Radio Puts on Miners' Benefit -- September 19, 2022

Oakland Tribune, 15-September-1922

I see that I have neglected to mention the 100th anniversary of the huge fire far underground at the Argonaut Mine in Jackson, California. A fire which started on 27-August-1922 broke out, trapping 47 miners 4,650 feet below the ground. It took more than two days to douse the fire. 

"This affair will be the first radio benefit concert ever to be broadcast and any donations received will go to the miners' families." 

At the time a group of San Francisco radio stations put on a benefit, rescuers hoped that some or all of the miners were still alive. After three weeks, rescuers reached the 4,650 foot level and found that all of the miners had died hours after the fire had started. 

All of the gold mines still operating in California shut down in 1942 because of the war.