Fraternity-Testvériség, 1994 (72. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1994-10-01 / 4. szám
Page 6 TESTVÉRISÉG SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1994 DEDICATION of AN OFFICIAL STATE HISTORIC MARKER The marker honors fallen coal miners. The text of the Darr Mine Disaster Marker reads: December 19, 1907, an explosion killed 239 men and boys, many Hungarian immigrants, in Darr Coal Mine near Van Meter, Pa. Some were from the closed Naomi Mine, near Fayette City, which exploded on December 1, killing 34. Over 300 miners died in December, 1907, the worst month in the U.S. coal mining history. In Olive Branch Cemetery, 71 Darr, 49 Unknown are buried in a common grave. ” T he following are excerpts from the speech given by Secretary Endre Csornán at the Commemoration of the Darr Mine Disaster at the Olive Branch Cemetery: “The year of 1907 was a tragic one for the coal miners. On December 6, an explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, claimed the lives of 362 miners. Ten days later 57 miners died in an explosion at Yolande, Alabama, and on December 19, 239 men and boys were killed in an explosion at the Darr Mine. The coal company recorded an appalling 3,242 deaths that year. Death did not discriminate. It made no distinction between young and old. Young boys and men of all ages perished needlessly. It is impossible to measure the toll of human tragedy that is wrapped up in the mining industry. From left to right: Prof. August Molnár, Rev. Dr. Aladar Komjáthy, Iren Jalso, Anna Toth, Rev. Alexander Jalso and Endre Csornán in front of the old Marker erected by the American Hungarian Federation in 1908.
