TRAPPED IN MINE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19502, 4 December 1926, Page 10

TRAPPED IN MINE.

WEST COAST TRAGEDY.j ■ EIGHT MEN USE LIVES. TWO VIOLENT EXPLOSIONS. EFFORTS AT RESCUE FAIL. TRAGIC SCENES AT MOUTH. WORKINGS TO BE FLOODED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER. ] GREYMOUTH. Friday. The most serious coal-mining tragedy which has happened on the West Coast since the Brunner disaster on March 26, 1896, occurred at the Dobson mine at about 3.15 o'clock this morning, when two terrific explosions took place, trapping underground] nine of the nightshift men. One man was killed instantaneously, two died shortly afterwards, and Eric Ashton, the only survivor, lies in a critical condition in the Grey Hospital. Ihe remaining five men 1 who were working in the dip section weire entombed in the burning mine and all hope of their" rescue has been abandoned. The names of the victims are James Richards, deputy, of Taylorville, single. Robert Hunter, winchman, of Dobson, single. John Lindsay, miner, of Dobson, single. Thomas Black, miner, married. James Marshall, miner, married. Ernest Brammer, miner, married. Alfred Noakes, miner, marrried. Edward Pardington, miner, single. The terrific force of the explosions hurled a 20-ton block of concrete several yards away from its position at the mine entrance, depositing it on top of the rails on which the trucks run into the mine. An iron mine-truck was whirled through i the air for a distance of over • a quarter of a mile, smashing the telegraph lines in its flight. The body of the truck was deposited alongside the railway line, while two pairs of bogey wheels lauded on the Greymouth side of the Dobson memorial stone. Another heavy pair of bogey-wheels was deposited on the roadside adjacent to the Dobson Hotel. ; Great Damage to Houses. The overhead tramway, which conveys the tracks to and from the bins, was partially wrecked, the roof -being torn off and sheets of iron hurled in all directions Windows were shattered in residences and shops, while flying pieces of iron,penetrated roofs some distance away. Sides Of houses were shattered and a chimney was knocked down by ihe force of the explosion, which in many cases tossed persons from their beds on to the floors. The windows in N the Dobson power house and bath house were shattered, while thick black dust .covered everything, and the fumes were noticeable at a considerable distance. The blast from the explosion also shot out from the air drive, located round a kpur of the hill where the fan house is situated, and debris was plentiful there also, while the scrub on tlie hillside was burned and blackened for many yards around. , Rescue Party's Tragic Discovery. The noise of the upheaval was distinctly heard at Greymouth and Rauanga. The rescue party found the four men, Richards, Hunter, Lindsay, and Ashton, 'at the cabin about two chains from the bottom of the main haulage road, which is. about 1300 ft. in Leugth, with a slight grade. .Lindsay, xiuni-er auu Richards „oio iixoiuo uiio caoin, wmcn contains tne electric switch. They were blackened and burned almost beyond recognition. Ashton was, standing up in a semi-con-scious condition, and kept repeating "I'm cold." He was terribly burned. The rescuers were headed by Mr. J. Hughes, mine manager, and included Messrs. Jack Smeaton, B. Watkins, T. Allen, A. Hill, A. Edwards, J, Bell, Bullock Bell, Hanlon, Cosgrove, Tait, Glen, Daiido, Creach, and F. Williams (Mayor of Brunner). Communication was maintained by means of ropes. Bodies Brought to Surface. It was considered that the' explosion originated in the lower dip level and that the entombed men at the time of the explosion would probably be sitting in the main drive at crib time, whore the air would be fresher. If they were not instantly killed by the blast they would probably be asphyxiated by the fumes or crushed by a fall of the roof. Soon after five o'clock the body of Richards was brought to the surface, followed closely by the other three men. The bath house was converted into a temporary hospital, the sliretchers being laid across planks. It was a pathetic Eicene at the mine mouth where a group of weeping women and • grim-faced men watched the rescuers emerge with their motionless burdens. Aiding the Sufferers. Dr. Violet Rains had been summoned and, assisted by her sister, Miss Rams, and Mrs. Chettwynd, of Dobson, she did splendid work for the sufferers. Dr. J. W. Mcßrearty, of Greymouth, arrived shortly afterwards. Nothing could be done for Richards, arid Hunter died a few minutes after sis o'clock. On the arrival of the ambulance from Greymouth Ashton and Lindsay were removed to the hospital in a critical condition. Three members of the night, or dog watch, shift, Jack Smeaton, Tom Mimmo and W. Chetwvndi had a miraculous escape from death. They were employed in transporting raiils from the mine entrance to the bottom of the dip, and just at crib time were at the surface. They accordingly decided to have it in the open air instead of joining their comrades in the mine. • Before they again descended the explosion occurred. The enginednver, Mr. A. Robertson, was the only other man op duty at the surface at the , time. Mr.' Smeaton is president of the Grey. Valley Miners' Union. Frightful Risk Taken. At about. six o'clock the fan was reversed with the object of trying to clear the dip of fiames and the spectators were warned to keep away > as another explosion was passible Fortunately this did not occur and preparations were made for another, [party to d.Eiscc-nd tn charge of Mr. O. J. D'avis, the .tiewly-appointed inspector of mines who this week succeeded •:

Mr. C. J. Strongpian in that position. The party, which included a number of the original band of rescuers, took a frightful risk in entering the mine, but were nothing daunted by it when their comrades were still there. Before trucks could be used it was necessary to Isy temporary rails across the mass of concrete that had been dislodged at the entrance. After an absence of about half an hour the gallant rescue party returned to th' surface, having been driven back by fire and fumes. Plenty of r volunteer helpers were available, but it was found that any further attempt at rescue would be futile. After a conference of the various mine managers, including Messrs. G. Hughes (Dobson), I. A. James (superintendent State mines), King (State mines) W. Parsonage (Blackball), A. O'Donnell (Roa), T. Whittlestone (Wallsend), with the inspector of mines, Mr. 0. J. Davis, and Messrs. W. Balderstone and J. Smeaton, of the executive of the Miners' Council, it was decided owing to the conditions revealed when ventilation was restored that it would be unwise to make any further attempts in the meantime to recover the bodies, the unanimous opinion being that the risk was too great and that the entombed men would be dead. It was, therefore, decided to seal up the mine with temporary clay stoppings, to be followed with more permanent stoppings, with a view to extinguishing the fire. A further sensational explosion occurred at 2.5 o'clock this afternoon which blew out the stoppings placed ,at both entrances- to the mine and caused further destruction to buildings in the direct line of the mine mouth. Fortunately barricades had been erected to keep spectators from getting near the mine entrance, otherwise further serious consequences would probably have resulted. A police guard has been stationed near the entrance to the mine since early this morning. * ■ After the explosion this afternoon a further conference was held when it was decided that the only effective method of dealing with the fire was to flood the mine. Pumping apparatus for this purpose will be railed to Dobson. DETAILS OF THE VICTIMS. SEVERAL MARRIED MEN. SOME UNFORTUNATE FAMILIES. I [BY TELEGB-APH.-—special reporter.] GREYMOUTH. Friday. The one survivor of the mining tragedy, Eric Ashton, was formerly of Ashburton. He is about 26 years of age and unmarried. James Richards,, the deputy, who was dead when the rescue party reached him, resided with shis mother in Taylorville. His father and uncle lost their lives in ,tho Bninner mine disaster and two of his brothers were killed in the war. Hunter, who was brought out in a hopeless condition, died shortly after six j o'clock this morning. He was about 21 years of age and. had been employed. for j about 12 months at Dobson, arriving there from Huntly. He was a prominent'worker in Methodist Church circles. John Lindsay succumbed to his injuries at the Grey Hospital at 10.30 o'clock this morning. He'was a native of Scotland, and 38 years of age. Thomas Black was a recent arrival, from Scotland. He leaves a wife and family of three children. His wife is still an inmate of the nursing home in Greymouth, twins' having been born a few days ago, Mrs. Black, prior to her marriage,, was Miss Ford. Her father lost his 'life in the Dobson mine some months ago. ' Noakes was married, -but had no family. He was a native of Australia and about 40 years of age. Before coming to Dobson Noakes had residecj in Reefton. Ernest Brammer was married and a native of Lancashire, England. He was about 42 years of age. He leaves no • * .Edward Pardington 'was -aboat. years of age. He was a native of Lancashire"" and single. He came to tho West Coist from Huntly and formerly worked at the State Mines, Dunollie. James Marshal] was a native of Scotland. He was married with two childj ran.. , He visited Greymouth last evening . and won the euphonium solo at the competition held in the Town Hall. Ho was allowed to give his selection early in the evening, so that he could roach Dobson in time to go into the mine with the ill-iated shift. Ho was also a prominent worker in Methodist Church circles at Dobson. , STATEMENT BY COMPANY. RECENT INSPECT lON MADE. NO DEFECTS REPORTED. fBY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CHBISTCHIJRCH, Friday. On receipt of the news of the mining tragedy a meeting of the local directors of the Grey Valley Collieries, Limited, was held in Christchureh and tho followj ing statement was issued by the secretary: — " The present directorate of the company is as follows: Mesisrs., F. R. Hogarth, chairman (Wellington), R,, B Bell (Timaru), J. Catchpole (Auckland), Maurice Davis (C-hristclhurch), J. M A. Ilott' (Wellington), S. Kirkcaldie (Wellington) and Allan Smith (Greymouth). The secretary is Mr William Anderson (Christchureh) and the manager Mr Walter Leitch. Mr. Leitch has been indisposed for the last month and is at present at Rotorua od sick leave Mr. J. A. Hughes is the mine manager " The mine was inspected a fortnight ago by the Chief Inspector of Mines, Mr J. A. 0. Bayne, and the local inspectors, no defects being reported to the directorate. The directors havo no idea whatever as to how the explosion could have occurred or as to any con tingent factors. The news has come as a very great shock to them. " The Greymouth director, Mr. Allan Smith, has been at the mine since the receipt of the oews at Greymouth in the small hours of this mornsng Mr Catch pole, who represents the Auckland share holders on the directorate and is at present on a visit to Christchureh, is leaving for the mine immediately " Messrs. Catchpole, Bell and Davis,, who f were in Christchureh this morning, expressed in feelinp; terms the sympathy of the board of directors with the relatives of the deceased and entombed men and everything possible in the circumstances is being done for the survivors by the resident director and the mjjje manager.