public – Page 6 – The Monongah Disaster

Thursday, December 12, 1907 Midnight – Morning

CDT 12.12.07 - pg 1 - Monongah 5 — CDT 12.12.07 pg 1

In the early hours of the morning

12.12.07 - pg 6 - Monongah — TMDM 12.12.07 pg 6

In Hendricks, WV:

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)

cemeteries — 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 1^st 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)

Wednesday, December 11, 1907, News Hour

After almost a week of reporting on the disaster and as the work in and around Monongah becomes more and more organized, there is less to actually ‘report’ on the disaster itself. Journalistic columns and public opinions begin to fill the papers across the country.

~6:00 pm

Newspapers

Clarksburg Daily Telegram:

“Those of the bodies recovered today that have been identified so far are as follows:

“The rescue workers have finished the main headings and the sections to the right of the main headings and all work is now in the interior heading and rooms.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 1)

“I.C. White of Morgantown, state geologist is on the scene making observations. Mr. White has a practical knowledge of mining.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 1)

“Additional miners from Maryland and eastern parts of the State have arrived to aid in the rescue work.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 1)

“All theories that have been advanced as to the cause of the explosion are being thoroughly investigated, but explanations up to this time are not thorough enough to locate the immediate cause.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 1)

“According to experienced miners the interior of the mines show evidences of an explosion from dust, but there are many who adhere to the gas theory. The inspectors hope to find the exact spot where the explosion originated and when this place is located the exact cause of the disaster may be determined.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 1)

“D.F. Lepley, of Connellsville, who is a representative of the company which placed the fan at No. 8 mine at Monongah, is a visitor at the scene of the disaster. He says that he can have the fan replaced in a period of two weeks. The damages to the mine are not nearly so great as at first though and it is not unlikely that both mines will be working again inside of 90 days. One estimate puts the damage to the mines as low as $125,000.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 1)

On page 3, a poem written by Pastor E.V. Potter of the Wesleyan Methodist Church is published:

“The woman who has never experienced widowhood can scarcely know, in fact, would not know the fears for the future in this life of a woman left with a dependent family without means of support. Indeed, happy families with plenty never know. They can not. It is impossible for them to realize the drudgery, the sacrifices, the care that the widow has under such conditions. A double duty devolves upon her. She must be mother and she must be bread-earner. Not only must the household be taken care of by her but she must also provide shelter, clothing, education and all for the children. Scarcely a man is there who would not shrink from suck a task and why should a woman be expected to accomplish such an undertaking? Fate sometimes cruelly devolves it on woman to have this terrible lot in life, but, perhaps, it will not always be so.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 4)

“Certainly, the time in American brotherhood is passing beyond that stage, and the love for mankind in American hearts is above the miserly point of keeping all we have and doing nothing for our fellows, unfortunate not from their own acts but from a fate that they themselves did not bring about. God forbid that there should be any such.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 4)

“This is no time for prejudice, no time for class hatred, no time to argue that others ought to come to the rescue and relief. The only thing to do now is follow the Golden rule. The Telegram offers the opportunity, and yet it matters not to if what medium or avenue is used in reaching the suffering.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 4)

“Those who are in distress themselves ought not to contribute, as the widow’s mite, though an example, need not be given, for that sort of charity works a hardship materially, though in the end it has its richest blessings. It is to those who have plenty that this appeal should be most effective. And yet none should give who cannot cheerfully do so.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 4)

“The rumor that has reached the ears of many in Clarksburg to the effect that the air fans at Monongah Mines Nos 6 and 8 were not in good order and not working properly the day of and just prior to the terrible disaster last Friday, is false.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 6)

“Tuesday night the Telegram telegraphed to President C.W. Watson, of the Fairmont Coal Company, at Monongah, as follows: ‘Please inform us as to the rumor that fans at Mines 6 and 8 were not in good order and not working properly just before the explosion.’ To this Mr. Watson replied by wire as follows: ‘Absolutely false. Be no foundation for the report.’” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 6)

“How the report was started that there had been something wrong with the mine fans just before the disaster and that possibly that had something to do with the explosion is a matter of mere conjecture, but nevertheless there is nothing to the report as had been shown by the words of President Watson. The machinery at both of the mines was in good working order. Experienced workmen were at their posts of duty at the mines and it is absurd to entertain the thought that either they or officials of the company would permit a big force of men to go into the mines while there was something the matter with the ventilating machinery.” (CDT 12.11.07 pg. 6)

Evansville Press in Indiana:

“There is not much danger of mine explosions like the Monongah disaster in mines about Evansville, it was stated at the mines today. There is but little gas and the mines are damp, so that there is no dry coal dust to explode as in West Virginia. The only danger is from powder explosions through sparks from the miners’ lamps.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 1)

By: Geo. Satterfield

“I came to Monongah—to this charnel house of the coal mining industry—to draw in pen and ink some of the scenes of the great disaster that the camera failed to depict.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“I have gazed with wonder on the piled up, wrenched and torn surface ruins, evidences of the titanic shock that in a second blasted the lives out of nearly 500 human beings.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“I saw brave men in jeans, heroes born of the moment, plunge into the hell pits, risking their own lives in noxious gas and fire, that they might save the earthly remains of their comrades.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“With gruesome fascination I inspected great piles of coffins, heaped up within 100 feet of the mouth of the mines, ready to receive the burdens they will carry in long procession to the grave. But God knows how commonplace all this was when I turned my face to that fringe of helpless humanity on the outskirts—that group of agonized women and orphans.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“Carry your imagination this winter day, you who read these lines, to this little village of Monongah and calculate if you can the horror, the agony, the despair, the utter desolation and destitution of these 300 widows and these 1000 orphans.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“They wait about the mine mouths; dry-eyed, grief-exhausted, heartbroken, they wait. Waiting for what? For the right to claim the inanimate, blackened clay of what was so short a time before a loved one. It is all that is left in the hour when the hand of the Great Master seems to lie so heavily upon them, the primal instinct is strong. Each demands that which, when the divine spark glowed, was all the world to them.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“Their hands and faces dirty, clothes awry and covered with the yellow clay of the neighborhood or the soot which lies over all, the widows and orphans are heedless of the present. They can see through the mountainside, where the loved one lies as the fire damp caught him.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2

