M.A. Kendal, who has been in the city for several days assisting in the work of burying the victims of the mine disaster, has returned to his home at Elkins. (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
In Fairmont:
Extended family is beginning to take custody of some of the children in Monongah. “Winnie F Donlin is appointed guardian of William R Donlin, aged 15 years, and Nora Donlin, aged 9 years, infant heirs of Thomas Donlin, deceased. Bond given in the sum of $1,000 with John O’Day as surety. Willie F Donlin appointed administrator of the personal estate of Thos. Donlin, deceased. Bond given in the sum of $2,000 with Jon O’Day as surety.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
The Jenny Wren Club meets at Geneviene and Maria Haymond’s home at Shady Side. “The members are busy making Christmas gifts for the little orphans at Monongah…” (FWV 12.16.07 pg. 5)
“A number of Fairmont women who had been assisting in the Commissary at Monongah for the past week feel that the work of several colored men at the commissary was deserving of mention. They were Robert Robinson, Thomas Kelley and Daniel Harris. These men did excellent work and remained at the post until their services were no longer needed.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
Of all the reports of “newsmen” in and about Monongah, Dorothy Dale (correspondent for the United Press) has reported some of the most intimate accounts about the children of Monongah as well as some of the most condemning articles against the coal company. After visiting with several of the “little mothers” in Monongah, like Faustina Davia, she and her photographer work less and less on reporting these events to the world and become more focused and active in the local relief work.
During the afternoon, she and her photographer, L. Van Oeyen, turn over $2,800.00 in donations to J.E. Sands. “Miss Dale has been here for several days and realizes the needs of the families at Monongah.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 1)
In Monongah:
John Neary arrives from PA and offers aid in rescue work. (FWV 12.18.07 pg. 1)
“In addition…Miss Dale and Mr. Oeyen will this afternoon give toys and presents of different kinds to the children and mothers at Monongah. It is their purpose to look after the needs of the individuals and brighten as many homes as possible.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 1)
~3:00 pm
In Fairmont:
The consolidation of the Monongah Relief Committee and the General Relief Committee are put into effect at Mayor Arnett’s office in Fairmont. (FWV 12.16.07 pg. 1)
The committee is officially enlarged and a subscription committee is appointed. “The committee which now embraces all committees is to be known as the Monongah Mines Relief Committee.” (FWV 12.16.07 pg. 1)
In Monongah:
FWV 12.14.07 pg 1
R.T. Cunningham has finished checking the community census and “the number of miners missing is 344”. (FWV 12.14.07 pg.1)
~3:30 (Press Time)
In Fairmont:
300 funerals have been handled by 3 establishments in one week. “A feature…about which not very much has been said has been the hard work of the local undertakers in burying the dead.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
“As soon as it was learned that a large number of people had lost their lives in the explosion Mr. C.W. Watson…called in the local undertakers and asked them to take charge of the work of caring for the dead.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
“The Jenkins establishment in the First Ward was given 20 funerals and the remainder was divided equally among three on this side, E. Musgrave & Sons, R.C. Jones and R.L. Cunningham.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
“Up to date 322 bodies have been buried, so that each of the three have had approximately 100 funerals.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
“The local firms employed some assistants and one of the undertakers today said that probably about 30 men had been engaged in burying the dead.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
“Only those connected with this work realize what a strain this has been and how much anxiety it has caused. The work has been done well and the local undertakers are deserving much credit for their faithfulness during this trying period.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 8)
In Monongah:
J.H. McDermott publishes a statement:
“I have myself made a careful inspection at Monongah, going there immediately after the disaster. The information I received there first hand will, I believe, enable me to handle intelligently any phase that may develop before legislature.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 5)
“I was much amused by the newspaper correspondents dubbing me lieutenant governor, an office which we do not have in this state, though the president of the senate performs much the same duties. I did not go to Monongah as the special representative of the governor as has been inferred by many but asked the governor myself for authority to make the inspection which he granted.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 5)
“The inspection I made for my own knowledge, though incidentally I made a sort of informal report to Governor Dawson which will not be made public unless he gives it out.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 5)
“In my report to the governor I suggested to him the necessity for the founding of a school of mining in this State. Not a small affair, but one upon a large scale upon which there should be no lack of money lavished. This school could be maintained through a special tax or revenue from the coal interests which I believe these interests would find in the results profitable to pay.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 5)
“At the last session of the legislature I asked for a hundred thousand dollars for the purpose, but I failed. In the light of recent events, I believe the legislature will see the light and this should be one of the important matters before the body.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 5)
“I was down in the mine and believe from my personal observation that the cause of the explosion may be traced to the runaway trip…this I believe created a current behind it that sucked in coal dust and other explosives and when the trolley wire broke it ignited the mass. This explosion, I believe, traveled on in the direction the trip was going and continued through the connection into No. 8, passed along it and finally emerged from the mouth of that mine.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 5)
“It gathered force as it progressed, I believe. That is only my opinion but it seems to be borne out by the condition of the bodies recovered. The report of the mine inspector will, however, be the official report to the governor.” (FWV 12.14.07 pg. 5)
“No accident in the entire history of coal mining in America compares with this holocaust. It would be hard to picture a more complete scene of sorrow and desolation than that about the pit mouth. Everywhere are the blown and broken timbers, everywhere the blackened wreckage, showing the fearful force of the explosion. And over the wailing, desolate women and the gaunt, hard featured men working about the ruins, the black smoke hangs like a pall.” (TLA 12.12.07 pg. 1)
~Noon
“Governor Dawson today announced that he will personally attend the inquiry…” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
“Two hundred and eighty-five bodies were recovered at noon from the Monongah mines and twenty-five more were ready to be brought to the surface.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
“Up to noon today 285 bodies had been recovered from the Monongah mines. They are being brought out more rapidly now and many more will have been recovered by night.” (ES 12.12.07 pg. 2)
“More than 400 bodies, it is expected, will have been recovered by Saturday night, by which time the rescuers hope to have found every body.” (ES 12.12.07 pg. 2)
2:22 pm
In Monongah:
The body of Timothy Lyden was taken from the morgue “to his home at Monongah to remain three hours and at 2:22 this afternoon accompanied by relatives and friends it was shipped to [Clarksburg] for burial.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 4)
“Mr. Lyden’s body will be at the home of his mother, Mrs. Ellen Lyden, on Jackson street tonight and until 10 o’clock tomorrow morning, when it will be taken to the Catholic church where funeral services will be held and interment will be in Holy Cross cemetery.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 4)
During the Afternoon
In Pittsburgh:
“Officials of the coal company were in Pittsburgh this afternoon, conferring with those familiar with hospital maintenance, and it is understood that $50,000 will be spent by the coal company in erecting a suitable orphan asylum building. After it is finished, the children will be taken care of and educated. It is understood that certain wealthy men have expressed a desire to assist in endowing such an asylum, making it permanent for use of orphans of those who lose their lives in the mines of the company.” (WH 12.13.07 pg. 1)
“A woman’s sympathetic heart coupled with her ability to accomplish her purposes has solved the distressing problem of the thousand children who have been made orphans by the mine explosion at Monongah, in which several hundred lives went out. The woman is Mrs. Clarence W. Watson [Minnie Owings Watson], wife of the president of the Fairmont Coal Company which owns the property in which the calamity happened. She is a social leader in Baltimore and New York, but since the explosion she has demonstrated that she can be notable for other things besides driving fine horses for prizes in show rings and planning cotillons. Acting on Mrs. Watson’s suggestion her husband came to Pittsburg today to make contracts for the erection of a $50,000 asylum for the homeless little ones at Monongah. Mr. Watson said that it was the one practical suggestion which had come to him or any of the members of the Fairmont Company.” (RP 12.14.07 pg. 4)
“Mrs. Watson took a prominent part at this season’s horse show in New York. She was a prize winner, carrying off ribbons with her famous Lord Baltimore and My Maryland. Lord Baltimore is considered one of the finest harness horses in America. Mrs. Watson and her millionaire husband carried off several prizes with them in the international show in London.” (RP 12.14.07 pg. 4)
“Bishop Donoghue, of the Wheeling district has been at Monongah leading in the relief work, and Mrs. Watson has been, perhaps, his most able assistant.” (RP 12.14.07 pg. 4)
“The day of the explosion Mrs. Watson hurried to Monongah with her husband. She plunged into the work of relief with her heart open for the suffering and destitute. In a few hours she was recognized as good spirit of the place. Wherever she goes in the stricken town she carried light with her.” (RP 12.14.07 pg. 4)
“It was the children who made a special plea to her sympathy. Their helplessness, their absolute dependence overwhelmed her. After the first couple of days she went to her husband and demanded that he do something. He was at a loss and asked her for her suggestions. She said that the one thing for him and his company to do was build and asylum for the little ones.” (RP 12.14.07 pg. 4)
“How to care for the children of the explosion victims has been and will be a problem until Mrs. Watson’s home for them is built.” (RP 12.14.07 pg. 4)
In Fairmont:
“The body of Charles Wise of Fairmont, one of the best known men, was…brought here for interment this afternoon.” (ES 12.12.07 pg. 2)
Frank A. Wilmot and George A. Campsey from the Carnegie Hero Commission arrive in Fairmont. “After looking over the ground a while Mr. Wilmot decided to go to the Fairmont Coal Company offices at Monongah and make known his mission. Before going, however, he met Col. A.H Fleming of Fairmont whom he knew personally…” (FWV 12.23.07 pg. 1 – extra)
Mr. Harry H Stock, E.M. editor of “Mines and Minerals” of Scranton PA is visitor in the city. He procured copies of the West Virginian for every day since the mine disaster. (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 5)
In Monongah:
“The ladies of the relief corps are continuing their noble work and much food is being dispensed to the workers. Soups, meats, sandwiches, vegetables pie and coffee constitute the mean which is served night and day in a little building near the company office. Hundreds are thus fed every day.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
C.W. Watson will not give a statement about the number of victims to the press until the “total number of miners is known…census of miners had not yet been completed. Three or four miners lived in the country and their families would have to be seen before the statement could be made. Mr. Watson said that the number would be between 328 and 334.” (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1) (FWV 12.13.07 pg. 1)
He provides this statement instead:
“The work of removing bodies from the mines progressed very rapidly today and at the rate that the dead are brought out now the search work will be completed sooner than it was thought. The work in mine No 6 is practically done. The searchers have explored all the rooms of that mine.” (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
Rumors of epidemic begin to surface and are attributed to the many maimed and decomposing bodies and carcasses about the town and still inside the mines. (McAteer) (News)
Mr. Fleming and Wilmot arrive in Monongah and go to the office where Wilmot is introduced to General Manager Lee. L Malone. “Mr. Malone at once placed the records of the company relative to the census of miners being taken at Mr. Wilmot’s disposal and after verifying the newspaper reports he hunted Mayor Moore to take some active steps for relief work.”
