1923 – March 2, Arista coal mine gas explosion (overcharge of dynamite), Arista, WV– 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-9-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–10 The Times, Hammond, IN. “Ten Die in New Virginia Mine Horror.” 3-3-1923.
–10 United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. Arista
–10 WV Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training. WV Mine Disasters 1884 to Present.
Narrative Information
WV Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training. WV Mine Disasters 1884 to Present:
“Mar. 2, 1923 Weyanoke Coal & Coke Co. Arista [mine] Arista [location] Explosion[1] 10 [deaths].”
Newspaper
The Times, Hammond, IN. “Ten Die in New Virginia Mine Horror.” 3-3-1923:
Bluefield, W. Va., March 3. — Ten men dead is the toll of the explosion in the mine of the Weyaneke Coal and Coke Company at Arista near here. Four more bodies were recovered this morning and six were taken out last night.
“Lloyd Liscomb, a miner, was taken out this morning more dead than alive. He was given first aid treatment, but was in such a condition he could not give any details of the disaster.
“With the recovery of the ten dead and one living miners all the employees of the mine were accounted for today.
“Liscomb was entombed behind a fall of slate, rock and coal for fifteen hours.
“The dead:
- James McCleod
- James Gordon
- Frank Mitchell
- George Barnett
- M. C. Pace
- Tom Nelson
- Andy Semeck
- Henry Crotty
- Ernest Divens
- W. P. Johnson
“Thirty-eight miners were trapped in the mine when the explosion occurred but twenty-seven were at distant points in the workings and escaped the full effects of the blast and saved their lives. They hurriedly made their way to an exit before gas and black damp over took them. Five bodies were in one heap, where the miners apparently had gathered together to await their end after finding escape cut off.”
Sources
Nevada State Journal, Reno, NV. “Six Workers Die in Coal Mine Explosion.” 3-3-1923. Transcribed by United States Mine Rescue Association and accessed 4-9-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/arista_news_only.htm
The Times, Hammond, IN. “Ten Die in New Virginia Mine Horror.” 3-3-1923. Transcribed by United States Mine Rescue Association and accessed 4-9-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/arista_news_only.htm
United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Weyanoke Coal and Coke Company, Arista Mine Explosion, Arista, Mercer County, West Virginia, March 2, 1923, No. Killed – 10.” Accessed 4-9-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/arista_news_only.htm
West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training. WV Mine Disasters 1884 to Present. MHS&T, October 9, 2008 update. Accessed 4-9-2025 at: https://minesafety.wv.gov/historical-statistical-data/wv-mine-disasters-1884-to-present/
[1] “An overcharge of dynamite, used in blasting, probably was the cause of the disaster, W. A. Craven, superintendent of the mine, said tonight.” (Nevada State Journal, Reno, NV. “Six Workers Die in Coal Mine Explosion.” 3-3-1923.)