Some Southern Illinois History

[97RangerXLT]

Aerial View of New Orient Coal Mine Disaster
NEW ORIENT COAL MINE
ORIENT/ WEST FRANKFORT, ILLINOIS
CIRCA: DECEMBER, 1951
(Source: Historical Press Photograph)
The New Orient Coal Mine Disaster of 1951
Written by Ashley Jones
Anna-Jonesboro Community High School
December 21, 1951, began no differently than any other pre-Christmas day in the rural coal mining town of West Frankfort, Illinois. Everyone seemed to be in the Christmas spirit, especially the night shift workers of the Orient Coal Mine who were about to descend into the depths of the earth at 6:00 in the evening. Greeting them on a chalkboard outside the entrance of the mine was a message scripted: "Merry Christmas to the Night Crew." This was to be the last shift before the miners' Christmas vacation.

At approximately 7:40 P.M. all were busy doing their specified jobs when the blast occurred. Wilfred McDaniels, the night mine manager, was on top at the time checking his records for the shift, when he received the news that the power was off and there had to be something wrong because there was a lot of dust coming from the shafts. He immediately called John Foster, the superintendent of the mine; Arlie Cook, the mine manager, and the mine rescue crews. Tommy Haley, a repairman, called in from the telephone located in one of the sections of the mine and told McDaniels, "Something terrible has happened." The 133 uninjured miners from the unaffected sections of the mine headed for the surface.

Immediately following the phone call, 2,000 of the town's citizens were informed over the loud speaker at the local high school's basketball game about the explosion. Family members quickly rushed to the site anxiously waiting to hear the outcome. More than 218 rescue men worked through the night, but the miners themselves, who made it out alive, held little hope that any of the trapped men were alive. As rescuers were recovering dead bodies, they used the local junior high school gymnasium as a temporary morgue. The only survivor of the 120 that were trapped was a man named Cecil Sanders. He endured a harsh and cold sixty hours trapped in the mine after the explosion. Sanders was reported as having enough carbon monoxide in his lungs to have killed any ordinary man, but according to the local physician, Sanders was far from ordinary since he was so used to the mining atmosphere. He was West Frankfort's own Christmas miracle. On Christmas Eve the death toll had reached 119 and the search for the cause of the explosion was underway. Federal, state, and company inspectors worked endlessly until December 27 trying to find out what caused this terrible accident.

Illinois Mines Director Walter Eadie said, "The explosion at the mine was definitely caused by methane gas." Federal inspectors had previously criticized some of the means employed by the company to control methane, but the company had ignored those federal recommendations. James Westfield, a United States Bureau of Miners official called the disaster "somebody's carelessness and an absolutely avoidable accident." Altogether, the inspectors found thirty-one violations of the Federal mine safety code. Many were relatively minor, but some were of such a nature as to "indicate serious hazards similar to those that had caused heavy loss of life or destruction of property."

This disaster, along with many others such as the Cherry Mine Disaster in Cherry, Illinois, and the Centralia Mine Disaster in Centralia, Illinois, attracted national attention due to the lack of proper ventilation systems. On July 16, 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act. This Act authorized mine inspectors to require any mine employing fifteen men or more to comply with mine safety provisions. This act allowed the federal government to shut down any mines that it thought were potentially dangerous. This gave the mine inspectors power to enforce the laws on any mine who did not meet the standards of the Safety Act. These new laws enforced mines to become better ventilated to control the methane gas. It also helped control the floating coal dust by dusting the mine walls with a limestone compound. The Safety Act has been so effective that there has been only one other mine disaster in southern Illinois since it was passed.

The New Orient coal mine disaster of 1951 helped change mining history. This disaster helped the government realize that Illinois needed stricter safety regulations, and these stricter safety regulations saved lives. Due to the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952, mining became safer for all of Illinois' coal laborers.

