Dangers of Mining

Title: Report About a Mud Slide
Type: Document
Date: February 5, 1924
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: One of the mines filled suddenly with mud one day. This report describes the accident and deaths that resulted.
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Activities:

1. Why would more people have been killed at the lower levels than the upper ones?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Workers in the lower levels would have had much farther to climb in order to escape.
2. What could cause a large amount of mud to suddenly come into a mine shaft?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: If the mine were dug underneath a body of water such as a lake, or beneath some undiscovered water underground, the water could break into the tunnels and form a mud slide.
3. What might have caused the rush of air that the miner described?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: As the mud filled the lower tunnels, it would have pressed all of the air out of the tunnels in front of it.
4. How could being underground have made this an even more dangerous situation?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: It's dark underground, so that could have added to the confusion. The only placeto run is through a tunnel. If a tunnel entrance gets blocked, the miners would be trapped.