“Everyone is dry-eyed, for grief such as this call not for tears; is too deep to be assuaged by welling eyes, this affliction which has fallen upon those left helpless by the catastrophe.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“I saw them bring bodies from No. 8. It was at night. They could have taken them out sooner, but waited for the merciful shadows to fall. Only the workers and the hushed, ever-waiting women and children remained.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2

“Four men bore a blanket-covered figure from the black mouth of Monongah’s hell. A sound, as of the night wind gently sighing, passed over the watchers, eloquent in its concert of relief.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2

“Reverently the bearers passed between rows of the bared, bowed heads to where the piled up rough boxes were awaiting their own. Suddenly a woman, gaunt and pallid, evaded the guards and rushed forward. She half-carried, half-dragged a child; two others clung to her thin skirt. Dante never depicted the grief, fear, agony, and expectation which marked her face as she sped over the debris-covered ground toward the body.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“The men deposited their burden and the poor, distraught creature stopped and seemed to recoil. One hand clutched her bosom convulsively. One the brink of the great unknown she hesitated. But she had waited through long dark hours for this moment and was not to be balked. Leaning forward she lifted the covering from the face of the dead, looked, gave utterance to a wailing shriek, heart-rending in its pathos—and sank unconscious to the ground. It was not the face of her husband, and the reaction mercifully broke the terrible strain.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

(Special to The Press)

“The theory that an accidental explosion of dynamite was the cause of the disaster that killed nearly 500 in the Fairmont Coal company’s collieries here, is the one now generally accepted.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“The explosion of dynamite caused the explosion of dust which is a most dreadful force when loose.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

“In the narrow tunnels the explosion sought an outlet to expand and rushed along the line of the least resistance, toward the mouth of No 6, mowing down men as stalks of grain before the sickle. When it reached the heavy atmosphere at the mouth of No 6 the explosion rebounded going back over its original track, still seeking an outlet. As it swept along, the body of flaming, seething gases, compressed by the confines of the mine, found the underground entrance into mine No. 8 through which it leaped madly and tore its devastating way to the mouth of this mine, where it ripped the masonry from the earth, hurling great blocks of cement and stone in all directions. The heat engendered left nothing but bare walls in its path. It burned the oxygen out of the atmosphere, leaving only the deadly afterdamp, which claimed those left alive by the explosion in various drifts.” (TEP 12.11.07 pg. 2)

Cumberland Evening Times in Maryland:

“The matins of the Sabbath tolled a death knell a hundred, aye four hundred times and the vespers were like the mourning of a dove—for a pall hangs over the valley.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“When the flash of a mysterious explosion heaved the earth and hurled the timbers of the mines at Monongah and twisted the ponderous machinery within and without, the gaunt specter of death floated through the caverns and touched the men who went to their toil with music and laughter in their souls.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“No human agency could stay that hand and the ghoulish monster called Death had its moment of glee uninterrupted and alone.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“Man with his cunning and his knowledge cannot stay the mysterious ways of an inscrutable Providence.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“Those stricken stand in awe as the grimy-faced men bear from the mines the stretchers, for sooner or later, today or tomorrow, the carriers will bring to the sunlight that one whose mute lips cannot answer the wails of the loved ones—that one whose children are fatherless.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“Paled are the cheeks of the men whose money had builded those works.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“The huge fan is a tangled mass of wreckage, a mockery to human endeavor. Stockholder, official, superintendent, boss, miner, volunteers, all work side by side to rescue—no, not to rescue, to bring out the mangled forms of those corpses of what were once men in the pride of manhood health and happiness.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“General Manager L.L. Malone, of the Fairmont Coal Company, received offers of assistance from all over several states, while others hurried to the scene, experts, officials, plain miners, those who knew what was to be done and came to do it, of their own free will.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“Far and wide the Fairmont Coal Company has been reputed as a humane and generous company. Lee Malone has lived close to his men. He knows them by name. He had toiled with them in the early days and he insists always that the best of machinery for the safety of the toilers should be bought and constantly used. Today his face is blanched, for a mysterious force laid low the men whose interest was his interest. His heart is bowed down.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“A ribbon of moving restless humanity has moved in and out of this city toward the mines where death is holding a gruesome feast. This stream of human beings will continue to move throughout the coming days, until the last body is borne out into the sunlight and the last clod falls upon the last coffin. Yet this mass of humanity, pulsating with life and health, can not solve the mystery or speak the words of condolence to those who mourn.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“The officials of the Fairmont Coal Company clasp hands across this unspeakable harvest of souls with those who mourn their loved ones and no man will ever be able to tell the story or give reason why Monongah mines should have become a tomb. The curtain will never be lifted. It is held taunt by bony hands, death-gripped, for eternity.” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)

“We ride and walk and work side by side with death every day and can not see the dreadful monster through life-lit eyes. With what ghoulish satisfaction the silent companion touches a victim with icy finger. We do not feel his breath or realize his proximity until with chattering jaws and rattling frame, he springs forward to drag a nearby friend from our side. How death gloated!” (CET 12.11.07 pg. 11)