Coal was the most important mineral
resource of Sullivan County in the 1930’s.[1]
Coal was used commonly throughout the area and was heavily depended upon for
many things such as keeping houses warm as well as generating power to run the
major industries of the community.[2]
During the first world war the coal industry boomed and Sullivan county was
always rated among the top counties with total production. In it’s peak Sullivan county had 44 mines in
operation in 1923, with a production total of 5,179,193 tons and employed 6,067
men.[3]
The successes of Sullivan county’s’ mining decreased from this high in years
soon after. By 1938 coal mining in
Sullivan had gone down to only seven major mines employing 1,155 men with a production
of 1,421,322 tons.[4]
Coal mining was definitely unique and prided in Sullivan County. Within these
years there have been countless mine explosions as well as various other
working incidents that contributed to the decline in success and popularity. The Glendora Coal Company’s Baker Mine
explosion signaled a decline in the Sullivan county mining industry and
triggered greater concern of regulations for mine safety.
Working in Mines in the 1900’s was a
very dangerous thing. Disasters such as
gas explosions, falls of roof and coal, and other various accidents within a
days’ work of mining had raised much concern.
During the years between 1906 and 1910 the annual fatality rate was more
than double what it was the century earlier [5]. Within these accidents up to 1,000 men could
be killed by one explosion, they were becoming a matter of international
concern[6]. Although awareness of these explosions was
spreading and changes were being suggested about mining laws and policies
across America changes did not occur before the Mine explosion of 1937 in
Sullivan, Indiana.
On July 15, 1937, a horrific mine
explosion took place at the Glendora Coal Company’s Baker mine in Sullivan,
Indiana.[7]
The blast took the lives of twenty workers while leaving nine severely injured. The mine was one of three in the area owned
by the Sterling-Midland Coal Company.[8]
Ironically, the year previous to the explosion it had been awarded with the
best safety record in the state. The mine was 18 years old and this was the
worst explosion in its history.[9]
It was said that the explosion occurred one and three fourths miles from the
entrance. Fortunately 174 men escaped
the site alive and unharmed.[10]
When trying to determine a cause for the explosion, representatives of the
Federal Bureau of Mines and the Indiana State Department of Mines found it
reasonable to assume that the flame of an open lamp from a miner’s helmet could
have created a pocket of gas. [11]
They believe that the pocket of gas below the ceiling caused a blast setting
off a larger layer of gas feeding to the power of the explosion. Mines are regularly tested for gas, this one
too had been tested just two hours before the explosion. The inspection was done by Rollie Fair, a
fire marshal, who had reported no signs of gas at the time.[12] This failed inspection cost the lives of 20
innocent workers. The safety regulations
did not prevent this type of accident and were not sufficient in protecting the
willing workers from harm. The explosion
was the most serious mine disaster in Indiana since 1931. [13]
An act was approved in February 1933,
which provided “continuous inspection of coal mines generating noxious gasses
or coal dust in dangerous quantities, providing penalties for violation
thereof”. The first penalty for neglecting to report of dangerous conditions is
that the inspector or fire boss be guilty of a misdemeanor and must be
imprisoned in a county jail or penal farm for the period of one year.[14]
They also would be fined any sum as long as it did not exceed one thousand
dollars.[15]
Penalty 2 section 4 is that any person
who fails to preform an inspection as said in section 1 of the act would be
found guilty of a misdemeanor and with conviction should be fined no less than
one thousand dollars and no more than five thousand dollars. [16]
The House Committee on Mines and Mining
was considering establishing a bureau of mines.
Many were in favor of this addition.
The committee pushed federal involvement to uncover the causes of the
numerous explosions.[17] Investigations of explosions began with the
work of the “technologic Branch of The United States Geological Survey under
geologist Joseph A. Holmes” [18]. The survey tested the coal dust’s explosibility
as well as certified and tested the safety of mining equipment such as low
flame explosions and electric cap lamps.[19]
In 1910 the members of the Technologic Branch were transferred to the Bureau of
Mines that had been recently formed .[20] Some of their responsibilities were to
reflect the public opinions. These
opinions included public concerns regarding the conservation of human life and
natural resources, and also they were to conduct scientific investigations that
would ensure conditions safe and non-threatening. [21]
The bureau had no authority to conduct inspections or order supervision on the
mining sites, their job was simply to cooperate with mining corporations and
provide the technological support that was needed to reduce the harmful
conditions and other dangerous wastes and gasses present in the mines.[22] The bureau discovered that dangers and
incidents also stemmed from the economic agenda’s of both the operators and the
miners. [23]
The Bureau would continue safety
investigations. The investigations
primarily focused on preventing explosions.
