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

7HE A BlIfY .

A notification has been received at Chatham
garrison, from the Horse Guards, announcing that
the next examination of candidates for admission
to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, under
the regulation dated Horse Guards, May 1, 1862,
will commence on Wednesday next, at Chelsea
College, before Major-Gen. F. W. Hamilton, C.B.
vice-president, and members of the Council of Edu-
cation.

Importing tea without colour on the leaf pre-
vents the Chinese passing off inferior leaves as in the usual
kinds. Horniman's Tea is uncoloured, therefore always
good gas, Sold in packets by 2,2Bo,,agents,

The primary cause of the accident was the igni-
tion of a " blower" of gas by the blasting of the
coal at the extreme "dip point" at the southern-
most extremity of the workings. It seems that the
mine was being connected with a new shaft which
had been sunk to the southward, and a straight
heading was being driven through the coal in the
direction of this shaft. About 7 o'clock yesterday
morning the men engaged in the operation found it
necessary to blast the coal, and a charge of pow-
der (" a shot") was accordingly fired. The coal in
the new workings gave out a great quant"
and the men were obliged to use Davy lamps to ward
off danger. The shot ignited a "blower" of gas,
which exploded, set fire to the coal, and blew down
a portion of the air course. At this time there were
about 260 men and boys in the mine, and when so
alarming an occurrence in one part of the workings
had taken place, the reasonable inferenie seems to
be that the persons in charge of the mine should
have sent word to all the men warning them that
there was danger of an explosion. Some of the men,
however, say that this was not done. George
Laughton, the bottom steward, endeavoured to put
out the fire without allowing the miners to become
cognizant of its existence and the danger it, entailed.
He went with a party of the men and commenced
building a solid brick " stopping" to restore the ven-
tilation. The work was carried on vigorously, and
an attempt made concurrently to put out the fire.
But neither seems to have been successful. The
foul air accumulated in the mine, until at about half-
past 11 o'clock, a fearful explosion took place, the
gas having fired where the coal was burning. The
effect of the explosion was most disastrous, many of
the air-courses being blown down, and the miners
began to flock to the bottom of the main shaft.
Many of them received their first warning of danger
by the presence of the deadly after-damp in their
workings, One young man, named James M'Quillan,
states that he was employed in No. 2 board, in the
south workings, a considerable distance from any
other working place. He " felt" the gas and became
alarmed, and left his place to seek some of the other
miners. He saw one of them, named Peter Blacker,
and told him there was something the matter in the
mine, and suggested an immediate retreat, but
Blacker told him he was too soon frightened, and
that if he wanted to go he might, but he (Blacker)
should stao where he was. Fortunately for him-
self, M'Quillan went on towards the shaft, and on
the way the gas became so powerful that he was in
extreme danger, and had to make a circuit round
the workings half a mile out of the direct path, in
order to get into a purer air. On the way he met
a man named Edward Hunt, who asked him to go
with him and;seek for his brother. They went to
the bottom of the board where young Hunt had
been working, but the place was so full of gas that
they found it impossible to go up. 11,1‘Quillan
struggled on until he came to the shaft, where a
great number of men and boys were waiting to take
their turns to ascend. By this time the alarm had
become general, but notwithstanding the excitement
the shaft was worked with quickness and order, and
a great number of the men were rescued. Hopes were
entertained that the whole would be brought out be-
fore any s. rious calamity took place, an event which
was dreaded every moment, in consequence of the
rapid accumulatbn of gas. The communication be-
tween some parts of the mine and the shaft had been
destroyed by the second explosion, and a number of
men and boys, variously estimated at from 50 to
70, were still in the mine. The hope of rescue ap-
peared every moment growing fainter. A number
of noble fellows volunteered to go down into the
mine and search for these who had been cut off from
succour by the progress of the suffocating vapour.
Five men, named George Laugh ton, the bottom
steward ; Henry Laughton, his eldest son ; Charles
Frobisher, John Parkin, and Benjamin Hoyland,
were the volunteers, and it is one of the most
melancholy facts connected with the calamity, that
these noble men became involved in the fate of those
whom they were endeavouring to rescue. They had
been for some time in the mine, and a number of
the injured men—some of them in such a condition
that death would have been welcomed as a release
from intolerable agony—had been sent to the pit
bank, when suddenly a third explosion took place,
about 1 o'clock, and sealed the fate of all who were
then in the mine. The effect of the repeated ex-
plosions had been, of course, almost wholly to destroy
the means of ventilating the mine. The doors and
stoppin gs in nearly every part of the mine had been
demolished, and the current of air, no longer com-
pelled to pass through the whole of the mine, on
its way to the upcast shaft, was felt only in the
direct level from one shaft to the other. The head-
ings and board-gates were totally without ventila-
tion, and became magazines of explosive gas. Au
" overthrow," or bricked archway, which was built
on the incline, about 160 yards from the cupola, to
carry the air over the workings, was blown down,
and the ventilation was necessarily destroyed in
that part of the mine. In other parts of the work-
ings the force of the blast produced the same
effects. When the third explosion took place, a
consultation was held at the pit-bank, and as the
shaft-gear was not injured, several persons volun-
teered to go down and rescue the poor fellows
who remained in the mine. The attempt to pene-
trate the workings was, however, entirely fruitless.
The men found they could pass with comparative
ease along the main road between the upcast and
downcast shafts, for a short time after the third
blast, in consequence of the current of air which
was travelling over the level; but in a sho
of the
short time
this path became impassable by the advance
clock'deace
descend
orders
fire
ea nids
issue
fetde rt•edaa
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01f0thoer
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xtPedl°Bwwih thewere
after-damp, but a
ns uninjured ; others
few minutes in the fresh air revived them; others,
again, were burnt or bruised more or less seriously,
cOonmempoono,rwfealsloswo' William Davy, of Woburnt that he only survived a few
remove far as
removed the
pli seug
wasc se.usion that preuwveailed at wereh
tablee pitto
lastann iseicanerruttsaetisnP,
uai
:b?h
theie confusion
in the face of an order from n
the nightproprietorsand
" not to give any informationoeof
to
any reporters," the injured Were as follow :—Geo.
Pickering (fireman), Hollingsworth, Samuel Tyas,
Joseph Walton, John Bellerby, Samuel Soresby,
Hewitt, Swift, Morrison, William Davy, and Ed.
Hunt. In addition to these, there were several
other wounded men who had been removed to
Barnsley.

