THE DOBSON DISASTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19965, 6 December 1926, Page 10

THE DOBSON DISASTER.

DEATH OF SOLE SURVIVOR. FLOODING THE MINE. PUMPS IN OPERATION. funerTal of the victims. (Special to ailt Times.) CREYMOUTH, December 5. The death of Eric Ashton, the last of the nine victims of the tragic disaster which overtook the Dobson mine on Friday morning, occurred at the Grey Hospital yesterday afternoon, thus severing the last link of human evidence which might have helped to discover the causa of the tragedy. A SCENE OF GLOOM. In contrast to the noise of the motor traffic along the road from Greymouth to Dobson, visitors are struck by the strange stillness that overshadows the erstwhile busy mining township. Along the road yesterday groups of men watched the preparations that were being made to flood the mine, speaking in subdued tones of their ill-fated workmates, five of whom were never brought out of the mine and are now lying under the pcaceful-looking verdure-clad hills which they entered on Thursday night in the full vigour of their health and strength. The strained faces of women and children tell their own tale of nerves shattered by the disaster and the succeeding explosions. FRIDAY NIGHT’S EXPLOSION. Another explosion terrified the Dobson residents at about 0 o’clock on Friday evening, when four miners, named Andrew Alindores, Jack Armstrong, Dave MTvor, and Albert Hill, had a narrow escape from death. The men were engaged in the work of resealing the main entrance to the mine, the clay stoppings having been blown out by the previous blast which occurred during the afternoon. Alindores, when interviewed by a reporter, gave a vivid description of the fourth explosion. “We had been instructed by the manager,” he said, "to keep out of the line of danger as much as we possibly could, and, after finishing the sealing operations on the sides) we had made a start on the front of the tunnel. I heard the mine rumbling," he continued, “and cried out a warning to my mates. There was no other way of escape but to clamber up on to tae bank. When I got on top I helped to pull my mates up, and we lay stretched on the ground. The explosion forced the roof of the tunnel out, dislodging tons of rock. One huge rock in its descent crashed into the ground between myself and MTvor, who were lying»close together, just missing our bodies by inches.” The transmission wires supplying electricity to the mine were smashed, and rocks and stone hurtled through the air, causing further serious damage to houses. A stone crashed through the roof of Mr Roberts’s house into a bedroom and landed close to a cot in which a little child was sleeping. Another big rock penetrated the roof of Mr Alindores’s house and went through the ceiling of the sitting room. A rock weighing about 1501 b was deposited on the road near the hotel, about a quarter of a mile away. Strange to say, the clay stoppings at the mouth of the mine resisted the force of the explosion. All the remaining windows of the lamp room and bathroom were shattered. BARRICADES ERECTED. Extra precautions have been taken to safeguard the public from further explosions. The road leading to the mouth of the mine has been barricaded off about a chain distant from the main Grey road, and patrolmen are guarding both the main entrance and the air drive. Billows of black smoke were issuing from the fan house and air drive yesterday, whilst the atmosphere was vitiated with fumes from the burning mine.' As the result of the dislocation of the electric power lines the work of flooding the mine was considerably delayed. Repairs to the transmission wires were effected yesterday afternoon by the Power Boarcl’s staff. PUMPING OPERATIONS. , The preliminary work in connection with tne flooding of the mine was carried out. under the direction of Messrs George Miller, chief engineer of the State mines, and Gordon M ‘Kay, of the National Electrical Engineering Company. The work was accomplished at great personal risk. Blinding smoke issued from the mouth of the air drive whilst the pipes were being connected from the river to convey the water for flooding the mine. The electric pump •vhich has been lent by the New River Dredging Company (Ltd.) has been erected on the banks of the Grey River, directly opposite the air drive which enters the mine from the main Grey road. At 4.15 p.m yesterday pumping operations were commenced, the water being lifted into the mine at the rate of 25,000 gallons per hour. The water is being pumped from the Grey River to tire mine through a double line of piper. A larger pump is being erected to-day, which it is expected will be in action _ this evening. With