By Jim Muir

For several decades Sesser-Valier school colors have been maroon and white and in recent years the color black has been added. However, as students get set to return to class next week following summer vacation local residents can expect to see a healthy splash of lime green added to those very familiar school colors.

In fact, if some folks at S-V schools get their way the entire city will take on a lime green look during the entire month of September. Already, lime green banners, ribbons, bows, signs and T-shirts decorate the community and anybody that owns stock in lime green nail polish is certain to see a healthy dividend as gallons (literally) are being used to adorn fingers and toes in this Franklin County community.

And behind the ‘all-things-green’ focus is one simple gesture – a show of love and support for ultra-popular high school principal Natalie (Eubanks) Page, who is beginning the school year with a strong will, a big smile and serious health concerns.

Page is 42 years old, and is married. She and her husband Brian have two children, a son Addison, 16, and a daughter Carlie, 14. She has been a teacher in the S-V school system for 18 years and last year was her first as principal. Counting the years she attended school Page has spent 32 of her 42 years in the same school complex.

On a recent morning Page sat at her desk in her small office and detailed what the past six weeks have been like for her and family members after she was diagnosed on July 5 with follicular lymphoma.

“Throughout this entire process, even now as I talk to you, I feel great,” said Page.  “The only reason I knew something was up was I had a swollen lymph node in my neck and I was having sinus troubles and I thought they were combined.”

After several medical procedures it was decided to remove the lymph node and, even after doctors assured her it was probably nothing, she received a call that will always be etched in her mind.

“When they told me I have lymphoma my first thought was ‘I thought lymphoma was cancer’ because I just could not put cancer with me, it just didn’t go together. At that moment I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that I had cancer,” she said. “When it settled in my first thought was, ‘how is a person with cancer supposed to act?’ I just kept thinking, what am I supposed to do now? It was crushing and confusing to hear.”

Page said telling her family was a difficult task.

“When I told my husband I just broke down,” she said. “And then I tried to tell my children and that was awful.”

Following the initial shock of hearing the word ‘cancer’ Page said she immediately began to call on a character trait that has served her well through the years.

“I’m hard-headed and I’m stubborn and I told my family that is exactly how I am going to deal with this,” Page said. “I don’t want people to put ‘Natalie’ and ‘cancer’ together. It is a part of my life now, but I am a mom, I am a wife, I am a teacher, I am a principal, I am a friend. That’s who I am … I just happen to have cancer.”

As is the case often in small communities, word traveled quickly that Page was facing the battle of her life and within hours the community and the school rallied around her.

“It has been nothing short of amazing,” she said. “I have been astounded at the goodness of people. I knew people were good, and the world seems to focus on the bad, but I have been overwhelmed at how the community and school have reacted. I can’t count the blessings that have taken place since the day I received the call telling me I have cancer.”

Page said one particular evening stands out when she received a text message from a co-worker who was attending a bible study and they asked if they could come by and pray for her.

“Two or three adults, a couple people I work with came to my home and then my former students start spilling into the house, all these boys that are now out of school that I had spent nine months with when I taught them in kindergarten when they were five years old,” she said. “They all got around me in a circle and prayed for me. It was a full-circle moment in my life. For years I have tried to be a person that gives more than I take, I try to give out more good than bad, to leave a positive energy out in the world. And I think it has turned around and it is coming back to me. They took time out of their day to give to me, to pray for me. It was an amazing moment in my life.”

Two co-workers and longtime friends are spearheading the lime green effort at the S-V school and throughout the community. Angie Kistner, who says she has known Page “forever” said once she got past the initial shock at the unexpected diagnosis she began working on ideas to support her friend.

“I was filled with fear when she told me,” said Kistner. “She is by far one of the best individuals I have ever met. We just can’t lose somebody as instrumental as she is in our community.”

Kistner said several fundraising and awareness projects are in the works, including ‘painting the entire town lime green’ in September to highlight “Lymphoma Cancer Awareness Month.”

