The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1909-11-16
Layout of Mine at Cherry, ILL.,,
Bad, According to Prof.
Sperr's View.
AVENUES OF ESCAPE LIMITED
Not Enough Openings to Enable Men
to Reach Surface is Way College of
Mines Professor at Houghton Sizes
Up Terrible Happening - President
McNair Makes Comment.

There's either something lacking i'm
the statutes or in their enforcement"
This statement was made by Prof. r.
w. Sperr of the Michigan College Of
Mines at Houghton, one of the most
eminent authorities on mining and
mining engineering in the world, when
commenting on the terrible catastro-
phe at Cherry, III.
Either the laws of Illinois do not
require operators to take sufficient
precautions for the protection OF the
men underground or these laws are not
adhered to strictly. i'm my opinion. OF
course, the facts in regard to the dis
aster are not clear as yet, but / gather
that there were not sufficient openings
through which men might escape from
the mine.
Not Enough Openings.
'The laws usually require operators
to keep clear more than one opening
for the escape of men in case of acci-
dent, but published reports of this dis
aster indicate there was but one shaft
leading TO the galleries where the men
were working on the third vein, the
only entrance to which was from the
second vein, about 500 feet from the
main shaft.
This, ii appears TO me, indicates
criminal negligence on the part of some
one. / am in hopes Governor Deneen
will institute careful investigation.
Such negligence. If this is so, is out
rageous. but it is hard TO criticise be-
fore we have the facts, which we can
not get at until we can see map of
the mine"
The college heads do not know whe-
ther the lower galleries or drifts were
protected with emergency buIkheads,
which could be closed i'm case of just
such accidents, as in the copper mines
Of the Lake Superior district. Back
of these bulkheads the miners have
avenues of escape into other shafts.
am so to the surface.
Prof. Sperr has had considerable
experience i'm the coal mining regions
of Ohio and Illinois. but admits he
does not know the operation Of the IL
linois statutes.
Too EearIy to Know.
President +. w. McNair of the min
ing college would venture no definite
opinion until further facts come to
light.
mot enough has been made clear 60
enable me to form an opinion as to
what exactly occurred at the st. Paul
mine,' he said. "All the stories seem
to conflict and the officers and men
tell varying tales. The disaster may
have been due to gross negligence, as
the first stories might lead one to be-
lleve. but such an opinion cannot be
asserted until something more is
known. One of our graduates who is
with company i'm the Illinois coal
fields, but not at this mine, says it is
to bring miners TO appreciate
just what risks they are taking from
accidents of this kind and from the
possibility of falling ground.
Mines Layout Wrong.
"Such a great loss OF life makes it
look as il there is something wrong in
the layout of the mine. Strict atten-
tlon should be given the laws by the
operators, but they will mine coal as
cheaply as possible and take their
chances with accidents. AS for fire
fighting apparatus underground, it
would be complicated at best, although
the government has recently been max
ing tests with fire fighting equipments.
Probably the proper precautions were
not taken in laying out this mine. for
Il ought not to be made possible for
men TO be closed up in a shaft or gar
ery in the manner in which II appears
the miners were at the st. Paul shaft.
There should be provided some other
ways for them TO escape. Reports OF
the disaster make it appear as IL tho
avenues of escape were rather too
limited"