Daniels, William
Ogden Standard Examiner January 17, 1958
Four Men Entombed in Carbon Mine
Price - Four miners were entombed deep inside the Spring Canyon Coal Co. mine 13 miles northwest of here early today when a "bounce" caused a severe cave-in.
A company official said it was not known if the men were buried by the fall of coal and rock or if they were trapped-possibly safely-behind it. "We're hopeful they are behind it and safe," he said.
The cave-in site is about 5,000 feet from the main mine entrance. It is 2,000 feet down the hillside mine's fourth left lateral where the mine itself dips downward.
Families of the men waited outside the mine entrance for any word on whether the four men were alive. The four have a total of 11 children.
It was believed the cave-in, which accompanied the "bounce" or sudden pressure change inside the mine, occurred between 1 and 1:30 a.m.
The ground shock from the bounce was so severe it loosened the entire top face of coal in the cave-in area and workers were forced to timber their rescue shaft as they tunneled toward the trapped men.
The spokesman said the latest report was that rescue workers had tunneled 800 feet through the giant pile of debris in an effort to reach the miners.
The four trapped men were identified as William Daniels, 47, the mine face boss; his son-in-law, Dean Nielsen, 29, the shuttle car operator; Cecil Garcia, 36, a rope rider, and Keith Anderson, 30, a motorman. Garcia is from Helper. The other three are from Spring Canyon.
A Bulletin attached to the above article:
Price - The body of one of four trapped coal miners was recovered this afternoon. He was Cecilio Garcia, 36, father of four children. There was no word of the other men.
Ogden Standard Examiner, Saturday, Jan. 18, 1958
Third Miner's Body Found; No Hope Held for Fourth
SPRING CANYON - Blackfaced, dirty workers recovered today the body of a third man trapped deep in a coal mine by an earth tremor that caused a cave-in.
A fourth man was still caught somewhere under tons of rock and rescuers held no hope he would be found alive. He is Dean Nielsen, 27.
The body of Keith Anderson, 30, was uncovered this morning. Both he and Nielsen were from Spring Canyon, a tiny company mining town of dreary brown sandstone about 120 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
Late last night workmen, erecting timbers as they proceeded, against the possibility of further cave-ins, uncovered the body of William Daniels, 47, also of Spring Canyon.
Earlier they found the body of Cecilio Garcia, 36, the father of seven children from nearby Helper. He was not caught beneath the torrent of falling coal set loose when a "bounce" - a shift in the mountain above the mine-sent the rocks crashing down.
Garcia apparently was hit on the head by a flying rock. A doctor said he never knew what hit him.
Rescuers at first hoped for another miracle such as occurred at nearby Sunnyside two years ago when three men survived after being buried in a similar cave-in for 72 hours.
There was no such miracle here. The faces of the workers showed they knew it as they marched wearily away from the mine portal after a shift of rescue work.
Two officials expressed what the miners hadn't the heart to say.
The mine manager, C. E. Pauley, said he didn't see how the men could be found alive. And Clair Nowren, a safety engineer, said it was inconceivable.
The four men were working overtime to remove equipment from one of the shafts that honeycomb a mountain. If they had left at the end of their regular shift, the mine would have been empty.
Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday Morning, January 19, 1958
Death in Spring Canyon
All Utah joins the bereaved families and friends of the four victims of the Spring Canyon coal mine disaster in mourning his tragedy.
While investigation has not been completed, this appears to be the kind of coal mine accident that is practically unavoidable. A "bounce" or earth slip above the tunnel in which the men were working caused a sudden cave-in, filling the tunnel with coal dust. An electric wire short or other spark caused by the cave-in set off an explosion.
The mine had been inspected only about six weeks ago, but a state safety inspector was quoted as saying: "No inspection could foretell this."
Underground mining by the very nature of things is a hazardous occupation. Despite, all the safety precautions in the world, some accidents will happen. Utah actually has had quite a safe record, for this is the worst coal mine disaster in years.
This does not lessen the blow to those bereaved. It is bleak tragedy to four wives suddenly made widows, to 17 children of the four men, and to two children yet unborn. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to them.
Salt Lake Tribune January 19, 1958
Mine Shaft Gives Up Third Victim's Body
PRICE - The body of the third of four Carbon County miners trapped early Friday in a mine cave-in was brought to the surface at 10:20 a.m. Saturday.
The badly crushed and burned body of Keith Arthur Anderson, 30, was found under tons of rock and coal about 5,000 feet from the shaft entrance in an unused section of the Spring Canyon Coal Co. mine.