“Mr. Wilmot found Mayor Moore surrounded by a crowd of about 50 people engaged in relief work, but he gave Mr. Wilmot a hearing and very kindly consented to do whatever was thought best in the matter of organizing the committees.” (FWV 12.23.07 pg. 1 & 4 – extra)
At the mines:
The removal of livestock begins.
Marion County Board of Health issues a 2nd order: “…imminent danger of epidemic of disease breaking out…scores of men working in recovering dead are prostrated…so urgent…all of the streets of Monongah were heavily sprinkled with lime…odors emanating…unbearable.” (McAteer)
At #8:
1st full search is completed in #8 and a second search immediately begins. (McAteer) (Inquiry)
“Patrick Louchney’s remains were found in mines No. 8 and taken to the morgue this afternoon. His body was terribly mangled and mutilated. It will be taken to Clarksburg for burial.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
~3:30 pm
CDT 12.12.07 pg 1
“A great many bodies remain unidentified as yet and probably most of these will never be identified or claimed by relatives. The number of the unidentified reached fully sixty so far and doubtless many of those yet to be recovered will be in the same class.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
~4:00 pm
In Fairmont:
The 24 members and 2 guests of the Ladies Aid Society of the Diamond Street M.E. Church complete “40 pieces of clothing” and enjoy a dinner “for the small sum of $.15”, the proceeds intended to go to the relief fund. (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 2) (FWV 12.13.07 pg. 2)
~4:30 pm
In Wheeling:
The Wheeling Board of Trade holds special meeting of directors about the Monongah relief fund. Labor Commissioner I.V. Barton (who went to Monongah shortly after the disaster and stated he would bring a report of conditions to Board of Trade) “spoke at some length”.
“There are, Mr. Barton stated, from a thousand to twelve hundred orphans and at least 350 widows it has been estimated. The children have been born since the disaster and there are 60 expectant mothers among the widows. The Fairmont Coal Co. and the local relief committees are doing nobly, and are caring for the situation.” Mr. Barton stated that if the Board of Trade was to contribute, now is the time to do it. “The aid is not necessary now but in the future relief will be needed.”
The Board of Trade contributes $1,000.00 to the relief fund. (FWV 12.13.07 pg. 1)
In Monongah:
In the earliest days after the disaster, various relief committees were formed by well-meaning individuals and groups but there is no representation for the immigrants and their various nationalities among them. Bishop Donahue was added to the initial general relief committee when he pointed out a lack of representation for the Italian and Polish-Slavic Catholic churches and the committee expanded to incorporate immigrant representation. (McAteer) (News)
Manager/Secretary of Carnegie Hero Fund Commission Frank M Wilmot combines the majority of these relief committees into one: the Monongah Mine Relief Committee. (McAteer)
The Carnegie Hero Fund donates $35,000 to this relief committee and takes charge of the organizing. (McAteer) (News)
Wilmot then has a meeting with Watson, Fleming, and other company officials to discuss their role in the relief efforts. Watson and Fleming are cautious about endorsing notion of public appeal for funds. They are concerned about the effect such an appeal would have politically, particularly on the general public. Wilmot convinces them the response would be well received. Following the meetings with Wilmot and others they soon became supportive of the relief committees and assigned “various employees in the offices of FCC & others to work nights, Sundays, and other extra time helping the Subscription Committee to address envelopes and send out appeals”. Eventually, officials of mine, like Cunningham, serve as members of committee. (McAteer)
The Union Relief Association Committee, made up entirely of women from Fairmont and surrounding areas, is the only one not included into the MMRC.
~5:00 pm
Cunningham sends Watson a list of names along with morgue numbers. Bossilo Pillelo and Petro Frediro are listed with a note: “Italians were in #8. Selecting place to work. Chief Paul found their order copy x of mine laws.” (McAteer)
Roy Yaeger, 28 year old engineer for Western Maryland railroad, detects an odor of gas in his home and starts to investigate. He quickly finds that a rubber hose has come loose from a stove and “just as he was in the act of turning the gas off the gas was ignited from an oil lamp in another part of the house and the explosion followed.” (FWV 12.13.07 pg. 2)
“Yaeger was ablaze in an instant and jumping out of a window he rushed up street, his clothes burning fiercely. Before he could be succored his clothes were all burned off and was a mass of charred flesh.” (FWV 12.13.07 pg. 2)
Yeager “met with a terrible death”. His wife and little child were severely burned and the home in where they lived was practically blown to pieces. (FWV 12.13.07 pg. 2)
~3:00 am
“The body of Timothy Lyden was found in mine No. 6 at Monongah at 3 o’clock this morning, taken to the morgue and prepared for burial.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 4)
“Relatives identified the body by his clothes and the back of his head. The body was well preserved but the face was badly mutilated.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 4)
“Mr. Lyden was 38 years of age and leaves a widow and five children. He was a brother of Patrick J., Michael and Margaret Lyden and Mrs. P.F. Tiernery.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 4)
~3:30 am
“Henry Martin’s body was found in mine No. 6 at Monongah at 3:30 o’clock this morning and identified by his brother, Patrick Martin, of this city. Mr. Martin has another brother here, too, Thomas Martin.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
“Mr. Martin was 42 years of age.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
“Mr. Martin leaves a wife and five children making his death particularly sad, as they were dependent upon him for support.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
“Accompanied by relatives and friends, the body will leave Monongah at 8:22 o’clock tomorrow morning for Clarksburg, and will be taken to the Catholic church, where at 10 o’clock funeral services will be held at the same time that the Timothy Lyden obsequies are held. It will be a double funeral at the church—all at the same mass. Interment will be in Holy Cross cemetery.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 1)
At some point during the early morning hours
The body of John T. McGraw, pitt boss at Monongah mine No. 8, “was recovered from the mine early Thursday morning”. (CDT 12.13.07 pg. 1)
~4:30 am
“The body of Charles Wise of Fairmont, one of the best known men, was recovered at 4:30 o’clock…” (ES 12.12.07 pg. 2)
Wise was personal surveyor for Senator J.N. Camden. He surveyed inside of mines to ensure Camden and others were properly paid by Consolidated Coal Company. (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
The 37 year old Chief Engineer “went into the ill-fated mine only a short time before the explosion.” (ES 12.12.07 pg. 2) (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
Despite early reports announcing that only his jack and shoes had been found, leading people to believe Charles had been “blown to atoms”: “The body was in a good state of preservation and easily recognized. Besides in his pockets were his B&O mileage book, street car book, watch, ring and pipe, which were means to identify him.” (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
Wise was found in #6 near the main heading, in a sitting position ½ mile away from his jacket. He had wrapped his waistcoat around his head indicating that he had survived the explosion and attempted to find his way out but got lost in the darkness and was eventually overcome by afterdamp. (FWV 12.12.07 pg.1)
Charles becomes body #258 to pass through the morgue. (Amos)
He leaves a widow, Pearl Reed Wise, and 2 sons: Thomas Reuben, 2 years, and Lorin Turney, 2 months old. (McAteer) (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
~6:00
In Fairmont:
All mines in the Fairmont Coal Field are up and running to almost full capacity except those in Monongah. (FWV 12.11.07 pg.1)
The Fairmont West Virginian reports the weather as: Partly cloudy tonight and Friday, nearly stationary temperature (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
In Monongah:
The remains of Charles D. Wise are taken to Musgrave’s undertaking parlors “just as they were taken from the mine” on 6:15 street car. (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
At the mines:
“Officials…feel hopeful that the large force of rescuers, entering the mines at Monongah this morning will be the last necessary to send into the workings to recover the bodies…” (ES 12.12.07 pg. 2)
~8:00 am
In Clarksburg:
“The body of Thomas Killeen was brought here Thursday morning from the Monongah mine horror. The funeral was held in the Catholic church and burial in Holy Cross Cemetery.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 5)
In Fairmont:
Tom Donlin’s funeral is held at St. Peter’s Catholic church under the direction of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Services are largely attended by friends and relatives following with interment at Holy Cross cemetery. Pallbearers were: Messrs. M.J. O’Neil, Anthony McDonough, John Kelley, John D Barry, Michael Ford and Jas. Erwin. (FWV 12/12/07 pg. 5)
In Monongah:
Women and children are still standing guard by the morgue.
At the mines:
Ventilation is restored to 8 miles of room headings, 550 rooms have been explored and tracks in 5.5 miles of main headings are cleaned up enough to allow hauling of bodies and materials. (McAteer)
1st full search completed in #6. The search parties have explored all the rooms of the mine and 20 searchers transfer from No 6 to No 8. “…the work in No 8 will be practically completed tonight when all the men will have been removed except those under falls.” (McAteer) (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
The bodies taken out this morning are in “pretty good condition” so as George Gibbon, who has been able to identify most of the miners, was very successful. (FWV 12.11.07 pg.1) (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
Among them is body #287—Ellis V. Herndon, this author’s great-great grandfather. Ellis’s son, Ira Herndon, was unable to go to work Friday morning due to his wet boots, and has had no need to take part in the rescue efforts as “they had other people who did that”. Ira is able to stay with his family throughout the whole ordeal and mourn their elder. Ellis was found in excellent condition and buried in the cemetery “on the back of Tower Hill, in the hollow.” (Loss)
The mass grave donated earlier this week due to inclement weather is by the Catholic cemetery. However, the original potter’s field, which was used and became full within the first few days after the disaster, is currently unknown/lost. This author has quite the theory as to its potential location and this will be discussed later in an “Issues” post.
~9:00 am
In Belle Vernon, PA:
Coroner Hagan commences the official inquiry into the December 1st Naomi mine explosion. A number of officials testified and it was heavily discussed whether or not electricity should be used in mines.
