A MAJOR MINER!

  TUESDAY, JANUARY 22ND., 2019
               A MAJOR MINER!

     I was just a part time errand boy at
my hometown radio station in 1959 when
the Susquehanna River broke into the
Knox Coal Mine in Port Griffin. I read
the headlines and saw the television news
reports but didn't really comprehend the
impact of the disaster which claimed a
dozen lines and virtually ended underground
coal mining in our area.
      Many years later, during my television
news career, I met the man many consider
the hero of that tragic day.
       Pacifico Joe Stella was a mining
surveyor who happen to be in the tunnels
making up the Knox Mine. His knowledge
o the underground passage ways and a old
air shaft enabled him to lead 33 miners to
safety.
        I interviewed Joe several times over
many years, almost always on the
anniversary or eve of the anniversary of
the disaster. His story was always the
same. Very detailed and offered in a very
"matter of fact manner," never portraying
himself as the hero everyone else said he
was.
        He wasn't the only hero that day.
In fact one of his colleagues, Amaadeo
Pancotti of Pittston received the Carnegie
Medal for his efforts to help clear debris
from the airshaft that provided the escape
route and for personally climbing the last
50 feet to reach the top! Joe stayed
behind to make sure some of the older
miners would make it out OK.
        The story is being retold today,
another anniversary. And thankfully
a new documentary has been produced
to preserve that story for those who
believe our history is vitally important
to our future.
         Joe Stella isn't with us anymore.
He passed on in 2010.
         Hope he's remembered for many
years and that all your NEWS is good!