Stephanie White has worked with Page for 15 years and also labels her as a “good friend.”

“After the shock wore off I just wanted to do something to help,” said White. “We are gaining momentum and it’s very encouraging to me and I know it’s encouraging to Natalie.”

White said co-workers are continuing to explore ways to support Page and her family. White and school guidance counselor Kerri Henry designed a T-shirt that will be sold to students and also to local residents. The shirt – with the logo “Fight the fight with Page” – is sure to be popular attire in the S-V community in the coming weeks.

Page said doctors have told her that they believe after six months of chemo she will be in remission but they warned that this type of cancer usually returns within four to six years. Page said she is taking her fight “one day at a time” and draws strength and optimism daily from the overwhelming support she has received. She said she is tired the week after chemo treatment but otherwise feels ‘great.’

Page revealed a recent conversation with a co-worker where they talked about all the good that is coming back to her during the difficult experience of being diagnosed with cancer.

“He told me ‘you reap what you sow Natalie and you’ve sowed a lot of good in your life.’ I told him I had never thought of that verse in a positive way and he told me that it was meant to be a positive comment but we just never hear it used in that way,” she said. “I have had so many experiences, people stopping by, people telling me they are praying for me, getting cards in the mail and then the community and school supporting me. I have witnessed so much goodness because of this … it’s just very humbling.”

 

 

(Editor’s Note:  This story originally was published in Southern Illinois Sports Connection Magazine in September, 2007 – the second month the magazine was published.  It’s such a unique story with so many ties to Southern Illinois. With the ongoing controversy that has developed about renaming “Changnon Gymnasium” in Mt. Vernon, this story is again very relevant and gives some insight into the legendary coaching career of Stanley Changnon. I hope you enjoy. —   JM )

By Jim Muir

In the words of 93-year-old Goebel Patton, “it’s a story that needed to be told.”

And even though he’d kept it a secret for more than a quarter of a century Patton still knows the story very well — right down to the minute details. Patton worked for more than 50 years in the West Frankfort school system and served as superintendent for nearly 40 of those years.

In 1981, three years before he retired, Patton was approached by Stanley Changnon, Jr. and Mark Changnon, the son and grandson of legendary Coach Stanley Changnon, with a request that was the most unusual he’d received during his five decades as an educator.

“They asked me if they could scatter Coach Changnon’s ashes on Johnson Field,” recalled Patton. “They wanted to know if it was a request that should be taken through the school board. I thought about it a little and then I told them to just go do what they needed to do and not to tell me about it. I didn’t know for sure when they did it, but I knew they did it. I didn’t want to know for sure back then because if there were any critics I could just tell them, ‘I don’t know.’ I never told anybody because I didn’t know for sure.

 

A short time after that request was made, on a hot July day in 1981 the Changnons made the three-hour drive from their homes in Champaign to Southern Illinois. The Changnon’s first of two destinations that day was Johnson Field.

As West Frankfort residents went about their usual daily routines that summer day the Changnon’s completed their somber task and fulfilled the dying wishes of a larger-than-life figure – a man who is still revered in both basketball and football coaching circles throughout Illinois.

“All I know is that when we arrived the gate was unlocked, I don’t know who unlocked it, but it was unlocked for us,” said Mark. “And we walked out on the field, just the two of us, and did what he asked us to do. My grandfather mentioned it several times before he died so I know it was something that was very important to him.”

After completing the task in West Frankfort the Changnons then drove to Mt. Vernon where they scattered the remaining ashes at J.D. Shields Memorial Stadium.

When questioned about going on the record to do a story about the final resting place of their loved one the Changnons were enthusiastic and agreed with Patton that it was time that the story was told.

 

“I agree that it’s time the folks in Southern Illinois know about this story. I think it’s important that the younger generation knows about a man that loved high school sports so much that he wanted a football field to be his eternal resting place,” Mark said. “I remember when my grandpa started talking about spreading his ashes at the two football fields. He said he wanted his ashes spread there because it was two places where he had some of the greatest joys in his life.”

