Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-14
484 Men Reported to
Have Been in Mine
TWENTY-FIVE PERSONS ARE
KNOWN TO BE SAFE
FRANTIC WOMEN AND CHILDREN
SURROUND SHAFT
At Midnight Twelve Bodies Had Been
Removed, When Entrance to
Cage Was Sealed to
Check Flames
[By Associated Press.1

N HERRY, ILL.,, Nov. 13.-At least 450
men were killed today by an ex-
~ plosion in the st. Paul Coal COM
pany mine here.
This estimate was made tonight by
mine officials after careful calcula-
tion of the disaster
Only twelve bodies had been recov~
cred up to a late hour.
Mine Superintendent James steele
declared five hours after the explosion
that it was almost impossible that
any of the miners could escape. The
mine has a day shift of asa men. Of
these a few left the mine at noon.
Twenty-Five are known to have es-
capped after the fire broke out. The
others doubtless are dead.
The entrance ITO the mine was sealed
up in the hope of checking the flames.
Despite the efforts Of officials and
scores of volunteer assistants it
seemed assured that only bodies of the
dead would be taken from the mine.
Until tomorrow, when the covering
will be removed and rescuers endeavor
to penetrate the smoke and gas-choked
shaft and veins, no certainty as to the
fate of the inmates can be learned.
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.
Pile OF RAY causes Flre
A pile of hay allowed to shoulder too
long finally ignited the tirnbers of the
mine and before the workers realized
their danger the mine was filled with
smoke. gases and flames and all exit
was impossible.
Great heroism was shown by Off
cials and residents of Cherry. These
men, who were outside the mine when
the fire started, contributed five to
the list of twelve known dead by
rushing into the mine, trying to save
the doomed men,
Alexander Norberg, pit man, gave
his life unhesitatinglv in a futile eff
fort to save those of his comrades
who risked their lives with him.
Standing at the bottom of the shaft
he carried the bodies of four men into
the cage, the only way of escape. AS
the last man was carried In he feil
unconscious across the body. He was
dead as were all his companions,
when the cage had been lifted to the
top. -,
Those who went into the pit with
him were John Bundy mine superin-
tendent; John Flood and Isaac Lewis,
merchants of Cherry, and Domlnck
Fonenti.
Or. w. Howe, a 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:
we get anyone out. No use flsklhg
your life down there"
The physician vainly sought to re-
vive the men when they were carried
to him a few minutes later.
At the entrance of the shaft hum
dreds of screaming women, weeping
children and frantic but helpless men
i a1.1 A fakH
surrounded by groups of the women
and their answers to the loudly
shrieked inquiries only added to the
terror
Almost to man they declared there
was no hope for those left behlnd III
the mine. Almost 200 of the men I'M
prisoned, they declared, were in the
third vein, the only entrance to which
was from the second vein, 800 feet
from the main shaft of the pit.
Makes Number of Dead Less
Later versions of the disaster given
by miners who escaped placed the ilst
of those imprisoned in the mine at
about $50.
It is now declared the fire had
burned more than an hour before 1t
appeared dangerous. Before that time
about 1S0 of the 565 men had quietly
left the mine, it was said. The twelve
known dead, whose bodies were recoV-
cred, follow:
JOHN BUNDY, mine superintendent.
ALEXANDER NORBERG, pick
manager.
THOMAS FLOOD, mine foreman.
ISAAC LEWIS.
JOHN FERMENTO.
TWO UNIDENTIFIED MEN.
JOSEPH YEARLY.
JOSEPH JAMISON.
JAMES SPEER,
4 HENRY STEWART.
ROBERT CLARK.
Practical miners who watched the
work of rescue tonight asserted that
it was almost impossible that any men
could escape alive from the mine. me
sealing of the shaft mouth, they sald
while the only method of checking the
fire, effectually shut off all air from
the men, while the fire and smoke
were forming floxious gasses which
would fill every section of the exca-
walton.
The maximum loss of life in mine
disaster in the United States was re-
corded at Monangah, w. ", in 1907,
when 1893 miners were killed. One OF
the miners employed in the Cherry
mine said tonight:
"The lights went out soon after the
fire started and left everything IN
darkness. When the alarm of fire was
heard there was a rush for the es-
capes, but only few could be saved.
The smoke grew worse every minute
It will not be surprising to me If every
ono NJ tho man in the mine is dead"