Fatal Mine Explosion at Roslyn
A safety-lamp error leads to a crushing industrial accident at a local coal mine.
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.
The explosion in the Roslyn coal mine, which The Herald chronicled last week, occurred as follows: Henry Gregory, a negro driver, entered the slope with a safety lamp in his hand, but an exposed one in his hat. A frightful explosion followed his entrance into the chamber, and he was instantly killed, almost every bone in his body being crushed by the concussion. Peter Hartman and Edward Dunston, white miners, who were changing their clothing near the entrance, were badly injured. The mule Hartman was driving has not been found.
“A frightful explosion followed his entrance into the chamber, and he was instantly killed, almost every bone in his body being crushed by the concussion.”
Mining fatalities were a harrowing constant of Washington’s early industrial development, often resulting from the dangerous trade-offs between speed and safety. Today, the legacies of these mines continue to shape the geography and environmental reclamation efforts of Kittitas County.
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