The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-22 00:00:00

THE DREADFUL COLLIERY ACCIDENT
IN NOBTIITIJIBBBLAND.

SHIELDS, TI7EBDAY, 9 A.M.

The condition of the poor women and children '
residing in the colliery village of New Hartley,
from which I have just returned, is that of "mourn-
ing, lamentation, and woe." This morning the fifth
night of the imprisonment of the husbands and
children of the women has passed away, and the
sixth day has dawned, but only to reveal to us that
hope, which has buoyed up the poor women and
children during the past five days, must give way
to despair, as it is to be feared that every soul
within the pit has perished. A few short weeks
ago I was travelling in a third class carriage on a
" Pay Saturday" with a number of poor women be-
longing to this and adjacent pits, who had been to
Newcastle making their marketings, and I listened
with much interest to their simple and womanly
expression of sympathy with the noblest lady of the
land, whom they termed " our poor Queen," in her
great bereavement. Now the Angel of Death,
which found its way into the Palace, has swept
over their cottage homes, and their case this
morning is one that recommends itself to every
sympathetic heart. The telegram I sent hence
last night was not cheering. I might have given
expression to more gloomy forebodings, but we
have all been " hoping against hope ;" and,
though the conditions of life under which the poor
creatures in the pit were supposed to be living were
among the most depressing consistent with human
existence, yet the assurance was always given that
the air was certain to be good in the yard seam,
and that there was plenty of water. Last night,
after I left the pit to send off my telegraphic mes-
sage from this town, the prospects of saving the
men became less favourable; and, as I did not re-
turn to the pit until 5 o'clock this morning, I am
therefore indebted to a local paper for the follow-
ing particulars of what transpired after my leaving
up to 1 o'clock this morning :

" 8 o'Clock.

" Once more the shift men have come to bank,
and once again a more favourable statement is made.
While working at the mass of timber impacked be-
low the bucket door, the hole previously alluded to
was sufficiently enlarged for the admission of a lan-
tern, but it was not lowered far. The men work
steadily among the wood and small stones, and
while they work they are gratified by hearing the
sound of pebbles falling from underneath the ob-
structing material, and this proves beyond doubt
that the hoped-for vacancy must exist, and as soon
as the firmly fixed portion of material is once
loosened, the long hoped for fall will take place. A
man now sits in the hole opposite the bucket door,
to direct the working during the temporary absence
of Mr. Coulson, who came up at 6 o'clock. While
the work proceeds the water falls down amain from
the craggy sides above, but no danger of further
falls is dreaded. Abaut 7 o'clock a quantity of
smoke, that must have accumulated in the furnace
drift before the fire in the yard seam was extin-
guished, found vent and came away up the pit.
Time being now more and more valuable, none is
expended in jowling ' experiments, and nothing is
heard from the interior of the yard seam or the fur-
nace drift. It seems now more probable than ever
that the men will be-reached before the sixth day
of their captivity dawns.

" 10 O'CLOCK P.M.

"Notwithstanding that the various officials on the
platform endeavour to put a good face on the mat-
ter, it is painfully evident that the hope now re-
maining is of that character which serves merely to
gild despair. Those only who descend the shaft
and work for the removal of the knotty obstructions
they find there can form a correct opinion of the
task on which they are engaged. These men have
been from the first, if not despondent, at least doubt-
ful as to the accomplishment of their task, and while
they have refrained from expressing aught that
might lead to increase the fears of those affected by
the calamity, their silence on the subject has boded
no good. The viewers, on the contrary, always ex-
press themselves in noperul terms, and Invariably
put the most favourable construction on the sternest
facts that are communicated to them from below,
while, if there is any intelligence of an encouraging
nature it is by no means rendered less cheering by
the version given by these gentlemen. Meanwhile
melancholy broods gloomily over the row of cottages
facing towards the colliery ; and the cccupants, con-
sisting now almost entirely of women, l;abitually
speak in a fearful undertone, as though a sick man
lay in each house whose life depended on the preser-
vation of deathlike stillness. The inquest on the
bodies of the men killed by the fall of the cage will
be held to-morrow at the Hastings Arms, Seaton
Delaval, but unless the men should be got from the
pit in the meantime the proceeding will probably be
simply formal. It is worthy of note that among so
great a number of people as have visited the colliery
since the catastrophe no accident has occurred, not-
withstanding that the Blyth and Tyne Railroad,
where trains are constantly running, seems to be
used as the principal means of approach for pedes-
trians to the colliery.
" With reference to the suggestion made by a cor-
respondent and noticed in a previous despatch, we
learn, since that notice was written, that a telegram
has been received by Mr. Humble, resident viewer,
recommending the same means of supplying the
men in the seam with food. The message, which
is said to have been sent from Bristol, was submitted
to Mr. John Carr, and to other viewers ; but the
suggestion was not considered a practicable one, in-
asmuch as the drilling might occupy six or seven
days, even if it could be accomplished from the shaft
instead of from the high main.

,' 10 10 O'CLOCK.

" The accounts from the pit are very gloomy.
The hole has been made larger, and is sunk near
the seam. Great apprehensions are entertained
with regard to the stythe. Should these fears prove
correct there is great danger.

" 10 30 o'CLocK.

" A slight fall has occurred, and has blocked up
the aperture, but this obstacle is expected to be
removed in half an hour.

~ 11 O'CLOCK.

" Discouraging news reached the bank. Mr.
Wilkinson, one of the men in charge of the working
party, was sent down to examine the hole alluded-
to in a former paragraph. He started with the 7
o'clock shift, and remained until shortly before 10
o'clock. In the interval the men were directed to
apply their efforts vigorously to the enlargement
and further sinking of this aperture in the direction
of the furnace drift. They did so with a will. From
time to time Alte. Wilkinson examined the aperture,
and though at each inspection a man of his experi-
ence must have detected more and more unfavour-
able symptoms, he dauntlessly thrust his head as
far down as possible, with a view of testing the
state of the air. Wilkinson was brought to bank
suffering from the effects of thefooul hi inhalation, and
Dr. Davidson at once attended
t
16A deputation of men has come up. from among
the crowd requesting to be informed of the true
state of affairs. Mr. Coulson offered to allow two
of them to go down the shaft and examine for
themselves, and they have descended. They ima-
gined that the bodies had been found, and that the
intelligence was kept from them.
" HALF-PAST 11 O'C
LOCK.
" The excitement gradually increased among the
crowd until it culminated on the return to bank of
the deputation,Charles Gallagher and John *Lead,
-rho had been down in the pit. One of these
loving made his way into the middle of the crowd,
said
.11oud, ' There is not a morsel of stythe. There
is water enough to drown a man, but there is no
sty the.' Mr. Foster, who had just come up the
shaft, and was standing with a number of other
people against the railing of the coal platform over-
looking the crowd, then spoke to the assemblage.
lie said, 'Then the men are satiffied that every-
thing has been done that can be done, and that they
are told the true state of the ease. There is no
fear of the men if there is no stythe,but, to tell you
)he truth, I am afraid that there is stythe.'
" A man in the crowd asked if it was correct that
they had heard jowls up to yesterday P Mr. For-
ster replied that he believed so. Mr. Wilkinson
would not tell him a lie, and Mr. Wilkinson had
told him what he had told them.
"Mr. Emmerson, one of the men who works in