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Many were the dangers working at the coal mines, both below and above ground. The early papers are replete with mining accidents. Many were fatal, this one in 1901 was not.
“Ed. Roberts, bit boss at No. 7 of the Wear Coal company [northeast of Pittsburg], was assisting in hoisting some timbers at the company’s new mine No. 10, near Minden, yesterday afternoon when one of the timbers accidentally dropped to the bottom [of the shaft]. Mr. Roberts was working about twenty-seven feet from the top [of the shaft] and as the timber went down it knocked him from his scaffold and he fell about fourteen feet to the bottom. Luckily he was not seriously injured but he was badly bruised about the head and legs. Drs. Moberg and Gibbs, of [Pittsburg], were called and looked after the injured man’s wants.”
Source: The Pittsburg Daily Headlight, Friday, 5 April 1901, Vol. XIII, No. 303.
Born in 1944 at the old Mt. Carmel Hospital, Pittsburg, Jerry D. Lomshek has been a lifelong resident of Crawford County and the Chicopee area. The grandson of a Slovene immigrant coal miner, he became interested in history at a young age, and began researching family and local history at the age of 14. This being a lifelong passion, he has amassed a mammoth amount of local historical data over the years. He has lectured and written several manucripts concerning the history of Southeast Kansas. From his service in the Navy, and as a registered nurse, he spent 45 years involved in various aspects of health care. Since retiring, he has devoted his time to further local historical research and various community involvement.
