The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-15
HUNDREDS DEAD.
M0stAppalling Shaft Disaster in
Country's History.
In the Spring Valley Mining
District of Illinois.
EXPLOSION AND FIRE.
lmprisOns 800 Men in the Burn.
ing Coal Pit.
Rescue Party of 13 Suffocated
in the Shaft.
EXPLOSION AND FIRE,


in the Shaft.
| Cherry I'LL, Nov. 15.-Another out
break of fire in the st. Paul mine this
afternoon prevented any efforts to
take out the bodies of the fire VIC
| Tins. The mine was quickly sealed
again, thus practically ending all hope
that any of the men may be rescued
alive.
Spring Valley, ILL.,, Nov. 15.-The
most appalling mine disaster in the
history of the United States has oc-
Cured in the little town of Cherry,
seven miles north of this place.
An explosion of coal gas following
| fire in the upper works of the st.
Paul Coal company's mine is believed
to have choked out the lives of about
500 men who were working there.
Members of a rescuing party met a
similar fate.
versions of the disaster given by
miners was that the fire had been
burning more than an hour before it
began to assume a dangerous nature.
Before that time scores of the men
mad quietly but hurriedly left the
mine, and it was said that about $50
OF the 565 men working in the mine
had escaped.
Some few survivors, blackened by
smoke and singed by flame, crawled
from reeking crevices in the earth, to
tell an incoherent story of the almost
lnconceivable horrors in the corridors
below. The rest are still in the works.
Exits Battened Down.
The exits from the mine, from
which ko r1d
belching, have all been battened down.
This desperate step was decided on as
last means of extinguiShing the fire
in the works beneath
Gathered in miserable groups about
the upper works of the colIiery the
women and children of the town are
waiting for the griefs that must be
theirs. The first paroXysm of weeping
and wailing and screaming has past.
The situation now is too sad for tears
too dreadful for lamentations.
Sobs the Only Sounds.
Mothers. with babies sleeping in
peaceful oblivion against their breasts,
sit crouched in dark corners of the
mines buildings. impervious to the
chill air and to the cold fog that
broods over everything like a shroud.
Propped up against their mothers
knees, their grimy little faces lined
with the dry courses of tears. the chill
dren of the mining town are snatching
a few f1tful hours of slumber. A whim-
per now and then or a half-stif1ed sob
are the only sounds left to recall the
agonized outburst that came just af-
ter the first news of the disaster had
begun to spread.
Among the men there is much grim
preparation for the ghastly work
which everyone knows must come.
Sheds are being cleared for the recep-
ton of the dead. Hearses and coffins
are being brought into town for the
handling of the bodies. Two build
ings have been cleared of everything
else to make way for temporary hos
pitals. Doctors are being rushed into
Cherry from every town in the vicin-
ity. Miners from other communities
are coming in voluntarily to aid in
the work of rescue.
Heart-Rending Tales
The men rescued from the shaft
tell heart-rending stories about their
efforts to escape. One man said that
he crossed the dead bodies of at least
eight men in reaching the main shaft.
Another man said he had taken his
boy with him into the shaft. When
he heard the alarm of fire he started
for the main shaft with his son. The
fumes soon became so strong he
could hardly breathe. He had the boy
by the hand
They crossed the bodies of men
dead and dying and the boy was cry
ing for his father to save him and to
carry him. He dragged his son as
long as he was able. and when about
exhausted shimself was Obliged to
drop his hand and allow him to go to
his fate The father had barely
strength enough to reach the bottom
of the shaft and fall into the cage. He
became unconscious. but revived saf-
ter reaching the top
All the men who escaped report
having passed dead men on the way
out While the whole countryside
and :neighboring towns has turned out
few have any hopes of taking out of
any of the imprisoned men alive
Series of Explosions.
The origin of the first explosion
has not yet been ascertained. but it is
believed that pile of hay. allowed to
the mine timbers of the higher of the
mines three corridors. There the
flames came in contact with a cloud
of coal gas lowering along the top of
the corridor. An explosion followed
instantly, and then came a series of
explosions extending, it is believed.
down to the lowest corridor of the
mine, 800 feet below the surface.
Fire began to spread with the echo
of the last explosion. In an inconceiv-
ably short space OF time II reached the
main shaft and, urged on by strong
draft soon converted the only way OF
escape into a he'll of fire.
There were 500 miners at work in the
three veins of the mine. when the first
explosion occurred. A few of these man.
aged to reach the lift and drag them
selves to the surface. the hair of their
heads burned away and their clothing
stin smoking from the fire..
Heroism such as is rarely exhibited
Was shown by officials of the mine and
residents of the town. who had gath
ared several hundreds strong at the
mouth of the pit.
Rescuers Meet Death
In response to a call for volunteers
.a%.tet in tl,e work of resci1e II mon