Coal Miners Day bill approved
A measure sponsored by state Rep. H. William DeWeese (D-Waynesburg) to designate Dec. 19 as Coal Miners Day in the state is on its way to the governor’s desk. The resolution was adopted somberly after news of the tragedy at the Buck Mountain Anthracite Mine in Schuylkill Haven, Schuylkill County, which killed a mineworker, was shared with House members.
DeWeese’s resolution to honor the bravery, accomplishments and sacrifices of miners in service to their country was co-sponsored by more than half of his House colleagues. The measure (House Resolution 795) was adopted unanimously by the House and Senate and sent to Gov. Ed Rendell.
DeWeese noted that next year would mark the centennial of the deadliest year in American coal mining. The highest death toll in a Pennsylvania mining tragedy occurred on Dec. 19, 1907, at the Darr Mine in Van Meter, Westmoreland County, when a dust and gas explosion took the lives of 239 miners.