Customer Reviews

Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster (Illinois)

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Karen Tintori's account of the Cherry, Ill. mining disaster quite unexpectedly turns out to be one of the best books I have read this year. Because the author's grandfather worked at that mine (he was home nursing a hangover the day of the disaster), Tintori was a woman on a mission. Her meticulously researched book takes you back nearly a century and recreates the scene so very well. We learn about the town and the imigrant miners who risked their lives each day to eke out a living. Tintori then recalls the unlikely set of tragic events that caused the fire at the mine and the heroic actions of the dozen men who time and time again went back into the inferno attempting to rescue those who were trapped. Fortunately, their efforts did not go unrewarded!!! The shocking part is that the mine continued normal operations for a couple of hours after the fire broke out, causing considerably more casualties than would have otherwise occurred. As a result of this tragedy, significant changes were made to existing Workmen's Compensation and coal mining safety laws. The town of Cherry maintains a small archive of the mine fire in the local town library. I believe it is open only one day a week. I was so moved by Karen Tintori's account of these tragic events that I really do want to visit that library someday. Don't miss this one!!!

"Trapped" is the latest in a recent glut of books about historical disasters. The quality of these books depends largely on the storytelling ability of the author in question. Fortunately, Karen Tintori, who has a familial connection to this particular disaster, is well up to the task. She tells the harrowing tale of the 1909 Cherry (coal) Mine fire in central Illinois that ranks as the nation's third deadliest mine disaster. Over 250 men died in the mine, and the death toll could have been much worse if not for the amazing heroism of some of the rescuers (eight of whom died in circumstances eerily reminiscent of the firefighters who perished on September 11th).

The disaster was the usual result of carelessness, bad luck and arrogant overconfidence. When built, the Cherry Mine was thought to be fireproof, much like the Titanic was thought to be iceberg proof. When the fire started, it wasn't taken seriously at first, indeed, the elevator operators continued to haul up coal for over an hour after the initial flames appeared. By the time the danger became readilly apparent, it was too late for a majority of the miners.

Tintori adopts the correct tone for such a book, letting the words of the survivors speak for themselves whenever possible. Her account of the twenty miners who spent several days trapped below ground and presumed dead before being rescued is particularly compelling, as are the verbatum words from a short journal written by a trapped miner who eventually suffocated. Tintori may not quite have the narrative touch of say, Sebastian Junger or Jon Krakauer, but she is still quite good.

Overall, an excellent historical account of a very unfortunate trajedy.

The Cherry Mine disaster of 1909 made the little coal mining town of Cherry, Illinois the unwilling center stage of a world wide drama. When 20 survivors were found, the president of the United States sent a telegram hoping more would be found. The story is gripping, and the book "Trapped" does justice to that story. It is impossible to just open the book to look up a fact, for you will soon find yourself immersed in the story all over again no matter how many times you have read it previously. As one who is a member of a Yahoo group on the Cherry Mine Disaster, I join other historians who are very pleased that "Trapped" tells the story while sticking to what really happened. There are no embellishments, no fanciful enhancements. This is the story as it actually unfolded. And because it is true, because it really happened, it affects the emotions even more. The Cherry mine disaster has been the subject of a number of theses for students and also of movies. This is a book worthy to tell the story of what happened that day in 1909, and will take its place in libraries and universities as a worthy reference.

I live 5 miles from Cherry, and we have already had a local author who retold the story several years ago, so I was interested to read the new version of events. The author has obviously done her research well, and attempted to relay the events in a logical sequence, but I felt the text needed more diagrams, possibly a glossary of mining terms. A list of the dead is included, but a list of survivors would be interesting from a local point of view.

This is a real page turner. Karen Tintori does a great job of putting her story in context. She gives us a good feel for the mood of the times, and a fine appreciation for the life of a Cherry Hill miner. One fascinating part for me was how a series of small errors cascaded into a full scale catastrophe. Additionally, Tintori was able to interweave many different threads - the activities of the trapped miners underground, of the miners' families and mining company officials in Cherry Hill, and of government troops and experts arriving on fast amd efficient trains - into a cohesive and easy to follow tale. Most interesting of all were the steps that one group of miners took to stay alive. Their adventures, and those of their heroic would-be rescuers, give new insights on survival under all-but-impossible odds. This is a very involving story. If you are not afraid of an emotional roller coaster, then hop aboard for a ride!

Karen Tintori writes a thorough examination of the coal mine fire in Cherry Illinois. She was inspired by brief mentions she remembers during of her childhood of her grandmother saying her grandfather had survived the disaster (he was home sick Saturday, November 13, 1909, when the fire started around 1:20 p.m.). Decades later, she took her journalism skills and researched the tragedy drawing on stories from descendants, inquest proceedings, files from the Dept. of Labor, Mine Health and Safety Academy, primary documents, period photographs, etc. She looks briefly at the development of the mining town of Cherry and then dives into the day of the disaster, the starting of the fire caused by a car load of hay contacting an oil torch, the efforts to put it out, the escape of about half the miners and the lack of urgency and communication to warn others to flee, early rescue attempts, the struggles of a group of miners entombed for a week in the sealed mine, later work to find survivors and retrieve bodies, and the difficulties of those in charge to handle the situation in the face of infuriated miners and family members.

