COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

Colonist, Volume LVI, Issue 13573, 14 September 1914, Page 4

COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

BALPH'S MINK, HUNTLY

SERIOUS LOSS OF LIFE

DETAILS OF DISASTER

[United FKEflg Association.]

Hamilton, Sept. 12. c A terrible explosion occurred at , Ralph's mine, Huntly, at 7.30 tlfis f morning. The town shook like an s earthquake when the explosion occur- jf red, and the atmosphere'became dense j | with smoke. Fortunately to-day was £ an off-day at the mine. Tho regular \ miners, therefore, were off duty, and mainly trackers aud general hands Avere employed below in cleaning and r straightening up the tunnels. The first j indication that something was wrong j | was the unusual rumbling sound be- j neath, which was followed almost im r \ mediately by a terrific explosion. , Flames and smoke belched forth from \ the mouth, of the pit, and soon tho , town was enveloped in amoko. Tho ) shock of the explosion blew the cage , resting at the bottom of the shaft to ,' the top, while it smashed the galva.u- , ised iron * sheds, and threw them "all [ over the workings in the vicinit.y of the pit mouth. The blowing out of the cage did not damage the winding gear at the poppet head, consequently the cage on tho surface descended as tho one from below ascended. Tlie men worked below with naked acetylene lights, the mine, which was examined two years ago, having been declared one of the safest in the Dominion. The whole of the townspeople gathered at tho west end of the pit, where there were maay pitiful scenes. Women who had their' husbands, sons, or brothers trapped in the burning mine stood weeping around, while sympathetic neighbours strove to pacify them. Business was at a standstill, and the whole town was cast in gloom. Some of the me-n have been rescued, the dead bodies of some havo been recovered, and other men :ire eutom'bed. THE ENTOMBED MEN. Huntly, Sept. 12. It is impossible to get a full list of the names of the men entombed, as the deputies are below with the lists A list of the entombed mo, as gathered from comrades on the surface, is as follows: —"W. Gorans (deputy mine manager), James Darby, John Whorskey, Wm. Smith, H. Peckk.m, sen., John Skellern (deputies), Will- nn Burfc./ W. Brocklehurst, D. T^yons, ..- Holden, J. Greener, S. Jackson, W. Hinches (shiftmen), IT. Hurt, W. ft!'• :.chell, J. Martin, J. Bowler (truckers), W. Brocklehurst, jun., W. May!:ind, jim., J. Jackson (clippers), W. Kelly, R. Paterson (contractors), T. I\ olesworth, T. Taylor, S. Berry (winch; >en), W. Alsen'('machine, driver), J. kixele, D. Patterson, R. Ransome, W. J. Jones (roadmen), W. Blinkinsop (shooter), J. Thompson (horse-driver), J. Gilbert (filler). The last-namod is doubtful. LIST OF DEAD. Huntly, Sept. 13. The following is a list of the dead, whose bodies have been recovered: — John Whorskey, deputy, 36 years;* married. Samuel Jackson, shiftman, 54; married. John Robinson, 37, shiftman; married. William Hinchos, 30, shiftman; married. William Henry Peckham, sen., 15, aepttty; married.. James Darby, 58. William Kelly, 37, contractor. John Stcele, 40, roadman. William Paterson, 38. James Holden, 58, deputy; married. John C. Skellern, 38, deputy; married. . Da-id Patterson, roadman ; widower. William Burt, 26, shiftman; married. Hutchmson Burt, 19, trucker ; single. ; Jacob William Thompson. 