Tag: Coal Miners

Hellraisers Journal: Eighty-Three Coal Miners Entombed after Early-Morning Explosion at Jed Mine in West Virginia

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Quote Mother Jones WV Miners Conditions, ISR p179 , Sept 1901—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday March 29, 1912
Jed, West Virginia – Eighty-Three Coal Miners Entombed 

From The Fairmont West Virginian of March 26, 1912:

———–

———-

(By United Press.)

WELCH. W. Va., March 26.-Eighty-three men are entombed in the mine of the United States Coal and Coal Company at Jed, three miles from here.

An explosion of gas occurred in the mine at 7:30 o’clock this morning. Eighty-six men were at work and only three were able to reach the out- side.

Following the explosion after damp pervaded the entire workings of the mine making it impossible for immediate rescue work to be begun.

Deputy State Mine Inspector Arthur Mitchell arrived from Bluefield an hour after the explosion occurred.

Miners who had worked during the night and had gone home were roused and formed rescue parties.

It is possible that some of the imprisoned men may have escaped the explosion and may have reached a part of the mine not penetrated by the after damp.

———-

GOVERNMENT RESCUE ARE ON SCENE.

WASHINGTON, March 26.-Immediately after learning of the Jed mine disaster the United States Bureau of mines ordered two special rescue cars full of equipment to be sent to the aid of the entombed miners. The Pittsburg rescue crew is also enroute. Car No. 7 is reported to be only an hour’s run from the mine. The Pittsburg car is under the direction of Mining Engineer Dike.

———-

MINE WORKED DAY AND NIGHT.

The Jed mine worked day and night shifts employing about a hundred and fifty men, both whites and negroes.

The mine was worked on a non-union basis.

When news of the explosion spread, women and children gathered at the mouth of the mine and refused to leave, hysterically urging the the rescue parties to greater efforts.

It is not believed the mine workings are on fire.

It is thought some men may have reached pockets where they were working and closing up openings in the pockets of the main shaft may be safe.

—————

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: All Hope Abandoned for Miners Trapped and Entombed in Burning Mine at McCurtain, Oklahoma

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones WV Miners Conditions, ISR p179 , Sept 1901—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday March 21, 1912
McCurtain, Oklahoma –  Explosion at San Bois Coal Mine Claims at Least 70 Miners

From the Muskogee Daily Phoenix of March 21, 1912:

Bnr HdLn Muskogee Dly Phx p1, Mar 21, 1912———–
HdLn MnDs OK Muskogee Dly Phx p1, Mar 21, 1912———-
MnDs McCurtain OK, Muskogee Dly Phx p1, Mar 21, 1912

POTEAU, Okla., March 20.— (Special)— San Bois coal mine No. 2, wrecked by explosion and fire this morning, tonight began giving up its burned, mangled and mutilated dead. Five bodies, some of them disfigured so recognition is hardly possible, have been taken from the depths of the shaft and thirty others have been found.

As far as the checking of the missing and the dead made a count possible late tonight between ninety and a hundred men lost their lives in the explosion. Seventy-five coffins have been ordered rushed to the mine from nearby cities.

Thirteen men have come alive from the smoldering shaft and three of them are so badly injured that their death is thought to be only a matter of hours. All of them are hurt.

What caused the explosion is not known but experts working in the rescue party believe that it was due to coal gas. The mine covers several square miles and is of many levels. Many of the entries caved in and the men who were not mangled by the explosion or burned to death are penned behind great walls of earth and twisted timbers. There they may live for hours but it is thought they will die of suffocation before the rescuers can dig their way to them…..

