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146:. The mine consisted of three horizontal veins, each deeper than the last. The veins were connected vertically by two shafts set some 100 yards (91 m) apart. Both the main shaft and the secondary shaft contained wooden stairs and ladders. The main shaft was capped by an 85-foot (26 m) steel tipple which controlled a mechanical hoisting cage. A large fan, located in a shunt off the secondary shaft, pushed fresh air into the mine.
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The mine's large fan was reversed in an attempt to blow out the fire, but this only succeeded in igniting the fan house itself as well as the escape ladders and stairs in the secondary shaft, trapping more miners below. The two shafts were then closed off to smother the fire, but this had the effect
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lanterns and torches. Some were portable, and some were set into the mine walls. Shortly after noon, a coal car filled with hay for the mules caught fire from one of the wall lanterns. The fire went unnoticed by workers for 45 minutes before efforts to move the fire began; however, the workers only
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Some 200 men and boys made their way to the surface, some through escape shafts, some using the hoisting cage. Some miners who had already escaped returned to the mine to aid their coworkers. Twelve of these, led by John Bundy, made six dangerous cage trips, rescuing many others. The seventh trip,
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One group of miners trapped in the mine built a makeshift wall to protect themselves from the fire and poisonous gases. Although without food, they were able to drink from a pool of water leaking from a coal seam, moving deeper into the mine to escape the black damp. Eight days later, the 21
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and the
Illinois State Historical Society. The centennial commemoration of the Cherry Mine disaster was held in Cherry from November 14 to November 15, 2009. A new monument, located at the Cherry Village Hall, was dedicated to the miners who lost their lives in the disaster.
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survivors, known as the "eight day men", tore down the wall and made their way through the mine in search of more water, but came across a rescue party instead. One of those 21 survivors died two days later with complications from asthma.
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The miners included a large number of immigrants, heavily
Italian, many of whom could not speak English. Boys as young as 11 years old also worked the mine. Rather than a fixed per-hour wage, pay was based on the coal production.
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In 1910, the
Illinois legislature established stronger mine safety regulations as a result of the Cherry Mine Disaster. In 1911, Illinois passed a separate law which later developed into the Illinois Workmen's Compensation Act.
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however, proved fatal when the cage operator misunderstood the miners' signals and brought them to the surface too late - the rescuers and those they attempted to rescue were burned to death.
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On
Saturday, November 13, 1909, nearly 500 men and boys as well as three dozen mules were working in the mine. An electrical outage earlier that week had forced the workers to light
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In 1905, the St. Paul Coal
Company opened the Cherry Mine in order to supply coal for the trains of its controlling company, the
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J.O. Bentall, "The Cherry Mine
Murders: Why Four Hundred Workers Were Burned and Suffocated in a Criminal Fire Trap,"
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This postcard shows the ruins of the fan building – with the semicircular roof – as a result of the
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Security
Emergency Management Project. "Disaster History Corner: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster"
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speaks at the unveiling of the Cherry Mine disaster memorial in
November 2009
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A monument to those who lost their lives was erected on May 15, 1971 by the
427:"Small-Town Cherry Plans Special Events to Commemorate 1909 Mine Disaster,"
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was a fire which occurred at the Cherry Mine, a coal mine outside
387:(1st Hardcover ed.). New York, NY: Atria Books. p. 27.
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succeeded in spreading the fire to the mine's support timbers.
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Memorial to the Cherry Mine disaster unveiled in
November 2009
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of both cutting off oxygen to the miners and allowing the “
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Trapped : The 1909 Cherry Mine
Disaster (Illinois)
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105:
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58:
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543:Deadliest coal mine disasters in the United States
262:"Significant Illinois Fires: Cherry Mine Disaster"
314:Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
310:"Tragedy in November: The Cherry Mine Disaster"
366:"Story of the Great Cherry Coal Mine Disaster"
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415:vol. 10, no. 7 (Jan. 1910), pp. 577–586.