In Fairmont:
Ladies Aid Society of the Diamond Street M.E. Church meets at the home of Mrs. Priscilla Merrifield on Wilson St. between 9am-4pm. 24 members and 2 visitors spend the day “sewing or doing any other work that may be done for the Monongah sufferers. Clothing or anything which will be donated for the cause will be gladly received by the ladies.” (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 2) (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 2)
“A Pittsburgh man said this morning that he was surprised at the small contributions being sent in for the Monongah relief fund. He thought the big cities were taking too little interest in the matter and that the papers ought to take the question up with a view to creating a larger fund. He thinks there ought to be a fund of at least $200,000 to properly care for 300 widows and 1,000 orphans.” (FWV 12.12.07 pg. )
In Monongah:
2 men try the same trick from day before of posing as workmen to get food and goods. They are caught, arrested, and put in the Monongah jail. (FWV 12.11.07 pg.1)
“About 100 men are digging graves for the dead and as fast as the bodies are prepared and identified they are taken to the cemeteries or shipped to the places designated by friends.” (FWV 12.11.07 pg.1)
Messrs. S.E. Jenkins and J.A.C. Prickett, representatives of the Setting Sun Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men, accompanied the body of one of the Monongah victims to the home at Connellsville, PA. (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 2)
~10:00 am
“Two hundred and eighty-five bodies were recovered at 10 o’clock today, and 25 more were ready for removal to the surface.” (LET 12.12.07 pg. 1)
~11:00 am
In Pittsburgh, PA:
“C.W. Watson…will, in the name of his wife, erect an orphan asylum at Monongah in which will be cared for and educated the children of the men who lost their lives in the disaster. Today representatives of Mr. Watson visited this city, where they inspected various orphan asylums, and announced that work on the new asylum at Monongah will be started at once.” (NYTb 12.13.07 pg. 5)
In Charleston, WV:
“President Craigo called at the office of the Mail, where a relief fund is being collected and was advised that it would be better to have the contribution from the Wellston miners sent direct from that point to Mayor Moore, at Monongah, rather than have it come to Charleston and then be remitted from here to Monongah. Mr. Craigo adopted the suggestion and wired the convention to the that effect.” (TA 12.12.07 pg. 1)
In Monongah:
“R.H. Spahr went to Monongah this morning and spent a few hours viewing the mine horror.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 8)
“At 11 0’clock this morning 256 bodies have been waiting for transportation. It is estimated that there are still 145 bodies in the mines. Eighty-five bodies are unidentified. The greater number of these have already been buried.” (WT 12.12.07 pg. 3)
“This is the day of ‘little mothers’ in Monongah. The little girls tend the babies, wait on the sick and get what bits of food there are.” (NCH 12.10.07 pg. 1)
~7:30 am
The Fairmont West Virginian predicts even more rain for today and tonight, followed by snow and slightly cooler weather (12.10.07 pg. 1)
“It has been raining here steadily since last evening and wretched conditions prevail throughout this section today.” (WED 12.10.07 pg. 1) (ES 12.10.07 pg. 1)
At the mines:
“The stench from decomposed bodies in the mines is becoming almost unbearable to rescuers. The stench is made worse because thirty-six horses were also killed in the mines.” (GWA 12.12.07 pg. 7)
“Many rescuers have become sick. One hundred and fifty miners from the mines in George Creek district have been summoned here to assist in the rescue work.” (GWA 12.12.07 pg. 7)
“The health officers fear an epidemic of fever, due to the decaying bodies of the men and the animals caught in the mine, and have prepared to enforce heroic measures if it becomes necessary. Quicklime will be taken into the mine and scattered over the bodies if conditions become much worse.” (ES 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“The crowds of idlers who surged about the pit entrances…have been dwindling ever since the rainstorm last night…” (AR pg. 1) (LAH 12.11.07 pg. 2) (SFC 12.11.07 pg. 1)
“The mud at the opening of the mines is several inches deep and has been trodden by the great crowds into a perfect quagmire, through which the men with the stretchers have to carry the dead. In conveying one of the recovered bodies down to the railroad tracks this morning a stretcher bearer slipped and the inanimate burden, which was wrapped in a blanket, was thrown into the mud. The sight of it gave the crowd a convulsion.” (RP 12.10.07 pg. 1)
At the morgues:
“Bodies brought from mines Nos 6 and 8 …during last night carried the list of victims beyond the hundred mark, and others are being carried into the morgue in intervals.” (WED 12.10.07 pg. 1)
2 men taken out this morning had some money on them: #101 – Salvadore Lobbs had $150 in a belt strapped around his leg and #110 – Andy Morris had $23.19 in his pocket-book. This brings the total amount of money found on the miners to $200.19. Money is in the hands of the coroner as are all other things that are found. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
In Fairmont:
J.E. Sands, cashier of First National Bank, receives a check for $500.00 from the City Bank of Wheeling and a check for $100.00 from the Second National Bank of Cumberland, MD and $100 through Mr. Zack Robertson from a friend in Wheeling. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
In Grafton:
Floyd Parsons “came up from Fairmont” and gives the Grafton Republican newspaper his statement “concerning the horror…”. Floyd was employed as chief engineer in the mines that exploded at Rush Run some months ago and in which he narrowly escaped death. Later he entered into special examinations of mine disasters for the journal he now represents. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 2)
~8:00 am
“Carrying out orders from officials of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, a force of between forty and fifty trackmen that have been working on the railroad between this city and Parkersburg, left Clarksburg Tuesday morning on the interurban trolley line for Monongah to assist in digging graves for the dead that are taken from Monongah mines Nos 6 and 8. The men took picks, shovels and other tools with them and as soon as they arrived at Monongah they proceeded to the cemeteries and began work digging graves. The men were called to this city from various points along the railroad between Parkersburg and this city where they had been working.” (CDT 12.10.07 pg. 1)
In Monongah:
Milroy “Toy” Watkins is taken from Monongah to Montana for burial. The brother of Will Watkins, “…hearing that his brother was in No 6 mine went to work to help find him and he did not give up until he had found him and recognized him by a pair of black patent leather shoes and a black sateen shirt.” (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 2)
The Marion County Board of Health issues an order to advance the burial procedures. Viewing and ID opportunities for families and friends are limited to 4 hours maximum, no matter the condition of the body. The new accelerated ID and burial process cause many burials to occur immediately, without funeral masses. Catholic parishes hold whatever services they can at graveyards. (McAteer)
~9:00 am
On the far east side of Fairmont:
“Impressive were the services conducted by Rev. Hess” for Toy Watkins which takes place at the United Brethren church at Montana. He was the son of Mr. Willis Watkins and was a grandson of Mr. and Mrs. John Freeman, “an aged and respected couple residing at Montana and was related to many people living in and around Hoult and Montana.” Toy is survived by “4 brothers and 2 sisters; his mother having died about one year ago.” He is also survived by wife, Gettie Hyson Watkins, of Simpson, “who is very poorly in Cook Hospital, she being almost prostrated by the awful shock and untimely end of her husband.” (FWV 12.11.07 pg. 2)
In Monongah:
“Shock and grief have already destroyed many of the little unborn lives. Many women are so distraught with suffering that they forget all about their children.” (NCH 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Funeral after funeral is being held at the churches in Monongah. The funeral cars are on the move most of the time. The unknown dead are being buried in the potter’s field near the Polish Catholic church.” (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
Over 70 bodies are interred throughout the day. Some of them get funerals at the church, particularly those who could be preserved, but due to the condition of so many of the bodies brought out in the past hours, more frequently they are simply taken to one of the cemeteries. If identified, a small prayer is said; if not they are just buried. (McAteer) (news)
“The relief work is well under way and will soon be systemized. There is now plenty of food but there is urgent need of clothing in many families. Cash funds are being raised in many places and installments have already been forwarded from some points. The coal companies of this district have contributed $20,000 cash.” (WED 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Thirty-seven funerals were held Monday and a number today. One body was sent to the cemetery followed by one lone woman, the widow, who had stood for days at the mines waiting for it.” (GWA 12.12.07 pg. 7)
At the mines:
“Every day since the explosion, hands, legs and arms have been removed. The stench from the decomposed bodies in the mines is becoming almost unbearable. This is one of the greatest difficulties which the rescuers have to overcome.” (RP 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Up to nine o’clock this morning one hundred and one bodies have been removed from the Monongah mines, thirty-one having been taken out since midnight.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 1)
~10:00 am
In Clarksburg:
“Charles McKane, aged 28 years, one of the Monongah mine victims, was buried in Holy Cross cemetery here at 10 ‘clock Tuesday forenoon. McKain’s body was found in one of the rooms of No. 8 mine and was taken from the mine shortly after midnight. With others it was conveyed to the morgue at Monongah and prepared for burial. It was then sent to his late home in that town arriving there at 2:30 o’clock, and Tuesday morning it was brought up on the interurban and buried. Relatives and friends accompanied the body. Mr. McKain’s body was not mutilated. It is evident he smothered to death. He leaves a wife and one child.” (CDT 12.10.07 pg. 3)
“Mayor L.C. Crile announced Tuesday morning that all moneys received at the council chamber in response to his proclamation calling for donations for the relief of the Monongah mine suffered, would be turned over to the Telegram relief fund, and due credit will be given to each donor. The donations will be published in the Telegram daily. A list of all the donors who leave supplies, provisions, clothing, etc., at the mayor’s office for the Monongah mine sufferers will be published each evening in the Telegram also. Donations are coming in freely and they should continue so for there are many unfortunate women and children left in destitute circumstances by the awful disaster.” (CDT 12.10.07 pg. 1)
In Monongah:
“Quite a number of Bridgeport people today went to the scene of the great mine disaster at Monongah. Some went for the mere sake of seeing, while others went with the hope of getting tidings from relatives and friends who were employed at the ill-fated mines.” (CDT 12.10.07 pg. 7)
“There is no change in the demeanor of the people of the stricken town except that the gloom of sadness and sorrow deepens all the time. Funeral after funeral was held today, mostly at the Catholic cemeteries, where scenes are most sad. After loved ones have been identified at the morgue and prepared for burial, hundreds of women and children gather at the cemeteries on the hill instead of going to the churches and await the arrival of the dead.” (CDT 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Women were found today weak from pain, who are also suffering from lack of proper nourishment. Some of the Fairmont women have depleted their own stores of winter supply food in relieving the distress.” (RP 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Ever since the explosion the most heroic action has been displayed on all sides by the women who despite their great stress and suffering, clung to their children. From the start they realized that the little tots were to becomes a serious burden, but on all sides could be heard the same sentiment, they would rather die than give up their children.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Some of the widows have no relations in America, for many came to Monongah with their husbands from the old country. Others came as sweethearts, years ago, after the lovers had made enough money to send for them. And while their married lives began here, they apparently prefer, in their distress, the old homes far away.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“There are not many of the women who can now find any charms about Monongah, and although foreigners, most of them want to return to their native country, feeling that the few short years of the country of liberty has brought them nothing but grief and suffering.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 1)
Special correspondent for the United Press, Dorothy Dale, and her photographer are approached by “the brightest Italian girl in the settlement”, Faustina Davia (last name reported as “Daria”).
