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RICE, George S. The Cherry Mine Disaster. No publishing information save for an original typed library catalog card from the US Bureau of Mines Library stating '[1909]". Original wrappers. 217x150mm, 47pp. With four small photos of the rescue operations; two cross sections of mines and lifts; one double-page cross section of the mine. [++] SIGNED presentation to "Dr. J.A. Holmes" from the author "Geo. S. Rice". I believe that this Dr. Holmes (1859-1915) was the state geologist of North Carolina and the Director of the Federal Bureau of mines, and discovered of the great letal nature of coal dust (even more so over blackdamp). [++] FAIR copy, with bumps and nicks to the wrappers, which are detached, though the binding is intact. All of it is reinforced by a period paper clip which is at least holding the covers on. Rice at this point was mining engineer to the US Geological Survey. [++] Provenance: US Bureau of mines and the Library of Congress, each with their rubber stamp. [++] NO COPIES are found in WorldCat[++] The Cherry Mine disaster was a fire in the Cherry, Illinois, coal mine in 1909, and surrounding events, in which 259 men and boys died. The disaster stands as the third most deadly in American coal mining history."--Wikipedia "On Saturday, November 13, 1909, while 480 workers toiled in the mine, a cart carrying hay to feed the sixty or seventy mules that pulled the underground coal cars caught fire. The hay cart had been left too close to a kerosene lamp the workers were using for light after the electricity failed. The fire quickly spread to the support timbers throughout the mine, burning for 45 minutes before any efforts were made to evacuate the workers. While some were able to escape, over 250 miners remained trapped. The immediate civilian rescue efforts that afternoon were successful, as a group of twelve men (including a grocer and a store clerk) descended into the mine six times to rescue miners. The fire was spreading rapidly, however, and the amateur rescuers were killed on the seventh trip down. Shortly thereafter the entire Ladd, Ill., Fire Department arrived but the firefighters were relegated to dumping water down the airshafts when the St. Paul Mine Company officials refused to let them descend into the mine."--University of Illinois Library online (Cherry Hill).
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