TRAGEDY AT MINE

THREE BROTHERS DEAD POISONED BY GAS BLACK DAMP IN SHAFT VAIN RESCUE ATTEMPTS TWO LIVES SACRIFICED [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] WHANGAREI. Wednesday A terrible tragedy occurred at about midday to-day at a small coal mine at Waro, about a mile beyond Hikurangi, resulting in the death by black damp poisoning of three brothers. The victims are:— James Ackers, aged 24 years, married, with one young child. Jack Ackers, aged 20 years, single. Albert Ackers, aged 18 years. The mine at which the tragedy occurred was taken over on Monday by Mr. William Ackers, father of the deceased, from the Hikurangi Coal Company, Ltd., which was to take the supplies of coal from it. The mine is situated on a hill at Waro and was commenced over a year ago, when an airshaft was sunk about 32ft. from the top of the hill and a drive was then let into the side of the hill about 40ft., but had not connected with the airshaft. Youth's Sudden Collapse When Mr. Ackers took over the mine from the Hikurangi Company last Monday it was necessary to join the airshaft and the drive to allow a continuous flow of fresh air to pass through. This is stipulated by the Coal Mines Act. This morning Mr. Ackers went into the drive for the purpose of knocking upon the wall of coal to determine how far away the drive was from the airshaft, as it was thought that if they continued boring the drive they would pass under the airshaft. On the top of the hill were Mr. George Wilson, who was in search of a job in the mine, Albert Ackers and James Ackers. Albert could not hear the knocks from his father plainly from the top of the shaft, so he tied a rope on to the cnossbeam at the top of the shaft and climbed down the rope. When half-way down, he stood on the wooden supports for a few seconds and suddenly collapsed and fell head first down the shaft. Fate ol Elder Brokers His brother James jumped on to the rope before Mr. Wilson could stop him and slid down, calling to Mr. Wilson to go for help. When about half-way dowD, he fell off the rope and lay at the bottom unconscious. Mr. Wilson then called for Jack Ackers, who was working near by. When he saw the situation, he said he was going down, although Mr. Wilson tried to stop him. Mr. Wilson urged him to tie the rope round himself, but he did not listen, and slid down. When about 30ft. down he also fell unconscious. Another brother, Robert, was then on the scene and wanted to go down the shaft to help his unconscious brothers, who were visible from the top, but Mr. Wilson and another man, Mr. J. Isherwood, who had arrived, managed to stop him. Help was then sent for and a number of miners arrived from Mr. A. T. McGlashan's co-operative party, which is operating Wilson's Collieries' mine, and also from the Hikurangi Coal Company's mine. One of the first on the scene was Mr. William Reed, who is operating another small mine in the vicinity. He immediately put a rope over his shoulders and descended the shaft. Another Narrow Escape However, when Mr. Reed got about half-way down he called out "I'm going," and the men above immediately hauled him to the surface. He had a narrow escape, for he was unconscious and black in the face. However, he recovered. By this time a canvas chute had been brought from McGlashan's mine and fresh air was fanned into the shaft for the unconscious men and to permit rescue operations to be carried out. A respirator was also brought from the Hikurangi Company's mine. Rescuers went down the shaft and the bodies of the three brothers were brought to the surface by ropes. Dr. D. F. Armstrong, of Hikurangi, had been called to the scene and efforts at resuscitation were carried out by him and others for an hour, but without avail. When the rescue .gang was down the shaft they heard another gang trying to get to the men through the drive and had to signal them to stop. A Well-known Family The tragedy is considered to have been caused by the presence of black damp in the air shaft, due, no doubt, to the fact that the mine had not been worked for over a year. Black damp, which is very poisonous, is very hard to detect. James Ackers was down the shaft on Monday and although it is stated that he found the air bad he was able to reach the surface without any difficulty. It is stated that had the men not gone down the shaft there would have been no difficulty experienced when the drive and the shaft had been connected, as the passage of air would havo dispersed the black damp. The Ackers family is one of the most respected in the district and the three brothers who lost their lives were very popular, all being well known in athletic circles. James Ackers last year was a member of the North Auckland Association football team. The family came from Lancashire about eight years ago. Mr. William Ackers, the father, had,been employed until last week with the Hikurangi Coal Company, Limited. He has had the right to prospect in the locality of this mine since 1931. Besides the father and Robert Ackers, there are two daughters, Mrs. B. J. Harvie, of Hikurangi, and Mrs. C. Brown, of Marua. The mother resides in England. The manager of the Hikurangi Coal Company's mine, Mr. J. Makinson, has declared a 24 hours' closing of his mine as a mark of respect to the victims. An inquest will be opened to-morrow.