The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1883-01-02 00:00:00

FRIGHTFUL CATASTROPHE AT BRADFORD.

FALL OF A MILL CHIMNEY.

OVER PORT! PROPER ELM MID PIT?! INJURED.
At ten minutes pub eight o'clock on Thursday •
oetastrophe occurred in Bradford, the like of which has
not hitherto found record in the annals of digester in soy
commercial or manufacturing town in Yorkshire Seeing
llilistreet is almost in the beat of manufacturing Brad
ford, and in all directions are tower chimneys cenneicted
with the numerous mills. The most conspicuous of Omits
belongs to Beare Mitchell Beer., a well.known Ilrm, and
second in Importance was that known as Bally and Co.'s
chimney, connected with Heerlen,' Mills, an extensive
block erected some twenty yesrs see by the late Sir H.
Ripley and let in floors to firms engaged in different
branches of the local industry, including spinning,
combing, manufactuiing, and dyeing. This chimney, the
heieht of which was R 5 yards, had for some considerable
time past been regarded with feelings of anxiety owing
to portions of it having fallen et different periods,
suddenly crdlapsed at the time mentioned, and carrying
with it the greater portion of Nowlend Mills, caused
the death of over forty istimons, chiefly women
and young workers, and very serious injure
to quite fifty others who happened to be in end
about the works. The wreck produced by the falling
chimney was of the most thorough and complete charac-
ter, nothing meeting the eye but a confused maas of loose
stones, twisted beams, and fragment, of machinery. Thu
shock was frightful, and there seemly appeared to he
two stones adhering together, • fart which would seem
to cast suspicion upon the quality of the meterials. In
some parts the dentin wee piled up to • height of nearly
twenty feek and tome idea cm thus be gatlimed of the
diffi o culty Vie work of extricating from the mass the
&Mete en mangled bodice which were bnown to be
beneath. The work of moue was one attended by con.
siderable pen mat risk, thy portions of the upper floors
which remained standing being in a very shaky condition,
whilst at any moment there was the likelihood that some
of the fragment, of the broken roof and heavy abetting
hanging in • threatening meaner over the edge of the
ruin. of the various floors might fall down on the workers
beneath, and add yet further to the frightful list of
killed and wounded. Two Catholic clergymen, who were
present at an early hour, also set • good example in
applying themselves earnestly to the task of relief, and
In administering the consolations of their religion to those
unfortunates who were in an injured or dying condition.
Those of the employes of the mill who had been working
on the too door were soon rescued, the stones and
machinery being palled away and the beams sawn asunder
with feverish but careful haste, and the injured, after
their hurts had been attended to by the doctors present,
were either cent to their own homes, or, if too much I
feinted for this to be done, conveyed to the infirmary.
For those whose injuries required splints, rough surgical J
appliances wore made out of pieces of thin board, whilst
the window blinds, torn into stripe, forniched handy
i and the &lives of wool afforded rough-and.
ready bandages,
for pillows and cushions for the bruised
mbs.

