Some of the incidents and accidents at the mine:

• J.M. Johnson, mine engineer, went to rig up a switch that would turn on a red light in the baler if there was trouble, and while Johnson was working away all of a sudden he got tangled up between the Sidney connection and some other box. Johnson took 2300 volts and lived. Shorty Elletson drug him out from behind the switchboard and then ran to call “Central” to send for a doctor. Shorty then grabbed a chunk of ice and shoved it down Johnson’s neck. Johnson started foaming at the mouth, and Shorty thought for sure he had killed him. Dr. Treat came, took a quick look and new Johnson was hurt somewhere else. They carried Johnson outside and found “black holes in his back” where the 2300 volts had traveled.

• In another incident, Pat Michaelson wasn’t at his job, so “John” (no last name given) was going to run the motor himself. Noontime someone went down to the power plant to shut off the charges. “John” turned the contactor on full speed and either forgot or didn’t bother watching the meter. He put in the plug and “BOOM” off it went, right out the end of the tipple. The motor was little but it weighed 5 ton and dropped 30 feet down and took off half the scale house. It also smashed a brand new set of batteries, which cost about $1,100. Jennison’s comment, “Accidents do happen!”

courtesy | MonDak Heritage Center Miners who worked in the slope mine.

• In one accident Shorty Elletson had drilled some shots. He figured “John” was the expert and told Shorty how much powder he reckoned he should use. When Shorty followed “John’s” advice, it was too much powder and when it was set off, blew all the cross bars out.

• Between the years 1928 to 1932 parts of the coal mine were on fire. Shorty Elletson worked the graveyard shift through some of that time. “Pete” (no last name) would work his way behind the fire, got the pump going and cooled the mine down so the miners could work. The workers at the mine would pitch into the rig on both sides, build a form and stick a pipe in there about 2 feet from the bottom and another 4 feet from the bottom to see how much water was getting in there. When the water finally came through the pipes, and the water was neither warm nor hot, they knew the fire was out.

• On one fateful day – Feb. 7, 1936 – Lee Alstot was putting in 12-feet long guides when the cage froze up in the 60 below zero weather. The cage jumped the guides and plunged to the bottom of the shaft 96 feet below. His back broken in the fall, Alstot was taken to the hospital in Sidney and placed under the care of Dr. Lund. Alstot was happy to be alive and didn’t even care that the nurses had cut off his long handles, which cost him $2.98! Alstot and roommate Pete played many pranks on the nurses. He nearly scared one nurse when she read the thermometer, which he had held a match under it. She also learned right quick she shouldn’t walk between the beds. However, she ended their capers with the threat of a turpentine enema!

• The first fatal accident occurred in 1923 when Jesus Calado, a Mexican employed by the coal mine, caved in. Jesus was working in one of the rooms loading a car of coal when a piece of clay about 30 inches long, 22 inches wide and 10 inches thick detached itself from the ceiling and fell on his head. Calato had just gotten over being sick with pneumonia and had an assistant working with him. The assistant made an outcry at once and one of the drivers passing the room on his way further into the mine with an empty car heard him and rushed in to see what had happened. Mr. Brennan, superintendent of the mine, received word of the accident and called Dr. Treat. Calato was still breathing and was placed in the car at the entrance to the room. They hurried to the mine portal, where the doctor was waiting, but Calato had died on the way. The ceiling of the room is only about 5 1/2 feet from the floor and the piece of clay, which weighed about 275 pounds, could not have fallen over 18 or 20 inches when it struck Calato. Calato’s assistant became excited when he saw Calato prone on the floor, head and shoulders buried beneath the piece of clay, and instead of first removing the weight, he summoned for assistance. Prompt action by him might have saved the dead man.

Calato came to this section from Mexico in 1917. He had been working in the mine about four months when he had taken sick with pneumonia. Prior to his employment in the mine, he had worked in the sugar beets in this territory.

Every known safety in mining is practiced at the Jennison mine. The state coal mine inspector has approved the safety methods the mine practices. The accident was peculiar and unavoidable. Accidents of this kind are protected by industrial insurance, and the nearest kin of Calato received $5,000 on account of his death.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Information compiled from Fairview News and the Fairview Times.