JENKINS TWP. — Bill Landmesser has made the 2-mile trek to the site of the Knox Mine disaster for the past eight years, no matter the weather conditions. And Sunday’s cold and snow didn’t deter Landmesser from again remembering the 12 lives lost on Jan. 22, 1959.
“I think everyone who is a Northeastern Pennsylvania native should remember what their ancestors went through to make a life for their families,” said Landmesser, 70, of Bear Creek. “We also have to note their contribution to the industrial development of the United States in the 1800s.”
“The anthracite coal allowed the country to develop and grow,” he explained while standing over the Knox Mine disaster memorial marker.
This year, the Knox Mine disaster is commemorating its 60th anniversary. The tragedy is widely credited with effectively killing the mining industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The Knox Coal Company, along with human error and greed, caused the catastrophe. The company disregarded regulations that stated mines had to maintain 35 feet of rock between the mine’s ceiling and riverbeds. Instead, they ordered miners to excavate under the river.
An estimated 10 billion gallons of frigid water filled the mines and killed 12 men.
Bill Best, president of the Huber Breaker Preservation Society and longtime member of the Knox Mine Disaster Commemoration Committee, saw parallels to the disaster in Sunday’s weather conditions.
“There were ice blocks just like the ones floating in the Susquehanna today that were a part of the river’s cold waters,” said Best.
While standing over the monument, Best said anthracite coal was placed at the markers for anyone who visits to get an understanding of what the men sought in the dangerous mines.
Best said people should be thankful for the sacrifices coal miners made so their families could move forward in life.
“It’s a tribute to their ancestry,” he said.
Best also spoke of the days when coal was king.
“Several layers of mines underlay every city, town and borough from Carbondale all the way to Shickshinny,” he recalled. “If there weren’t opportunities for immigrants in the mines, they wouldn’t have moved to and populated the surrounding areas.”
While 69 men escaped the Knox Mine, the bodies of the 12 who died were never recovered. They were Samuel Altieri, John Baloga, Benjamin Boyar, Francis Burns, Charles Featherman, Joseph Gizenski, Dominic Kaveliski, Frank Orlowski, Eugene Ostrowski, William Sinclair, Daniel Stefanides and Herman Zelonis.
Each year, a memorial Mass is held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. A public ceremony was held at the Pennsylvania Historical Marker and monument that describes the mine disaster in front of Baloga Funeral Home.
