Mining Disaster Claims Young Worker at Black Diamond
A tragic accident at the coal mine leaves a widow mourning her only son.
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.
Morgan Powell, the only support of a widowed mother, was killed instantly at the foot of a slope in the Black Diamond coal mine about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Powell was running down the slope ahead of a car which was descending. His foot slipped on the rail and he fell headlong. The heavy car was upon him in an instant and crushed and ground him frightfully. Death apparently was almost instantaneous. Powell recently came to Black Diamond from Colorado, taking his mother with him. Coroner Hove was notified by telegraph and went there today to make an investigation and to hold an inquest if he deems it necessary.
“His foot slipped on the rail and he fell headlong. The heavy car was upon him in an instant and crushed and ground him frightfully.”
Mining fatalities were an all-too-common price paid for industrial growth in the early 20th century. While Black Diamond is no longer a major coal hub, the story reflects the precarious existence of working-class families who moved across the country following the boom-and-bust cycles of the region's resource economy.
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