MINE DISASTER

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 253, 25 September 1939, Page 6

MINE DISASTER

ELEVEN LIVES LOST. GASES AT GLEN AFTON; Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Sept. 24. Firo which broke out this morning in the Glen Afton coal mine generated deadly gases which caused the deaths of 11 men, all of them married, and plunged the Huntly coalmining district into the worst tragedy which had befallen it since 1914 when 43 men lost their lives in an explosion in the Huntly mine. The full list of those killed is as follows: CHRISTOPHER BLACKBURN, mine manager, aged 40. WILLIAM BROWN, under-manager, aged 40. WILLIAM WILCOX, under viewer, aged 55. RICHARD IRELAND, deputy, aged 60. WALTER COLE, deputy, aged 45. JACK MARSHALL, acting-deputy, aged 37. WILLIAM BELL, electrician, aged 37. RAYMOND TURLEY, electrician, aged 34. WILLIAM PEDEN, miner, aged 50. GEORGE HUNTER, shift man, 35. •JAMES CLARK, shift man, aged 50. On Saturday morning, during the daily inspection which is compulsory whether the mine is being worked or not, a defect was discovered in the electrical system. of the Glen Afton mine. That section of the system was isolated from the rest and, shortly after 8 o’clock this morning, two electricians, Messrs Bell and Turley, accompanied by two deputies or section foremen, Messrs Cole and Ireland, walked down into the mine which, like the Macdonald Mine, is of the “walkin” type. About an hour later, Mr Cole telephoned Mr Blackburn and told him that lie had detected the presence of carbon monoxide gas in large quantities. Mr Blackburn at once, went down to investigate, and, a few minutes later, telephoned the engineer, iMr D. Thomson, asking him to get the fans going. Mr Thomson at once organised a party, and, within a few minutes, Messrs Brown, Wilcox, Ireland; Peden, Hunter, 'Marshall and Clark had gone below the surface. ALARM GIVEN. Two hours later, Mr Thomson himself went down with some refreshments for the men, and he had not gone more than half a mile when he suddenly felt himself affected by the gas. He hastily retraced his steps to give the alarm. Mr Thomson staggered out at the head and, although only partly conscious, he was able to tell the miners standing nearby of his fears for the safety of those who had gone down some hours before. . Rescue parties from all the mines in the district were hastily organised. Soon after mid-day the first party went down from the Glen Alton end, followed not long afterwards by another party from the Macdonald end. It was not until 3.30 p.m. that the first body was recovered. The watchers, guarding the lifeline attached to one of the rescuers saw a miner’s light hundreds of feet below waver and fall to the ground. They hurriedly hauled on the line and brought up Mr James Mitchell, wdio, although nearly overcome bv the effects of gas, had with an almost superhuman effort managed' to cling to the body of Mr Brown, it was not until four hours afterwards that the bodies of Messrs Blackburn, Clark, Cole and Hunter were brought up at the Macdonald end. Almost simultaneously the bodies of Messrs Peden and Wilcox were recovered from the Glen Afton end. . Prolonged efforts at resuscitation were fruitless. Determined attempts to find the bodies of the three others, Messrs Ireland, Bell and Turley, continued during the night without success. SCENE OF ANXIETY, Haggard men and women waited in groups for hours in drizzling rain at the entrance of the mine throughout this afternoon and to-night hoping for word of those who had not been seen since they went below this morning. Here and there mingling with hundreds of miners and friends eager for news or anxious to help, the wives of the members of the rescue parties stood talking in undertones. Grim-faced miners, their safety lamps winking in the darkness, formed themselves into units prepared to face the gas-saturated inner tunnels below ground. Every man was willing to help. The neighbours made quantities of. tea. Miners experienced in first-aid work stood ready, and doctors were also in readiness. The medical men did good work in endeavouring to resuscitate the victims.