From the Boston Globe: Mine disasters and money
By Susan Kushner Resnick, the author of “Goodbye Wifes and Daughters,’’ the story of the Smith coal mine disaster of 1943
"ANOTHER YEAR, another group of men killed in a coal mine. You already know the story, because it rarely changes. Inspectors discover violations. Mine operators ignore them. Miners work through the danger because they need to make a living. Gas builds up and explodes. Some men die instantly from the force of the blast, and some die from the carbon monoxide. There are always a few unaccounted for or trapped, and those mysteries keep everyone’s hope alive for a while. Then, usually, they die, too.
This is what happened Monday in the Upper Big Branch Mine in Whitesville, West Virginia. Though the specifics have yet to be revealed, these are the uncontested facts: 25 miners died after an explosion. And Massey Energy, a firm notorious for cutting safety corners, owns the mine.
Once upon a time, it was easier to explain these kind of disasters. Back in the days when coal miners used donkeys and candles, mines were more dangerous than they are today. A bigger problem than the inherent danger of harvesting profit from the earth was the dearth of safety laws. Then scientists figured out ways to keep miners safer with electric headlamps and sophisticated ventilation systems. Politicians required these and many other safeguards. Since 1941, all US coal mines have undergone periodic federal inspections. ..."
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One morning in 1943, close to eighty men descended into the Smith coal mine in Bearcreek, Montana. Only three came out alive. “Goodbye wifes and daughters . . .” wrote two of the miners as they died. The story of that tragic day and its aftermath unfolds in this book through the eyes of those wives and daughters—women who lost their husbands, fathers, and sons, livelihoods, neighbors, and homes, yet managed to fight back and persevere.
