HR0691

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HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
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Representatives wish to commemorate the 100th anniversary of 
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the Cherry Mine Disaster, which claimed the lives of 259 men 
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and boys on November 13, 1909; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, The Cherry Mine was opened in 1905 by the Chicago, 
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Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad to supply coal for the 
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railroad's trains; the miners were composed of a large number 
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of immigrants, many of whom could not speak English; boys as 
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young as 11 years old also worked in the mine; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, On November 13, 1909, nearly 500 men and boys, 
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along with 3 dozen mules, were sent to work in the mine; an 
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electrical outage earlier in the week had forced the workers to 
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light kerosene lanterns and torches;

shortly after noon, a coal 
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car filled with hay for the mules caught fire from one of the 
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wall lanterns; efforts to move the fire only spread the blaze 
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to the timbers that supported the mine;

the large fan installed 
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in the mine was reversed in an attempt to blow out the fire, 
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but this only succeeded in igniting the fan house itself as 
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well as the escape ladders and stairs in the secondary shaft, 
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trapping more miners below; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, In response to the growing fire, the two affected 
 


 






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shafts were closed off to smother the fire, but this also had 
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the effect of cutting off oxygen to the miners and allowing 
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"black damp", a suffocating mixture of carbon dioxide and 
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nitrogen, to build up in the mine;

some 200 men and boys made 
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their way to the surface through escape shafts and the hoisting 
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cage; some miners who had already escaped returned to the mine 
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to aid their coworkers; one group of miners trapped in the mine 
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built a makeshift wall to protect themselves from the fire and 
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poisonous gas; although without food, they were able to drink 
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from a pool of water leaking from a coal seam while they moved 
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deeper into the mine to escape the black damp; 8 days later, 
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the 21 survivors tore down the wall and made their way through 
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the mine in search of more water, but instead came across a 
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rescue party; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, As a result of the Cherry Mine Disaster, the 
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Illinois General Assembly  established stronger mine safety 
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regulations the following year; in 1911, as a response to the 
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paltry compensation offered to the miners for their suffering, 
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the General Assembly passed a separate law that would later 
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develop into the Illinois Workmen's Compensation Act; on the 
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national level, the U.S. Bureau of Mines was created to improve 
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governmental oversight for the nation's mines; therefore, be it
  
 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
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NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
 


 






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commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Cherry Mine Disaster 
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and ask the people of Illinois to honor the lives and legacies 
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of the 259 men and boys who were tragically killed in this 
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terrible disaster; and be it further
  
 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to Robert McCook, Village President of the Village of 
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Cherry.