The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEIVIBER 17, 1862.

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(Prom the Times Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, DEC. 5.

Mr. Chase's Financial Report, which ought to
have accompanied the President's Message, was
only sent in to-day. Rumours that it would not
be of the most agreeable character to the tax paying
community had been current during the week,
though few were prepared for so gloomy an exhi-
bition as the document has proved. The Northern
people have been accustomed to boast that they
were carrying on the greatest war and opposing
the greatest rebellion recorded in history. They
may now boast, on the authority of Mr. Chase's
balance-sheet, if the lugubrious figures will allow
them to be merry, that they have contracted a
larger debt in a shorter space of time than any
nation that ever flourished, and that they piled up
the mountain of liabilities in no attempt to secure
their liberty or independence, or to repel foreign
tyranny or aggression, but in withholding from
their brothers and co-equals the rights which their
forefathers, under Washington, wrested from George
111., and in reversing the lesson and the maxim of
t heir own origin as a nation. The estimated debt
to the Ist of July, 1863, is upwards of 1,122,000,000
dols.—a sum that, prior to the depreciation of the
paper currency, would have represented above
£224,000,000 sterling. If the war lasts until the
close of Mr. Lincoln's term of office there will have
been incurred, on Mr. Chase's estimate, an addi-
tional debt of nearly 900,000,000 dollars, or
£180,000,000 sterling. But Mr. Chase is the most
sanguine of financiers; he believes that the country
can bear the burden were it thrice as heavy, and
thinks its resources are so unlimited that it will
ultimately pay off all its liabilities in gold. He is
not positive that the grand result can be speedily
obtained, but is of opinion that the next generation,
if not the present, will find all things right, finan-
cially, socially, and politically, and that gold min-
ing in the Pacific States and continued immigration
from Europe into the Atlantic States will more than
heal all the ravages of the war, and make the free
North the first and most prosperous of nations.
The taxgatherer will shortly test the value of thase
predictions. At present New York does not ap-
pear to give it self much concern about Mr. Lincoln's
Message and proposal for the solution of the slavery
question. The year 1900 is too remote for its
thoughts. The churches will probably make some
kind of a pronunciamiento on Sunday, and the Rev.
Messrs. Beecher and Cheever will declare them-
selves for or against the scheme; but the politicians
show as much indifference as the directors of the
Bank of England would display to one of Dr. Cum-
ming's predictions of the end of the world, if such a
subject could be introduced into the untheological
precincts of the Bank parlour.
The Tribune and Evening Post, alone faithful
among the faithless, find cheering and noble words
in the Message. The other papers have little to
say, except in goodnatured disparagement, and the
people are too busy to consider the details of
a scheme which not one man in a thousand
believes will ever have a practicable shape. A
slight murmur of disapprobation is heard among
the class—by no means a small one—in this country
which believes that the negroes in the South are
happier in slavery than they would be in, freedom,
and which objects to any consideration of the sub-
ject by Congress, or to any payment by the Federal
Government for the purposes of emancipation.
These persons decline to debate the subject of
slavery, and deny the duty of the President to in-
terfere with it. " Slavery may be right, or it may
be wrong," they say, "but, right or wrong, it is
none of our business either to allow or abolish it,
and, least of all, to pay for the conversion into free
labourers of 4,000,000 of slaves against the wishes
of the white population of the South, who have the
same sovereign right to deal with the matter as the
Emperor of Russia end the Emperor of China have
to manage the affairs of their respective countries,
The President is misled by the Abolitionists; but
the common sense of the country will override his
fancies, and in two years we shall be quit both of him
and the Abolitionists; and a mighty riddance it
will be." Such is the common talk of the reinvigo-
rated and triumphant Democrats. Whatever may
be the case in New England, where Abolitionism is
a political as well as religious faith, a great majo-
rity of the people of the North and West sympa-
thize with the Democrats in this respect, and care
nothing about the negro. Some of them wish there
were no negroes in America, others would like to
see the whole negro population of the Free States
transported to the South, to be utilised and enslaved
if necessary for the cultivation of cotton, rice, and
sugar; while some few would be gratified if all the
free negroes scattered through New York, Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, and the district of Columbia could be
located by aid of Congress in Massachusetts, even
though the infliction should compel that philan-
thropic community to raise the banner of Secession.
The negro has few friends out of the pulpit in the
State of New York, fewer still in the city, and every
agitation of his claims to freedom which Mr. Lin-
coln inaugurates, in letter, proclamation, or Mes-
sage, but increases the popular dislike of the black
man, and the discredit of the Administration.

