Mine Explosion (see more on the 1908 explosion on timeline)
March 1909 The Daily Republican
"A great number of English speaking miners deplore the lamentable fact that the indiscriminate hiring of foreigners in the mines of this state where explosive gases generate has a tendency (owing to their carelessness and lack of knowledge of the dangers with which they are surrounded), to jeopardize the lives of all the rest of the miners in the mine. I have noticed that they deliberately violate rules asked to be observed by the mine officials." -Fred Lennon
Mr. Lennon's letter also claims that when a man gets a job in a Washington county mine they are not asked if they are an experienced miner. They just get a safety lamp.
