TERRIBLE MINING DISASTER.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 3, 18 September 1914, Page 2

TERRIBLE MINING DISASTER .

c About 7. 20 on Saturday morn- t ing, almost immediately after the r men who were on duty that day , had descended the shaft of Ralph's , mine, the noise of a terrific ex- , plosion was heard all over the s town and for miles beyond its t confines. Simultaneously from , the main shaft in the centre of j the town there rose into the air ] a huge v olunie of dense smoke , followed by an immense tongue ] of flame that rose fully a hundred ( feet above the poppet heads. , The line followed by the outrush ■ of gas was evidently the main ■ travelling way from the intake shaft at Taupiri West towards the main shaft on the east side, the force of the explosion being I so violent that one of the cages [ at rest on the surface, and weigh- | ing something like a ton, was forced violently upwards and wrecked by the force of its impact against the poppet heads some seventy feet overhead. In an incredibly short time nearly the whole population of the town flocked to the pit yard, all anxious to know what had happened. The news of the explosion was soon passed from mouth to mouth, and horror stricken relatives began to make anxious enquiries as to the fate of their loved ones. How many were below? Who were they? ( The questions were vain, and it was not until some time had passed that replies could be obtained, and then only im- > perfectly and without certainty. 1 As the Railway Department i had intimated that it would be t necessary to do the alterations 3 required at the yards’ siding on r that day, only sixty odd men i descended the shaft on Saturday, 3 instead of the usual complement 3 of some 250. Otherwise, the j catastrophe might have been 3 attended with a still more appali ling loss of life. At first it was . thought that the lives of about r fifty were at stake ; but as more information came to hand that i number was gradually augmented . until it became certain that sixY ty-two men were involved in the . disaster. t lhe second cage in the main 3 shaft was in thorough working e order, and about a quarter of an r hour after the explosion seven

men in all were brought up. The first three were Joe Brownlie, Patrick McGill, and Glen Mottram who, as they were proceeding towards the Little Dip with one of the mine horses, encountered the terrible blast. The first two were thrown violently aside but escaped without physical injury, the third, Mottram, being lifted off his feet, and carried backtwentyyards. His two companions finding that he was badly bruised, and that one leg had been injured, helped him through the darkness and devastation to the bottom of the shaft. Another party which was nearer the shaft, and which comprised John Jackson, Alex Izatt, Joe. O’Brien, and Alf. Peckham, were struck by the onward moving tornado of rushing air, smoke and flani9. Thrown down, and rendered almost insensible, they sustained severe burns and bruises, and in agony were brought to the surface, the flesh on the hands and faces literally hanging from them in strips and shreds. Drs. R. C. and J. C. Macdiarmid and Low were early on the scene, and with a host of willing workers applied the required remedies. The sufferers bore their injuries with heroic fortitude, but it was apparent that Izatt’s condition was extremely critical. With Peckham and Jackson he was immediately taken to the hospital at Hamilton where he passed over to the great majority during the course of the evening. As the leaden minutes, filled with hope, conjecture and despair, slowly passed, the cheering information came to hand that Ha. A. Stewart, A. Mclntosh, J. Hkllun, W. A. Mitchell, J. J. Wilkie. 1). Fletcher. Healey, tokl nlmosi scathl-ss only injury being t!u■^H badly bruised by a piece no!. had No. violently air, dust. ci,ah inguishoJ. colhn't'. i S them re tak ■ , ; fir BSHH^KIc. an ei'r'.-rt t > win the Mg!!* |HHi ■" . c A s |S§g|||Sg^B ■ i: in t ra • i e n lv s in ft? internm - ia, in ihe h B ;! Ik yr - ■>* ?y■ ;Ayy' rrV’fhi 1 h 5? 1 ft l -' 1