On a recent Saturday morning the Changnons and Patton met at Johnson Field — the first time the trio had met in more than 25 years. The three walked the field and recalled memories of the man who prompted the meeting.

Stanley, Jr. recalled a specific conversation he had with his dad only months before he died.

“He was in the hospital and he emphasized that he wanted to be cremated and he was very specific that he wanted his ashes spread at Johnson Field,” said Stanley, Jr. “He really loved this place.”

Stanley Jr., who is now 79 years old, remembers vividly his time in West Frankfort and also in Mt. Vernon. He recalled the attributes that he felt made his dad successful.

“As a coach he was fair but he was also a disciplinarian, you had to do what he said or you weren’t going to play,” said Stanley, Jr. “I think his greatest asset though was the ability to analyze what his players could do. He changed his offense almost every year according to the talent he had and what they could best do. He was also equally as good at analyzing and knowing how to attack his opponent. Even back then he was very much into every detail of the game. I think he was probably ahead of his time as a coach.”

According to his son, Changnon, Sr. was also one of if not the first coach in Southern Illinois to begin developing the one-hand shot in basketball.

“That was a big change when he started teaching the one-hand shot and a lot of people were critical of it,” said Stanley, Jr. “He started that at Johnston City in the mid-1930s and continued on at West Frankfort and obviously it caught on.”

Patton recalled the coaching tenure of Changnon, Sr. at West Frankfort and said one detail still stands out.

“You didn’t see him showing a lot of emotions, jumping up and hollering,” said Patton. “I asked him one time about his coaching style and he said ‘if I teach them all week and they don’t know what they’re supposed to do when the game starts I can’t change things then. He also believed that as a coach he couldn’t think his best if he didn’t remain calm. But, nobody questioned him as a coach, not if you wanted to stay around.”

While Changnon’s ashes were scattered on two football fields his accomplishments on the basketball court is where he is most often remembered. After leaving West Frankfort Changnon took a job in Mt. Vernon in 1943-44 where he coached basketball and football. During a nine-year stint as head basketball coach Changnon compiled a won-loss record of 229-59. Changnon’s 1948-49 and 1949-50 Rams’ teams won back-to-back state titles, making him the first coach to ever accomplish that feat in Illinois. During that incredible two-year state championship run under Changnon the Rams went 63-3.

 

Changnon began his coaching career in 1926 at Donavan High School where he coached for six years compiling a record of 108-52. He then coached at Johnston City for two years before taking the West Frankfort job where he coached football and basketball from 1935-43. In basketball his overall record at West Frankfort was 136-72. During 25 years of coaching high school basketball Changnon had a record of 507-199. A complete account of Changnon’s football record is not available but during his nine years at the Franklin County school his teams won seven South Seven championships.

The list of players coached by Changnon, Sr. reads like a who’s who of high school sports heroes and includes Max Morris, Lou Levanti, John Riley, Walt Moore, Max Hooper, Eddie King and Benny Purcell.

Morris, who the West Frankfort gym is named after, reached fame at Northwestern, Levanti starred at the University of Illinois in football, Riley and King played basketball at Bradley University while Moore and Hooper played basketball for the Fighting Illini. Purcell played for a college all-stars that competed in a national series against the Harlem Globetrotters.

Prior to beginning his illustrious coaching career the elder Changnon established himself as an outstanding athlete at Illinois State University. To this day he is one of only two athletes to ever win a letter in five sports during one season. While at Normal Changnon won letters in football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis. He received all-conference honors in football and basketball.

Because of a severe asthmatic condition Stanley Jr. never participated in sports, yet his dad’s influence motivated him in other ways.

“As a kid I knew he was a very special person in the community and was really looked up to by a lot of people,” said Stanley Jr. “That gave me a lot of motivation to be successful. Since I had asthma and couldn’t be an athlete I went into high science. I wanted to be successful like my dad was but I couldn’t do it in sports so I tried to do it intellectually.”

