The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-22 00:00:00

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Fearful Colliery Explosion near I -' •
THIRTY PERSONS KILLED AND TWENTY—TWO
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As we announced Sun
of
yesterday a ter-
, rible accident occurred at Merthyr Tydfil on Wed-
nesday morning in the Upper Gethin Coal-pit, be-
longing to Mr. William Crawsbay, of Caversham
Park, Reading, and proprietor of the Cyfarthfa
Ironworks. It will be in the recollection of many
readers that about four years ago a similar catas-
trophe, but still more frightful in extent, happened
in this place, by which 47 men and. boys were killed.
The scene of that calamity-was also the Gethin pit;
but, in order to make it clear to persons unac-
quainted with the place, it will be necessary to state
that the Gethin pit comprises
two systems of coal
workings connected by two drifts or headings, and
to a certain extent they have one system of ventila-
tion common to both. They are situated one above
the other on the side of the mountain,
the shafts
being about 600 yards apart, and thus go by the
names Upper and Lower Gethin, being worked as
two distinct pits. In the lower pit, which was the
scene of the former accident, two seams of coal are
worked respectively 4 feet and three feet in thick-
ness, while in the Upper Gethin, which is about 200
yards deep, 70 yards deeper than the Lower Gethin,
the 9 feet coal is worked. • The Upper Gethin, the
scene of the present deplorable disaster, is a much
newer pit than the Lower Gethin—in fact, it was
sunk for the purpose of securing a more efficient and
perfect ventilation for the Lower Gethin----and the
workings have not beenvery far extended yet. There
is only one up-cast for the two pits. The explosion
on Wednesday took place in a heading on the east
level, in which were about 40 men at the time, and
out of that number no less than 30 have been killed.
All the rest, with two exceptions, are burnt and
bruised frightfully. The force of the blast was so great
that it extended to the whole level and injured many
other men, so that no fewer than 22 were more or
less seriously injured. Of these, four are terribly
bad cases, expected to terminate fatally. The acci-
dent happened about 8 o'clock, about an hour after
the " day turn" hands had gone in. Nobody knows
where it broke out, but an old stall is mentioned
several colliers as having been reported " on fire,"
and it is said that the overman had warned the col-
liers against entering it in consequence; but no-
thing positive can be said on this head. Out of the
30 men and boys killed only three met their death
by the fire, but these were scorched almost to a
cinder, and their features were so obliterated that
they could be hardly recognised. David Beddoe,
the overman, who was not the regular overman of
this pit, was killed ; he was fearfully charred, but
his brother, who happened to be on the spot when
he was brought to the pit's mouth, and had no idea
of his being in the mine, recognised him by his
watch. Out of the whole number working in the
heading at the time only two escaped unhurt. These
are John Hall and Thomas Hall, his brother. The
former states that he worked at the furthest end of
the east level, and was made aware of the fact that
something serious had happened by hearing a loud
" puff." He immediately left his work and went to
warn his brother, but he had hardly time to do that
before he heard another " puff," and then the air
became all at once so oppressively hot and dense
with dust that he fell down in a state of stupor.
However he, along with his brother, roused himself,
and by a happy circumstance they were saved. The
elder, John, had his can of tea with him, and he had
sufficient presence of mind to dash their faces con-
tinually with this which kept them fresh. By this
means they retained consciousness and strength
enough to find their way out of the heading to the
bottom of the shaft. As they came along they
stumbled over their fallen and helpless comrades,
and although they repeatedly called to them, in no •
solitary instance did they obtain an answer. The
force of the blast reached even to the bottom of the
shaft, for there two workmen were blown violently
into the sump and sustained severe injury. This cir-
cumstance, connected with the fact that the fire did
not reach John Hall, at the end of the east level,
which does not run more than about 400 yards from
the shaft would tend to show that the focus of the ex-
plosion could not have been more than a couple
of hundred yards from the bottom of the shaft.
The excitement in Merthyr when the news came up
was intense, and people ran down to the pit in large
numbers ; but it was a remarkable feature of the
multitude of men, women, and children assembled
at the mouth that there was no manifestation of
that vehement grief which so frequently characterises
such scenes. The crowd was quiet and orderly,
and the quiet was broken only now then by the sob
of a woman or a child. On the roadway in front
of the shaft a space was cleared, and a lot of straw
spread out, upon which the poor fellows were laid
as they were brought up, and the system of Dr.
Marshall Hall for the restoration of asphyxiated
persons was practised upon them by Dr. Thomas,
chief of the medical staff at Cyfarthfa, Drs. Wills,
Dyke, Probert, and Miles. At the same time
powerful restoratives were applied, but all to no
purpose—the fatal choke damp, as the colliers call
it, had done its work only too well, and the lifeless
bodies were then removed one after another and
placed upon trucks, upon which they were afterwards
conveyed by the engine to Cyfarthfa, where their
friends, who were most demonstrative in their grief
here, awaited them. A very touching incident is
related in connexion with this part of the melancholy
affair. One of the men who were burnt (we have
already stated that their features were literally obli-
terated by the fire) was taken to the wrong house.
The poor wife was on the eve of confinement, and
the shock was so dreadful that the pangs of labour
came on at once, and she had to go to bed iu
woeful state. Meantime, her friends washed the
body and laid it out, believing it was the man of the
house, but they had scarcely completed their
mournful task when the husband of the horror-
stricken wife walked into the house hale and well.
The scene may be better imagined than described.
We never heard of its parallel. The charred remains
were shortly afterwards removed to another house,
and this time to the proper one. When the in-
telligence was communicated to Mr. R. J. Craw-
shay, of Cyfarthfa, Castle, the resident proprietor
of the works, he, accompanied by Mr. Jones, the
manager, and many of the agents, repaired promptly
to the spot and rendered such aid as they could.
Mr. Moody, the viewer of the pits ; Mr. Kirkhouse,
mine agent ; Mr. Carnew, the viewer of Plymouth
Collieries, and the relays of workmen, exerted
themselves heroically for the recovery of the bodies,
and by 11 o'clock, three hours after the sad occur-
rence, the whole of the men had been brought up.
Mr. Moody, the viewer of this pit, was also viewer
of the Lower Gethin at the time of the accident
there. As to the cause of the present catastrophe
speculation is rife, but nothing positive can be stated
until an investigation has taken place. It is worthy
of note, however, so far as it may be attributable
to carelessness on -the part of one or more of the
workmen, that a very important case was tried in
the Merthyr Police-court last week, in which two
workmen were charged with tampering with their
lamps in this very pit. The evidence against them
was not conclusive to the satisfaction of the magis-
trate, and they Were dismissed. How far any such
negligence may have had to do with the present ac-
cident it would be premature to say. An inquest
will be held on the bodies, and no doubt facts will
then be forthcoming upon which an opinion may be
founded as to the cause of this lamentable affair.

PRICE 4d.,
STAMPED sd.

The Institution of Civil Engineers.

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