They also promoted and ordered the use of “permissible mine equipment” [24]and
launched a mine rescue campaign. Its
most regarded work would be their investigations of the causes of coal dust
explosions and its “rock dusting”[25]
technology campaigns.
All of the coal dusting experiments
provided some conclusions. Even though
the bureaus attempts to prevent explosions by using “permissible explosives and
electric cap lamps”[26]
were good, they still had issues, the “rock dusting seemed to be the perfect
technological fix for mine explosions”.[27]
“A survey of seventeen explosions between January 1, 1926, and May 1, 1927,
revealed that in the seven sites where rock dust had been thoroughly applied,
97 percent of the men escaped. In ten mines that had been poorly treated or not
treated at all, only 60 percent of the workers survived”.[28]
This just proves how rock dusting really did secure the safety of miners at
work much more effectively then other methods.
Federal inspection of coal
mines-began in 1941.[29] Mine explosions became much less common in
the years before World War II. People speculate that “if the bureau’s
rock-dusting campaign had been a little more successful, federal regulation
might have been postponed indefinitely”.[30]
The bureau of mines and mining made
mines in the state of Indiana much safer then they had previously been. [31]
It is obvious that majority of the mine accidents were to be blamed solely on
the countless violations of the law. Members of the department as well as the
Vincennes division of the federal bureau of mines attended over 100 meetings of
accident prevention and first-aid work .[32]
The fatality rate for the years of 1936-1937 had been greater than what it was
between 1935-1936.[33]
Great efforts were clearly being channeled to reduce the number of accidents in
mines.
When explosions like these occurred
they impacted many groups of people. The
population was made up of approximately 5,390 people who all lived entirely off
of the revenue produced by its rich coal profits.[34]
Wives were distraught at the site as they learned about the loss of their
husbands and “wage earners”.[35] As a reaction to the mine explosion that
occurred in Sullivan County state and federal authorities searched for a cause
and explanation for the incident.
Workmen’s compensation insurance was there to try to help the widowers
care for their families, and a total of 90,000 dollars was given to the
survivors of the accident.[36]
Incidents such as this one have a ripple effect throughout the community. The explosion caused the mine to close until
July 31 when workers were finally able to return to their jobs.[37]
Because these explosions continued
to reoccur, many laws have been created to help prevent these incidents from
happening. In Indiana there are specific laws that must be followed. The Bureau for one is in charge of the
administration of all underground mine laws of Indiana. The Bureau must provide
“safety consultation to any underground
mine operator at the request of the operator”.[38]
They must provide mine safety education and health education to all underground
mine operators and employees. They are
responsible for investigating all facilities of mine operation for purposes of
data collection.[39] They must not interfere with any
investigation conducted by the Federal mine safety and health administration.[40]
A mine shall always be supervised by one or more men to who is responsible for
making sure the mining laws are being followed and the health and safety of the
employees is ensured.[41] The Bureau of mines and mine safety must have
at least one mine rescue team.[42]These
are just a few of the laws and regulations implemented to try to lessen the
frequency of major accidents on mining sites.
Many newspapers reflect the immense
impact these explosions have had on their communities. In reference to the Sullivan mine explosion
newspaper headlines address it as “Scenes at Sullivan Mine Tragedy,” [43]
and “Terrific Blast.” [44]
These words alone show that the community felt these incidents to be true tragedies
for many. The town of Sullivan was referred to as a “southwestern Indiana
mining town.” [45] In this time when towns depended on the
production of coal and other various materials, mining was the job that most
men had. Before the accident people went about their lives normally and
husbands went to work at the coal mine.
