Illinois Mine disaster still hits home after 100 years
On Nov. 13, 1909, 259 Cherry mine coal workers were killed in what is know as America's second worst mining disaster. Some of them as young as 10 years old.
Most of the coal workers were from Europe and were new to America living in small towns along the Illinois River.
A dripping kerosene torch ignited hay that was left beneath it. The fire that resulted killed the the miners consuming their bodies and the bodies of mules that worked along side them men in the mines.
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Steve Stout, 56, a school teacher and owner of Starved Rock Camera in Utica, said "the image of that is just so horrific. I couldn't shake it. I had to write it about. Stout wrote a book, entitled "Black Damp: The Story of the Cherry Mining Disaster." Black damp refers to the dense smoke from the fire that filled the tunnels.
Karen Tintori, is the granddaughter of John Tintori, a mine worker. According to Tintori, her father did not work on the day of the fire because he was too hung over to go to work. A first cousin was not so lucky. He died in the fire.
Tintori also authored a book about the accident "Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster." Tintori along with Stout will be speaking at upcoming events memorializing the 100th anniversary of the disaster.
Several men volunteered to enter the mine shaft to evacuate the miners including John Bundy, a mine manager. They never made it out. On their seventh attempt into the mines, they were burned to death.
A week later, when crews went back into the mines, they found 20 men who were still alive. They built a wall to escape the smoke and drank water from a small seep. They had no idea how long they were down in the mine.
According to Stout, you had to be at least 18 years old to mine. The company that owned the mine was find $630 for violation of the child labor laws. Families of the victims received $1800 in compensation which many thought was insulting. Another $1800 was paid to the families from a fund set up with private donations.
The biggest strides in mining safety came only after this horrible mining accident. The US Bureau of Mines was established to provide better goverment oversight. The accident spurred the development of the workers' compensation program in the United States.
Tintori believes that even today, more safety measures are needed. In her book in 2002, she recounts the accident at the Quecreek Mine in Pennsylvania. Using an inaccurate map, miners there flooded their own mine when they broke through a wall. The miners were trapped in the mine for several day before they were rescued.
"People don't realize that 50 percent of the electricity we use is still from coal. Someone still has to go down to get the coal out and the safety for these people is still not what it should be," she said.
According to Stout, Illinois' coal reserve is large enough to fuel the world's energy needs for the next three centuries.
Stout, when he talks about his students, he says "these kids have no idea when they turn on their computers, when they use their Playstations 3s, they have no comprehension we are still burning so much coal.
