The most dreaded sound in the coal camp was a mine whistle blowing without stopping, signaling trouble underground and sending women running to the tipple to wait for news of their husbands. Coal mining was always dangerous, with hazards including roof falls, cave-ins, kettle bottoms, accidents with coal cars, black lung, and especially major disasters that killed multiple miners. White Oak Valley suffered several such tragedies. On May 1, 1907, 16 men were killed in the Whipple Mine, followed by later disasters at Carlisle in 1915 and Whipple in 1916. In the New River Company mines of Stuart, Parral, and Whipple, 124 men lost their lives in a span of 15 months in 1906 and 1907. Three coroner juries investigated the separate mine explosions, but Sam Dixon, president of the New River Coal Company and the county's dominant Republican leader, selected all 15 jurors, all of whom were coal company officials. In each case, the company was found not to be at fault. Coal miners refused to return to the Stuart and Parral mines, saying the safety hazards had not been corrected, and Dixon responded by changing the mines' names to Lochgelly and Summerlee rather than fixing the dangers.