1 00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:03,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to stuff you missed in history class. From House 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: to works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: I will say, hey, Tracy, it's another depressing episode. I know, 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: so I've we're recording two episodes today. The other one 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: is not depressing. But as I was looking through our 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: listeners submitted suggestions trying to figure out what we were 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: going to do for today, uh, overwhelmingly they are massacres 8 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 1: and explosions and tragedies and uh a lot of they're 9 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: very dour. They have hundreds of extremely sad listeners suggestions. Yeah, 10 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: I mean, And that's the thing. This one today is 11 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: when we've had numerous requests for it's a mining disaster 12 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: that happened in France in nineteen o six. It is 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: super depressing, but it's also very fascinating. I think that's 14 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: part of why we get so many requests for depressing things. 15 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: There's a little bit of historical rubenicking perhaps in play. 16 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: Like I know, I kind of like the really grizzly 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: history stuff because I'm removed enough from it. It's far 18 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: enough back that I don't have to feel too like 19 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: weird and conflicted about reading about it. Like I'm not 20 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: getting delight from the current misery of somebody. But I 21 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: am fascinated at how it all plays out, on how 22 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: all the pieces of the puzzle fit together well, and 23 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,680 Speaker 1: and mining disasters have been so reveal within the mining 24 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: industry for basically all of history. Yes, it's a very 25 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: very dangerous trade. And the explosion that we're talking about 26 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: today is at the Courier mine and it was beyond horrific. Uh. 27 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:41,400 Speaker 1: As such a heads up, because we are going to 28 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: talk a little bit, we in particular quote a news 29 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: report that is pretty graphic. So if that's something that 30 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: you have a little bit of trouble with, like you 31 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: can't listen to graphic descriptions of of the dead, we 32 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: will give you a heads up that that's coming and 33 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: you'll have about a minute that you can skip past. 34 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: But otherwise, or if you just hate hearing stories about 35 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: a lot of people dying, this might not be the 36 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: one for you. But if you're fascinated by mining history, 37 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: like I actually am, and I think many of our 38 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: listeners are, then here we go. At this point, coal 39 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: production in France was a much smaller industry than in 40 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: the countries of England and Germany. This is a really 41 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: expensive undertaking in France just didn't have the kind of 42 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: coal that could be used in metallurgy or for producing gas, 43 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: which were two of the more lucrative uses. Even though 44 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: France was mining coal, the country was consuming more coal 45 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: than it was producing. Prior to eighteen fifty, coal production 46 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: in France came primarily from the central area of the 47 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: country in Lacluzeaux, Saint Etienne and Blasi, among other towns. 48 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: But at the mid century things really started to shift 49 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: north to LA's Betune and pard Calais, and those areas 50 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: it's really started to grow. In eighteen fifty two, those 51 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: northern coal fields are producing one million tons of coal. 52 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: By eighteen seventy the region was producing four point three 53 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: million tons, and from eighteen seventy on and increasingly became 54 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,679 Speaker 1: the center of French coal production. One of the main 55 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: mining operations in northern France's coal industry was the company 56 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: des Mean de Couriere, which was formed in eighteen fifty two, 57 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: so it was part of that massive growth, and they 58 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: rapidly expanded their interests by opening sixteen coal pits near Les, 59 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: becoming the third largest mining operation in all of France. 60 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: By nineteen hundred, and this mine was so expansive that 61 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: there were actually tunnels into it from several different towns. 62 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: It employed more than two thousand miners regularly. And when 63 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: we say minor, we both mean minor like a person 64 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: that actually works in a mine, and minors like people 65 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: that are under age, because some of the the men 66 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: that worked there were actually really boys. They were just 67 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: teenagers and sometimes quite young teenagers. The Corrier Mining Company 68 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: had some impressive statistics about the safety and working conditions, 69 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: but it could really growl about I mean, particularly in 70 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: comparison to other minds. It was before this disaster doing 71 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: pretty well. The company had reduced to the annual death 72 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: rates of mining mining workers, It maintained much safer roads 73 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: around the facilities, and it won awards for excellence and 74 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 1: it's working arrangements. It was considered in the early nine 75 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: hundreds to be one of the safest mines in France. 