TESTIMONY TAKEN IN CONNECTION WITH

FATAL ACCIDENTS TO

 

BERNARD SMITH

GEORGE LOAR

ROBERT DODDS

 

WAYNESBURG MINE NO. 5

 

GEORGE’S CREEK COAL COMPANY, INC.

Lonaconing, Md.

 

August 14, 1949

 

 

 

 

 

Testimony taken by:  Frank Powers

                                   State Mine Inspector

TESTIMONY TAKEN IN CONNECTION WITH

FATAL ACCIDENTS TO

 

BERNARD SMITH

GEORGE LOAR

ROBERT DODDS

 

WAYNESBURG MINE NO. 5

 

GEORGE’S CREEK COAL COMPANY, INC.

 

Lonaconing, Md.                                                                                       August 14^th, 1948

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Ques.  Please state our name, age, address and occupation.

Ans.    John P. Smith, age 45, Lonaconing, Md. Mine Foreman at the Waynesburg No.5  of the Georges Creek Coal Co. Inc., Lonaconing, Md.

      

Ques.  Now, Mr. Smith, I want you to describe just what happened on Saturday morning,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                August 14^th, at #5 Mine.

Ans.     I heard a crash—not a loud one, and I ran to the fan, thinking something had caught in it.  When I got there, I saw that the door was off at the mouth of the mine.  Then I thought of an explosion.

 

I saw Mr. Keister coming from the fax and met him just about the mine.  We went for safety lamps and caps.  We started in the mine, and ran into the smoke and dust and the door off the First Right heading.  So, then we realized we had to get ventilation going.  We got the men that were outside, Wm. Getson, Tommie Peebles and William Moffat.  Mr. Peebles went to the office to place calls.  The other two me and Mr. Keister and I started in to put the air current in with us.  We continued keeping the air with us.

 

George Truly joined us and we followed on up through the air course to the top of it, establishing the air, and came back to the heading to the Third Left.  From there we went in the Third Left until we found the first body, George Loar.  We tried to go on but our flame lamp went out and we had to retreat.  So we returned to the outside.  Russell Keister and myself.  Got our stretchers and Mr. Rankin and returned and got the first body.  We were out within 1000 feet of the mine when we met, Mr. Powers.

 

Ques.  What were you doing at the time of the accident?

Ans.     I was getting ready to work on an 8-ton trolley motor which was broken down.

 

Ques.   Did you know what Mr. Smith, Loar and Dodds were going to do that day in the mine?

Ans.      Yes, I saw them with the rock duster.

 

Ques.   Were you there when they left to go inside?

Ans.      Yes, I was at the motor barn.

 

Ques. Who was running the motor?

Ans.    Robert Dodds.

 

Ques.  Where were Smith and Loar at the time you saw Dodds in the motor:

Ans.    I am not sure.  I think Mr. Smith threw the switch and George went to the Lamp House.  

 

Ques.  How many cars did they have with them?

Ans.    One empty and a rock duster.

 

Ques.  Did you help load the car with rock dust?

Ans.    No.

 

Ques.  After you came back in the mine with me, what did you find first?

Ans.    We located Mr. Loar’s body.

 

Ques.  Describe the position of Mr. Loar’s body.

Ans.    He was down in a crawling position, hands out-stretched, his left knee drawn up and his face down.

 

Ques.  Did you notice where his respirator was?

Ans.    On his nose.    

 

Ques.  Did you notice where Mr. Smith’s respirator was?

Ans.     On his nose and mouth, and he had his cap lamp in his hand.

 

Ques.   Was it lit or out”

Ans.     It was out.

 

Ques.   It was out?

Ans.     It was out.

 

Ques.   Did you try to get to the back end of the room where Mr. Dodd’s body was?

Ans.     Tried to.  I was within about five feet when I had to retread.  I had no gas mask.

 

Ques.  No gas masks?

Ans.    No.

 

Ques.   Had you been in this section previous to the explosion?

Ans.     Yes, with the motorman the night before, and took the five loads out so they could start rock dusting in the mine.  Three loads were in Third Left heading.

 

Ques.   Had you ever been in this place where the explosion occurred?

Ans.     Well, if so, it was months before.  I can’t recall.

 

Ques.   Were you instructed to enforce the “No Smoking” order?

Ans.   Yes Sir.

 

Ques.  Have you reprimanded your men recently about smoking?

Ans.    No, not recently.

 

Ques.  Did you know whether the men were smoking in the mine”

Ans.    I would have to say no.  I never caught anybody.

 

Ques.  What time: to the best of your knowledge, did this explosion occur?

Ans.    Between 9:15 and 9:30 A. M.

 

Ques.   How long have you worked for the Georges Creek Coal Company?

Ans.     About eight years.

 

Ques.   How long have you been mine foreman?

