I found this article in the Pantagraph this AM
CHERRY -- Ernest Romanelli's work schedule kept him out of the mine at Cherry on Nov. 13, 1909, but his future wife's brother had to dig coal that day.
Just like that, Romanelli lived and Ugo Filippi died in one of the worst mining disasters in American history. A dripping kerosene torch set fire to hay for the mules. Flames spread quickly. Some miners burned. Others were killed by dense smoke called black damp. The final death toll was 259 men and boys.
A dozen men became heroes when they volunteered to try to evacuate miners. The group included the mine manager, several miners, a local grocer and clothier. They burned to death on their seventh trip down the shaft.
A week later, rescue crews miraculously found 20 men still alive when they re-entered the mine. They'd sealed themselves in the blackness to escape the smoke and wrote notes to their loved ones in case they didn't survive.
Many bodies weren't recovered for months.
Today, only two small manmade mountains of mining waste called "slag piles" mark the location of the St. Paul Mine. Most of the dead lie in marked graves in towns where they lived, including Streator and villages along the Illinois River. Several of the miners remain buried in two mass graves in Cherry, located about 70 miles north of the Twin Cities. Their families were given money in compensation for their losses, but they needed the cash to eat or to move away to start new lives. Grave markers were not in the budget.
Monument
A local committee raised money for a new monument to etch the names in granite. The structure will be dedicated Saturday when the town of Cherry observes the disaster's 100th anniversary. Government officials, union leaders and historians will join descendants of the miners and others who think the story should live on. Events will continue Nov. 15.
Paula Brown, Romanelli's granddaughter, said the monument was paid for with community donations and the sale of souvenirs. The monument will be just outside the town's library that houses a museum that focuses on the disaster. Brown, a retired teacher, works part-time at the library.
"As a teacher, I know a lot of families have moved in and out of Cherry. They didn't know (about the mining accident) and didn't care," she said. "But a lot of people who were involved are descendants. They decided this should have been done a long time ago."
"It's important for the descendants to know these people who do dangerous jobs aren't forgotten," Brown added. "A lot of people do dangerous jobs today. You want to learn something from it or at least know what takes place."
Mike Matejka of Bloomington, downstate vice president of the Illinois Labor History Society, called the disaster "one of the pivotal events in Illinois labor history." In its wake, lawmakers in Washington formed the Bureau of Mines to improve mine safety. Illinois passed a worker compensation law that was among the nation's first legislation of its kind. From that point on, mine companies had an incentive to improve working conditions to avoid claims and higher insurance costs. Injured workers or their survivors, if they were killed, were no longer forced to depend solely on the charity of their employers, Matejka said.
Museum
The Cherry museum helps to keep the memory alive. Cherry librarian Eileen Pinter said artifacts on display include many photographs, a variety of miners' tools, lunch boxes and even some notes trapped miners wrote to their loved ones.
Ray Tutaj, a model railroad enthusiast, songwriter and performer versed in the Cherry mine disaster, built a large scale-model of the mine as it appeared on the day of the fire. The model takes up a large area of the museum. Tutaj also maintains an extensive Web site that focuses on the disaster.
Matejka, who helped town's people plan the centennial observance, was struck by the "emotional resonance" of the event.
"This is a tragedy the town still carries," said Matejka, who also is legislative affairs director of the Great Plains Laborers District Council. "What hit me was in the village of Cherry and the Illinois Valley, how significant a marker that event is. ... It was a dramatic part of the history of that region."
If you go
Getting there: Cherry is located about 70 miles north of Bloomington-Normal. Take Interstate 39 to Interstate 80, go west to exit 73 and go north.
Schedule for Saturday and Nov. 15: The Library and Museum opens at 8 a.m. both days. Trolley and walking tours of the mine site and memorial cemetery are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. Nov. 15. Displays, book tables, history fair projects will be displayed at Holy Trinity Hall and Cherry Grade School from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday. A film about the Cherry mine will be shown at the Cherry Fire Station continuously both days. Genealogy workshops are at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. A Mother Jones film will be shown at 2 and 3 p.m. Saturday at Village Hall. Steve Stout, author of "Black Damp: The Story of the Cherry Mining Disaster," will appear.
Monument dedication: Coal mining music featuring Bucky Halker will begin at 12:15 p.m. Saturday with the dedication at 1 p.m. U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, D-Ill., State Sen. Gary Dahl, R-Granville; State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley; Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan; and United Mine Workers Vice President Steve Earl will attend.
Memorial service: A procession from the Cherry Grade School to the Miners' Cemetery begins at 12:45 p.m. Sunday with the memorial service starting at 1 p.m.
Starved Rock Lodge: Has a special overnight package that includes transportation via trolley to Cherry. Visit
www.starvedrocklodge.com or call 800-868-ROCK (7625)
Also: The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum in Springfield features "The Flames Caught Us," a major exhibit on the Cherry mine disaster, through March 31.