Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
Hellraisers Journal, Friday December 20, 1907
Jacob’s Creek, Pennsylvania – Massive Explosions at Darr Mine
From The Pittsburgh Press of December 19, 1907:
Grief-Stricken Families Gather
SCENES AT DARR MINE ARE AWFUL
—–Connellsville, Pa., Dec. 19.-The force of the Darr mine explosion was felt for miles, and within 30 minutes from the times the smoke from the burning coal reached the exits of the mine, the mouths were surrounded by crowds of agonized members of the families of entombed men.
Some stood shuddering in the cold, with stolid faces, hardly seeming to realize that they were about to become widows, orphans or friendless, while others gave way to uncontrolled grief and uttered heart-piercing shrieks of grief, and wild cries of anguish.
No one made an effort to quiet another grief-stricken spectator. All seemed to feel that the bereavement was inconsolable, and each was busy trying to grasp the situation from a personal standpoint. Some of the women fell prostrate in the dust-covered snow when they full realized that the little community was experiencing the visitation of terrible calamity.
———-
SOURCE
The Pittsburgh Press
(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
-Dec 19, 1907
https://www.newspapers.com/image/142145441/
IMAGE
Darr Mine PA Historical Marker re Dec 19, 1907
http://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/darr.htm
See also:
Darr Mine Disaster Historical Marker
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2C7
Virtual Cemetery Created by Metti
-Thank you, Metti, for your work on this memorial.
Darr Mine Disaster Memorial
https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/506511
Metti has also created a Naomi Mine Disaster Memorial
https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/618029
USMRA:
Pittsburg Coal Company, Darr Mine Explosion
Van Meter, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1907
No. Killed – 239
http://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/darr.htm
Darr Mine Disaster, December 19, 1907
Jacobs Creek / Van Meter, Rostraver Township,
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
A Tribute to the Coal Miners that were killed in
the Darr Mine Disaster of 1907, Pittsburgh Coal Company
-Compiled & Edited by Historian Raymond A. Washlaski
-Ryan P. Washlaski, Technical Editor
(Scroll to bottom for more links.)
http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancestry.com/darr2.html
“The 1907 Miracle of St. Nicholas in Pennsylvania at Darr Mine”
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/12/1907-miracle-of-st-nicholas-in.html
“U.S. Coal Mining’s Deadliest Month: December 1907”
-by Trevor Hammond
The Ballad of Darr Mine – Jason Hegedus
Lyrics & music by Jason H. & Sam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAZjBrAR_B4