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

TOUCHING INCIDENTS.

The evidence given at the inquest was of the most formal
kind, yes it revealed one or two touching Incidents there
was the Oct ....tan, who ...id ail oteht toted spoor
et, 'retied man who was a perfect stranger to him, because
"no one bad owned him " Aunt there woe the witowed and
childless woman telling with path tic simplicity how three
years ego • destitute boy came to her oontr, arid " miltenty
owne, Aim," either, awl so she had taken cern. of him aver
since like hr own child, and ha called It., "mother ;'' and
he wins a "great scholar ;" he could read and write. (It Is
noticean'e that not one ol the poor pe nide whopsve evidence
knew ow to write.) And now this deserted lad, and It r
own, Into, mid her I unhand, were all cut ff together by the
114111 e fleri blast Ant Line. woe the elnle•ly women, widowed
time te .111. lain Ming the int . Ott promising hey of fe nrn—
"the oinly son Ot hie motner," m,y be. t' and she wa. •
'endow "—• boy In whom she had ry dently delighted, In the
guide of her heart, 111 r jog herself Up in her heavy sorrow, and
wiping the et •ps nom her eyes, to tel thet hod! was
p. Me,r," and that it was the su phur on his •.nmach that
caused his dwell "I thought he would have lived," she
said, and ben he dowel afresh.
"ONE TOUCH OF NATURE MAKES THE WHOLE
WOULD KIN."

But the real depth of suffering among these poor, un-
lettered people—so rough in ih.ir ordinary outliners, so
gentle. patient •nd compassion e• e when then sini of calamity
strikes them down as now—will never be ganged Toey are
self contained in their grief : they to not hrillit out their
agony for • public shot. ; anti if it dip sigh escapee them, or
an irrepressinle tear trickles down the cheek, it. in spite
of many a seem, struggle to bide tile grief that Is too deep
and exceed to he wan. I upon We hnye named one Instance
In which • mother was overcome in spesk.n z of her demi
son, but It was the only ease. There wait In al! the women,
mere or less, abundant evidence that their hearts were
bleeding wi• h timer recent wound.; a ileep despair seemed
to have settled down upon come; but In all there we,e the
same desperate tty,rt, and In all but one a imccemful effort,
to keep • calm extetior before the strangers. Idointletis to
many of the afflicted ones the pretence, so many jurors
And rep eters must have been tells, an Irksome intrusion,
but certainly not one of those unwonted visitors could have
witnessed the sad processidn of the widowed and childless
without a warm command.. and as, moethe lc p tin. From
the throne downwards the nation will m turn with toem ;
and the Intelligence of the Qmen'a prompt,d tt of 2011 was
circulated througn the town on Friday with amazing
rapidity, many • "God bless her '" was offered—not to much
tor the value of the gift daelf as for the re.6dy spin pithy of
one in exalted positt di towards her lowly subjtcts plunged
Into the furnace of affi att.a she herself has known.

IRONIC

The stories told hour af•er hoard mooting incidenta, hellr•
breadth recaps", sad dosolation, and herr swing Inhibitions of
human grief, are so numer-us that they can nes, r he told,
and, as often helm.' when overwhelming events transpire,
the tale. that are chroninled are of minor importance com-
pared with those which are unwritten Mingling an i con.
yeifing er.ntlDU .1 y with three poor pa' ple makes one so
accustomed to the wholesale destruction of human life, that
circumstances that at other times would absorb attention
are passed very much as a master of course At the hack of
the colliery 0 Friday we fell into conversation with ati
elderly man on a ranal-bridge, lie made a remark about
the thickness of the water, and knowing that a very popular
amusertont amongst colliers was canal fishing, we ,elne. be I.
1 .upposo no fish can live here?" An oneervation so casual
touched • tender chord. Without changing his tone the
man —he was • weever Instead of reply', g to that
remark, sal", as if talking to himself, that twin out of his
four lass now dead In the pit were fond of angling; thin
one of them hail been Just making a now rod in preparation
for • forthcoming fishing mach; tha, he always attend.
e4,tah, mangles at a Instance; and that ell his tackle " wur
Jost at Whoatn as he left it " the "lads" were young men
between 19 and 20, and the father's chief grief now was
that he mend not igy home little honour to then mangled
remains. lie was afraid the bodies would never he re•
essvered, and that is a fear In which nearly all sheen. Within
five minus. another man quite Incidentally mentioned that
he had three liasi• far away Iwo the pit Is is hard to find a
Collier who has not lost some relative There will be
'basely gaps around the homely tittles of hundreds of
laminae, when twit they hold their Chrlstnias gatherings
There Is Comfort, slight thou,sh It he, in knowing that all the
hodiee ra covered have lwen blentttled; but nu statement
has yet appeared that tells accurately the number ot dead or
missing.

A T•1/41131 STORY.

A miner who formed one of the searching party tier
the first exelosion In the Barns ey colliery, and
who escaped nom the second one, geld at the inquest—
"We went on till we came upon the body ofltiward
vart•right. Af. yarn a from him, further lit,, the
workmen, we came upon 'a pair,' two brothers—J p
and Thema. Leather. A piece further on we came on
three more; those I don't know On we went till we came
upon • ste nob, Mr. Squall and I were last of the party,
and then we thought tiniest to turn shout Mr. Sweden,
heir g an old man, was nab Noon°, and I looked nets I r
him. Ile was ever so lax ii, so I stayed till he came up,
and then said, "Hey up! Corn ou manage ?" Ile said,
' Let me get up to yi,u, and I think I cm.' We got to the
pit bottom, and he is t',,-re now I Jumped into the cage
henring the tumbling noise In the Mt, Jett di It was rising
In the that , and the last thing I new of them was, that
Mr sogden and Sir, 'retain, our underground steward
were tsislost togener at the In thole. I beard “mps 0, e
say [wore I left th• m, y.ot men yon base uu I Coo.
aloe to he frightened ; It'a only •fa I rood,' 1.7 p to tids
time, y. u see we hid inn's carrytng Moles forward to ths
pit bottom. There were how of u c irrylrne • b,,dy when
the thundering (rumblo g) In lb pi-, commenced, We
saw there w danger, so an dropped the h.dy and rut to
the I,orloro As we left Mr. Sumien and Mr. Trewnt, I
s.w Mr 1, wit, I,olng this (noting his to, sat) and I hr aid
tom tin, 'God help its, turn w am lime.' That WAS lona
isnart rto tea,, C,OCi. ~,Vet hail Jest reach- 4 the in, nth
of the pit When the blast followed, and sent the chair slop
op against One hea i-gear. I knew it was sit over Irlth those
below We bud a w“nderful escape " Another el nen
said, "When the danger pressed us, the non in ear
turned about, at ml were shout to run away, when Mittto
pressed us hack, nod . said there was no daner. We stood a
modite, and then we felt tiontething coning. Old Mr.
Stirlen shinned ont us, 'Cow ye (loath m- n tall ye down,
one), If there habit of clear ale, let it have Saline courge;
and, after sitting there a mien'?, something came upon ,Rlll
hot mere, en-1 toe old run (Me ang.len, cried oat, '
Lord, we're all done I go'. on' all right