El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-03

A torch carefully exposed and a bale
of hay, on Saturday afternoon, Novem-
J Der Is, 1909, caused one of the most dra-
matte mine disasters in industrial his
tory, and cost the lives of Andrew DOWN
! and 257 fellow worknen. Thrilling res
cues by a heroic band of men who final
! ly persisted in All act of supreme sacri-
flee; sealing the shaft in the presence of
an ineffably pathetic group of women
and children; the recovery of revolving
| human shapes. the rescue of 81 men
buried alive for eight days-all this for
,, weeks kept the press pulsing with storie,
of intenseSt human interest. This pub
liity acted with compelling junction up
on the employing company, the Civ
ing public, city councils and on
the state legislature. In this, the
wives and children of Andrew DOWN and
his fellow victims were most fortunate.
These men died a congTegate death in a
disaster that was dramatic thrilling,
spectacular.
A Sad Comparison.
One year before this disaster. an am
bulance backed UP to No. II Bond street,
the home of Abe Miller. Abe was in
the ambulance He was a worker in a
steel mill and he was injured in handling
hot metal. An accident occurred in which
he was burned, receiving injuries which
resulted in his death. The only news
paper mention of Abe's case was a three
line statement in list OF accidents. The
company settled for $500 and promised
permanent employment TO Abe's wife.
She went to work, and her Inadequate
earnings were supplemented by charit-
able relief
The circumstances of Abe's misfortune
are fairly typical OF so other fatal acct
dents in which information was obtained
through charitable organizations in 10
of the largest cities of the country.
[ want to consider the information
about these so accidents, which occurred
one at a time in commonplace obscgIrity.
and to contrast the circumstances of
the wives and children of these men with
what happened in the way OF compensa-
ton and relief for the wives and children
of Andrew DOWN and 40 other victims
of the Cherry catastrophe. The families
of these so men. suffering obscure, on
at a time accidents. received in compen-
sation SS749-s1S7 apiece. The so
Cherry families received from the com
pany S90.000-S1S0O apiece
Publicity Forces Recompense.
In the case of Cherry. on account of
Cross. the press, business associations,
the so families received in contributions,
from the legislature, miners unions etc,
$4,000 in addition. making a total of
$4,000; in the other, the families re-
ceived sS.749 plus an indefinite amount
in relief and pensions from charity So
cieties and n still more Understandable
sum from institutions, nurseries, hOs~i
tails. ETC. The average income in the 81
fatal cases before the accident was
S668.47. Twenty-four occupations were
represented. The present average in
come, after a period of a little more than
wear since the accident-the wife ana
children going to work, taking boarders,
renting rooms. etc.-was S23S.S0. d de-
crease of GA percent. The average
number in the family was five-wife
and four children. The average agei of
the children was years and months.
The average age CT the so men KILLED
was 81 ID years.
A car inspector lost his life in a crib
fire at Chicago two years and three