The New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1910. THE LANCASHIRE COLLIERY DISASTER

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7319, 24 December 1910, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1910. THE LANCASHIRE COLLIERY DISASTER

A ; ■colliery explosion is at any time a. terrible disaster, but when such a catastrophe happens, as in the case reported from Bolton, on the very verge of a season of general holiday maiding, a season above all seasons when peace and happiness should reign in every home, it becomes tinged by greater pathos. No specially vivid imagination is required for conjuring tb© soeno which occurred in the neighbourhood of tho Pretoria colliery when, with awful suddenness, tho fateful sound of the explosion was heard. We. can all too easily picture the dismay and horror which at a moment’s notice swept through the long rows of smoke-stained cottages where the industrious Lancashire wives and mothers were, most of them, no doubt, preparing for the Christmas which many of the husbands and eons would never see. The roan of the explosion; the great pillar of flame ascending from the shaft; the rush to the pit mouth of hundreds of fearstricken women; the ghastly horror of the uncertainty with which ■ news of the imprisoned dear ones would be awaited; the pathetically patient waiting for the report of the gallant rescuers who, with the courage of that warmhearted race of North Country workers, lost no time in penetrating into tho workings; tho bringing forth of , the bodies; tie dreadful task of identification ail these are mental snap-shots which onr readers may make for themselves. while their hearts are full of sympathy for the sorrow-laden relatives of those whom death struck down with such tragic suddenness. A latter, sad Christmas-tide this will be for the wives and children of the poor fellow who had

gone to their doom in the darkness of that underworld where they toiled' and moiled. "Women and girls kept a vigil at the pit-head.” So runs on© of the cablegrams dealing with the disaster, and in that one sentence is a whole world of tragedy. Husbands and lovers had gone to their work, leaving wives and sweethearts counting the hours which were yet to pass ere work should ooaso for a few days aud the full delight of family reunion and family merrymaking replace the drab monotony of the daily round of work and duty. In an instant the vision of happiness vanishes for over, to be replaced by scenes of such truly heartrending suffering and distress as must move the stoniest hearted to sincere commiseration. Specially deplorable is tho fact that so many of the bodies are horribly mutilated and that it may bo some time before the whole of the corpses are recovered from the mine. As to the exact cause of the disaster, this, for the present at least, is wrapped in mystery. To all appearance and in the opinion of experts, this particular colliery was one of the best equipped and safest in Lancashire. In view of what has happened, it Is good to learn that at. least no selfish .cheeseparing in the working of the mine can be held re* sponsible for the catastrophe, for hydraulic machinery had been specially introduced in order to obviate the risk with which tho use of explosives would have been attended. Neither electricity nor shots of 'any kind were, it would seem, employed in the mine, and at present the only tenable theory by which the explosion can be accounted for is either that a lamp had proved defective or some poor, careless wretch condemned himself and so many of his fellow workers to death by striking a match. In all probability the true cause of !th© disaster will never come to light, despite tho searching investigation. 'which, as is tho rule in such cases, will bo conducted by tho Board of Trade experts. AH that can bo done for tho present is to lighten, the blow to the bereaved wives and families of the dead men by a generous and prompt benevolence. Already a relief fund has been opened and the public response to the appe&l is certain to be liberal. In the dark days through which these bereaved . Lancashire women and children are passing they have, w© feel confident, the most heartfelt sympathy of all New Zealanders.