Previously recovered were the bodies of Cecilio Garcia, 35, of Helper, brought up at noon Friday, and face boss William Daniels, 47, recovered late Friday evening.
Still missing and presumed dead is Russell Dean Nielsen, 29, son-in-law of Mr. Daniels. From the position of the bodies already recovered, officials believed Mr. Nielsen is buried under eight feet of rock some 80 feet further down the choked shaft.
Rescue work was hampered all day Friday by an explosion and fire following the cave in, which was caused by a "bounce" or shift in the mountain above the mine. All fallen rock must be recovered and removed from the shaft by hand, further slowing efforts to reach Mr. Nielsen.
Keith Arthur Anderson was born at Emery, Emery County, September 6, 1927, the son of Clinton C. and Florence Abelin Anderson. He married Edna Sheets. He had been a resident of Spring Canyon for the past nine years.
Surviving are his parents, Carbonville; widow, three daughters, Susanne, Connie and Dawn, Spring Canyon; two brothers and one sister, Preston C. U. S. Navy, Fallon, Nev.; Maurice, Carbonville; Mrs. Rine Erickson, Spring Canyon.
Funeral will be Tuesday at 1 p.m. in Price Tabernacle, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with burial in Emery Cemetery.
William Daniels was born March 23, 1910, Lafayette, Colo., the son of Charles and Jeannie Daniels. He was married to Elsieanna Mitchell at Grand Junction, Colo. In 1933. He had been a resident of Spring Canyon since 1952.
Surviving are his parents, Oak Creek, Colo.; his widow, three sons and two daughters, Gilbert, Steamboat Springs, Colo; Stanley, U. S. Navy, San Diego, Calif.; Charles Albert, Emily Jane, and Mrs. Dean Nielsen, Spring Canyon; and a brother, Albert, Carlsbad, N.M.
Cecilio Garcia, was born March 29, 1921 in Canyoncito, N. M. son of Fredencio and Garguerita Gurule Garcia. He was married to Solema Garcia in Helper, June 3, 1945.
He is survived by his wife and the following children: Virginia, Linda Sue, Lucy Margie, Mary Jean, Lawrence Cecil and Eddie F. all of Helper; four brothers, Dommitlio, Lee, Ferman and Joe; two sisters, Sophia Chevez and Livie Lucero. The Rosary will be said Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Mitchell Funeral Home. Requiem Mass will be said Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in Helper St. Anthony Church.
Daily Herald Jan. 19, 1958
3 Bodies Recovered From Mine - Digging Continued at Spring Canyon for Body of 4th Miner.
PRICE - Rescue workers Saturday uncovered the mangled body of a third miner, one of four trapped Friday thousands of feet inside a mountain coal mine.
Digging continued for the fourth miner under a 2,000 foot long caved in tunnel of the Spring Canyon Coal Co. mine 13 miles northwest of Price. The cave-in was followed by an explosion and fire.
Two bodies were uncovered Friday.
The victim found this morning was Keith Anderson, 30, Spring Canyon.
The find further weakened hopes that the fourth miner, Dean Nielsen, 29, Spring Canyon, would be found alive. Workers said they had found no trace of him by mid-morning
Friday the body of Cecelio Garcia, 36, was found. Late Friday night rescue workers found the body of William Daniels, 47.
Daniels and Garcia, along with Anderson and Nielsen, Daniel's son-in-law, were working overtime removing old tracks and equipment when the tunnel collapsed with an earthquake-like bounce which dumped tons of coal, rock and debris on the men.
Teams of rescue workers reached Garcia's body shortly after noon Friday, 11 hours after the cave-in occurred. He was found in a clear area at the far end of the caved in section.
Officials said his skull had been crushed by falling debris.
The other three miners were trapped beneath the fall itself.
From the start, rescue crews knew there was little chance any of the three could be found alive.
However, the rescuers remember another mine cave-in near here April 18, 1956 at the Sunnyside mine of Kaiser Steel Co. In that cave-in, three of four trapped miners were found "miraculously" alive after nearly 40 hours entombment.
Rescue crews from the Sunnyside mine joined Spring Canyon workers in the rescue effort.
Diggers encountered fires inside the mine Friday but extinguished them.
DeAngeles, Eugene
Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, February 15, 1948
Cave-In Kills 1, Hurts 2 in Carbon Mine
COLUMBIA, Feb. 14 - One miner was killed and two injured by a roof cave-in at the Columbia mine Saturday at 10:10 a.m.