two pumps in operation it is expected to have the mine flooded in about four days. SLIGHT EXPLOSIONS. At one o’clock this morning another slight explosion occurred. This was followed by two more at 6 o’clock. These were accompanied by loud reports, which could be heard for a considerable distance, while low rumbling sounds resembling a thunderstorm emanated from the mine between 6 o’clock and 7 o’clock. No further damage resulted. HELP FOR RELATIVES. The chairman of directors of the company, Mr F. Hogarth, of Wellington, and the Auckland representative of the directorate, who arrived in Greymouth by yesterday’s express, visited Dobson this morning. They were accompanied by Mr Allan Smith, the resident director. Since the disaster everything possible for the relatives of the ill-fated miners has been done by Messrs Smith and G. Hughes (the mine manager). Billows of thick black smoke and nauseous gas fumes were still coming from the air drive and fan house this evening. A report from the mine this afternoon stated that 40,000 gallons of water per hour was being pumped into the mine. This amount will probably be doubled as soon as the extra pump is installed. THEORIES AS TO CAUSE. Of the many theories advanced as to the cause of the explosion the one most accepted is that it had its origin in a defect in the electric installation. The Dobson mine, like other mines on the Brunner field, is described by miners as a gasometer. The miners allege that when cutting and preparatory to tiring shots in the Dobson mine the sound of gas hissing can be heard like a steam engine. A reporter was told by several of the miners that it was quite a common thing for men to become dizzy and sick in the mine through gas fumes. When affected this way the usual course was to rush to the mouth of the drive for fresh air, which quickly restored them. Another old minor on the Brunner field stated that prior to the Brunner disaster over 30 years ago a common practice of Tie miners was to flick the gas away with their coats before entering the working places. Ho expressed the opinion that the miners on the Brunner field required extra ventilation shafts on account of their gaseous nature. An inquest concerning the disaster will be formally opened by the coroner, Mr W. Meldruni, S.M., at noon to-morrow (Mon- ' day). FUNERAL OF VICTIMS. The funeral of Robert Hunter, James Richards, John Lindsay, and Eric Ashton, four of the victims of the explosion, took place at Karoro this afternoon. The i moral was one of the largest seen on the .Vest Coast, a gathering of over 3000 persons, representing the whole of the district, ociiig present. Special trains ran from Runanga and Brunner to Karoro, picking up passengers at all the stations en route. On the arrival of the trains at Karoro a procession headed by the combined Greymouth Municipal and Runanga bands was formed. At the cemetery the bodies of Hunter, Lindsay, and Ashton were laid to rest in three graves side by side, while the remains of Richards were lowered into a grave some distance away. During the service the “Dead March’’ and the hymn “Nearer, My God, To Thee,” were played by the combined bands, whilst added solemnity was lent to the proceedings by the dirge-like sound of the waves of the Tasman Sea as they lapped the beach adjacent to the cemetery. The services at

the gravesides were conducted by Archdeacon Carr, the Rev. L. Collins, the Rev. J. F. Martin, and Ensign Frieberg, Richards and Lindsay were members of the Masonic fraternity, the Masonic burial service being read by Bro. H. Hart, of the Advance Masonic Lodge, Brunner. Following the burial ceremony, numerous wreaths and floral tributes were laid on the graves. References to the tragedy were made at the various churches throughout the West Coast to-day. GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S MESSAGE. CONDOLENCE WITH FAMILIES. (Per United Pbess Association.) WELLINGTON, December 4. The Acting Prime Minister received from his Excellency the Governor-General a message asking him to convey to the families of those who lost their lives in the Dobson disaster the heartfelt sympathy of her Excellency and himself in their loss. SYMPATHY FROM ST. HILDA. The following telegram has been despatched by the Mayor of St. Hilda (Mr R. W. Hall) ;—“My council joins with me in extending heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved relatives of those who lost their lives in the Dobson mine. Forwarding donation.” Mr Job Hughes, the mine manager at the Dobson colliery, where the explosion occurred, was until a few months ago the mine manager at Shag Point, in Otago, lie subsequently went to Southland, and quite recently took up duty at Dobson.