ONE DEAD, THREE ARE INJURED IN MINE ACCIDENT
One miner was killed and three companions were injured when caught in a rush of air in the Williamstown mines of the Susquehanna Colleries Company Monday afternoon.
James Joseph Gaffney, 42, of Williamstown, was killed when he was hurled down a manway. Two of his companions, George Kowasko, 42, and August McCready, 35, are patients in a Pottsville hospital, suffering from bruises and lacerations of the face and body. A third man, Arthur James, 23, escaped serious injury. The three injured men are residents of WIlliamstown.
The men had entered the mines only a short time before they were caught in the blast of air. Gaffney, who was hurled into the manway, sustained head injuries. The three other men were hurled a distance of nearly twenty feet.
The accident has been attributed to a big fall of coal, causing a rush of air into the level where the men were working.
Gaffney, who had resided in Williamstown most of his life, was a World War Veteran. He was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Williamstown and of the United Mine Workers of America.
He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Margaret [Gallagher] Gaffney; a sister, Mrs. Edrie McCauley of Philadelphia; and two brothers, Frank Gaffney of Mt. Carmel and John Gaffney of Williamstown.
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Obituary from a local newspaper at the time of his death.
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