76 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: On the afternoon of March nine, a fire broke out 77 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: in the number three pit, which is also called the 78 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: Cecile pit, and that's two hundred and seventy meters or 79 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: eight hundred and eighty five ft underground, and the initial 80 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: source I read said this happened at around three pm, 81 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: but I also looked at an older text um from 82 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: an engineering and mining periodical at the time, and they 83 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: suggested that this fire had actually started several days before that. 84 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: So I just want to point out that there's some disparity, 85 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: but we know definitely on the ninth that they were 86 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: trying to address it because this was an area where 87 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: masonry work was being done and workers were not successful 88 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: in putting out the fire with any sort of expediency. 89 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: So the decision was made, and this is pretty standard 90 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: operating procedure, to close all access points to the cecile 91 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: pit and sort of walled off. And the idea, of 92 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: course was the absence of air, this fire was just 93 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: going to naturally extinguish and burn itself out. Was not 94 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: at March tenth, so the next day it was basically 95 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: business as usual. Workers reported in and at five thirty, 96 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: right on schedule, cages descended at pits number two, three, four, 97 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: and eleven. The chief engineer in charge of the number 98 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: three pit indicated that he had isolated the fire. Just 99 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: before seven am, an explosion rocked through the mine. Fire 100 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: traveled almost instantly through a hundred and ten kilometers. That's 101 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,719 Speaker 1: a little more than sixty eight miles worth of underground tunnels, 102 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: so that is an extremely fast moving fireball. Basically from 103 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,799 Speaker 1: the surface, it looked like the explosion was the most 104 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: intense that the numbers three, four, and eleven pits. Clouds 105 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: of dust and smoke shot out from the entrances to 106 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: the mine, and then the fire followed. At the number 107 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: eleven pit, the explosion caused the cage to the pit 108 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: to be flung upwards into the winding gear, making it 109 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: a little bit impossible to move it for a bit. 110 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: On The cage was basically the elevator that got people 111 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: in and at correct. The initial explosion killed several people 112 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: on the surface above it. One man working the surface 113 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: at the number four pit named George d'avian was thrown 114 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: by the blast into an iron staircase. His skull was 115 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: fractured and he eventually died from his injuries. One of 116 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: the mine offices on the surface also had its roof 117 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: blown off in the blast. According to survivors, the scene 118 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 1: underground was, as we mentioned earlier, nothing short of horrifying. 119 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: Men were burned alive, some had been dismembered in the explosion, 120 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: some were trampled in the ensuing panic, and others were 121 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: crushed when roof supports disintegrated. Even the men who were 122 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: physically able to make their way through the debris described 123 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: having to climb over corpses, really just desperate to avoid 124 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: the same fate. I was reading one account where a 125 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: survivor had said that they were all trying to rush out, 126 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: but some of the men in front of him in 127 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: the tunnel, we're dying as they were running out from 128 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: what they were inhaling, and so they would fall, and 129 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: then people would just have to like not trip over 130 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: them and try to make their way over the bodies. 131 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: Sirens went off in all of the nearby towns to 132 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: alert everyone that there had been an underground explosion. Immediately, 133 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: townspeople rushed to the colliery. These were, after all mining towns, 134 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: so in many cases families had multiple members working at 135 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: courrier and coal mining was their entire livelihood. The panic 136 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: above ground as people poured into the area and the 137 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: gates to the mind had to be closed to prevent 138 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: complete chaos. Eventually, the military got involved in an effort 139 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: to reign in the pandemonium, and before we get to 140 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: the rescue and clean up efforts. Uh, we're going to 141 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: talk first about one of our great sponsors so they 142 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: don't get kind of wadded up in all of the 143 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: gross talk, because we love our sponsors and don't want 144 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: them mixed in with that. So we'll take a little 145 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: sponsor break, and then we'll be right back to the story. 146 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: So back into the story of the courier of disaster. 