DEAD FOR BREAD

Dunstan Times, Issue 2087, 30 July 1901, Page 6

DEAD FOR BREAD

A GHASTLY COLLI""" SOUTH V/Ah^u

SEVENTY-EIGHT MEN PERISH

[From the Evening Star's Correspondent..!

LONDON, May 31.

The coal fields of South Wales have for some years enjoyed an immunity from those terrible colliery disasters which were so appallingly frequent in the middle of the last century. Science has made vast strides in the matter of ventilation and the safeguarding of miners, and it is now nearly seven years since South Wales was last visited *bv a calamity of memorable magnitude. That was when the Albion Colliery claimed 276 lives bv its fatal gases. The district of Sengenhydd is one of the most dangerous coal mining areas, and the collierv, the " Universal," at which the terrible fatality, by which eighty men lost then« lives in the early hours of Friday morning last, is one of the most dry and fiery in the /

area. The accident, which has thrown a whole neighborhood into despair of the lives of husbands and sons, is somewhat smaller in its effects than the first accounts led one to suppose. A hundred and fifty men were said to be entombed. But, as so often happens, the explosion occurred at the change of shifts, and the men involved numbered between seventy and eighty. Nor does there seem any "hope that there can be a living man in the shattered mine. The disaster brought out heroic attempts at rescue, in which the rescuing parties in turn faced death and found injury.

Sengenhydd is a comparatively new mining district, situated about four miles from the historic Leaning Castle of Caerphilly. The Universal " takhig " covers nearly 3,000 acres, and the pits have only been in full working order for eighteen months. The company employ nearly 700 men. In equipment the colliery is a model one, all the modern appliances being utilised, and all precautionary measures systematically adopted. There is little doubt that the catastrophe resulted from shot-firing. It was about five o'clock in the morning when the sound of two distinct successive explosions and the shaking of the ground alarmed the neighborhood. So loud were the reports that they were heard many miles away, and hundreds of people concluded that a terrible mine disaster had happened. To reach the various local collieries the day men were about to entrain, but work was at once abandoned, and the UniversaLCcmipany's premises were soon was'some time before the workings could be entered, or the full extent of the havoc realised. When it was seen that the topping of the pit shaft had been blown away, it was evident that the position of the "men below was critical. Volunteers were numerous, and, as the ventilating fan and engine-houses were practically undamaged, arrangements were immediately planned for a party of the more experienced miners to descend*. The gea» of the. carriage—or bond, as it is locally called—was destroyed, but practical heads and willing, hands' extemporised the fixings in an incredibly short time. In the interval managers and officials of collieries throughout the neighborhood came pouring in, all prepared to go down. Mr Shaw, the man 1 ager, headed the first exploration party, which left the surface at half-past seven, but they were soon forced to return, the cage not being able to travel down the shaft through obstructions. These being removed, the next essay was made by a party of local managers and miners, but they could only penetrate a distance of about twenty yards from the pit bottom?. and returned to report that the workings were in a state of wreckage. Immense falls stopped their progress, and they found thev had to fight the dreaded afterdamp. At.' half-past nine they came up again. Another party at once 'prepared to make a third attempt, and they were down until close on twelve o'clock. Hope ran high in the breasts of the watchers at the pit's mouth when it was seen that the rescue party had some men on ambulances. But the spectators were doomed to disappointment; the rescuers had met with what proved an insurmountable obstruction in the nature of a fall of about thirty yards in length on the east side of the "pit bottom. Nothing daunted, they made an effort to get over it, and in so doing were caught by the afterdamp, and were unable to proceed further. Indeed, three of them sustained serious injuries, and it was these poor fellows whe were being conveyed on the ambulances This rescue party found one man dead Another party discovered some horses alive and this fact was regarded as indicating, the possibility that same of the entombed men might ultimately be found to be safe. At one o'clock the first body was brought up, and hope was again revived when it was announced that one man had been found alive. He proved to be a haulier named Harris. All the explorers thought him dead, but Harris heard their voices, and raising his hand gave them a sign of life. In the early afternoon the ray of hope following Harris's rescue was dispelled. Mr Robson, Chief Inspector of Mines, had not reached the colliery, and furthei\Tnvestiga-

tion showed that the west side was impenetrable, owing to vast falls of the roofing, and though on the east side headway had been made for nearly 400 yds, it was only with extreme difficulty. Three bodies were brought to the bank during the afternoon. All were badly burnt, and all bore the unmistakable signs of afterdamp, and all hope of seeing their chums alive again were abandoned by the stout-hearted miners. But they did not relax their efforts to penetrate the wrecked workings, and day by day bodies are being brought up to be identified by grief-stricken wives and mothers.. Colliery disasters, like railway accidents in England, always seem to come in batches. On Monday night the inhabitants of Crewe were startled by a terrific report, and were soon acquainted with the fact that an explosion had occurred at the ".Talk o' the Hill" Colliery, just outside the town. The explosion occurred in some distant workings,Hbut as yet no theory has been formed as to the cause. Fortunately, there were not the usual number of men working in the pit at the time, on account of the holidays, or the result would have been disastrous, as about 800 men are. em-

ployed. Up to the present four men have been found to be working near the explosion, llie first indication of the explosion was given by a loud report, followed by clouds of smoke issuing from two shafts. A descent was quickly made by one of the shafts, but when the rescue party neared the depth close to the seam where* the men were working the presence of afterdamp prevented further search. Meanwhile, fee cages of No. 2 shaft had been set in moifon, and though the lower cage was firmly wedged in the wreckage near the pit bottom, the dead bodies of two men, shockingly mutilated, were recovered. It was found impossible to reach the other men owing to a great fall of roof. This is the disaster at the same pit, the previous trophe occurring some vears ago, when nearly five score miners "perished.

Only 900 people in 1,000,000 die of oid age. Tho Change.—" Yes; Subbubs was anxious to sell Ins property last summer, but the recent blizzard modified his ideas." " MooTrfed his ideas? " " Yes; he's thinking now of giving it away,"