The delay before Fredericksburg, so well calcu-
lated to cause disquietude and the fear of winter
quarters for the army of the Potomac, is repre-
sented by the friends of the Administration as a
grand stroke of policy. While General Burnside
marches by the shortest road to Richmond, Gen.
Banks is to strike simultaneously on the doomed
city, either by way of the James or the York River ;
and how, it is asked, could General Burnside move,
if General Banks were not ready ? The greatest
secrecy has been maintained with regard to the
destination of the large force which is known to
have been entrusted to General Banks. The Gene-
ral himself, when asked by a too inquisitive Yankee
from Massachusetts whither he was going, discreetly
replied that he was going South. When asked by
the same undaunted interlocutor how many men he
had, he as prudently answered, " A good many."
He took his departure yesterday on board a Govern-
ment cutter, which conveyed him beyond the limits
of New York harbour to a larger vessel stationed
outside. Among the persons who accompanied him
in the cutter to bid him good speed were the Mayor
and principal officials of the city and port. Some
of these gentlemen, in the course of the proceedings
consequent upon the little banquet which was
hastily prepared for the occasion, endeavoured to
draw him out in a speech ; but General Banks was
not to be taken unawares. He made his speech
without betraying the secret or affording the
slightest clue to his destination ; it is, nevertheless,
exceedingly probable that Richmond knows all
about it, though New York is ignorant, and that
the traitorous birds of the air whispered it in the
secret chambers of Mr. Jefferson Davis. The Ge-
neral said he was never better satified with the pro-
spects undertaking.eedqaui
aoln toa hg ioso
wd
chance,s Thehe s,Nea
wn
York
oifrGovernmentkhi
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cgiven
ts
shtoohfue dae
htbheoemsi
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uts itist fityhe rdee,
ennobled.
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all
o be le
ektdos. ovhmaeTsre
hneetm been Government nt
expedition,
strengthened,lpeseaodvaiiitnei
go o
which
andfor
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-wapYpooirokteind
piece in the South, is believed to number at least
20,000, some say 40,000 men.

It has required a large fleet of troopships, trans-
ports, and steamboats to convey the men, ammuni-
tion, and stores to their destination, and the ambu-
lance corps which accompanies the expedition is
said to be extensive enough to provide for the
exigencies of the hardest fighting. The General
signalised his departure by an act which has en-
deared him to the Democratic party, and which
stands in pleasant contrast with the proceedings of
the War Department and of most of the Generals
who have been brought by the progress of hostili-
ties into antagonism with the civil power. A man

named Raught, afflicted with hernia, having been
improperly conveyed on board of one of the trans-
ports, and compelled to serve as a soldier in the ex-
pedition, an application for a writ of habeas corpus
was made before Judge Barnard, and granted re-
turnable before Judge M'Cann. The writ was served
upon General Banks, who replied that he could not
then produce the body of Raught, as the man was
on board the Northern Light—a vessel that had
already sailed but that he would have the ship
overhauled at the first opportunity, and Raught sent
ashore in obedience to the Court. The judge was
delighted at conduct so unusual in one of the mili-
tary masters of the Republic, and expressed his high
opinion of General Banks as a lawyer, a soldier, and
a gentleman. General Banks has gained a higher
reputation, with fewer drawbacks of personal
animosity and rancorous party hatred, than any man
whom the troubles of the times have produced, and
has the rare good fortune of being equally accept-
able to Republicans and Democrats. Should his
new expedition be of the magnitude commonly be-
lieved, and should he be as successful as his friends
hope, his real miseries will begin. His greatness
will always overshadow his contemporaries. Hs
will be put forward as a candidate for the Presi-
dency, and the yelping curs of faction will begin to
snap rAt his heels as they havi4-done at those of_
M'Clellan.

