of the head and contusions of the body. Source document
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| Raven Run Colliery Cave-in, Girardville, Pennsylvania — Two men were missing because of a fall in the Raven Run Colliery of the Hazlebrook Coal Company near Girardville when nine
men were trapped. Six were rescued alive shortly after the fall and one man was killed when crushed in the main gangway. The six miners who were rescued were not so deeply entombed as the two missing men and were kept alive by pumping oxygen into their underground prison until rescuers could remove the debris. When the six miners started to make their escape, they found the body of Frank Jacobs, 35, held by rock which kept him prisoner. After several attempts rescuers freed him of the rock, however, he died fifteen minutes after being rescued. Source document
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| JAN 1927 | Newport Mine Cave-in, Ironwood, Michigan — One miner was rescued and the body of a companion recovered from under a fall of rock and ore which trapped them at Newport mine after an undisclosed period. Peter Clement was slightly injured. Angelo Angelini was killed. Source document
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| Bunker Hill Mine Fall of Person, Kellogg, Idaho — Spese Paladin, a miner employed by the Bunker Hill, lived after experiencing a fall of approximately 130 feet down an ore chute at the mine. Paladin was found by fellow workmen sometime later. He was removed to the Wardner hospital. Dr. George H. Kennett stated that the miner was suffering from concussion of the brain but would recover. Source document
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| Page Navigation for More Rescues | ||
| Mine Accident Research Documents | ||||||
| Successful Mine Rescues (MS Word format) (PDF format)
Listed in descending chronological order, this file contains more than 1,350 successful rescues in the United States. See more. |
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| Successful Anthracite Mine Rescues (PDF format)
Independent of the file above, this collection contains only those rescues that have occurred in the Anthracite mining region of Pennsylvania. See more. |
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| Incidents of Rescuer Death (MS Word format) (PDF format)
Listed in descending chronological order, this file contains more than 135 incidents of rescuer death in the United States. See more. |
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| Carnegie Hero Award Recipients (Adobe PDF format) Inspired by the bravery that Daniel A. Lyle and Selwyn M. Taylor displayed at the Harwick Mine Disaster in 1904, Andrew Carnegie started the Carnegie Hero Fund . The PDF file linked here includes awardees associated with mining along with additional resources which you may find interesting. |
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| Children Killed in Mine Accidents (MS Excel format) This is a compilation of more than 100 incidents involving the death of children in mines. Source documentation links are provided. See more. |
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| Women Killed in Mine Accidents (MS Excel format) This is a compilation of more than 50 incidents involving the death of women in mines. Source documentation links are provided. See more. |
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| Loss of Life Among Wearers of Oxygen Breathing Apparatus This publication is a sequel to I.C. 7279 and contains information on eight deaths among wearers of oxygen breathing apparatus that were overlooked in the original compilation. Also summarized here. |
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| Utah Abandoned Mine Rescues (PDF format) From 1977 to 2017, this document provides a summary of 19 incidents of rescue from abandoned mines. |
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