Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1909-11-20
800 MINERS KILLED
in COAL Mine DISASTER AT
CHERRY, ILLINOIS.
Five Give Their Lives in Heroic En-
deavor to Reach and Resce Their I'M
prisoned Comrades - Impossible to
Save Any-Mouth of Pit Is Sealed to
Smother the Flames.

miners were killed here Saturday in one
Of the worst mine horrors in history.
Several bodies have been taken from
the mine of the st. Paul Coal com
pany, which was set on fire Saturday
afternoon by burning bale of hay in
the mule stable.
The men entombed number at least
$50, according OF the estimates of the
mine officials, and that any can be res
cued is beyond all hope.
Some of the miners, however, de-
clare that there must have been 400 or
more.
The entrance to the mine was sealed
up in the hope of checking the flames.
Despite the efforts of officials and scores
of volunteers it seemed assured that
only bodies of the dead would be taken
from the mine.
Fire Allowed to Smolder.
The fire that caused the explosion,
which may prove one of the greatest
tragedies in the list of mine horrors
had an origin Of the most trivial kind.
A pile of hay allowed to smolder too
long finally ignited the timbers of the
mine and before the workers realized
their danger the mine was filed with
smoke, gases and flames and all exit
was impossible.
Great heroism was shown by Off
Gals and residents of Cherry. These
men, who were outside the mine when
the fire started, contributed five to
the list of the IL known dead by rush
t,,t< 70 hn
doomed men.
Alexander Norberg, pit man gave
his life unhesitatingly in a futile effort
to save those of his comrades who
, risked their lives with him. Standing
, at the bottom of the shaft he carried
3 the bodies of four men into the cage,
the only way of escape. AS the last
q was carried in he fell unconscious
across the body. He was dead, as
: were all his companions, when the
cage had been lifted to the top.
The Heroic Five.
Those who went into the pit with
: him were John Bundy, mine superin-
tendent; John Flood and Isaac Lewis,
J merchants of Cherry, and John Fer
9 mento.
DR.. w. Home, physician of the city
> who had tried to go with the men
= when they descended in the cage, had
). been thrust out of the cage by Bundy,
who declared: "They will need you at
the top if we get any one out. No
use risking your life down here" The
physician vainly sought to revive the
= men when they were carried to him q
few minutes later.
At the entrance of the shaft
hundreds of women, weeping children
. and frantic, but helpless, men crowded
about. A few survivors were sur
: rounded by groups of the women and
their answers to the loudly shrieked
9 inquiries only added to the terror.
Almost to a, man they declared there
was no hope for the men left behind
= in the mine. Almost 200 of the men
imprisoned, they declared, were in the
third vein, the only entrance to which
was for the second vein, few hun
: bred feet from the main shaft of the
: pit.
}. Air Fan Collapses.
Superintendent Steele reluctantly
echoes the opinion of the miners. When
}. the extent of the fire was realized
+ the officials saw ordinary measures
were Intellectual. The fire had burned
: away timbers and the flames soor
reached the escape shaft. A few min
+ utes later the fan which supplied all
to the shaft collapsed and tumbled
/ through the opening. The flames ther
= swept on the mouth of the pit, where
they were carried to the surface, fore
J ing back all those who ventured near
The officials knew that fire must be
= eating its way back into the shaft anc
then it was decided to seal the mouth
n of the pit. Before this water hac
been poured down the escape shaft but
J. with no better effect than to imped,
}. any effort of those inside to escape.
The first that was known of it wa,
n when there was a deafening explosion
and a column of fire and smoke sho-
out of the mine shaft. The cage wal
, Instantly lowered and a moment late
it was pulled back full of miners wht
p staggered to the ground as it reached
II the surface and gasped out the story
B. of the scenes of horror they had wit
messed below.
d Before they could finish their stor,
e the cage was sent down again ant
D. again, each time bringing up its bur
den of blackened and weakened men
Finally there was no signal from be
low to drag the cage up, and when i
d came up it was empty.
N Nearly All Foreigners.
h Cherry has a population of abou
[e 5000, nearly all of them Austrians
J. Italians and Lituanians, employed il
r the mine. When the news of the dis
aster spread there was a wild rusl
from the little cottages to the moutl
of the mine, where wives, mothers an,
l. children of the victims waited for tn
N news of the men buried under tn