A crew at the Rolling Mill Mine in Negaunee is pictured. (Photo courtesy of the Negaunee Historical Society)

NEGAUNEE — The Rolling Mill Mine was located on the south side of Negaunee.

It was a large mine started in 1871, with Mr. Cory as the superintendent. On Sept. 20, 1907, nine men met their death almost instantly. One man died a few hours later and six were critically injured.

Those who lost their lives were, Thomas Blight, John Cheri, Antonio Curto, William Hyvorinen, John Aho Johnson, Charles Kent, Matt Linna, Emil Muhonen, Joseph Rhodda, and Alfred Wills. The injured were, Alfred Jewell, John Koivisto, John Maki, Thomas Roberts, George Sebastino and Samuel Stevens.

Eight of those who died immediately were married men, all of the men were residents of Negaunee except for Wills, who lived in Ishpeming. four of the injured men were married.

The accident occurred as the first cageload of 16 men stepped onto the cage for their descent into the mine to begin their day’s work, a distance of over 600 feet. Twenty men usually make the trip in the cage, so 16 was not considered an overload.

The moment the cage started downward, the steel cable began to go at an unwanted rate. Ernest Kronberg, the brakeman, threw his whole physical force on the brake wheel in an effort to check its speed. Engineer John Nelson came to assist Kronberg, but the two tugging at the wheel seemed to be of no avail.

The cage by this time had attained terrific speed. The distance from the cage’s normal position at the top of the shaft to its lowest level was 640 feet and below this was a sump of about 20 feet. The cage crashed through timbers at the bottom of the shaft, carrying the men into the sump into a few feet of water.

A few of the injured were able to extricate themselves, but for others it took considerable work to release them from the confused mass of cable. The living received first consideration, but it was nearly an hour before the first man could be taken to the surface in the skip. The staff at the Negaunee hospital was summoned and the men were temporarily placed in the dry house, where they received treatment from the physicians and were brought to the hospital.

None bodies were taken from the wreckage and the death toll reached 10 when William Hyvorinen died at the hospital. Four of the injured had spinal injuries,with not much hope for recovery. No one escaped without broken bones and one man had both hips fractured.

Sebastino, had the presence of mind to cling to an iron rod in the upper part of the cage and draw his feet up off the floor. This lessened the shock to his body and he was the least injured.

On Oct. 11 that year, Alfred Jewell died as a result of his injuries. He was 24 and left a wife and two small children.

The Sabbath was a day of funerals. In instances where the men were of the same nationality and religion, they had joint services. The first were, John Aho Johnson and Matt Linna, in the morning. The services were held at the gravesite and conducted by the Mine Workers Union.

Services for Charles Kent and Thomas Blight were at 1 p.m. at the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Rhodda family arrived at the Methodist Episcopal Church at 3 p.m. The English Oak Lodge conducted that service.

Services for Emil Muhonenen and William Hyvorinen were held at the Finnish Lutheran Church at 2 p.m. and the attendance was large. Antonio Curto and John Cheri were members of the Society Italiana Fratellanza and this organization took charge of the funeral at St. Paul Church Catholic Church At 4 p.m.

The funeral of Alfred Wills was held in Ishpeming on Monday, under the auspices of Sir Humphrey Davey Lodge. Flags were at half mast on all municipal buildings on Sunday.

All pastors made mention of the disaster in their Sunday sermon and offered consolation to the families. It was determined that there was no negligence or carelessness on the part of the brakemen; they had used all means to stop the runaway cage.

At that time, all mines were operating on 10- to 12-hour shifts, on a two shift system. That meant there was a four hour lapse when the mine wasn’t running. Mr. Cory wanted the mine to run continuously to get more ore production and to hire more men.

He decided to put in a third shift and make three equal eight hour shifts. The men rebelled at first because they were losing two hours of pay. It was decided to try it for four months and if it didn’t work they would go back to the old system.

After four months the men were happier to have more time at home and thus started the midnight shift at the mine.

The mining officials were happy because the Rolling Mill Mine was the worst mine as far as accidents on the job were concerned.

Now there were fewer accidents at the Rolling Mill Mine than any other mine. The men were producing more ore in an eight hour shift than a ten hour shift, and the men were more alert. It wasn’t long before the swing shift started in all mines in the Negaunee and Ishpeming area.

Another thing that made history at the Rolling Mill Mine was that it was the only mine that allowed the wives of the miners, to put on miners work clothes and head lamps to go underground and work with their husbands for two hours, one day a year, with no pay.

At the end of the two hours, they were treated to coffee or tea and had a light lunch. Then the women went back home and the men went back underground.

Mr. Cory wanted the wives to know what conditions the miners had to work in, and how hard their husbands had to work for their money.