Ans.     Approximately six years.

 

Ques.   Have you ever experienced difficulty in obtaining supplies, brattice cloth and stuff like that?

Ans.    Yes.

 

Ques.   Had you asked recently for brattice cloth and could not get it?

Ans.    No.  I do not ask for it, I leave my order with the day foreman.

 

Ques.  Would you get this stuff?

Ans.    There is stuff you get and stuff you don’t get.

 

Ques.  Brattice cloth?

Ans.    We don’t have the brattice cloth to use.

 

Ques.   How far away from the pit mouth were you when the explosion occurred?

Ans.    I was at the motor barn.  About a good 300 feet.

 

Ques.  What did you notice when the explosion took place?

Ans.     There was the noise.  I heard it.  I thought something got in the fan blades.  The fan was running when I got there.

 

Ques.  Did you know which places were visited during the work shift and do you know which ones were idle?

Ans.   This section does not work at night.  It has not worked.  I have not been in there.  This section only works the day shift and only works at a rare time on the night shift.

 

Ques.  Who was is charge of the mine while Mr. Keister was sick?

Ans.   Mr. Smith and Mr. Loar.

 

Ques.  What did Mr. Dodds do?

Ans.   He was foreman on the 3^rd Shift, the clean-up shift.

 

Ques.  Did he have men in this section?

Ans.    No.

 

Ques.  Did you hear the report 300 ft. away?

Ans.    I could just hear it.  It sounded like something hit the fan.  It was not a very loud report.

 

Ques.  Were you working at the time it happened?

Ans.    Yes.  I was taking the pans off the motor.

 

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Ques.  What is your name, age and occupation?

Ans.    Russell E. Keister, age 35, Mine Foreman, Waynesburg Mine #5.  Georges Creek Coal Co.  My address is 35 Washington St., Frostburg, Md.

 

Ques.  Mr. Keister, on the morning of August 14^th, you had an explosion in your mine in which three men lost their lives.  What were you doing on that morning at the time.

Ans.   I had the blacksmith, Nelson Thrasher, in the Fan Motor House.  We were discussing and measuring a means to put a guard on the belt.

 

Ques.  Do you know about what time it was when you went in the Fan House?

Ans.    I would not know exactly.  Approximately 9:15 A.M.

 

Ques.  How long were you in there when the explosion occurred?

Ans.    I would say five to ten minutes.

 

Ques.  What did you do when you went in the Fan House?

Ans.    I shut the fan down, and then we began to see what we could do in order to put a guard on the belt that drives the fan.

 

Ques.  Was the fan still shut down when the explosion took place?

Ans.    Yes.

 

Ques.  How long were you in the Fan House before the explosion took place?

Ans.    About 10 minutes.

 

Ques.  Did you shut the fan down immediately when you went into the Fan House?

Ans.    Yea.

 

Ques.  What happened, when the explosion occurred, to you and Mr. Thrasher?

Ans.    There was some air came back the wrong way.  We both walked out of the Fan House door.  There was a sudden gush of air but it did not push me whatever, nor Mr. Thasher, that I could see.

 

Ques.  Were you back of Mr. Thrasher?

Ans.    I was behind Mr. Thrasher.

 

Ques.  Is the motor off set from the air way or is it directly in line with the air way?

Ans.    It is off set.

 

Ques.  Mr. Keister, Mr. Thrasher makes the statement, publicly, that he was blown 60 feet.  He is sick and I will have to go to his home if I want his testimony.  He says he is unable to appear here.  Do you know anything about his condition at the present time?

Ans.   I was talking to him last evening.  He told me that he had a sprained knee and couldn’t walk.

 

Ques.  Did you have a doctor call on him?

Ans.    Yes.  Doctor Fry.

 

Ques.  You didn’t see Mr. Thrasher being blown ahead of you:

Ans.    No Sir.

 

Ques.  Well, what happened to him?

Ans.    He walked out ahead of me and fell over a log that was in the weeds.

 

Ques.  When the explosion occurred, what did you do?
Ans.    I immediately started the fan.

 

Ques.  Then what did you do?

Ans.    I went over to the sub-station.  Got my safety lamp.  Sent a man to telephone for Mine Inspector and help.  Took what remaining men I had and started for rescue work.

 

Ques.  Do you know how many temporary stoppings you had to put up?  That is before I came here?

Ans.   I would say about six.

 

Ques.  Did you go to the top of the air course or just the 3^rd Left?

Ans.    We started and worked our way up to the 3^rd Left.

 

Ques.  Did you help discover Mr. Smith’s body?

Ans.    Yes.

 

Ques.  Did you go on to locate the other bodies?

Ans.    Yes.  John Smith and I went to discover the other bodies, but the air was too foul to go far enough to discover Mr. Dodd’s body.  We had no gas masks.

