1900 — May 23, Cumnock coal mine gas explosion, Cumnock, Chatham County, NC — 23

–23  Brisson. “The Coal Glen Mining Disaster…,” The State Magazine, Feb 1981.

–23  Fay. Coal Mine Fatalities in the United States 1870-1914 (Bulletin 115). 1916, p. 251.[1]

–23  Greenberg. Disaster!: A Compendium of Terrorist, Natural and Man-Made… 2006, p. 216.

–23  Harrill in Charlotte Observer in Hairr (Coal Mine Disasters of North Carolina), p. 42.

–23  NIOSH. Coal Mining Disasters: 1839 to Present. Centers for Disease Control and Prevent.[2]

–23  The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Mine Disaster in Chatham.” 5-25-1900, p. 6.

–22  Mount Airy News, NC. “Another Cumnock Mine Horror.” 5-24-1900, p. 2.

 

Narrative Information

 

Brisson: “On May 23, 1900, the mine exploded and twenty-three died.  Bankruptcy followed within two years and again the waters of Deep River found the mine.”  (Brisson 1981)

 

Hairr: “J. F. Harrill, superintendent of the Cumnock Railroad, was one of the first company officials on the scene and helped direct the rescue efforts. Harrill even climbed into the mine hunting for survivors, but they rescued only five people, two of whom died from their wounds.

 

“Harrill took the train from Cumnock to Raleigh to purchase coffins for the dead miners. He stopped long enough in Raleigh to describe to a correspondent of the Charlotte Observer the tragic events that transpired back in Chatham County.

 

The dead and injured, as rapidly as found by rescuers, who groped about with safety lamps in hand, were placed in the little cars and taken to the shaft and then lifted to the surface. The hair was burned off their heads and faces, necks and hands were so scorched that the skin fell off at a touch. Their ears were in most cases bured to a crisp, thet the clothing was not burned.

 

One body has not been recovered, that of Sam McIntyre, colored, and it is said there is no hope of finding it. Some think McIntyre was entirely burned or blown to pieces or that he is covered with debris. The mine was not wrecked, and the costly machinery is uninjured. By midnight all the bodies were out save McIntyre’s. Harrill says he worked all night. It was found that 19 men were killed by the explosion and four by the terrible after-damp [gas]. Harrill says this after-damp has a peculiar and most loathsome odor and that he felt as if his very system were saturated wit it. There was a great deal of fire-damp in the mine; it appears that this has always been the case.

 

“Initially, it was though that a charge of dynamite had set off a firedamp explosion, but later investigation revealed that this was not the case. The most plausible explanation that mine officials and inspectors from the labor commissioner’s office came up with was that the explosion was caused when firedamp was ignited by the flame of a safety lantern carried by Simeon McIntyre, whose body was the last to be removed from the mine. Those who were in the mine at the time of the blast knew that McIntyre was near the point where the explosion began and figured that his body was blown into oblivion. But his body was found three days after the blast, along with his safety lamp.

 

“Investigators noticed something strange about McIntyre’s lamp: ‘A hole was in the thick glass of his lamp, and the theory is that an excess of gas gathered suddenly from some unknown reservoir and caused the lamp to burn a hole through the glass. It is asserted that the hole is plainly broken from the interior outward.’

 

“A coroner’s jury…was convened to investigate the accident. Their report, dated May 24, 1900, noted, ‘We, the jurors summoned by the Coroner, have investigated the Cumnock Coal Mine disaster, and find that these twenty-one men came to their deaths by the explosion of gas and the after-damp, but how the fire originated, we can not say.’” (Hairr, John. Coal Mine Disasters of North Carolina. 2017, pp. 42-43.)

 

Newspaper

 

May 23: “A report reached Mount Airy last night, confirming the news of the Cumnock disaster, and stating that 22 miners were killed by the explosion. Readers of The News will remember that a similar disaster occurred at the Cumnock mines only a few years ago, at which time 43 miners lost their lives and many women and children were in one fatal moment made widows and orphans.

