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MILITIA, MEDICAL PERSONS, and MINE OFFICIALS ARRIVE ON THE SCENE.
| Militia Soldiers from Kankakee to Cherry |
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| Passenger cars filled with soldiers to keep the peace. |
Trains of Soldiers, Mine officials and medical personal were brought to Cherry in these passenger cars. The
photo was taken from atop one of the smaller slag piles. You can see the brick wall (front) of the boiler house at far right.
In the distance on the left you can see the Cherry Elevator and the Depot. Notice that there were no trees for birds
to "sing in". It was all flat and lifeless when the St. Paul Co. arrived here. The houses were simple and built
by the St. Paul Mine co. for the miners. The St. Paul Co. also had their own company store. So a miner paid the Company
for rent and bought things at their store. I bet there wasn't much spending money!
| Soldiers standing next to passenger cars. |
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| Ok, all of you stand next to the train i want to take your picture. |
You ask, "Why the Soldiers?"
Well, let us say your family member (father, husband, brother, or relative) was down in that mine and the
company decided to seal it! This is after they had rescued many miners, so there was hope that they were still alive
down there. The families became outraged and the local law enforcement could not control the several hundreds of enraged people.
They were angry at the company for sealing the mine. That sealed the hope that any miners were going to survive. So
the militia kept all people away from the mine area. The people had a good reason for being angry and the mine company
had a good reason for sealing it. If they didn't it was highly probable that the twentyone men that did survive after being
entombed for eight days, would have not survived. The fire and the smoke would have eventually got to them. So
the St. Paul Co. sealed the mine and stopped the fire and checked to see the status of the underground the next day. Well,
it was still bad and they sealed it again and the families were enraged again. The second time meant there was no hope.
But after eight days twentyone miners made it out alive.
| Women told to stay back by the militia |
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| Worried about the fate of their loved one, and helpless. |
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