Cumnock, NC Coal Mine Explosion, May 1900

THE CUMNOCK MINE DISASTER.

TEN WHITES AND TWELVE NEGROES LOST THEIR LIVES IN AN EXPLOSION.

BODIES OF THE DEAD RECOVERED.

WERE BURIED YESTERDAY -- SECOND DISASTER IN THE MINE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS -- NAMES OF THE DEAD.

Raleigh, N.C., May 23, -- Twenty-two miners, ten white men and twelve negroes, lost their lives in an explosion at Cumnock Coal Mines, Chatham County, North Carolina, yesterday afternoon. The explosion occurred at 4:30 o'clock, and it is supposed to have been caused by a broken gauze in a safety lamp. The accident was in what is known as the East Heading, and between forty and fifty men were in the mine at the time. Five were brought out alive from the east heading, while none of the men in the other parts of the mine were injured.
The names of the dead follow:
Whites:
JOHN CONNOLLY, mine superintendent.
JOE GLASS.
WILLIAM TYSON.
JAMES McCARTHY.
JOHN HANKEY.
WESLEY CLEGG.
JOHN WILLETT.
JOHN GATEWOOD.
ROBERT GATEWOOD.
CHARLES WESLEY.
Colored:
SLIM McINTYRE.
DAN GOLDSTONE.
JOE FAGAN.
WILL REEVES.
ROBERT REEVES.
ALLIE BYNUNI.
JOE TAYLOR.
JIM MAKS.
JOHN LEE PALMER.
JIM PALMER.
PETER PALMER.
JOHN HUBBARD.
About fifty people from Seaford, a town six miles from the mine, when the news of the disaster was received, went to assist in the work of rescuing the dead and attending to the injured.
Within an hour after the explosion the work of rescue began, and by night all the bodies, except one, that of SLIM McINTYRE, had been brought to the top.
JOHN CONNELLY the mine superintendent, leaves a wife and three small children.
This is the second explosion this mine has had within the past five years the former one having occurred on December, 28, 1895, when forty-three men lost their lives.
The bodies were prepared for burial last night, and the funeral took place today.

Galveston Daily News Texas 1900-05-23
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!