The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-18 00:00:00

THE RELIEF FUND.

In the evening a meeting was held in Pisgah Chapel,
Pen-y-Graig, for the purpose of starting a relief fund. Mr. G.
Williams, stipendiary magistrate, was voted to the chair and
delivered a short speech, in which he deeply deplore 4 the sad
calamity which had taken place, the like of which, unfortu-
nately, was only too well known in that district, and which
entailed upon those living in the district the duty of meeting
together to mature plans by which to render aid to the widoivt
and orphans who had been rendered destitute. Ile had
taken upon himself to write to the Lord Mayor Of London
asking him to open a relief fund, and he had received the
following reply from the Lord Mayor's secretary, "Lord
Mayor has opened fund for the relief of sufferers by the
colliery accident. Kindly send up rough guess as to
'numbers of widows, orphans, and dependent relatives,
to strengthen appeal." ,The reading of the telegram
was met with great cheering. He had also received a
telegram from Mr. Hussey Vivian, M.P., which made a
good start. It was as follows:—" I will subscribe fifty
Pounds to the Pen-y-Graig Fund. Mrs. Vivian wishes
to give five pounds." They were beginning pretty well,
therefore. With regard to the Lord Mayor's telegram it had
ascertained, as nearly as possible, how many would for a time
at least, be dependent upon the public bounty. There were in
all, he believed, 65 married men killed, and 36 single ones.
There were dependent upon those 65 widows and about 206
children and aged persons, making a total of 271 in all, who
would now look to the sympathy of the public for a means of
keeping away hunger from their floors.

On Monday the Lord Mayor of London, on taking his seat
at the Justice-room of the Mansion-house, said :—We must
all have read with feelings of great pain the distressing in-
telligence of the very deplorable accident at the Pen-y-
Oraig Colliery in South Wales, by which 90 or 100 miners have
lost their lives, and a great number of widows, orphans, and
aged parents have been left destitute and dependent upon
the mercy of the world. I have been asked by an in-
fluential committee which has been formed in Wales for the
relief of the sufferers to open a fund, at the Mansion-house
in aid of those who are thus suddenly deprived of their
borad-winners. I have very gladly acceded to this request.
In former times the public generosity has been elicited,
through the Mansion-house, in similar calamities to an ex-
tent which made adequate provision for the destitute and
the distressed, and I feel confident that the same expression
of sympathy will be practically shown in this fresh cala-
mity, the incidents of which have already touched the
heart and aroused the compassion of the whole community.
If anything could add to the sadness of Use disaster, it is tee
fact that, like so many accidents of the kind, it has occurred
at a season of the year which is ordinarily associated with
happiness and joy. I shall be very pleased to receive at the
Mansion-house donations in aid of the relief fund, and all
money that is intrusted to me shall be acknowledged
through the newspapers. I may add that Messrs. Rothschilds
have already subscribed £lOO to the fund,

PEN-Y-GRAIG, Dec. 14.
At about half-past eight otlock last night the explorers at
the downcast pit found underneath a ton of rubbish the
body of David Morrisey, the downcast hitcher. The pit
carriage was discovered near the spot where he lay. Eleven
more bodies were seen at the bottom of the upeast, but
they could not be got up at once, as the top of the upeast
was covered over in order that the ventilating fan might do
its work.

A considerable number of interments 1 taken place
to-day. Despite the rainy, inclement weatl vad throng
followed the brothers Gibbon to their join, ,-5. An im-
mense cortege, a mile and a half long, also : wed 14 bodies
to the churchyard at the little hamlet of Tonyrefail.
Messrs. Rowlands and Morgan, proprietors of the Pen-y-
Graig Colliery, have contributed £2OO to the relief fund.

Many touohing incidents in the work of finding the
bodies are related. On Saturday the explorers came
across the bodies of two men on the top of a great fall.
Their names were Archibald Cook and John Hughes. They
were -a
considerable distance from the place where they
were working on the fatal night, and were evidently run-
ning in the dark when they met their death towards the
downcast. Stones had fallen on their legs and prevented
their flight. An exceedingly painful scene was witnessed
when the explorers came upon the bodies of Edward Lewis,
local preacher with the Wesleyans, and his little son, 13
years of age. He had a large family, and had taken his
little boy to assist him in the pit. He was evidently carry-
ing the boy in his arms when he fell, for the father was
found on his face and the boy tightly clasped in his arms.
Dr. Henry Naunton Davies, one of the surgeons, points out
the singular fact that nearly all the bodies had the jawbones
fractured, and that almost without exception the principal
Injuries were on the face. This was not improbably due to
the fact that all heard the storm before it reached them,
and that they gazed in the direction it was coming from.
In the downcast all the bodies had their faces in that direc-
tion. In one part of the workings the coal dust lying in the
roadway had been converted into cinders. In some places
brattice-cloths stood entire as when placed there, but the
moment they were touched they crumbled into ashes.