The publication of General Halleck's report has
created no ordinary sensation. Its effect has not
been to damage General, M'Clellan, but very seri-
ously to damage both General Halleck and Mr.
Secretary Stanton, if not the President, who is
obviously the person who himself divided M'Clel-
lan's forces at a time when concentration and
unity of purpose were essential to success. Were
the President compelled to change his Secre-
taries or Ministers by an address from both
branches of the Legislature, as a Constitutional
Monarch would be, or even as the Governor-
General of Canada or any other British colony is
bound to do, there can be no doubt that General
Halleck and Mr. Stanton would cease within a week
to hold office. But Mr. Lincoln is absolute; he does
not easily sacrifice his friends,
supporters, and
Ministers, even when the public good demands.
The chances are that these greatly damaged officials
will still retain their positions in the Government
as standing mementoes of that amiable good nature
in the President to which Mr. Wendell Phillips ap-
plies the harsh term of " imbecility," and the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher the milder phrase of "igno-
rance of affairs ;" but, although the President has
avowed himself responsible for all the acts of all his
Ministers—a very inconvenient doctrine in a con-
stitutional country—he has taken especial pains not
to assume as much responsibility for the acts of his
Generals. The load if he had done so would have
been too heavy even for shoulders so broad and backs
so strong to have borne undamaged. Three courts-
martial are now in progress to fix the responsibility
of failure where it ought to lie, and to serve by
their verdicts to keep the officers of the army to the
point of duty. General M'Dowell is charged with
treachery ; General Fitz John Porter with wilful
disobedience of orders ; and General Buell with gross
mismanagement and incapacity. All these trials
have already commenced. No one believes that
General M'Dowell is guilty of anything worse than
incompetency; and the prevalent belief is that he will
be honourably acquitted. General Fitz John Porter's
case will be more important. The charge against him
is obviously meant to reach General M'Clellan, and
will produce some curious revelations as the exami-
nations proceed. General Buell seems for the present
to have no friends, but as the scene of his opera-
tions was remote, and the details are very imper-
fectly known, it is possible that he may have a bet-
ter answer to make than his military rivals and
political opponents imagine. As General M'Clellan
is distinctly charged by General Halleck with delay-
ing for 11 days an important movement which he was
peremptorily- ordered to execute immediately, it
is possible that a fourth court-martial, surpassing in
interest the previous three, will be ordered, to prove
how thankless a task it is to hold high military
command in a country where attorneys sit in judg-
ment upon generals, to interfere with plans they
do not understand, and judge of strategy by its
possible political rather than by its actual military
results. General Pope, the vindication of whose
military character at the expense of that of Gen.
M'Clellan seems to be the main purpose of General
Halleck's report, not only is the accuser of and chief
witness against General Fitzjohn Porter, but has
brought charges against General Sigel, which the
latter is bound to meet as a gentleman and a sol-
dier; so that, all things considered, the spectacle
presented in the highest military circles of the Fe-
deral army is anything but pleasant to the Repub-
licans, who wish to exterminate the Southern
people by military agencies, and to the Democrats,
who cannot hope to uphold the Constitution as it
is and restore the Union as it was
army, well officered. without a strong

Mr. Stanton's report does not excite as much in-
terest as Gen. HaHeck's, but there is one part of it
that deserves more consideration abroad than it is
likely to receive in America. The War Secretary
asserts in the face of the world that the Federal
Government has 800,000 men in the field, fully
armed and equipped. This statement will not im-
pose upon Americans; they know better; they
may have to pay for that number, bat no such
army is in existence. Mr. Stanton, in penning the
paragraph, must have intended tit for Europe—and
if Europe believes it, all that can be said is that the
credulity of the Old World is as great as the bounce
and exaggeration of the New.
Official documents show that in the hospitals at
this moment there are no less than 130,000 men,
not one tenth of whom will ever fight again. New
York is full of soldiers who have never pulled a
trigger in warfare, and have no triggers to pull.
Every journal in the Federal North tells the tale of
desertion and of absenteeism without leave in
numbers that are, perhaps, as much exaggerated as
Mr. Stanton's estimate of the efficient strength of
the army, but which prove that there must be fire
somewhere if there be so much smoke. Besides all
this, it:is notorious that very few of the States have
raised even two-thirds of the men called for under Mr
Lincoln's two requisitions, and that New York is
from 30,000 to 40,000 in arrear. Bearing in mind
that at a former period of the war, when Mr. Chase
provided paper for the payment of 700,000 men,
there were but 540,000 actually in the service, it is
difficult not to believe that Mr. Stanton has deceived
himself or been deceived by his subordinates in the
new estimate of numbers which he has submitted to
Congress. But a good reason was required to ex-
plain to the country the non-enforcement of the un-
popular conscription ; where could the Government
find a better one than the fact—if it only were a
fact—that 800,000 volunteers were already in the
field P Considered under this aspect, Mr. Stanton's
Report has a domestic as well as a foreign purpose,
and may subserve the former far more effectually
than the latter.

