Clinton County Mines -- Kettle Creek Colliery
Kettle Creek Mine Explosion -- On Saturday afternoon, November 3, 1888 a disastrous explosion occurred at No. 2 mine, belonging to Kettle Creek Coal Company, in which sixteen men were killed almost instantly and one other died on November 17.
Four Swedes were set to work to blast a ditch, and as they were considered capable men, dynamite was given to them. They had fired three shots and were getting ready for the fourth, when one of the men, Carlson, went outside to the store for a fresh supply of dynamite.
Returning to the mine with six sticks and a box of cartridges, Carlson witnessed a post giving way. According to one of the survivors, Anderson, Carlson hastily put down the explosives and the post fell on the dynamite. Anderson and his brother managed to escape the mine. An Italian boy, employed as a trapper at the door on main heading was hurled away from his post and killed almost instantly.
~ Deaths in the Bituminous Coal Districts 1888-1897, Volume I, Page 3
