1894 Explosion

At half past 8 o'clock on the morning of November,1894, a tremendous explosion occurred in the mines of the Iowa and Wisconsin Coal Company, two miles west of Albia. It occurred in what was known as the back entry of the main South. It had been allowed to fall in some time previous, and was now being opened up again by taking a "skip off the rib". The work had proceeded in this way till at the time of the occurrence it was twenty feet ahead of the last break through where the air was traveling, and 1,250 feet from the bottom of the shaft.

The explosion was caused primarily by a shot having been fired. The hole for the shot was a 2 1/2 inch hole, and it contained four and one half common charges of powder. The hole was 6 feet deep, and was 12 inches out of perpendicular. The shot was fired by a squib. Four men sat near the shot, inside the break through and in the main entry. Two other men were 90 feet distant. These men were burned worse than those in close proximity to the shot. The shot spent its force in the air, blowing out the tamping without breaking up the coal. The flame from the shot seemed to ignite in the air of the entry either an accumulation of gas or "dust".

In this explosion John A. Jones was killed and James Dyson and George Taylor were severely burned and maimed for life. The exact cause of the explosion was somewhat of a mystery to mining experts.