-I'7; labour was energetically carried on under the
direction of the Chief Conetable, Yr. Withers, and Supt.
Laycook. About • down Nadinel men ware soar on the
'Pot Very shortly after their arrival—such was the
away with which the crowd of men went to work—
several persons, chiefly young women ani children, were
recovered and Owed under the care of the doctors.
Their injuries were attended to, but in many cases death
ensued before relief could be afforded. Others were
placed in crabs or on stretchers, and eau Is rreencrocere
carte, and conveyed for the most part to the Bradford
Infirmary.
The first of the dead bodies to be recovered were times
of three men and two girls, and a number of boys, deed
or dying, were also brought nut One of the girls,
mere child, appears to have taken ha father's break' sat
to the mill, and had only entered the yard when the
chimney fell and the litla creature was struck down
and killed. In one ease an overlooker naraed Irvine
Wright, was disoovered to have ban precipitated from
one of the upper floors to the Imeesselli His calls for
help were the first indication of his whereaboute. He
wee completely covered with debris, but it had fallen In
such a manner as Is allow him some protectioo, and he
wee able to maks 'Smell heard by the rescuers. He
told theca the nature of Ms position. and that be was
able to gee • streak of light paging through some brass
which had protected hire He intimated that lila legs were
crushed between sane of the fallen material, and he could
not move. They were unable to do anything towards
relieving him, but encouraged him with hopes of getting
something done for him as Readily re partible. At the
same time cries were beard from • young woman who wag
sitting beside Wright taking her breakfast when the
chimney fell. She. too, Imo curial down by the falling
material, and at the time Wright was discovered was
alive, but Juicing from her agonising oriel she was in
terrible pain. Her position, so far as mild be ircertained,
wax even more dears-owe th mu that nf WI Igh a, and whilst
a gang of mon were working amorously to deplane some
of the athris, Wright told them that she wan dead. It
was afterwards found that a beam of wood had been rat-
ing arose her chest, and it wet not till it waa sawn in two
that the men were able to reecue the body. Wright him-
self we. extricated about half -pat eleven. His right fore-
arm wee found to be broken, and, in addition to injuries
to the back, he had received &contusion on the hee4. A.
soon as hie removal rend red it poesibl; au attempt wee
mode to extricate • girl rimed Walsh, who was lying in
the top storey under rens heavy beams and machinery.
The *Mirth were suoveful. and the grisl ryas planed on a
stretcher and carried down ladders to the ground. She
was removed ti her home as speedily laa pleel
,ble and in
the meantime aorta wer. made to get at the dea d body of
another victim, Mrs. Whelan, acme which the girl
Wahh had ham lying all the morning. Her fate wee •
peculiarly deplorable one, she having been married about
• month sea When flat discovered she we, still alive.
The last rita of the Roman Oahe& rellrion were admin-
istetwi to her before the expired. Me had been terribly
rmarthed, and presented • shocking spectacle. One leg
had boon cantalstaly reared from the holy. She hod been
crushed underneath • haze girder. *Jong with the girl
Walsh. Another lustanne of the perilous pedtioa In which
some of the poor y.ople were pletlett wuo that of a young
woman. to rescue whom the doctors agreed noon the
neceasity of amputating bee lege, which were eo mashed
In between the tallith machinery and roam that it was
utterly impossible to move her. Her injuries, however,
were to severe that she died while the operation warn beihit
performad. Several of the bodies recovered unmated a
thockint app wanes, anal were ci mangled as to render
recognition io woos ravoi lanpossible mad in others very
diflicolt. Women rushed alias &hood frantic with
de,peir, end it wog only with difficulty that they could be
kept from the points to which the mimed were conveyed.
In one nose Dr. Corder attended • little girl whose fore-
head was almost broken in, but be pronounced it stun,.
hepeler I, do anything for the little sufferer, and her
air M-rs an I others gathered roond her and succeeds.' in
getting her ti repeat some prayers, in the midst of which
death took place.
Two electric lights were fiTed la he evening near the
scene of the calamity, so me to enable the work of remov-
Sig the eret.kara sad recovering say more holies which
may have been buried beneath it to le carried on through-
out the eight, The rapid arrival of the injured at the
infirmary taxed the mourner of the institution to the
uhnoet, but the officials and nurse, very soon anoneeded
In gaping the patients placed in beds in the varions wards.
The eight which the various wards peasanted was (how_ y
In the extreme. Most of the Winder were about the head.
Three of the erecittleonth on reaching the taltrmarY were
found to be dead, one of then, being, young lad, another
• woman, and the other a men. The 'canes in the extern-
primed 'dead-house' at Kitchell and
,Stmlard's mill, art
an one after other of the bodese we, rec were very
touching. B:Torsi perrens who celled were totally over.
come on rethanising samosa the mangled cetera the
bodies of thorn whom they had moo of to work fit the
morning full of life and health, and fell fainting to the
floor.
The injured number close upon 50, • great majority of
whom are under 10 years of age The number of those
killed at present is 43.
The operations for the removal of the ruins and the
recovery of the bodies et the wane of last Thunday's
accident have been continued day and night, and are
still going on. The cumber of men engaged all Friday
night was 140. It is estimated that about one-half of the
pile has now been chiral away, and the staff of workmen
hos been reload theordindy. Altogether 41 bodies have
sew bees reintoXells and It is teleattad that alsht se tea

ere still missing. A relief fund has been opened
grit familia of the sufferers. and was Israeli row
tributed to by crowd( who visited the scene on Sunday.
A letter of sympathy has been received from Sir Edward
Ripley and a telegram from Lady Ripley.
The feeling 'maps the workpeopU employed at the
reined mill in regard to the dangerous state of the
chimney prior to the catastrophe maw be said to be cow
tadned in the statement of Smith Rhodes, one of the
oldest hands at the mill. Ile ears that it was • matter of
common talk that the chimney was falling. On Wednes-
day morning pieces of the outer shell kept falling and the
mesons dare not go op it. It had been giving way for
years. There had been great cracks in it. and he thinks
that the recant froat had affected the foundations. On
Wednesday afternoon he and • fellow-workman talked
about the chimney, and all 0•171.) to the conclusion that it
was not safe. On Thunder' morning they maw the
chimney Aaiun& and the emiffol.ileas seblei bad been put
up was shaken Mesa Ile then pr reeled :—" Jost after
we storlowl for bee•kfast we heard a crack from the
chimney. There were six or seven others with me. We
looked at the chimney, but we could see nothing new.
We were frightened, and we tried to get oat of the roam.
but it came and knocked as all down. There was an
escape of gsa, and we began to go to sleep. We bade one
another good-bye. and said we wondered what our friends
would say. After a whit, came round, end heard my
brother speaking, and shortly afterwards I and a few
others were got out.