147 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: The first group of survivors out of pit number eleven 148 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: had hurriedly climbed ladders immediately after the blast. They were 149 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: really quite near the entrance to the pit to begin with, 150 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,439 Speaker 1: and several of them that once they emerged from underground, 151 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: were rushed by onlookers who were eager for any information 152 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: about what was happening below. But the men were all 153 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: in shock and they weren't really able to answer questions 154 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: with any sort of detailer clarity. The chief State engineer 155 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,439 Speaker 1: for Poticla arrived on the scene in accordance with a 156 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: decree that any such incidents needed to immediately fall under 157 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: the jurisdiction of state engineers and not local authorities. Cages 158 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: were to the surface periodically with survivors, and each time 159 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: the gathering crowd fluttered with eager anticipation, hoping that their 160 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: loved ones were the ones coming safely to the surface. Uh. 161 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: And meanwhile, rescue parties were also organizing, planning to first 162 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: extinguish the fires that were still burning in the tunnels, 163 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: because those were blocking the way in many cases, and 164 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: then to try to retrieve both the living and the 165 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: dead from the pits. Occasionally, particularly early on in the 166 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: whole process, miners would emerge on their own, sort of 167 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: stumbling days from the tunnels, and every time there was 168 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: this big surge in the crowd, hoping that it was 169 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: someone that was part of their family. In the paper Galois, 170 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: a journalists described the horrific site of cages loaded with 171 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: bodies coming to the surface. And this is the gruesome part. 172 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: We want to include it just to make it clear 173 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: how horrifying the scene was. So if it seems like 174 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: it would trouble you can skip about a minute starting now. 175 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,839 Speaker 1: Quote In the cage, the terribly mutilated bodies are heaped up, 176 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: piled on top of one on top of the other, 177 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: all completely naked with a slimy coating of sweat. Some 178 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: are decapitated. There are trunks without limbs and detached hands. 179 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 1: And feet. There are piles of bleeding flesh. The whole 180 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: site is an evil smelling loathsome human morass. When you 181 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: touch it, it falls apart in bundles, which are like 182 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: pieces of saturated tinder. They are stacked up haphazardly on handbarrows. 183 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: Blankets are thrown over, grimacing faces, broken bodies, and crushed limbs. 184 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: The access tunnels continued to burn, and that made it 185 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: extremely difficult for anybody to even attempts to reach the 186 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: trapped miners. As the day of the explosion ended, there 187 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,560 Speaker 1: were still more than a thousand men and boys trapped 188 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: inside the mine. A temporary mortuary was set up near 189 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: the mind to deal with the constant influx of bodies 190 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: that were found. The cleanup and identification of the deceased 191 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:57,679 Speaker 1: actually took weeks. As rescue efforts continued, new precautions had 192 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: to be taken. There were so many ed people and 193 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: horses in these tight tunnels that there was some concern 194 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: that their decomposition would make the rescuers sick. Any men 195 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:09,880 Speaker 1: who were willing to go into the tunnel to search 196 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: for both the dead and the living had to wear 197 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 1: sterile suits and rubber gloves and carry disinfectants with them, 198 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: and the protocol for dealing with the dead shifted as well. 199 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 1: We talked about those horrible cages that were coming up 200 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: and the horrible things people were seeing. So eventually they 201 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: shifted and the bodies that they were finding were actually 202 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: placed in coffins while they were still underground. Uh they 203 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: would be treated first with a creasehole solution, and then 204 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: these coffins would be sent to the surface where a 205 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: medical examiner would open them, inspect them, and identify them 206 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 1: before burial. That way, it was a little less riotous 207 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: when cages came up, but there were so many bodies 208 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: that eventually they had to start communal graves to bury 209 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:56,960 Speaker 1: these men. So that they could cope with the sheer 210 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: volume of work that they had on date to the 211 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: decision was made to reverse the underground air current to 212 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: try to ventilate the tunnels for the rescue workers. There 213 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 1: was some resistance to this idea though. The fear was 214 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 1: that any survivors and more remote areas of the mind 215 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 1: might be put in jeopardy by the shifting air current, 216 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: but the change was made over those objections. Mining teams 217 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: from a German colliery arrived to aid in the search, 218 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:26,839 Speaker 1: as well as a fire squad from Paris. At one point, 219 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: forty men banded together to form a rescue party, and 220 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: they ventured into one of the shafts that was not 221 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: at that point fully engulfed in flame. But the shaft 222 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: collapsed on them and all of them were killed. And 223 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,199 Speaker 1: that's a story that actually repeats many, many times. There 224 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: were a lot of people that went in to rescue 225 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,839 Speaker 1: and never came back out. This incident became the primary 226 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: news story in France. Unsurprisingly, George Clemensou, Minister of the Interior, 227 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: as well as other high ranking government officials visited the colliery. 