Eugene (Jay) DeAngeles, 44, district foreman at the mine more than 10 years, died instantly when part of the roof fell, knocking out timbers and supports. Pete Roybal, about 30, and Teo Filo Gonzales, about 25, were injured.
The injured miners, suffering from shock and bruises, are at Dragerton, Carbon county, hospital for treatment and observation for possible internal injuries.
Officials at the mine, which provides coal for Geneva Steel Co., said Saturday the investigation indicated Mr. DeAngeles had taken the two men with him back into the mine to timber a portion. He had proceeded beyond the timbered section and was standing approximately five feet from the face when the roof gave way.
Mr. DeAngeles had been employed at the Columbia mine 14 years and had served as foreman most of that time.
He was born May 26, 1903, a son of Joe and Vera DeAngeles.
Surviving, besides his parents at Price, are his widow, Mrs. Ada Watt DeAngeles, two daughters, Lavae and Shanna DeAngeles, Columbia; six brothers and three sisters, John, Tony, and Louie DeAngeles, San Francisco, Mrs. J. C. Snow, Pete and Frank DeAngeles, Price, Mike DeAngeles, Castle Gate, Carbon county, Mrs. Nick Galanis, Salt Lake City, and Mrs. B. F. Barkley, Provo.
Divjak, (Devicak) Nick
Mt. Pleasant Pyramid 1930-07-25
Three Men Killed, Two Injured By Blast at Consumers
Three men were killed and four others narrowly escaped death at 10:10 o'clock Monday night when a missed shot in the Blue Blaze coal mine at Consumers exploded.
The dead: "Edwin R. 'Ted' Wycherly, 29, fire boss; Nick Devicak, 34, mucker, and Nick Moros, 40, driller.
Those who were working in the tunnel, but who escaped were Dave Parmley, foreman; J. Clinton Gibson, hoist man; E. E. Morgan, mucker. Gibson who was immediately back of Wycherly in the tunnel suffered painful bruises and lacerations about the left side of his body, arms and legs, but his condition was reported as being satisfactory at the emergency hospital in Consumers were he was taken immediately after the explosion.
Salazar also sugared cuts and lacerations, but was not seriously hurt. The seven men were working in the rock tunnel about two hundred sixty feet from the entrance and comprised the night shift which went on at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
Several stories are told about the accident. The one generally credited is as follows:
The shot which exploded was left there by the previous shift Sunday night and the new shift was warned of its existence Moros knew of the missed shot and, following state regulations, placed a second shot a foot away and in the same direction, in order to shoot it out. Evidently the dynamite failed to blast out the missed shot, and when workers were drilling a plug in the bottom of a rig Monday, they hit into it.
Mine officials said that the possibility of such a thing happening was remote and failure of the blast to remove the old shot could be laid to carelessness on Moros' part in drilling from the outside of the rib instead of from the inside.
J.B. Taylor, state coal mine inspector, conducted an investigation of the tragedy and issued a report which is essentially the same as that of J. A. Roaf, superintendent of the Consumers mine.
"The Blue Blaze Coal Company was driving a rock tunnel for the purpose of prospecting No. 1 seam," said Taylor. "Nick Moros, the driller, and his partner, Nick Devicak were drilling a short hole in the bottom of the floor to brush for track when they accidently drilled into the misfired shot which exploded the powder that was in the hole, Killing Moros, Devicak and Wycherly"
Rumor persists, however, that the hole drilled into was the second of two missed holes and Moros drilling into it while Gibson and Wycherly were removing the fuse and the priming from the first hole of which they had been warned. Gibson, who was in back of the three men killed, was greasing the priming, preparatory to shooting the hole, and the bodies of the three men in front of him blanketed the explosion sufficiently to save his life. The blast caused all the lights in the tunnel to go out.
Wycherly was born in Winter Quarters. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. William McFarland, his widow, Mildred Ward Wycherly, two children, Nadean 4, and Shirley, 2; two brothers, Jack and Elmo, and one sister, Mrs. Leona Lamph. Interment will be in Cleveland.
Devicak was born in Yugoslavia. He came to Carbon County from Kemmerer, where his widow and 1 son reside.
Moros was born in Serbia of Slav parents. He is survived by his widow, two children and seven step-children who reside in Coal City. Bodies of Moros and Devicak are at the Flynn Funeral Home. Funeral arrangements have not yet been made.
Officers of the Blue Blaze Coal Company left Salt Lake City for Price early Tuesday morning following reports of the explosion. No report has been received from them yet. - Price Sun