—————

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: From The Industrial Pioneer: Political Cartoons by Boardman Robinson and Robert Minor

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EVD re Socialism v Capitalism———————-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday November 15, 1921
Cartoons by Boardman Robinson and Robert Minor

From The Industrial Pioneer of November 1921

“Propping Up the Sick Man-European Capitalism” by Boardman

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for September 1901, Part III: Found Writing for the International Socialist Review

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Quote Mother Jones WV Miners Conditions, ISR p179 , Sept 1901—————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday October 14, 1901
Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1901, Part III
Found Writing on Behalf of Working Class Men, Women, and Children

From the International Socialist Review of September 1901:

A Picture of American Freedom
in West Virginia
———-

[By Mother Jones]

Mother Jones, Drawing, SDH p4, Mar 9, 1901

SOME months ago a little group of miners from the State of Illinois decided to face the storm and go to the assistance of their fellow-workmen in the old slave state of West Virginia. They hoped that they might somehow lend a hand to break at least one link in the horrible corporation chains with which the miners of that state are bound. Wherever the condition of these poor slaves of the caves is worst there is where I always seek to be, and so I accompanied the boys to West Virginia.

They billed a meeting for me at Mt. Carbon, where the Tianawha Coal and Coke Company have their works. The moment I alighted from the train the corporation dogs set up a howl. They wired for the “squire” to come at once. He soon arrived with a constable and said : “Tell that woman she cannot speak here to night; if she tries it I will jail her.” If you come from Illinois you are a foreigner in West Virginia and are entitled to no protection or rights under the law—that is if you are interested in the welfare of your oppressed fellow beings. If you come in the interest of a band of English parasites you are a genuine American citizen and the whole state is at your disposal. So the squire notified me that if I attempted to speak there would be trouble. I replied that I was not hunting for trouble, but that if it came in that way I would not run away from it. I told him that the soil of Virginia had been stained with the blood of the men who marched with Washington and Lafayette to found a government where the right of free speech should always exist.

“I am going to speak here to-night,” I continued. “When I violate the law, and not until then will you have any right to interfere.” At this point he and the constable started out for the county seat with the remark that he would find out what the law was on that point. For all I have been able to hear they are still hunting for the law, for I have never heard from them since. The company having called off their dogs of war I held my meeting to a large crowd of miners.

But after all the company came out ahead. They notified the hotel not to take any of us in or give us anything to eat. There upon a miner and his wife gave me shelter for the night. The next morning they were notified to leave their miserable little shack which belonged to the company. He was at once discharged and with his wife and babe went back to Illinois, where, as a result of a long and bitter struggle the miners have succeeded in regaining a little liberty.

———-

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for July 1910, Part I: Found Speaking to Miners in Hazleton and Coleraine, Pennsylvania

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Quote Mother Jones, Brutal Ruling Class, Cnc Pst p7, May 31, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday August 13, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for July 1910, Part I:
-Found with Miners of Hazleton and Coleraine, Pennsylvania

From the Shenandoah Evening Herald of July 6, 1910:

Mother Jones crpd, WDC Tx p5, June 18, 1910

Mother Jones Coming.

Mother Jones who led the McAdoo marchers in 1900 and who was stricken in a western city some months ago has partially recovered and is expected to arrive in Hazleton this week to spend several weeks, in the hope of regaining her former health and vigor.

———-

[Photograph added.]

From the Pottsville Republican of July 16, 1910:

Mother Jones at Hazleton.

“Mother” Jones, who took a leading part to two of the big miners’ strikes some years ago, arrived in Hazleton to remain for three or four days. She may make one or more addresses. She was recently stricken ill in Cincinnati, O., but has fully recovered.

———-

From the Shenandoah Evening Herald of July 19, 1910:

“Mother” Jones to Speak.

“Mother” Jones, who is at Hazleton for a week or ten days, will be the principal speaker at a big rally to be held at Coleraine on Thursday night.

From the Pittston Gazette of July 23, 1910:

Mother Jones at Coleraine.

Mother Jones, who came to this region over a week ago to recuperate her health, is rapidly gaining in strength and in a few weeks will have regained her former vigor and activity. Last night she addressed the miners at Coleraine and was given a rousing welcome, particularly by the breaker boys.-Hazleton Standard.

———-

Note: Emphasis added throughout.

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Hellraisers Journal: West Virginia Coal Miners Killed in Explosion at Red Ash Mine in New River District

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Quote If Blood Be the Price, LRSB 15th Ed p27, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday March 8, 1900
Red Ash, West Virginia – Explosion Brings Death to Coal Miners

From The New York Times of March 7, 1900:

Red Ash WV MnDs, NYT p1, Mar 7, 1900

Fire Creek, W. Va., March 6.-The most disastrous mine explosion ever known in the New River District occurred at the Red Ash Mine shortly after the miners went to work this morning. Although the most heroic work of the rescuing party has been going on incessantly all day and night it is impossible tonight to estimate the full extent of the loss of life and property.

