LATEST PARTICULARS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVII, Issue 978, 26 March 1862, Page 3

LATEST PARTICULARS.

[FKOM TUB 'j3XPItKBB,' MONDAY, JAN. 27.]

Nuw Hajitijcy, Saturday, 0 p.m.—Wo have today been witnessing the last heartbreaking scene in the awful drama—the most awful in the annals of the industry of this country—which we have been looking upon from the pit heap of Hartley, almost night and day since yesteiday week. By actively working all last night, Mr. Coulaon's sinkers got the cloth, bratticing completed; and having erected a platform below the yard seam, which directed a good current of air into that intake, and Mr. T. B. Foster and Mr. CouWon, who had gone down the shaft and examined it carefully, having come to V'-brenk" anil reported that the shaft was clear of gas, and that all was stile, a large working gang of colliers proceeded down into the workings to send; the bodies to imnk. As soon as the men got into the! yard seam, they encountered the first dead man, a tine stout-looking fellow, who was sitting, apparently sleeping, on a seat made into the side of the coal, only a few feet from the shaft. His name was Gallager. His flannel trousers were doubled, up, and he just looked as if he was resting after a hard day's toil. Five or ten yards within the yard seam, in a gallery five or six yards in from theshal't, were a large body of dead men and lads lying in rows; those next the wall of the coal sleeping in a. sitting position, arid the next row in advance of; them sleeping on the others' knees. They were, lying in three rows on each side, all quiet and placid as if sleeping off a heavy day's work. Boys were lying with their heads on the shoulders ot their fathers; and one poor fellow had his arm tenderly clasped round the neck of his brother; one or two brothers were lying locked in each other's arms. But all lay as if death had crept quietly upon them, and stole away their lives while they might have been dreaming of home and liberty. None appeared to have died in mortal agony, and to most, if not to all, death appeared to have come as a relief. Beyond this company of sleepers a man lay propping open a door, as if he had resisted the insidious poison of the mine longer than the rest, and had arisen to open one of those doors which led in-bye, to try to bring a little more fresh air in. Two stout men were lying upon the ashes at the furnaces. But beyond that point, and further within the workings, we believe that the working parties have not deemed it wise or prudent to go until the whole of the bodies were sent up out of the gallery, and those parts next the shaft; they lay within an area of something like fifty or sixty yards, The men that went down were in charge of a miner. It was at fist intended to coffin the bodies down in the pit, and send them to bank. But as it was discovered that they were not so far advanced in decomposition as at first suspected, it was determined, to save time; to bring them up on slings and coffin them at bank. A considerable staff of surgeons were assembled at the pit-mouth, and every precaution was adopted, both at the pit-mouth and down in the workings, by the the plentiful use of disinfectants, to neutralize any ill effects that were likely to arise through the effluvium from the bodies. It was hoped that the pitmen, who were urged to do so by the medical men for sanitary reasons, would have prevailed upon the widows to allow the corpses not to be removed to their dwellings; but out of regard to the feelings of the poor widows, they absolutely refused to interfere. A long relay of colliery farnircarts was kept in the road leading from the pit; a large number of pitmen remained at bank, as well as others who were employed below —each were furnished with a pair of large leather gloves—and about a quarter before eleven the signal was given to the engine-man, and the first two bodies were brought to bank. They were slung by the middle, and as they emerged out of the dark and cavernous shaft to the outer world, their faces, from the position in which they were slung, were upturned to the'beautiful clear blue sky of one of the most lovely days that we have had in the north since the sad accident. They were attired in the usual pit garb, a flannel jacket and waistcoat, and a pair of short flannel drawers, blue stockings, and strong shoes, the knee and part of the leg being exposed, as is seen in the dress of a Highlander. The first two men. brought to bank did not seem to have suffered anyway severely from the effects of starvation. Gallager, the second man brought to bank, appeared stout and well-nourished;.and in the pockets of several of the men and lads subsequently brought up, there was some corn, evidently a part of the division from the horsebin in the stable. During daylight, with the exception of some .two or three, upon whom decomposition had rapidly set in, the aspect of the dead was far from repulsive. They had evidently quietly slept away. Their clothes, however, were drenched with wet, ari^in > from being brought up the shaft, down which the water seems to pour in a torrent. The bodies as soon as they were brought to bank were wrapt in a cotton sheet, and if they were identified, their names were inscribed upon a coffin into which they were placed. The coffin was put on a roily and removed to one of the carts in waiting, and from thence immediately taken to the bereaved homes. Those not identified were coffined, and " unknown" written in chalk on the coffin, which was immediately taken away to a storehouse, and from thence removed as soon as identified to their homes. Of course, many painful and distressing scenes have been witnessed to-day. The pit rows, on which are the cottages of the pit folk, are no great distance from the mine. Indeed, a view of the shaft can almost be commanded from the cottage doors. Upon the discovery of the bodies in the mine, the '• fountain of tears" had been nearly dried up. ' But to-day, as each poor wife began to put her house in order to receive home the remains of her lost husband, or a mother her child, the scene of misery in this bereaved community, cannot be described. And it is but fair to state, that while large crowds of persons have been assembled "round the pit all this day, but few led away by vulgar curiosity, have obtruded themselves upon the sorrows of those poor widows and fatherless children by wandering about the rows. It is expected that fully 100 bodies will be got out of the pit by midnight, and that the bodies of the larger portion of the lost men will be brought to bank. No stoppage has arisen through gas or " falls," or is likely to do so. The funerals will moat likely take place to-morrow afternoon. The place of interment is Earsdon, about five miles from here, the Duke of Northumberland having given a piece of land for the purpose. Mr. Holland, the inspector of graveyards, has been sent down here by the Government, and has arrived to-day, to see that proper sanitary requirements are attended to in their interment. The subscription to the fund for the permanent relief of the bereaved families is being liberally taken up by all classes. A large delegate meeting of miners and other trades has been held in Newcastle to-day. The double-shaft movement and other matters in connexion with mining affairs were discussed, and arrangements were made for united action to raise subscriptions for the bereaved.