George Pickering, the fireman, is most seriously
injured. He had gone down the pit in the forenoon,
after hearing of the accident and the firing of the
coal, and when the last explosion took place was in
one of the headings. The blast passed over him,
licking up with its tongue of flame his clothes and
hair and leaving him almost dead. By some
means he managed to crawl to the pit bottom, and
was brought out and removed to his house in Wors-
boroP, about half a mile distant from the colliery.
There he lay on a temporary bed in the house-place

p.44*.
in an agony of pain, carefully tended .7 .„;,i,A4 ‘-''' , .- isgr,7
(
and daughters, who were administering : . r'.-711,5:14LA1;
dies as they were able. Around the bed std aii
s
group of grimy miners, some of whom had been in
the pit 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'll weather it yet,
George," said one of his fellow-workmen ; 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 chalice remain( d 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 he allowed to descend. During the draw-
ing out much confusion had of course prevailed, and
no complete list of those recovered could be made
out. 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 eiztirely gone, the
only current of air being from the down cast to the
up-oast slif f+ and in-that space it was known no one
was, 'f:...:':,c,:',,-, names of those who are still in -the
.1..._ : - - --5, but still it includes 39 naniefi-
There may be 12 or 14 ein the pit whose names
4nor
are not known. -.-,
The revelations of the last body of explorers who
colliery
ydeodf thehe mineo convincediene of thefurther
rtmhaenr ofaegffeorsrts ,
and
they immediately tueneci-theirx`attention to other
means of extinguiabi,*4- he fire, which was still
raging below. It was also known that the destruct
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.

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