The complete story of Tangiwai -- Christmas Eve 1953 -- as told by someone who was there -- when 151 people lost their lives through forces and circumstances beyond man's control. At the time, Tangiwai was rated the eighth worst railway tragedy in the world by the toll of those killed and injured. Since that sad Christmas Eve many questions are still being asked: Was it negligence by man? Why were recurring lahars ignored? Was it an accident waiting to happen? The name Tangiwai means 'weeping waters' or 'waters of sorrow', from tangi, to weep or lament; and wai, water. It was so named to commemorate the loss of a Maori paramount chief who, according to legend, perished in a raging torrent that suddenly overwhelmed the normally placid crossing place in the Whangaehu River. Fiordland greenstone is also known as Tangiwai because the flecks in it resemble tears.
Coal in the United States was discovered in the 18th century by landowners and farmers on the slopes of the hillsides in the Appalachian region. It was not until the late 19th century that this black rock would become a part of an industrial revolution. One of the first mines to commercially produce coal was in Fairmont, West Virginia, and began the Consolidated Coal Corporation. On November 20, 1968, the Farmington No. 9 mine explosion changed the course of safety for future mining and the lives of 78 families whose sons, husbands, fathers, and loved ones never came back from the cateye shift the next day.
Allan Andrade...has conducted his own investigation of the Leopoldville incident. ...The American, British and Belgian governments engaged in a cover-up, filed the papers away as secret... Dennis Hevesi, The New York Times ...This story should hold a special place in every state’s history. Simply put, the soldiers that lost their lives deserve the proper respect and remembrance for their sacrifice, and those that survived need to be recognized for their valor. New York City Congressman Gary L. Ackerman ...On behalf of the residents of New York City I express my appreciation to Allan Andrade...for researching and writing a book on this tragedy. New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani With skills developed over 20 years as a New York City Police investigative lieutenant he started digging into the dusty, hidden files with the tenacity of a real-life Columbo. ...Andrade tracked down not only survivors but also relatives of the victims: sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, wives. ...Andrade had the difficult task of telling the truth about the sinking of the SS Leopoldville and finding again that it is not for the dead that we grieve but for the living. Reuters Television Investigative Reporter, Lawrence Bond Retired NYC Police Lieutenant Allan Andrade has investigated and put together the facts and poignant individual stories of the Leopoldville disaster. Future historians of this incident will be compelled to use his research as a starting point for their own work. Originally published in 1997, the book has been revised to include new material and photographs. Allan Andrade was the American historical consultant for a TV documentary regarding the Leopoldville disaster. The documentary was produced by Norther Sky Entertainment Ltd., Toronto, Canada during 2008. I was flown to England & revisited the sites directly connected to the tragedy. He was aboard a research vessel directly over the wreck when professional divers dove to film it. He also visited Cherbourg, France, destination of the Leopoldville and Normandy American Cemetery where some of the Leopoldville victims are buried. With him were a Leopoldville survivor & 2 relatives of 2 different soldiers who were killed. ( one where body recovered & one where body never found.) The program, Deep Wreck Mysteries:Sunk on Christmas Eve, aired on the National Geographic Channel during February 2009.
Ninety-nine men entered the cold, dark tunnels of the Consolidation Coal Company's No.9 Mine in Farmington, West Virginia, on November 20, 1968. Some were worried about the condition of the mine. It had too much coal dust, too much methane gas. They knew that either one could cause an explosion. What they did not know was that someone had intentionally disabled a safety alarm on one of the mine's ventilation fans. That was a death sentence for most of the crew. The fan failed that morning, but the alarm did not sound. The lack of fresh air allowed methane gas to build up in the tunnels. A few moments before 5:30 a.m., the No.9 blew up. Some men died where they stood. Others lived but suffocated in the toxic fumes that filled the mine. Only 21 men escaped from the mountain. No.9: The 1968 Farmington Mine Disaster explains how such a thing could happen--how the coal company and federal and state officials failed to protect the 78 men who died in the mountain. Based on public records and interviews with those who worked in the mine, No.9 describes the conditions underground before and after the disaster and the legal struggles of the miners' widows to gain justice and transform coal mine safety legislation.
Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12, Disaster Deferred revisits these earthquakes, the legends that have grown around them, and the predictions of doom that have followed in their wake. Seth Stein clearly explains the techniques seismologists use to study Midwestern quakes and estimate their danger.
Traces the 1917 disaster in Nova Scotia during which a collided and grounded ship exploded and devastated the city under circumstances that would later be studied for the making of the atomic bomb, in an account that also describes the subsequent relief mission and trial of the ship's captain. Reprint.
We lived with the Canela people to give them the same life choices billions of people around the world already have: 1. To use modern medicine, or not. 2. To learn to read and write, or not. 3. To read the message of love from their Creator, or not. The Canelas gladly used modern medicine when they saw the wonderful results. They taught us their language and accepted the alphabet we developed. We experienced no major problems. When we began to provide God’s Word in their language, however, powerful unseen forces blocked progress. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil.” (Eph 6:12 NIV)
This hilarious and moving account of one family's frantic countdown to Christmas Eve follows the trials of a Christian minister as he tries to put up a giant Christmas tree, rearranges his schedule to attend his children's concerts, struggles against mobs at the mall, and participates in the church choir's first attempt at Handel's Messiah. Familiar stories of family events during the holidays accompany quirky, entertaining accounts of the particular challenges a minister encounters, such as his desperate nationwide search for goats for the church's Christmas pageant. The joy and frustration of the Christmas season are captured in this story of a family's struggle to find the genuine meaning of the holiday.
Written in response to the Hawk's Nest Tunnel disaster of 1931 in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, The Book of the Dead is an important part of West Virginia's cultural heritage and a powerful account of one of the worst industrial catastrophes in American history. The poems collected here investigate the roots of a tragedy that killed hundreds of workers, most of them African American. They are a rare engagement with the overlap between race and environment in Appalachia. Published for the first time alongside photographs by Nancy Naumburg, who accompanied Rukeyser to Gauley Bridge in 1936, this edition of The Book of the Dead includes an introduction by Catherine Venable Moore, whose writing on the topic has been anthologized in Best American Essays.
