Excerpted from the Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, dated August 19, 1975:
108 Died In Lochgelly, Summerlee Blasts
By SHIRLEY DONNELLY
At the funeral of Ben Bragg at Oak Hill on Oct. 8 a lot of old timers who were standing around waiting for the service to start, asked me about different mine explosions in these parts.
One of these was Eugene Light of the Salem section east of Oak Hill. His brother, Frank Light, was killed in the Lochgelly explosion. Another in the group spoke of a man by the name of Dawson being killed in the same disaster but he was mistaken as there was not a victim by that name who lost his life in the holocaust. They asked that the story of the disaster be written.
THE MINE WAS called Stuart when it blew up on Jan. 29, 1907. Afterward the name was changed to Lochgelly. Eighty-five men lost their lives in the Stuart (Lochgelly) catastrophe. As usual, this vast harvest of death was brought about by a violation of the law.
Parral (Summerlee), only two miles away by road, had exploded on Feb. 8, 1906 less than a year before — and had claimed 23 victims. Then the name was changed from Parral to Summerlee.
Both Parral and Stuart were deep shaft mines. There was only one outlet to each mine — the shaft in each case. Mining authorities had directed the company to connect the two workings but they had not done it.
Officials were indicted but little came of this.
THE OPENING WHICH LED to the coal in the Lochgelly mine was a four-compartment shaft that was 585 feet deep. One section was used for piping and wires. Two of the compartments were used for hoisting ways. The fourth compartment was used for an air way, leading direct to the fan which whirled fresh air into the mine. The Sewell seam of coal, a seam that ranged in height from four to five feet, was being worked.
This mine gave off a bit of gas in its advanced headings but this was taken care of by the ventilating processes. Parral and Stuart were supposed to be connected by this time but they weren't and that caused the trouble.
THREE HOURS before Stuart (Lochgelly) exploded, a loaded car was being hoisted out of the shaft. This car shifted its position and caused a wreck in the shaft. Several timbers were torn out and it broke the shaft guards. It took two or three hours to repair the damage. During this lull the men in the mine loaded all the cars in their workings. Soon the miners gathered at the bottom of the shaft and waited to be lifted to the top. Dick Lee remained at work in Room 4, a man of 24 years experience in the mines. A body of gas became ignited in his room and set off the accident. Coal dust was set off and the force of the explosion was so great that bodies were dismembered, mutilated, and badly burned.
Most of the victims were piled near the bottom of the shaft where they had congregated to await the repairs on the shaft so they could be hoisted to the surface. There were bank mules in the mine and the power of the explosion blew them clear of their harness. They never knew what hit them.
A CORONER'S JURY was assembled to determine the cause of the disaster. That jury was composed of R.H. Dickinson, Thomas Wharton, J.L. Johnson, O.B. Lively, A.C. Poole and S.D. Taylor, all dead now. Magistrate J.P. Staton convened the jury. Their report read. "We the jury, find that Frank Loving and others, came to their death by a gas and dust explosion in Stuart mine on the 29th day of January, 1907."
Unrevealing, wasn't it? I knew R.H. Dickinson and S.D. Taylor fairly well in their later years. Good men they were. Taylor had also been a member of the coroner's jury that weighed the cause of the Parral (Summerlee) explosion nearby and less than a year before.
KILLED IN THE STUART (Lochgelly) explosion were Jesse Arthur, John Atkinson, Enos Banks, Joe Baur, Hanley Barbour, Bein Bendijson. Walker Blake, Wilson Boone, James Bradley, James Broomer, Gay Bryant, Whit Bushnell, Judson Carter, Charley Caul, Otley Clendennin, Charles Coble, Harry S. Colburn, W.M. Cook, John Cowan, Cecil Crouse* see note, Norman Crouse* see note, Sovenz Crubin, Cyrus Dairs, Mike Donnell, James Eckersly, Thomas Estus, John Fey, David Fitz, Isaiah Fitz, Bollard Fitzpatrick, Stephen Geurs, William Gordon, W.J. Hamilton, Thomas Harrigge, William Hawkins, Samuel Howlet, Raleigh Ison, William Ison, C.A. Johnson, Paul Johnson, Paul Jones, John Kalisz, James Klimak, William Kosz, Mike Kryskzka, Charlie Kwak, John Kwak, Andrew Kwak, Richard Lee, Richard Lewis, Frank Light, Dallas Love, Frank Loving, Harry Loving, Lester Loving, James Massey, Giles Minner, John Minner, Shelton Mooney, John Morris, Robert McIntyre, William McQueen, William Nakusok, Michael Nydszyn, J.T. O'Boyle, Stanley Polaus, T.S. Prather, Frank Puloski, Henry Ross, William P. Sears, Stephen Sedoir, Stanley Sichnowsky, Earl Simpson, Geet Skaggs, Charlie Smith, Andrew Sosimek, Arthur Thomas, T.M. Toney, Alexander Turner, Charles Vergil, William Walkden, Thomas Williams, S. Wolfsteinholme, and Thomas Zuel, eighty-five victims, all told.
