NEGAUNEE — On Tuesday, January 10, 1902, the community was shocked by the announcement that was made about one o’clock that portions of the Negaunee Mine had caved in with a loss of human life as a consequence.

At first the number of lives lost could not be determined because the three to four hundred men that were employed were in various places during the noon hour.

So it was not until Wednesday when it was established that 10 men were eating their lunch in the pump room, 480 feet below the surface when the cave in occured.

Above the pump house was a miner by the name of Hassett. His candle flickered and he shouted to the men below, “It’s coming.” Of the 10 men that were there, two men got to the ladder-way.

One was Jacob Hanala whose lifeless remains were recovered that evening and the italian, Angelo Ricardo, who was rescued alive some four hours after the ground went down. The other eight were caught in the water and sand and may have been found in one place.

Other speculations were that the great rush of the sand and water would tend to separate them. District Superintendent Johnston came to the scene and telegraphed President Cole who was in Iron Mountain. District Superintendent Davidson was notified and they were on the scene by 10 o’clock that night.

President Cole and Capt. Piper went into the mine and began directing operations until three a.m. until a plan of rescue was decided on. It was decided to place five large pumps to work but they had to be brought in from other mining properties in the vicinity.

No expense of time or money was spared by the company to recover the bodies. It was the theory of those who knew about the mining process that when the foundations of the engines went down as a solid mass with a portion of the building and other material in the spring before this accident that the action of water and atmospheric conditions weakened the anchorage until it went down with a crash that resulted in this dreadful catastrophe.

There is no question but that these men were instantly killed or drowned, yet there is always a feeling of uncertainty that lingers about mine accidents, that did they suffer a lingering death of torture.

Chances are that none of those men had time to realize what happened. It would take a week to 10 days to recover the bodies. There had been a constant and solemn crowd of people coming and going from the scene of the disaster.

Many would have been glad to assist in the recovery but only the most skillful miners and timbermen are chosen for this work. The building used as a blacksmith shop also went down and out of sight into the lower workings of the mine.

The men were directed to remove their clothing from the changing house for fear that it too would soon fall. It wasn’t only miners that worked underground, there were mules. Mules were the first that were brought unde.ground to pull the ore carts.There were five mules at the Negaunee Mine that also have a record of a narrow escape. They had been down in the mine for four years and were only brought up in the spring with the first mine collapse.

At that time they were left down there until they were belly deep in water, until Capt. Piper and a few valiant men rescued them. After some weeks they returned to the mine without even kicking. During this second episode they were standing in two feet of water before the bailers were installed.

They were without a morsel to eat. With the bailers installed the water level went down and the men could get to them with hay and oats. They received tender care which rarely falls to a mule.

They were warmed with a steam pipe, fed and rubbed from ear to hoof. Every man that is concerned about the mine also has a warm spot for these creatures that are imprisoned in the underground mine.

This is where they work until they die and they are never brought to the surface. The Negaunee Mine was in the Ann Street/County Road 480 area and the cave-in was the result of the east end of town being moved.