The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-10-27 00:00:00

FATAL COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

A disastrous explosion occurred in the Barnsley
seam of the South Yorkshire coalfield in the early
morning of Friday in last week. The scene of the
explosion is the Wbarncliffe Carlton Colliery, situated
at Smithies, a small village about two miles from
Barnsley. The colliery is the property of Messrs.
Creyk and Co. of Barnsley, who also own the East
Gawber Hall collieries. Twenty-five men were in the
pit at the time of the accident, of whom five were
recovered alive. Had the explosion occurred during
the day 176 men and boys would have been in the
pit, and the loss of life would have been much
greater. No work is done during the night in the
way of coal getting, the twenty-five men who
were in the workings being men employed
in repairing the roads and looking after the
timbering. The colliery is worked on the long-
wall system ; that is, the coal is got away from the
face and no naked lights are allowed. Both Stephen-
son and Clannie lamps are used, the former being
considered the safer by the men in the workings, and
the latter affording the best light in the levels and
main roadways. The shaft is 130 yards deep and the
pit has been in operation nearly 10 years. deep,
plant
is regarded as one of the finest in the South Yorkshire
district, and the collieries, which have all along been
under the most careful and vigilant supervision, have
hitherto enjoyed immunity from accidents of a serious
character.

At ten o'clock the previous night the twenty-five men
were lowered into the pit. Two hours later a loud
report was heard, compared by some who heard it to
the sound of a cannon. A cloud of smoke was then
seen to rash from the pit high up in the air, an 3 then
all was still. Mr. John Slack, the manager, and Mr.
Herbert Fisher, the under manager, were promptly on
the spot, and a large number of willing workers were
soon on the pit-bank proffering assistance. Before
their arrival a faint voice was heard calling for help.
The engineman tried to raise the cage, but found it
impossible, Those below were told of this, and
they set to work to clear away the masses of dirt
and rubbish which had been blown from the
workings to the pit bottom, and which weighted
the cage so that it could not be moved. On this
being done it was found that the cage could
be moved, and that no damage had been done to the
shaft to prevent its working. Five men who had been
working near the pit bottom were then brought out
alive. A band of explorers, conducted by Mr. Slack
and Mr. Fisher, descended the pit at two a.m. They
found the roads blocked by large falls of the roof,
brought away by the violence of the explosion. The
air courses were stopped up, and it was impossible to
get far from the pit bottom till the obstructions were
clearei away. Sixty volunteers working in shifts set
to do this dangerous work. The afterdamp was so
powerful that volunteer after volunteer fainted away,
and had to be brought out from time to time thoroughly
exhausted. They succeeded, however, in getting
along the main plane some 1,200 yards, where three
dead bodies were found and removed 40 the sur-
face. As these were brought to the surface they
were examined by Dr. Blackburn, Mr. Foster, his
assistant, and Mr. Halton, surgeon, who found them
quite dead. Their features were and placid, and
It seemed evident that they had been suffocated by the
after-damp, two of them when found having their
bands raised to their faces as though to protect them.
The doctors noticed, too, that while the bodies were
burnt about the hands, and were slightly tinged, there
were none of those severe burns which had been found
on the victims of previous explosions in the Barnsley
seam. In the hope that others might be near, the
explorers aboared bravely on, but heavy falls in the
main plane ropeded their work.
The report of the examination of the pit made three
hours before the explosion, by G. Micklethwaite, the
night examiner, certified that the state of ventilation
and the workings was good, that no gas had been
found, and no falls of roof had taken place. The re-
port was found by Mr. NI itchell, the engineer, in the
office at the pit bottom. at six o'clock in the morning,
it having been left there by the examiner. A sad
feature of the explosion is that there is no survivor
left to give any narrative of what happened, the five
men who got out alive being nearly three-quarters of a
mile from where the pit fired.
What was seen and heard by the five men who
escaped up the shaft from the " rise side of the pit
is told by William Clement, who Bays :
"I wee working at the face in a gate off the main
road when the explosion occurred. We simply heard
a low, dull boom, and there came a rush of smoke in
the same direction as the ventilation. I knew in
which way the wind went and called to two ethers
who were working near. We ran along the gate road
in the direction of the wind into the old air road,
along which we got as far as we could and until
we found the air quite clear and free from smoke. In
a little while we returned along the gate road into the
main road, where, a short distance down in the direc-
tion of the shaft, we found a number of covers over-
turned and a let of rubbish in the way. The air was
very dense, but did not put out our lamps. After a
while, the air clearing, we reached the bottom of the
shaft, where we found the cage full of rubbish which
had been blown from along the main level. Everything
was covered with dust, and it was very dark. We
called up the shaft, but the enginemen could not move
the cage because of the rubbish, and we set to work to
clear this out. When we had done this we were drawn
up."

