The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1908-02-03

depopulation of the community SO far
as the male element was concerned
the breadwinners of the town. The
explosion made about 1000 children
fatherless. The president of the Con
solidated Coal company of Baltimore.
which owns the mines, will erect an
orphan asylum at Monongah for them
1t was only a few days before the
disaster at Monongah that an explo-
sion occurred in the Naomi mine of the
United Coal company. situated three
miles west of Fayette City, Pa, and
thirty miles from Pittsburg. 1t was
8 D. M. on Dec. 1 that those living IN
the vicinity of the mine heard the
sounds which told them news the
dread character Of which they appre-
sfated only too well. The miners at
work at the time were supposed to
have numbered fifty, and over thirty
cdarred bodies were taken out of the
mine. Less than twenty men were
left alive In the little village of Naomi.
Several of these had declined to work
that day because 1t was Sunday. 9th
els who had attempted to enter the
mine were turned back because they
were intoxicated.
The Naomi mine disaster furnished
an instance of the strange and sad
things that happen in connection With
such mining accidents. One Of the b.
reaved women at Naomi was Mrs.
John ID. Harry, who lost husband and
three ons in the explosion. The entire
mother country, England, and had
even engaged their steamship passage
About a week after the disaster OF
the Monongah mines an explosion took
place In mine No. / of the Yolande
Coal and Coke company. near Birmiug-
ham, Ala. The death list was placed at
seventy. On Dec. 10 a terrific explo-
sion shook the barr mines of the Pitts
burg Coal company at Jacobs Creek, on
the YOughiegheny river, eighteen miles
west Of Connellsville, Pa. announcing
to the surrounding community that
there had been a great CONFUSION Of
some kind beneath the surface,
The mouth of the mine was wrecked,
and this, in connection with the fire
which was discovered to be raging in
side, prevented for a time any attempt
to reach the men imprisoned within.
Some 400 men were employed In the
mine, and a large proportion Of them
persisted. On Dec. % fire broke out In
a mine at Baird Station, near Pitts
burg, and 100 men narrowly escaped
cremation,
The seriousness of the danger to coal
miners so impressed President Roose-
welt that he called special attention to
the matter In his last message to con-
gress, recommending the establishment
In the interior department OF a bureau
of mines. one of the functions Of which
should be the minimizing OF the dan
gers incident to the industry.
The investigation authorized by Sec
rotary Garfield Is still proceeding, but
a preliminary report has been made.
Some of the figures of this report are
startling. In the coal mines OF the
United States In 1906 6,S61 men were
niicu VI hJuituf Tue uuulDe hllleu
being 2,o61 and the number injured
4,S00. The statistics for 1907 are not
yet available, but 1t Is expected they
will be more startling than those for
the preceding year. The total number
killed since 1889, as shown In a table
compiled by the investigators. Is 90
$40, And the most painful feature of
1t is that the number of fatal accidents
Is increasing. There are twice as
many each year now as ten years ago.
This Is thought to be due In part to
the large increase In the production OF
coal, but the fact that in Europe they
do not have as many accidents as in
this country is suggestive. In Euro
pean coal producing countries the out
put Of coal has been increasing great
~ during the past ten years, but the
number of deaths per 1000 miners, in
stead Of increasing, as in the United
States, has undergone q marked de-
crease. The federal investigators at
tribute this to the effect of mining leg
islation and the establishment of safe
guards made possible through the work
Of testing stations for the study of
problems relative to safety In mining.