France, James "Jim"

Cardin Oklahoma. Special. Rescue crews were working frantically early this afternoon attempting to reach two men trapped under tons of dirt and rock in the Velie Lion Mine a mile northwest of Eagle-Picher's Central Mill near Cardin.

Another man, Taylor Smith of Picher Oklahoma, was removed from beneath a stone slab that covered the lower part of his body and was taken to Miami Baptist hospital. A fourth workman, Buck Woods of Picher outran the cave-in and was not injured. Trapped some 325 feet below the surface were James France and Bill Wilson, both of Picher. The cave-in of an overhanging ledge released an estimated 200 tons of rock and dirt, about 9 o'clock this morning. Bill Stone of Galena Kansas, operator of the lead and zinc mine, spread the alarm.

It was estimated that one of the miners was under six feet and the other 20 feet of rock and dirt. Sonny Green, an ambulance driver for Paul Thomas funeral home, Picher Oklahoma, reported at noon today that rock was still spitting from the cave-in ledge. He had found a hat worn by one of the miners. Eagle Picher released men and equipment from operations in the area to assist in rescue operations. Emergency crews are entering from the entrance of Eagle-Picher John Beaver Mine No. 2, which is closer to the cave-in site than the entrance of the Velie Lion Mine. The Beaver entrance is about one-fourth of a mile away and the other about a half-mile from the cave-in scene.

An emergency generator to provide light for rescue workers and a smoke ejector were rushed to the scene by the Miami Fire Department. Uncertain as to the exact type of formation in the cave-in area, observers believe that dangerous conditions still prevail in the area. Forty or more men were in the rescue crews, according to Frank Charlton, an Eagle Picher night watchman.

Smith's Condition included a deep gash on the left thigh and possible internal injuries. Mechanical equipment was used to lift rock that trapped him. Woods, a truck driver, saw the ledge start to collapse, jumped from his truck and dashed several feet to safety behind a supporting mine pillar. The truck was mangled beneath eight feet of dirt. Rescue men said all that remained visible of the vehicle was a fender. Wood returned to the cave-in area to aid in the search for his fellow workmen. The last fatal mine accident in the Picher field occurred Oct 4, 1961, when Zack Hitchcock, 54, of Baxter Springs was killed by a shaft cave-in at the Rialto Mine No. 3, a mile south of Cardin Oklahoma.

Cardin Oklahoma - The crushed body of Jim France, 51, Picher Oklahoma, was recovered at 10:35 am today from the Velie Lion Mine. It was found between the forks of the earth loader he was operating when a supporting mine pillar buckled Wednesday morning sending tons of rock hurling down on him and three companions, all of Picher. Recovery operations were halted only briefly after the body was found while rescue crewmen took a short break. Then they resumed digging for the body of Bill Wilson, also presumed dead.

Two men escaped with their lives in the mining accident. Buck Woods, 37, abandoned his truck and outrun the falling debris. Taylor Smith was injured seriously by a boulder that pinned the lower half of this body. Smith, freed shortly afterward, was reported improving at Miami hospital today. He is suffering from a punctured lung, broken ribs, possibly other internal injuries and a deep laceration in his left thigh.

Rescuing miners worked frantically Wednesday and were only a few feet from France's body when it was decided that boulders would have to be dynamited before digging could continue. Before the dynamite charges were set off about 5 pm, France's loader was partially uncovered. Rescuers had expected to find the body at the machine's controls, but it was not, and the decision to dynamite was made. Lloyd Wetherell, Eagle-Picher superintendent, directing recovery operations, said France probably died immediately. Woods told that France was about to dump a load of ore-bearing rock into Woods' truck when the pillar collapsed.

"I heard a crash and jumped from the truck. I suppose I ran about a hundred feet and behind another pillar. The last I saw France, he was still sitting on the loader," related Woods. Frances is survived by his wife, Lola France, a step-daughter and three grandchildren. The four men had worked together about a month in the Velie Lion Mine. Wilson was the latest addition to the crew, joining the others in September. Before his arrival, Woods, Smith and France had worked in the mine for about a year.

Woods said that this was the first accident they had encountered in the Velie Lion Mine. France's death, however, raised the mine's total to 40 since operations began there in 1918. The Velie Lion Mine has a reputation among area miners as being one of the most dangerous in the district. Joe Hobson, assistant mine inspector, commented a few minutes after recovery of France's body, "The whole thing has been worked out several times, yet there's still people who do down to get a little more."

Armine Thompson, head pumper for Eagle-Picher Company said tar and soapstone in the Velie Lion Mine make it particularly hazardous to work in. "But any mine is dangerous," he remarked. "Anytime you get in that"bucket" your life is not your own."

Five days ago Wilson was reported to have told a friend that he was concerned about the dangerous conditions in the Velie Lion Mine and that he was looking for another job. Wilson had been a miner all his adult life.