The distress of the operatives of Lancashire has
touched a sympathetic chord in this city. The
British residents have organised a committee to
promote a subscription for their relief, and the
Chamber
a sum
Commerce, at
subscribedamounting
to 26,000 dots., in-
elusive of 7,000 dots. contributed by an unknown
donor, signing himself " Union," ,
kt the same time
of
Messrs. L. N. and G. Griswold upon the under-
standing that the relief was to be sent in kind, and
not in money, at the present high rate of exchange
—offered a new ship, lying in Boston, of the capa-
city of 1,800 tons, for the gratuitous conveyance of
the supplies, in addition to their own services in
superintending the shipment---a munificent dona-
tion, estimated in the room as equivalent to an addi-
tional sum of 20,000 dots. The tone of the speeches,
with one slight exception, was excellent, the gen-
tlemen present taking care to avoid the detestable
" buncombe" in which some of the newspapers in-

thrdheausedl
resources,
rvtdcae
err
sv uponenaegnnd
is
etuhorripec
unparalleled
hens
apuonabf
djr
ael
sglc
glorification of " our greatlrteeic:
teoecdbarhot ilpunt
retched little
power,
enoughttbul eetrhfiEialtl illimitable
the throes of the most terrible rebellion the world
itable
'rhe gentlemen who met and subscribed theii
money knew the power and positirn of England
better than the ignorant journalists who in this
city debase their craft and discredit their adopted
country—for they are most of them foreigners—and
showed their benevolence as well as their benefi-
cence by the manner in which they spoke and acted.
If a little self-gratulation crept into the proceed-
ings, human nature may be forgiven for the aberra-
tion, and it is not necessary to look in the mouth of
so fine a gift-horse to detect a lurking infirmity,
Public opinion in this country is so much higher
and purer than its supposed representatives that the
operatives of England who are to be relieved by
the gift may accept it in the spirit of the donors,
and not of the critics, and acknowledge the sym-
pathy to be as refreshing as the bounty.
A new incident is reported in the horrible case
of General or Colonel IN/Mein, the Union Guerilla
leader in Missouri, who deliberately shot ten men
because one man was not delivered up to him.
Allsman, the guide, for whose supposed death this
`bloody vengeance was taken, has reappeared in
good health at his own home I If be
allowed to escape the penalty of his misdeed, the
Federal authorities in Missouri will, like himself,
commit both a crime and a blunder. sewnn feed
ti
in

THE COLLIERY EXPLOSION NEAR

BARNSLEY.

WORSBOROUGH, TUESDAY MORNING.

Water is still being poured into the Edmund's
Main pit, with a view to the extinction of the fire;
the heat is tested from time to time, and has not
much varied since Friday—a fact which would in-
dicate that the fire has not yet been much operated
upon, though it is in that part of the mine where
the water will first accumulate.

An adjourned meeting was held yesterday in the
National Schoolroom, Worsborongh-dale, to pro-
mote a subscription for the relief of the injured and
bereaved. Subscriptions to the amount. of £550
were announced. A sub-committee of clergymen
was deputed to visit the homes of the sufferers,
and administer relief at once to those who were
necessitous. A committee was appointed to pro-
mote the subscription, and it was determined to
issue an appeal to the wealthy and benevolent on
behalf of the sufferers. It was officially announced
that 37 men (including one widower) have perished
by the explosion, and 22 single men and boys,
making a total of 59. The bereaved are 36 widows
and 93 children.

