Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-11-18

burning cages Saturday afternoon. 1t
wac declared to be probable that this
list might be increased. One hundred
and seventy men who entered the
mine Saturday morning have been &C.
counted for. The company had scores
of tracers at work rounding up the
employees, and at nightfall the COM
pany officials admitted that the num-
Der of men in the mine was greater
than they first had believed possible.
Among the missing are many Amer
leans, who have lived for years and
reared their families in the mining
section of Illinois, so often the scene
Of terrific tragedy. Though the
majority Of those who never may be
found alive are foreign born, yet all
had their homes here or in the sur
rounding towns and villages, and the
grief over their probable fate has
cast a pail over the community.
Mines in Two Shafts.
The catastrophe probably the
greatest in the history of mining, &C.
CURED shortly after 1 o'clock Satur-
day afternoon, when the miners were
at work in two of the big shafts of
the mine.
A fire started and the men were cut
off from air. Out Of the 450 miners,
only eighty-fve are known to have
made their escape.
A rescue party, consisting Of thir-
teen men, made two trips in the mine
cage and brought out a number of
men. On the third trip the entire
rescue party was suffocated and were
dead when the big cage was brought
to the surface.
A majority of the victims met death
from suffocation, although many are
believed to have burned to death.
The disaster was the result of a
load of hay catching fire in the sec
ond vein of the mine, over 300 feet
below the surface, the explosion fol-
lowing. Quickly the mine was a mass
of flames.
The entire population of Cherry
was at the mine when the bodies of
the rescue party were brought to the
surface. The scene that followed is
beyond description. A great moan
swept through the crowd. Women
tainted and men wrung their hands.
and wept. The cries and shrieks of
the mothers, wives and sisters of the
victims, mingled with the hoarse
shouts of the men who we're attempt
ing to aid the entombed miners.
Aid Sent by Special Train.
James Steele, superintendent of the
mine, Immediately wired the office of
the company in Chicago for aid. He
was notified that a special train bring
ing supplies and physicians would be
sent at once.
The terrible loss of life was indi-
rectly caused by the reversing of the
big fan which supplies air to the two
big veins of the mine.
When the fire was first discovered
it was thought that the blaze could
be drawn out by the fan. The revers-
ing of the fan shut off all the air in
the shafts below and also drew the
flames up the shaft. The fire came
out with such fury that the fan itself
was burned almost Immediately. 1t
was realized that unless the miners
were brought to the surface within a
few moments they would die from
~suffocation.
The only means of rescue left was
the cage. By this time large volumes
of smoke were issuing from the shaft
and it was thought to be impossible
for any one to live in the big cage.
John Flood and Isaac Lewis, mer-
chants, however, stepped forward and
called for men to go down in the ele-
vator.
Volunteers Reach Second Vein.
Volunteers answered Immediately.
They entered the cage, and the en-
gineers lowered them to the second
vein.
Here the rescue party left the ele-
yator, and as quickly as possible they
carried the unconscious miners to the
cage. Only a few minutes was spent
in this work, as the air was such that
the men could not breath. Back to
the surface they were hoisted. The
miners recovered as soon as they
reached the air and the rescue party
started back on the second trip.
Down to the death pit a second
time went the volunteers on the
elevator. The cage was filled with
smoke and the heat was so terrible
that the rescuers wrapped their coats
about their heads. Several of the
party tainted, it is said, but gave the
return signal. When the cage reached
the Inflated vein several more uncon,
scious forms were bundled in and
once again the elevator returned to
the top.
Despite the pleadings of the mine