What was possibly the greatest disaster which has happened in North Carolina since the explosion in Cumnock coal mine in 1895, occurred near Sanford Wednesday morning when an explosion in the Carolina Coal Company entombed 53 men, most of them white. The morning shift of men went down at the usual hour Wednesday morning. The first explosion occurred shortly after 9 o’clock and within a few minutes a second explosion occurred. Immediately those outside made every movement to assist the men buried several thousand feet in the bowels of the earth.
The mine superintendent, Howard Butler, who by the way is a so of Mr. Bion Butler of Southern Pines, well known to hundreds of Stanly people, and a Mr. Joe Richardson, in a heroic effort to save the men, rushed down the mine entrance 1,500 feet. They found six of the men still alive but badly stunned by the explosion and the effects of the gas. Dragging them to what they believed to be a place of safety, they all sat down to rest. After a few minutes Superintendent Butler and his helper, Mr. Richardson, started to the surface, but when only a short distance away a third explosion occurred which killed the six men instantly. Young Butler rushed back into what seemed certain death with the hope of again saving his six men and was himself overcome by the gas and barely escaped with his life. Later the six men were rescued but were found to have been dead.
Coal Glen (near Sanford), May 30—The official death list of the explosion in the Carolina Coal company’s mine here Wednesday late today was placed at 53 and the mine was declared free from bodies by Bion H. Butler, vice president of the company, after the mine had been subjected to a careful search and exploration into all workings by experts of the United States bureau of mines.
The body of Joe Hudson, recovery of which has held up the official declaration for about 18 hours, was found this afternoon to have been removed about 2 o’clock this morning and recorded as unidentified. The body was about 750 feet from where he had been at work in the bottom of the mine.
As pointed out exclusively in The Observer yesterday morning, in every instance the bodies were found some distance away from their workings, showing that they had made dashes for safety before being caught by the deadly after-damp or carbon-monoxide.
Hudson’s body was so badly mutilated that the hurried examination at the temporary morgue at the mine failed to reveal his identity, and, owing to the advanced stage of decomposition, it was rushed to a Sanford undertaker.
At the latter place today, dozens of miners viewed this body and all were unanimous in the statement that it was that of Hudson.
All Accounted For
This accounts for every person who has been missing or was thought to have been in the mine.
Until the final sweep of the mine was made late today, though, speculation ran rife as to the number of bodies supposed to be in the mine. Some said two, others as high as five.
The bureau of mines car left the mine to be attached to a northbound Seaboard train at 10:30 tonight. One or two of the experts will remain over for two or three days to get the mining crews fairly started on their work of rehabilitation of the mine.
Whether the company will resume operations has not been definitely learned. Some express the opinion that the company has been hard hit by the disaster and believe that it will not be able to whether this storm.
From the front page of The Roxboro Courier, Wednesday evening, June 3, 1925. J.W. Noell, Editor and Publisher
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073208/1925-06-03/ed-1/seq-1/#words=June+3%2C+1925
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