The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-23 00:00:00

THE PERILS OF THE MINE.

The hazards at which the miner obtains for us
the source of our national wealth, and one of the
accessories of our daily existence, have been forcibly
displayed in the past few days in that portion of the
black country of which WednesOnry is the centre.
Not far from the line of the Great Western Rail-
w ty, and about half a mile from the passenger sta-
tion of that line in the town we have named, is
Steer's Meadow Colliery, out of which the thick
coal was taken many years since. At that time a
portion of the old workings took fire. A formidable
dam, consisting of earth and timber, was, however,
erected, and by this means the fire was kept within
the prescribed limit. Skirting the side of this part
of the colliery runs the river Tame, which at this
point is about 20 feet in breadth and five or six feet
in depth. The ceaseless action of the smouldering
pent-up fire has lately occasioned the surface to give
way in several places. At a late hour on Thursday
night a subsidence of this description happened so
near to the Tame, that a portion of the bank was
destroyed, and the water rushed into the abyss
caused by the subsidence, which in this case was
much more formidable than any previous accident
of the kind, inasmuch as the surface fell in imme-
diately over the old and hitherto unobserved pit
shaft. Down this shaft the water leaped in im-
mense volumes, speedily destroyed the dam before
alluded to, and thus obtained free access to the other
portions of the colliery. These were being reworked
by a Mr. William Talley for the ribs and pillars of
the thick coal, and for the seams below them—
seams which in the early days of coal mining were
not thought worth the getting. On Thursday
evening three men and a boy descended at six
o'clock to work for the night in getting out the thick
coal pillars. They were John Pitt, aged 50 ; Wm.
Gettings, 21; and William and John Jones, brothers,
and aged the first 20, and the other 15. They had
all gone down by one of the two working shafts,
which are situate about 20 yards from the old
shaft, now so suddenly revealed. Excepting only
the boy Job Jones, all these persons have by this acci-
dent lost their lives, a family of nine children have
lost their only parent, and an aged mother has lost
the only earthly prop upon which she had leaned.
From the accounts given by this youth, who was
released from his shocking confinement en Saturday
morning, after having been in the pit 36 hours, dur-
ing 33 of which all hope of escape seemed to have
been cut off, we have a startling picture presented
to us of the awfulness of a death struggle under
such circumstances. The boy and his companions
were all steadily at work, unapprehensive of imme-
diate danger, when, between 8 and 9 o'clock, Get-
tinge, hearing the noise occasioned by the destruc-
tion of the dam, the falling in of one side of the
workings, and the rushing of the water, gave the
alarm, and himself and Pitt, with Job Jones, made
Edward
Jones way to a higher level. In his terror ward
Jones ran towards the shaft by which he had de-
scended, and thus to an instant death, for the water
• between
was pouring in the spot upon which he
had been engaged and the bottom of the shaft. The
three others remained at the highest part of the
workings until the water had risen so high as to
touch the breast of the lad, whose waist, that he
might maintain his footin, was firmly grasped by
Gettings. As it was clear that the water was rapidly
rising, and would soon submerge them if they could
not gain a higher spot, the youth, after they had
remained together spending the time princip,lly in
supplication for the Divine pardon for their transgres-
sions, suggested that possibly he might be able to
climb the almost precipitous side of arocky eminence
in the workings, upon the summit of which, if they
could gain it, they would all be safe. By a desperate
spring the boy succeeded in clutching a crag of the
rock above him, and by a continued and, as he ima-
gines, a supernatural effort, gained the desired spot.
Pitt and Gettings essayed to follow their youthful
leader, but, being less agile and of greater weight,
failed in every attempt. This desperate struggle for
life lasted about an hour; when, in the darkness, the
boy heard the lest splash and the last plunge. The
poor lad now realised that he alone remained alive
in the terrible position we have described, and that
the corpses of three men, and the cm case of a
horse, which alive bad shared their toils and dan-
gers, were his companions. Thus entombed among
the dead, end anticipating a yet more horrible fate
than that which had terminated the existence of
his fellow-workmen, he remained for upwards of
30 hours. During that time distressing and in-
tense excitement prevailed upon the surface. The
river had, by an artificial bank, been kept from
flowing any longer into the chasm before described
—the water in the pit had drained iuto the lower
workings —the smouldering portion of the burning
workings had been fanned into a blaze, and the
flames rushing up the old shaft, and leapi- g high
above the earth, threw a glare over the t nxious
throng who crowded the spot. Sirnulta eously
hardy and brave men were attempting t reach
the higher workings, where it was correctly ex-
, peeted the men would seek refuge. At three o'clock
• on Saturday morning the youthful survivor heard
the approach of the noble band of colliers who
sought his rescue, and the sound of their picks was,
indeed, music to his ears. At 20 minutes past six
he saw their lights; his life was saved. He slid
down from his rocky asylum, and before reaching
the roadway, had crawled over the lifeless remains
of Pitt and Gettings. He was received on the sur-
face by the hearty shouts of the assembled multi-
tude, and into the embraces of his
bodies of Pitt and Gettings parents. The
were afterwards
brought up ; and on Saturday night the miners
were prosecuting their unwearied efforts to recover
the body of the survivor's brother, which is sup-
posed to be buried beneath the ruins of the dam and
the side of the working that fell with it. The
flames continued to rise from the burning mine, and
a vast number of persons remained about the scene
of the accident, which, from the fierceness with
which the fire is now raging, is also a
place
of
much danger. Notwithstanding thus feet, the police
on the spot, have great difficulty in keeping the
people off that part of the land 'surrounding the
minute expected to sink.
flames, and which is every

The elder, lilac and black currant trees are in
some places bursting into leaf. Gnats have ap-
peared in warm, sheltered lanes ; flies have been seen dis-1
sun ; and on the 16th a bee was observed:
porting in the
foraging among the yellow blossoms of the furze on the!
heights of Bind 'lead.