Bobbie, Thanks for your hard work. Peggy At 09:15 PM 12/03/2004 -0500, you wrote: >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