The inquest on view of the bodies of Geo. Pick-
ering and William Davy, who died after being got
out of the pit, was resumed yesterday afternoon by
Mr. Taylor, coroner.

Mr. C. Morton, the Government Inspector, was
present.

Mr. Stewart, of Wakefield, solicitor, and one of
the proprietors of Luniihill Colliery, appeared on
behalf of Messrs. Bartholomew, Tyas, and Mitchell,
the proprietors, who were also personally present;
Mr. Gill, of Wakefield, appeared for the friends of
the deceased. Mr. Brown and other colliery engi-
neers were also present.
The inquiry was directed mainly to the elucida-
tion of four points—namely, 1, what measures were
taken to obviate danger in that part of the mine
where the gas was fired, and where it is admitted a
continual issue of gas had to be dealt with ; 2, what'
steps were taken to put out the fire which was the
precursor of the explosion ; 3, what exertions were
taken to warn the miners on the danger becoming
imminent ; and 4, what was the general state of the
pit.

A brief description of the workings in that part
of the mine where the fire and subsequent explo-
sions occurred is necessary torender the evidence
intelligible to the non-mining reader. The mine
has three shafts—two downcast shafts, so called
from air going down them into the pit, and one up-
cast shaft, through which the air, after travelling
through the workings, carrying the noxious gas
away 'with it in a diluted form, passes out of the
pit. The two downcast shafts are almost close to-
gether ; the upcast shaft is at the distance of nearly
200 yards from them. The men descended and
ascended and the coals are drawn up the downcast
shafts. The upcast is surmounted by a cupola, and
has at the bottom two furnaces, in which large
fires were kept during the working of the colliery
to promote ventilation. Beds of coal lie at a con-
siderable incline, generally rising towards the sur-
face in a northerly direction, and dipping
deeper into the bowels of the earth in the opposite
direction. The shafts at Edmund's Main are sunk
at a medium point in this incline, the upcast being
at a higher level than the downcast. Extensive
workings have been made of the coal above the level
of the shaft bottoms ; but coal has latterly been got
chiefly from the lower levels. These lower beds
have been opened up by two parallel roads or pas-
sages, called " boardgates," following the decline of I
the coal for three-quarters of a mile from the down-
cast shafts. From these main passages, or board-
gates, other passages branch at right angles into
workings where the coal is being gradually got in
large squares. The branch passages, or roads, are
at three different points, the one nearest the shafts
being called the first half-way, the middle one the
second half-way, and the further one the Swaithe
levels. The main roads or boardgates are each about
8 feet wide, and are separated by a post or thick-
ness of ungot coal of the same breadth. Such roads
are excavated simultaneously, the miners carry a
current of air along with them in their excavations,
by means of temporary wooden partitions erected
nearly along the centre of the excavations, the air
going up one side of the partitions and returning
down the other. These wooden partitions are called
hrattioing " Wh.r, th, ,Pronvationa hay,' been
driven a length of 20 yards a " slit" or hole is made
through the poet of coal separating the two roads
or boardgates, the air passes up one boardgate
through the slit and down the other, and the brat-
ticing then becomes unnecessary, and is taken down.
A further length of 20 yards having been exca-
vated with the use of bratticing, another " slit" is
made, and the bratticing again dispensed with. As
each new slit is made the one nearer the shaft is
built up with bricks and mortar in order to force
the air forwards to the new and more distant slit.
The brickwork put in a slit is called a "stopping."
At the Edmund's Main Colliery this operation had
been repeated along the decline until the main roads
or boardgates were three-quarters of a mile in
length, all the slits being built yip with stoppings ex-
cept the last made; and the ventilating air conse-
quently passing from the downcast shafts right down
one boardgate through the slit at the far end and up
the other boardgate to the upcast shaft, portions
of the air leaving the main stream at the branch
roads mentioned diffusing itself over the workings
by the same process of double roads and bratticing,
returning to the main roads at more distant parts,
and so passing out of the npcast shaft. When it .
added that it was at the extreme end (or " face,, as
the part where coal is being got is termed) of these
gasthese
main roads or boardgates where the ignition
took place, which was the primary cause
of the ex-
plosion, sufficient will have been said to enable the
reader to understand very clearly the bearings of
the evidence. It may
be
as
well to say that the
main boardgates described are called `` dip" board-
gates, because they follow the decline of the coal.
The following witnesses were called :
Mr. Joseph Mitchell, jun., of Darley-road, engi-
neer, produced a plan correctly showing the whole
of the working places of the colliery. The shaft,
he said, is 105 yards deep. The Barnsley bed of
coal is worked in the pit; it averages 9ft. in thick-
ness.

