The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-10 00:00:00

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P

Pin an agony of
_paw,•• afitipudect by his Itzt4
and daughters, who were administering such
_;.ena-
dies as they were able. Arohn7d. the bed- stood a I
group
Pit
pof grimy miners, some of. Whom bad I peen
the I/
when the accident happened, and others Who
had come to assist their afflicted neighbour. As the
poor fellow groaned and moved uneasily on his
couch a ready hand was near him to assist and give
a cheerful word of encouragement. " I can't lie, I
can't sit, I can't stand; what shall I do, exclaimed
the sufferer ?" " Pray God to help you through,"
said his daughter. " Thou'il weather it yet,
Georgc," said one of his lellow-worktuen ; but the
moaning of Pickering, mingled With the sighs and
tears of the women as he feebly urged his friends, if
they wished to see him, to come at once. This is
only a faint picture of what mast have happened in
many a house last night.
Towards 4 o'clock the state of the mine was such
that no further chance remained to get men out.
Exploring parties who went down were unable to
penetrate more than a few yards from the foot of
the shaft, the hot air and after-damp compelling
them to retreat. Reluctant as they were to come
to this conclusion it was evident to all that further
efforts to save life would only result in a greater
sacrifice, and orders were given that no more men
should be allowed to descend. During the draw-
ing out much confusion had of course prevailed, and
no complete list of those recovered could be made
oust. One thing, however, was certain—a great num-
ber must still be in the pit, and they must be dead.
Those whom the blaze had spared the after-damp
had choked. The ventilation was entirely gone, the
only current of air being from the down cast to the
up-cast shaft, and in that space it was known no one
was. The list of names of those who are still in the
pit is not complete, but still it includes 39 names.
There may be 12 or 14 more in the pit whose names
are not known.
The revelations of the last body of explorers who
descended the mine convinced the managers of the
colliery of the hopelessness of further efforts, and
they immediately turned their attention to other
means of extinguishing the fire, which was still
raging below. It was also known that the destruc-
tion of the ventilation of the pit permitted the ac-
cumulation of gas, and if this should reach the
flames another explosion, more fearful in violence
than any of the others, would result. The last dis-
charge had effectually cleared every obstruction in
the mine, and another would range unchecked
through the workings, and in all probability de-
stroy the gearing in the shaft. The occurrence of
such an explosion was hourly dreaded, but mean-
while bands of men had been set to work to cut a
trench from the canal, which runs within about 100
yards of the colliery, to the nearest • shaft. When
this was completed a large stream of water could
be thrown into the pit, and the fire by that means
extinguished.
Conspicuous in his devotion to the injured and
bereaved was, the esteemed incumbent of the parish,
the Rev. Mr. Banham, who no sooner heard of the
explosion and ascertained who were the sufferers
than he visited them from house to house, adminis-
tering comfort and spiritual advice. His labours
did not end till late at night, but he returned to his
home with the blessing of the widow and the orphan
on his head. Medical men from Barnsley were in
attendance on the sufferers; Dr. Smith and his son
and Dr. Allott were those whose names we heard.
At the time of the explosion there were ten valu-
able horses in the main level, but the horse-keeper,
Sorsby, contrived to get nine of the animals out of
the mine. He.was himself severely hurt.

The full extent of the calamity Will not be known
until a roll-call has been gone through of the whole
of the men employed at the mine. Many of the men
lived at Barnsley and at Worsborough•common,
and on leaving the mine they at once hurried off to
their respective homes, without waiting to report
themselves to the owners of the colliery.
We ought to state that the general testimony of
several of the rescued workmen was that the venti-
lation of the mine was extremely good. One of
them said that the current of air constantly travel-
ling through the working was almost always so
strong that a candle could not be used.