{"id":1164,"date":"2015-04-28T11:30:28","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T11:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=1164"},"modified":"2025-04-28T08:53:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T12:53:51","slug":"no-survivors-97-years-ago-today-in-benwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/no-survivors-97-years-ago-today-in-benwood","title":{"rendered":"No Survivors: 101 Years Ago Today in Benwood"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The Benwood Mine Disaster of April 28, 1924<\/h1>\n
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One hundred one years ago today, on the rainy morning of Monday, April 28, 1924, an explosion at the coal mine operated by the Wheeling Steel & Iron Corporation in Benwood took the lives of 119 men, most of them recent immigrants. There were no survivors. It remains the third worst mining disaster in the history of West Virginia, a state plagued by numerous coal mining accidents.<\/p>\n

\"Front<\/a>
Front page of the Wheeling Intelligenger, April 29th, 1924.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Actually there were two explosions. The first occurred in a pocket of methane gas at approximately 7:05 AM \u2013 about 25 minutes after the men had entered the mine. The second explosion \u2013the one that probably killed most of the miners \u2013 was the result of coal dust being ignited by the methane explosion.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s take a step bask before examining the disaster in detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember\u2026at nights, the flame that hurtled skyward from now cold furnaces of Wheeling Steel\u2019s Benwood plant\u2026Here dwell the peoples of lasting metal whose steel is the alloy of the hundred cultures and tribes of a vanished Europe. Serb, Croat, Greek, Slovene, Czech, Slovak and Montenegrin and Pole. Their singing tongues lilt and ring in myriad babble on the bus to Benwood: voices rise in \u2018sprechtgesang\u2019; \u2015words made music \u2013 frail as eggshell, speech as sweet as Bartok folksongs from arid Bohemian plain.\u201d \u2013 Davis Grubb, \u201cThe Valley of the Ohio,\u201d published in Holiday<\/em>\u00a0Magazine<\/em>, July, 1960.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt breathed not smoke, but dust \u2013 a roof fall, the mouth of the mountain clamped shut, eating its children\u2026\u201d \u2013from Kettle Bottom<\/em> by Diane Gilliam Fisher<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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April 1924 Zeitgeist<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Just to set the tone historically\u2014 the zeitgeist, if you will\u2013 in April, 1924:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Adolf Hitler was found guilty of treason in the Beer Hall Putsch and sentenced to five years in prison\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 Frank Capone, age 28, Chicago mobster and older brother of Al Capone, was shot and killed by police\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 The first book of crossword puzzles was published\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Dawes Plan to reorganize the German economy and restructure reparation payments was initiated\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 A series of tornados killed 110 people across the southern US\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 Actor Marlon Brando (3rd); baseball all star Gil Hodges (4th); and musician Henry Mancini (16th) were all born\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 Calvin Coolidge was the US President\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 And Pius XI was Pope\u2026<\/p>\n

By April 1924, Wheeling Steel Corporation was the biggest employer in the Upper Ohio Valley largely due to a massive merger (in 1920) of several companies, including nail works, corrugating, blast furnaces, open-hearth works, tinplate mills, tube works, skelp mills, sheet and fabricating mills, nail mills, and, of course, coal mines to fuel everything.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, three years prior In the southern West Virginia Coal Fields, the largest labor uprising in American history and the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War, the Battle of Blair Mountain, had ended in defeat for coal miners and the United Mine Workers of America in September, 1921. The United Mine Workers union was badly weakened, even in the northern panhandle where it had been prospering in Benwood in 1920. But as we\u2019ll see, there\u2019s little to no mention of the union during the disaster.<\/p>\n

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Coal Mining in 1924<\/h2>\n
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What did coal mining look like in early 1920s America?<\/p>\n

The images below from Wheeling Steel\u2019s corporate promotional publication, \u201cFrom Mine to Market (1926): the facilities and scope of steel manufacture of the Wheeling steel corporation of Wheeling \u2013 West Virginia\u201d<\/a> provide some insights.<\/p>\n

Here we see the motorized tracks and cars used to get miners to their work stations miles under the earth.<\/p>\n

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And here, a miner is at work on a wall of coal. In Benwood, this would have meant the Pittsburgh number 8 seam.<\/p>\n

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Below, two miners are drilling the wall for blasting in a Steubenville, Ohio mine. In Benwood, the \u201cdiggers\u201d used black powder for \u201cshooting\u201d the coal face then sprinkled water from a water car during coal extraction. (as we\u2019ll see, black powder was not the safest explosive).<\/p>\n

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Though it\u2019s from 1964, the map below accurately conveys the scale of the mining operation near Benwood. The entrance to the Benwood mine is in the far righthand corner (see arrow).<\/p>\n

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Below is a closeup of that entrance.<\/p>\n

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And here\u2019s an overview of the entire Wheeling Steel & Iron Co Coal Mine. The arrow shows you the 8 North section near where the major explosion would occur and where most of the men were trapped.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a closeup of 8 North.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a map showing the rooms taken from \u201cCOAL-MINING INVESTIGATIONS Under Auspices of CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, U. S. BUREAU OF MINES, AND ADVISORY BOARD OF COAL-MINE OPERATORS AND ENGINEERS,\u201d 1923.<\/p>\n

