Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1920-08-20

jasper jackson,
Wash johnson.
The accidental explosion at Pound,
ing Mill last Friday morning at the
rock crushing plant of w. w. Box
ley and Company, by which nine men
lost their lives, has been the sole
topic of discussion in the west end
of the county for the past week
Thousands of people from different
sections Of the county and many
from West Virginia have visited the
scene of the tragedy since the ex-
plosion. Sunday the crowds were SO
large that guards had to be placed at
different points around the plant to
keep the curious away, and to pre-
vent further loss of life should any
Of the many uneXploded holes loaded
with L. N. Il. be accidentally put off
A representative of this newspaper
visited the scene Of tn accident Mon
day afternoon and got a close view
of the immense pile of limestone
rock that was accidentally blown off
the side Of the mountain, and which
caught the men working at the base
and crushed them to death. 1t will
likely never be known positively
what caused the blast to prematurely
explode.
Spark Caused Explosion" Says
! Asbury.
w. A. Asbury, Of Pounding Mill,
the powder man for the Pounding
Mill Quarry, and who is charged with
the responsibility of loading the nine
ty foot holes with the high eX-
plosives, was only few feet from
one of tn holes when the explosion
occurred. He stated to a representa-
tive of this paper that he had just
sounded the hole to find out the
amount of dynamite it contained, and
that the tape line showed sixteen
feet of space at the top, leaving a
charge of something like seventy odd
feet. 81 had Just pulled the tape
line up and was proceeding to the
next hole, when ! looked back, and
saw n spark go in the hole" said
Asbury. II screamed Il warning to
the men below, and suddenly the
ground rose under me and ] was
hurled several feet. When | came 10
myself ] found my helper, George
Brewster, unconscious on the ground.
! endeavored to aid him and it was
then / discovered that my arm was
broken" Asbury further stated that
there are thirteen similar uneXplod-
ed holes in the. vicinity, the closest
one fifteen feet and the others
stretched along on the top of the
cliff fifteen feet apart. He said he
had been loading for the quarry for
several years, that he was instructed
by an expert from the Dupont factory
and that it had been his custom to
continue the loading of the holes with
the high explosive while the large
force of men were working at the
base of the cliff, and that neither he
nor others in authority had ever sup
posed that spark from coal fire
could travel such a distance and still
retain sufficienet heat to set off the
charge.
The eXploson occurred at $40 Fri
day morning, a short time after the
men had reported for work. The
steam shovel, operated by the two
MCGEE brothers, and a colored help
er, was at work lifting the large
stones, and the crew were at work
in the usual manner getting the rock
ready for the crusher. Without warn
ing the terrific explosion occurred
and sent hundreds of tons of lime
stone rock down on the men, cover
ing them with thirty feet or more of
the heavy stones. The four white
men were at work near the steam
shovel, and the colored men were
scattered about in different parts of
the pit. The bodies of all of the men,
excepting one, have been recovered.
One colored mans body still remain
ed under the debris Wednesday. All
of the bodies were terribly mangled,
almost beyond recognition. Under
taker w. Z. Peery, of Tazewell, was
called to the scene Friday afternoon,
and prepared the bodies for burial.
1t is the custom of the Pounding
Mill Quarry to blow down sufficient
rock once annually to supply the
crushers, and the annual blast was
set for last Monday. Fifteen holes
eight inches in diameter had been
filled with the high explosive and lit
tie remained to be done for the an
nual blast. The holes were being seal
ed by w. A. Asbury, the powder man
The holes were drilled at the top OF
the ridge fifteen feet apart, and
about ninty feet deep, and each hole
was charged with over half ton Of
explosives. Only two of the holes
were accidentally discharged, the
other thirteen remaining in tact. w
W. Boxley G. Co., of Roanoke, opera
tors of the quarry, have had large
force of men at work at the quarry
since the explosion removing thu
rock and recovering the bodies. A
wrecking crew of the N. & w. ha.
been ut work all the week assisting
the quarrymen in getting the rock
cleared away. Mayor Boxley, of Roa
noke, was at Pounding Mill severa
days last week aiding in the care O