The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-04-29 00:00:00

EXPLOSION OF DYNAMITE

About half-past eight on Friday night, in last wee
explosion of dynamite in a new railway tunnel, which is
formed at Cymmer, near Maesteg, resulted in the death of 13
persons. We extract the following particulars from the
Western Mail of Monday :
"The tunnel was to be about 1,600 yards long, and
is being dziven from both ends, the Diamond Reck
Boring Company, of which Major Beaumont, M.P.,
is chairman, being the contractors. The whole distance
bored was about 450 yards, but it is believed that the
remaining portion will be cut through far more rapidly
than that which has been completed. The operations
in the tunnel are carried on night and day, and at the
time the explosion occurred the night shift' men had
been at work about two hours and a ball. The inha-
bitants of the valley were alarmed about the time we
have mentioned by a loud sound from the direction of
the tunnel. They knew at once that a clreadfnlexpkosiont
had occurred. The village was instantly-deseked, men,
women, and children making their way to the tunnel's
mouth. When the foremost reached the spot, there
was little to- be seen but thick white smoke, with
which the tunnel seemed to be filled. It was of course
known that a number of men— about thirty—were
inside, and it was supposed that all were killed, or, at
all events, in imminent peril. Most of the people
who had been alarmed by the noise were too ex-
perienced in such matters to brook delay, and one
of them, William Elliot, rushed into the tunnel
when the smoke had scarcely began to clear away.
He was inside only a few minutes when he was
overcome by the fumes, and had to be brought out
by the exploring party that followed. He, however,
retained consciousness long enough to see that
dreadful work had been done. Before he had pro-
ceeded far he stumbled over the body of a man who
though prostrated, was not dead. It was while
endeavouring to take this man to the mouth of the
tunnel that he became insensible. Elliot also saw
other bodies lying about at no great distance from each
other. After he had been brought out, the exploring
party, headed by Major Beaumont, who happened to
be staying in the neighbourhood for a few days, and
Mr. Hanson, junior, the contractor for the section of
the railway leading up to the tunnel, began the
search for bodies, and brought two men out alive.
They were at once removed to a hut close by and a
messenger was despatched to Maesteg for Dr. Davies,
who arrived as soon as possible, with his brother and
two assistants. Then ten dead bodies were brought out
rapidly and laid near the mouth of the tunnel on a heap
of straw. By this time hundreds of people had collected,
on the spot. It was known that 30 people were in the
tunnel when the explosion occurred; 15 came out from
the inner workings, ten where brought out dead from
the break-up' nearest the mouth, and two were
brought out alive. There still remained—two menand
a boy. No hope was entertained that they could be
alive, for the area within which they must have been
was small. Still the searchers could not find even the
bodies, although they prolonged their exertions until
far into the night. Then all operations were sus-
pended, a watch was set over the spot, and the bodies
were removed on planks to some empty huts by the
side of the Avon, at the bottom of the village.
"William Elliot has furnished the following list of
those who were killed. Where no details are given the
men were strangers to the district, and nothing was
known of them but their names :—John Bartlett,
widower, aged 30, Cornishman, residing at Llantrisant ;
William Davies, married, aged 25, Welshman, living
at Quakers'-yard; Robert Weekes, married, aged 30,
supposed to be a Pembroke man; John Clements, aged
14, of Devonshire parents, living at Avon Vale ; George
Moore Tybach ; Richard Quick, 25; John Pierce;
Edward Morgan, 41, married, four children; John
Osborne, 25, single; David Hutchings, 36, married,
four children; Morgan Jones, 20, single; John Oates,
and Richard Parsons, 34. The injured men are named
William Taylor (Welshman) and William Donovan
(Irishman). They are both married; Taller has eight
children and Donovan two.
"There probably never was an accident in which
the cause of it was so complete a mystery as the pre-
sent. Though every inquiry was made on the spot
from men who moved in and out of the works con-
stantly, little or no light could be thrown upon the
origin of the explosion. One man who passed in
and out of the tunnel just before the accident gives
the following amunt The dynamite is stored in a
manhole a considerable distance from the mouth of
the tunnel, but not far from where the first lot of men
were working. As I went by the manhole I saw
Richard Parsons there with a candle. He was pre
paring a charge of dynamite, and held the box open
before him. The explosion occurred a few minutes
afterwards. Whether Parsons's candle fell down and
lighted the fuse I can't) say, but that's how I thought
it occurred, anyhow.'
"At noon on Saturday, Mr. Howel Cuthbertson,
Neath, opened an inquest at the • Farmers' Arms' on
the bodies, principally for the purpose of identifying
the men.
"Though not forming part of the legal proceedings,
Major Beaumont made an ex parte statement at the
inquest, which it is only fair to reproduce. Major
Beaumont is the patentee of the diamond rock-boring
apparatus, and spoke to. the following effect :—Dyna-
mite is used for blasting in the tunnel. About 250
yards in there is a man-hole on one side for a man to
get in when a tram is paining; on the other side a simi-
lar cavity, in which was placed a quantity of dyna-
mite sufficient to supply the men for a day's blast-
ing. From this store the advance man fetches
supplies as required in a box, and takes it to the man
about to use it. The dynamite is of a reddish colour,
resembling putty in appearance, and made up into Par-
tridges, something like a horse ball, only longer.: A-
piece of fuse with a cap on the end of it is inserted into
the dynamite, and the dynamite put into the bole
about to be blasted. The end of the fuse is then
ignited, fires the cap, and the dynamite explodes. This
explosive is used in damp places, where powder
cannot be employed. There is a men alive named
William Lewis, a striker, who a few minutes before
the explosion occurred saw the man Richard
Parsons, whose body is not found, sitting by the
dynamite box, and his candle stuck in a piece of damp
clay within about six inches of the dynamite box; and
it is supposed while in the act of making up the car-
tridge the candle must have fallen and ignited the flue
and caused the dynamite to explode. The prittice of
sticking their candles in close proximity to the dyna-
mite box is one for which the foremen have frequently
to find fault with the men. There was in the store
about 1501 b. of dynamite, about 101 b, of gun cotton,
and some caps—just a day's stock."

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