Changnon worked for many years as a professor and head of the Illinois Water Survey at the University of Illinois. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Following in his grandfather’s footsteps Mark is a teacher and coaches freshmen basketball at Champaign Centennial High School. Mark, who grew up in Champaign, still recalls spending periods of time in Mt. Vernon with his grandparents during the summer.

“I used to go the restaurant with him every morning and even as a kid I could tell that people thought he was special and I just felt proud to be with him,” said Mark. “I always wanted to be just like him.”

Mark said family members including his father and two brothers make an annual trip to Southern Illinois that always includes a stop at Johnson Field. He said knowing how much his grandfather loved coaching at West Frankfort he looks at the field as “hallowed ground.”

“When I go there, even now,” said Mark looking around at his surroundings at Johnson Field. “I can close my eyes and almost hear the crowd and I can see my grandfather on the sidelines. I’m glad we told the story.”

 

 

 

 

 

CHICAGO — Aiming to avoid past troubles, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced Thursday that the state is seeking bids for a new private manager to run the Illinois Lottery after moving to terminate Northstar Lottery Group’s contract last year.

Here’s the link to the story.

CHICAGO — After a year of squabbles over the state budget, the outcome of Illinois’ power struggle now hinges on dozens of House election campaigns that will determine whether Democrats can impose their will on Gov. Bruce Rauner or the Republican gains traction with his ideas to “shake up” the state.

Here’s the link to the story.

Franklin County authorities are seeking public assistance in locating Robert E. Hartley, a Buckner man wanted and considered dangerous.

Franklin County Sheriff Don Jones said that Hartley was free on bond for arson and burglary and is presently wanted for arson, burglary and felony theft.

Jones said that authorities believe Hartley may be in a dark blue 2008 Chevrolet pickup truck with a regular cab and long bed. The truck, which has been reported stolen, has Illinois license plates 11486S.

Hartley is listed as 6-feet-1 and 230 pounds.

Jones said his office has no evidence that Hartley is armed but cautioned that he is “considered dangerous.”  In a press release the sheriff’s office stated that there is no evidence Hartley is armed, but he should be considered dangerous, the sheriff said.

“If observed, we are requesting the public to not approach Hartley,” Jones said, “but immediately call law enforcement or 911.”

 

 

Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert will not appeal his 15-month sentence on his conviction on bank violations stemming from hush money payments to cover up sexual abuse, his lawyers confirmed Thursday.

Here’s the link to the story.

A 48-year-old Buckner man was fatally injured Wednesday, January 13 while trimming trees at a Benton church.

Franklin County Coroner Marty Leffler reported that Todd William McWhirter, an employee of MySons Tree Service, fell from a tree-trimming bucket while working at Immanuel Baptist Church, located on North Main Street in Benton. Leffler said McWhirter fell approximately 50 feet, landing on his back. The accident happened at approximately 10:30 a.m.

Leffler said another employee went to McWhirter immediately, but he was unresponsive. McWhirter was taken to Franklin Hospital Emergency Room where he was pronounced dead.

Leffler said it is uncertain if McWhirter had a medical issue that caused him to fall or if it was a work-related accident. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday morning at Franklin Hospital, Leffler said. McWhirter was not wearing a safety harness.

The coroner’s office and the Benton Police Department are investigating the fatal accident.

By Jim Muir
Christmas traditionally is a time for wide-eyed children, exchanging gifts and festive family get-togethers. For many, though, it also is a time that serves as a grim reminder of the worst tragedy in the history of Franklin County.

On Friday, Dec. 21, 1951, at about 7:35 p.m. a violent explosion ripped through Orient 2 Mine, located near West Frankfort, claiming the lives of 119 coal miners. The tragedy occurred on the last shift prior to a scheduled Christmas shutdown.  News of the tragedy spread quickly from town to town and hundreds of people converged on the mine to check on loved ones and friends.

