TERRIBLE COLLIERY DISASTER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 124, 27 May 1893, Page 4

TERRIBLE COLLIERY DISASTER.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, April 11, the thrilling tidings came that the Great Western Colliery, in the Rbondda, some two miles above Pontypridd, Glanmorganshire, was on fire, and that all the men were below and unable Lo come out. There are about 1000 bread-winners, all told, employed at the said colliery, and the consternation the news produced in the town and the adjacent villages, where all the men reside, can be imagined. In a few minutes the only highway through the valley was thronged with women, children, and many men hurrying from all directions to the scene of the disaster, all in a terrible state of excitement. A tremendous fire was raging in the interior of tlie workings, in the Four foot Seam, about 500 yards below the surface, and 177 men were in the interior of the workings, beyond where the fire had originated. It was soon ascertained that tour men, named Charles Cavill and Philip Jones (both married), and two single men named Lewis Williams and William "Williiins natives of Upper Boat, but residing with their parents on Wood-road, Pontypridd, had been found in a dying condition near the fire, and that they had breathed their last soon after they were brought to the pit bank. A FIGHT FOR LIFE. About half-past six o'clock the news reached the surface that 72 men, under theleadershipof Thomas Rosser, 23, a most intelligent young fireman, had reached the bottom of the shaft, having literally fought their way through fire a distance of between 400 and 500 yards, and presently, to the intense joy of the thousands assembled about the grounds and the highway the 72, with young Rosser at their head, came to the light of day, being brought to bank in batches by the cage. All of them had been during three hours battling with the deadly fumes and unable to leave the shelters which young Rosser, •with rare presence of mind and resourcefulness, had promptly provided them. The poor fellows, when they came to bank, bore evidence of the intense sufferings they had endured, and their eyes were bloodshot from the effecta of the smoke in the midst of which, as in a chimney, they had spent three mortal hours. Some of them told the writer earnestly that " had it not been for '1 homas Rosser we would have all been dead this minute I " CAUSE OF TIIE DISASTER. The disaster was, it seems, caused by fire. An engine in the 4-ft seam where 200 men were employed, emitted some sparks, which fell on some cotton-waste and other inflammable matter, with the result that that part of the workings took fire. The fumes and smoke drove the ■workmen from their stalls and to the landing. Several, however, fell suffocated, but ihose who succeeded iv reaching the landing were quickly brought to bank. One man named 'J'ydley mised his footing and fell headlong down a pit, a distance of 490 feet, and was of course instantly killed. The first rescue party, headed by William Jones, surveyor of the pit, entered the up-cast shaft, but as soon as they , arrived at the landing they were driven back by tho dense smoke. They soon renewed the attempt, however, and managed to penetrate ten yards into the workings, where they found the bodies of four men : — Phillip Jones, married ; John Cavill, married; and Lewis Williams and William Williams, brothers, both single. The difficulty of subduing the fire in the workings was extraordinary. The timber work of the roof and sides seems to have been licked by the flames in such a way as to form a tunnel of fire 25 yards long. Large falls occurred, which seriously handicapped the rescuers, who also had to contend with the scorchingheat, and the suffocating stench of smoke and steam. In order to prevent the spread of the fire, the officials determined to reduce the speed of the fan-engine to one-half the usual power. This had the desired effect of decreasing the flames, but the gascn the other hand accumulated to such an extent as to cause a cap half-an-inch in depth upon the flame of the safety-lamp. After continuous and painstaking effort, the firemen obtained the mastery, and at 10 a.m. on Wednesday the flames were practically extinguished. There was, however, a large quantity of debris remaining, which emitted sickening vapours and a terrible heat, which it was feared would cause the death of the entombed men. HEROIC WORK BY RESCUERS. While anticipations of this kind were being discussed on the surface, a small band of explorers, led by Mr Stewart Treharris, Mr Bramwell (the manager of the Great Western Pit), and others, wended their way by a tortuous route in the direction in which the entombed men were supposed to be. The task of the explorers almost cost them their lives. for it was with thu greatest difficulty that they were enabled to ■work their way back to the bottom of tho shaft. When they arrived, they stated that some two doors in the road which they had travelled indicated to them the probability that David Davies. the fireman, who was in charge of the imprisoned men, had been able to collect his worker.- together, and had diverted the air, and so in all probability i'or the time being at least saved their lives. In order to diminish the intense heat in the workings, the ground and smoultering embers were saturated by water. The discovery of only one dead body and three dead horses tended to confirm the theory of th - explorers that the main body of men had eluded the fire and foul air, but so great was the heat that for a considerable time it was found impossible to traverse the road where the fire had been extinguished. AJ.I. IIOI'K Al:.\Nl'"Nl*:i*. But the hope which sustained the gallant band of men engaged in the rescue work, and the families of the unfortunate miners entombed therein, disappeared at one o'clock on Thursday morniug. Then the three exploring parties working on parallel lines to a common point, had the .sameghastly tale to tell. Instead of theli ving beings whom they bad hoped to greet, they came upon the bodies merely, from which the vital spark had long tied. Ik-fore two o'clock the heartrending news had reached the surface that no fewer than oil bodies had been found and not a single living man. This was the message which the hundreds who -had foregathered around the pit's mouth had dreaded to receive. It sounded the knell to all hopes of a successful re-ojue ; it intimated that the ouly question left open to doubt wa.- n* to

the actual number of victims which whicli had fallen to a cause so trivial iv its origin, bo terribly destructive in its ultimate results. The death-roll will probably contain more than 100 names. Eleven men and boys were found huddled behind a ' door iv the main thoroughfare. Many others were lound in scattered groups along the return airways. All had died of suffocation, the doctors said. Mr Beith. the well-known contractor, at six o'clock in the evening came upon the dead body of a youth lying in the thick dust by the side of tlie roadway in the space between the two engines. He seemed as if he had fallen when running before the storm, and been overwhelmed in it.

Some idea of the terrible heat which prevailed in the colliery may be gathered from the fact that one body which was brought up, although found some distance from the scene of the lire, was partially consumed. The features have disappeared, and the ficsh is so scorched that some of the bones are visible. Mistakes have not unnaturally taken place in the process of identification, and it is said that one man, finding his name posted among the list of dead inside the mortuary, removed the name himself. Mr Joseph Wetherhead, the chairman of the directors, informed a representative that relief measures were being organised for the sufferers, and that the company itself would contribute £500 towards the fund, and in all probability each of the directors will give £100. Circulars will be issued to the shareholders asking whether they were inclined to contribute towards the fund. Mr Wetherhead proposes to proceed to London to endeavour to induce the Lord Mayor to open a Mansion House fund.