COAL MINE EXPLOSIONS

In my novel The Crows’ Omen, there are three coal-mine explosions discussed in the storyline. The first appears mainly in passing. The explosion that occurred in Frontenac, Kansas, on November 9, 1888, killed more than forty men. For a detailed explanation of what caused this terrible accident, please follow this link. 

The second is featured in chapter three, where the character Henry Teller, the union district president, informs the union national president, John Mitchell, about what happened. This event is pivotal in Ian’s backstory, as it explains not only how Ian risked his life to save others but also how he became the state inspector of mines soon afterward, the first such person elected to that state office by the union lodges. The explosion in chapter three was modeled heavily on the real-life accident that occurred at Southwestern Coal and Improvement Company Mine Number Sixteen in West Mineral, Kansas, on March 18, 1911, when five men died after a miner drilled into an adjacent mine that was no longer operational. Wave after wave of gas from the old mine spilled into Mine Number Sixteen, causing several explosions before the mine officials understood what had happened. There is a detailed account of this tragic event in the coal-mine inspection reports, authored by the state mine inspector at the time, Frank Gilday. Here is the link to read all about it.

The explosions in Frontenac and West Mineral shared one thing in common: they were gas (or firedamp) explosions. The third and final explosion in the story, however, was a different type altogether. This part of the tale begins in chapter thirty-two, and it unfolds over the course of several chapters. I am talking about the explosion that occurs at the fictional Bird Dog mine, involving the coal trip, or the collection of coal cars towed by an electric hauling motor. Like its counterpart in chapter three, this fictional event is modeled extensively on a very real accident. This one occurred at Fidelity Coal Mining Company Mine Number One, in Stone City, Kansas, on December 20, 1906, when seven men lost their lives.  A number of lawsuits soon followed, filed by the decedent’s families against the company.

The fictional Bird Dog explosion is crucial to the storyline for many reasons. Most notably, the accident forces Ian to let go of his anger to secure happiness, and it affords Sawyer the opportunity to become the lawyer he always wanted to be. But there is a third and equally crucial reason why this part of the story is so important: it presents a compelling mystery. How did the kegs of powder explode without sparks dropping from the overhead trolley line or from a miner’s lamp? Was the explosion really caused by electricity flowing through the hauling motor? Could an electrical current really shoot through the drawbar and ignite a keg of black powder sitting inside one of the coal cars?

Admittedly, when I began reading about the explosion at Mine Number One of Fidelity, I was quickly drawn in. There are two reasons for that and why I wrote so extensively about it in the book. The first is that I am intimately familiar with the land where this tragic event happened, having spent a large part of my childhood across the road at my family’s farm. Second, the lawyer in me saw it as a perfect opportunity to build an exciting case of negligence, because it explores the following questions: Did poor grounding in the electrical system cause the accident, or did Jimmy Dibbs really do something to sabotage the motor? To answer that question, of course, you must read the book to draw your own conclusions.

As this tragic occurrence is discussed extensively in chapters thirty-two through forty-two of the book, at least in a fictional manner, I won’t go into any real discussion about the events here. But for an account of what really happened at the Fidelity mine that day, here is a link to the coal-mine inspection reports where the accident is given special attention.

In closing, I would like to pay my respects to the men who were killed or injured in the terrible accident that occurred on December 20, 1906, in Stone City, Kansas. These men and their families, like those of other tragic events, paid a horrible price, and for that they should be remembered. The men who were killed and injured are as follows: 

Dead:

Frank Brennan[AL5] 

Jonathan Day

Heslep Dorman

J. W. Edwards

Mat Lucca

Al Pottorff[AL6] 

Don Rat

Injured:[AL7] 

Angelo Betaste

Emil Betaste

Adolph Helms

Burt Lucca

Rufus Miller

Antone Peas

August Treussel

Charles Treussel

Julius Venason