The Express.
London, England, 1867-11-13 00:00:00

THE FERNDALE EXPLOSION.

Notwithstanding that every exertion has been
continued for the recovery of the bodies in the east dis-
trict of the colliery, relays of men having been engaged
uninterruptedly in clearing the rubbish, still up to eight
o'clock on Monday uight none had been reached. A great
deal remains to be done before the fall will be cleared
away. The foulness of the air in the workings has proved
• nearly insuperable barrier to any great progress being
made ; indeed, so bad is the air that no light of any
description could be made use of, so that the opera-
tions have been conducted in total darkness. The
difficulty of erecting brattices for the conveyance of
air to the front was very great, and in oonaequenoe of
this a consultation was held amongst the engineers
in the pit on Sunday night, and the result
of it was that a resolution was arrived at to re-light the
fires of the ventilating furnace, so that a more powerful
draught could be had to drew off the explosive air in the
workings. This movement was attended with great
danger, as there was considerable risk of • second explo-
sion, which might put a stop to all proceedings. The sug-
gestion was warmly supported by Mr. Wales, the in-
spector, who decided that it should be done, and we are
happy to state that the task was successfully accomplished
by mid-day Monday, and soon afterwards the noxious gas
was being drawn off from the workings in vast quantities,
so that operations could be pushed on with redoubled
vigour, and the engineers were so sanguine of • speedy re-
moval of the whole of the fall in the " dip," that they
anticipated the bodies, about twenty in number, would be
got out by midnight on Monday. This is, however,
mere conjecture, as it is utterly impossible to say how
great or extensive the fall is, and it is not known whether
they may not meet with • rapid succession of falls to the
very extremity of the workings. There is nothing to
warrant an opinion to the contrary. Owing to the
difficulty of getting at the whole truth in such an out of
the way place as this Ferndale, some things have found
their way into print which must be corrected ; the details
which have already appeared in our columns are, however,
substantially correct. We are now able to state, with an
accuracy that will be affected to a very slight extent by
subsequent events, that at the time of the explosion there
were ;t% men and boys in the pit, divided between the
east and west districts, in which were 170, and the
Rhondda and south districts contained the remainder.
These figures may be one or two over or under, but they
are within that of the truth. Of those in tae
latter districts all escaped alive, the fire having
spent its violence before it reached that part
of the pit, but some twenty of them were slightly injured
—none seriously—and they all catne up alive ; 138 were
brought up unhurt, and 21 burt— some badly. Of the
others in the east and west, not more than five were brought
up alive, and of those three have died since. The number
of dead brought up from the workings was 49; and there
now remain under ground 117 persons for whom inquiries
have been made by their friends. It is not believed that
• single individual of them can be alive now, and the poor
friends at home have abandoued all hope of their safe
return. Very much destitutiou prevails in the bereaved
families, notwithstanding that the colliers in this pit
earned at the least half as much again as the men and
boys of the Merthyr and Aberdare Valleys, and the
high rate of wages paid attracted unincumbered nitre
from all parts of the district. In consequence of this the
calamity will be felt far and wide, and families for miles
around be thrown into mourning. In Merthyr, for in-
stance, several distressing cases have occurred ; in one
house three or four sons gone, and in another contiguous
three married men have left young widows to bewail their
dreadful fate. On Monday several of the funerals took
place. About • dozen interments took place in Llanwouro
churchyard, on the summit of the mountain, and • few
were carried to Aberdare and Merthyr, where they bad
friends. Amongst the engineers who have rendered valu-
able aid in heading working parties are Mr. W. Adams,
Mr. Curnew, Mr. L. Lewis, Mr. W. Lewis, Mr. H. Lewis,
Mr. Jones, Mr. George Brown, Mr. Burns, Mr. M. Joseph,
Mr. Williams, of the Taff Vale Railway, Mr. Truran,
Mr. Walker, of Nadu, &c.

The death of Lady Selina Constance Henry,
the last surviving daughter of Francis, first Marquis of
Hastings, and his wife Flora, Countess of Loudoun, is
announced. Her ladyship, who was born in April, 1810,
married, in June, ins, Mr. Charles J. Henry, whose
father, John Joseph Henry, was the husband of Lady
Emily Fitzgerald, aunt of the present Duke of Leinster.
We have to announce the death of Lady William
Godolphin Osborne. Her ladyship was a daughter of the
fourth Rarm Rokeby, and married, in 1843, Mr. William
Osborne, formerly of the 2Cith Foot, and son of the first
Baron Godolphin. Her husband was raised to the rank of
a duke's son in 18:19.

There are two vacancies in the Senate of the
Queen's University, consequent upon the deaths of Lord
Bowe and the Right Hon. F. Bleckburne. The crown has
the right of appointment to one, and the Convocation of
Graduates to the other. Several candidates are already
spoken of.