228 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,959 Speaker 1: Politicians and royals throughout the world started sending condolence letters, 229 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: and there were donation campaigns across the globe as well 230 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: to try to raise money for the families of the victims. 231 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: The most astounding development in the story, and this is 232 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: kind of a headline you'll sometimes see an amazing history 233 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: lists or whatever, happened on March thirty, So this is 234 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: almost three weeks after the explosion, because you remember it 235 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:20,559 Speaker 1: happened on the tenth, so we're at date twenty at 236 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: this point. And on that day, thirteen men arrived alive 237 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,560 Speaker 1: at the entrance to pit number two. They had been 238 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: in the mind the whole time, and they were brought 239 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:33,080 Speaker 1: to the surface in a cage. They have been wandering 240 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: in the dark shafts together for miles looking for a 241 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: way out, and they had eventually caught the air current 242 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: from an air ventilator. That was after they had shifted 243 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: that current and followed it to the source where they 244 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,679 Speaker 1: were extracted. These men had survived by drinking whatever stagnant 245 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 1: water they could find in the mine, and they had 246 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 1: supplemented that water with their own urine. They'd also have 247 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: been eating horse meat from the animals that had been 248 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,560 Speaker 1: killed in the blast, as well as any provisions that 249 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: they could find on the dead. They'd also eaten oats 250 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: that were kept in the underground horse stables. While they 251 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,559 Speaker 1: were weak, they were deemed to be relatively physically stable, 252 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,959 Speaker 1: considering that they had been exposed to literally poisonous conditions 253 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: throughout this ordeal. Their mental health was are also fairly good. 254 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,959 Speaker 1: They were immediately sent for medical treatments so they could 255 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: be fed a controlled diet, treated for any medical means, 256 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: and slowly reaccustomed to light. Because they had been underground 257 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: for all that time. Yeah, you can imagine having little 258 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: to no light, basically in pitch black for three weeks 259 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: and then walking out into the sun is very shocking. Uh. 260 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: And at this point those men had all been presumed 261 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: dead so much that there are reports that family members 262 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: who came to greet them after being notified of this 263 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 1: amazing event that they had emerged, were actually wearing their 264 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: morning clothes when they did so so naturally. The initial 265 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: response to this miraculous discovery was joy, but that was 266 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: shortly followed by a wave of doubt and anger. People 267 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: were concerned that the colliery in the state had mismanaged 268 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: the rescue effort. There were accusations that they had likely 269 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: left other survivors to die. Additionally, that new hope that 270 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: sprang from the thirteen survivors emerging caused a near riot 271 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: as people rushed the number to pit hoping that they 272 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: were going to be able to find even more miners alive. 273 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: Police and military once again had to get involved to 274 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: manage the situation. Two of the miraculous thirteen, on Re 275 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: Ninny and Charles Provost, were awarded the Legion of Honor 276 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: for their courage and their leadership. In later years. Nannie 277 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: as a recipient of this award, was criticized because some 278 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: of the other men claimed he hadn't really exhibited much 279 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: in the way of valor and that he had in 280 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 1: fact been a hindrance to their survival rather than a help. Yeah, 281 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: there are lots of stories of him lagging behind, really 282 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: kind of having some breakdowns, saying sitting down and saying 283 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: that he wanted to just die, while the other who 284 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: are trying to keep spirits up and keep everybody moving. 285 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: So and again it's all their accounts, So while it's 286 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: all first timed accounts, they don't all matchups. That we 287 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: don't know the whole story. But in the meantime, the 288 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 1: effort to mount additional searches did continue, and on April fourth, 289 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: the last survivor was found in close proximity kind of 290 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: between pits number four and number eleven. And this find 291 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: was actually almost accidental. The rescued man, a Goose Delton, 292 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: had cried out weekly when he thought he saw a 293 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: light uh and a member of an active search party, 294 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: which it sounds like by the accounts that I read, 295 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: was not. They weren't really looking where he was. They 296 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: were somewhere else. But he just happened to cry out 297 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: and catch their attention, and they followed that cry and 298 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: located him. He said he had been attempting to escape 299 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,479 Speaker 1: when he lost consciousness, and later considered trying to amputate 300 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:51,800 Speaker 1: one of his limbs so that he would die because 301 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: the situation was that hopeless. He had no idea how 302 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: long he'd been unconscious or how long he'd been trapped. 