 

[superj]

wow. that would be a horrible thing to be part of. either down under or on top waiting to hear about your friends and family

 

[97RangerXLT]

My Dad was in kindergarten in the West Frankfort schools when this happened. His dad worked in one of the many mines (not New Orient though) and he did have an uncle and I think a cousin that worked in the New Orient mine at the time. He said he remembered when they announced the explosion at the school the next day.

Sad that it took this event to get mine safety laws on the books.

AJ

 

[Ranger850]

That's how safety laws work. X amount of people have to die before a law can be added or changed. There is a dangerous intersection in my County, outside the city limits. People have been getting into wrecks a lot, especially when school ( FSU ) is in, and the people that live in the area have been petitioning for a Red light or to have it re-engineered to be safer. The response is something like " It hasn't caused X amount of deaths in a year, so no need to change anything" Nevermind the cost of repair to the vehicles smashing into each other, but what about the Cops and EMTs that have to go there 3-4 times a month. It's also the main road from a smaller town into Tallahassee, so a lot of people use it to go to/from work. At least once a week there is a crash, but no deaths, Sooo..... business as usual

 

[superj]

thats our problem here in corpus christi. we have been asking for bicycle lanes in the city but the city says not enough cyclists get killed for it. only one or two a year. well, when there is only 100 people riding because everyone is scared of getting killed, 1 or 2 is a lot.

and thats not counting the guys riding who are not killed and just get broken bones, brain injuries, paralyzed, etc. people get hit here once or twice a month because of drunk or inattentive drivers. the people who throw stuff at you from the windows are just totally ignored by the city unless we catch them at a red light and there is a fight, because that happens when someone throws a glass bottle or full metal can at you. we try and catch the car at the light and everyone gets on him.

a few years ago, a rich old lady who family money pays for lots of things in town ran a guy over riding his bike down town. she told the cops she thought she hit a trash can. the guy was a super rich lawyer who had a camera on his bike. the camera showed she saw him, hit him, slowed to look, and than drove off. he sued her and the city so now that street has a bike lane on it.

 

[dvdswan]

thats our problem here in corpus christi. we have been asking for bicycle lanes in the city but the city says not enough cyclists get killed for it. only one or two a year. well, when there is only 100 people riding because everyone is scared of getting killed, 1 or 2 is a lot.

A fine example of hoping something will go away if you ignore it.

I bet they're hell bent on drunk driving deaths and have a "zero tolerance" on it. But who give a flying f*** about a bike rider. I'm not a cyclist, in fact, I really, can't stand most of them because they think rules don't apply to them (blowing through stop signs, not using crosswalks, etc.). Seattle has tons of bike lanes and I think they work (from what I remember) and more people are using them according to the city.

Times change, nothing stays the same. Either lead, follow, or get the f*** out of the way. ----- this goes for the left lane people to. LOL

 

[superj]

lots of bike guys do do the things you say and it makes car people really hate them. the fastest group of the club i ride with is well known for doing all that stuff. they are the guys who race on a cycling team, or are fast enough to but have normal jobs. the first guy in the group makes it through the light so the others follow just to keep the group together but what it comes out to is one bike makes it and 13 don't.

 

[dvdswan]

What the cyclist don't understand, they think the rules state motorized vehicles but they actually state moving vehicles. (which would include cycles)

Again, I can see the need for changes for safety, I may not agree with all them but you don't get to pick and choose the rules. Just because you don't think it's needed because it isn't your thing, someone else does because it is their thing.

Sorry for the thread jack. Very cool story. That is one of the stories that I've never heard of. I never knew IL had coal mines, I always thought they were in W VA and PA.

 

[97RangerXLT]

I've never heard of. I never knew IL had coal mines, I always thought they were in W VA and PA

Actually, the world's Largest Coal Mine was in West Frankfort IL. all of southern IL is coal mining based, but most of the mines were shut down or played out in the mid 1980s. you go to Southern IL now, and most of the cities are crumbling, high un employment and generally miserable places to live. go back to the 1970s, and Southern IL was thriving, all due to the coal industry.

AJ

 

[dvdswan]

I suppose I would have know those facts if I stayed in northern IL instead of leaving at 5.