The Breese Journal from Breese, Illinois • D1

OFTHEalk Town Breese Journal secTion Thursday, August 25, 2016 All-Inclusive Lifetime Contract for all new admissions! You can enjoy life while we provide affordable hassle-free living! Independent Assisted Living Available www.trentonvillageretirement.com Weekly Outings Transportation Therapy Services On Site Activities Satellite Television Shop Medication Assistance 3 Delicious Meals Daily Variety of Meal Choices Personal Care Assistance (including dressing, bathing, and toileting assistance) Over 35 Years of Family Owned Locally Managed Excellence On Site Nursing Staff Therapeutic Programing Resident Centered Care www.TrentonVillageRetirement.com NOW OFFERING Providing security specialized care to seniors with dementia and other forms of memory loss. Me ory Care HSHS Medical Group is pleased to offer patient-first specialty care to Breese, IL and surrounding communities. Surgical Specialist Renato Rivera, MD, treats skin cancer and precancerous skin conditions, and performs mole, wart and skin tag removals, along with other skin procedures. Call General Surgery at (618) 526-7133 for an appointment. SKIN CANCER TREATMENT 9401 Holy Cross Lane, Suite 113 Breese, IL ph: (618) 526-7133 HSHSMedicalGroup.org Renato Rivera, MD General Surgery Monday through Thursday Back in 1886, the first own- ers purchased the East Coal Mine in Breese.

This coal mine had many different owner- ships, and even closed from 1930 to 1932. During the heart of the Depression, a group known as the Citizens Coal Company reopened the coal mine until 1956, with nearly 90 men working there. The closing of the East Coal Mine in 1962 brought an end to the coal mining history of Clin- ton County until the Monterey Coal Company opened its No. 2 Mine in Albers, Illinois, in 1977. When it disbanded, the East Mine was the second oldest mine in operation in the state.

During the years from 1932 to 1962, over 2 million tons of coal were mined and 11 mil- lion tons of coal were hoisted up the shaft in the 75 year his- tory of the mine. On Dec. 22, 1906, at 6:30 a.m., a very horrible accident occurred in the East Mine. Six men, all mineworkers, were on their way to their work in the mine. They had boarded the cage and were descending down the shaft when part of the way down the hole, sud- denly something gave way.

The iron cage loaded with hu- man freight was sent crashing into the sump at the bottom of the shaft. All six men were instantly killed: Henry Mid- deke, Herman Schleper, Wal- ter Schaffner, August Foppe, Frank Zehrer and Hermann Holtmann. The general sentiment in Breese was that the company was to blame for the accident. The people believed that the company was negligent in its duty to provide a safe shaft for the men to go down in or a safe mine to work in. The jury, in its investigation, disclosed the fact that the old air chamber in the shaft, extending from top to bottom of the shaft, and which was in use only when the shaft was sunk for the protection of the diggers and abandoned when the shaft was finished, was backfilled with cinders and slack in an unworkmanlike and insecure manner.

It was found that an old water pipe was left lodged in the unsafe backfill. It found that a portion of the backfill gave way on the morn- ing of the fatal disaster. The TimelineS Monthly News and Featured Photos from the Past with the Announcement Several projects are being planned at the present time to complete the 2016 year. In the next few months committees will finalize the project planning. One of the projects being planned is being featured this month in Timelines.

The Breese Historical Society is asking for help from anyone who may have information, photos or contacts from people who are relatives of the six miners killed on Dec. 22, 1906, in the former East Mine in Breese. Our next meeting will be a social with only a minimum amount of business, a of any old or memorable articles, a sing-along and entertainment by Bob Eversgerd and Blanche, fol- lowed by ice cream and cookies, all provided by Breese Historical Society. This social will be held at Legacy Place, 13887 Progress Drive in Breese on Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.

All residents are in- vited to attend along with our members and any guests interested in the history of our community. Hope to see a lot of you there come join us! Featured this month: The East Mine accident of Dec. 22, 1906 Six miners lost their lives in this mine, located in the area which is now Southside Park in Breese. If anyone has any information to share about the accident, please contact the Breese Historical Society (see contact information with the continuation of the article on page 5D). This building remains and is the only thing left of the East Mine today.

It is the original stone-block building with a new roof. Allen Huels- kamp of Breese, who took this photo, remembers when he was a young boy, about 8 years of age, he would go to this building from time to time to pick up his pay- check from the mine. This was a weigh station and payroll of- fice. The current owner is Jan- sen Milk Hauling Service. Photo courtesy of Allen huelskAmP lived by the mine whistles, set our clocks by them, went to work by them, mourned our dead by This picture is taken looking east.

The area was cleaned up with a grant from the state of Illinois Wilfrid Hilmes, mayor of Breese. Now it is known as Southside Park. Photo courtesy of Breese historicAl society PictoriAl history 150 yeArs 1856-2006 East Coal Mine 1887-1962. Photo courtesy of Breese historicAl society PictoriAl history 150 yeArs 1856-2006 Photo courtesy of Breese historicAl society PictoriAl history 150 yeArs 1856-2006 report stated that some of the buried water pipe, concealed in imperfect casing and run- ning parallel to the shaft, was dislodged with the dirt slide on the fatal morning, and that a considerable section of this pipe mysteriously was miss- ing and could not be located. In short, its findings clearly made the company liable for the tragic and untimely deaths of the miners who were killed in the disaster.

Evidence before the jury proved that the engineer was not at fault. One local miner, a Breese resident, was well known for his early arrival at the mine each day, but on that fatal day he happened to be running a The stone monument for five of the miners is in St. Augustine cemetery. One miner, Walter Schaffner, was buried in Breese Cemetery on Mater Dei Drive. The Historical Society is un- able to locate the stone monument at this time.

Photo courtesy of Allen huelskAmP TIMELINES 5D.