11 DEAD IN MINE

Southland Times, Issue 23931, 25 September 1939, Page 6

11 DEAD IN MINE

DISASTER AT HUNTLY \ • MEN OVERCOME BY GASES I ONE RESCUER ALMOST EXHAUSTED (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, September 25. Fire which broke out this morning in the Glen Afton coal mine created deadly gases which caused the deaths of 11 men, all of them married, and plunged the Hufitly coal-mining district into the worst tragedy which had befallen it since 1914, when 41 men lost their lives in an explosion in the Huntly mine. The full list of those killed is as follows; — Christopher Blackburn, mine manager, aged 40. William Brown, undermanager, aged 40. William Wilcox, underviewer, aged 55. Richard Ireland, deputy, aged 60. Walter Cole, deputy, aged 45. Jack Marshall, acting deputy, aged 37. William Bell, electrician, aged 37. .Raymond Turley, electrician, aged 34. William Peden, miner, aged 50. George Hunter, shift man, aged 35. James Clark, shift man, aged 50. On Saturday morning during the daily inspection which is compulsory whether the mine is being worked or not a defect was discovered in the electrical system of the Glen Afton rnine. That section of the system was isolated from the rest and soon after eight o’clock this morning the two electricians, Bell and Turley, accompanied by the two deputies or section foremen, Cole and Ireland, walked down into the mine which is of the “walk in type. About an hour later Cole telephoned Blackburn and told him that he had detected the presence of carbon monoxide gas in large quantities. Blackburn at once went down to investigate and a few minutes later telephoned the engineer, D. Thomson, asking him to get the fans going. Thomson at once organized a party and within a few minutes Brown, Wilcox, Ireland, Peden, Hunter, Marshall and Clark had gone below the surface. • Two hours later Thomas himself went down with some refreshments for the men and he had not gone more than half a mile v.hen he suddenly felt himself affected by gas. He hastily retraced his steps to give the alarm. ALARM GIVEN Thomas staggered out at the head and. although only partly conscious, he was able to tell the miners standing near by of his fears for the safety of those who had gone down some hours before. Rescue parties from all the mines in the district were hastily organized. Soon after midday the first party went down from the Glen Afton ena, followed not long afterwards by another party from the MacDonald end. It was not until 3.30 p.m. that the first body was recovered. Watchers guarding the life line attached to one of the rescuers saw the miner’s light hundreds of feet below waver and fall to the ground. They hurriedly hauled on the line and brought up James Mitchell, who, although nearly overcome by the effects of the gas, had with almost superhuman effort, managed to cling to the body of Brown. It was not until four hours afterwards that the bodies of Blackburn, Clark, Cole and Hunter were brought up at the MacDonald end. Almost simultaneously the bodies of Peden and Wilcox were recovered from the Glen Afton end.

Prolonged efforts at resuscitation were fruitless. Determined efforts to find the bodies of the three others, Ireland, Bell and Turley, continued during the night without success. ANXIOUS WAITING Men and women waited in groups for hours in drizzling rain at the entrance to the mine through this afternoon and tonight hoping for word of those who had not beep seen since they went below this morning. Here and there mingling with the hundreds of miners and friends eager for news or anxious to help, the wives of members of the rescue parties stood talking in undertones. Grim-faced miners, their safety lamps winking in the darkness formed themselves into units prepared to face the gas-saturated inner tunnels below the ground. Every man was willing to help. Miners experienced in first-aid work stood ready and doctors were also in readiness. The doctors did good work.