The most reliable estimates obtainable put the number of the victims at nearly 50. The capacity of the mine is 175, but there have been only 130 on the payrolls so far this month. The manager, Superintendent, bosses, bookkeepers, and others are busy with the force of rescuers, but at the same time they are all very reticent as to the extent of the casualties and any other information regarding the disaster.

More than fifty dead bodies have already been taken out, thirty-eight of which have been identified and are lying in their former homes. It is thought tonight that at least seventy-five miners are yet entombed in the wrecked mine.

Most of the bodies that cannot be identified or recognized have been placed in the large blacksmith’s shop of the Red Ash Coal Company, and that place presents the appearance of a horrible morgue. Although the bodies are mangled beyond recognition, yet they are surrounded by those who are in distress and hunting their lost friends.

The general belief is that the explosion occurred by contact of the miners’ lights with dust when the miners entered this morning.

Those working on the rescue relays say that the scene becomes more terrible as they get further into the mine. The men become almost faint of heart when they strike a place filled with dead bodies. The work of rescue is being continued during the night, and will be kept up until the mine is clear.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for January 1910, Part I: Found with the Miners of the Hazleton Area of Pennsylvania

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Last Great Battle, UMWC p420, Jan 26, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday February 12, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for January 1910, Part I:
-Found with the Miners of Northeastern Pennsylvania

Mother Jones, Ipl Str p3, Jan 25, 1910 copy
Indianapolis Star of January 25, 1910
—–

From the Wilkes-Barre Evening News
of January 5, 1910:

“Mother” Jones, who was such a prominent figure in the 1900 and 1902 strikes of the miners in this region, last night addressed the miners of Beaver Brook and was there given a hearty ovation. She will make a number of addresses in the lower end of the county to mine workers. “Mother” Jones who is now past the 70 year mark is always a welcome visitor among the miners.

[Emphasis added.]

From the Shenandoah Evening Herald
of January 5, 1910:

Mother Jones In Hazleton.

Among the visitors to Hazleton yesterday was “Mother” Jones, the well known organizer of the United Mine Workers, who took such a prominent part in the miners’ strike of this section. She was on her way from Philadelphia to the West. She just assisted the shirt waist strikers in their struggle in the Quaker City.

From The Philadelphia Inquirer
of January 6, 1910:

“Mother Jones” in Hazleton

Special to The Inquirer.

HAZLETON. Jan. 5.-Fresh from Philadelphia, where she helped in the strike of the shirtwaist workers. “Mother” Jones, who was a leading figure in the mines’ strikes of 1900 and 1902 in this section, arrived here today to conduct a series of meetings throughout the district among the miners “Mother” Jones has not been in the anthracite field since 1902.

[Emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for January 1910, Part I: Found with the Miners of the Hazleton Area of Pennsylvania” →

Hellraisers Journal: Explosion and Fire Kills 78 Coal Miners at the Baltimore No. 2 Tunnel at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

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Quote Thomas Dougherty re Wilkes Barre MnDs, Harrisburg Tg p1, June 5, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday June 6, 1919
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – Coal Miners Perish in Flames of Mine Fire

From Pennsylvania’s Harrisburg Telegraph of June 5, 1919:

Baltimore Tunnel No 2 Explosion, Wilkes Barre, Harrisburg Tg p1, June 5, 1919

—–

Sparks Ignite Powder

Survivor Describes Flames, Wilkes Barre MnDs, Harrisburg Tg p1, June 5, 1919

More than 100 mine workers were riding to their work crowded into what is known as a “trip” of mine cars, drawn by a motor. The rear car carried twelve kegs of black powder used for blasting loose the coal in the chambers. When the train had gone about 200 feet from the entrance the trolley wire snapped. The sparks it emitted touched off the powder.

