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obituary:
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                              Eccles Miner Suicides By
                             Rigging Up Dynamite Bomb

     A 50-year-old Eccles miner committed suicide
about 5:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon by exploding
dynamite against his chest, County Coroner Dr. W. W.
Hume reported.
     Dr. Hume said that George Word, an employe of the
Koppers Coal company, was instantly killed by the ex-
plosive force of a half stick of dynamite rigged against
his chest with a miner's belt. The explosion ripped open
the left side of the man's chest, Dr. Hume stated, and
threw him four feet onto a bed.
     Word was pronounced dead when examined by
Dr. Hume who was called after the explosion frighten-
ed the neighborhood. The body was removed to the
Calfee Funeral Home.
     Dr. Hume said there was no apparent motive for the
death and that no notes were found. Dr. Hume stated
that he was informed World had been to a baptismal
service earlier and suddenly returned to his home and
put on work clothes.
     The dynamite, Dr. Hume added, was connected to a
light switch and was exploded when the switch was
turned on.
     Word is survived by his wife and several children,
officials of the funeral home reported, but their names
were unavailable last night.
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Beckley Post-Herald
Beckley, W. Va.
Monday Morning
May 12, 1947
front page
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                                                  WORD
WORD, George: age 48 years, of Eccles, died Sunday,
May 11th at 5:30 p.m. at his home. The body will be
taken to the home from Calfee Funeral Home Tuesday
at 5:30 p.m. Funeral services will be conducted Wednes-
day, May 14th, at 1 p.m. at the Eccles Baptist Church
with the Rev. C. H. Costlow officiating. Burial will follow
in the Calfee cemetery. Active pallbearers will be Bob
Griffith, Raleigh Lawson, Roy Harris, John Cormack,
L. D. Harris, J. H. Ely. Honorary pallbearers will be Roy
Duncan, Emil Cimole, Carl Barker, Charlie Fuller, Bill
Caudill, Henry Lawson, Ghent Herron, Andrew Maddow,
Mason Clay, Walter Hedgecock, R. L. Poole, Charlie Kee-
see, Raymond Godbey, Howard Dillon, Cris Hinte, Carl
King, H. P. Stone, Bob Robertson, George Dalton, H. B.
McGhee, Leland Stafford, George Farmer, Harry Clay,
Leuoman Strickland, Tip Gay, Dr. C. M. Ward, George
Mickey, Alan Nidiffer, Ernest Fleenor, Bob Stanley and
Bert Lewis.
               Arrangements by
               Calfee Funeral Home
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Beckley Post-Herald
Beckley, W. Va.
Wednesday Morning
May 14, 1947
page ten
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                       Death Of Eccles Man Said Suicide

     A stick of dynamite, tied to his chest and then set off
by means of an electric light switch to which it was at-
tached, ended the life of George Word, 48-year-old Ec-
cles coal miner, yesterday about 5:30 p.m., Dr. W. W.
Hume, county coroner, reported today.
          Terming the death a suicide, Dr. Hume stated
that the blast killed Word instantly, ripping open his
chest and hurling him four feet onto a bed.
                                          *           *           *
          DR. HUME SAID there was no apparent motive
for the death, and that no notes were found. He was
informed that Word had been to a baptismal service
earlier and suddenly returned home and put on work
clothes.
     Employed by Koppers Coal Company, he was a native
of Buckingham, Va., the son of the late D. M. and Minnie
Word. He was born December 26, 1898.
                                           *           *           *
     SURVIVING ARE his wife, Mrs. Vesta Word; seven
children,
                               (See Story No. 6, Page 2)
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Raleigh Register
Beckley, W. Va.
Monday Afternoon
May 12, 1947
front page
           -----------------------------------------------------------
                                               ♦      6      ♦
George, Jr., Garland, home on furlough from the U. S.
Navy; Helen, Vernon Jo, Harold, Lucille and Elise; four
brothers, J. W. Word, Mullens; J. P. and B. H. Word, Enon-
ville, Va., and M. R. Word, Staunton, Va.; and the follow-
ing sisters, Mrs. Y. G. Nuckols, Morrestown, N. J.; Mrs. J.
N. Carter, Farmville, Va., and Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, Enon-
ville, Va.
     The body will be at the Eccles residence from Tuesday
at 5:30 p.m. until the funeral services at the Eccles Bap-
tist Church on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
     Active pallbearers will be: Bob Griffith, Roy Lawson,
Roy Harris, John Cormack, L. D. Harris, and J. H. Ely.
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Raleigh Register
Beckley, W. Va.
Monday Afternoon
May 12, 1947
page 2
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