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Monday, April 28, 1924 in Wheeling & Benwood, West Virginia<\/h2>\n
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\"\"April 28, 1924 was a Monday. It was pouring rain in Benwood, West Virginia.<\/p>\n

The newspaper was full of stories on the upcoming election \u2013 for national, state, and district offices. Eighty-two-year old Albert Fortney, one of Wheeling\u2019s last working blacksmiths, was run down and killed by an automobile. The Pittsburgh Pirates, with future hall-of-famer Pie Traynor anchoring third base, were playing a series against the Chicago Cubs. Members of the KKK attended church services in Elm Grove. In Benwood, 22 year old Joseph Donovan died of appendicitis. Steel production was on the decline, as was coal.<\/p>\n

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Explosion in an Underground City<\/h2>\n
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At 6:30 AM \u2013 the Monday morning shift started at the coal mine operated by the Wheeling Steel & Iron Corporation in Benwood, a 60 year old, 3-entry, room and pillar mine, newly mechanized with nine electric mining machines. Men rode to their work stations on electric mining cars, taken miles underground on tracks.<\/p>\n

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As the federal mine bureau would later describe it, \u201cThe interior of the mine is really a big city, it is laid out with main streets and avenues and the cross streets running off the avenues\u2026 Running\u2026the same direction as the main avenues, will be found the alleys and off these alleys will be found the working rooms in which many of the men were employed digging coal. The miniature railroad tracks run down these streets and avenues and back the cross streets.\u201d (Intelligencer<\/em>, May 2).<\/p>\n

But the mine had a questionable safety record. There had been a gas explosion a year prior that killed three people. An air shaft was added (a third entry at Brown\u2019s Run\u2014important to the story later). But ventilation remained an ongoing issue. The roof was known to be \u201cweak and treacherous\u201d with support timbers needed every two feet. As methane was thought to be low, the company still used open safety lamps, meaning that even a small fall of slate could trigger a methane explosion.<\/p>\n

Two fire bosses had supposedly checked each room at 3 am and \u201creported no gas in any section of the mine.\u201d (see State mine inspector R.M. Lambie\u2019s report). The Intelligencer<\/em> reported that the fire boss bulletin board had been found near the entrance, marked \u201cApril 4-28-24 SAFE.\u201d Signed JT Pyle (more about him later).<\/p>\n

Some of the miners had not gone through the proper check-in procedure. The miners were just getting their work sites, preparing to do their jobs, putting on overalls, etc. Some were still climbing out of the mine cars that brought them there.<\/p>\n

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04-28-1924 at 7:05 AM<\/h2>\n
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At 7:05 AM, about 35 minutes after the morning shift had entered the mine, a pocket of methane gas exploded near the 8 North section. The force of the explosion dislodged timber supports and caused numerous roof collapses. People felt the thud of the blast three blocks away and witnesses say white smoke and a \u201csheet of flame\u201d shot from the mine entry (Intell<\/em>).<\/p>\n

One miner\u2019s watch was stopped at 7:04. The amazing diagram below is from \u201cHISTORICAL SUMMARY OF COAL-MINE EXPLOSIONS IN THE UNITED STATES,\u201d BY H. B. HUMPHREY, 1959. It shows where some of the bodies were found, including the miner wearing the stopped watch.<\/p>\n

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Coal dust trapped inside the mine was ignited, triggering a second, more devastating explosion, forcing a wall of fire through the shafts of the entire, poorly ventilated mine. The heavy mine timbers were shattered into splinters, allowing roof collapses everywhere.\u00a0The fire permeated the entire poorly ventilated mine. Many of the miners who weren\u2019t crushed by falling rock and debris from the force of the violent explosion were burned to death. But most were probably killed by \u201cafterdamp,\u201d a deadly cocktail of toxic gases, primarily carbon monoxide, caused by the fire. A large number of dead miners were found with articles of clothing wrapped around their heads in failed attempts to block the afterdamp. The mine inspector later speculated that some might have survived had they been equipped even with simple gas masks.<\/p>\n

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The Rescue Effort<\/h2>\n
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\"Press<\/a>
This press photo shows rescue workers wearing oxygen tanks entering the coal mine operated by the Wheeling Steel & Iron Corporation in Benwood to search for survivors after a violent explosion in the mine on April 28, 1924. Unfortunately, no survivors were found. This photograph is part of the collection of the Ohio County Public Library Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rescue effort was slowed by a collapsed roof and fallen rock and debris as well as the presence of afterdamp. Blockage near the main entrance forced the rescuers to shift their focus to the air shaft at Browns Run. Rescuers from the Hitchman Mine (Benwood), Glen Dale, Bellaire, Bridgeport, Steubenville, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Williamson, W.Va. worked in relay teams. Nurses from the Wheeling Chapter of American Red Cross and a number of Wheeling physicians were on hand hoping, and waiting to treat rescued miners.<\/p>\n

