The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-25 00:00:00

called out if identified; and if not identified they
will be taken on to the schoolroom. A quantity of
disinfectants have been sent from Newcastle to take
into the pit when the yard seam is opened, and
every precaution will be adopted to prevent any
further loss of life. The pitmen are conducting
themselves in a most creditable manner. Some
disturbances was likely to occur yesterday,
the more thoughtless and ardent among them
finding fault, with the arrangements adopted by
Mr. Coulson for clearing out the shafts. But when
the steadier and more prudent of them explained
how matters stood they became satisfied. A large
meeting was held among them yesterday upon the
pithead, and two of their number were deputed by
the body to attend the public meeting to be held
today in Newcastle for the purpose of commencing
a fund for the relief of the bereaved. Watson, one
of the three pitmen whose miraculous escape in the
shaft has already been noticed, describes the acci-
dent in the following words :—" The cage, consist-
ing of an upper and lower deck, was being drawn
up at 20 minutes to 11 o'clock on the morning of
Thursday, the 16th inst., with four men on the
upper deck—viz., W. Sharp, Geo. Sharp, sen., Geo.
Sharp, jun., and Ralph Robson, and four on the
lower deck—viz., J. Watson, W. Robinson, W.
Bewick, and W. Brown. They had entered the
cage at the bottom of the shaft, and their ascent was
regular as usual, until they were within a few feet
of the bank. Then they heard a great crash above
them, and before they could conjecture what it was
they felt a heavy substance strike the cage, and the
cage at once descended with great velocity. After-
a momentary perception that they were falling down
the aliaft; the rake caught the brattier!, and wag in—
stantaneously crushed with falling timber. The
first blow is supposed to have been given by the
fallen beam, and that shock knocked Geo. Sharp,
the younger, R. Robson, W. Brown, and W. Bewick
out of the cage, and they fell down the pit. As the
cage hung on the brattice, the four men left on it
began to perceive the reality of their situation.
Above them the shaft was choked with ruins, below
them all was dark, but they heard the sound of
weighty material falling. The first idea of the men
in the cage was to obtain relief from the yard seam,
and Watson, who was uninjured, volunteered to
slide down the rape ropes to that place, both the
Sharps being much injured in the head and body,
and Robinson slightly hurt. Watson slid down
accordingly, and soon found his progress stopped
by obstructions that have since caused so much
trouble. There he found the bruised and wounded
bodies of the poor fellows who had fallen, and from
whom the breath of life was fast ebbing. George
Sharp, the younger, was a member of the Society
of Primitive Methodists, to which body Watson
also belonged. The two joined in prayer, and
while imploring His mercy upon their souls Sharp,
Bewick, and Brown yielded up their breath to the
God who gave it. Watson now found his own situa-
tion to be one of difficulty and danger. It was
impossible for him to reascend to the suspended
cage by means of the rope, and he therefore at-
tempted to climb up by the pumps but his efforts
were unsuccessful. He engaged in prayer, as did
also those in the cage above, and in this way the
time passed until they were relieved. The first
signs of assistance were the sounds of hammering
above the obstructing material. In responseWatso
and his comrades shouted as loudly as they could,
and they bad the satisfaction of hearing faintly the
sound of human voices in reply. At length a ray
of light appeared in the obstacle above, and even-
tually a rope was lowered to the men in the cage. G.
Sharp was the first put in the sling, but as he was
being drawn up he fell out, and the next instant he
was a mangled corpse, lying at the side of 'Watson,
who only noticed him breathe twice after he fell.
The other men were drawn up in safety, but Wat-
son still remained among the dead men below. A
rope was then lowered tohim, and he began to ascend.
But his dangers were not past. He had been exposed
to a heavy fall of water, and while he stood pieces Of
the ruins fell at intervals around them, but happily
not on him. After he was drawn up two fathoms
'another shower of stones fell around, but happily
missed Watson. He then reached the cage, and after
getting through that was safely drawn to bank.
While in their perilous position the men were only
able to make conjectures as to the cause of the accident,
and those are somewhat interesting, as affording
ground for believing that those immured in the seam
would be likely to entertain similar opinions as to the
nature of the accident. Watson and his comrades be-
lieved that the main engine-work must have fallen,
but the thought of the beam having broken never
occurred to them at all. They believed, also, that
the pump spears had fallen and the shaft was
closing in. They were of course aware of the
dreadful position of the men in the workings of the
pit, and must have been fearfully impressed with
the terrible nature of the catastrophe, as they hung,
as it were, between life and death.
At two o'clock this afternoon the whole of the
ruins had fallen below the yard seam and cleared
the shaft. When the rubbiskfell there was a sud-
den discharge of gas, which drove the men to bank
and filled the shaft 34 fathoms upwards from the
yard seam. At this time Mr. Coulson suspended
operations for half an hour in order to clear it away,
at the expiration of which time he went down
and opened a door between the staple and the
shaft in the high main leading to the return
over furnace. He subsequently went down to
the yard seam to seo the state of the shaft,
and, the rubbish being all gone, found it compara-
tively safe. Workmen have now commenced to
carry the brattice down to the yard seam to cause
ventilation over the bodies.

A meeting held at Newcastle to-day to consider
what should be done to raise a fund for the perma-
nent relief of the bereaved has been very successful.
The Mayor presided, and among the speakers were
the Bishop of Durham, the Earl of Durham, and
Sir Matthew White Ridley, M.P. The Earl of
Durham was very mach affected. It was ascertained
that at least £17,000 would be needed for the per-
manent relief of the widows, orphans, and other
sufferers. Her Majesty has sent £2OO. The Duke
of Northumberland subscribed £3OO ; the Earl of
Durham, £200; Sir Matthew White Ridley, £100;
Bell Brothers, 100 guineas ; Elswick Ordnance
Company, £100; and Sir Wm. G. Armstrong, 50
guineas. It was stated at the meeting that the
London Stock Exchange had subscribed £5OO.
Before the proceedings had concluded the subscrip-
tions from all sources amounted to the noble sum
of £4,000.
The Duke of Northumberland has offered a piece
of land at Earsdon for the interment of the dead.

There are hopes that some of the dead bodies will
be got to bank to-night—certainly by to-morrow;
but Mr. Coulson is extremely careful in having the
bratticing complete, so that when the men go into
the workings to send up the dead they may take
good air with them.
The coffins have nearly all arrived from the neigh-
bouriti g colleries.
There have been but few people out hero to•day,
and scarcely any pitmen.

RAPID PROGRESS OF THE LONDON, CHATHAM
AND DOVER RAILWAY.—On all the lines of communica-
tion b. tween this railway and the metropolis the promoters
of the line are making rapid progress. This is more paiti-
cularly the case on that part which is in connection with
the intended terminus on the site of St. Thomas's Hospital,
and that near Blacktriars-bridge. In each of these direc-
tions during the last week a large number of houses (above
50) have been sold and are now in course of being cleared
away. These premises are situated in the Borough, Union-
street, and the neighbourhood of the Borough-market. This
day, for the purpose of constructing the line to the Black-
friars-road, Messrs. Pullen, Horne, and Co., by instructions
from the directors, will sell above 30 houses in the Wal-
worth-road and the streets adjoining, viz.,
Amelia-street,
West-street, Hanover-street, &e. In a short time the direc-
tors
will be prepared to put up to auction the extensive
struetnre and premises of St, Thomas's Hospital,