COLLIERY DISASTER.
FIVE MEN KILLED,
THEY FALL FOUR HUNDRED FEET.
SYDNEY, March IS. A terrible disaster occurred in the new coal shaft at Balmain.
Six men were being- lowered, when the bucket tilted, and five of them, Jones, Travers, Bobertson, Smith, and Manning, fell several hundred f_et, and were killed.
The sixth clung to the bucket and escaped. :.
Jones( whose father was below at the time, and witnessed the occurrence) fell across the bucket. Both legs were snapped off at the thighs. The others were dashed to pieces at the bottom of the shaft.
It was a sickening spectacle. Jones' father remarked, to his fellows, when he discovered the first four bodies, ''There is another to corned lads."
When the survivor was found to be safe, Jones placed his hand on the dead body's head, and said, "This is my son."
It appears that the light w^ent out, and the men were unable to guide the bucket, which struck an obstacle and tilted. They fell 400 feet. : V
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Auckland Star, Issue 66, 19 March 1900, Page 4
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168COLLIERY DISASTER. Auckland Star, Issue 66, 19 March 1900, Page 4
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