There were no interruptions and working at the coal mine, although some
men feared it, was an average and thought to be a relatively safe place of
employment. When accidents were to
occur, communities were hit hard. Wives
lost their husbands, employers lost employees as well as production rates,
state and federal governments were left with the pressure of finding ways to
avoid accidents, and of course innocent lives were taken by surprise. The
disaster effected all of these people differently however the impact was large
on all groups. Some people were going
through an economic loss from the disaster and some dealing with personal
losses. The victims of such accidents
are middle class men working to support their families. The disaster brought the community together
to realize how devastating these disasters may be and catalyzed change within
the community. The disaster pushed the
Federal and Sate government as well as Local industries to make changes to
their systems. The job on its own is a
dangerous one. Mining requires going
deep into the earth to extract valuable natural materials. Safety will always be a concern when
referring to the profession of mining however the laws and regulations that
were touched on above have definitely helped lessen the dangers and negative consequences
of mining. The Baker Mine explosion of
1937 was one of the factors that lead up to a greater awareness of mine safety.
Bibliography
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Needless Peril of The Coal Mine” : The Bureau of Mines
and The Campaign against Coal Mine
Explosions.(Technology and Culture), Vol. 36, No. 3. P.485. The Johns Hopkins
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“Compensation
to Give 90,000 To Survivors,” Logansport Press, July 17, 1937. P.1.
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of Mines and Mining,” Indiana University Digital Library, 1933. P.742.
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[1] Federal Writers Project Tenth District,
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[2] Federal Writers Project Tenth District,
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[3] Federal Writers Project Tenth District,
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[4] Federal Writers Project Tenth District,
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[5]
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[6] Aldrich, Mark, “The Needless Peril of
The Coal Mine” P.488
[7] “20 Miners Killed By Blast In Indiana”
New York Times, July 16, 1937. P.1.
[8] “20 Miners Killed By Blast In Indiana”
New York Times, July 16, 1937. P.1.
[9] “Score Killed in Indiana Mine Blast: Men
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[10] “Score Killed in Indiana Mine Blast,”
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[11] “20 Miners Killed By Blast In Indiana,”
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[12] “20 Miners Killed By Blast In Indiana,”
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[13] “20 Miners Killed By Blast In Indiana,”
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[14] “Department of Mines and Mining,”
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[15] “Department of Mines and Mining,”
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[16] “Department of Mines and Mining,”
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[17] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
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[18]Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless Peril
of The Coal Mine,” P.490
[19] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
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[20] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
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[21] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.491
[22] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.491
[23] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.492
[24] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.495
[25] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.495
[26] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.502
[27] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.502
[28] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.514
[29] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.517
[30] Aldrich, Mark. “The Needless
Peril of The Coal Mine,” P.518
[31] “Department of Mines and Mining,”
Indiana University Digital Library, 1933. P.647
[32] “Department of Mines and Mining,”
Indiana University Digital Library, 1933. P.647
[33] “Department of Mines and Mining,”
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[34] “74 Feared Killed In Mine In Indiana,”
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[35] “Compensation to Give 90,000 To
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[36] “Compensation to Give 90,000 To
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[37] “Reopen Baker Mine,” The Hammond Times,
July 31, 1937. P.1. Accessed February, 2014. http://access.newspaperarchive.com/hammond-times/1937-07-31/page-49?tag=mine+and+sullivan&rtserp=tags/mine-and-sullivan?ndt=bd&pem=12&py=1937&pm=6&pey=1938&psb=relavance
[38] McCorckle, Donald. “Coal Mining Laws Of
Indiana,” Indiana Department of Labor. 2007. P.2. Accessed February, 2014. http://www.in.gov/dol/Website_Upload_-_Indiana_Coal_Mining_Laws.pdf
[39] McCorckle, Donald. “Coal Mining Laws Of
Indiana,” P.2.
[40] McCorckle, Donald. “Coal Mining Laws Of
Indiana,” P.2.
[41] McCorckle, Donald. “Coal Mining Laws Of
Indiana,” P.2.
[42] McCorckle, Donald. “Coal Mining Laws Of
Indiana,” P.2.
[43] “Compensation to Give 90,000 To
Survivors,” Logansport Press, P.1.
[44] “Reopen Baker Mine,” The Hammond Times,
July 31, 1937. P.1.
[45] “Compensation to Give 90,000 To
Survivors,” Logansport Press, P.1.