Faustina Davia
Faustina is the oldest child and only daughter of Victor and Catherina Davia (DaVia). Victor was a “day man” working in #6 at the time of the explosion and was recorded as the 15th body recovered from the mines and to go through the morgue. He was identified by George Gibbons at the Italian Catholic church in Monongah sometime on Monday, though it is generally known that none of the family got to actually view and confirm that the body which was buried in Row A Grave 9 of the Italian Catholic cemetery contained Victor’s actual remains. (Tropea) (News) (McAteer) (Loss) (Amos)
“’Please you get something for me, I can do.’ A little hand touched my arm. A curl-framed face of a girl of 10 looked into my face. ‘You know mans all dead. Boys all dead. Only girls left to work.’ Do you know the half apologetic half appealing look of the trembling old man who shoved out of his life’s track by younger men—the man who begs you to buy matches or shoestrings? Well, that was the expression in the old young eyes of little ten-year-old Faustina Daria. Faustina was in the sixth grade the day before the explosion. That is ages ago to her.” (NCH 12.10.07 pg. 1)
At the mines:
“With 112 bodies on the surface at 10 o’clock today, 25 more ready to be brought out of Mine No 6 and 4 awaiting removal from Mine No 8. It was expected that the total number of bodies recovered from the wrecked mines by noon would be 140.” (CDT 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“The rescuers are working the right side of mine No. 8, where, it is thought, a majority of the bodies yet in the mine will be found.” (ES 12.10.07 pg. 1) (RIA 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“The rescue work is being pushed and before night it is expected that most of the bodies will have been taken out.” (WED 12.10.07 pg. 1) (ES 12.10.07 pg. 1)
~11:00 am
In East Monongah:
The General Relief Committee holds a meeting at the First National bank, which is currently operating as the primary morgue, and passes an order that the receipts and disbursements of the committee be published in the Fairmont papers from day to day. (McAteer)
Bishop Donahue of Wheeling and Judge Mason are added to the General Relief Committee. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
Donahue has “visited many of the homes of miners and found so many children made orphans by the disaster that he immediately took up the work of providing homes for them. He will arrange to have as many as can be accommodated sent to the orphanages maintained by the church at Huntington and Wheeling.” (WED 12.10.07 pg. 1)
In West Monongah:
Faustina Davia has taken Dorothy Dale and her photographer to her family’s three-room house on Walnut Avenue.
“‘See my Ma, Resta, Kipling, Georda and Ojgenia to work for,’ as she pointed at the group on the steps. ‘My pa make $2 a day,’ she explained. ‘And wasn’t it awful; three days he was home with a hurt on his back, and Friday he went in again and—and—’. But even the brave lips of strong hearted women of ten sometimes give way. The little figure crouched against the wall and quivered with sobs. ‘You know we paid $5 rent and had lard and cheese and bologna,’ she said with pride. The child spoke as rich people spoke of automobiles and theatre parties. And there was little Faustinas in almost every house in Monongah.” (NCH 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“I tell you there is nothing that makes one’s heart go out more to that stricken people than the way tiny girls put their little shoulders to the burdens that their mothers can not bear.” (NCH 12.10.07 pg. 1)
Photo taken of the Davia family on the porch of their home.Photo of Davia family at Ellis Island. Catherina and her family is the focus of this author’s historic fiction, therefore, there will soon be areas of this site which will be dedicated solely to her story.
~11:30 am
“At eleven thirty, one hundred and thirteen bodies have been taken from the mine by rescuers. The bodies of those taken out since daylight are in good condition, and many were identified.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“It is beyond the human pen to describe the spectacle presented, when bodies are brought up from the bowels of the earth whither courageous men day in and day out were wont to toil for the support of their loved ones. Fathers, brothers, husbands and sons, are carried from the slope leading to the fatal regions of the earth. Their bodies are as black as the coal itself. The experienced eye of the undertaker cannot detect their color, whether white or black, until after the bodies have been washed. Even then the mutilation in some cases make it difficult.” (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 4)
~7:30 pm
At the mines:
“Rain began falling early in the evening and continued almost incessantly throughout the night.” (WED 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Last night they took out two bodies from No.8. Tonight, they will take out many more dead who have already been dug out of the wreckage and are lying along the catacombs ready for removal.” (RP 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“When darkness came tonight a total of sixty-six bodies had been brought to the surface from the two wrecked mines at Monongah.” (DASB 12.10.07 pg. 1) (LODD 12.13.07 pg. 3)
In Fairmont:
The Union Relief Association is formed by local women who were among the first responders to the disaster. Mrs. F. E. Nichols, President & Mrs. R. T. Webb, Secretary hold a meeting at M.P. Temple – “all ladies urged to be present.” “All women interested in the relief work are earnestly requested to be present. Committees will come prepared to report the progress made today.” (FWV 12.9.07 pg. 8)
Walter Zirkle is located safe and alive. He had been employed at the Gaston mines in Fairmont, not the Monongah mines. “The wish of his sister and mother were at once communicated to him and he has no doubt reached his home…” (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 2)
“Over $25,000 was added to the various relief funds during the day.” (BME 12.11.07 pg. 6)
In Monongah:
The General Relief Committee meets in Mayor Moore’s office. The first members are: Mayor Moore of Monongah; Mayor Arnett of Fairmont, chairman; Father Boutlou, Rev. J.C. Broomfield, Rev. H.G. Stoetzer; J.E. Sands, treasurer, and J.M. Jacobs, secretary. “Five responsible men will handle large gifts.” All checks will be payable to J.E. Sands, who will see that the funds are properly distributed. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
Paul Kellogg is talking with the children of a grieving family at their home. One of the oldest daughters tells him of the father they call “Pap” and brother, referred to as “George” who was a machine man:
“…and as we stood there on the door step, the sisters showed me his picture that of a clean cut young fellow, taken with his dog in a field. ‘Many’s the woman was dependent on each day’s wages,’ they said, –‘nothing at all ahead—and now that’s cut off. We’re not that way—not quite. Pap was all we had and he was getting’ old and couldn’t do so much. But George—soon as he’d get through cutting, he’d come help him load and so Pap’d make more. That was the way with George—5 girls, the only brother we had, and he that good to us! And such a good wife.’ One after another, the sisters broke in parts with the story. ‘Pap was singing the morning he left when he went to work—we heard him as far’s it carried. It was Nearer My God to Thee. That’s what he was singing. They worked 3 miles in—Pap and George—r-right under us. Two of the girls broke off there and ran into the house, and a third, who had come out and was combing her hair while we talked, gave it a savage twist that would have brought tears to her eyes if they hadn’t been there already. ‘Oh, we know we’ve got to give him up. We know he’s dead; but if we could only get his body out of the pit.” (Kellogg)
In the morgue:
George Gibbons is very successful in telling who victims are as they are brought in through the night. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
The first money found on any of the victims is found on the 69th body to be taken out, Dan Dominico Jr.* He had $27 on him when found. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
*The paper reports that this is “Dan Domico”. However, body #69 on the Coroner’s List is actually Dan Dominico Jr.—the son of the injured miner who was among the 4 men to escape through a toad hole the morning of the explosion. Despite being seriously injured, his father ran to the mouth of the mine after escaping and wanted to go back inside in an attempt to save his son. Dan Domico did not attend work on Friday and is, in fact, still alive.
At the mines:
“The rescue work, while slow, is progressing smoothly and as rapidly as due precaution for the rescuers would permit. It is believed that close to a hundred dead will be recovered by daylight tomorrow.” (News)
~8:00 pm
In Monongah:
Paul Kellogg visits the Italian Catholic priest, Father D’Andrea. Kellogg writes that, “it was raining heavily and a hearse was ploughing up through the mud when I reached the little Italian church…where last year alone he [D’Andrea] baptized 170 American born children.”
Kellogg describes D’Andrea as “a young, spare man with a quick smile on his dark face. His beard had gone 3 days without shaving and his eyes were hollow for sleep.” D’Andrea has been so consumed with his duties as a priest and to his brother’s family that he has had no time to personally grieve his brother.
“It was only one cry all day until now,” he said and turned his palms out and dropped his shoulders. Then in answer to the door, he directed a driver who for 2 hours had been searching for the right house, and was going back with the body. (Kellogg)
~10:00 pm
C.W. Watson issues statement:
At the mines:
“The heavy rainfall caused a veritable mortar of mud more than shoe top depth in many places through which the workers and the anxious watchers could make their way only with the greatest difficulty.” (WED 12.10.07 pg. 1)
The body of Charles McCain is finally reached. McCain was a well-known man of his city and had many friends here. Despite numerous early accounts of Charles being found “blown to bits”, his body was in good condition. There were no marks on it showing that he was a victim of the after damp. His remains were brought to his home. (FWV 12.10.07 pg.1)
~11:00 pm
At the mines:
“Heavy rain storms make the conditions around the mine worse than any time since the explosion. Only a few stragglers are now keeping the gruesome vigil.” (DASB 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Milder temperatures today resulted in a thaw which converted the soil near the entrance into a sticky, dirty mortar…now almost knee deep in places.” (SLH 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“It dispersed, however, a very large portion of the great, impatient surging crowd that from the first has hovered as near the entries as they could get, a constant handicap to the rescuing forces whose work they retarded.” (WED 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“The rain has also interrupted the makeshift telephone and telegraph communication between the mines this city and the outside world.” (AMJ 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Twelve bodies have been taken from the mines tonight, bringing the total number up to 11 p.m., seventy-eight.” (DASB 12.10.07 pg. 1) (CB 12.10.07 pf 1)
“At a late hour, …the officials of the company said they had reached a point where there were a great many bodies. From this time on the work of bringing out the dead will be done more rapidly.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 1)
At the morgue:
“The rapid recovery of the bodies is making lively work at the morgue and at a late hour…thirty-five more undertakers were telegraphed for besides the several who arrived early in the evening from Grafton and Fairmont. Spring wagons bringing the bodies from the traction station across the river, to which they are conveyed from the mine openings by an ambulance street car, are followed by throngs of men, women and children, who gather around the morgue and remain in the rain until the bodies are placed in the caskets and laid in state in the bank building for viewing and identification.” (CDT 12.10.07 pg. 1)
The utterness of that desolation seemed by sheer force of numbers to overshadow anything else she had to tell—the children of the McFeeleys, “all little ones and not a bite to eat yesterday and him home dead”—(in some cases the women were so broken as to be unable to prepare food for their children, even if they had it)… What the housewives said as they met on the narrow walks or rocked at each other’s door sills was after all close to the pith of the matter…The Italian mother, “where I got the peppers,” with no money and no English and “2 little bits of children”…The Slavish wife who “tore blood out of her face”…The two crazed women on the hill who, rumor had it, had to be tied down to their beds…The young widow of the English machine man who lived just over No 8 mine, “who tore out her beautiful yellow hair in grabs,”… (Kellogg)
~12:00 pm
At the mines:
“Fire which caused a suspension of rescue work yesterday and early today in Mine No. 8 was extinguished, it was said, at noon today.” (News)
At noon the body of Mike Cosic was taken out of Mine No. 8. (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“No identification has been made of the eight unknown men taken out Sunday.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“A pathetic incident of the day occurred at Mine No. 6. A foreign woman whose husband had been killed stood near the mine all day with a half dozen carnations in her hand. The little floral tribute was wrapped with white ribbons. Shortly after noon her husband’s body was recovered in such condition that burial was necessary at once. She followed the wagon to the temporary morgue where the body was placed in a box, and then to the cemetery near by.” (NYTb 12.10.07 pg. 14)
In Monongah:
C.W. Watson gives the following statement:
FWV 12.9.07 pg 1
“Senator J.A. McDermott, of Morgantown, president of the State senate, who was requested by Governor W.M.O Dawson to go to the scene of the mine horror, gave the Telegram representative the following statement at noon today:
‘I consider that the resolution passed by the legislature gives the mine investigating committee the power to investigate all mine horrors that occur during the existence of the committee. The coal company wants a most thorough investigation by that committee or by any other committee. I have been at both mines and looked over the whole situation. I notice a fine organization and a systematic plan of rescue work and everything possible is being done promptly. The number in the mines as given out is considerably overestimated. I am here for no special purpose but it is possible that this disaster might come before the legislature or come up in some other way and therefore desired to be personally informed.’” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“There has been no change in the situation at Monongah today except that it is very probable that the death list is not so large as was first thought. According to a telegram sent to the Governor by Watson the dead number almost a hundred fewer than given out.” (FWV 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“When the explosion occurred the town officials ordered the saloons closed…there is no drinking and among the thousands of people who have flocked to Monongah to witness the grave disaster not one disorderly act has been committed…” (FWV 12.9.07 – pg. 7)
Fairmont West Virginian puts out an extra Noon paper. Bill Sloane is no longer included on the list of the dead.
