DREADFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5395, 3 March 1879, Page 3

DREADFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

s, HEART-RENDING SCENES. I.' THIRTY-THREE LIVES LOST. ? TWENTY WIDOWS AND ONE HUNDRED ORPHANS. J [FP.OM OUR OW.V CORRESPONDENT.] Dunedin, Feb. 21. Early this morning news reached town that , a dreadful explosion had occurred in the > Kaitangata coal mine, near Balclutha. . [per "herald" special -wire.] Dcnedix, Feb. 22. 5 The following is a full account from to» night's Star of the Kaitangata accident: — The Kaitangata Railway aud Coal Com* pany's mine, in which the terrible explosion I occurred, is located in a blind gully, about half-a-mile from the bend of the Molyneux , River. The mine has been worked about three aud a-half years. The affair has » caused a painful interest here, there being • scarcely one household in the township which has not lost a member or friend, and ' the lamentation is general. There is some doubt, even yet, as to the precise number killed, but the best informa- • tion to hand states that 33 men went into the mine yesterday morniug. The bodies of ; all those killed, excepting Archd. Hodge and ' Andrew Jarvis, have been recovered. The boy Dunn w as driving ahorse outof the tunnel, end when within 40 yards of the mouth . the blast caught him and hurled him forth with terrible force. He was picked up alive, straoge to say, although nearly every bone in his body was broken, and was carried to a siding, where he died in a few seconds. As soon as the news reached them yesterday, Mr. Samson and his brother, of Green Island, left for Kaitangata with a gang of about 30 men, and, assisted by volunteers from the neighbouring districts, these gentlemen aud their brave followers devoted their energies all night to the task of searching for the remains of the entrapped miners in the mine. They are armed with four Davy lamps, and this morning started to hunt about some of the more remote workings, a task involving so much danger from probable re-accumulation of tire-damp that no strangers are permitted to enter the miue. The cause of the explosion is and must necessarily remain a my&tery, not a single soul being left to explain it, but from the appearance and situation of the mine it would seem probable that an explosion of tiredamp took place somewhere about tbe centre of the miue, and that becomiug aware of the disaster, the coal-cutters hastily made for mouth, but were compelled to cross a belt of black damp, which caused them to drop down as if stupified with chloroform, aud then they were speedily suffocated by the pestilent vapour. Of course this is only a hypothesis, but it seems a feasible one, when it is considered that not one corpse was found in the place where the were working; that 13 bodies were found "within a radius of twelve yards, in a spot where no explosion had occurred, and that the majority of the corpses were not even blackened or mutilated in the slightest, but wear a peaceful appcaraucc, aud were only disfigured by mud and mullock, always to be found in workings of this nature: Some miraculous escape? are recorded by the men. Tiffen, our light-weight vrestler, was an employee, but was absent at the time ; a brother-in-law of Lockhart over-slept himself yesterday, or he would have been at work in the mine when theexplosion occurred. A house that stood within thirty yards of the mine mouth was driveu bodily off its foundaion several yards, and the end was shattered, and two horses were killed, but, stiange to relate, a man who was tipping the trucks immediately in front of the shed escaped with life. He was propelled like a shot from a gun before the blast, but was lucky euough to be forced under a shed, where he stuck, and was afterwards extricated without material injury. One corpse was fouud with a pipe in his mouth, and looking, in the ghastly glare of the safety lamp, quite natural and lifelike. "William Hodge, the manager, was, when discovered, reclining on a ledge of coal, with his hand supporting his head, and with his countenance peaceful, a3 though he had been overtaken while meditating about something. His brother Archie (not got out) is supposed to be at the place where the explosion occurred. Coulter and 1 Buchanan were relatives, and both arrived by the Taranaki, and only turned to work last Thursday. The brothers Hall came out, per Easterhill, still more rceeutly. While some of the corpses are little in- ' jured, others are hacked frightfully. Poor little Dunn has a hole right through his head —from temple to temple is shattered to pieces. The horse he was driving was ■ hurled off the drive along with him, but lingered on till late in the evening, when ' some merciful man knocked its brains out. James Spiers was picked up with a stick * embedded in his breast, and mangled other- J wise. Other men are badly disfigured, but ] on the whole, the sight of the corpses as they lay in the temporary dead-house was not so 1 revolting as might be imagined after such J awful treatment. 