“This is a beautiful Christmas day except for the mud, but the small boy with the sled is disappointed.” (FWV 12.26.07 pg. 2)
Throughout the Morning
In Yolande, AL:
“Christmas cheer in Yolande, gave way to the gloom of grief though the skies were asmile and the hills tinged with yuletide green.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
“Sixty freshly made graves in the little cemetery beyond the ill-fated Yolande mine tell their mute story. It was Yolande’s first toll to the dread call of the mine horror. The payment in heart wrung tears of widows and orphans was all the heavier.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
In Jacobs Creek, PA:
“It was Christmas only in name to them. Little children stunned by the loss of father, and wives, dry-eyed now, but with faces drawn with affliction, passed through the streets. Some went to church and listened to the sad-faced priest as he besought the mercies of God in their behalf. Others wandered aimlessly about. Few went in the direction of the mine. They had done that so often, and what was the use.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. 1)
“Wretchedness filled the air. Nobody thought of cheer except the Sisters of Charity, those devoted souls who on this, His day, went about among the poorest of the victims and distributed what Christmas toys they had been able to gather, and thus in a measure softened the grief of many little ones.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. 1)
“Never before has so black a Christmas day passed at this place, and the other little hamlets surrounding the Darr mine…”(TEP 12.26.07 pg. 1)
“There are 150 widows and nearly 500 orphans as a result of the deadly blast…”(TEP 12.26.07 pg. 1)
“Despite the grief at Jacobs Creek, the orphans of the mining village will not be deprived of a visit from Santa Claus. Through the efforts of Mayor Coleman arrangements have been made to ship a carload of toys to Jacobs Creek Christmas morning and the role of Santa Claus will be taken by a committee of McKeesport men.” (PDP 12.24.07 pg. 3)
“The carload of toys, candies, books, etc., will leave the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie station at McKeesport at 9 o’clock… The movement was started [Monday] and in a short time hundreds of presents were pledged. They have been coming in almost faster than the committee can handle them and every McKeesport resident appears anxious to be among the contributors.” (PDP 12.24.07 pg. 3)
“Rev. Carl G. Hagberg, of McKeesport, who has made a personal canvass of homes at Jacobs Creek, will likely have charge of the Santa Claus expedition. Mayor Coleman has also issued a call for subscriptions for the relief of the bereaved families, to include cash, clothing, etc.” (PDP 12.24.07 pg. 3)
In Parkersburg, WV:
Charles Huffman is shot through the heart by an accidental discharge of his gun while hunting. (FWV 12.27.07 pg. 4)
In Farmington, WV:
Mrs. Ephriam Ashcraft, an aged lady who had been in poor health for some time, is alone in her room. It is thought she attempted to reach something on her mantle when her clothing catches fire. She was found lying on her floor with her clothing a mass of flames. “Dr. Trach was hastily summoned and rendered medical assistance, yet but little hope for her recovery was entertained…” (FWV 12.26.07 pg. 1)
In Fairmont:
J. Taffanel and Joe Dunaime, of Paris, France, mining experts, arrive to inquire into the conditions of the mines. (FWV 12.26.07 pg. 5)
“Christmas was quietly observed while few large entertainments were given, most homes were the scene of family dinner parties and reunions. In many homes a wondrous Christmas tree had sprung up during the night which added greatly to the festive holiday spirit.” (FWV 12.26.07 pg. 1)
“Christmas was a very quiet day in the First ward. No social functions were held and the entertainments at the M.P. and M.E. Churches were all that engrossed the attention of the residents. All stores were closed and the streets were deserted the greater part of the day.” (FWV 12.26.07 pg. 2)
In Monongah:
“No, not a merry Christmas, but a bountiful one, is the better way to describe the day at Monongah.” (FWV 12.26.06 pg. 1)
“The mantle of sorrow has wrapped the inmates of many of them in its somber folds but the hand of charity has been willingly extended and gently the curtain has been drawn back letting a flood of sunshine and hope into these very homes to the fullest extent.” (FWV 12.26.07 pg. 1)
Work at the mines throughout the region was shut down for Christmas and this notice is still posted on the office door at Monongah this morning: “No work at mines 5 and Shaver December 25 and 26.” (FWV 12.26.07 pg. 8)
11:30 am
In Fairmont:
Members of the Crusade Commandery Knights Templar meet in the Masonic temple and “participate in the Christmas observance as outlined by the committee of the Grand Encampment.” (FWV 12.24.07 pg. 1)
“This service is held at precisely the same hour without uniforms wherever the Templars may be…” (FWV 12.24.07 pg. 1)
“This service is open to all and to the visitors who have never seen the new Temple, this will be an occasion to inspect the new lodge rooms.” (FWV 12.24.07 pg. 1)
Afternoon
In Yolande, AL:
“…the cemetery was dotted with mourners. Widows with their fatherless offspring made the only offer they could upon the altar of their shattered love; a wreath of laurel, a carpet of cedar, a shower of their tears. To the stricken homes Santa Claus brought little of joy.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
“Charity did all it could to brighten these homes, but charity is a poor substitute for the father who is no more. All the charity and sympathy in the world could not blot out the memory of those terrible hours of waiting, the horror of the coming of the poor charred body: the despair of the never ending journey to the cemetery.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
In Jacobs Creek, PA:
“The beginning and the end of life was fittingly illustrated Christmas day, when Father Adam Binio of St. Timothy’s church baptized 10 infants and said requiem mass over the former members of his church, who lost their lives in the mine.” (PPG 12.26.07 pg. 1)
“The children are all fatherless and the services attending the baptism were devoid of the Yuletide spirit. Solemn as was the funeral mass, this ceremony for children who will never know their fathers, was the most pathetic sight imaginable, when the sad-eyed widows of but a few days ranged themselves before the altar, with their offerings to God in their arms.” (PPG 12.26.07 pg. 1)
“Following the services many of the women walked again to the morgue in another effort to identify the father of the child whose life had just been consecrated.” (PPG 12.26.07 pg. 1)
“Jacob’s Creek’s dead—the bodies that have been recovered—are buried at Smithton, West Newton, Connellsville and other surrounding tons and hamlets, where cemeteries are located. Most of the miners in the bituminous region of Pennsylvania are members of the Catholic church and the recovered bodies are buried in consecrated ground.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
“At some of these graves…knelt black robed figures of women. Some had children with them. The bitter tears of widow and mother mingled with these of sister and sweetheart. It was cold but the praying women did not mind it. They were far away from the cold, in spirit, with their loved ones.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
“The children romped about the graves clutching the little presents given them in the morning by the Sisters.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
In Parkersburg:
Orlie Bennett is rendered deaf and blind by a premature discharge of a miniature canon. (FWV 12.27.07 pg. 4)
In Farmington:
10-year-old Mary Lamb, daughter of Mrs. Jas. Lamb, climbs into a “dark wardrobe and strikes a match, igniting the clothing hanging there and set fire…Miss Blanche Lamb had her hands burned while trying to extinguish the flames. While the child’s burns are not serious, she is suffering a great deal.” (FWV 12.26.07 pg. 8)
In Monongah:
“Two hundred and fifty widows mourning for their dead. One thousand orphans, mostly children of tender years, mourning for absence of Santa Claus. Want, stalking specter-like through the entire district, and sickness on every hand.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
“Mourning services in the churches, mourning in the homes, sorrow in every face, despair in every heart; not a Christmas tree in all the length and breadth of the camps; and yet throughout the world ‘Peace on earth; good will toward men!’” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
“It was on No. 3 hill this blow fell the hardest. There in 60 families not a father escaped. From theses stricken homes more than a score of boys, just old enough to evade the labor laws went down to the same fate. Only one boy escaped and he was ill with typhoid fever. And of all this gathered harvest of death less than a dozen bodies found identified graves.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
“In the camps behind No. 6 and No. 8 mines, in Wahu, and across the river beyond No. 6 these conditions are repeated. What Christmas means where the blow comes with the redoubled force the imagination only can portray. Words fail. One’s mind dulls and the heart dumbs in the presence of grief so unutterable.” (TEP 12.26.07 pg. ?)
More on How Death Gloated!
The Monongah Disaster 