303 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: It was a complete shock to him that he had 304 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: been underground twenty five days. He did not have any 305 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: sense of time at this point, and while Belton's rescue 306 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: was once again a moment to rejoice, it further fueled 307 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: that community anger that had already built that Courier company 308 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: and the state engineers who ran the rescue operation had 309 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 1: kind of dropped the ball and maybe left behind people 310 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: that were uh validly able to be saved. Security at 311 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: the mine office at this point had to be bolstered 312 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: because angry crowds were forming daily at the colliery gates. 313 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: As a side note, some sources in this mentioned that 314 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: the company shut down the rescue after only a few 315 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: days and then sealed off the tunnels in an effort 316 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,400 Speaker 1: to prevent the fire from spreading. Any further, this would 317 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: have trapped anyone who may have still been alive inside 318 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,119 Speaker 1: those tunnels. But it's really hard to find substantiation of 319 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: that one way or the other. Yeah, even in the 320 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 1: reports that we'll talk about in a moment, uh that 321 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: were that were created in the investigations, there is some 322 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: wishy washiness about how exactly who exactly gave what orders 323 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 1: and and how exactly they wrapped up the rescue effort. 324 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:09,400 Speaker 1: It did not go on for weeks and weeks though, 325 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: and it was kind of a surprise, like when the 326 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: thirteen men came out. That really did make people go, oh, 327 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,120 Speaker 1: we should still be looking for people. At that point 328 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:21,199 Speaker 1: it had stopped. So but before we talk about the 329 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: aftermath of this tragedy and those investigations, we're gonna pause 330 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,479 Speaker 1: once again for a word from a sponsor. The final 331 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: death toll in this tragedy was more than half of 332 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:37,120 Speaker 1: the mine workers one thousand people. Hundreds of others were injured. 333 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: Five separate inquiries and at the cause of the tragedy 334 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: and the handling of the post explosion. Rescue efforts were 335 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,880 Speaker 1: launched at various points, and while some investigators argued that 336 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: the reversal that had been made in the air current 337 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 1: that they did late on the second day was likely 338 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: disastrous for other anyone still in the mind because it 339 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: basically took away their breathable air. There was a counter 340 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: argument made that most of the men had actually died 341 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: on the first day, with a much smaller number on 342 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 1: the second, so that shifted current was actually also what 343 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,959 Speaker 1: created a trail of sorts for those thirteen men who 344 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: emerged eventually to find a way out because the ventilator's 345 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: pumping or what they picked up on. And in the end, 346 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 1: that current reversal was deemed entirely justifiable, giving given the circumstances. 347 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: The cause of the blast and the reason for its 348 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: incredibly far reaching fires was another issue for investigation, particularly 349 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: because it had been established that there was no fire 350 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: damp in the mind. While the number three cecile pit 351 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: appeared to be at the epicenter of the blast, there 352 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 1: really wasn't a definitive answer in the matter of exactly 353 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: what caused that blast. Speculation and often involves theories around 354 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:46,439 Speaker 1: gases seeping through cracks in the walls. Uh And in 355 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,439 Speaker 1: case you don't know what fire damp is, that is 356 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: the those are the gases that are usually associated with 357 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: danger in places like Minds, and it can cover a 358 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: numerous different kinds of gases. Methane is often a really 359 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: prominent one, which I have a question and it I 360 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: couldn't find anything in my research. They had stables underground. 361 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: Horses make methane with their butts, So there's so I'm 362 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: a little confused on that point. But it maybe was 363 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: trace amounts enough that we're not considered problematic. But it 364 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: was believed eventually, however, that coal dust was really what 365 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,159 Speaker 1: enabled that fire to tear through the tunnels at such 366 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: an incredible pace. According to a statement issued by the 367 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: Counsel of Minds, quote as regards the danger of dust, 368 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: neither the experiments that have been made, nor the lessons 369 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: learned in practical working, could have given rise to any 370 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: suspicion of the possibility of an inflammation of dust on 371 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: a scale of such magnitude in a mine in which 372 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 1: there was no fire damp. Explosions of dust alone in 373 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: the absence of fire damp that have been hitherto recorded 374 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: in France, having never extended beyond distances of fifty to 375 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: eighty meters. Up to this point, firedamp had been the 376 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:57,399 Speaker 1: thing that mine's worried about in terms of safety, and 377 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,399 Speaker 1: since there was none in Klorea, there were standard practices 378 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: that were really really unsafe, such as leaving lightbulbs uncovered. Yeah, 379 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,640 Speaker 1: they're like, there's nothing in the air that's going to ignite. 