The Marianna Mine Explosion November 28th, 1908. 110 Years Later.
 |
| November 29th, 1908 Ocala Evening Star (Ocala, Fl) |
On the morning of November 28, 1908, shortly before 11 a.m. was a disastrous explosion at the new Marianna mine of the Pittsburg-Buffalo Coal Company built in 1906. The explosion ripped through the Rachel and Agnes shafts killing 154 miners, and leaving one survivor. The catastrophe was the worst disaster in Washington County history, and one of the worst disasters in American mining. The cause of the explosion was to attributed to a blown out shot which ignited the gas and dust in the mine (Marianna mine was an open-lamp mine). The explosion was one of surprise to inspectors, miners, and coal company owners being the mine was considered safe, and the most modern bituminous mine in the world.
The explosion was heard for miles. Mine inspectors arrived on scene, as did company Chairman James Jones and others of importance via train sometime later. Deputy State Mine Inspector Henry Louitt was also on scene, and as told in reports, he was just minutes before the explosion with General Manager Kerr of the company where he had just completed a two day inspection of the mine, which revealed no cause for alarm.
The Pittsburg-Buffalo company was
owned and operated by the Jones brothers, recognized as leaders in coal mining
in Pa. James Jones was the company chairman. The ill-fated Rachel Shaft (named
after Rachel Jones) was the main hoisting shaft. The Agnes shaft (named after Agnes Jones,
who, like Rachel, was a daughter of William Jones, Vice President and General
Sales Agent of the Pittsburgh-Buffalo Company and son of James Jones), was a
supply shaft but also served as a hoisting shaft. The Rachel and Agnes branches
were a double mine with underground connections.
The disaster, along with several other mining disasters in the state and
country in the early 1900’s, helped catalyze public awareness that led to the passage
of the Organic Act of 1910 (Public Law 179), which established the U.S Bureau
of Mines in the Department of the interior on May 16, 1910, to deal with a wave
of catastrophic mine disasters; though President Theodore Roosevelt recommended
in 1907 to establish a U.S Bureau of Mines in the Department of Interior,
Congress did not act on it until a serious of disasters in the Nation’s coal
mines had focused public attention on the loss of human life. Those mining
disasters included 361 miners killed in Monongah, WV (1907); 239 in Jacobs Creek mine, Pa (1907); Darr Mine
Explosion, Pa. 239 (1907); 154 in Marianna mine, Pa (1908), and 259 at Cherry
Mine Disaster, Illinois (1909), as well as others.
The Federal Bureau of Mines worked to find better methods to
reduce the number of future mine fatalities. It was understood by inspectors of
Marianna mine that several other factors needed addressing in order to reduce
future mine fatalities, such as more careful watering of the mines, better use
of safety explosives that were found to unsafe, and improved safety lamps in
mines apt to giving off explosives. The Bureau’s mission gradually expanded
research to enhance the safety and health impact of mining and processing of
minerals and materials, and various other issues associated with mine safety.
The town of Marianna Borough is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places as the Marianna Historic District. Marianna mine closed in
1988.
sources:
Potisek,
Lilian, and Singadine Muchant. A Bicentennial History of West Bethlehem
Township and Marianna Borough: 1776-1976. Marianna, Pa: Privately printed,
1976.
Report of
the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania Part
2-Bituminous 1908. 1909,
Harrisburg Publishing Company 1909, p. 5. Hathi Trust Online Library. Pennsylvania
“Terrible Mine Disaster.” Charleroi Mail,
30 November 1908, p. 2, Charleroi, Pa
“The Story
of the Awful Catastrophe”, The Observer Publishing Co, 30 November 1908,
Washington, Pa
“The
Marianna Disaster” The Daily Republican, 24, April 1913. P. 4,
Monongahela, Pa.
“Disaster at
Marianna is a Cruel Stab of Fate”, Pittsburgh Daily Post, 30, November
1908, p. 5, col. 1. Pittsburgh, Pa.
“Picture of
Rachel Jones” The Daily Republican, 3, December, 1908. p. 1,
Monongahela, Pa.
“Another
Disaster on List of Mine Horrors” Chillicothe Gazette, 28, November,
1908, vol 22, no. 130. Chillicothe, Ohio
“The
Countries Major Coal Mine Accidents” The Scranton Truth, 12, May, 1913,
p. 6, Scranton, Pennsylvania
"History of Mining" CDC