1 The following is a list of the dead: — ] Samuel, Coulter leaves five children, a boy of 1 13, able to work, and a girl iu Dunedin, ( about 12, all the rest are young ; he is an 1 aged man, and arrived lately from Scotlaud in tbe ship Taranaki. David Buchanan, \ about 27 years, leaves a wife aud two ] young children; he i 3 a eon-in-law of 5 Coulter, and is also a new arrival. Wil- ] liam Watson, about 40, leaves his father- 1 in-law, who is a very old man, and four children, the eldest of whom is about 1 0 years. James Spiers leaves eight children, < the eldest 10 years, and the youngest 4 t months. Andrew Jarvie leaves eight chil- 1 dren, three of whom are grown-up girls at t service. Archibald Hodge, deputy-manager, t unmarried. W. Hodge, bis brother, who I was general manager, was about 35, a single 1 man. Thomas Smith, between 30 and 40, * leaves a.wife and five children, the latter all < young and unable to work. Barney McGee, t married, about 40, leaves a wife, and three * children unable to work. John Gage leaves 1 a wife aud three young children. George £ Jervie leaves a wife and two young children, * R. and H. Ball, brothers. William Wbinney, 1 a young man, leaves a wife and two children. * J. Beardsmore leaves a large family, five of t whom are grown up and unmarried, and three of whom are little children. Joseph 1 Beardemore, brother of the former, was ' acting foreman of the mine; he leaves a ' i wife and a grown-up daughter, and two 1 sons, one of whom is grown up. Edward * Beardsmore, a young, married man, and sou 1 of Jaa. Beardsmore, leaves a wife and two children. Cabel Beardsmore, son-in-law of James Beardsmore, leaves a wife, three < young children, and an aged parent. Jas. < Beardsmore, jun, son of Jas. Beardsmore, a 3 T oung man, was unmarried. Jas. Malloy, an elderly man, and his two sous, John, aged IS, and Edward, aged 1G ; Mrs. Malloy, who is about GO, has thus lost her husband and sons, and has no relative in the colony. Jas. Cliniug, 25 years, leaves a wife and three children. Jno. CJark, late of Green laland, roadsmau in the mine, leaves a w.fe and large family. John Fergusson leaves a wife and five young children, the eldest about 7 years. Chas. McDonald, son of John McDonald, pony-driver, 14 years. Edward Dunn, son of G. Dunu, a hawker, 15 years. Win. S. Wilson, late of Green Islauri, and nephew of the Sampson of Green Island, leaves a wife and four children, all young. Win. Play, a young man, unmarried, no relatives in Kaitangata, has a sister and brother in the colony; married sister, Mm. Hardee, wife of a baker, late of Green Island. Robert McMillan, a young man, leaves a wife and four children, the eldest of whom is about six years. Mrs. McMillan's only relative in the colony is a brother at Green Island. Thomas Frew Middle, an aged man, leaves a wife and five children residing in Dunedin, two of them grown-up daughters. Thomas Black, an elderly mau, single, about 55 years, had no relative in the district. He once had a lease of a coal quarry at Lovell's Flat. Daniel Lockhart, unmarried ; James Norton, leaves a wife and child. The body of Spiers has siuce been recovered. This morning a dozen volunteers dug about 30 graves in rows in the cemetery. Each corpse is to be buried separately. A special train is to leave town at 5.45 a.m. to-morrow for Kaitangata and back, calling at Green Island, Milton, in time for the funeral of the victims of the catastrophe, which takes place at noon. • The miners are still working, without success, after the two missing bodies. The place it is suspected they are in has a small face, and only six men can work at a time in it. They relieve each other every hour or so. I am afraid it will be to-morrow before they are recovered. It is perhaps scarcely necessary to call the attention of the people of the colony to the urgent necessity for prompt pecuniary aid being rendered to the widows and orphans of the victims of the calamity. Nothing can