Here again you see the overview of the whole mine. The top arrow shows the air shaft. And the bottom arrow conveys the distance to Section 8 North. It\u2019s easy to see why it took several days for rescue teams to dig through the rubble and reach Section 8.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a closer view of the air shaft on the map.<\/p>\n

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\nA spiral staircase repaired by carpenters allowed entry for rescuers. (Intell<\/em>) The staircase is visible in this diagram.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove the air shaft, a makeshift rope and pulley system was constructed to lower supplies and hopefully, retrieve living victims. In the end, it only pulled up the dead bodies.<\/p>\n

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The News-Register<\/em> reported a LaBelle mine rescue team on site. \u201cThey were accompanied by John P. Wilson, superintendent of the LaBelle mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rain and mud made the 3 mile dirt road to Brown\u2019s Run shaft impossible for trucks. Numerous automobiles that could no longer move, slid and blocked one side of the 3 mile road, making progress more difficult. Rescuers had to use tractors and \u201cold country\u201d sleds drawn by horses. One such horse drawn wagon can be seen in these two images from the Baranowski family.<\/p>\n

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Rescuers worked in relay teams every 750 feet to pull stretchers over fallen rock, shattered mine timbers, twisted steel track, and through other impossibly tight spaces. At least 50 Burrell All Service gas masks (see image, below left) were used \u201cand about 90 per cent of the work was done by men wearing them.\u201d \u201cSelf-contained oxygen breathing apparatus was used to explore places where it was thought the percentage of oxygen in the air was not sufficient to support life\u2026Men wearing the gas mask penetrated distances as great as 125 feet beyond points at which the carbon monoxide content of the air killed canaries.\u201d (Lambie) Canaries were taken into the mine to test for gas. Several died. An old miner told the paper miners welcome rats because they will not live in a mine that is full of methane. (Intelligencer<\/em>)<\/p>\n

\"\"As the Wheeling<\/em> Register<\/em> reported: \u201cThere\u2019s no hope, I fear.\u201d Andy Wilson, captain of the LaBelle team gasped as he reached the top of the long winding stairway up the (Brown\u2019s Run) shaft. During the first few days, there was hope that some of the men who had not been burned to death or crushed by the explosion had barricaded themselves into old workings to escape the afterdamp. But this would prove untrue. (Dillon): \u201cIt took 8 mean to carry one body,\u201d obviously indicating that the bodies were in parts. Hundreds of miners volunteered to help remove bodies, but only 35 were selected. (Intell<\/em>)<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom the position of the bodies,\u201d The Register<\/em> reported, \u201cit appeared that most of the men had been stricken at the spot where they worked, first stunned by the terrific concussion of the explosion, and then suffocated by the after-damp.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Lacy Dillon, author of They Died in the Darkness:<\/em> \u201cone motorman had been found sitting at his controls on the motor, buried under an avalanche of slate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking again at the diagram, we can see the various spots where bodies were found.<\/p>\n

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The Vigil<\/h2>\n
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The scene outside the mine was one of wrenching grief and confusion. Women and children rushed to the site, hysterically screaming and sobbing, asking for word of their husbands, fathers, brothers, or uncles trapped in the mine. Wives of the miners tried to bypass the barricades, and some searched for alternative ways into the mine. Many simply wandered the streets of Benwood, sobbing. According to one account, a grieving widow tried to drown herself in the Ohio River after learning of her husband\u2019s death. Onlookers rescued her.<\/p>\n

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According to another report, nuns canvassed the neighborhood after the disaster found a pregnant young \u201cforeign\u201d woman in bed who had recently married one of the lost miners. She was unaware of the explosion and wondering where her husband was. They got a doctor and nurse for her and vowed to keep her unaware until the baby was born.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, relatives and friends kept a constant vigil outside the main entrance and air shaft despite a heavy, drenching rain.<\/p>\n

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In addition to the bereaved, crowds of curious onlookers and news reporters descended upon Benwood, standing behind hastily constructed barricades. One hundred rescuer outfits were reportedly stolen by unscrupulous people posing as helpers. On April 30, 68 year old Mrs. Caroline (Olinski) Melcher of Jacob Street, was struck and killed by a speeding truck rushing supplies to the rescue teams.<\/p>\n

Two men were found alive in the air shaft, but, despite efforts to revive them, both died before being brought to the surface.<\/p>\n

During the first few days, there was hope that some additional the men who had not been burned to death or crushed by the explosion had barricaded themselves into old workings to escape the afterdamp. This early optimism soon waned, as one dead body after another was carried from the mine.<\/p>\n

After a few days, the odor of decaying bodies became overwhelming.<\/p>\n

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At Browns Run, people sat around fires, waiting for word. When it was learned that men had suffocated by afterdamp the grief intensified, causing \u201ca moaning sound that could be heard for a considerable distance.\u201d These images from the Baranowski family show some of the encampments at Browns Run.<\/p>\n