Mine 3 / Mine 18 explosion Jenny Lind AR
Dead:
Valentine Vervack
James Kimberling
Dorris Templeton
Winse Brown
Forrest Gibbs
Louis Mohr
Frank Curott
Charles Newman
Edgar Westmoreland
Joe Sadar
Jack Williams
John Kosmatin All in Mama Mine 3

Walter Chappie in Mine 18.

The explosion apparently originated in a connecting passage between the two mines. There were 115 men in #3 and 14 in #18 (which wasn't operating at the time). Both mines would normally have had about 125 men in each of them per the Bureau Mines accident report. ----------------

13 Coal Miners Die in Explosion; Many Others Saved

FORT SMITH - The bodies of 13 coal miners are in two Fort Smith morgues as the result of a gas explosion at 8:30 a.m. Friday, February 24, 1928, in the tunnels of coal mines near Jenny Lind, 11 miles southeast of Fort Smith.

After the explosion, the Jenny Lind Field was the scene of frantic efforts to reach the miners, but gas fumes hindered rescue crews. Ambulances from Fort Smith rushed to the mines, while a big crowd formed.

The bodies of 11 men were brought to the surface of the mine about 3 p.m. Friday by rescue crews directed from the surface by W. E. Templeton, Fort Smith president of the Mama Coal Company. Walter Chapple was taken from the mine about 3:30 p.m., and Jack Williams was brought to the surface at 5 p.m. His body was found in a water hole where he apparently had tried to get away from the terrible heat and fire that followed the blast.

The crews worked underground under the direction of Claud Speigel, state mine inspector.

About 125 men were working in the mine at the time of the explosion. Several escaped through another mine. The other survivors escaped through the entrance to the mine.

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Jenny Lind, AR Coal Mine Explosion, Feb 1928

Burlington Daily Times North Carolina 1928-02-24

TWENTY MINERS ARE BELIEVED DEAD IN MINE.

EXPLOSION EARLY TODAY IN MANA COAL MINE NO. 3, ENTOMBED 125 MEN -- 125 HAD BEEN RESCUED UP TO NOON.

THIRTY-FIVE INJURED OTHERS WERE GASSED.

HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, MEMBERS OF THE MINERS' FAMILIES AND OTHERS, GATHERED AROUND AND URGED ON THE RESCUE PARTIES.

Jenny Lind, Ark., Feb. 24.
-- Twenty miners are believed to be dead in Mana Coal mine No. 3 here following an explosion early today which entombed 125 men.

Rescue crews blasting their way to the entombed men, reported shortly before noon that 105 of the imperiled miners, had been rescued. About 35 of these were injured in the explosion and others were suffering from the effects of gas, they said.

A statement issued from the offices, of the mine said that the explosion was caused by escaping gas. Exactly 125 men were working in shaft 20 and these were trapped by the blast.
Every miner in the district and volunteers were hurriedly formed into rescue parties and an entrance was blasted into the tomb where the miners were trapped.
This enabled 105 to make their way through the rescue tunnel.
Twenty others are still unaccounted for, however, and it was believed they are dead.
Hundreds of people, members of the miners' families and others, immediately gathered around the mouth of the mine and urged on the rescue parties. As soon as conditions permit, members of the rescue party will enter the shaft to search for bodies of the missing.

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Burlington Daily Times North Carolina 1928-02-25

THIRTEEN BODIES TAKEN FROM COAL MINE BLAST.

OTHER MEN TRAPPED IN BY EXPLOSION ACCOUNTED FOR -- INVESTIAGTION GETS STARTED.

Jenny Lind, Ark., Feb. 25. -- With 13 bodies identified and all of the other 125 miners trapped by a terrific gas explosion in the Mana Coal mine here yesterday accounted for, an investigation was under way today to determine the cause of the blast.

The mine gave up its dead last night and 12 bodies were brought to the surface and taken to Fort Smith morgues. A thirteenth body identified as JACK WILLIAMS, was still buried in the mine and another effort to bring it to the surface will be made today.
Only two were seriously hurt and still in the hospital.
State Mine Inspector Claud Speegel was here conducting the investigation. He has established that gas in the tunnels of the mine caused the explosion.