The most moving part of the book was the fate of eleven men who repeatedly went down into the burning mine to rescue those trapped below. On their seventh descent into the inferno, the operator of the hoisting cage did not receive the proper signals to raise it. Amidst incredible pressure from those above insisting the men below were being roasted alive, the operator stood his ground. Tintori keeps the reader on the edge of his seat through the ordeal and, when the cage is finally lifted, paints a horrifying scene (85-6). The other gripping part was the torture endured by a group of miners trapped for a week in the mine. She describes how the men coped by creating fans and building a barrier to try to block the deadly invisible gas known as "black damp," and the struggles to find just enough putrid water to wet their lips (120-5).

The widows were so distraught that a near riot was caused in March (four months after the tragedy) when a crate of makeshift fans constructed by miners struggling to breathe in the smoldering depths were brought up from the mine. Women forced their way passed authorities and tore into the crates to take the fans as mementos to their loved ones, defending them from authorities by staying up nights guarding them. Tintori also includes information on how the victims' families were provided for, the violations found in the mine (child labor laws, etc.) and the laws that were passed after the investigation (250-3). It would have been interesting to find out what the boss's who insisted rescue efforts were fruitless thought after survivors were discovered as well as written proof more were alive days after the mine was first sealed, but such accounts were probably never recorded or passed down. The information Tintori gathers implies a cover-up on the part of the mining company as the two main witnesses to the starting of the fire were whisked away from Cherry (one all the way to Scotland) and were never present during the inquest, but not enough evidence really points to ultimate blame. The Cherry mine was considered one of the safest in the world and fireproof (sounds familiar) yet suffered the worst coal mine fire and third-worst mine disaster in the nation that made national news and sparked changes in child labor practices and was a catalyst for workman's compensation laws (x). Tintori has written a moving tribute to the tragedy.

On the morning of November 13, 1909, 480 workers descended into the coal mine in Cherry, Illinois. At about 1:00 pm, a cartload of hay for the mine's mules caught fire and began to burn out of control. During the resulting conflagration there were many acts of heroism, stupidity, selflessness and selfishness, and when all was said and done 259 miners lay dead leaving 160 widows and 470 fatherless children. It was the nation's third most deadly mine disaster, and this is the story of what happened that long time ago in North-Central Illinois.

Overall, I found this to be an informative and highly moving book. The author does an excellent job of reporting the events of what happened in a clear and concise manner, giving you a real good understanding of what happened. At the same time, she presents what happened in a very touching way. I found the story of the deaths of the thirteen rescuers lowered in an elevator into the flames to be quite moving. Also, I loved the way that she kept moving back and forth between the story of what was happening outside the mine, and what was happening to the men trapped within.

This is a great book, one that is sure to touch you in a very deep way. If you want to read about a terrible disaster and all of it attendant heroism and stupidity, then this is the book to read. I highly recommend this book!

I cranked through this book in about 4 days. It was difficult to put down. The author, on account of her family connections, obviously had a passion for telling this story and that passion came through in the pages of this book. The thing I appreciated most about the book--aside from its riveting subject matter--was that the author presented a very balanced and objective account of the tragedy. She did not try to blame the mining company, the mine bosses, the cage operators or the politicians for the tragedy. I did not sense any underlying agenda except to tell the story of these men and their families. That was refreshing. She actually seemed somewhat sympathetic to all involved and seemed to give them all the benefit of the doubt. Again, very refreshing. The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars is because--for reasons that I cannot put my finger on--I was not quite as impressed with this book as I was two other disaster accounts I have read recently, Dark Tide (Great Molasses Flood in Boston) and Ship Ablaze (General Slocum disaster in East River), both of which I rated 5 stars (and highly recommend).

This book is a History Channel special waiting to happen. The author does a nice job of bringing you back to 1909 at the opening of the book. From the energy appetite of our nation, to labor relations, the role of immigrants in society and the question of workplace safety, so many issues are tied together in this story that it is sure to be informative and thought provoking to the reader. And of course there is a certain page-turning appeal to survival tales. A great historical piece that makes you grateful for an office cubicle!

This is a real page turner. Karen Tintori does a great job of putting her story in context. She gives us a good feel for the mood of the times, and a fine appreciation for the life of a Cherry Hill miner. One fascinating part for me was how a series of small errors cascaded into a full scale catastrophe. Additionally, Tintori was able to interweave many different threads - the trapped miners underground, the miners' families and company officials topside, government troops and university experts arriving on mile a minute trains - into a cohesive and easy to follow tale. Most interesting of all were the steps that one group of miners took to stay alive. Their adventures, and those of their heroic would-be rescuers, give new insights on survival under all-but-impossible odds. This is a very involving story. If you are not afraid of an emotional roller coaster, then hop aboard for a ride!