A basketball game was under way at Central Junior High School in West Frankfort, when the public address announcer asked that Dr. Barnett report to Orient 2 Mine, No. 4 Portal, because “there had been a catastrophe.”  There were about 2,000 people at the game, and nearly half of them left with Dr. Barnett.  News of the tragedy and massive loss of life drew nationwide attention. Both Time Magazine and Life Magazine featured accounts of the explosion and newspapers from throughout the country sent reporters to Franklin County to cover the holiday tragedy. Gov. Adlai Stevenson was at the mine the following day along with volunteers from the Red Cross and Salvation Army.  Those who arrived at the Orient 2 Mine immediately after reports of the explosion surfaced had no way of knowing that they would be a part of history and folklore that would be handed down from family to family for decades to come.

A Christmas  Miracle 

Rescue workers began entering the mine within hours of the explosion, clearing gas and searching for survivors.   What they met, however, was the grim reminder about the perils of mining coal and the force of methane-fed coal mine explosions. Locomotives weighing 10 tons were tossed about, timbers a foot thick were snapped like twigs and railroad ties were torn from beneath the rails. Rescue workers began recovering bodies of the 120 missing men shortly after midnight on Dec. 22.   As the hours passed, and body after body was recovered from the mine, it became apparent that it would take a miracle for anybody to survive the explosion and the gas and smoke that resulted.  In the early morning hours of Christmas Eve — 56 hours after the explosion — that miracle happened.

Benton resident Cecil Sanders was found on top of a “fall” barely clinging to life. Authorities theorized that Sanders, by climbing on top of the rock fall, miraculously found a pocket of air that sustained him until rescue workers arrived.  Sanders told authorities later that he was with a group of five men (the other four died) when they actually heard the explosion. He said the men tried to get out of the mine but were driven back by smoke and gas. Sander said later he had resigned himself to the fact that he was going to die, even scribbling a note to his wife and children on the back of a cough drop box. “May the good Lord bless and keep you, Dear wife and kids,” Sanders wrote. “Meet me in Heaven.”

Sanders, who died only a few years ago, reported in a book, “Our Christmas Disaster,” that rescue workers were amazed that he survived.

“My God, there’s a man alive,” Sanders later recalled were the first words he heard as he slipped in and out of consciousness. “They didn’t seem to think it was true. When they got to me I couldn’t tell who they were because they all had on gas masks. Rescue workers came back in a few minutes with a stretcher, gave me oxygen and carried me out of the mine. There’s no question it was a miracle.”

A Christmas  Never Forgotten  

Rescue workers and funeral directors were faced with a grim task during the 1951 Christmas holiday season.  Something had to be done with the scores of bodies that were brought up from the mine. And funeral homes throughout Franklin County — where 99 of the 119 fatally injured miners lived — would have to conduct multiple funerals; in some instances, six or eight per day.  A temporary morgue was set up at Central Junior High School where row after row of bodies lined the gymnasium floor. Brattice cloth, normally used to direct the flow of air in coal mine entries, covered the bodies.  The usual joyous Christmas season turned into a bleak pilgrimage for families from throughout Southern Illinois as they faced the task of identifying the charred remains of the miners. The last body was removed from the mine on Christmas night, completing the work of the rescue and recovery. In all, 252 men were underground at Orient 2 when the explosion took place — 119 died and 133 miners in unaffected areas escaped unhurt.

‘Christmas ended  that night …’     

Nearly every person in Franklin County was affected, either directly or indirectly, by the disaster. For some of those who lost loved ones in the Orient 2 explosion, the events of that Christmas are just as vivid in 2001 as they were in 1951.   Perhaps no story evolved from the tragedy that was more poignant than that of Geneva (Hines) Smith, the 26-year-old mother of two small children, who lost her husband, Robert “Rink” Hines in the explosion.  Smith, who later remarried, still brushes away a tear when she recalls the last words of her young husband before he left for work on that fateful Friday afternoon.