Later

 

“Cumnock, N.C., May 22 [?]. — As a result of an explosion in the coal mines here at 4:30 o’clock this afternoon 22 men, ten white and twelve colored, lost their lives. The accident occurred in what is known as the east heading, and between forty and fifty men were in the mine at the time of the explosion….In all, four disasters have occurred at this mine, and 85 lives lost, while many others have been injured.

 

“The Cumnock mines are situated in Chatham county, about six miles from Sanford.” (Mount Airy News, NC. “Another Cumnock Mine Horror.” 5-24-1900, p. 2.)

 

May 23: “Sanford Special, 23d, to Charlotte Observer. As the result of an explosion of fire-damp in the coal mine at Cumnock (Chatham county) at 4:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon, 22 men… lost their lives. The accident is supposed to have been caused by the explosion of a dynamite cartridge fired in driving a heading. The accident was in the east slope.

 

“Between 40 and 50 men were in the mine at the time the explosion occurred. Five were brought out alive from the east slope, while none of the men in the west slope were injured. The names of the killed are as follows:

 

White

Jno. Connolly, mine superintendent;

Joe Glass.

William Tyser,

Jas. McCarthy,

Jno. Harkey,

Wesley Clegg,

John Willett,

Joe Gatewood,

Robert Gatewood.

Colored

 

Sim McIntyre,

Dan Goldston,

Joe Frazier,

Will Reeves,

Robert Reeves,

Ollie Bynum,

Joe Taylor,

Jim Marks,

John Lee Palmer,

Jim Palmer,

Peter Palmer,

Joe Hubbard.

 

“Shortly after the explosion occurred the work of rescue began and by night all the bodies except two or three had been removed.

 

“Later, 10.45 p.m.–The name of another negro was added to the list of the dead as a result of the explosion, making in all 23, 10 white men and 13 negroes. Four of the five men brought out alive are still living and it is thought three of them will recover. They are now able to talk but are unable to related their experience while in the mine after the explosion occurred.

 

“Some think the explosion was caused by a broken gauze in a safety lamp, while others think it was caused by the explosion of a dynamite cartridge. The miners had noticed that a great deal of gas had accumulated in the east heading during the past few days. Two or three men are yet unaccounted for.

 

“The explosion was not like the one of four years ago, as it made very little noise. It was some time after the explosion occurred before the miners in the other parts of the mine learned of it. Mr. Hare, one of the bosses in the mine, says he thinks he could have saved several of the men had he known it earlier….

 

“John Connolly, superintendent of the mine, was an Englishman. His remains, with those of Jas. McCarthy, will be taken to Pittston, Pa., for burial….

 

“Before the civil war a squad of workmen were killed by an explosion in this mine. In December 1895, an explosion caused the death of 40 men who were at work at the mine.”[3] (The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Mine Disaster in Chatham. Another Explosion at the Cumnock Coal Mine Results in the Death of Twenty-Three Men…” 5-25-1900, p. 6.)

 

Sources

 

Brisson, Lynn. “The Coal Glen Mining Disaster, Farmville, Chatham County, N.C., May 27, 1925.” The State Magazine, February 1981. Accessed 11-12-2017 at: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pfwilson/state-1981.html

 

Fay, Albert H. (Compiler).  Coal Mine Fatalities in the United States 1870-1914 (Bulletin 115).  Washington, DC:  Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, 1916.  Digitized by Google.  Accessed 11-12-2017 at:  https://books.google.com/books?id=161GAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Greenberg, Michael I.  Disaster!: A Compendium of Terrorist, Natural and Man-Made Catastrophes.  Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc., 2006.

 

Hairr, John. Coal Mine Disasters of North Carolina. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2017. Google preview accessed 11-12-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=rf9tDQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Mount Airy News, NC. “Another Cumnock Mine Horror.” 5-24-1900, p. 2. Accessed 11-12-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-airy-news-may-24-1900-p-2/

 

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 Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Mine Disaster in Chatham. Another Explosion at the Cumnock Coal Mine Results in the Death of Twenty-Three Men…” 5-25-1900, p. 6. Accessed 11-12-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/statesville-landmark-may-25-1900-p-6/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Has date as May 23, 1899.

[2] Has this event listed twice — May 23, 1899 and May 23, 1900. All other details identical.

[3] NIOSH. Mine Disasters, shows 39.