hopes that were gradually shattered, and, as time advanced, were superseded by the despair engendered by the sight of the dead bodies ns they were borne on improvised stretchers towards the King’s Hall which for the nonce had been turned into a mortuary chamber. The scene was lieart-rendidg, and became more awesome as hope died slowly, and the full bitterness of the blow approached its awful realization. Darkness gradually fell, and saddened fathers and bereaved widows and children made their way to their lonely homes, but not to rest, their tense, strained feelings forcing them to go abroad and be in immediate touch with the latest imformation. The- work of rescue was not forgotten; for about 7. 45 the first party including W. Wood, manager of the Extended Mine, F. Duncan, A. Ball, J. Ralph, A, Penman, G. Langford and F. Webb proceeded down the main shaft, but only to be forced back by the dense smoke and overpowering gas. Prior to this, however, Mr W. Jolly, the Company’s engineer, having made all arrangments, as far as the machinery was concerned, for the safety of the men underground, went below with Constable Wright to render whatever aid was required, and meeting Brownlie and his mates ordered them to proceed to the surface. The second party, comprising D. Wear L J. Hinchco, T. Bond and D. Nicholson had a similar experience. To extinguish the fires and to restore the impaired ventilation formed the initial duty, and to this end the mine officials and others worked heroically amid a poisoned environment that laid several hors de combat. Mr. Boyd Bennie, government inspector of mines, Mr E. S. Wight, manager of the Pukemiro mines, Mr Thompson, manager of the Waipa Colliery, Mr R. McEwan ex-mine manager, and Mr J. Lamont, 1 director of the Huntly School of Mines, arrived on the scene, and rendered services of a most in- - valuable nature at a time when 1 expert services were most needed. Finding it impossibe to do much at the eastern entrance, Mr W. Wood led the rescuers 1 to the western shaft where Dr. J. C. Macdiarmid, the Rev. 1 Fathers Edge and Finn, J. Mc-

Gill, G. S. Langford, Constable Wright, and the others already named commenced investigations which were gallantly persisted in despite the bad effects of the gases which caused several to collapse. The rescuers, undoubtedly took their lives in their hands, and showed the utmost heroism in the dangerous conditions obtaining. By bratticing the air currents were somewhat regulated, and as the result of the efforts made better conditions soon began to prevail. Before mid-day it was ascertained that sixty-two men had descended the shaft, the list, exclusive of those who had come out alive or injured, being as follows: — William Gowans, undermanager, married. James Darby, deputy, married. iohn C. Skellern, deputy, w "'AVer. John Whorskey, deputy, married. » W. H. Peckham, deputy, married. William Burt, shiftma n single. Samuel Jackson, shiftman, married. William Hinchco, shiftman, married. |) John Robinson, trucker, married. J. Holden, shiftman, married. William Salvin, trucker, single. Jacob Thompson, horse-driver, single. Robert Munsey, shiftman, single. Charles Maloney, trucker, single. i Wm. Kelly, contractor, married. Dan Lyons, machine-man, widower Hutchinson Burt, trucker, single. • John Steele, roadman, married. William Patterson, contractor, widower. David Patterson, roadman, married William Brocklebank, senior, shiftman, married. Thos Berry, winch-driver, sin gle. John Miller Greener, shiftman, married. Fred Taylor, winch-driver, married Jno. Bowler, trucker, single. Wm. May land, junior, clipper, single Wm. Mitchell or Dixon,trucker; married Henry Jackson, clipper, single Theo. D. Molesworth, enginedriver, married Wm. Blenkinsopp, shooter, married. Seymour Hopper, trucker, married. Arthur J. Ruston, roadman, rparried. William Allen, machine boy, single. Thomas Cassou, trucker, single. Thomas Baker, miner, single. John Williamson Jones, roadman, married. John Martin, trucker, single. The bodies of the above have been recovered, and all, except the last two, have been interred. There thus remain to be recovered the bodies of William Smith, deputy and firemas, married. Hugh Kan so mo. road cleaner, i married. And that of William Roper, ; trucker, married, or Thomas ■ B ?rry.

The belt of the former has been recovered and, it is thought, the body has been interred in the name of the latter.