No matter what I do, my work always seems to come full circle. Almost 11 years ago, I published my first historical non-fiction book, "Behind The Walls." based on the history of the Preston School of Industry (a.k.a. Preston Castle), little did I know that while researching for my 5th historical non-fiction book "Down Below: A History of Deaths at the Kennedy Mine," I would find stories that are intertwined with Preston in one way or another. One such story is the horrific explosion at the Kennedy Mine that took place on February 13, 1932, when four miners: Peter Garcia, Sam Martinez, Liberto Mendez and Felix Achavan were victims of an unfortunate dynamite accident.
According to the Amador Dispatch, it was an explosion at the 4800 foot level of the mine that took place around 4 a.m. in the morning on Saturday, February 13, that caused the fatalities.
The miners were prepping the area for blasting, and while rounding the holes, they found that the water leaking down the walls of stope was preventing several of the fuses to ignite. So in order to fire the fuse, they had to re-cut them. Unfortunately, they re-cut them too short, and since they had about 46 fuses to fire, by the time they lit the last fuse, the first one went off.
According to the only surviving witness, Felix Achavan, the supervisor on duty overseeing their work, Peter Garcia, had warned them he thought it was time to go, and just as he spoke those words the explosion went off. Both Peter Garcia and Sam Martinez died instantly, while Liberto Mendes and Felix Achavan were rushed to the hospital at the Preston School of Industry, in Ione. Sadly, within hours of arriving to Preston, Liberto succumbed to his injuries. Felix stayed several days at the hospital but recovered.
The dead were brought to Daneri's Funeral home and the funerals for the miners were all held individually at St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery in Jackson. Sadly, none of the miners have marked graves, and you can only know they were buried there because of the newspaper clippings and cemetery records showing they were buried there.
Peter Garcia was only 39 years old and was a native of Spain. He had lived in Amador County for many years and was very much a beloved member of the community. Sam Martinez was only 23 years old at the time of his death, and was also a native of Spain. while Liberto Mendes was 36 years old and a native of Mexico.
You can visit their virtual graves here on Find-a-grave and leave them virtual messages and "flowers" here:
After recovering from his injuries, Felix was interviewed for the Coroner's Inquest and his story was published in the local newspaper which is posted below.
Amador
Dispatch – 2/26/1932
“Lone
Survivor Tells Story of Mine Accident—
At
an inquest conducted on Monday evening by Coroner J.J. Daneri, Felix Achavan
told the story of the recent accident at the Kennedy mine when three miners
lost their lives and Achavan miraculously escaped a like fate.
According
to the story told by the witness at the hearing, he was working in a stope on
the 4800 foot level of the mine and with companions had prepared a round of 46
holes for blasting. He stated that after loading had been completed, he was
assisted by Foreman Garcia in lighting the fuse. Samuel Martinez and Foreman
Garcia standing by to give assistance that might be needed; that difficulty was
experienced in lighting some of the fuse because of dampness from water that
had dripped upon the fuse, making it necessary to again “spit” them, at
operation causing considerable delay. Finally
Garcia made the statement “we have been here too long, let’s get out” and
barely had the word been uttered when an explosion occurred.
Mr.
Achavan stated that all were thrown to the ground by the force of the
explosion. His position on the opposite side of the stope from the first
explosion afforded him a measure of protection and probably accounted for his
escape from death. He expressed the belief that the others were in the direct
path of the flying rocks rendering escape impossible. He immediately crawled
from the scene. Peter Garcia and Samuel Martinez were killed instantly and
Liberto Mendez died a few hours following his removal to the Preston Hospital. Achavan
gave a vivid recitation of the experience but the recollection of the
unfortunate accident was one that unnerved the man and caused him to leave the
room sobbing.
Following
the hearing of the testimony the following verdict we rendered by the jury: “The
cause of death was the discharge of powder when the deceased were delayed in
their work by damp fuses while they were employed in blasting in the north
drift of the 4800 foot level of the Kennedy mine near Jackson.”---
May these miners, and the rest of the 43 miners who have all lost their lives at the Kennedy Mine during its years of operation rest in peace, never forgotten.
TO READ MORE STORIES ABOUT THE MEN AT THE KENNEDY MINE, PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK HERE!
(Copyright 2023- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)
Sources:
Amador Dispatch – 2/26/1932
Amador
Dispatch – 2/19/1932
Amador Ledger - 2/13/1932
Colusa Herald, 2/13/1932;
Healdsburg Tribune 2/13/1932
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