Arizona republican., 1909-11-14
Four Hundred Probably Dead In An Illinois Mine
 THE. ORIGIN WAS TRIVIAL
Of An Explosion Which Has Mortified the Country There is Hardly a Hope That a Man May Come From Blazing Mine

Cherry, H., Nov. I3.-At least 400
 men were killed today by an eXplo-
 sion in the St. Paul Coal company's
 mine here. This estimate was made ! tonight by the mine officials. after a ] careful calculation of the disaster. | Twelve bodies have been taken from
 the mine of the St. Paul company where more than 400 men were inn i prisoned and are probably dead The
 bodies were brought out while the fire was burning fiercely in the in ! terior and the smoke was pouring | out in dense volumes from the mouth of the pit The dead so far recov-
 cred are John Bumby. mine superin- tendent; Alexander Norberg. foreman; Isaac Lewis.- a visitor in the mine:
 unidentified men.
 The entrance of the mine was
 boarded over in an effort to check
 the flames. which are raging in the interior This ended all hope of es-
 cape by the imprisoned miners. In ! three veins. one 300 feet below the
 surface. the miners were imprisoned
 and their only chance of life was in
 a retreat to the ends of the veins in
 the hope that there might be air
 enough to preserve their lives until
 help came.
 The first explosion occurred short | ly after o'clCcl<s. t was communi- cated to other sections of the mine.
 and in less than ten minutes all hope
 of escape seemed shut off from the miners. Half an hour after the eX- plosion the mouth of the shaft was
 surrounded by hundreds of frantic
 women. children and men. Many tried to enter. but gave up after the first effort. and were carried away uncon- scious from smoke and escaping fumes. For almost two hours the of ficials of the mine and the residents
 of Cherry tried to devise means to | help the imprisoned miners. At last 1 it was decided that the only way to check the flames was to board the l entrance of the mine.
 Mine Superintendent James Steele declared five hours after the eXplo-
 sion that it was almost impossible that any of the miners could escape. The mine has a day shift of ASA men. 1 Of these a few left the mine at noon. Twenty-Five are known to have es-
 capped after the fire broke out. The others are doubtless dead. Until to-
 morrow. when the covering will be removed and the rescuers will en-
 deavor to penetrate the smoke and ! gas choked shaft and veins. no cer- | tainty of the fate of the inmates can be learned.
 The fire that caused the explosion
 which may prove one of the greatest i tragedies in the list of mine horrors,
 had its origin in a most trivial thing.
 A pile of hay was allowed to smoul- der too long Finally it ignited the | timbers of the mine. and before the
 workers realized their danger the
 mine was filled with smoke. gases and flames, and all exit was impos- sible.
 Great heroism was shown by the officials and residents of Cherry. These men, who were outside the mine when the fire started, contributed five
 to the list of the twelve known dead
 by rushing into the mine and trying to save the doomed men.
 The survivors said that many min CTS retreated to the farthermost ends of the veins, where they might hud- dle together, gasping for what little oxygen remained in the sealed and burning mine. in the hope that the rescuers might reach them before they were exhausted The most hope full of those seeking to aid the men doubt if any will be found alive. The only men to escape were those near the main shaft when the fire started.
 The St. Paul mine is the only one in town, and provided employment for almost 1000 men. It is owned by the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. and is on spur of that road. about fifteen miles from Spring
 Valley. Chief Superintendent w. w. Taylor of the mine was not in the city when the accident occurred Later versions of the disaster given by miners who escaped. placed the list of those imprisoned in the mine at about 3SO It is now declared tha the fire burned more than an hour before it appeared dangerous. Before that time about 1S0 of the 565 men quietly left the mine, it was said.
 Practical miners who watched the work of rescue tonight. asserted hat it was almost impossible that any of the men could escape alive from the mine The sealing of the shaft mouth, they said. while the only method of checking the fire. effectually shut off all air from the men while the fire and smoke were forming noXious gases which would fill every section of the excavation.