Baker, P. B. "Bert"

Baxter Springs Kansas, Jan 14.--One man was killed and his brother seriously injured in an explosion at the Smith Mine of the Beck Mining Company, one mile west of Baxter, at 5:30 o'clock this afternoon. P. B. "Bert" Baker, 53 years old, machinist, Galena Kansas Route 2, was killed and his brother, W. W. "Bill" Baker, 56, Baxter Springs Route 1, also a machinist, was seriously injured when they drilled into a "loaded stope hole."

D. Y. Downing, state mine inspector, who investigated the accident, said the two men entered a drift in the Smith Mine that had not been worked in "a week or 10 days." The two men, he said, drilled into a hole that had been loaded with dynamite the last time the drift was worked. According to Downing, they had drilled about two feet when their bit struck the dynamite charge, causing the explosion.

The younger of the two brothers was killed instantly when most of the blast struck him in the head and face. W. W. Baker was brought to ground level first and removed to the Picher hospital at Picher in a Hoskins-Wene ambulance. Both men are known in the Baxter and Picher mining districts, having worked in the area for several years.

Surviving Mr. Baker are five daughters, Mrs. Nadine Barnett and Mrs. Nina Shields, both of Peoria Oklahoma, Mrs. Irene Price and Mrs. Lennie Price, both of Baxter Springs, and Miss Elvada Baker, at home, and three sisters, Mrs. Marion Turley and Mrs. Joe Ewers, both of Galena Kansas, and Mrs. Maude Roads of Commerce Oklahoma.

Baxter Springs Kansas, Jan 15 Bert P. Baker, 59, was killed and his brother, W. W. Baker, 56, was seriously injured in a blast at the Smith Mine of the Beck Mining Company, one mile west of Baxter, shortly after 5 pm Monday. Today a physician at the Picher hospital at Picher, said the younger brother's condition was consider "serious." He is suffering from multiple head lacerations and severe shock. According to D. Y. Downing, state mine inspector, the accident occurred when the machinist brothers entered a drift in the mine that had not been worked recently. The younger brother, he said, was instantly killed when the bit with which they were drilling struck a dynamite charge, causing the explosion.

Bert Baker was killed instantly when the blast struck him in the head and face. The older brother was brought to ground level first and rushed to the hospital. He lives on Baxter Springs Route 1. Both men are known in the Tri-state Mining district where they worked for several years.

Besides his brother, Mr. Baker, who lived on Galena Kansas, Route 2, is survived by his wife, Mrs. Rose Baker; five daughters, Mrs. Alfred Price, Galena Kansas Route 1; Mrs. Ralph Price, Mrs. Emery Shields, and Mrs. William Barnett, all of Baxter Springs Kansas, and Miss Elvada Baker of the home; three sisters, Mrs. Marion Turley of Galena Kansas, Mrs. Joe Ewers of Galena Route 2, and Mrs. Maude Rhodes of Commerce Oklahoma; two step-daughters and 10 grandchildren. Funeral services will be announced by the Fisk funeral home.