Accidents and Deaths for the 2 years ending June 1905

 

 

List of fatal accidents occurring in the mines of the first district for the year ending June 30, 1905.

 

It seems to be unneccessary to review in detail all of the above accidents, but believing that all available information regarding explosions occurring in this State should be presented, in order that such information may be of some assistance to suggest means to prevent them in the future, I give the results of my investigation of the explosion which occurred on January 25, 1904, in mine No. 6, of the Phillips Fuel Co.

Two lives were lost in this explosion. A. Carlson, the shot examiner and shotfirer, and his assistant, J. W. Stevens, were the victims. Their dead bodies were found on the fifth south entry. There is no doubt about the explosion's starting point. It originated in room 6 on the sixth south entry and its occurrence, in my judgment, was largely due to the fact that the shot examiner apparently only considered the shots prepared in the sixth south entry separately as to their safety and failed to recognize the danger that existed in the injudicious manner of firing the shots located in a part of the mine extremely limited in space. The shot which caused the explosion, considered by itself, would probably have been accepted as reasonably safe by any other shot examiner in the district, and, in my judgment, fired by itself, although containing too much powder for the work done, would not have caused any harm. I believe it was a combination of dangerous conditions existing in and about room 6 when this shot was fired, that made the explosion possible and it was a failure on the part of the shotfirers to notice the existence of these threatening conditions that cost them their lives.

The ventilation in the fifth and sixth south entries was generally good, but as at the request of the shotfirers the fan was stopped when the miners were leaving the mine, there was little, if any, air movement at firing time. It was found that no rooms had been turned on the fifth south entry and that rooms 1 and 2 on the sixth south entry were not working, that shots had been prepared and fired in rooms 3, 4, 5 and 6 and in the sixth south entry. It was also established that two shots were fired in room 6. The shotfirers evidently commenced lighting the shots in room 3, and proceeding southward they probably touched off the fuses of the shots in room 6 and the entry at the same time, retiring through the last crosscut to the fifth south entry.

That the explosion originated in room 6 was shown by the fact that, while the loose coal at the mouth of room 5 and the coal thrown by the entry shot was covered with soot and dust, room 6 and its immediate vicinity presented a clean appearance as if it had been swept with a broom. The explosion's force was comparatively small and very little coked dust was found and that only in the immediate vicinity of room 6.

It is, of course, impossible to establish the exact co-relation of forces that brought on the explosion. As it is customary to so regulate the length of fuses, when more than one shot is fired in a place, that the shots may not explode at the same time, it is not probable that the two shots in room 6 exploded together. I believe the shot fired in the sixth south entry was the main factor contributing to the explosion's origin. It was proved that this shot exploded prior to the shot in room 6, the difference in time being very slight and may not have exceeded the fractional part of a second. That being the case, we have this situation: The pressure from the entry shot momentarily retards the dissipation of the heated gases coming from the shot in room 6, their heat is increased and intensified in consequence, additional and ready fuel is provided by the dust swept out of the face of the entry past the mouth of room 6, and the explosion is the result.

The explosion could have been prevented; at any rate there should have been no loss of life. The shotfirers erred in considering the fifth south entry a safe retreat. In close workings shotfirers should never remain on the entry while the shots are being fired close by; it means certain death should any of these shots cause even a slight explosion. They erred also in the manner of lighting the shots; they should have fired the entry shots first, commencing on the fifth south entry. They should have waited until these shots had done their work and then fired the room shots in the sixth south entry, starting in room 6. Their place of retreat should have been room 1 on the sixth south entry.

 

Fatal accidents in District No. 1, July 1, 1903-June 30, 1905.

Date	Name of Deceased	Occupation	Cause of death	Employed by
Sep. 12, 1903	D. Jenkins	timberman	fall of slate	Wapello Coal Co
Dec. 3, 1903	P. Stancovich	miner	fall of slate	Hocking Coal Co
Jan. 20, 1904	P. E. Carlson	miner	crushed by cage	Hocking Coal Co
Jan. 25, 1904	J. W. Stevens	shotfirer	explosion	Phillips Fuel Co
Jan. 25, 1904	A. Carlson	shotfirer	explosion	Phillips Fuel Co
May 23, 1904	W. H. Mitchell	miner	fall of slate	Wapello Coal Co
Jun. 30, 1904	S. Vedo	miner	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Mar. 23, 1905	Thos. Davis	miner	fall of slate	Phillips Fuel Co
May 19, 1905	Thos. Dwyer		fall of slate	Wapello Coal Co
Jun. 20, 1905	L. Jones	miner	skull broken by post	Hocking Coal Co

 

Serious accidents in District No. 1, July 1, 1903-June 30, 1905

Date	Name of injured	Occupation	Character of injury	Cause of injury	Employed by
July 9, 1903	Ed Brock	driver	arm broken	caught between cars	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Sep. 10, 1903	A. J. Swanson	driver	nose & jaw broken	kicked by mule	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Oct. 21, 1903	R. Snodgrass	miner	leg broken	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Nov.r 16, 1903	R. Zimmerman	miner	leg broken	fall of slate	Wapello Coal Co
Jan. 27, 1904	F. Quilliane	laborer	bone in ankle broken	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Feb. 9, 1904	F. Hines	miner	three fingers cut off	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Feb. 9, 1904	Wm Hall	miner	leg broken	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Mar. 12, 1904	W. Bilterman	miner	leg broken	fall of coal	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Mar. 21, 1904	J. Bazzaco	miner	loss of eye	struck by piece of steel from wedge	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
May 2, 1904	P. Jackson	driver	finger cut off	car jumped track	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Jul. 21, 1904	J. Sonoras	miner	back dislocated	fall of slate	Hocking Coal Co
Jul. 29, 1904	H. Kephart	miner	head & hips hurt	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Aug. 20, 1904	J. Farego	miner	leg broken	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Aug. 24, 1904	C. E. Starkey	miner	ankle broken	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Aug. 26, 1904	A. Kisela	miner	leg broken	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Nov. 14, 1904	J. B. Williams	miner	contraction of leg muscles	fall of coal	Hocking Coal Co
Nov. 22, 1904	F. McVeitty	trapper	leg crushed	run over by car	Hocking Coal Co
Dec. 1, 1904	J. Moyle, Jr.	miner	leg broken	fall of slate	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Jan. 15, 1905	H. Bilterman, Jr	driver	leg broken	struck by car	White Ash Coal Co
Jan. 16, 1905	J. Rajick	miner	ribs broken	fall of rock	Whitebreast Fuel Co
Jan. 20, 1905	D. Nelson	miner	collarbone broken	fall of slate	Star Coal Co
Feb. 10, 1905	A. Parker	laborer	leg broken	struck by car	Wapello Coal Co
Feb. 25, 1905	W. Milligan	driver	shoulder dislocated	squeezed by mule	Smoky Hollow Coal Co
Apr. 20, 1905	J. Wester	laborer	collarbone & ribs broken	fall of slate	Whitebreast Fuel Co
Apr. 24, 1905	Wm. Brown	timberman	rib broken	fall of slate	Star Coal Co
Jun. 10, 1905	cM. Eaves	miner	leg broken	fall of slate	Wapello Coal Co

 

Fatal accidents in second district for the two years ending June 30, 1905

 

List of non-fatal accidents in the second district for the two years ending June 30, 1905.

 

 

 

Biennial report of the State Mine Inspectors, to the Governor of the State

 

by Iowa Department of Mine Inspectors