 

Ques.  Wasn’t there any equipment of this nature around the mine that you know of?

Ans.    No.

 

Ques.  When were you last in this place where the explosion occurred?

Ans.    It would have been, I guess, somewhere around the 21^st of July, as near as I can remember now.

 

Ques.  Had you been off from work?

Ans.    Yes, I was sick with the mumps.

 

Ques.  How long had it been since you returned to work?

Ans.    I had just returned to work this same week and had not been going in the mine on account of my sickness.  Each of the Assistant Foreman’s had their own sections and took charge of them themselves.  Bernard Smith was in charge of this section where the explosion occurred.

 

Ques.  Did Mr. Smith tell you what he was going to do the day of the explosion, before they went into the mine?

Ans.    They told me they were going to rock dust.

 

Ques.  Had he said anything to you about this No. 2 Room being ahead of Air?

Ans.    No, he didn’t mention any rooms.

 

Ques.  Did you know whether he was going to rock dust in that particular room?

Ans.    I did not think so as the place had been stopped previously.

 

Ques.  Just why was it stopped?

Ans.    It was driven too far ahead and was waiting for a cross-cut.

 

Ques.  Why didn’t you drive a crosscut from this place over to the Third Left Heading?

Ans.    Because of a very large fault.

 

Ques.  How did you expect to get around into this place?

Ans.    Expected to drive a crosscut through from 3^rd Left.

 

Ques.  Was the 3^rd Left Heading through that fault”

Ans.   Partially.

 

Ques.  Just why wouldn’t you use brattice cloth to conduct air to that place?

Ans.   Did not have any brattice cloth.

 

Ques.  Had you asked for any?

Ans.    Previously I had requested some.

 

Ques.  Do you have a system of ordering supplies at your mine, or just by word of mouth?

Ans.    Word of mouth.

 

Ques.  You don’t have any recollection of when you ordered the last brattice cloth?

Ans.    No Sir.

 

Ques.  Do you know the last day that this place actually worked, from record or your own knowledge?

Ans.    The last I know of was just before I took sick.  I had given the Assistant Foreman orders to change the men over to another place and let the place stand.

 

Ques.  How long had the fan been operated before it was stopped?

Ans.    It had been operating continuously.  It hadn’t been stopped all that week.  It ran day and night – 24 hours a day.

 

Ques.  Was the fan set in reverse motion by the explosion?

Ans.    Some.

 

Ques.  What kind of fan is it?

Ans.    Propeller type.  Guyan.

 

Ques.  What kinds of protection have you on the front of fan to keep anybody from going into it?

Ans.     Mesh screening on from bars.

 

Ques.  Did the section, which had the explosion, work other then day shift?

Ans.    It worked some night shift, but not very much.  It would vary – Maybe two men or four men.

 

Ques.  Would there be someone in there every night?

Ans.    There should have been.

 

Ques.  Would you have any knowledge of where these men worked in there”

Ans.    It largely depended upon conditions; they were changed around quite often.

 

Ques.  Who supervised this place on the night shift?

Ans.    John Smith.

 

Ques.  Do you know whether any men worked there in the last four weeks at night?

Ans.   I think they did.

 

Ques.  Was it customary for the Fire Boss to leave his initials at the face of the place when he made his inspection?

Ans.   Yes Sir.

 

Ques.  Do you have a record available any place showing when that place was worked last at night?  This section.

Ans.   If I am not mistaken they had two men in there.  Sometimes they would change after I went home, to another section.  The condition of the place made them change.  It did not suit the men.

 

Ques.  Do you know what was the last night they went in that particular section?

Ans.    John Smith should be able to answer that question.

 

Ques.  What was Mr. Loar’s duties?

Ans.    He was a mine examiner and finished his shift cut as an assistant foreman.  He would usually come to work anywhere from three to four or five o’clock.

 

Ques.  Where you present, or in the mine, when Mr. Dodd’s body was found?

Ans.    No.  I was sent outside.

 

Ques.  Was there any particular reason?

Ans.    To keep supplies coming in the mine.

 

Ques.  Was the fan equipped with explosion doors?

Ans.    Yes.

 

Ques.  Were they broken open by the explosion?

Ans.    No.

 

Ques.  Did you have a door on the pit mouth?

Ans.   Yes.

 

Ques.  Was it broken open by the explosion?

Ans.    Yes Sir.

 

Ques.  As to the stoppings along the heading and air course, what direction where they blown?

Ans.  Towards the air course.

 

Ques.  Mr. Keister, getting back to the fan house.  Is there any kind of partition between the fan way and the motor house?

Ans.   A partial partition.

 

Ques.  Was any of that partition destroyed?

Ans.    No Sir.  No destruction whatever around the fan.

