DEAD FOR BREAD."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7154, 19 July 1901, Page 2

DEAD FOR BREAD."

A GHASTiLr- COLffitf" MSASTER IN SOUTH WALES.

Seventy-eight men perish

[From Ocr Correspondent,] LONDON, May 31

The coal fields of South. Wales have for some years enjoyed an immunity from those terrible colliery disasters which; wer* so appallingly frequent in the middle of the last century. Science has made vast strides in the matter- of 'ventilation; and 1 i:he safeguarding of miners, and it is now nearly seven years since- South. Wales -was last visited by a calamity of memorable magnitude. That vrai yrhea. the Claimed 276 liv.es by its fatal gases.

The district- of Sengenhydd is one Tof the most dangermis coal mining areas, and the colliery,, the " Universal;" at which, the terrible fatality by -which 80 men lost 'their lives in the early hours of Friday 1 morning? last, is oine of the 1 most dry aad'fieiy in the area. ' ; . ■ ■ . ;

The accident, which has thrown a whole neighbourhood into despair of the lives of husbands and sons, is somewhat smaller in its effects than the first accounts led- -on* to suppose. A hundred and: fifty men were said to be entombed. But as so often happens, the explosion occurred at the change of shifts, and the men involved numbered between seventy and eighty: Nor does there seem any hope that there can be a living man in the shattered mine. The disaster brought out heroic attempts at rescue, in which the rescuing parties in turn faced ! death and? found injury.

Senghenydd is a comparatively new mining district, situated about four miles from tho historic Leaning Oastle of Caerphilly. Th 3 Universal "faking" covers nearly 3000 acres and. the^ pits have only been in full •working order for eigh.te.en,.. months. T;he company employs nearly 70 men. In equipment the colliery is a. model one, all; the modern appliances being utilised, , and -all/ precautionary measures systematically adopted. There -is little doubt that the catastrophe resulted from shot firing. It was about five o'clock in the morning when the sound of two distinct successive exp'bsiong and the' shaking of the ground alarmed the neighbourhood. So loud were the reports that they were heard, -many miles away, and hundreds of people concluded that a terrible mine disaster had happened. To reach the various local collieries the day men were about to entrain, but work was at once abandoned, and the Universal Company's premises Tvere soon besieged. It was some time before the workings could be entered, or the full extent of the havoc realised. ; When, it was seen that the topping of the pit shaft had been 'blown away, it was evident that the position of the men below was critical. Volunteers were numerous, and, as the ventilating fan and engine houses were practicably undamaged, arrangements were inmn&diately planned for a party of .the more experienced miners to descend. The gear of the carriage, or bond, as it is locally called, was destroyed, but practical heads and willing hands extemporised the fixings' in an incredibly short time. In the interval managers and officials of collieries throughout the neighbourhood came pourin gin, all prepared to go down. Mr Shaw, tie manager, headed the first exploration party which left the surface at half-past seven, ;but they were soon forced to return, the cage not being ab'.e to travel down. the shaft through obstructions. These being removed, the next essay was made by a party of local managers and' miners, 'but they could only penetrate' a distance of about twenty yai'ds from the pit bottom, and returned to report that the workings were in a state of wreckage. Immense falls stopped their progress,' and • fchey. found they had to fight the dreaded afterdamp. At half-past nine they came up again. Another party at once prepared to make a third" attempt, and they were down* until close on twelve o'clock. Hope ran ■high in the 'breasts of the watchers at the pit's mouth! when it was seen that the party hadi some men on ambulances. But the spectators were doomed to disappointment, Jihe rescuers had met with what proved an insurmountable obstruction in | the nature of a fall of about thirty yards in length on the east side of the pit bottom. Nothing daunted, they made an effort to get over it, and in so doing were caught by the afterdamp, and 1 were unable to proceed farther. Indeed three of them sustained serious injuries, and" it was thess poor fellows who were being convey€d on the ambulance. This rescue party found one-man dead. Another party discovered some horses a'.ive, and this fact was regarded as indicating the possibility that some of the entombed men. might ultimately be found to be safe. At one o'clock the first body was brought up, and hope was again ■ revived when it was announced that one man had been found alive. He proved to be a -haulier named Harris. All the'explorers thought him dead, but Harris heard their voices, and raising his hand, gave tlxem a sign of life. la the early afternoon the ray of hope following Harris's rescue was dispelled. OVfr Robson, chief inspector of mines, had not reached the colliery, and further investigation snowed that the west side was impenetrable-, owing to | vast, falls of the roofing, and t-Eough on the east side headway had baen made for nearly four hundred yards, it was only with extreme difficulty.

Thre& bodies were brought to the bank during the afternoon.

All were badly burnt, and all bore the unmistakable signs of afterdamp, and all hope of seeing their chums alive again -was abandoned by the stout-heai'ted miners. But they- did not relax their efforts to penetrate the wrecked workings, and day by day bodies ire being brought up to be identified by grief-stricken wives and mothers.