Chief of Police Shumaker received letter asking him for assistance to locate Walter Zirkle. (FWV.12.10.07 pg. 2)
~2:00 pm
CET 12.10.07 pg 6
“The funeral of Mr. John Herman…whose remains were brought to Eckhart Mine for interment took place on Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock from the Jr. O.U.A.M. hall, as the church to which the deceased belonged is undergoing repairs.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
“The services were conducted by Rev. Edwards, pastor of Methodist Episcopal church, who spoke in a very beautiful and touching manner of the deceased’s past and of his terrible end. At the conclusion of the services the remains were taken to the Allegany cemetery at this place, where they were laid to rest, attended by a large concourse of friends and relatives.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
“The deceased was about thirty-eight years of age and is survived by his wife and several children, also his mother and several brothers and sisters residing in this vicinity. The floral offerings were very beautiful.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
~2:30 pm
“Five more bodies were removed from the mines today, making the total 58 up to 2:30 o’clock.” (ETR 12.9.07 pg. 1)
During the Afternoon
“A foreigner who is employed at the Riverdale Mine, ten miles above Monongah, lost a brother and thirteen other relatives in the catastrophe, and he is left alone in this country. Today he came to the offices of the coal company and reported that he wanted to remain at the mines until the bodies were recovered. He asked whether he would get his job back at Riverdale should he stay away from it for several days. He was assured he would not lose his place and became happy in the fact that he could assist in finding the bodies of fourteen loved ones.” (NYTb 12.10.07 pg. 14)
In Monongah:
“General Manager L.L. Malone told the Telegram representative this afternoon that likely all of the bodies, with perhaps the exception of a few in the remote parts of the mines, will be brought out within two or three days.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
Fred Cooper’s funeral services held at the home of his uncle, Mr. Boggess, near Monongah. Rev. R.T. Webb of the M.E. Church South, pastor of the deceased, conducted the services, which were largely attended by friends of the deceased. Younger brother, Fay Cooper, also lost his life in the disaster but his body has not yet been found. Fred’s wife who survives him with one child has in the past 2 years lost 2 brothers, Fred Shingleton and an infant brother. Mr. Cooper’s mother, Mrs. Jerome Hobbs, who today mourns the loss of two sons, yesterday received announcement of the death of her husband, but today another message has corrected that statement. Mr. Hobbs is at Hot Springs, Arkansas, on account of rheumatism. (FWV 12.9.07 pg. ?)
“Considerable excitement was caused late this afternoon when rumors were current that a second explosion had occurred in the mines. An investigation made immediately by the company showed the reports had reached this vicinity from the East. There was absolutely no truth in the statement, and it was not necessary for the company to deny the report in this section.” (NYTb 12.10.07 pg. 14)
In Clarksburg:
“The Richard Farmer, whose body was taken out of Mine No. 8, is a cousin of Policeman Farmer, of Clarksburg. His body was buried here this afternoon.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
In Fairmont:
The remains of Charles Honaker are brought to the city and buried at Woodlawn cemetery. The funeral was under the direction of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Degree of Pocahontas. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“The work of caring for the widows and orphans has been entrusted to a committee headed by Rt. Rev. P.J. Donahue of the Catholic diocese of Wheeling.” Bishop Donahue estimates over 80% of dead were members of the Polish or Italian parishes. (Wash. Times 12.9.07 pg. 5) (McAteer)
In the cemeteries:
Burials are continual throughout the day. At the Catholic cemetery, there is great concern of bodies being buried in their proper ethnic graveyards; Polish on the Left, Italians on the right.
“Scenes of touching sadness were caused throughout the day by the burial of the recovered dead and the pitiful actions of relatives of the entombed victims.” (LODD 12.13.07 pg. 3)
Following the custom of old country, each family member would throw a handful of earth into the grave and say a final prayer.
Near Grant Town, WV:
The home of Mr. and Mrs. John Collins of Gray’s Flats is destroyed by fire while Mr. Collins is at work in mines and Mrs. Collins is at Monongah on account of the death of relatives caused by the great explosion. The fire was caused by the children knocking a stove leg off. There were 3 children in the house but they escaped. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 8)
At the mines:
“Nine more bodies were brought out of Monongah Mines Nos. 6 and 8 today. There are ten more bodies near the opening of No. 6 and they will be brought out by 5 or 6 o’clock.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
~6:00 pm
Newspapers
Fairmont West Virginian:
Weather predicts more rain tonight; Tuesday, rain or snow; much colder (FWV 12.9.07 pg. 1)
Clarksburg Daily Telegram:
“…the Clarksburg Amusement Company has decided to give the net receipts of both the Odeon and Bijou family theatres all of next week to the relief fund for the sufferers. The regular performances with vaudeville specialties will be given and all who wish to lend a little aid to the unfortunate people of Monongah should attend the theatres.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“The proceeds of the Dreamland theatre this week will also be for the miner’s relief fund. A National cash register will be placed in the ticket office and all the monies taken in will be put in this register. The key of the register will be given to Chief of Police Richard Scott, who will count the money every morning and announcement will be made in the Telegram of the amount taken in every day. All above, the running expenses will go to the miner’s relief fund.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“The Monongah mine horror is still the all-absorbing topic of interest to everyone here, many of our people having relatives or friends who were victims of that awful explosion, the concussion of which was plenty felt here, and telephone messages came from as far away as H.R. McCord’s on Simpson Creek, inquiring if there had been an explosion here. Relief parties were formed here, headed by Superintendent Thomas Jarrett and Mine Foreman E.P. McAlvin and O. Bush, of the local mines and hurried to the scene on a freight train and have been working there since. Superintendent Jarrett was twice very nearly overcome with the gaseous fumes, but each time after recovery he returned to the work of rescue.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 5)
Washington Times, page 5:
The D.C. Evening Star, page 12:
Evening Journal in Deleware:
The Evansville Press:
Evening:
In Fairmont:
Mayor Arnett is strongly considering closing the saloons again tonight. (FWV 12.9.07 pg. 1)
The list of 406 dead published on Monday is “not complete”. “Mr. Harry Dawson of Woodsfield, OH was in the office yesterday evening looking over the list for the name of his brother, Fred Dawson, who was employed at Monongah and is known to be lost but his name was not found. Mr. Dawson also says that J.L. Hunsaker was also employed with his brother and his name is not on the list. These were both young unmarried men and were machine men.” (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 7)
“So this proves that the list is not near large enough and how many more instances of this kind will appear will only be known by waiting.” (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 7)
In Monongah:
Jury and court of inquiry adjourn “but will be recalled by the Coroner.” (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“The company issued a statement today in which the claim is made that later developments lead the officials to believe that there were only 260 men in the mine when the explosion occurred. It is insisted by the miners that 406 men were checked off as entering…” (CB 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Over the heartrending protests of the widowed and orphaned, it has been necessary for the authorities to act to preserve the health of the living and orders for immediate burial of the victims has been issued. The only exception will be in cases of bodies that are fully preserved and can be embalmed. These will be taken care of and taken to the morgues for identification. Failing this, all will be buried in the common grave…”
(WT 12.9.07 pg. 5)
~8:00 am
In Fairmont:
Lawrence E Sands sends a message from Wheeling that “citizens of city are planning a relief fund for Monongah…thinks Wheeling will contribute at least $1,000.” (FWV 12.9.07 pg.8)
In Monongah:
“The fourth day was a repetition of its three predecessors in the matter of pathetic scenes. Hundreds of women remained near the mines all day screaming and crying until they almost collapsed. As on former days hot coffee was served at intervals by the company to keep the unfortunate women from falling to the ground from exhaustion.” (News)
Bishop P.J. Donahue arrives by train from Wheeling joined by St. Peter’s of Fairmont priest Father Arsenius Boutou to assist the Monongah priests, Father Joseph Lekston & Father Joseph D’Andrea. Both Lekston and D’Andrea have been working nonstop since Friday and are close to exhaustion.
Father Joseph D’Andrea has also lost his brother, Victor D’Andrea, in the disaster. Victor was a father of 3 and his wife is 6 months pregnant. D’Andrea had worked for 3 days and nights, never stopping to sleep or bathe, continuously ministering to the bereaved and guiding coffin carts to correct homes.
The priests did services in the mornings and visited with families in the evenings.
Priests on the scene:
FWV 12.9.07 pg 1
At the mines:
“The work of rescuing bodies was resumed this morning…”
52 bodies have been recovered and the remains of 43 have been identified. (FWV 12.9.07 – pg. 1 – extra)
“Most of the bodies found have been those of foreigners and nearly all have been identified by their pay checks. [Th]ree large fans are pumping air into the mines and a pipe line 2.500 feet long was put in on the advice of Chief State Mine Inspector Paul as a precaution against fires.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 1)
Weekend crowds and sightseers are gone. Only somber groups of men—relief workers, explorers, brothers and men waiting their turn to go in—remained around mines.
At the churches in Monongah:
Church basements became make-shift funeral parlors.
