The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-03-20 00:00:00

EXPECTED LOSS OF THIRTEEN LIVES.

It is our painful duty to give a record of one of the
nost appalling e.dlicry accidents that ever occurred in
his district. and which took place on Wednesday last, at
the Wallows Colliery, belonging to the Earl of Dudley.
in is situated in close proximity to the town of Brierley

Some three or four years ago a pumping engine of
.normons power was put down at it, for the purpose of
hawing the water from the surrounding collierien on his
lordship's estate. The misralrety is of the very beet and
most costly description; and the *hole plant is of a
quality too rarely seen in the collieries of South Stafford'
shire. All the most recent appliances for ensuring the
Wets nf the Men ,employed. are in operation at the silt;
and it hag gOtilliellf been copeidereill in the neighbour-
hood that the chance Of ligeldent is it was reduced to a
minimum. About two years ago the *Ater in what was
known as Chapel Hill Pound," burst into the pit i bet
on that occasion there was no one at work, and beyond
flooding the workings, no damage was done. The water
having been pumped out, aud the " pound " in question
emptied it was not believed that there was any danger of
a second irruption of a similar character. Nevertheless,
enormous dams were formed, and tanka were formed in
die pit to regulate the flow of water, and ensure as far
as possible the safety of the men employed. Whence the
water came on Wediteeday morning is not at the present
writing known ; but it is believed to have been a " pocket"
collect-fl amnewhere in consequence of the heavy falls of
rain which have eharacterieed the winter. Of course this
is mearely a surmise, and we shall have to wait till the
workings are clear of water before we can have any au-
thentic information.
It appears that an Tnesday night, a number of men
and boys descended the shaft, and at about one o'clock
in the morning the engineer observed steam issuing from
the mouth of the pit. Peelings of alarm were at once
excited, and an immediste consultation took place as to
yet shOdll be done. Although the impremion prevailed
that the mine was Otitleettath men boldly ventured down.
These heroes were Joseph Lewis, bankernan , and Samuel
Thonapor:
en evoked was water, which had and•
terror which hat;
doggy. They found that the real cause of the
They ascertainin a
ed v
wtheirse
denly flooded the colliery.
disagreeable if not alarming manner. '
naereed ten feet lute the water before the eignai given
to reverse the engine.
On their arrival at the top, the sad fact was made
known that the poor miners engaged in the pit, if not
trowned, were at all events deprived of all means of es-
cape. lingiaation might picture them buffeting the
waters in vain, or it might pourtray their escape to a po
eition above the reach of the dreaded element, and their
hoping against hope for the period of release ; and those
who were on the bank cheered themselves with the
, thought that possibly their wretched fellow-workmen had
avoided death by drowning by hurrying thus to some ele-
i vated portion of the colliery workings. It was the con-
, soling idea of some that if the poor creatures should be
; thus situated they might probably be brought out alive.
I Phis, however, depended soon the success of the efforts
. .

employed to reach the menrbefore the limited quan.ity of
oxygen which was left them to breathe WAB exhausted.
No time was lost, and every exertion win; made to Tea.

cue those whose fate was a matter of very painful
uncertainty.

About three o'clock in the afternoon the underground
manager, accompanied by two others, descended the
downcast shaft for the purpose of ascertaining as nearly
as possible the dtptu of the water in the shaft. He
found that it was upwards of twenty feet in depth, or
about eight feet above the "inset." By that time the
pumping engines were making headway against the water,
and it was considered that it was being reduced at the
rate of about eight inches per hour. Under the most
favourable circumstances it W. not expected on Wednes-
day evening that access could be bad to the workings
under ten or twelve hours. ihia was the most favourable
view taken, and many on the bank considered its realise.
tion very doubtful.
The pumping and engineering arrangements were under
1 the direction and control of the Earl of Dudley's agents,
I stunt of whom were present, inc:uding Mr. Jeffries, Mr.
Spruce, Mr. Matthew Fletcher, Mr. J. Dudley, and Mr.
.1. Hughes. The battles present were Messrs. Plant and
Dainty, who were conspicuously engaged in rendering all
i!te assistance they could. Mr. Greetiway WWI also very
energetic. There are ten men and three boys in the pit ;
also six valuable horses.

