Johnstown, Pennsylvania July 10, 1902 No. Killed - 112
From State Inspector's report, 1902, pp. 52-72, 612-616
At 11:30 a.m. the explosion in the Klondike section killed 112 persons, 7 by force of burns and the rest from suffocation
bt afterdamp. Twenty-one others were rescued alive.
The destruction from the force of the detonation was small . . . atttesting to its feebleness. No. 2 room had been cut through to the rib fall on
No. 5 entry where gas was known to exist.
The gas was ignited by coming in contact with one or both of the miners' open lamps, found in the face of the room.
All the men employed in the vicinity of the gas which exploded were selected on account of their knowledge of safety lamps and the method
of using them to examine for gas, for which they were ordered to look always before firing shots, but were permitted to take their naked lights into the
danger marks made by the firebosses.
It gave a man a better light for traveling to work, but it also afforsed and opportunity for . . . using his naked lamp for the sake of getting a better light.
"I am expected to make suggestions which may aid in the prevention of such catastrophes, but I despair offering anything that would avail
under the circumstances. What can we do when a miner recklessly disregards safety and violates all laws and rules in the mine?
No one in a gaseous district should use any except a locked safety lamp. Until a safety lamp is put upon the market which will give something near
as good illumination as the ordinary naked light, the men will continue their aversion to the common safety lamp.
The miner of today, all too frequently to get a better light than it affords, throws caution to the winds and endangers himself and others."
Source:
Historical Summary of Mine Disasters in the United States - Volume I
