Big Vein Anthracite Collieries, 1929

This collection contains four bound volumes of daily fire boss reports for Superior Anthracite Mines, a coal mining company in McCoy, Virginia. Each report records the date and time of mine inspection and notes conditions found by the fire boss. The reports are signed by fire bosses C. D. McCoy (1929-1931), R. B. [Rufus Bayard] DeHart (1951-1953), W. L. Morris (1951-1952) and S. A. Whitaker (1952-1953) and countersigned by mine foremen D. E. Stanton (1929), C. A. McCoy (1929-1952), and H. H. Scott (1952-1953). Although the reports are variously headed "Big Vein Anthracite Collieries," "Big Vein Anthracite Corporation," and "Superior Anthracite Mines," it is likely that they all refer to the same operation. While most of the reports simply record the favorable condition of the mines in a single sentence, a number record the presence of gas and action taken to clear it. Beginning in late 1952, the reports also occasionally detail the exact sites at which air readings were taken.