18, horsedriver; single. , William Slavin, 18: single. Robert Munsey, 68; single. ' D Lyons, shiftman-; single. ' Alexander Izatt died in the Waikato I Hospital on Saturday night. A RESCUER'S NARRATIVE. Huntly, Sept. 13. 3 Arthur Alderdyco, who had been 1 working in the Huntly mines for the past four months, stated that prior to tho main explosion there was a rumb- - ling sound which was heard throughout i: the town. / A tew seconds afterwards - a terrific explosion shook tiie wholo . place. He was in. the at the ' time, and his first impression was that 5 one of the boilers had burst. Almost . instantaneously there camo from the - shaft a huge mass of flame and smoke, ' which rose'to a height of 70 or 80 feet. > The force of the blast knocked to the • ground the- majority of the men who - were in the vicinity of the pit's mouth. t' Corrugated iron buildings were blown - away in all directions for several yards. - A cage was thrust up to the poppet , head,'" where it remained _in eonse- > quence of tho safety clips acting on the ' wooden guides. 'Another cag»? do- ; scneded to the bottom of the workings, - some 130 or 150 feet. There were 40 >of 50 men absent at the time. The • next thing was tho appearance of the - cage with'four men, who hauled themselves to ' the surface, two remaining below to sive the signal to haul others ? up. The sight, says Mr Aldordyce, war, f bickenino;. one of "the four men being - terribly burned and almost beyond recognition, while, the sufferings of all of them must havo been terrible. The - manager (Mr Fletcher) was on tlie scone with commendable promptness, and, in company uith Mr Woods (mana--5 ger of th<> Emended mine), they de- > scended tho shaft to render every posb siblo assistance. The pumps were all ? got going with a view of clearing the •■ atmosphere and freeing the workings of gas. Only one cage was now in operation by means of which' they were ) lowered to the bottom. They soon re- ' turned to the surface with the two ' other men, Izatt and Pccknam. me 3 latter is the. son of the deputy roana- ' o-er. Both of the rescued men were I badly burned, especially Izatt. EXPERIENCES OF SURVIVORS. [ Huntly, Sept. 13. J kxi idea of the experiences of the ' eleven, men who escapeu may be gathered from the personal story or J. Richards, trucks, whe.was in .No. b wnrkin"- "Mv mate Wilkio and 1, he? SaM," "had iust crossed the new rope •oacl bout one and. a half ™^J™™ . the bottom. The wind from the oxplo- > sion knocked vs over.. I laid on- the o T ound to get fresh air until se &aA a lioht comma. It was' brought >n - Alexander Macintosh, machm© man - who was near me,, but had been gong i to a different district. \\c found ik,.i .. air coming from the Caupiri V, est 6, .it. ■ There was «Plen^Jg I*ll1*11^ 1?^11^. - SKshf and""another man named .Stewart then went along a road unul the 1 air became bad. We returned, and had - a sitting consultation. Macintosh pioi posed tfcit we should go along the mam » road to see if we could rescue anybody 1 and we went a certain distance unt r the fumes stopped us. We had to j - back, and finally we reached the lav niri West shaft, where we until othersioined us. Macintosh then sig- ' nnlSd- or a cage by rapping according 1 to dirtctions at'the-bottom of the shaft r A cage was lowered, and we weie takei f up iS twos, threes and foms. Ihere - are three shafts to the mine—the mam 1 shaft the Taupiri West, and the inn i shaft! I have worked in mines since I was 14 yearß of age. Iff some l

