Belle Vernon, near Fayette City, Pennsylvania.
Sometime between 7:15pm – 7:30 pm, the Naomi mine explodes “with a roar that shook the whole countryside.”1
“The explosion was caused by gas being ignited by an open light or an electric spark or flame from the electric wires, and it was greatly augmented by coal dust.”4
Fires inside the mines immediately follow the explosion. The Sunday night shift is relatively small so it is believed some 30 – 60 miners are entombed underground where the fires steadily consume all breathable oxygen and replace it with toxic gases known as black damp.
“Within a few minutes hundreds of people surrounded the pit mouth. The screams were indescribable. Wives and children and friends of the men entombed wrung their hands and begged piteously for rescuing parties to enter the mines and bring out their loved ones. All night they refused to leave the pit mouth.”1
“After a brief examination of the conditions, the impression prevailed among the inspectors that no one would be found alive in the mine, as the after damp would in all probability have smothered those who were not burned by the gas or hurled to death against the sides of the mine by the force of the explosion. The miners, most of whom were foreigners, were at work almost a mile from any entrance.”4
“Only one man, an unknown foreigner, (out of 34 employees), reached the surface after the explosion occurred, and as he reached the open air he fell unconscious from inhaling the gas fumes and died in a few minutes.”4
In West Virginia:
Governor Dawson leaves for Washington D.C. to attend a meeting of rivers and harbors congress which will be in session for several days. (FWV 12.4.07 pg. 4)
Welcome to Bloody December.
1907 is considered the deadliest year of the mining industry in the United States.2 The month of December produced 5 separate major disasters and numerous accidents which cost the lives of over 800 men and boys, the majority of whom are minorities and immigrants.
This month will be the real catalyst to a decades-long fight to bring an end to negligent labor practices across the country. Bloody December is so horrific that the American public finally lets its government and its industries know that they have had enough. The devastating and very preventable loss of life sparks a heavy push for government regulation in private industry and labor practices.
More on How Death Gloated!
The Monongah Disaster 