Benjamin Clegg, of Worsborough-common, said,

...4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

—I am a fire-trier, or deputy, at the Edmund's Main
Colliery. I went into the pit at 12 o'clock on the
night of Sunday week. The exp osion occurred on
Monday. I went to the face of the dip boardgates.
There was no accumulation of gas, except that there
were two or three feeders (crevices from which gas
oozes) OR each side of the boardgates, and they were
very weak. These feeders were in both boardgates
at the face. The face was 10 yards beyond the laet
slit, and the air was carried from the slit to the lace
by brattice boards. The bras tieing extended to
within stt. of the face of each boardgate. The
boardgates were Bft. wide and Gott. high. The air
was good up to the face of the boardgates. I had
never known it better. The boardgate faces were
making about as much gas as usual. Blowers or
feeders were usual at the faces. We had always
gas there more or less. I saw nothing to lead
me to apprehend danger from gas. I stayed about
a quarter of an hour at the boardgate faces, and
then went away. I left James Johnson there.
His duty was to examine the boardgate faces to
see that they were clear of gas before shot were
fired, and also to fire the shots used in driving
forward the boardgates. Joseph Walton was also:
shot-firer. The shot-firers had been appointed on
the Friday before the explosion. The colliers had
previously fired their own shots. I have no doubt
they were appointed because it was considered
safer. I had heard of the gas firing there before
their appointment. Safety lamps were used in these.
boardgate faces. Naked lights were taken to within
nine or ten yards of the face by the horse lads.
By Jurors—Up to the morning of the Saturday
before the explosion, naked candles were used up
to the face of the boardgates. It was only then that
orders were given for lamps to be used at the board-
gate facings. The appointment of shot-firers was
made at the same time as lamps began to be used
at the face. After leaving the dip face on the morn-
ing of the explosion, I examined the south levels.
Geo. Lawton, the underground manager, and his
son came down soon after 5 o'clock. I told Law-
ton the state of the workings, mentioning in parti-
cular the blowers. Lawton said he had given orders
for safety lamps only to be used at the dip facings.
At 9 o'clock I went to the cupola furnace. James
Segley was there. I went to see how the furnaces
were. There were good fires. Everything appeared
to be going on as usual. The general ventilation
appeared to be good up to 9 o'clock. I saw no indi-
cations of danger at the furnace. At 9 o'clock I
came out of the pit and went home. I heard the
alarm a little after 12. I then went to the pit, and
about 1 o'clock descenued the pit shaft. Soon after
I got down I heard an explosion and felt the blast.
I and Guest were in the boxhole, which is eight
yards north of the downcast shafts, and is a kind
of cabin. There was much smoke, but I saw no fire
or sparks. There was also a great quantity of after-
damp. I had difficulty in getting through it. I
was drawn out as soon as I got to the shaft. I was
nearly insensible in passing through the after-damp
from the boxhole to the shaft, On getting to bank I
went to the office, and was requested to go again
into the pit to see if the cupola furnace was
still burning. I went, but did not see a bit
of fire, though I went within ten yards of
the furnace. There was so much smoke and
gas that I could not have remained for a moment
at the furthest point to which I went. John Guest
and Ralph Simms were with me. We returned
and came out of the pit directly. I went down the
pit a third time, about half-past 2 o'clock, with Mr.
R. R. Maddison and other men. We went down
the incline about six slit lengths, or 120 yards. The
stoppings were blown out of five of the slits. The
ventilation was stopped, and we could not get any
further on account of the smoke and after damp.
We therefore returned, We all agreed that we
could not get any further,. We heard no moanings
or other noises. It was impossible for may human
being to live in the atmosphere we were in at the
time. We saw no injured or dead body on the road.
