Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-15
SPECIAL TRAINS BRING IN
THOUSANDS OF MOURNERS
Wild Scenes Around Entrance to
Tomb of the Trapped.
HEROES NEEDN'T HAVE DIED
Coal Company Rushes Funeral
Trains to Cherry-Will Pay for
Burial of Miners-The In
quest Is On.

CHERRY, ILL.,. November 49,
Officers of the local miners union
today notified President Lewis of
the Mine Workers Union that
31o lives had been lost in the ST..
Paul Coal Company mine disas-
ter.
A representative of the owners
of the mine today declared that
the loss of life will be 900.
Experts have discovered that
the fire is still burning in the
mine. After the fan was started
smoke began to pour from the
main shaft, and mine inspectors
and experts are now playing on
the fire at the bottom of the shaft
with hose.
They have ordered the air shaft
closed to shut off further circula-
ton.
President Lewis of the mine
workers has advised the local
union that $4,000, the contribu-
ton of the national body, will inn
mediately be placed at the dis
posal of the widows and orphans
of the mine victims.
The bodies of the dead in the St. Paul
mine will be brought out this afternoon.
They will be brought up as fast as men
can go down the shaft and reach them In
the veins and galleries IN which 1t is
supposed the dead miners are lying.
The task will be attended with difficulty.
Searching parties provided with oxygen
helmets will enter the mine. The second
and third veins are said to be filled with
smoke This and darkness will make the
journeys through the galleries slow.
Bodies Reported Found.
Caps, lanterns and dinner buckets were
found on the first two descents today
right at the intersections of the shafts
and galleries. and 1t was reported, though
officials would not admit it, that some
bodies were found there.
afternoon" said States Attorney Eckert
while arrangements We're being made to
raise the bodies. 1t is feared that rela-
tives and friends of the dead Will in
their excitement rush in crowds to the
shaft when the first bodies appear.
Thousands Rush to Scene.
Thousands of people came to the mine
this morning. Special trains bearing weep
ing relatives summoned by telegraph ar
rived at the little station. and there were
many affecting scenes as they met other
relatives and were told that there was
practically no hope for the entombed men.
II is planned that each body is
brought TO the surface il will be identi-
ned. if possible. then placed in a casket
and taken to a special train now wait
ing near the mine.
Could Have Saved Heroes.
IF we had been here Saturday we
would have prevented the death of the
men who bravely but foolishly, and. as II
turned out, futilly, went down in the
shaft in an effort TO save the miners. -
declared President Richard Newham to-
day.
ana the Olner members or the state
mining commission would have known
rescue under the circumstances was i'm
possible, and that il would have been a
most needless risk OF life to attempt it.
Our object i'm sealing the entrances OF
the mine last night was to end the fire
thus making il possible for a party to
enter the mine and pierce the lower levels
practically assured OF safety
The party selected to make the frs,
descent today included James Taylor
state mine inspector; r. Y. Williams OF
the United States rescue station at Ur-
bana. and James Hand and Henry Smith,
both Of whom were among the men who
escaped Saturday.
None Alive, Is Belief.
Neither the miners nor the officials
think there is a chance that the men be.
low are alive. Rumors that a shot was
heard beneath the surface, and that ran
pings on pipes had been used to indicate
that the entombed miners We're living
were declared absurd.
j. II. Buck, chief clerk of the St Pau
Coal Company. employed about the min.
for thirty years. asserted no revolver
shot could have been heard or felt upor
the surface. Other officials declared thai
the explosion of stick of dynamite
would be unlikely, anyway. and that q
would serve. IL IL occurred. to lessen the
chances OF the men surviving.
Company Will Bury Men.
The St Paul Coal Company. owner o
the mine. will provide for the burial o
the victims. President Earling early to
day appointed a committee consisting o
Mayor Connolly. President Henney of tn,
local miners union, and W. W. Taylor