Knoxville Woman Patient Desired last Look upon Face of Husband

(by Associated Press)

[Note:  Both Knoxville General and Lincoln Memorial Hospitals existed at this time, but the article is unclear about which hospital was the subject.]

Knoxville, Tenn., Dec. 17. — Ten bodies were removed from Cross Mountain mine at Briceville today, leaving seven or eight more in the mine.  Today’s removals bring the total of identified dead up to 77, while the total number of victims will be either 84 or 85.

The funeral of Mayor Thomas Watts of Coal Creek, prominent in the work of relief for the Briceville sufferers, who met death Friday morning, was held today.  Mrs. Watts has been confined to a hospital for a week as the result of an operation for appendicitis and at her request the funeral cortege today stopped at the hospital, the coffin was removed from the hearse and carried by the pall-bearers into the hospital that Mrs. Watts might get a last look at the features of her dead husband.

Source:  Lexington (KY) Herald, December 18, 1911, page 1

For more information about this mine disaster, visit the Coal Creek Watershed Foundation’s site.