Tragedy at Black Diamond Lake
A quiet young man loses his life while attempting to swim in the local coal mining town.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Evan I. Llewellyn, 16 years of age, was drowned in Lake Jones, about 300 yards south of the Black Diamond coal bunkers, yesterday afternoon about 3 o'clock. Gomer Davis and Llewellyn went into the lake together. Davis could swim but Llewellyn could not. The latter waded in, and owing to the sloping bottom was over his head before he was aware of it. He screamed for help and Davis, who was swimming a few yards away, came toward him. He grasped Davis by the ankle and again by the wrist, but in the struggle they separated. Llewellyn was in the water about half an hour; the body was hard to locate, as it had drifted away some twenty-five yards. After several unsuccessful attempts it was located and brought to the surface by David Jones, who is an expert diver. Llewellyn was a quiet, unassuming young man, and was admired and loved by all who knew him. His father and mother and several brothers and sisters reside in Black Diamond.
“Llewellyn was a quiet, unassuming young man, and was admired and loved by all who knew him.”
Black Diamond remains a small community, though its coal mining roots have long since given way to suburban growth. This tragedy serves as a somber reminder of the constant, overlooked dangers that shaped the lives of families in frontier-era mining towns.
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