“He held our daughter Joann, she was 3 months old, and he put his face against hers and he said, ‘she looks just like me … doesn’t she?” Smith recalled. “Only a few hours later his sister came to the door and said there had been an explosion … and then we learned later that he’d been killed. The last thing I remember was how happy he was holding his daughter.”

Smith said a cruel irony involving the funeral also played out after her husband’s death.

“There was so many funerals that they had them early in the morning and all day until in the evening,” Smith remembered. “The only time we could have his funeral was at 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve. That was our fifth wedding anniversary and we got married at 8 p.m. … I’ll never forget that.”

Lyle Eubanks, of Mulkeytown, remembers distinctly his last conversation with his father Clarence, prior to the elder Eubank’s departure for work.

“He walked into the kitchen and got his bucket and then walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch,” Eubanks said. “He talked about it being the last shift prior to the Christmas shutdown and said if he didn’t need the money so bad he wouldn’t go to work that night — that’s the last time I talked to him.”

Eubanks said he identified his father’s body at the morgue.

“There was just row after row of bodies and they were covered with brattice cloth,” he recalled. “You just can’t imagine how horrible of a scene it was. I’ll never, ever forget what that looked like.”

Eubanks said the holiday season for his family and all of Franklin County came to an abrupt halt on Dec. 21, 1951.

“People took down their Christmas trees and outside ornaments after the explosion. It was almost like they didn’t want to be reminded that it was Christmas. Someone came to our house and took the tree, ornaments and all, and put it out behind a building in back of our house,” Eubanks said. ” Christmas in 1951, well, … Christmas ended that night.”

——————————————

‘It affected everybody …’

By Jim Muir
WEST FRANKFORT — Fifty years ago, Jim Stewart was a 25-year-old coal miner working at the Orient 1 Mine near Orient. His father, Silas, was working in the nearby Orient 2 Mine.  On Dec. 21, 1951, just past 7:30 in the evening, while both were at work, an explosion of methane gas tore through Orient 2 Mine and took the lives of 119 coal miners. Silas Stewart was among the victims.

The elder Stewart was working on the last shift before a scheduled Christmas shutdown.

“I didn’t know about it until I had finished my shift,” Stewart said. “It didn’t matter who you talked to, they had either lost a relative, a neighbor or a friend. It affected everybody.”

In the wake of the tragedy, Stewart remembers the generosity of total strangers.

“Funds were established for the victims and their families and contributions poured in from across the United States. Those were pretty hard times anyway and there was just a great outpouring of help,” he said.

And Stewart remembers the despair of that Christmas.

“It was just a terrible, terrible time,” he said. “I remember that some of the funerals couldn’t be held because there wasn’t enough caskets for all the victims.

“My father was buried on Christmas Day, so there’s never been a Christmas go by that you don’t relive that.”

Jack Bigham of West City was just completing his first year of employment at Orient 2 and was underground when the explosion occurred.

“I was in the 15th East section of the mine working with Roland Black. We hadn’t been in there very long and the power went off, so I called out to see what was wrong,” Bigham said. “They wouldn’t tell us exactly what was wrong, they just told us to walk to the old bottom. I remember when we got to the bottom the power was still off and we had to walk the stairs out. We didn’t find out what was wrong until we got on top.”

Bigham, who is now retired after a 38-year career as a coal miner, went back to work at Orient 2 after it reopened and worked an additional eight years at the mine. He said it was difficult to go back.

“I think about it quite often — of course, even more at this time of the year when it’s near the anniversary,” Bigham said. “I know that I was just very lucky to be in another section of the mine that night.”

Curt Gunter, 57, of Benton, a 25-year veteran of the Southern Illinois coal industry, was 7 years old when his father, Harry “Tater” Gunter, was killed.