fully compensate for their loss, but practical sympathy with a misfortune such as theirs may be shewn by alleviating the physical sufferings which mast ensue in many Kaitangata families now the heads of households are gone. Twenty-five of the men were married, and they leave children to the number of about 100. lam assured there are that number left absolutely destit tnte. A ready-writer might easilj' draw a 1 graphic picture of tbe wide spread desolation in aud about Kaitangata, and of wives and little children lamenting, in pitiful tones, their irretrievable loss, but I do not apprehend that any such ad miserccordixm appeal is necessary, and trust some benevolent ' citizens will come forward with a feasible 1 proposition to relieve the wants of the sufferers by this great disaster. Directly on hearing of the sad accident at the Kaitangata coal mine, Mr. Quin, Secretarv of the Dunedin Benevolent Institution, telegraphed to the manager as follows:— ** Relieve by orders on storekeepers necessities of families indistress by yesterday's catastrophe." Balclutha, Feb. 22. TUB INQUEST OX THE BODIES. A jury of sixteen were empannellcd at the Bridge Hotel here, before Mr. E. C. Carew. Thirty-one bodies were identitled. The one not identified is supposed to be one of the Hills. There are two more bodies not yet recovered from the mine. The jury then adjourned till the 24th of February, at 11 a.m., the present proceedings being simply for identification. Each juryman was bound over in his own recognizances for £100, to be presentat the adjourned inquest. THE MIXERS OFF WORK. The following are the names of the remaining miners in the company's employ, and who were off work at the time ot the accident : —A. Barclay, W. Love, Edward Beardsmore, M. Hennessy, J. South, John Irving, C. Hunter, W. Coulter, W. Wilson, M. Henton, J. Niftin, Dan. Taylor, Elisha Beardsmore. THE RELIEF OF THE DESTITUTE. The directors have held a meeting, and appointed a committee to consider relief. The following telegram was received from the Springfield Coal Company, Canterbury : — ,c Directors of Springfield oiler their sympathy in sad accident that has occurred in the Kaitangata mine, and if a fund is being raised for the relief of the families of those who have perished, beg that they may be allowed to contribute £100 to that object.— (Signed) Ckacroft Wilson, Managing Director." Bank of New Zealand gave £100. CHRisTCHfRCH", Feb. 24. A special reporter, despatched by the Lyttdton Time-s to Kaitangata on the 22nd February, forwarded the following report concerning the accident :— "1 learned from the men at the pit's mouth that the Kaitangata K.iihvav and Coal Company had only been sucoeasiuliy at work about two years. But befi-re referring to the mine, 1 may brietly describe its position. Thcro are hills in the background bearing a striking resemblance to those about fleathcote Valley; to the right is the river, aud on the left Kaitangata Lake. Close to the foot of the hills nestles the township, which consists of about a hundred houses, all very neat in appearance, with a pretty Presbyterian Church, raiiway station, post and telegraph-cilice, aud a large hotel nearly completed. A little to the right is a broad gully, into which the railway extends, and hero, at some little eleVaticu, are clustered three coal mines. The lirst of these, which is worked by Messrs. J. Winter and Co., is on the shaft system. They only commenced to send out coal iu payable quantities about two months ago, their thaft running down to the depth of 400 feet. Just at the back of this, only about 50 yards away, is the entrance of the tunnel mine in which the accident occurred. The workings penetrate a distance of 45 yards in a direct line from the maiu drive. There are numerous branches light and kit. These have been subdivided by other drives to form a complete network of workings. They rise from the entrauce, there in good natural diaiuage, aud no pumping is neo-rs-sary. For ventilating the mine a furnace is used. Air enters at the mouth uf the main drive by doors placed here and there ; is id made to travel round the workings until it returns to a point comparatively near the entrance. There a furnace is placed, and a shaft penetrates the roof, and rises iu the form of a large wooden chimney above ground. It will be understood that the success and efficiency of the ventilating current depends on the doors across various parts of the workings which