The Oskaloosa herald., 1909-11-25
ONE MORE MINER
IS RESCUED ALIVE
Taken from Cherry Mine in In
conscious Condition.
ENToMBED MEN MAY sTARvE
Owing to caving-in of Earth Hope for
Rescuing Those Who May Be
Living Practically
Abandoned.

! Cherry, ILL.,, Nov. 24.-Hope that
some of the 200 men known to be en-
tombed in the st. Paul coal mine
might be taken out alive, was prac-
! tically abandoned.
When the fire which threatened the
main shaft was extinguished, res
| cuers explored the third vein drift
where they found air and water, but
came. across no living miners and no
| bodies. E. IN
Practically all of the mine, except
| the east drift of the second level, has
been explored in the ten days since
| the fire. A short distance from the
! entrance to this drift and just back of
| the pocket from which % bodies and
one dying man were taken out, the
earth has caved in to such an extent
| that 1t may take weeks to dig through
| to where many miners may have bar
| ricaded themselves and lived on oats
and corn provided for the mules.
One of Twenty Rescued Dies.
1t is thought many men were buried
under the debris and If the obstruc-
ton is not soon cleared away at least
! 100 bodies may never be dug up. Fire
is still raging in these tunnels and
the back portions, where imprisoned
| miners could have found a retreat, is
| said to be full of the fatal black damp.
What little hope we had was given
up when we penetrated to what is
called the 'overcoat' in the third vein
| drift" said W. w. Taylor, general
| manager of the mine. In that place
pure air would have been found If il
could have been found anywhere. and
the miners. aware of it, would have
retreated there When we got into
that place We found it contained
neither bodies nor live men We
listened in vain to detect a signal or
any other sign of life"
Meantime Cherry continues to be
village of mourning. The death of
David Hollofchek, one of the survivors
brought to the surface last Saturday,
reduced the total number of those
saved to 10.
Deneen Puts Man in Charge.
Following a telegram sent to Gov.
Deneen by the state executive board
of the United Mine Workers of Amer
lea, asking that some one be desig-
mated by the state to take charge of
the mine. Mine Inspector Hector
McAllister was placed in charge He
said that, despite the fire and the dis
| couraging news of tunnels having
fallen in. the rescue work would be
pushed night and day.
The telegram, signed by Duncan
Mcdonald. reads:
1--WE request that you designate
some one man to take charge of the
rescue work of this mine Practical
miners stand ready to volunteer serv-
ices to get to the bodies. System here
not satisfactory to us" ..r
TunneIing Around Blockade.
Gloom overspread the workers when
the fire in the second gallery result
ed in heavy cavings of earth, block
ing rescue work to the east In this
section is now the best chance of
finding survivors. The passage is so
badly blocked that it will be impossi-
BILE for many days to make an en-
trance. Meanwhile, men now alive
may starve.
The blockade in the entry to the
east is near the main shaft As one
caving is followed by another. endan-
gering the ives of the workers. at
tempts to remove the debris were
halted and an attempt begun to hew
a new passage through solid earth,
around the fire and piles of earth.
According to Duncan Mcdonald,
president of the United Mine Workers
of Illinois, this will take several days.
Does that mean that practically
all hope of reaching imprisoned men
in the east workings have been aban-
doned, or practically so?" Mr.. Nc
Donald was asked.
The union official looked very
gloomy and did not answer.
$2.5oo from State Funds.
Springfield, H., Nov. 24.-Col Frank
d. Whip, who has been investigating
conditions at Cherry. ILL.,. as Gov. De-
mems personal representative, has
completed his investigation and made
his report to the governor. In view
of the facts set forth in the report,
Gov. Deneen drew 81 500 from the con-
tingent fund placed at his disposal by
the general assembly. This amount
is to be forwarded to Orson Smith,
treasurer of the Illinois branch of the
American Red Cross society, for dis.
tribution among the sufferers from the
mine disaster, The sum named is one
half of the total appropriation avail.
able for this purpose,