Hello Bobbie Just Wandering If I could have your permission to use the article on the Anderson Co Tn Local History Network? Thanks Melissa ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bobbie Ivey-Lewallen" <tngirl@jellico.com> To: <TNCAMPBE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 6:15 PM Subject: Re: [TNCAMPBE-L] Cross Mountain Mine Disaster > 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 ==== > Does Anyone Ever Read the Taglines ??? Just Curious..Also, Please change your Subject Line. We all tend to forget that.Self included. > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/TNCAMPBE >