380 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: We don't have to worry about, you know, safety covers 381 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: for these lights. But they weren't taking the cold dust 382 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,120 Speaker 1: into account. There was also some interesting stuff that happened 383 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: as a consequence of this. Uh One that's a political 384 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,719 Speaker 1: angle is that a year before the Courier disaster, Kaiser 385 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,880 Speaker 1: Wilhelm the second had announced that Germany supported the Moroccan 386 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,199 Speaker 1: sultan who was challenging French authority in that country. So 387 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,679 Speaker 1: that caused some friction between Germany and France. And on 388 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 1: a positive note, coming out of all of this, those 389 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,439 Speaker 1: German uh miners that came to assist in the rescue effort, 390 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: that showed up to assist and search the minds really 391 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,160 Speaker 1: led to a little bit of a softening of tensions 392 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,119 Speaker 1: between Germany and France. There was a lot made of like, 393 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,920 Speaker 1: we may have problems, but we're all brethren at the end. 394 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,360 Speaker 1: Another effect was that the disaster galvanized growing unrest among 395 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: mine workers. Already, that coal industry had seen a multi 396 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: year trend of miners wages dropping while company profits were rising, 397 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,159 Speaker 1: and because of this disaster of miners strikes started. It 398 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: was one of several in France at the time. To 399 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,479 Speaker 1: run it by the numbers. In nineteen six, France had 400 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: a total of one thousand, three hundred and nine labor 401 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,679 Speaker 1: strikes involving four hundred and thirty eight thousand, four hundred 402 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: sixty six strikers. Was totaled more than nine million days 403 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: worth of work that was lost. When it's calculated in 404 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: man hours, it's estimated that twenty percent of those men 405 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,160 Speaker 1: and thirty five percent of the days of work lost 406 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: were related to coal industry strikes. Yeah, they were going 407 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 1: through the growth the growing pains of any industrializing nation, 408 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,479 Speaker 1: where there were lots of industries that were having strikes, 409 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: but really the the bulk of it was the coal 410 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:52,719 Speaker 1: mining industry, and that resentment actually carried on for years, 411 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: even as various strikes sprang to life and then died 412 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: or were negotiated away. Many of the men who survived 413 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,399 Speaker 1: the Courier disaster went back to working in the minds 414 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: because other jobs just wouldn't pay the same wage. There 415 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 1: were stories of some that I read that tried like 416 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: working in the admin side of the mining industry as clerks, 417 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,680 Speaker 1: but they just weren't making enough to support their families 418 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:20,880 Speaker 1: that way. And additionally, kind of keeping this long tide 419 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: of just unrest and sort of anger at the mining 420 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,720 Speaker 1: company h The Courier Company didn't exactly go out of 421 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,200 Speaker 1: their way to take care of the survivors of this incident. 422 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: Some men who had been trapped during the disaster and 423 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: eventually made their way out were paid for the shifts 424 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,200 Speaker 1: that they would have been scheduled during that time, but 425 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,680 Speaker 1: no more. Others were paid small sums with no further 426 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: effort to ensure their livelihoods or their safety. Became a 427 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 1: public relations nightmare for the coal company and in some 428 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: ways for the coal industry itself. The year after this incident, 429 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: M J. Tafano began experimenting with coal dust to more 430 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: precisely define its characteristics and it's explosive tendency ease. Since 431 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: this was something no one had really looked at before, 432 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,359 Speaker 1: Suddenly it became very important to figure out how this 433 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: needed to be handled, and his work and writings on 434 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: the subject are considered the foundation of all cold dust research, 435 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,200 Speaker 1: and his influence in the field actually continues to present day. 436 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: On the one year anniversary of the tragedy, there were 437 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 1: numerous remembrances in northern France. Why you might think an 438 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: event from a century before would be long forgotten, it 439 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: was still really very much in the minds of the 440 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,640 Speaker 1: citizens of towns who lost people that day. Modern miners 441 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,880 Speaker 1: placed flowers on the ground where tunnel openings had once been, 442 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: and in some cases these are actually families who lost 443 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: relatives in these