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Show Mart h 2004 Energy Guide 5 Winter Quarters portal belches smoke, mine debris the Pleasant In 1896, Val- ley mines at Winter Quarters and Castle Gate extracted 60 percent of Utah's coal. At the same time, the operations enjoyed the reputation of being among the safest coal teams entered the number one mine as an alternate route to search for survivors. A surface employee en- tered the shafts with the first search party. became a makeshift morgue for the bodies of the dead miners. Distraughtfamilies, friends, and community members waited in stunned rs ies were burned or mangled beyond recognition. Searchers continued to enter the mine, only to exit carrying more lifeless bodies. When the Winter Quarters The third man and a fourth miner working in an area untouched by the explosion were the only two to escape alive. By noon, searchers discovered six bodies approximately 200 yards inside the number four mine. Rescue teams ultimately managed to boarding house could production facilities in no more the West. less several fatal acci- dents ies of the oc- erations near Scofield-- , in- cluding the worst disas- The state mine inspector arrived at Winter Quarter after the bodies of 50 victims had been removed from the number four shafts. The inspector assembled and led a rescue party into the main entry at the number one mine. The group proceeded to the face of what was known as number one's Farrish level, which joined number one's seventh rise and provided the shortest escape route. s of the miners who perished were found at the head of the seventh rise, where they had on making up a the shortage in available the United coffins for the States Navy to produce miners killed at Winter Quarters. Covered bodies lie in a makeshift morgue following the May Day 1900 disaster at Winter Quarters. Two funeral services for the dead coal miners were conducted on May 5, 1900 at Scofield. Mourners who lingered at the gravesites after the services were driven from the cemetery in the early evening by strong winds and torrents of rain. The tragedy devastated the Castle Valley community. outlined in the contract, coal production was due to start the first of May 1 900 and the miners at Winter Quarters were getting all the work they could handle, points out the United States Mine Health and Safety Administration. The small mining town of Scofield was growing rapidly and houses were springing up on the hillsides. On May 1, 1900, more than 300 underground employees entered the interconnected number one and four mines at Winter Quarters. At approximately 10:25 a.m., a low rumble erupted into rolling thunder from the depths of the number four mine. The portal belched smoke, dust, hot foul air, burnt powder, splintered timbers and mangled mine cars with tremendous force. A safety. area focused contract with provisions Castle Valley Carpenters state of Utah. In 1900, the company 2,000 tons of coal at Winter Quarters. Under the from across The appointee was responsible for inspecting the mines quarterly and reporting the results to the governor yearly. In addition, Utah state statute required operators to provide maps, escape ways, ventilation at specified levels and measures to ensure worker town's schoolhouse. entire secured tor. loaded and taken to the ter in the history of Castle Valley and the min- railroad boxcars and transported down the canyon to Scofield, un- op- disquieting, ominous stillness followed the violent explosion. Within minutes, a rescue party assembled. Debris along with dead horses killed in the violent explosion blocked the number four portal and rescue After entering the portal, rescuers found three workers alive, but uncon- Disregarding the warnings of experienced rescuers, the man raced directly into the lingering afterdamp - a deadly mixture of carbon mon- horrified silence for information about the men and boys who were working shifts when the mine exploded. disfig- ured bodies of 83 victims. After Utah became a state, the Legislature passed a law authorizing the governor to appoint a coal mine inspec- ers were loaded onto curred at the underground mining recover the burned, victims, bagged bod- Neverthe- scious. Badly burned, the first man suffered more than a day fore dying. Two-third- be- oxide, carbon dioxide, encountered nitrogen and gases af- terdamp. forming after a mine fire or explosion. Apparently anxious to locate relatives and friends working in the underground shafts, the young man succumbed almost immediately to "There is no doubt in my mind that had these men gone down the eighth rise they would have all saved their lives, for had they gone the poisonous after- down the eighth rise they would have encountered fresh air," damp. The progress made by the search and rescue teams was agoniz- indicated ingly slow. the state mine inspector's re- Company members and volunteers from the Castle Valley community had to contend with dislodged props, cave-i- n port to the governor. Determining obstructions and what happened at Winter Quarters would consist of piecing to- piles of debris resulting Rescue crews comprised of family members, shafts at Winter Quarters. surfrom the forceful explovolunteers and friends assist in retrieving the vivors had a difficult time identifying some sion. of the severely burned, disfigured victims. bodies of miners who died in the underground But the procession of gether the telltale signs left on searchers carrying the The second critically inlifeless loads from Winter singed roof timbers, ribs and Surviving relatives manQuarters seemed endless and aged to identify numerous jured miner died while being other areas along with trying the mine's boarding house victims, but many of the bod- - carried to the boarding house. (Continued on page 24) Grief-stricke- n |