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First Mine Rescue Team WasFederal Experts About 1908In me earlyof coal mining, whether it was by slope or Mtaft, the occupation was hazardous. It was not until after the Cherty mine disaster that public sentiment forced the establishing of rescue teams. The legislature op March 8, 1910 passed a bill providing for three stations to care for the northern, central and southern coal fields of Illinois,train men In the use of rescue| In July, 1910. Richard Newsom wasappliances, so thaL ultimately the first managet of rescue gta-there shall be at every mine In tions and the one for Southern Illinois a corps of men to enter Illinois was located at Benton, a mine when needed, with a The superintendent waa 3. C.suitable rescue outfit.Duncan of Murphysboro and theThe stations serve two pur- cue oorps of men to assist at a poses: To furnish A trained res-1 mine in esse of accident and toGovernor Dcncen set up the assistant, Frank Rosbottom of commission and started the work ^eor*a*First Mine Rescue TeamDu Quoin's firststate sponsorshipwhich Du Quoin•nd Jo* Morris*,In November, 1911, three mine rescue cars began touring the mines of the state giving free instructions in helmet work and first-aid to the injured. This work lasted two weeks at each place and enabled the students to pass the tests and secure certificates, Final certificates for helmet work necessitated further trailing in use of the breathing apparatus to be taken at one ofthe stations,SUE-STATIONSFollowing the original idea of more and better trained men, sub-stations were established In 1914, at Herrin, Harrisburg and Du Quoin, in cooperation with operators and miners, These substations soon became lt;regular ones and the Harrisburg station was moved to Eldorado. Now southern Illinois has five: Belleville/- Du Quoin, Herrin, Benton and Ejdorado.According to Joe Morris, who was a member of Du Quoin's first unofficial mine rescue team, there were five members, under a man named Swanson, who took federal examinations to qualify. Those first five were Joe Hartley, D. L. Poucher, Joe Morris, Charles Waller and Tom Tuskin.Morris thinks it was about 1908 that two federal men, Johnnie Duncan and Jim Towle, ’ came here and trained that lt;irst team.Thliu*elt;FOl111macthercarrmacRobmine mcus isam was trained about 1908 by two1 federal mea who came to this city, It had noana worked with whatever equipment it could got together. A forerunner of the h erolc team* for nai been praised •** *—..... - *'*• 1 . . ........ .... . , i.i ii recent yean wqi thh *lx*man outfit, above, left to right: J. Hartley, M. Joneibelow, J. Vfoiler, J. Rooertion and Thomas Tuitln. Roth Robertion and Morrii were later superintendent! of itate mine rescue itotioni* here.He says:“It was our job to go to fires and explosions and use our heads. We took no orders but did as we thought best with what equipment we had. We served the whole community.”The team in those days was not under state control. The equipment the men had they colie led for themselves. They had a lung pump, a type of pulmotor, which was serviceable when you knew how to use it.They were taught first-aid as it was then practiced: “Work on a man when he was down with aromatic spirits of amnonia to counteract fumes; exclude air from burns and call the doctor; wrap burned fingers or toes separately so they wouldn’t growtogether, u s i n g Tlekerdaset* gause 30 inch bandages and a salve made from herbs, sulphur and goose grease. Turpentine wasmacsta}in 1Sitea i hav mlntwoT nigl 32traiaretimsupass]tealt;rescNtharescand tan t h lt;ma:latewoeetc.pedTheent1
Newspaper Details
Du Quoin Evening Call
Du Quoin, Illinois, US
Sat, Sep 19, 1953
Page 15
Full Page
Clipped by
Darren H.
USA 17 Jan 2021
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Du Quoin Evening Call
