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Show 4 Sun Advocate, Price, Utah Thursday, May 3, 1973 200 men died in explosion were brought 73 years ago then? out of the mine by rescue teams composed of men from Castle Gate, Clear Creek, Sunnyside and local miners. The bodies from No. 4 were washed on May 2 and taken down to lie with the men from No. 1 at the meeting house. That same day a special train left Winter Quarters taking A. Wilson, Harry Taylor, William Boweter and John Wilson to St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake for treatment. There John Wilson had a steel plate inserted into his head. Coffins also started to roll into the town. The entire supply of coffins in the Wasatch front was sent to Winter Quarters, and one - 4 ;vy. ' i, SCOFIELD cemetery was packed with families, friends and members of the rescue team when 114 victims of the Winter Quarters mine disaster were laid to rest. In August, the 200th victim of the The early morning stillness of Pleasant Valley was broken by the miners, especially those of Welsh descent, singing as they left for work on May 1, 1900. Spring had finally come to the valley and the harsh winter that had helped Quarters its name had all but disap- give Winter peared. On the minds of many that morning was the evenings celebration to open the new Odd Fellows Hall. In addition it was Dewey Day in com- explosion died and was buried here. Today the section of ground where these miners were buried still bears many of the wooden markers that read Died May 1, 1900 in the Scofield Mine Disaster. in No. 1, decided to whohad a broken arm and a go home. He was waiting for leg and internal injuries the next car to come along were found near the mine when his partner, Thomas mouth. The injured were You taken to homes for care. Farrish remarked, Once the crew could enter might as well go on and walk out, that car isnt the mine, canvas for bat-ticto the portal (air coming for half an hour. Bell did walk out and had corriders along the mine gone half way down the hill shaft) were brought. The when the explosion came., first man found inside the Less than two hours later, mine was Harry Belterson, he was bringing out who was badly burned; he Farrishs body. passed away that night. working The explosion occurred a half mile inside No. 4. The force was so powerful, it leveled a shack memoration of Admiral completely stood outside and tore that Deweys naval victory over out the motors and drums the Spanish in the Manila for the mine cars. John Harbor. Instead of a Wilson, a driver who was at celebration that evening, the mouth of the mine was 200 miners would be dead, knocked 820 feet down the or near deaths doorA ravine with a crushed skull and the towns of Winter and splinter impaled in his Quarters and Scofield would stomach. be in mourning. The rescue party of 20 Riding with the men was men, led by Thomas ParWilliam Parmley, mine mley, tried to get to No. 4 foreman, whose brother through No. 1 but were was Bishop Thomas J. driven back by the after(the Parmley, mine superindamp or tendent. , gaseous air that is left in a The men, who were paid mine when all the oxygen been displayed by fire by tonnage rates instead of has or explosion). and their hourly, supplied The party then charged own tools and blasting the hill while the towns up their found powder, to pour out in working areas. Some people began started work in No. 1 which the streets. Smoke was had a portal almost level coming out of the mouth of with the town of Winter No. 4 and the opening was Quarters while othere partially blocked by fallen took the rescue reported to No. 4 located on timbers. It an incline that opened out crew 20 minutes of conto clear an high above the ravine where centrated effort opening into the mine. the town was built. While the crew was After a few hours work, Thomas Bell, who was clearing the entrance, other rescuers found Wilson on the hillside and the Altar Society engineer, who would have been in the demolished to meet on May 9 shack at the time of the explosion if he hadnt been down the incline replacing a The final meeting of the derailed car. The engineer season for the St. Anthonys suffered only minor inAltar Society will be held on juries. May 9 in the church hall. Another who man, black-dam- p I dinner will be served. Those who will attend have been asked to let Mrs. June Passarella of A potluck Spring Glen know if they are coming. All members are invited. assisted in pushing the loaded trip over the knuckles, was found with his foot crushed, shoulder dislcated.and other severe injuries. An assistant helper with a broken jaw and crushed head and a miner Boweter, was hxT 4 MANY of the men who died in the disaster are pictured above before the portal of the No. 1 mine. It was down this opening that after the disaster with 306 children left fatherless. On May 5 Utah Governor Wells called for the people in the state to contribute to a relief fund and over $110,000 was collected, but the amount given to the families never reached that mark, and many widows survivors. - Miners from nearby Clear Creek soon arrived to help bring the bodies down the steep hill from No. 4 to the bam across the ravine. As each body was brought down, wives, children and relatives of the men rushed forward calling out names. Soon the air, which was once filled with singing, resounded with the screams of women as they saw what was left of their husbands. The rescue party, now reinforced, passed from No. 4 to No. 1. The first victims they came upon were Thomas Livsey and his son, William, both badly burned. Here the crews piled the men upon the mine cars, sometimes 12 high. The dead from No. 1 were taken