Wilson suffered a back injury in an accident last spring in another mine. he had planned to drive to Tulsa Oklahoma today to keep an appointment with a neuro-surgeon. Because of the injury he had seen an attorney about applying for workman's compensation.

The Eagle-Picher Company leased the Velie Lion to Bill Stone, a Galena Kansas mining operator, about 16 months ago. Since then Stone's crews have been chugging the mine, stripping the last remnants of ore from it.

The collapsing pillar left a pile of earth and rock about 60 feet in diameter and about 15 feet deep at its peak. The cave-in occurred in a 100 by 70 foot cavern 250 feet below the surface. The cavern is about 60 feet high.

Bill Stone and a companion Glenn Schimp were making an inspection tour of the mine when the accident occurred. Schimp related, "It didn't sound bad at all... like a shotgun blast. Going to see what caused the noise, the two men met Woods several hundred feet from the cave-in. Woods and Schimp returned to the accident scene and Stone went to spread the alarm.

Rescue operations were conducted from the John Beaver Mine No. 2. It is located immediately behind the central offices of the Eagle Picher Company at Cardin. The Beaver shaft was used since it was closer to the cave-in area and its underground roads were more accessible.

Townspeople, many of them relatives of the miners, flocked to the scene and at times got in the way of workmen.

"There were so many people standing around the mine shaft that we couldn't even get our own men through," said Weatherell. "A lot of them were relatives, a lot of them were friends and a lot of them were curiosity seekers. I called Gene Crockett, Picher's police chief, and asked him to clear some of the people out."

Cardin Oklahoma - An air line in a pneumatic jack hammer led searchers early today to the body of Bill Wilson, 31, the second of two miners who were killed Wednesday in a cave-in at the Velie Lion Mine near Cardin Oklahoma. Wilson's body was found at 3 am within a few feet of the jack hammer he was operating when an overhanging ledge and mine pillar collapsed on him and three fellow workers, all of Picher Oklahoma. Members of the rescue team said Wilson, probably didn't hear the pillar start to buckle over the noise of his jackhammer and had no chance to escape. He was buried under approximately 15 feet of debris and was probably crushed to death instantly.

Diggers first discovered Wilson's crumpled miner's hat. It was lying about five feet from his body. The recovery came about 41 hours after the tragedy occurred. Shifts of rescue men had worked throughout the night to reach the body. At the time the body was discovered, the crew was under the direction of Tom Kiser, president of the Tri-State Ore Producers Association.

The mangled body of Jim France, 53, was discover Thursday morning, wedged between the forks of the earth loader he was operating when the tons of earth hurled down.

Two other miners survived the crash of rock and dirt, Taylor Smith, 48, was hospitalized with broken ribs and a punctured lung caused by a huge boulder that pinned him to the ground. Buck Woods, 36, escaped without injury by abandoning his truck and out running the collapsing pillar.

The four were removing the last of the ore from the old Velie Lion Mine operated by Bill Stone of Baxter Springs Kansas. The deaths of Wilson and France brought to 41, the number of miners, who have died in the mine since it first opened in 1916.

Wilson, a World War II Army veteran, is survived by his wife, Helen Durham Wilson, four sons, William Lee Wilson, David Lewis Wilson, James Frank Wilson and Raymond Allen Wilson, all of the Picher Oklahoma home; his father and step-mother, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wilson, Picher, and a brother, John Wilson, Picher.

Funeral services will be held at 2 pm Saturday in the chapel of the Paul Thomas funeral home in Picher. Burial will be in the Greenlawn cemetery in Kansas, northwest of Picher Oklahoma and Treece Kansas.

France is survived by his wife, Lola France of the home, a step-daughter and four grandchildren.

Last rites for France will be held at 2 pm Sunday in the Picher Nazarene church with the Rev. Robert Nichols officiating. Pallbearers will be Jack Osborn, Curtis Stanley, Norman Thompson, W. F. Bromley, Tommy Crawford and Howard Wingfield.

Arrangements for both services are under the direction of the Paul Thomas mortuary.

Assistant Mine Inspector Joe Hobson of Picher said today operations in the mine will not be resumed at least until he had inspected it.

"I kind of think all the values have been taken out of it that can be safely taken out," he said.

Velie Lion Mine operator Stone today reported that operations at the mine would be resumed as soon as possible, probably sometime next week. he remarked, "It was just an accident, and the cave-in has not made the mine any more dangerous."

Stone also pointed out that the cave-in was from an overhanging ledge and not from the roof. During the collapse a pillar also was knocked over. The debris covered an area about 60 feet in diameter and was about 15 feet deep at its peak.

Rescue operations were based at the John Beaver Mine No. 2...The attempt to recover the men's bodies primarily was directed by Eagle Picher officials.

An unexpected pre-dawn visitor at the mien today was Rep. Ed Edmondson of Muskogee Oklahoma. The congressman, champion of mine relief legislation favoring the Tri-State area, spent more than two hours at the Velie Lion Mine waiting for word from rescue crews below. He went underground only shortly before Wilson's body was found and witnessed its removal.