explosions. In the fire and the town 444 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: of Nottel, Soulands, each the four hundred and four citizens 445 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: of that town who were killed were represented by a 446 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 1: badge worn by a townsperson. Four hundred and four white 447 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: balloons were also released in memory of the deceased. Even 448 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: a century after the Courier explosions, there is still anger 449 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 1: over this event and how it was handled. There is 450 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: lingering sentiment that the valuation of profit over life is 451 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:12,440 Speaker 1: a continuing problem in industrial nation. Since the Clorier disaster, 452 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: there's only been one mining explosion in the world that 453 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: claimed more lives. That happened in China and one thousand 454 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:27,199 Speaker 1: five nine people were killed. Yeah, so while there is 455 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:30,439 Speaker 1: one that is considered larger, career is often pointed to 456 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,919 Speaker 1: as like the horrible mining disaster, and part of that 457 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: is how it was handled in the aftermath. So it's 458 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: terribly sad. And I really was very touched and quite 459 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: moved reading about the accounts of the hundred year anniversary 460 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,920 Speaker 1: and how people handled it. I read a translated quote. 461 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: I didn't use it because I wasn't sure of the 462 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:52,919 Speaker 1: how good the translation was from the original, but by 463 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 1: a miner that was basically saying, like, I know my 464 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,399 Speaker 1: job is dangerous, and marking this anniversary, you know, is 465 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,200 Speaker 1: important to me because it it reminds me that I 466 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: always have to be careful, Like I always have to 467 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: look after my co workers and my you know, the 468 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: guys that work under me down there, Like this is 469 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: a serious business that we do and we have to 470 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: be mindful all the time. It was like, oh, man, 471 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: do you have some listener mail? I do I have 472 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,960 Speaker 1: listener mail? That made me squeal with delight when I 473 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: read it. It is the cutest story and it's also 474 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 1: a beautiful postcard um from Prague, and it is from 475 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,680 Speaker 1: our listener, Amy, and she says, Tracy and Holley, my 476 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: hubby and I are on the European honeymoon of our dreams. 477 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: First of all, congratulations mosl on your nuptials. Uh. There 478 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,679 Speaker 1: they went from Budapest to Vienna along the Danube, and 479 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,680 Speaker 1: then Prague and Berlin, she said, from Gallipoli to Suleiman 480 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,639 Speaker 1: the Magnificent to liz Domania. Being a regular stuff you 481 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: missed in history class, listener has made this trip so 482 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,640 Speaker 1: much more enjoyable. I know things about history because of you. 483 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: As proof of your world domination, our check guide at 484 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: the Prague Castle cited your episode on suppontification when we 485 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:01,560 Speaker 1: visited the soap Lady of Prague que. Oh my gosh, Amy, 486 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: that's the best story of all time. Love that story. 487 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,680 Speaker 1: I loved it so much. Uh. And then she makes 488 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 1: a suggestion that I might use in the near future, 489 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: so hopefully, and she said us this beautiful postcard. Uh, 490 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:17,920 Speaker 1: and I just love it and thank you so much. 491 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 1: I really really appreciate you telling us that, because that 492 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:22,880 Speaker 1: was super fun. If you would like to write to us, 493 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at housetu works 494 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:27,880 Speaker 1: dot com, or also at Facebook dot com, slash mist 495 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: in History on Twitter at misston History, Pinterest dot com, 496 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,200 Speaker 1: slash mist in History, missed in History dot tumbler dot com. 497 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: We're on Instagram and missed in History. Basically, any of 498 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: the places you might go to look at social things, 499 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: you can put miss in History and you'll find us. Uh, 500 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 1: that's really we should do a quick summation that wig instant. 501 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: If you would like to research a little bit more 502 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:50,919 Speaker 1: about what we've talked about today, you can go to 503 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: our parents site, how stuff Works typing the word mining 504 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: or mind and you will turn up a few articles, 505 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:01,159 Speaker 1: including what happens to abandon the minds and how underground 506 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: mining works. You would like to visit us online, you 507 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 1: can do that at missed in history dot com. We 508 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 1: have an archive of all of the existing episodes back 509 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,080 Speaker 1: to the very beginning of the podcast as well as 510 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: show notes for any of the episodes since Tracy and 511 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: I have been working on the show together, as well 512 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 1: as the occasional blog poster other goody you get to 513 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,439 Speaker 1: see some pictures that are associated with podcasts. It's a 514 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,000 Speaker 1: fun time. So come I visit us at missed in 515 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: history dot com and house dot Works dot com for 516 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,680 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it 517 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: how staff works dot com