1942 — March 26, Sandts Eddy Limestone Quarry Dynamite Explosion, Easton PA — 31
— 31 Daily News (Huntingdon, PA). “Continue Search for Blast Clues,” March 28, 1942.
— 31 Front, et al. The Lehigh Valley Cement Industry. 2006, p. 49.
— 31 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mine Disasters.
— 31 The Morning Call, Allentown, PA. “Other Valley-area…Disasters…Lives.” 3-26-1992
— 21 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 284.
Narrative Information
Front: “Lehigh Portland Cement, Sandt’s Eddy….On March 26, 1942, thirty-one men died in the plant’s quarry when 20 tons of freshly delivered dynamite exploded during preparation for a blast. It was the worst accident in the history of the cement industry in the Lehigh District. The plant was closed in 1960 and was converted by the Con Agra Flour Milling Company.” (Front, et al. The Lehigh Valley Cement Industry. 2006, p. 49.)
Newspapers
March 26: “Easton, PA, March 26 – (AP) – Hundreds of pounds of dynamite exploded prematurely at a limestone quarry of the Lehigh Portland Cement company four miles north of Easton today killing at least 30 men and shaking the countryside for miles around…. The explosive was stacked on trucks and on the ground around the rim of the pit. Most of those killed were eating a mid-morning lunch nearby when the blast let go with devastating force about 9:30 a.m. ….The blast was felt as far away as 50 miles. Windows were shattered in homes and buildings in an 18-mile area. Fourteen children in grade school half a mile from the scene were injured slightly by flying glass from broken windows….Mary Koch, proprietress of a hotel about a quarter of a mile from the quarry, said the explosion ‘just lifted me out of bed, covers and all and dumped me on the floor…window glass was flying all over the place…and big stones began raining down on the roof’.” (Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. “Explosion at Limestone Quarry Shakes Country for Miles Around Today,” March 26, 1942, p. 1.)
March 28: “Easton, Pa., March 28. — Authorities today investigated a theory that a rifle shot may have set off 21 tons of dynamite at the Sandts Eddy quarry of the Lehigh Portland Cement Company, killing 31 workmen. Norman King .and E. H. Felegy, federal bureau of investigation agents, said it was possible that the dynamite had been exploded by a bullet fired from as far as a mile away. Investigators from a dozen federal, state and local agencies continued to search for clues to the blast, admitting they were unable to determine its cause. “All the witnesses were killed; everything was blown away,” said Thomas J. Quigley, chief of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mines and quarries; “There’s nothing to go on”.” (Daily News (Huntingdon). March 28, 1942.)
Sources
Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.
Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Continue Search for Blast Clues.” 3-28-1942, p. 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=102190174&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=0
Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. “Explosion at Limestone Quarry Shakes Country for Miles Around Today,” March 26, 1942, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=44605527&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=2
Front, Carol M., Joan Minton Christopher, Capwell Fox, Martha Capwell Fox. The Lehigh Valley Cement Industry. Arcadia Publishing, 2006, 128 pages. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=NnX33SJCy1QC
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Safety and Health Research.. Mining Disasters (Incidents with 5 or more Fatalities). NIOSH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2-26-2013 update. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/disall.htm
and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/allminingdisasters.html
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA. “Other Valley-area Mishaps and Disasters Have Taken Lives.” 3-26-1992. At: http://articles.mcall.com/1992-03-26/features/2835266_1_quarry-disaster-explosion