Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1920-06-23
THREE KILLED IN
HAZEL GREEN MINE
SATURDAY DISASTER DUE
TO CAVE-IN.-2O OTHERS
RESCUED BY WORKERS.

Hazel Green, June 21-Three min
ers were killed, another seriously in.
Jured and score Of others narrow
~ escaped injury when hanging
wall in one Of the main shafts of the
Jefferson mine, near here, caved in al
about o'clock Saturday afternoon
The dead:
LEO KUHN, aged SO years, of Haz-
ell Green.
DELMAR RODGERS, aged q years
Of Hazel Green
BERNARD MURRAY, aged %
years, of Hazel Green.
The seriously injured miner is
Thomas Little, also of Hazel Green.
Bodies are Recovered.
The bodies of the three victims OF
the accident were removed from the
ruins of the shaft about an hour af-
ter the cavern occurred. The body OF
Bernard Murray was so badly multi
ated that recognition was almost inn
possible. The bodies of the other two
victims We're in fairly good condition.
Under Ten Tons Of Rock.
The men had been digging in a
stope and were getting ready to fire
a charge Of dynamite, when a mass
Of fully 10 tons of material, mostly
ore rock, fell from the side wall of
the pit a distance Of 80 feet and
caught them
The cause of the fall of rocks is con-
jectured as being the loosening of a
great boulder by repeated blasts of
dynamite. which is used in assisting
the ore-digging operations. However,
no blasting had been done immediate
ly before the accident. The place
where the men were working was be-
lieved to be safe against caving, as
the material is practically all rock.
Great Boulder LOOsened.
Part of the material that fell was a
great boulder The men had observed
that this showed signs Of loosening,
and had attempted to dislodge it as
a measure of safety, but this task had
not been accomplished when the acct
dent happened.
When the cavern occurred practic-
ally the entire force of the mine were
at their work. Shortly after o'clock
the workers in other parts of the
mine heard the crash as the hanging
wall, under which Kuhn, Rodgers,
Murray, Little and others were work
ing, collapsed The miners rushed to
help their fellow workers, but as soon
as they reached the shafts in which
the cavern occurred they found that
their work would probably be of lit
tie or no avail. The huge pile of tim
bers, rocks and earth which had caved
in and buried the men under it's
weight seemed a mountain to the res
cuers.
Little is Rescued.
Picks and shovels flew rapidly, the
men working at top speed and in re-
lays, and after a few minutes of
search their efforts were rewOrded by
the discovery of Little. He was pulled
out before he had been suffocated. He
was found to be badly injured and
was rushed to Hazel Green, after the
physicians, who had been summoned
to the scene of the accident, had
given him attention.
The miners, spurred on by the find
ing of Little, continued their efforts
but were at work over an hour be-
fore they came upon the bodies of the
three victims. In the meantime the
miners had accounted for all others
wiz WCIC WI III lllC OIldlI III
which the cavern had occurred and
it was found that they had escaped
injury.
Two Were Married.
All three victims had been resi-
dents of Hazel Green either for their
entire lives or for number of years.
They were among the most popular of
the younger element in Hazel Green
and in surrounding towns. Leo Kuhn
and Bernard Murray, two of the vic
TINS, were married.
The mine is situated between Hazel
Green and Benton and is owned by
the Vinegar Hill Mining company. A
month ago a miner named Dickinson
lost his life in a cave-in at the same
mine.