Several bodies were brought to the surface on Satur-
day, and placed on the stage specially prepared for
their reception. The first brought out was that of
John HaHan. Then followed the bodi.A of a boy
named George Mason, William Gouling, Richard
Garbett, Edward Waller, Thomas Wood, and Henry
Fisher. The bodies were not so badly burnt as might
have been expected, and there was every appearance
that the deaths were principally due to the after damp
which accumulated in large quantities at the bottom
of the mine after the explod9n. Owing to the quan-
tity of daris that,had to be removed, considerable
difficulty was encout‘terEd in getting the boesi-A out.
However, shortly after noon on Saturday several were
recovered, and in the evening another was brought
out, making fifteen out of the twenty who perished.
Work was then continued for the purpose of recover.
ing the remaining five bodies. A large accumula.
tion of debris was cleared away, and shortly
before ten o'clock the bodies of Charles Phillips
and his son George, who acted as hurrier for
him, were reached and brought to the surface.
The work was then resumed, and a large q.uantity of
the fallen roof and sides was removed. About two
o'clock on Sunday morning, however, the explorers
became aware of the fact that there was fire at no great
distance from them, and that to proceed further would
be attended with danger. If the air got to the fire
there would in all probability have been another ex-
plosion, or the smouldering material would have been
fanned into a flame that might have extended in all
directions, and have become far more serious than the
first explosion itself. It was therefore determined to
withdraw the working party, and allieft about two
o'clock in the morning, with the understanding that
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afternoon
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Government inspector, Mr. Gerrard, hi i asaiatant,
Mr. Mitchell and othera met in the office at the
colliery, and were in consultation up to nearly six
o'clock, while there was a large number of men ready
to go down. All the hirses were brought up, only
one being dead.

The inquest on the bodies was commenced shortly
before noon on Saturday by Mr. Taylor, coroner of
Wakefield.—Messrs. Ccwie and Frith were present as
rEpresenting the West Riding Miners' Association.—
The bodies recovered were identified, and the only
evidence given was that of Mr. Daniel ScattErgood,
who was in the pit at the time of the explopion. He
stated that the first indication of what had occurred was
a rumbling noise, which was followed by a cloud of dust
and smoke. He was working at the jimmy, and the
smoke came in that direction and put one of the lamps
out. Himself and three persons who wese with him then
attempted to reach the bottom of the shaft, but
were unable to do so owing to the heat, and bad
to return through the heat and smoke. On going
along, in their endeavours to escape they found the
props blown away and the corves knocked about,
while the sulphur smelt very strong. Having reached
the pit's bottom at last, he saw Clover, the horse•keeper
and four others, and they were subsequently drawn
to the surface. Ile identified the body of Edward
Waller, who had been hurrying for him for seven
months. The deceased, who leaves a widow and one
child, was slightly burnt about the face.
The inquiry was then adjourned.

On Monday about thirty volunteers went down the
pit, including Mr. A. Lupton, the lecturer on mining
in the Leeds College ; Mr. Miller, Mr. J. Mitchell
Mr. Wardell, the Government inspector, and others.
They found the heat very great, but persevered in
their efforts to discover the three bodies still remain•
ing in the pit. They worked hard, and went far
beyond the permit of safety, and it was feared that
the lives of the volunteers had been sacrificed, How-
ever, all was quiet about two o'clock, when the
coroner's inquiry was reopened at the Woodman"
Inn before Mr. Taylor. Several witnesses were ex-
amined to identify the bodies that had been recovered,
but the proceedings were interrupted by an announce•
ment that another explosion had taken place. The
inquest was at once adjourned, and it was found
that the report Was only too true. A consider-
able portion oi the fallen debris had been removed
when the air reached the smouldering fire and gas, and
an explosion resulted. It was not a very severe one,
but five of the explorers were more or lete burned,
two of them severely about the face. Dr. Blackburn
and Dr. Alton were present, and applied the usual
antidotes of lime and water.

At a largely attended conference of mining engineers
and Government inspectors, held at Barnsley on
Monday night, it was unanimously decided, with the
consent of the ownerP, to flood the part of the colliery
where the fire exists. About a mile of the workings
will be flooded.

A letter from the Home Secretary was received at
Barmley on Monday night, intimatiog his intention
to seryi down an inspector to hold an official inquiry.
The Vicar of Barnsley, the Rev. W. W. Kirby, on
Monday officiated at eight funerals.
It is stated that 14 widows and 32 orphans have
been created by the explosion, and that the estimated
cost to the relief fund is 0,700.
Lord Wharncliffe has visited the pit to ascertain the
extent and nature of the accident, and to express his
sympathy with the sufferers.