Mr. J. P. Baker. Government Inspector, arrived about
inid•day, and remained at the pit till evening.
Wal,iiiiaDAY, 8 p.m.
Matters do not look so favourable now. An accident
has occurred to the biziket of the smaller pumping en-
gine, which to accordingly at a standstill, it cannot be
at work again before tea o'clock at the soonest. The
water is evidently still flowing into the pit, as, from iro
examination which has just been made, it is found that
it in not being perceptibly lowered. It has been sugges-
ted that a passage should be drives from the ILibiu Hood
pit (which is iu the sante colliery) with the view of reach-
ing the men, and an examination auto the practibility of
;hie course is being made. Supposing it is found practi-
cable, the carrying of it out would occupy many days.
The feeling unto the probability of getting the men out
alive is decide tly less hopeful. There is a great amount
of anxiety in Brierley full aud neighbourhood. During
the day the road leading to the pit has b.:en crowded
with people, and considerable numbers have assembled
on the pit bank, all eagerly discussing the probable re-
sults of this most afflleting calamity.
After unwearied and ceaselesss efforts during the whole
of Wednesday night, to gain access to the workings of
Lock's Lane Pit, there was WI Tliaritday morning very
little reduction in the quantity of water, which has pre-
vented an entrance from being effected.
At 10 o'clock on Thursday minting the water hail stfik
only three inches ftwer thaii it was on the previous day
at three o'clock ; and during the whole of the forenoon
of vigorous exertiou it was hat slightly lowered. Some
, great reservoir of water, it wtse thought, was emptying
I avelf tido the colliery, and the inundation was taking
place with almost as much rapidity as the process of em-
ptying. Devp tiring somewhat of success by means of
pumping, it wits deterudned to try to get at the poor
doomed men by driving headwava from what is called
No. 28 Pit, and the ltithin 110..4- Pit, both of which are
in the same colliery field.
The intention is to drive tut of these pits into that of
" Lock's Lan ~' and at points wore it is tho,tg'ut the
ill-fated millers are most likely to he found. Uu
day this work of making gate roads waa earneetly per-
formed by men anxious to ascertain the fate of their
mates. As further evidence of the strong desire to neg-
lect no chance of rescaing the hapless colliers who lie in
gloomy itnprisotimeut, it may be stated that tile mine
agent, Mr. Greeuway, sent a tn,ssenger by first train on
Thursday morning to Liverpool to inquire from a diver
if it were possible for him to make his way to the sup.
posed position in the inline in which the unfortunate thir-
teen are gathered. Another provision in case of neces-
sity, was made in procuring, and keeping in readiness
upor the bank;a large quantity of air tubing. This will,
no doubt, be let down tile shaft immediate.y the water
gets below the "inset," and thus, should the poor crew.
tnrea be still alive, fresh air may be conveyed to them.
But, alas, the ehaticee of bringing them out alive are now
very remote. It is highly probable that the small
amount of life•giving oxygen has been by this time en.
tirely absorbed by them; and if they have not succumbed
to the death by drowning. they must, have died in a state
of suffocation from choke.damp. This latter cause of
death is thought all the more probable from the fact
that it was found on Thursday that the water being
drawn from the pit, was strongly impregnated with car-
bon. The sad eimelusion, then, must lie come to, that
the numerous relatives of the lost miners must renounce
the hopes which at first they cherished.
It is a sorrowful task to record the number of wives
and children, whom, it may be assured, are left desti-
tute widows and orphans.
Zaehariah Pearson, we are informed, has left a wife
andic chil Ben.
David Hickman, wife and two children.
Thomas Sankey, single.
Shaman Timmins, single.
Stephen Page, wife and two children.
Benjamin Higgs, wife and nine children.
Timothy Taylor. wife anti no children.
John Holden, wife and ono child.
John Handley, wife and six children.
Thomas Hunt, wife awl live children.
George Skidmore, single.
Joseph Pearson, single.
William Ashmore, wife and one child.
It will be seen that nearly all the men were married,
and that 32 children are in all probability left father-
less. Should this happen to be a sorrowful truth, there
will be great reason for a call upon the pablic for " melt-
ing charity."
There is scarcely the faintest hope that it can be other-
wise, for on Thursday evening the weary and dreary act
of pumping was continued without arriving at a much
nearer approach to the melancholy objects of search.
Indeed, we were informed at the rate the water was being
lowered, there was little possibility of reaching the " In.
" in less than 24 hours.
At half-past seven o'clock on Thursday night additional
pumping power was placed at command.
A portable moving engine was brought to the grounds
of the collery from Couegoe, on the east side of Sari
Dudley's estate. It was drawn by eight powerftd horses,
awl it was moved under the direction of Mr. Thomas
Latham, a gentleman who has shown much zeal in offer-
ing assistance since the occurrence of this truly sad
calamity.
Mr. Baker, Government Inspector, was again present
on Thursday. He was at the colliery the previous day
and remained there till three o'clock on the following
morning.
Eight o'clock.

The water was still five feet above the " inset," end as
it was only being lowered about four inches an hour, it
was evident that a clearance could not be effected for •
considerable time.

Large crowds lingered on the banks of the pit, amongst
whom were many that silently suffered from agonising
suspense.
HulfpaNt Eight c'clock.
The water was ascertained to be at least nine feet above
the " inset."

Previously a measurement had not been made, and it
was with some concern that the real height of the water
in the shaft was obtained.
In spite of the marvellous endeavours pot forth, the
rata of advancement in the work of clearing the mine
was painfully slow.
Halfyist Nine o'eleek.
Slow progress was being made, The water was farther
lowered, and the men engaged in making headway from
adjoining collieries were making rapid advances.
One of these headway's is being driven from the Robin
Hoot Pit, and this is going in the direction in which five
of the men and two of the boys are supposed to be situ-
ated. Another headway is living 'mole ir iii No 28 pit,
to int -rsect the gate roads where the remaining men and
boys are believed to be. In the event of the pump fail-
ing, these means are being vigorouslyrprosecuted with
the view of rescuing the miners, and will be carried en
until that is accomplished.

DESTINY AND NATIVITY.

IF you feel a desire to consult a learned
Astrologer, send a stamped directed envelope to
"Old Moore," THOWAB Mooae, Esq., 26, tieorge•stree4
Sonthwark-BriUge-road. London, S.E.

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