8:
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418:Adriana Colindres, "Reliving a Tragedy,"
144:Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad
25:
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787:November 1909 events in the United States
287:"Reference at milwaukeeroadarchives.com"
637:, Littleton, Alabama, 1911 (128 killed)
453:"Illinois Disaster All but Forgotten,"
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385:Trapped, The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster
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236:Cherry Mine disaster historical marker
615:, 1903 (169 killed); 1908 (59 killed)
193:Illinois Department of Transportation
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767:1909 disasters in the United States
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762:Coal mining disasters in Illinois
129:in American coal mining history.
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442:Thomas White with Louis Murphy,
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413:International Socialist Review,
340:"The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster"
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444:"Eight Days In A Burning Mine"
1:
721:Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania
16:Fire in Cherry, Illinois, US
711:Everettville, West Virginia
266:guides.library.illinois.edu
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571:Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania
507:, C-Span, November 7, 2009
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505:1909 Cherry Mine Disaster
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439:, Atria Publishing, 2002.
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20:1909 Cherry Mine disaster
659:West Frankfort, Illinois
154:The Cherry Mine Disaster
772:Bureau County, Illinois
681:Johnstown, Pennsylvania
641:Saunders, West Virginia
553:Monongah, West Virginia
420:State Journal-Register,
383:Tintori, Karen (2002).
705:Plymouth, Pennsylvania
675:Layland, West Virginia
665:Benwood, West Virginia
625:Frontier Mine disaster
619:Marianna, Pennsylvania
601:Cheswick, Pennsylvania
577:Fraterville, Tennessee
457:Jan. 5, 2006, pg. A14.
782:1909 mining disasters
717:Mammoth Mine disaster
671:Layland Mine disaster
595:Eccles, West Virginia
308:Stout, Steve (1979).
82:41.426667°N 89.2125°W
693:Pocahontas, Virginia
635:Banner Mine disaster
597:, 1914 (180+ killed)
589:Mather, Pennsylvania
492:Cherry Mine Disaster
119:Cherry Mine disaster
33:Cherry Mine disaster
733:, 1892 (100 killed)
727:Krebs Mine disaster
723:, 1891 (109 killed)
713:, 1927 (109 killed)
707:, 1869 (110 killed)
701:, 1947 (111 killed)
699:Centralia, Illinois
695:, 1884 (112 killed)
689:, 1905 (112 killed)
683:, 1902 (112 killed)
677:, 1915 (115 killed)
667:, 1924 (119 killed)
661:, 1951 (119 killed)
655:, 1917 (121 killed)
649:, 1923 (123 killed)
643:, 1972 (125 killed)
631:, 1923 (138 killed)
621:, 1908 (154 killed)
609:, 1924 (171 killed)
603:, 1904 (179 killed)
591:, 1928 (195 killed)
585:, 1900 (200 killed)
579:, 1902 (216 killed)
573:, 1907 (239 killed)
567:, 1909 (259 killed)
561:, 1913 (263 killed)
555:, 1907 (362 killed)
494:, Steve Stout, 2000
87:41.426667; -89.2125
78: /
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653:Hastings, Colorado
647:Dawson, New Mexico
559:Dawson, New Mexico
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629:Kemmerer, Wyoming
607:Castle Gate, Utah
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368:. Archived from
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472:Wayback Machine
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435:Karen Tintori,
425:Emilie LeBeau,
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406:Further reading
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320:(1): 57–69.
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350:21 February
85: /
60:Coordinates
756:Categories
450:Oct. 1911.
448:The World,
271:26 October
169:black damp
138:Background
106:Casualties
73:89°12′45″W
70:41°25′36″N
326:0019-2287
242:Footnotes
183:Aftermath
160:kerosene
111:259 dead
48:Location
470:at the
133:History
391:
324:
290:(PDF)
220:Rep.
98:Cause
54:, USA
389:ISBN
352:2017
322:ISSN
273:2023
117:The
40:Date
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318:72
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298:^
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250:^
536:e
529:t
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275:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