direct its course. Neces- ; sarily they have to be opened and shut 1 very frequently, since men and trucks are constantly moving about, and on every occasion there must be a certain amount of interference with due ventilation. In fact, some of the men tell me that the place has been fearfully cl«se, and that bad air affects them far more than work. Now that the fearful blow has come, they say more than they would probably have done before. They described to me how small explosions occurred from time to time in this mine, and how, a short time ago, one man was so badly burned that he was laid up for a month. The very evening before the accident two or the men say the dickering of the dreaded gas about them was plainly visible. Some say that the subject was often mentioned to the manager, and all spoken to are unanimous upon one point, which must be stated, however unkind it may appear, that the deputymanager never ought to have been allowed to go about the mine as he did. He was noted for his eccentric ways for poking &bout iu all parts of the workings, night and day. so far as one had seen, iuvatiably with a naked light. When the matter was mentioned sometimes to his brother William, the manager, he would reply that he could not keep the old fellow out. Here, then, upon the freely given testimony of miners, who naturally chat more at their ease when uufettered by the formality at an official enquiry, there was, to all intents and purposes, an inadequate system of ventilation. There was but one way in which the men could get in or out in case of accident—the main drive. Even if there were no damp, they would be entombed alive. There were disused workings which, . instead of being nailed up aud placarded, as iu English mines, or blocked up by more solid material, could be entered by anyone who chose to open the door. Through them tbe ventilation current did nit pass, ~jvl they became reservoirs for explosive gaa. There was a system of naked lights. The men have hooked to the front of their hats a simple tallow lamp. Filially, there was for deputy-manager a strangely ecceutric man, who in all human probability carried his flaring light into disused workings, aud n the act destroyed the township." Theyew Zealand GuzclU of the 12th Feb;, contains a list of those who have passed the Civil Servicc examination?, juuior and senior. Nelson heads the list in the former, having IS boys who passed the examinations Dunedin only having 3, Weliiugton 4, while Auckland has 10 and the Thames 3. We have published the list, but may repeat the Auckland names, with the sehools at which the youths were educated Robt. Lewis Skeen, educated Thames School, 4 years, Grammar School, Aucklaud, years ; George Thwaites, Mr. Brabazon's, years, Newton Academy, 5 years ; Claude Colebrook, Thames School, 3 years, Shellback School, 1 year, Mr. Mason's, G months, Newton Academj T , G months, Grammar School, 1 year; George Keailworth Seabrook, Mr. Brabazon's, 3 years, Grammar School, 3 years; Andrew Haana, Auckland College, G yea r s, Church of England Grammar School, 3 years; Henry Hewlrngs Jackson, College and Grammar School, 5 years; William John Wheeler, Mr. Bra* bazon's, 2 years, private school, 2 years; j Cyril ilolm Biss, College and Grammar School, 3 years; Reginald Clayton, Mrs. Glover's, 1 year, College and Grammar School, 4J years ; Hubeit Edward Green, Grammar School, Napier, 21 years, College aud Grammar School, Auckland, 1£ years. Those from the Thames who passed the junior examination are, Charles William Cropp, Parawai School, 2* years, Mr. Schofield's, 1 year, Kauwaeranga School, 9 months; John Henry Gillie?, Hastings SchooJ, 4 years, Thames Catholic Boys' School (Mr. O'Donoghue's), I yeir; Joseph Cullen, Catholic Boys' School, Onehunga (Mr. T. Honau'e) S years. R. B. Hudson, Barlow Newton School, 9 months, Tamaki Grammar School, G months, St. George's Grammar School, 2 years. Jn the senior examination following four Auckland youths passed successfully:—Robert Lewis Skeen, (who passed in first etas?, second class, and third class of merit, being the highest of three who passed in those classes) : Andrew Hanna, College and Grammar School, G years, Church of England Grammar School, 3 years ; John Israel Philips, educated at the High School, 2 years, College and Grammar School 3 yrars, Rev. 1\ Mason's evening classes years; Kees Esdaile Thomas, educated at the GrammarSchool, Napier, 3 years, College and Grammar School, Auckland (time not stated).