New Hartley, Sunday, 10 p.m. The working parties, by working short shifts, succeeded in sending 199 corpses to bunk by five o'clock this-.morning, and they were coffined and forwarded to their homes as soon as brought up. These, with the live men killed in the shaft on tho day of the accident, are supposed to be the whole of tlio'sc who* were lost in the mine, as after different inquiries no.-more appear to missing. At eleven o'clock to-day the last of the sinkers came out of the pit. They have explored the workings of the mine as far .ns the staple, and find-that the water lias risen throe fathoms up the staple from the low main. Twenty thousand persons have.been congregated here today ; the larger portion of them were colliers, sonic of whom had travelled a longdistance. The scene in the pit rows this morning will never be forgotten. Almost every cottage contains a coffin with the remains of a lost one. Some have one, some flvo, and ono poor woman had no less than seven coffins piled up in her cottage, containing the remains of hoi1

husband, five sons, and a boy they had brought up and educated. The meeting of friends was deeply afflicting. The house's-of tho bereaved look; models of elfeaiiliness and order. The- coffins containing the remains were ■laid' upon the well-known pitmen's four-post bedsteads, with white coverlets over them. Long strings, of carts arrived at one o'clock, and when the cofflits were brought to the doors previous to; being lifted into them, tho Methodist hynin,"O God, our help in ages-past," was sung to mournful cadence, amid the''wailing of the widows and the sobs of the orphan children. The effect was weir nigh overpowering. The larger proportion of the interments (about 150) took place at Earsdon Church, in a piece of ground given by the Duke of Northumberland; and when the village streets/choked up with carts conveying dead and crowds of mourners following, were seen, the awful calamity was realised. Mr. Hugh Taylor, of Backworth, and other influential gentlemen, were present, to see that every decent respect was shown to the remains. The other bodies were interred at Horton ar.d Carmlington. The following letter, written to Mr. Carr, the headviewer of the colliery, by command of Her Majesty, was read by the incumbent of Earsdon at a large religious meeting, held on the pit healp to-day:— "Osborne, Jan. 23, 1862. "Sir, —The Queen, in the midst of her own overwhelming grief, has taken the deepest interest in the mournful accident at Hartley, and up to the last had hoped that at least a considerable number of the poor people might have been recovered alive. The appalling news since received has afflicted the Queen very much. Her Majesty commands me to say that her tenderest sympathy is with the poor widows and mothers, and that her own misery only makes her feel the more for them. Her Majesty hopes ihat everything will be done as far as possible to alleviate their distress, and Her Majesty-will have a sad satisfaction in assisting in such a measure. Pray let me know what is doing. I have the honour to be,,; . Your obedient servant, . :" G. B. Phipps." At the large meeting of pitmen's delegates, held in Newcastle yesterday, it was determined to petition parliament to appoint a special committee to inquire into the whole question of working mines. A telegraph announcement was received at Newcastle on Friday evening, stating that the subscription on the Stock Exchange amounted to £1000. A considerable amount had also been subscribed at Lloyd's and Mincing Lane.