Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-11-26
Fire Has Rendered it I'm
possible to Recover
~ Over 200 Bodies.
MUST BE sMo1HERED
Village Us Deserted by. outsid-
ers andkett in the Utmost
Z, pesoIatpn.

80
Cherry, snl.,' Nov. 26.-The sealing
with coAcfete' and railroad rails Of both
the air Shaft and main shaft at the st.
Paul mine late yesterday AFTERNOON,
following an all night conference of
Chicago fremen, county officials min
ing experts and state mining inEpeo-
tors, marks the end Of the great Cher
ry mine disaster. The mine will be
kept closed indefinitely with the pur-
pose of smothering the stubborn fire,
and 204 bodies of miners in the third
vein workings will never be brought TO
the surface.
To test the temper Of the miners re-
naming alive, Mayor Connolly allowed
the saloons to operate openly yester-
day. Although many became intoxica-
ted, there was no individual or con-
certed act OF violence against the coal
company. AS result, the one remain
ing company of militia, Company G
from Kewanee, with Captain Hall In
command, was allowed to return home
today.
Women KneeI and Weep.
Although hundred women wept and
prayed at the min shaft entrance yes
terday as workmen began to mix con- =
crete, there was no great disorder.
Several women knelt In the mud, sob
bing and begging the workmen not to
seal the shaft. Sisters of Charity and
Red Cross nurses finally succeeded I'm
leading the heart-broken, hysterical
widows and orphans TO their desolate .
homes. Federal and state mining on
eials will remain in Cherry to make
Depending upon the results OF these
tests, the shafts may be unsealed in
a. week, a month, or six months. Fol-
lowing the exodus from town yester-
day afternoon Of officials, experts,
pewsDaper correspondents, Chicago fire
men, nurses and the emergency colony
Of several hundred that have been here
for two weeks. Cherry is in the grasp
OF an overpowering desolation. Chill
dren scurried through the streets with
their heads turned back over their
shoulders, and even men felt the grim,
fear that haunts every
quarter Of the stricken village.
water Does Not Reach Fire.
At the meeting of officials and ex-
perts held early in the day, Battalion
Chief Mcdonald of the Chicago fire de-
partment after an inspection of the.
work being accomplished by his men,
who had been throwing water In the /
east bottom of the mine for more than /
a week, advised the state min O/inspec- /
tors and the representatives of the coal |
company that the water being thrown I
into the mine was not reaching the
fire and that he saw no use of throw
ing in any more water, as II was mere
ly filling up the third vein. Bodies OF
the known dead in that vein are al
ready inaccessible owing to the guam
dty of water already thrown into the
mine, and to increase this amount of
water, Mcdonald said, would delay re-
covery of bodies indefinitely.
Decide to Seal Mine.
L. Y. Williams of the Urbana rescue
station, who had kept careful note of
the gases found in the mine. reported
that the fire had extended to the coal
pillars and was forming dangerous
gases, making it extremely hazardous
for rescuers to continue at work. AZ
ter considerable discussion and a care
ful going over of all the conditions sur
the situation. it was uIani-
nously agreed by the meeting that the
only thing that would make possible
The ultimate recovery of the bodies in
The mine was to seal up both the main
shaft and keep them sealed until the
cutting of the air smothered the FIRE.