Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
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Hellraisers Journal, Friday December 27, 1907
Jacob’s Creek, Pennsylvania – Women Wait and Weep at Darr Mine
From The Pittsburgh Press of December 22, 1907:
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A Pathetic Case of Bereavement as Result
of Mine Catastrophe Illustrated
by Mrs. George Kroboth
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ONE BOY A SUBSTITUTE ON THE FATAL DAY
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BY C. H. GILLESPIE,
Staff Correspondent.
Jacobs Creek, December 21.-In the terrific Darr mine explosion, the husband and two sons of Mrs. George Kroboth were snatched away.
She is not only triply bereaved, but deprived of all support, and her condition is most piteous. Her husband, George Kroboth, by years of thrifty living and constant labor, had provided a comfortable little home, and there today she sits alone with her great grief, mourning for her “man’s” cheery, comforting presence and shedding bitter tears for the two fine young sons so full of solace for her old age.
Her baby, George, was only 16 years old, but large and manly for his age, and Joe, aged 19 years, was a son any mother might well be proud of. But for the transient sickness of a neighbor, Max Sprecht, Joe would likely be alive today, instead of lying, charred and disfigured, in the far recesses of the mine workings.
In Sprecht’s absence, Joe took his place as a machine worker, and gladly availed himself of the chance to get a couple of days’ work. He was doing Sprecht’s work when the fatal explosion occurred.
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Headlines and Photographs from the Darr Mine Disaster
From the Pittsburgh Press of December 20, 1907:
WRECKED MINE GIVES UP SIX MANGLED BODIES;
200 MORE ARE NOW THOUGHT TO BE IN WORKINGS
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1-George Lesso, 2-John Lorik, 3-Sergely Uhrie, 4-Frank Lacotos, age 15 (one of seven boys lost ages 14 to 17), 6-Jack Staller.
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From The Pittsburgh Post of December 20, 1907:
Explosion in Pittsburgh Coal Company’s Mine at
Jacobs Creek, Westmoreland County,
Kills Nearly 200 Men and Imprisons Scores of Others
Behind Impassable Burning Barriers;
Open Lamp Reported Cause; Rescue Parties Hard at Work;
Harrowing Scenes Witnessed.
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From The Pittsburg Press of December 21, 1907:
HORROR OF THE DARR MINE DISASTER IS GROWING
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From the Pittsburg Gazette Times of December 21, 1907:
LITTLE PROGRESS IN TAKING BODIES FROM DARR MINE
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From The Pittsburg Press of December 22, 1907:
LET US PAY TRIBUTE TO THE COAL MINER
WHO DIES FOR OUR COMFORT