Many came early to the Polish Catholic church, St. Stanislaus, “…a-foot, with bowed heads, sorrowing in low voices, sometimes a woman half held up by her companions, to that basement where the coffin lids closed in on blistered, swollen faces and parts of men.” (Kellogg)
“4 or 5 widows wept compulsively.” (Kellogg)
“An older woman read from a religious book held to the flickering light of a candle at the head of a closed coffin.” (Kellogg)
“A peasant, ugly with her pitted face, but beautiful in her great sorrow, bent often and kissed the lips of her husband.” (Kellogg)
“All of a sudden there was cry more piercing than the others. It was from an older mother who has lost 7—her husband, a son, 2 sons in law, and 3 nephews. She had come upon one of them, and the people with her could scarcely hold her. She threw her head on the casket and spoke to the boy fondly, trying to caress the crumpled face with poor, wrinkled hands. She had moaned all the way that morning from her lonely house to the church door, giving infinite sorrow to those who heard, and here her grief at last found vent.” (Kellogg)
~8:30 am
CDT 12.9.07 pg 3
~9:00 am
The court of inquiry convenes in Monongah. (FWV 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Coroner E.S. Amos, of Fairmont, is personally engaged in looking after the identification of bodies and is having a complete list kept, as well as recording the circumstances of identification and the disposition of the bodies. In this he is ably assisted by the several undertakers of this town, Fairmont and Clarksburg and other places. The jury organized by him will meet in Fairmont this morning at 9 o’clock to begin its work of investigation. Such representative men as W.S. Hamilton, Festus Downs, and W.E. Codray are members of the jury. Their work it is announced will be thorough and complete.”
The jury with Coroner Amos and Prosecuting Att. Scott C. Lowe went to No 8 and then visited No 6.
At the morgue:
“There is no more room in the morgue and the bodies are prepared at the mouth of the mine for burial.” (CET 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“In the case of complete identification, the bodies, after being viewed by the coroner and jury, are not held, pending further action of the coroner, as it is established, they all came out of the mine and met death by the same cause.” (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 1) (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 10)
Widows and family members were permitted “ample time” to view the bodies and attempt to ID them, but the time allotted for the body to be identified has been drastically diminished since the decision of the Marion County Health Board last night.
“After the identification of the bodies and they are claimed by friends, Coroner Amos holds the inquest and permits the relatives to remove them to their homes. The bodies of all Polish miners are being removed to the Polish church just above Monongah as fast as they are identified and are being placed in the basement of that edifice.” (US Dept of Labor-mine disasters-Dispatch article)
When ID is not possible, the body is taken directly from the mine entrance to the graveyard and buried immediately.
“Work of burying the dead that have been taken from the mines is in progress and because of the many bodies they have to be interred with dispatch and little ceremony.” (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 1) (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 10)
In Fairmont:
“All organizations in the city are taking steps to institute relief measures” (FWV 12.9.07 pg.8)
In Clarksburg:
“The body of Patrick McDonough, the miner who was killed in the Monongah disaster, was brought to this city Monday morning on the 9 o’clock interurban car. Funeral services were held at 9:30 o’clock at the Catholic church and interment was made in Holy Cross cemetery. McDonough was a brother-in-law of Pat Connell and Thomas Gill.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
The remains of Patrick McDonough were taken to Clarksburg. Patrick is brother of townsman, Policeman Anthony McDonough. (FWV 12.9.07 pg. 1)
At the mines:
Miners linger outside waiting to go into the mines. “The knot of silent mine workers in boots and corduroys and overalls could be made out from the rim of the bluff…; and at its edge sat in heavier silence a group of shawled women, waiting. Behind them ran a little street, thick in mud, with domino shaped stepping stones at the crossways with colorless little houses and propped walks and here and there dove-cotes nailed under the eaves or reared on poles.” (Kellogg)
TES 12.9.07 pg 4
“The body of W.H. Byse will be taken to Roane county Monday for burial there.” (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 1)
“Quite a number of Clarksburgers attended the funeral of John Howard Preston, at Monongah, Monday. Preston was a victim of the horrible mine disaster which occurred at Monongah Friday.” (TA 12.12.07 pg. 2)
“In the town families were mourning inconsolably the death or absence of a loved one and on all sides were little groups of weeping women and children. Thousands of strangers thronged the streets all day. They came from towns and country within a radius of many miles and by every means of travel.” (RP 12.9.07 pg. 2)
Some 30 – 40 funerals are performed throughout the day. “They were merely repetitions of those of Sunday, the crowds being almost as large and the scenes and incidents just as distressing.” (ES 12.10.07 pg. 1)
A majority of today’s funerals are held in the little Polish Catholic Church located between the two mines. 5 priests directed funerals.
Father Boutlou held short funeral services for the Irish Catholics. (FWV 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“Services were held over several of the bodies at one time.” (CDT 12.9.07 pg. 1)
“The people gathered above, the men on one side and the women on the other, as is the custom in the Polish church. The candles of the little altar lit up the chapel as they had done on other Sundays and the familiar intonations of the mass brought a brooding quiet. Then the priest addressed his people in Polish and with his first words, they began to weep aloud.” (Kellogg)
A service preached by Rev. Father Emil Musine, of St. Ladis Las Church of Wheeling was of “a very effective discourse. Sobs and wails went up from the wives and children of the unfortunate. After Father Emil Musine’s sermon Bishop Donahue of Wheeling spoke words of consolation promising relief to the orphans.” (FWV 12.9.07 pg. 1)
In English, Bishop Donahue told the congregants that he empathized with them and how much “the whole world laments” the terrible disaster which “robbed them” of their loved ones. He concluded in assuring that he would do his “utmost” to help the people and if any of them found that they could not support their children that he would see that they “all were sent to orphanages” where they “would be well cared for”. For those who could not understand his words, they were soon told by their fellow congregants that could. Though his words “cheered” them to a degree, there was not a single woman in the church “who would part with a child, no matter how many she had, even if the pangs of starvation tempted her.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 1)
“Outside, an Italian laborer offered his services for carrying the dead to the church yard. He spoke to a Slovak and said that everyone is the brother of the other, no matter what nationality he belongs to. He said it in broken English.” (Kellogg)
“The ministers refrained from making any reference to the catastrophe and the commitment services at the graveyard were as short as possible. There were no carriages and no flowers. The caskets were hauled for the most part in undertakers’ wagons. Large crowds of pedestrians followed and the church was crowded almost to suffocation. Several of the services were interrupted by women fainting, causing momentary excitement, but this was soon dispelled.” (RP 12.9.07 pg. 2)
~10:00 am
“Up to 10 o’clock the list stood at 53.” (OTC 12.10.07 pg. 1)
At the morgue:
The temporary morgue inside the First National Bank is getting overwhelmed; coffins and bodies begin lining the streets in front of the bank.
On the west side of Monongah:
The National Guard, called in by Governor Dawson, arrives and sets up on the north side of the Italian side of the largest graveyard. (McAteer)
They set up their large white tents in typical military fashion with graves in front, resembling military trenches.
These tents will act as a secondary morgue and will serve the needs of the gravediggers.
“Captain M.M. Neely furnished a big tent that has been pitched near the Catholic church. The tent is being used for the Italian morgue. The bodies are first identified at the morgue proper and are then taken to the tent. So far there has been a change in the name of one man.” (FWV 12.9.07 pg. 1)
On the east side of Monongah:
Paul Kellogg has wandered over to the corner of Main street, where the morgue has begun to lay coffins with prepared bodies out for identification. “At the end of the street were store buildings, and the Italian woman who kept one had let them leave a coffin box on her steps until the right household should be found.” Kellogg talks with this woman at length. “Standing at the head of the street, she pointed out with stretched finger the houses in a row on the bluff where the shawled women sat and waited…and she raised and lowered her arm in a counting of the houses, one after another.” She describes the condition inside several houses where losses have been felt:
Of the man and 7 boarders killed at house No 151— “All married. Old country. No see ‘tall, no see. He can’ find. All burn.”
“Woman cry all time,” she said of another house with three boys killed. (Kellogg)
“A hearse drove up to the corner house and the driver beckoned to me and to a workman who had come up. There was a coffin to be taken away and he needed help lifting it. The women had to be pushed back while he worked at closing the lid. Their cries rose and fell in that half unison of Slavic people which makes almost a ritual sobbing. The wife stood on the porch as they drove off; bare armed, stupid in her loss, her face knotted with two little, open-mouthed children whimpering and plucking at her apron and behind them a grandmother.
“A little red-cheeked Irish boy had poked his way into the Slavic house as they lifted the body out. He was going for the doctor, he said; the baby had been sick all night. ‘Got heem pap yet?’ asked the Italian woman. ‘Nope,’ said the boy.” (Kellogg)
“Across the street the tears were running down the face of the Italian storekeeper and she was giving herself up to the impetuous crying of her race.” (Kellogg)
~11:00 am
In Columbus, Ohio, Governor Andrew Harris has “ordered the chief state mine inspector, Harrison and deputies to Monongah, to make a careful investigation of the circumstance surrounding the explosion there. The information secured will be applied to correcting any shortcoming in Ohio mines. Inspector Harrison left for Monongah today.” (RP 12.9.07 pg. 2)
“It is a low estimate to say that the recovery of the bodies of the victims of the mine explosion will cost the coal company at least $75,000 and possibly a great deal more. But this is an item the company has not even thought of and it will spare no effort or money to recover every body from the mine.” (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 1)
“The property loss will be very heavy, as the artificial interior work of the two mines was entirely destroyed to the extent of the tracks being torn all to pieces in the mine No. 8 especially where the rails broke and curled themselves up into rings.” (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 1)
“Not taking the loss of life into consideration and the out lay that may result from that, the company’s loss will reach at least a quarter a million dollars, and, unless No 8 can be saved from fire, the loss will reach many millions.” (CDT 12.9.07 xtra pg. 1)
“The task of taking out bodies from Nos 6 and 8 mines will not be completed before the end of the week. Sixty-six bodies have been taken out of the mine heading of No. 6 at 11 o’clock. It is still impossible to reach many in the rooms leading off from way headings, owing to afterdamp which continues there.” (CET 12.9.07 pg. 1)
In Monongah:
“No more touching spectacle could possibly be witnessed by human eyes than to see the bereaved women and children of Monongah walking the streets wringing their hands and crying grief for loved ones…” (FWV 12.9.07 – pg. 7)
Women wander the streets aimlessly, wailing in the pouring rain. (Scalabrinians)
“Two Slav women, with big boned grief wrenched faces, were walking up and down the street, going nowhere. They wore great shawls, and diagonally across their breasts were the papoose-like bodies of their babies, wrapped in with a knack which is handed down by the mother wit of the old country.” (Kellogg)
“Part way along an angling road, lined with older company houses, I came upon a woman of perhaps 55 and her daughter. They walked spiritlessly as if climbing a long hill. 5 other daughters and a son’s wife were waiting for them in a house beyond, –8 women and 2 men gone. These were West Virginians, I took it; at least they had seen the settlement grow up about the mines and knew its people as only villagers do. What were just door steps and dull windows to me, were individualized to them…the mother counted them off as we went.” (Kellogg)
“Farther on was a little 5-year-old girl, playing by the fence. ‘We’ve got two dead in our house,’ she said, smiling.” (Kellogg)
“bright day – the sky was clear, the smoke and noxious, gaseous fumes that had hovered…since…Friday morning had vanished…” “…a more powerful gloom could be seen to cast its shadows across the doorways of most every residence and miner’s cottage of the thrifty village…” (FWV 12.9.07 pg.8)
~9:00 am
Inside the mines:
Large roof falls are found in every section but one in both mines. “The rescuers say they find great fall of earth from the roof and it is believed that tons and tons of earth, slate, coal and debris will have to be dug out of the main heading before arrangements can be made to operate this mine again.” (CDT 12.8.07 pg. 1)
“All of the young foremen in charge of the shifts and practically all of the volunteers were West Virginia mountain-folk. The mine manager had apparently excluded the aliens. ‘What is the matter with the foreign miners?’ I asked an intelligent young fellow resting in a coal car. ‘They can’t stand it,’ he said. ‘They can handle a pick all right, but when something happens, they lose their heads.’” (Forbes)
The “day of funerals” begins in Monongah and Fairmont
“At least a score of burials took place.” (Wash. Times 12.9.07 pg. 5)
St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Fairmont conducted masses and some Protestant churches in Fairmont and Monongah held services.