to the boarding house, where, at one time, 66 were laid out ready to be washed. As soon as the bodies were washed and identified, they were either carried to the school house or meeting house where undertakers arrived at that night and began embalming the bodies. In No. bearing Daniel and John Pittman are placed beside the railroad tracks to await the arrival of the special train to Winter Quarters that transported them to Springville for burial. (Photo by Thomas Biggs Jr.) Beniaeiti Don't be misled by some of the claims in Auto Financing. See Carbon Emery Bank FIRST; and let our loan officers show you your entire 4 pourej through j (Photo by tert Huff) left the area with the onset of winter still awaiting some allotment from the funds. On May 3, Carbon County Attorney L.O. Hoffman, traveled to Scofield to set up an inquest on the body of John Hunter, one of the mine victims. William Hirst, Justice of the Peace, acted as coroner. During the inquest, Andrew Smith gave his explanation of the cause of the explosion. He said Hunter, a in the end nothing but a dust explosion. I went to a place where it was claimed they had powder stowed away and the place showed that the explosion had started here and showed further by the action of the explosion and by the body that was found there, that it was burned more thanthe other bodies which we jound. He also suggested the coal dust may have added to the explosion and sugested the company keep the dust watered down br safety purposes in the fiture. Today only one structure remains in Winte Quarters while the portal o No. 4 is caved in. Thee is no marker here of tie disaster or in tribute to the men who died but a mile1 down the valley is the graveyard where 115 died May buried. Time is taking iway their names from the wooden markers but tie wood planks thrusting from the ground are still areminder of one of this nations greatest underground mining catastrophes. (This story wasprepared by Joan Hunt md Winn Wendell with idormation supplied by lumerous publications I5TH GRANT FAUSETT . MICHAEL BLACKBURN or Railroad.) when it comes to Awfo Hnandng months. They tell it just like it is. 36 Morticians HUVCUAl FUBHITURE A nnnDi'JAnG e. ? Fausett Mortuary 637-118- 1 "Service to all Faiths" i i a) PRICE & .y I CASTLE DALE aid an in- terview with Thonas Biggs Jr. of Scofield. In weeks to iome, the history of Wintei Quarters and its short spanof life will be presented aloig with the of Calico th story Auto Loan program, whether it be for 12, 24 coLorizerpaiNTs South Main in HELPER K from No. the after-dam- p workers. its suffocate to The giant exploding. powder went off, caught the dust, and exploded it, being CASKETS W: after-dam- p Quarters for a visit, ran an infirmary for the injured until a train load of doctors sent from Salt Lake by the company arrived. It was determined that two men escaped from No. 4 unassisted while 103 made their way out of No. 1. The bodies of the unlucky ones 148 ' miner in No. 4, was killed during an explosion caused by a heavy shot igniting the dust. (At this time it was the custom to blast while the men were still in the mine.) The state mine inspector, Gomer Thomas said the cause could have been a heavy shot of loose giant powder or loose powder brought out the stores supply of blankets and Salt Lake, was in Winter MAY Each coffin was decorated with flowers sent to Winter Quarters in nine coaches by Salt Lake City resident. shipment from Denver Apparently 114 were helped to supply the need. buried in Scofield, 69 buried Thursday, two days after in other parts of Utah, and the disaster, a work force of 12 buried outside the state. 150 plus 75 volunteers from The death total reached 200 Provo started digging in August when the 200th graves in a section of the victim died and was buried. The companys manager, Scofield cemetery. One hundred and fourteen were William G. Sharp, cancelled buried there Friday with all the debts of the victims Apostles George Teasdale, families at the company Heber J. Grant and Leed store, a total of $8,000, and Smoot of the LDS Church paid a $500 death benefit performing the services. compensation to each The graves were covered at family. It was estimated that 113 widows were left 4 p.m. town. In Winter Quarters the company store employees pillows for the wounded, not realizing there would be few r 'its' alive. Belterson and Boweter were the only survivers found in No. 4. As the rescuers cleared out each section, the bodies were carried to the mouth of the mine and piled in heaps. There werent enough men left in Winter Quarters to haul the dead down to the a Harrom, professional nurse from ENDS PfPS William Daisey SALE in Coalville. N f who was found down to fill his pipe, was found with the filled pipe still in his hand. Down in the town, Miss SAVE ON ALL YOUR DECORATING NEEDS While funeral services were being prepared in Scofield, the regular train left Winter Quarters Thursday, carrying nine bodies including three bound for Helper. Shortly after the regular train left, engine No. 128 pulled out of Scofield with 51 coffins. Two were left at Thistle to be transferred to the Sanpete branch while 11, including Daniel and John Pittman, were left at Springville; six, at Provo; two, in American Fork; one, in Lehi; eight, in Salt Lake; ten, in Ogden; and 11, 1, the claimed many victims with most men dying of suffocation. Others were buried under tons of dirt and debris. Residents felt the men in No. 1 were taken by surprise and may have thought the explosion was set off to celebrate Dewey Day. Some of the bodies were found with their tools still clutched in their hands, and one man, who had sat I?T1 77TiTiT Nearby rocked the coni indosflry A; |