The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-26 00:00:00

The Colliery Accident at Wednesbury.

The fire still rages in a great part of the work-
ings beneath the surface at the pit in the Steerer's
Meadow Colliery, at which, as will be remembered,
the deaths of three men were occasioned some weeks
since by a rush of water down the shaft, consequent
upon a "crowning-in" of the covering of an old
and before unobserved shaft. The efforts to quench
the flames by introducing steam into the workings
have been continued, but these, it is feared, have
been attended with only slight success. The body
of the man John Jones is yet nnrecovered, and in
order to reach it a new shaft is now being sunk in
a part of the working
.where it is thought no fire
exists. This, however, is only supposition, and
should the contrary prove true, it is evident that
the miners are engaged in a somewhat hazardous
operation.

No additional subsidence has taken place within
the last few weeks, and by some persons an opinion
is entertained that a subsidence of the entire surface
is not probable. By others, however, such a result
is fully anticipated.
The inquest upon the bodies of the two men, Pitt
and Gettings, was concluded yesterday.
Edward Stone, a miner, and the first witness
called, merely recapitulated the evidence given by
him at the first inquest.
Isaiah Beach, who was working in the pit shortly
before the accident happened, said that when he
came up all was safe, He had occasionally heard
some of the miners say that they were frightened
to work i❑ the pit at night because of " fire-stink."
On the morning following the occurrence he de-
scended the shaft, and was enabled to make his way
through the water only about 30 yards from the
bottom. He saw nothing of the bodies, neither at
that time nor at a subsequent descent in the after-
noon. On the following Saturday morning he again
went down. While making au effort to reach that
part of the mine in which the men were supposed
to be a faint void was heard. Presently the same
voice was again heard imp!oring help. Renewed
efforts were in consequence made, and presently the
lad Job Jones was found alive. He was rescued in
a weak and faint condition, and conveyed to the
surface. The other two men were observed lying
dead near the spot at wbicli the lad was found.
Job Jones, a diminutive, puny-looking, hut in-
telligent lad of 14, who had on this occasion been
saved when his companions had all been killed, was
then called, and said that at about half-past eight
at night, while they were all at work at the back
of the pit, Gettings suddenly exclaimed that the
water had broken in, and immediately afterwards a
horse, borne on by the rush of water, came up. Ed-
ward Jones then ran in the direction of the shaft,
and was for a short distance followed by his three
companions. They, however, perceived that they
were rushing to an instant death; and, turning
back, made their way to the highest parts of the
workings. The water continued to rise, and witness
scrambled up a kind of funnel in the " shut"
or roof. Even here he was more than once sub-
merged by the rising flood. After the water sub-
sided he descended, and was when rescued on the
same level as his dead companions. Here, after
remaining for a lengthened period, he heard the
sound of picks at work, and in three hours after-
wards was rescued by Beach. Witness had heard
complaints respecting the unsafe condition of the
pit, and about three months since his father, appre-
hending danger from the water of the brook, had
refused to work. Only a week or two before the
accident his father had also protested against the
opening of some dams erected to prescribe the limits
of " fire-stink," and had again refused to work. A
fortnight before the fatal occurrence his brother
(whose body is still in the pit) had been afraid of
the water coming in from the brook, and had in
consequence made all haste to the surface by climb-
ing the drawing-chain. At that time the " shut"
had broken down, and water was actually flowing
into the workings.
Mr. Proctor, the surgeon who attended the last
witness, said that when first called he found his
patient in a cold and weak state, and scarcely able
to articulate. The other two men had evidently
been drowned.

William Jones, who, with another man, was in the
engine-house at the time of the accident, said that
the first indication of anything unusual having
occurred was a " ticking," and subsequently a rum-
bling noise. This they thought was occasioned by
some persons breaking in w an adjacent shed.
They accordingly took a light, went out, after
walking about for a short time discovered
that water from the brook was rushing into the
pit through a cavity from which also clouds of steam
were ascending. An alarm was at once given, assist-
ance arrived, and a descent was made as speedily as
possible. This was about midnight, and no other
attempt at rescue was made until the following
morning.

William Jones, the father of the boy who WEIS
saved, said that he had refused to work at the pit
on two occasions, in consequence of danger from fire
and water, and had often said that a general
"crowning-in," or subsidence of the entire surface
would take place. He had gone to the pit at ten
o'clock on the morning following the accident, and
at that time he believed that though several persons
had volunteered to descend the shaft to attempt the
rescue of the entombed miners,,yet that all had been
hindered from doing so by Solley, the managing
proprietors. He had learnt from his son that the
death of the two men had taken place in about 20
minutes after the first rush of water.
Joseph Whitworth, a miner, formerly employed
at the pit, said that on one occasion he and his son
having ascended to the surface, because of the pro-
jected opening of the dams which had been erected
to limit the " fire-stink," he had since been dis-
charged.. In one part of the workings the water
from the brook had for some time dropped through
thy? roof,
and the men, anticipating that the bed of
the brook would subside, and so flood the mine, had
in a body refused at ene time to work.
Mr. Yardley, mine agent, proved that the bed of
the brook had some years since subsided at a short
distanee from the spot of the present subsidence.

Jo;ePhSantor, the doggy, said thnt the water,
after rushing down the cavity, had burst through
the partition which divided the fired from tho
worked portion of the pit. Ho also, with other
witnesses, said that every endeavour had been made
to rescue the men.

Mr. Solley, the managing proprietor of the mine,
said that he had exerted himself as much as pos-
sible toreauct
been oaref hlytror men, and that the pit had always
.
Mr. Wynn, the Government inspector, proved
that in the scar 1855 he had warned Sulky not to
work under the brook course.
The Jury, after a short deliberation, found a ver-
dict of " Accidental I)?ath," censuring at the same
time the neglect rnaLifebted by Solley in the re•
covery of the men.