Undertaker’s wagon hauling victims in front of St. Stanislaus Polish Catholic Church
“Many of the victims of the holocaust are members of the Roman Catholic church and a majority of the burials of these will take place in a little church yard on a hillside near the parish house about a half a mile away from the mines in which they met death. Complete arrangements for the funerals have not been made but it is probable that the priests will celebrate the mass for the dead over many of them at one time.” (CDT 12.8.07 pg. 1)
“Funeral processions were in sight in all directions during the entire day.” (News)
“On the way to the cemeteries these solemn little processions were constantly going and passing vehicles coming from the mines laden with victims en route to the morgue, there to be placed in caskets and prepared another series of funerals.” (News)
“About twenty victims were buried today in the three cemeteries near the town. The services were simple and brief and except for the grief of the mourners, which at times became almost frantic, were without special feature.” (News)
“Several of the services were interrupted by women fainting, causing momentary excitement, but this was soon dispelled.” (LAH 12.9.07 pg. 2)
“All the churches offered up petitions for the peaceful repose of the dead, and ministers spoke feelingly of the disaster. But the saddest of the prayers were those of the women, who again gathered near the entrances, and chanted their litanies.” (CET 12.9.07 pg. 1)
In other parts of Monongah:
“Miners and other citizens from all over Central West Virginia are pouring into the Monongah to offer their services in the work of rescue.” (WH 12.8.07 pg. 13)
“The crowd of people that were at Monongah today was the largest that has ever been in the town on any occasion. Hundreds were there from all nearby towns and many from far away. A great number went only for the sole purpose of getting to look at where the mine disaster occurred. In this they were disappointed as nothing but two holes in the ground greet the visitor. It is impossible to go down in the mines and also to get in at the morgue.” (CDT 12.8.07 pg. 1)
“The people of the town are stunned by the catastrophe. They had long regarded these mines as practically immune from the dangers so common to the coal mining industry.” (LAH 12.8.07 pg. 1)
“The stage has been reached where relief for surviving dependents of the victims is necessary, and such progress was made in that direction today. Several organizations have been incorporated and the work is being systemized. Churches are taking the lead in this work. The coal company is showing a liberal spirit and is using money freely to relieve distress.” (LAH 12.9.07 pg. 2)
“Great quantities of food were distributed today.” (LAH 12.9.07 pg. 2)
“An American woman who lost her husband refused to believe he is dead. She has put clean linen on his bed and insists that he will be brought to her. ‘I know he is injured, and nobody can take care of him like I can,’ she said. She prepares his meal regularly, neighbors say, as she has done for years, thinking he may come for them.” (News)
~10:00 am
Inside #8:
“It is hardly possible that all the bodies will be recovered for several days. The men were working in a territory one mile square. It will be days before a thorough search of all of this area can be made. As the searching parties advance, they must clear away the debris.” (LAH 12.8.07 pg. 1)
Rescuers find a headless body sat in the seat of a cutting machine, hands still gripping the handles of the machine. (McAteer)
By 10 am, 1st right had been explored and 1,000 feet of 1st left when all efforts are called to the surface (McAteer).
Smoke is discovered coming out of crop openings south of the pit mouth so threatening it was decided to halt all work on north side until the south fire could be located and extinguished.
“There was a slight fire inside of the slope of No. 8 mine this morning, due to the starting of the fan. It was extinguished after an hour, and the fan, working successfully, greatly facilitated the efforts of the rescuers to get into the mines.” (News)
On the way to Fairmont:
A “prominent minister” tells a representative of the West Virginian while on one of the crowded cars returning from Monongah, “You newspaper men would have a hard time to exaggerate the awfulness of this great catastrophe.”
“And the minister’s remark suggests the thought that newspapers all over the country have been very conservative in their stories, especially as to the number of dead. Most of the papers have underestimated the number rather than overestimated it. Very few sensational stories have gone out when we consider how great the temptation is under the circumstances.” (FWV 12.9.07 – pg.8)
~10:45 am
“Monongah restaurants have been almost ‘eaten out’. In spite of the fact that food supplies are being rushed to the mining town as fast as possible, there is not enough food at public restaurants, hotels and like places to accommodate the people. In the restaurants and hotel where some food can be obtained, the patrons have to take just what is on hand. Coffee is being drunk without milk and sugar and in many instances all that a hungry person can find to satisfy himself with is plain bread. Some of the residents have kindly thrown open their door to the hungry and are giving them what they have on hand to eat.” (CDT 12.8.07 pg. 1)
A majority of church services begin in and around the area of Monongah
Several church services and Sunday school lessons focus on the Book of Ruth (aka: The Widow’s Book or ‘The Tale of Two Widows’) today.
“The Presbyterian Church has asked the Presbyterian churches of Pittsburg and vicinity to come to the rescue of the widows and orphans.” (FWV 12.9.07 – pg. 1 – extra)
FWV 12.7.07 pg 8FWV 12.7.07 pg 8
~11:00 am
“E.C. Vandiver, of Lonaconing, was in Monongah over Sunday and tells a gruesome tale of what he saw and heard there. Van left here Saturday and returned Sunday night.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
“Van saw piles of coffins on every corner and the wailing of women and children was heartrending.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
“Thousands of strangers were in Monongah and the hotels are crowded.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
“Seven families that Van saw had lost every adult male and fifty children in those families are left fatherless. Van saw men working at No. 6 mine but saw nothing doing at No 8 and was told that no one would venture in.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
“He saw one woman identify the body of her husband by the nail on the only finger left on his hand. This finger had been injured years ago and the end was gone. This man was an American.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
“The bodies were laid out in the bank building used as a morgue and thousands of people gazed upon them. At Fairmont, Sunday, people fought each other to get on the street cars for Monongah. Van returned full of the horror of what he saw.” (CET 12.10.07 pg. 6)
“Today it seemed like a continual procession of men carrying out corpses. The bringing up of each mangled form would be followed by a rush from women and men around the mines looking for their dead ones.” (TEP 12.7.07 pg. 1)
~6:00 pm
PP 12.7.07 pg 1
“All day long today little groups of men brought dead bodies from the mines…” (TEP 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Five additional bodies were taken out of the mine at 6 o’clock tonight, making twenty up to date.” (WH 12.8.07 pg. 1)
“The rescuers say they have about seventy others in sight, which they will bring out within the next few hours. All of these are in No. 6 and so far, nothing has been done toward recovering the dead in No. 8, where the gases are strongest.” (WH 12.8.07 pg. 1)
“The fumes from the explosion and decomposition of bodies has greatly hampered the work.” (WT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“…the shafts and tunnels are still filled with smoke and gas.” (WT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Although there are great crowds about the mine entrance there are innumerable women and children crouching in modest homes awaiting what they know must come—the blackened remains of a husband, of a father, of a brother.” (WT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
Governor Dawson has arrived in Charleston from Washington D.C. (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
Newspapers
The Ladies’ Auxiliary of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church is the first social organization in city to offer financial aid. They announce that they will be giving proceeds from their musical planned for Dec. 11 to the Monongah relief aid. (McAteer)
The paper also informs the Fairmont populace of just a few miners who regularly traveled from Clarksburg to work in the mines.
The Clarksburg Daily Telegram startles the public with its evening headline:
“President C.W. Watson in a brief interview stated that he had nothing definite to give out as to the cause, but from the small amount of smoke, he judged it was caused by dust, which ignited from a small pocket of gas, or a blown out shot.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Mr. Watson explained that the two mines were connected for the purpose of giving more openings.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“General Manager Lee Malone of the Fairmont Coal Company in an interview at the scene of the horror, given to the Telegram representative, stated that there were 450 men in the mine at the time of the explosions and that he was of the firm belief that all were dead.” “He pointed out that there was nothing particularly strange about there being an explosion in both mines at once, one immediately after the other, as the two mines are on the same side of the river instead of opposite side, as first reported,…” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
They report that on the 6th: “George Bice, a member of the rescue party at mine No 8 was overcome by the afterdamp, brought to the surface unconscious and died shortly afterward.” And that, “A man named Stuart of the rescue party was also overcome by the afterdamp. He was brought above unconscious but soon revived and will doubtless recover.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
Luckily, the George Bice did not die. In fact, he may have never been overcome with gas at all. There were, however, 3 men among the rescue crews who will die in the process, more than likely from inhaling too many toxic fumes: John Neary, and brothers Maurice and Richard Beedle.
When it comes to publishing the names of the dead, the Telegram focuses entirely on the names of known Americans.
The D.C. Evening Star publishes a list of just the West Virginia Mine Disasters of 1907.
ES 12.7.07 pg 1
The Rock Island Argus of Illinois published a list of all mining disasters in 1907:
In Iowa, the Evening Times Republican informs their readers that:
ETR 12.7.07 pg. 7
The Times Dispatch in Virginia publishes a (very) rough map of where Monongah lies in the state:
TD 12.7.07 pg. 2
The Cumberland Evening Times is already trying to clear up confusion and rumors:
“The terrible mine disaster at Fairmont, W.Va., caused unusual excitement up along the George’s Creek region, due to the fact that a number of miners in that section had sought employment in the West Virginia territory.” (CET 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“At this writing, however, but one miner from this county is known to have been killed by the explosion. He was John Herman, who resided at Eckhart until about two years ago, when he removed to Fairmont, and was employed in mine No. 8 when the explosion occurred.” (CET 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“A sister of the unfortunate man, living at Eckhart, was notified by wire yesterday afternoon that her brother had been killed and last evening three other brothers, John, Jacob and Frank Herman, all of whom live at Eckhart, went to Fairmont to recover the body.” (CET 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“The deceased was 37 years of age, and leaves a wife and one child.” (CET 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Joseph Milkowsy, another miner formerly residing at Eckhart, is also employed at one of the mines at Fairmont, but whether he was one of the victims of the terrible disaster could not be learned.” (CET 12.7.07 pg. 1)
They also report that, “Messrs. Philip Jenkins, Sr., Philip Jenkins, Jr., Edward Jenkins, E.T. Thomas, William Hensell, Alex Crawford, and Andrew Crawford, left today for Fairmont, W.Va., to assist in the work of rescuing the miners who were killed in the mine disaster at Fairmont yesterday.” (CET 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“The above relief corps will remain at the scene of the horrible calamity until the last victim has been taken out of the mines.” (CET 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“This action on the part of the Frostburg contingent is purely for sympathy’s sake.” (CET 12.7.07 pg. 1)
Like several other papers, The Buffalo Enquirer of New York is not only reporting that, at noon, workers are still battling the early morning fire from #8, they are already telling their populace, “Yesterday the company officials endeavored to keep the number of men in the ill-fated mine down as much as possible.” (TBE 12.7.07 pg. 1)
The Evening Star in Washington D.C. reports:
“It is thought that by tonight the full extent of the horror will be known, and it is feared the knowledge of this will precipitate even more pitiful scenes than those of today, with hysteria in all of its devious forms rampant among the populace. Precautions have already been taken to prevent these harrowing manifestations of grief, but there is little hope that they will avail.” (ES 12.7.07 pg. 1 – 2)
C.W. Watson, president of the Consolidation Coal Company, dictated the following statement to the Associated Press:
“The accident is deplorable from any standpoint. It was entirely unexpected. As yet we do not know the exact cause of the explosion.
