Sykesville, PA Mine Explosion, July 1911

TWENTY-ONE KILLED IN MINE EXPLOSION.

NONE IN THE HEADING IN PENNSYLVANIA SHAFT ESCAPED THE DEADLY AFTERDAMP.

RESCUERS WERE HELD BACK.

TO LATE TO DO ANYTHING EXCEPT TO CARE FOR THE DEAD WHEN THEY EFFECTED AN ENTRANCE.

Dubois, Penn., July 16. -- Twenty-one miners were killed in an explosion in the shaft of the Cascade Coal and Coke Company's mine at Sykesville, nine miles from here, last night. The explosion occurred at 9:30, but it was after midnight before the extent of the disaster was known. All of the dead except three are foreigners. The explosion was slight and little damage was done in the mine, but the deadly afterdamp caused the loss of life.
Three sets of brothers and a father and son are numbered among the dead. GEORGE and JOHN HEEK and NICK PAVELICK and his 15-year-old son were found by the rescuers locked in each other's arms. None of the bodies were mutilated and only a few showed any burns.
Eleven of the men in one heading had apparently made ready to escape, for they carried their dinner pails and were headed for the opening.
The first intimation of the explosion at the surface was when the safety door on the fan blew open and the machinery began to run wild. It was surmised there was trouble below, but it was hours before rescuers could enter the mine. It took some time to get to the place of the accident, a mile and a half from the opening, because the rescuers were obliged to carry exygen with them.
All but four of the bodies were brought to the foot of the shaft to-day, and were kept there until the others were recovered. Four bodies were buried beneath a cave-in at a heading, and were not recovered until late to-day. The State Police from Punxsutawney were called to police the vicinity of the shaft.
Neither mine officials nor Mine Inspectors are able to assign a cause for the explosion, as there are no survivors from which to gain an explanation, but it is the general belief that some of the men drilled into a pocket of gas. The shaft is known as a non-gaseous one, and Fire Boss JOHN BROWN reports he was through the heading where the explosion occurred an hour before and found no trace of gas.
Six men working in another heading of the mine at the time of the accident knew nothing of the explosion until the compressed air stopped their drills. They realized something had happened, but did not know the nature of it until they met a party of rescuers coming for them.
When the rescue car of the BUreau of Mines arrived here it was not needed, as all the men were dead and the air in the mine had been cleared.

The New York Times New York 1911-07-17
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!