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Excerpted from the Raleigh Herald, dated February 7, 1907:
STUART MINE HORROR GROWS
As Mangled Bodies Recovered
NONE ESCAPED DEATH
Of the Eighty-Three Entombed Miners
— All the Bodies Recovered From Bottom of Shaft
— Explosion is said to Have been Caused by Dust
— Work Still Continues of Recovering Bodies
THE LATEST.
A telegram to The Herald Wednesday morning states that all the 83 bodies have been recovered, of which 76 have been identified. An investigation will be held this week. The number of white Americans in the mine was 29; Englishmen 10, colored, 22; and the rest foreigners of various nationalities. It will be 3 months before the mine will be ready for operation. Loss to mine $25,000.
As the work of the rescue of the bodies of the miners entombed in the Stuart shaft progresses, additional horror is added to the already terrible details of the worst mine disaster in the annals of the state.
When the rescuing party reached the bottom of the shaft, the sight that met their eyes was sickening. Mangled bodies of the men covered the bottom of the shaft and the gases following the explosion and the odor of the decaying flesh compelled the rescuers to go to the surface at short intervals and hindered the work of bringing the bodies to the surface. Not one of the 83 men known to have been in the ill-fated Stuart shaft escaped, As their bodies are recovered they are turned over to the undertakers, who dress them before relatives are allowed to see the mangled forms of their loved ones. All of these unfortunate men have been recovered.
Norman and Cecil Grouse* see note, two trapper boys killed, were sons of Mrs. William Grouse* see note and they had many relatives here, who first heard of their death through The Herald.
The explosion is yet a mystery, it is supposed to have been caused by dust. Chief Mine Inspector Paul has been on the scene and has been conducting an investigation. The mine is fitted with a 16-foot fan which supplies plenty of air and no difficulty has ever been experienced on account of bad air or gas. The deputy state mine inspector in his last report stated that the mining laws were being complied with in all respects.
As is usually the case after a mine explosion, exaggerated reports of the horror were spread broadcast. Upon investigation, The Herald reporter finds that the report that the men were trying to get out of the mine to escape the impending explosion is absolutely untrue.
The fact is that about all the men had quit work shortly after the noon hour, and as is the custom, assembled at the bottom of the pit to eat their noonday lunches. At this point there plenty of room, and the men wishing to be together, naturally assembled there, which fully accounts for the large number of bodies found at that point. As they finished their lunches those intending to leave the mine for the afternoon did so, the last trip of the cage took to the surface nine men; the trip previous took eight. The cage is capable of accommodating ten men.
One of the reports that is being circulated is to the effect that the mine boss refused to let the men board the cage on the last trip, and that the car of coal was forcibly held back by some of the men in order to let them escape. It stands to reason if this were true that the capacity of the cage would have been tested for passengers on the last trip. It was also untrue that the mine was "as hot as a bake oven." The contrary is attested by a dozen of the men last to come out. The fan was working in proper order up to the moment of the explosion. The fan is one of the largest in the state and has a capacity at this time to meet the requirements of this mine for twenty years. It cost $10,000 and was strongly incased in a foundation of brick and cement two and a half feet thick. The force of the explosion cracked the walls in some places as much as six inches. It took two hours to repair the fan and start it to operating again. The breaking of the fan did not cause a single life however. It is very certain that every life was lost by the shock of the explosion. The other report with regard to the capacity of the fan to ventilate the mine, is that it was found necessory to reduce the revolutions, the full capacity affording too strong a current of air. The loss to the New River Fuel Co., in damage to the mine will possibly go beyond the $30,000 mark.
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