The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1866-12-22 00:00:00

NARROW RIR:APIS FROM DEATH.

The nien sad lads brought ep alive out of the pit, and
itid survivitig, are, with two exception.. (long well. Some
of thorn had moat narrow e-ca es. Outline, hunt man
of slay-three, lamed James Ray, who was attending to the
fume,' iss the pit, was blown Itiroacth two air-doors and
b inn 1...fu11y in the face, at. sight was guile gone for
two days, but he is now recovering it. He no. toned lying
seise ess under • heap of intim arid bromht up more dews
than alive A youvg man. twenty-nve years of ago, Albert
bile ey name, was saved almost try • miracle. lie was oiling
when the iscci lent occurred, ani the finial in his m .utn pre.
ventleg the gos finding its way does his throat, bar he was
dreadfully Meet on the left stele.ud both arms ho m &slued
with great d fficulty to crawl to the ripper workims and was
saved, draping • little hoy, who clung to his arm, along
with him Jean Ciantliffe, a young man of twenty-one,
who was burnt on the face, breast, sod arms, so as to pre-
sent • mut ridtening epectacle, wu at the top of the main
gip when the accident nappenwl, aid says he w. "knotted
up and dowu," sill received several heavy blows on the top
of his head Toe dam, caught his hair, and his clothes
were burst. Ile managed to crawl to the air-bole and to
drag ssi.h him George Boughey, • lad since dead, whose
grasp on his lett arm iirew the akin off froui the elbow
nearly to the wriat. Srmuel Colcmgh, an intelligent
of fourteen, had the narrowest escape. Ile was in one
of the low levels, and when the explosion occurred
he was blown • considerable distance, tel then the
Rai entered his system, and he fell to the ground,
the 'ref hree times to get up, ant wL;11 the greater. d M-
eetly dragged himself Wong about 29 yards, when he fell
rehaelers on his I ice. in tits positlOu he was found five
hour. after the so orient, an •I lit la uope of his recovery wsS
mote danced. lly tne iticessant application of the most
vigorous remedies, how.v, r, ho was brought rotted ho ab 'at
4} hours, lie was nalvan nod and ru'rued without cuss-
tion n the breast o.llt it rmach with ethos.r aid mutter",
and other stimulant r, until [Markin way t ak- n off those parts.
His ones while under this treatment were distressieg in the
extreme A, elute o'clock he began to revive, ant w. taken
to his hon.. Tne wi.ole r-f the gas he had taken jut, his
system had not beau excluded by galvanic action, arid
medicines have been given to him kinoe to rid him of the
poison, and with avourable effect, tiv ugh brie still far from
recovery, One man named Charles Roberts was worattig Ia
the lower part of the 7-feet seam, at • dia.., of &XI yards
from the shall, lie and his comrade. Bret became aware
of the explosion by • "suckieg" of the air Irons the W-
holes, followed by • shock and a streak of fire, mot • dense
maw rI smoke, which filled the working Mill almost suffo-
cated the men. Wsitiug • minute until the smote had
passed, they made their way Into the road, het wherever
they turned t M y were met by smoke and could see nothing.
They tried three s, all Jut of smoke, and they then
scrambled along as well us they could 01A their hands a•.ci
kuees, and craw/tang over the bodies of many men and
horses, which they could only feel, but could not see, tory
made thole may with great difficulty towards the shaft
Just, as they had given themseives up for I.i, arid
em i of the tight men who had stated on the dangerous
tinny had 1.111. k to the earth, suff mated by the smoke.
the suivivors smith-My came in view ot the shaft tied
were saved. Several other cases of narrow escape from dea h
nave come under the writer's nod... One of the hushes
which remained mill yesterday to hI menilfl ti war Matured
try the amdber of the p 'or fellow, wit, knees him by marks
of former bur. on his left shouldar. tits head from the
upper part of Ids sloe had been blown off and the lower
port oi the face ite•• much dirtigored. His wife had berm
hown the body, but fad d tire, cognise her hushand,
and even after his Identity had been spoken to by his
mother, she expressed a coubi whether he was her husband
after all
A portion if a head missing (rent one of the bodies re-
covered on Friday, was toned in the pit on Sunday
morning The body was afterwards tmutin -d an that
of the smith employed fu the mum, fragments of whose
clothes, burnt sod torn in shreds, were pick. d up at the
inittom n the prestorts day. lhe smith I•As • stranger in
the neighierurtiood, whom acconnts for the delay in iden-
tifying