It was.my opinion at the time that everybody in the
pit was dead. On reaching the stable end, which
is about 20 yards south of the shaft, we consulted.
We all told Mr. Maddison that no one could live in
the atmosphere, and that it was impossible to get
further than we had gone. After remaining five
minutes at the stable end, we returned to the bottom
of the pit and ascended to the surface. About 4
I went down the pit a fourth time, and assisted
to bring out nine horses which were in the stable.
The horses were got out alive, and did not appear
any worse. A tenth horse was killed in the pit; it
was not in the stable. I have been a collier about
35 years, and worked in many pits. I never was in
any pit so well ventilated as that of Edmund's Main.
James Johnson, of Worsbrough-common—l was
employed as shot-lighter at the Edmund's Main
Colliery. I was appointed by George Lawton, and
commenced my duties on the Friday evening before
the explosion. I was ordered by Lawton to light
the shots at the face of the dip board gates with
touchpaper, and was to cut the Eoft coal within a
foot of the face before lighting them. No other
person was to light the shots during my shift. I
had a Davy lamp. The hurriers had candles and
the colliers lamps. The hurriers went within five
yards of the face with the candles. There was
sulphur in the place. About 3 o'clock on Saturday
morning, while I was in the back board, I heard the
men wafting in the front board. When I got there
I found gas blazing right across the face, just under
the edge of the soft coal. William Archer and
William Fisher were trying to waft the fire out. I
and the other men helped them, taking our turns at
it, and in about an hour we got it out. We used
lamps during this time. The coal got red, but did
not blaze; only the gas blazed. The gas fired at
the candle of the hurriers. We got the fire out about
4 o'clock ; I stayed until 4.20 a.m. to see that all
was right. I then went away, taking the men with
me. I would not have any more done till I had ,
seen Lawton, I told Mr. Lawton what happened,
and he said then we must use nothing but lamps.
Nobody in the boardgates had naked lights after
that but the horse-drivers. They came down to
the corves with their light to hang on that would
be four or five yards from the face. I went to my
duties as shot-firer for the second time on Sunday
night. I fired two shots during Sunday night.
Nothing particular happened during the night. I
came out 20 minutes before G o'clock on Monday
morning. All went on well up to that time. I saw
Lawton at the pit bottom as 1 out.camlesaidno .He
al
al hadsked
me if anything had happened.
Sunday
yalgloitnhge lieDuring sa said
ohne
downgo gone onth
e right
dip ibne
boardgate.
gsal .
men in my boardgate had safety lamps. I re-
turned to the pit about 12 o'clock on Monday, hav-
ing then been told of the explosion. I went down
the pit between 12 and 1 o'clock. On reaching the
pit bottom I observed smoke in the south level. We
went down the engine plane after Benjamin Hoyland
and other Men. We went about 300 yards, but did
not reach the first half-way. We found liloyland
and others repairing stoppings which had been blown
out, I left Joseph Taylor thcre, and came out' for
sheeting to repair the stoppings. I took one lot of
sheeting, and went for a second lot. I returned
with more sheeting, and when I got nearly to the
first half-way, 400 yards from theshaft,l heardstod
the gas " suck.' I said I was going, and stood
close to the post. It went off with a loud report,
followed by a blast. The " suck" came up the dip,
and the blast down it, from the direction of the fur-
nace. The blast followed the " suck" in a moment.
I was carrying a lamp, two carving knives, three
picks, a stretcher, canvas, and blankets. All were
blown from me with but the blanket, which was
wrapped round my neck. Immediately on recover-
ing myself I wrapped the blanket round my head,
and called on James Shaddock (known as "Lofty")
to do the same, saying,. " Let us be off." On start-
ing to run, he trod on the blanket and fell. "Lofty"
then stuffed his muffler in his mouth ; I wrapped
the blanket round my head, and away we ran to-
wards the shaft. Before being appointed shot-firer