“There are things about it that are hazy, like I don’t remember my dad’s funeral at all,” Gunter said. “But the thing that stands out in my mind the most is that, looking back through the eyes of a boy, it seemed like there was a big, black cloud just hanging over everything because so many people were involved. When you grow up with a memory like that at Christmas, well, you don’t ever forget it.”
————————————————-

Legendary UMWA President John L. Lewis was at Orient 2 the day after the explosion 

By Jim Muir

UMWA President John L. Lewis was on the scene at Orient 2 the day after the explosion and the legendary union boss went underground at the ill- fated mine while rescue operations were still under way.

Lewis, known for his no-nonsense approach with coal operators and his untiring devotion to improve conditions for union miners, was visibly shaken when he left the mine. He wasted little time leveling an attack on mining laws that he said needed to be revised.

“Necessary legislative steps would prevent these recurring horrors,” Lewis said. “They are totally unnecessary and can be prevented. Unless all mines are forced to comply with the safety codes of the Federal Bureau of Mines, the mining industry will continue to be a mortician’s paradise.”

Exactly two months later, on Feb. 21, 1952, Lewis testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Mine Safety, and once again used the Orient 2 explosion as an example that mining laws must be improved.

Lewis said in part: “On Dec. 21, 1951, at the Orient 2 Mine, 119 men were killed. Their average age was 40.9 years old, the youngest was 19 and the oldest was 64. Aside from the human values that were destroyed in this explosion, the community and the state suffered a monetary loss in the contribution that those men would have made had they been permitted to live; or if their lives had been safeguarded; or if one coal company had carried out the provisions of the existing federal code of safety, promulgated by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. That is all, in the judgment of experienced mining men, that would have been necessary to have saved the lives of those 119 men and avoided the disruption of the lives of 175 children growing up to manhood and womanhood.”

Lewis didn’t mince words when he spoke before Congress offering a stinging rebuke about mining laws and practices.

“The Orient explosion was preventable, preventable in the judgment of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, as testified here by its able director. The Orient explosion was preventable in the judgment of every man in the industry that has knowledge of sound mining practices. So, the record runs on, explosion after explosion through the years. Management was at fault in the West Frankfort explosion. It failed to take proper precautions in the face of abnormal conditions that intensified the hazard. Management didn’t take those steps. As a matter of fact, I think it is conceded by those qualified to speak on the subject that every mine explosion and disaster we’ve had in our country since 1940 would have been prevented if the existing code of safety had been enforced.”

The legendary union boss concluded his comments with a powerful and graphic description of what took place in Franklin County in the aftermath of the explosion.

“And the mining industry continues to be a mortician’s paradise. I just watched 119 funerals in two days in Franklin County – 119 funerals in two days! Can you imagine anything more heart-rendering, more soul- stirring? 119 funerals in that little county in two days!  They went to work, the last shift before Christmas … and many of them were brought home to their loved ones in rubber sacks – rubber sacks! Because they were mangled, and shattered and blown apart and cooked with methane gas, until they no longer resembled human beings. And the best the mortician could do was put them in rubber sacks with a zipper. And then, for a Christmas present in Franklin County, 119 families could look at rubber sacks in lieu of their loved ones.”

A 75-year-old Valier man was killed Dec. 14 in a single-vehicle accident in Franklin County.

Franklin County Coroner Marty Leffler said the name of the victim is not being released at this time. Leffler pronounced the victim dead a the scene at 10:35 a.m. on Monday.

Leffler said the victim was driving a passenger car that was traveling south on Jefferson Street in Valier, just north of Izaac Walton road, when it appears it left the road way went up an embankment, through an electric fence into a cow pasture where it struck struck a tree.

 

Leffler speculated that the driver of the vehicle possibly had some type of medical issue occur, causing him to leave the roadway and the vehicle come to a rest after impact with a tree. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

The Franklin County Sheriff Department is handling the crash reconstruction and investigation.

No other information is available at this time. The name of the victim will be released at noon on Tuesday.

This is the 18^th motor vehicle fatality in Franklin County this year.