Remembering the Past - The Mammoth Mine Disaster 116 Killed

[bleedingheart]

I mourn for those men killed in West Virginia, and I pray that people do not keep forgetting because we seem to keep repeating these awful scenarios over and over again...



Over 100 years ago on January 27, 1891, 116 Miners were killed in the Mammoth Mine owned and operated by famous Robber Baron Henry Clay Frick. (between the two web links below you will find that initially it was thought to be 107 miners but it was in reality 116 mines killed.

http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.com/mammoth.html

They too were killed in an explosion and in the "afterdamp" (carbon monoxide).

Most of those killed were of Eastern European extraction and many were faced with either starving or working in unsafe mines.

And...the State inspectors found in favor of the Company....so they had no obligation to the survivors...

"State mining inspectors declared that the H.C. Frick Coke Company was not at fault in the Mammoth Mine disaster, as was usually the case, claiming that the mine had been adequately ventilated, but that a sudden concentration of gas in one part of the shaft entry mine sparked the explosion. One mine inspector testified that while a number of miners appeared to have been killed by the force of the explosion, "a great majority of the bodies showed clearly that they died from the effects of after-damp." The Pennsylvania State Mine Inspectors, as they usually did after most mining disasters, sided with the coal company in declaring the company "not-at-fault." "

http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.com/mammoth1.html


Then there were the 7 MINERS who were KILLED by either the Sheriff's people or the Pinkertons that Frick hired...

"On the night of April 2, 1891, about 450 miners marched on the Morewood Mine near Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, and were met by armed deputies who fired on the crowd, killing seven strikers and wounding several others. When Frick learned of the events, he passed on the telegram to another mine owner with a note that reveals in powerful fashion the ruthless, icy businessman he was: "I have no further particulars. This will likely have a good effect on the riotous element up there."

http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.com/morewood.html

[spinbaby]

1. Farmington Number 9

In 1968, 78 miners died at the Number 9 mine in Farmington, WV. 19 bodies are still down there. My husband went down into that mine by himself at night in 1980 to check for gas levels. He describes it as the most eerie thing he's ever experienced to be down there by himself knowing there were bodies somewhere and smelling the burnt odor left from the mine fire.

The Farmington mine explosion led to the passage of the 1969 Coal Mine Safety and Health Act which strengthened safety standards, increased Federal mine inspections, and gave coal miners specific safety and health rights. Today, I'd suppose they'd just tell the miners that they knew it was a dangerous job going in.

[bleedingheart]

5. that had to have been awful for your husband to do that...

my one cousin was a mine inspector and had to go into that copper mine that had an explosion/cave-in years ago...that experience unsettled him for years.

[spinbaby]

7. He still loves mining, though

It must be in his blood. But I'm glad he's not working for Consol anymore.

[Zookeeper]

2. Do you happen to know if the miners in the current incident....

were unionized? After reading about the constant safety violations by the mining company, I suspect there is either no union or a very weak one.

[tech3149]

4. This was a non-union mine

ICG bought it out when the previous owners went bankrupt. They even bragged in financial statement to investors that the purchase was non-union and held no "legacy" liabilities (you know,like pensions). Screw em' and their trust funds!

[tech3149]

3. Thanks for reminding us

My Grandpa was foreman at the United #1 mine from 1918 till they closed it. He was a thorn in Frick's ass, but still gave his all to the company. God bless the working man and let the magnates clean their own toilets.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. Blind Alfred Reed

sand a song about a coal mining disaster in the Fairmount Mines. It is a moving piece, recorded in the 20's.
This song title, with its special spelling of Fairmount, points back to one of the greatest industrial holocausts in the United States, the Monongah (Marion County, West Virginia) disaster of December 6, 1907. It took place in the Fairmont Coal Company's mines; the official death count was 362 men and boys, largely Italian and Polish immigrants. Few miners survived the cyclonic underground blast. Investigator's attributed the carnage to gas ignited by open lights or to coal dust ignited by electric arcs.

Lyrics-------

One bright morning, the miner just about to leave,
Heard his dear child screaming in all fright.
He went to her bed, then she looked up and said:
"I have had such a dream, turn on the light."

CHORUS:
"Daddy, please don't go down in that hole today,
For my dreams do come true some time, you know.
Oh, don't leave me, daddy, please don't go away,
Something bad sure will happen, do not go."
"Oh, I dreamed that the mines were burning out with fire,
Every man was fighting for his life.
And some had companions and they prayed out loud,
'Oh God, please protect my darling wife,'"

Then her daddy bent down and kissed her dear sweet face,
Turned again to travel on his way,
But she threw her small arms around her daddy's neck,
She kissed him again, and he heard her say:

Then the miner was touched, and said he would not go;
"Hush, my child, I'm with you, do not cry."
There came an explosion and two-hundred men
Were shut in the mines and left to die.