Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ===================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. ===================================================================== The Daily Star, Fredericksburg, Va. Friday, March 23, 1906 EXPLOSION KILLS MANY 10 Dead, 25 Injured and 25 to 75 Missing in Mine Disaster. No Hope for Entombed Men Rescuers Enter Shaft Immediately to Bring Out the Victims - The Death List May Reach Seventy-five - Many Pathetic Scenes. Fairmont, W. Va., March 23. - Ten men are known to be dead, 25 injured, and from 25 to 75 missing and believed to be dead, as the result of an explo- sion of gas in the shaft of the Century Coal company, at Century, a small mining town situated 50 miles south of Fairmont. Owing to the telephone wires being put out of commission by the high winds, details are lacking. The Century mine, which is owned by Shaw Brothers, of Baltimore, Md., is one of the largest independent op- erations in Northern West Virginia. Over 250 men are employed daily in the shaft, and had the explosion been an hour earlier the loss of life would have been appalling. As it was, there were but a few remaining in the shaft, the main body of the miners having quit work for the day. The giant fan which furnishes air for the shaft was partially wrecked by the force of the explosion, but was repaired imme- diately, and within an hour after the accident Superintendent James Ward had a relief gang in the mine. The first trip out brought 10 men, five of them dead and the other five badly burned. The dead were found in the main heading near the bottom of the shaft. The living could give no details of the explosion, saying that they were on their way to the surface, when the explosion took place behind them. A second expedition immediately went down and explored the main heading, which was found to be unin- jured by the explosion, except that the brattices were blown out. Four more bodies were found in this heading, and 20 injured men were making their way towards the bottom of the shaft and were brought to the surface by the rescuers. Immediately following the explosion the officials began a house to house canvass to ascertain the number of men to be found on the surface. This resulted in 160 miners being found who had come out previous to the explosion. It is believed that there are many more outside who have not yet been accounted for. If this is not true there are still 75 men in the mine, with little hope of their being res- cued alive. Relief trains bearing physicians were hurried from Phillips and Buck- hannon, and the doctors immediately took care of the wounded in the office building, which was transformed into a temporary hospital. The families of the dead, wounded and missing men gathered quickly at the opening, and the pathetic scenes always witnessed at such accidents were enacted. Several foreign women insisted upon going into the mine, and were only prevented from board- ing the cage by force. NOTE: The town of Century is in Barbour County. The Century Mine in Barbour County is within the "Fairmont-Phillipi Coalfied" which includes the counties of Barbour, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor. ===================================================================== If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other files for Marion County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/marion/ =====================================================================