" mm—— ■ ■.iw^—My^ worked with safety lamps. 'This mine* was supposed to be the safest in the Dominion, and naked lamps were used in it. _ it. is a mystery to me: how the- • explosion was -caused." FURTHER PARTICULARS. ' m , . , Huntiy, Sept. 12. Iwo dead bodies that were got out o'clodart^ nteiXl tho main shaft at 1 yards h i l wf nV 0r< «^eial hundred several m a state of collSpS A^e m" i«itK oi air was so great, t i-it it r- » almost impossible to lire She and .safe! ty lamps were extinguished.' m sarc lhe hrst rescue party that entered the mine head returned to the surface They were unable to force theirVvav pel s of th© party state that the scene m the vicinity of the foot of tho shaft is one of devastation, skips, steSl rones and rail, being scattered in all dSS SSs Wwf two>™« «■ ''no oftha 1W w °, c°mpietd > itinerated. :,v 4 ? a ° an eutiro absence of air A largo party of men are enga<>e'l f making brattices.of sacks for the*^ Another party descended at 3 o'clock with a pump and host to try and ex tmguish or reduce the lire." Amon-r these was Mr Bennie, Government In^ spector of Mines. A third body was recoverc-d, that of John Wliorskey (deputy). . ' , Huntly, Sept. 13. ; -Experienced miners state that tho- . mine is etill full of fire-damp, and that , it is quite possible that further explot sions may occur at any lime.. . The first rescue party, after being [ down seven hours, discovered five dead , bodies, frightfully burnt. These men had apparently been trying to grope , their way out. J A relief party descended at 7 o'clock [ on Saturday evening, and remained below all night. Two additional bodies we*e discovered later on Saturday evening, and when the over-night party ascended this morning they brought up five additional bodies, making in all twelve recovered r up till 10 o'clock this morning. 5 Rescue work was greatly hampered through the lack of safety lamps, while - there w;vs no provision in the way of 5 respirators or patent 'headgear such »s } is used in rescue work on the. other side - of the world. » A number of canaries were released > by tlie party at the west end of the i shaft, but xmiy one of these returned, 3 and it was in an almost dying condi- • tion. • . The seven bodies rescued on Saturday ) were not raised to the surface until • nightfall, in. order to spare the eager » waiting crowd a terribly gruesome spec- • tacle. All through the night small knots of 5 people hung about the entrances, which • are on opposite sides of the Waikato k river and about three miles apart. Many of the women who had sat there since early morning were, when darkness fell, pale and haggard from tho long suspense, while their eyes, in I which the tears had long since dried, now bore a look of tragic despair, and •* it was with difficulty that they were persuaded to leave. The workings are. so extensive; that; thoroughly to investigate them, even - without the obstacles of blocked tunnels and foul air, would take many . hours. Tho work of rescue is therefor© necessarily slow and tedious. Parties working from each end succeeded in forming a junction this morning along the mam tunnel, where «evo i additional bodies were found. The majority of these were so terribly burned 'as to be almost unrecognisable and identification consequently was difficult. 1 The raising of the bodies to the siir- ! face was a gruesome occupation, as frequently, when touched, the skin slipped from the flesh and the clothing crumbled to ashes. Owing to the small- . ness of the cages, it was impossible to> raise the bodies on stretchers, and they had to be supported in an upright position until the surface was reached, when they were placed on stretchers 3 and taken by rail to the King's '.Hall for identification and' the opening of: the coronial inquiry. A large, depressed crowd has hvcit gathered outside the hall all day, aud; as the names of the dead become known ii they arc whispered round from group c to group. o During this morning a special train '_- arrived from WaiJii, bringing a rescue t party with patent self-contained broath- • ing apparatus;, but, as a thorough ven--0 tilation had by this time been secured, 3 their services were not utilised. t A largo number of coffins arrived! t during tho afteniooti. The bodies were 6 placed in coffins fully dressed as they '» were takon from the mine. Rescuers stato that som? of the men 3 were found sitting with their arms i'old--3 ed, some reclining on heaps of debris, • and others lying on their faces. One 1 was kneeling as though ho had made an • effort to escape All w-i-ry bleeding afc t the; mouth and nose. A horse believed to have been at th© s east workings made its way to th« ■ Taupiri West shaft. Auckland, Sept. 13. 3 Advices just received state that 21 3 bodies have been recovered, while 21 c miners ha-ve been brought out alive,, - leaving 2-1 still entombed. ? Seven bodies were recovered from the s West shaft and taken to the'township s last night. These- deceased were :—- - Skollern, deputy, married; ] ~ Harry Peckham, deputy, married ; John ■' Wihorskey, deputy, married; Samuel 0 Jackson, shiftman, married ; William c Burt, .shiftman, married ; John 11-obin- > son, shiftman, married; William " Hinches, shiftman, married. !" Four more bodies "were brought from '" Taupiri Wost at 7 a.m. to-day, as i'ol■i lows:—James Holder., deputy, niare ricd ; Robert Munsey, shiftman, single; s C Malonov, trucker, single; William '" Slavin, trucker, single. c Another body recovered was that of '" Jacob Thomson, aged 17. 0 No hope is held out for the 24 lnea c still in the mine. 3 MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR.Huntly, Sept. 12. The following message has been .received by the mine manager from the Governor:—"Only just'heard of the 3 teiribio accident. Will \ou convey to those employed in Ralph's mine and the .; relatives of those injured an expression* ? of Lady Liverpool's ;<;kl my own deepest sympathy? We sincerely trust that 2 those 1 who axe siill in the mine may, goon be released. Pleaso telegraph the " progress of tho rescue work." J INQUEST OPENED. , ?-!unt!y, Sept. 13. t, Tho inquest opened at ■!• o'clock to--1 day, before Mr Rawson, S.M., and _af- • ter formal evidence of identification! J Had been takon, was adjourned till the - 23rd inst.