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Archiver > TNCAMPBE > 2004-12 > 1102389865


From: Lorne Harmon <>
Subject: Re: [TNCAMPBE-L] Cross Mountain Mine Disaster
Date: Mon, 06 Dec 2004 20:33:23 -0700
References: <1ed.3015f472.2ee07b08@aol.com>
In-Reply-To: <004a01c4d9a7$344ace20$78d01840@computer>


Bobbie,
Thanks for your hard work.
Peggy

At 09:15 PM 12/03/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>My husband's grandmother, Mossie Belle Robbins (maiden name) lost her
>husband, father and brother in that mining disaster. I can't imagine the
>heartbreak she went through.
>Bobbie
>
>Here is another article about it:
>
>CROSS MOUNTAIN EXPLOSION
>
>The following article was taken from Lake City Banner, December 1, 1977.
>
>It was a cold, overcast Saturday morning the Dec. 9 in 1911 as the dawn
>greeted the families in the hollows that lace the ridges along the narrow
>valley called Briceville. Many of the families in one of those hollows,
>Slatestone, prepared for another hard day in the Cross Mountain coal mine
>much as they had done for years.
>
>The men and some of their sons had risen early. Dressing in the dark, they
>had put on clothes still stiff from the sweat and dirt from the work of the
>day before. They had eaten a breakfast of honey and bread, or, "if times
>were good," they had eaten some meat and gravy.
>
>Gathering their tools, the miners walked the short distance to the mine. On
>that fateful day, of the 150 regular miners who normally worked at the
>mines, only 89 reported for work because of a shortage of coal cars.
>
>As the men entered the mine entrance, called by some the "Bank," it was 6:30
>a.m.
>
>As they walked farther and farther into the deep tunnels that lead into the
>very heart of the mountain, small crews of men separated off to go to their
>work areas for the day's labor. The sounds of the hoofs of the nearly 50
>mules could be heard up and down the long corridors.
>
>At 7:20 somewhere deep in one of the rooms or in some passageway, it
>happened. Perhaps it was a spark from a squibb used to ignite a powder
>charge. Or maybe it was the flame from a miner's oil lamp.
>
>In a moment frozen in time, a luckless miner realized that the most feared
>of all things in a mine had come, an explosion. In one split instant, the
>place where he stood was filled with blinding light and then a thunderous
>explosion. A pocket of methane gas or coal dust had ignited, and before it
>would run its course, 85 lives would be taken.
>
>Racing down the headway toward the surface, the concussion twisted and
>killed as it went. At the mine entrance a clean up crew was blown back by
>the blast.
>
>Within minutes the entire community knew of the explosion. Rescue teams
>began to form almost at once.
>
>Deep in the mine, most of the men weren't killed by the blast, but now faced
>an even more deadly threat, the dreaded after damp, or carbon monoxide.
>
>Many of them began to barricade themselves in the rooms. One such group was
>a father and son, William and Milton Henderson from Clinton. With them were
>Irwin Smith, Arthur Scott and Dore Irish.
>
>Mr. Henderson later told what they did.
>
>We barricaded up the entrance to the mine room. With our coats we fought
>back the after damp the came through the cracks in the brattice, and then
>stuck our coats and other articles of wearing apparel in the holes in the
>brattice. We had lights, our dinner, and each of us had from half to three
>quarters of a gallon of water and coffee in our dinner pails."
>
>Other miners were trying to do the same thing.
>
>A large 10-foot exhaust fan was installed to clear the mine of the smoke and
>gas. When the rescue teams thought it safe to go in, they took with them a
>canary which could detect the deadly after damp.
>
>The team had gone into the mine only a short distance when the little bird
>fell dead. Thinking they had reached a current of poisonous gas, there was a
>wild dash to the outside.
>
>But then the men realized that it was the smoke from their own lamps that
>had killed the bird. Getting another bird and safety lamps, the men started
>back in.
>
>In Henderson's group, late Saturday night Scott and Irish decided to take a
>chance and try for the outside. They left the safety of the room and started
>for the entrance. It was the last the other three saw of them until Monday
>when they met on the outside.
>
>Henderson reported that on Sunday the remaining three attempted to leave but
>were forced back to the room. "We remained there until discovered on Monday
>at 8:15 at night."
>
>Those killed in the Cross Mountain mine were:
>James A. White
>Joe Farmer
>Frank Leinart
>Eunis Robbins
>E.F. Duncan
>Dan Martin
>A.L. Haynes
>T.A. Leatherwood Jr.
>Aaron Duncan
>Arthur Smith
>John Duff
>F.A. Duff
>H.A. Rish
>Thomas Thomas
>Richard McQueen
>Eugene Ault
>Taylor Ault
>Henry Burton
>Charles Kesterson
>John White
>Conda Harmon
>Robert Sharp
>Herman Sharp
>P.A. Hatmaker
>Charles Marlin
>W.A. Gammon
>Dave Robbins (Mossie's brother)
>Joe McQueen
>Ernest Elliott
>J.S. Peterson
>Harvey Martin
>Alzono Wood
>Roy Peters
>Sam Miller
>Mark Marlow
>W.A. Farmer
>Andrew Johnson
>W.P. Rolland
>Albert Rolland
>Eugene Peters
>Lynn Wood
>James Foust
>Lee Polston
>John Marshall
>Robert Hunter
>Melvine McKamey
>Durvin Pryor
>Monroe Vandergriff
>Will Irick
>Ben Gallaher
>Reuben Gaylor
>Lewis Teno
>Harry Cannon
>Alonzo Martin
>Charles Hill
>Ed Risden
>R.J. Lester
>Thomas Martin
>Francis Ridenour
>Isaac Duncan
>Coster Payne
>Thomas Marlow
>C.E. Olvey
>Oscar Olvey
>E.J. Long
>James Carden
>Luther Wood
>George Slover
>Pat Vallalay
>Tate Vallalay
>James A. Marlin
>John Allen Jr. (Mossie's husband)
>James Robbins (Mossie's father)
>Joe Ridenour
>J.K. Cooper
>J.F. Haynes
>James Gilbraith
>Noah White
>Charles Whitted
>Sill Hutson
>Dan Phillips
>and Charles White.
>
>
>==== TNCAMPBE Mailing List ====
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