“It might have resulted from a blown out shot igniting a pocket of gas. About 50 per cent of the mine accidents of the country are caused in this manner. It is probable the present one resulted from the same cause. We will conduct a rigid investigation. Investigations, however, will not benefit the dead miners. Their families will be looked after. The company will bury all the dead. Every facility within the power of the company is being extended to all newspapermen in order that the general public may be accurately informed as to the disaster. We have nothing to conceal and are pleased to give whatever information we can.” (ES 12.7.07 pg. 2)
~6:30 pm
In Monongah:
“Up to 6:30 o’clock tonight twenty-two bodies had been brought to the surface from mines Nos. 6 and 8… Over 100 bodies have been found.” (ODB 12.8.07 pg. 1)
“President C.W. Watson of the mining company in a statement to the Associated Press today said every possible investigation would be made of the disaster to ascertain its cause and fix responsibility.” (ODB 12.8.07 pg. 1)
“Nearly 400 coffins reached Monongah today from Pittsburg and from West Virginia cities.” (ES 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Many coffins have arrived and more have been ordered and as fast as identification is made sure the bodies are being taken away by their friends for burial.” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
At the mines:
“The galleries are still filled with poisonous gases and it is impossible to open them till the main entries are opened and the fans can clear them.” (TBE 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Working conditions are terrible, owing to gas and the wrecking, shifts can work less than an hour at a time.” (ES 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“While only sixteen bodies have been recovered or brought out of the mine, members of the rescuing parties stated that eighty bodies have been located.” (ES 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Only sixteen of the dead bodies have been removed from the shaft entrance of No. 6, but 100 others are in the first level and are being kept in the mine until the authorities can get the half-crazed people away from the entrance.“ (TBE 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Preparations are being made to bring the bodies from the mines in electric cars, with which the mines were equipped.” (WT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“The rescuers in mine No. 6 report so many bodies that it will take hours to get them all out. In No 8 mine the rescuing parties are just getting started as poisonous gases there were worse than in No 6 mine.” (TEP 12.7.07 pg. 1)
~1:00 pm
At the mines:
“Up to 1 o’clock today but sixteen bodies have been brought to the surface…” (ES 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“A dozen undertakers are also in waiting in one of the buildings near the entrance to take charge of the bodies as soon as they are brought out and make them as presentable as possible.” (WT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“A thousand men are working…” “About 130 corpses had been found in the wrecked Monongah mines here at 1 o’clock this afternoon.” (Pitt. Press. 12.7.07, Sparks)
In Monongah:
The body of Fred Cooper (one of first men found in the shanty of #6 mine) has been fully processed through the morgue and his body is brought into Fairmont on the one o’clock car. He is taken to his father-in-law’s home, Mr. Shingleton, at the corner of Locust Ave and 11th St. (FWV 12-7-07, pg. 1)
~1:30 pm
Clarksburg Daily Telegram puts out a special, extra edition:
The local newspapers are correcting their previously published information on the location of the mines. Though the Clarksburg Daily Telegram puts out far more accurate information now that they have their own reporters on the scene, their original source—the Associated Press—never corrects their original inaccurate information at any point and it continues to circle around the country for the next several weeks.
The results of just some of these inaccurate reports have already made their way back to Monongah. For the next several days, Watson and other officials will struggle with the press. They have little to no experience with mass swarms of reporters nor with managing a catastrophe of such magnitude. They will make several mistakes in their attempt to control the release of information over the next week, including the most devastating mistake of making it obvious to the press that information is being controlled.
Quietly tucked away on page 3 is an update on Sam Furk, reported leader of the local Black Hand, which would have taken front page status had the disaster in Monongah not occurred:
~2:00 -2:30 pm
Inside #6:
Search parties find only 5 men between the bottom of the slope of #6 to the connection of the 2 mines – distance of about ¾ of a mile, over 4,000’. Only the main heading has proper ventilation and cleared wreckage that far back, but not the rest of the mines proper (rooms, hallways, etc.) where most of the victims surely lay. Ventilation systems “will have to be rebuilt throughout the mine” starting “this afternoon”. (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
“The resources are being reinforced as men are needed, so that as soon as one man is overcome his place is taken by another.” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
Though it is quite clear that the town is teaming with news reporters all day based on the sheer number of events accounted throughout the afternoon, few reporters managed to note the time of when certain events occurred. The best this author can provide at this moment is a list of these events in what is the most likely order in which they occur, trying to keep in mind that some of these may have been occurring simultaneously.
At some point during the afternoon,
“…with hysteria in all its devious forms rampant among the populace.” (RIA 12.7.7 pg. 1)
At the mines:
Several rescuers enter the mines “only to return to the open much more dead than alive.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“The first emergency hospital is crowded with men who have been overcome with the mine gas…” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
“The rescuers as they come out report that men to the right and left of them are lying all about the mine…” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
“A foreign woman whose husband was in the mine, rushed to the entrance but the gas forced her back. Realizing that she could do nothing toward aiding her husband, she tore the skin off her face with her finger nails and pulled out large twists of hair.” (WT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
At the morgue:
“The following bodies were identified in the morgue today: DOMINICK, who worked for John Preston. MIKE ____, also one of Preston’s men. FRANCISCO LORIA, who is horribly mangled. CARMO ZEVOLA, who was identified after some time by his [whole line of text is missing]. Much doubt existed in the authenticity of her identification but the small tobacco sack which he carried was the means of making the identification sure.” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
“Another body that has been positively identified is a man who is known as Louis, his other name not being known. Mr. Caldara says he is from Naples.” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
In Monongah:
Lorin Wise, brother of Charlie Wise, and Mabel & Edith Wise, his sisters, arrive from Canton, OH. (FWV 12.12.07 pg. 1)
A wagon load of bodies is trying to get from #6 mine across the Iron Bridge and to the morgue. Before it reaches the bridge, the crowd rushes the cart from all angles, pinning in and frightening the horses. The horses panic and bolt, racing through the crowd, overturning the cart, and dumping the bodies onto the ground before running over the embankment. The crazed horses continue down the river bank and run straight into the icy waters of the West Fork River, taking along the driver and his assistant. As the cart hits the water, the driver is violently thrown out and seriously injured. (McAteer)
“As the day advanced, [the widows] became almost crazed through grief and suspense. One pulled out her hair in handfuls at a time and another tore all the skin from both cheeks with her fingernails. Some lay down on the frozen ground and cried themselves asleep, and in this condition, many were carried to homes nearby without awakening.” (RIA 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“The company has provided clothing, food, and supplies for all who are in need and charity on every hand is being observed.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
The body of a young man is brought to his home and placed inside. 2 hours later and one room away, his wife gives birth to their child. (FWV 12.9.07 – pg.8)
At the mines:
“The workers at both pits are being cheered and helped in their heroic task by the presence and good words of their bosses.” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
“Everything possible has been and is being done to recover the bodies of the dead miners and to take out any who might be alive. The coal company officials have given their best energies to the work and are yet grimly at work sleepless and hungry without thought of rest until all has been done to reach any miner possibly alive and to recover the bodies of the dead ones.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Late today the deadly blackdamp became more pronounced as the more farther recesses of the mines were approached…” (DASB 12.8.07 pg. 1) (LODD 12.12.07 pg. 1)
“One hundred men are working in mine No 8, where the damage was greatest…” (WT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
In Charleston, WV:
Gov. William M.O. Dawson calls out the National Guard: Company H of First Infantry under the direction of Col. M.M. Neely. Despite Watson’s telegram earlier in the day, the Governor is concerned about potential disturbances among immigrant families and the throngs of sightseers. (McAteer)
At #6:
“Some bodies have been brought to the mouth of #6 but have not yet been made known.” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
“In No. 6 there are 150 workers. Though the interior of this mine is not so badly damaged as the other, the gas in the tunnels is more troublesome, and it is necessary to come frequently to the surface for fresh air.” (WT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“As the rescuers groping and dazed came from the mouth of the mine they were besieged by anxious ones and bringing no tidings or news of the unfortunate men below there were fresh outbursts of sobbing and cries of grief went up for their loved ones.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“Now and then rescuers came staggering forth, gasping for fresh breath but to hear from the women gathered near the pit renowned cries of distress and sorrow.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“And to add further to the mine horrors the wails and moans of the wives and daughters of the entombed miners were heartrending.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
“In the great crowd one or two women would scream, perhaps faint, and be carried to their homes while the undertakers put the bodies in coffins and followed the bereaved ones to the little miners’ cottages. This scene was repeated again and again all day.” (TEP 12.7.07 pg. 1)
~4:00 pm
All saloons and bars in Marion county are closed by order of the mayors and the Marion county Sheriff and no liquor sales, anywhere, are permitted. “The saloon keepers willingly consented and will not open their places again until Monday.” (FWV 12.7.07 – pg.1)
As the main morgue in the bank overflows, bodies are taken directly from the mouth of mine to tent morgues at the cemetery or to church basements (McAteer)
If no ID has been made on a body within several hours, the dressed body is placed in a coffin and buried in the potter’s field as unknown.
“Foul gases in the No. 8 mine prevented any attempt at rescue until late this afternoon and even now it is impossible to make any headway. At this time the force of the explosion was so great that holes were blown through the side of the hill in several places along the river bank.” (TBE 12.7.07 pg. 1)
~5:00 pm
Newspapers are just beginning to hit the streets and stands. A majority will sell out within the hour.
“The body of Timothy Lyden was found in mine No. 6 at Monongah at 3 o’clock this morning, taken to the morgue and prepared for burial.” (CDT 12.12.07 pg. 4)
The Monongah Disaster 