There was a roar and in an instant every man and boy on the train was either dead or dying. Mangled bodies were found everywhere by the rescue crews which rushed into the mine. Fire fighters, working frantically, soon succeeded in subduing the flames which followed the blast. Those who had not already succumbed were so badly burned that in nearly every case death was a matter of only a short time.
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Hellraisers Journal: Report Continues from Gertrude Gordon at Marianna Mine Disaster: Story of Lone Survivor

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Quote Fred Elvarna re Marianna PA Mine Disaster, Ptt Prs p2, Nov 30, 1908

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday December 3, 1908
Marianna, Pennsylvania – Gertrude Gordon Interviews Lone Survivor

The heart-rending reporting of Gertrude Gordon continues from the scene of the Marianna Mine Disaster.

From the Pittsburg Press of November 30, 1908:

FEARFUL SCENES WERE ENACTED AT PIT MOUTH
[Continued.]
—–

BY GERTRUDE GORDON.
Staff Corespondent of the Press
—–

Marianna PA Mine Disaster, Carry Out Corpse, Ptt Prs p2, Nov 30, 1908

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SOLE SURVIVOR TELLS STORY OF CATASTROPHE
—–

The first body taken out was that of Fred Elvarna who is in all probability, the only man living of all who were in the mine at the time of the explosion. He was badly burned and his leg was wrenched, but he was living. In a talk with him, which, with surprising vitality he was able to give within a few hours of his rescue, he described some of his sensations in the mine. He is a bricklayer and was repairing a wall when the explosion occurred.

[He told me:]

I had just put up a brick, and was putting some mortar on it when I felt the explosion coming. It was just like a cold breath from somewhere, not exactly cold, but there was something awful seemed to come and I knew that terrible danger of some kind was there. Of course the worst danger is fire damp, after any explosion that kills more than fire or the falling timbers, and I just threw myself on the ground and dug a hole with my hands to put my face in, and threw my coat over my head.

Of course I did all that in a second and I didn’t really dig a hole, but just scooped out a handful of earth to lay my face in, so that I could breathe.

After the crash I laid quiet for a little and then when I had to move to breathe I tried to look around. It was pitch dark, of course, and the air was pretty bad, but still I could get enough to keep me going.

COULD NOT MOVE.

I couldn’t move and didn’t know how bad I was hurt, but I started yelling right away so that the boys could tell where I was when they came to hunt us. I could hear the men moaning and crying all around me, but we couldn’t get to one another. The men didn’t seem able to talk, and I cannot tell how long they moaned. I guess it was hours, but one by one they stopped, and I guess they all died.

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Hellraisers Journal: Gertrude Gordon Reports from Marianna Mine Disaster: Mute Women Waiting, “Piteous Horror”

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Quote Gertrude Gorden re Women Waiting Marianna MnDs, Ptt Prs p1, Nov 29, 1908
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday December 2, 1908
Marianna, Pennsylvania – Heartrending Reports from Gertrude Gordon

From The Pittsburg Press of November 29, 1908:

Marianna PA Mine Disaster Horror, Ptt Prs p6, Nov 29, 1908

—–

WOMEN MUTE SUFFERERS AT MARIANNA MINE
—–
Bear Their Great, Anxious Sorrow,
in a Benumbed Fashion
-Rescuers Come From the Shaft,
to Be Followed by Others
—–

By Gertrude Gordon.

Marianna PA Mine Disaster Gertrude Gordon, Ptt Prs p1, Nov 29, 1908

Marianna, Pa., At the Mine, Midnight.-The first thing that struck my ears on leaving the train at Marianna was the hysterical scream of a woman.

With my nerves keyed to a tension by the reports I had heard all the way up from Pittsburg, and the conversations relating to the terrible mine disaster, I expected to enter upon a scene and sights of the utmost horror, but that one scream was all I heard.

“My boy,” calling her son, and that was all.

Not a star shown on the skies, even the moon glimmered but dully, the only light being the points of brightness which showed the presence of the lanterns and the smoking torches flaming in an inadequate attempt to light the darkness. At the mouth of the Rachel shaft, where formerly had stood compact machinery and rough, although completely equipped sheds, was only a shapeless mass of debris. Official-looking men in blue uniforms stood around, keeping black all the people who were pressing to get closer to the shaft.

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