The Birth Of A River

Northern Advocate, 2 September 1947, Page 2

The Birth Of A River

One miner offei-ed me his pick. The offer was accepted and the pick applied with gusto to the coal, gleaming in the light of the lamp. “By jove, this coal seems hard.” "Go on; that’s a soft piece you ai'e working.” Needless to say, the pick was handed back right away. The experiment was not a success. Back on the main roadway again, numerous pairs of miners were seen working in the black distance. Suddenly a young river seemed to spring into life. From one side it poured out on to the road, surging down and down further into the bowels of the earth. It came from the 100-yard barrier separating the Waro mine and the shaft to the west. Forty thousand gallons an hour. Going as far down the mine as possible, we followed the course of the rushing water until the flooded roadway made further progress impossible.

At this spot the roof had been crushed down to about four feet from the road. In places it had fallen down. It was neither necessary nor wise to tarry there, and steps were retraced. All around was freshly splintered wood, testifying to the enormous weight of the rock masses and the relentless pressure which pushed the roof down. ' Some of the beams, sandwiched between the tops of the props and the roof, were squashed flat. In many places the props had bitten inches into them. No man-made force could do such a thing. Accompanied now by the underviewer, who reigns below, I visited numerous groups of miners at their work. They were black, but cheerful. The under-viewer led the way through what seemed to be a labyrinth of workings from which most of the coal had been extracted. The main roads appeared to be in good order, but the branching roads, from which props and beams had been removed where possible, had mostly fallen in.