McAlester, OK Fire In Coal Mine Kills Over Thirty Miners, Aug 1908

31 MINERS DIE IN BURNING PIT.

OKLAHOMA COAL MINE SCENE OF HORROR.

WORKERS TRAPPED BY FLAMES.

RETREAT CUT OFF AND MEN SUFFOCATE.

BARREL OF OIL STARTS FIRE.

FLAMES AND SMOKE FROM SHAFT GIVE FIRST WARNING OF DISASTER AND CROWDS STAND HELPLESS WHILE VICTIMS MEET DEATH IN INFERNO.

M'Alester, Okla., Aug. 26. -- More than thirty miners were suffocated in the Hailey-Ola coal mine No. 1 at Haileyville, 1 1/2 miles east of McAlester, this morning when fire destroyed the hoisting shaft and air shaft and cut off air from the men below. Twenty-five dead bodies were brought out tonight, following a successful three hours' battle with the flames. It is believed that six or eight more will be found. Twenty-five mules were suffocated and some of their bodies were burned.
Explorations in the channels this afternoon revealed the fact that none of the men met death by burning, but that all of them were suffocated. It is impossible yet for the rescuers to get far from the base of the mine shaft, and it probably will be 24 hours before a thorough search of the entire mine can be made. Some of the channels are three-quarters of a mile long.
Oil Starts Fire.
After the entombed miners had gone down on the cage a fire broke out, occasioned by the ignition of a barrel of oil which a miner was trying to divide. The flames spread at once to the hoisting shaft and the air shaft, and all communication with the top was at once cut off. The first intimation the people on top of the ground had of the trouble were the flames and smoke coming out of the top of the shaft.
Hundreds of miners rushed to the scene and tried to get into the air shaft, but this was impossible, as the flames and smoke were coming up that way with such force as to drive them back. Then an effort was made to operate the cages running up and down the hoisting shaft, but it was found that the cages, the cables and the guides had been burned. There was absolutely no help for the imprisoned miners.
The Hailey-Ola is owned by DR. D. M. HAILEY, JAMES ELLIOTT and a number of Chicago and St. Louis capitalists, among whom are several directors of the Rock Island-Frisco road. The property loss cannot be estimated at present, but may reach $50,000. The mine is one of the most valuable in the southwest.
List Of Known Dead.
Following is a list of the known dead:
ROSS MILTON.
ANDREW DUNILKEN.
DOMINIC MARIANO.
STEVEN ZELOVICH.
GEORGE SMITH.
R. H. WEBSTER.
NICHOLAS TICOVICH.
W. H. HARKER.
ROY PIERCE.
DAN ELACOMA.
JOE ELACOMA.
FRANK ELACOMA.
NICK ELACOMA.
LEE HARVEY.
TOM RAIMON.
GEORGE GLENDENNING.
AL DAVIS.
WALTER JONES.
ALEX ROSS.
And at least 12 more, names unknown.

Colorado Springs Gazette Colorado 1908-08-27

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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!