 

Ques.  Did you try to enforce the “No Smoking” order in the mine?

Ans.   Yes Sir.

 

Ques.  Did you have any reason to suspect that your foremen were carrying cigarettes or tobacco on their persons?

Ans.   No Sir.   I did not.

 

Ques.  Did you ever have an experiment of searching the men?

Ans.    No Sir.

 

Ques.  What kind of co-operation in regards to the “No Smoking” order did you get.

Ans.    None too good.

 

Ques.  Did you ever have to reprimand any men?

Ans.   Yes, maybe three me.

 

Ques.  How long has it been since you caught these me?

Ans.    It was shortly after we put the order into force.  Recently, we have not had any trouble, that is, as far as we know.

 

Ques.  When did the order go into force?

Ans.     It has been quite some time.  It was soon after one of the inspections that it was recommended.  I would say about 18 months or two years.

 

Ques.  Do you have charts to show the operation of the fan?

Ans.    No, only a water gauge.

 

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John Smith (called back for additional testimony)

 

Ques.  Mr. Smith, you testified that you were night foreman and most of your operation was in First Left?

Ans.   Yea.

 

Ques.  Would you have any men in this new section at all?

Ans.    I could not tell.

 

Ques.  Would you have any men in that section at all on the night shift in the last month?

Ans.    I had two men in there but I can remember the dare.  It was a couple weeks ago and I can’t remember.

 

Ques.  Since Mr. Keister had been idle, did you have any men working in this whole new section at all, any night?

Ans.    I would have to say no.

 

Ques.  Previous to that day when were the men working in that section?

Ans.    I had two men in there but I can’t give you the exact date.  About two weeks back.

 

Ques.  They had a vacation period a short time ago.  Would you have any men in there since?

Ans.   I would say two men worked in that section sometime during July.

 

Ques.  Did you ever put any men in that particular place to work in the last month?

Ans.    No Sir.  I can answer that.

 

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Ques.  Please, give us your name, age and occupation.

Ans.   George Truly, age 56, Address: 84 Hill St. Frostburg, Md.  I am a repairman.

 

Ques.  Were you working at No.5 mine of the Georges Creek Coal Co. when the explosion occurred?

Ans.   Yes, I was repairing a mining machine in the motor barn.

 

Ques.  About how far is the barn from the pit mouth?

Ans.    About 350 feet.

 

Ques.  Did you hear the explosion?

Ans.    I heard a noise and went out to see what it was.  Mr. Keister said that there was something wrong and we went to get a light.  Then we went over to the opening.  I went in the mine with Mr. Keister, right before him.  I started with Mr. Keister and the rescue party on the way in the mine.

 

Ques.  Did you help repair the stoppings along the air way:

Ans.   Yes.

 

Ques.  Did you work in the daytime or did you have shift work?

Ans.    Steady daylight.

 

Ques.  Had you been in this section of the mine, where the explosion occurred, recently?

Ans.    About a month before the explosion, putting up wire.

 

Ques.  Did you help locate the body of Bernard Smith”

Ans.  Yes.

 

Ques.  Did you help locate any other body?

Ans.   While we were putting Mr. Smith on the stretcher, somebody said, “There is George”.

 

Ques.  About how far would you say it was from the main heading in Third Left that you found Bernard Smith’s body?

Ans.   About 250 feet.

 

Ques.  Did you notice in what position Mr. Smith’s body was when it was found?

Ans.    He was in a stooping position with his head down and his hands crawling.

 

Ques.  Do you have any occasion to make repairs on the fan?

Ans.    No, unless the motor breaks down.

 

Ques.  Have you made any repairs recently that caused you to stop the fan?

Ans.    No.

 

Ques.  Approximately what time was it that this explosion occurred?

Ans.    Close to 9 0’clock.

 

Ques.  Was there anybody else working outside with you?

Ans.    Wilbert Crowe was working with me but he didn’t go in the mine.

 

Ques.  Were you, Crowe and Smith all working together in the motor barn?

Ans.    Just Crowe and I.

 

Ques.  Was Smith working near you?

Ans.    No Sir.

 

Ques.  Were you working on a locomotive?

Ans.    No, on a mining machine.

 

Ques.  And Mr. Smith was not working on a motor there?

Ans.    I did not notice Mr. Smith there, working on the motor.

 

Ques.  You weren’t in this particular place where the explosion occurred within a month.

Ans.    That is right.

 

Ques.  You stayed at the mine all day Saturday and helped?

Ans.    Yes, I went over the trolley wire to see if everything was all right before I came outside.

 

Ques.  George, we would like to establish here just about how loud the explosion was.

Ans.   It just sounded like something crashed.  Like a falling tree.  It was an unfamiliar sound and I went outside.

 

Ques.  How long have you been working for the Georges Creek Coal Company?