The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-19 00:00:00

THE TVO_RSBOXOUGHDALE CALAIIII7

ANO r HER EXPLOSION.

The Edmund's Main Colliery was on Wednesday
the scene of another explosion, which, though hap-
pily unattended with loss of life, has, no doubt,
from its extraordinary violence, seriously damaged
the workings of the colliery, and what is still more
unfortunate, has made the reopening of the colliery
and the recovery of the bodies a question of months
instead of days. The fire, it will be remembered,
originated at the extreme point of the dip board-
gates. Hopes were entertained that it had not ex-
tended into the workings, though the course of the
last explosion on the Bth, and the continued high
temperature of the air in the shafts, suggested seri-
ous doubts on that point. The end of the dip board-
gates must have been filled with water some dal°
ago, and had the fire been confined to them it
would now have been extinguished. The explosion
of Wednesday proves beyond a doubt that it is not
confined to that point, but has reached a portloll
of the workings very much nearer the shafts. DLit-
ing that morning Mr. Woodhouse, the colliery en'
gineer of Derby, arrived at the colliery, and con"
suited with Mr. Morton, the government inspector,
Mr. Brown of Derby, and the other mining enge•
neers ana colliery viewers present. Mr. Woodhouse
was informed in detail of the state of the pit, 8° far
as it could be ascertained after the first explosions/
of the putting in of water, and the other steps taken
thereupon, and expressed his full concurrence 113
and satisfaction with what had been done: The
question for consideration then was, whether the
time had arrived for descending the shafts to aseeir•
tain the state of the mine more decisively than could
be done at the surface, with a view to the recovel
of the bodies. It should b© stated that althouo
the boardgates and workings of the mine were on'
ventilated, as the result of the explosion, and there`
fore impenetrable, a current of air continued t°
circulate between the downcast and upcast or cDP°III
shaft, and that this portion of the mine was there'
fore quite accessible as a mere matter of ventilation'
The temperature of the air in the upcast shaft O
taken to guide the engineers, and the condition s
the atmosphere carefully noted. It was found 011
the temperature was still at 55 degrees in the UP'
cast and 42 degrees in the downcast shafts, a 0 et
Friday last. There was also a slight emission 41'
smoke from the upcast shaft. A list of volunteer*
moat of whom were about the pit at the time, bsa r
been made out, and every requisite provided '°
descending and attempting to re-open the minemine.,
the engineers should so deoide ; but as the result of
a long and anxious deliberation, the engineers 70
tided to continue the pouring of water intneti
mine, and to defer any attempt to reopen it nut' 1,
further consultation. Mr. Woodhouse left tbe
liery to take train to London, and Mr. Morton P rovic
ceeded to Barnsley on his way home. Tll° Tat
place about ten minutes after three o'clock, an"te,
25 minutes after three the proprietors, engieee
colliery viewers, and spectators still in the nel,, 0
bourhood of the pit were startled by the boom n'L/0
explosion far louder, sharper, and more terrific te;
even that which sealed the fate of the men still I
the pit on the afternoon of the Bth inst. Insta
a dense column of black smoke rose from the cuPetii
Its height was estimated at more than 100 feet, go
it remained for a few moments as clearly The
sharply defined as the steeple of a church. eic
explosion was so violent that it not only forced ban,
the current of air which was descending the 000
cast shafts, but vomited from them also an imraelea
volume of smoke, carried on a blast which hillr
Of the
away the planks placed across the mouth 0- a
shaft, snapping some of them in two like laths)
,eng,,
tossing the others against the head of the genr,elso
whence they fell to the bottom of the
when the force of the current had spent its
t 8
In a few moments the current h
resumed 1 .
aetOf
natural course down the downcast 0 e 0
but the 'cupola continued to emit thick voleleio
of smoke until evening. The explosion
of
described by experienced persons as °he the
the most violent that ever occurred in
mining districts of the north. Had there e7OO
gearing over the cupola shaft, in which there was
opposing current to beat back, it would undeub..o
edly have been torn to pieces ; but the current tart
spent itself without obstacle. On the occurreilc
of the explosion Mr. Bartholomew, one of the P°.
prietors, drove to Barnsley in pursuit of Mr. I‘l°..
ton, who returned with him to the colliery at half'
la at
past four o'clock. A consultation was then be 'l3,
which it was unanimously determined, es t
safest and most expeditious mode of extinguiehnl °f
the fire, to fill up the cupola shaft to the dePtil,;,
16 yards—ten yards above all communication 7;
the workings—with earth and clay ;to cover tie
downcast earth, and puddle the mouths of the
downcast shafts, so as effectually to shut out
%
air; and to flood the whole dip workings DP to at
engine shaft with water. Parties of men Were 00
W
'
once organised and told off to the work,
proceeding vigorously at the time our reporter Iteor
the pit. Preparations were also being made The
turning in a much stronger stream of water' are
full consequence of this renewed exPlc'eirt Was
scarcely perceived at the first glance. it,ie
originally determined to pour water into the Ferni,
the hope that the fire was confined to the e ixtsaaj
ties of the dip boardgates, and that a few thouo„a
gallons would be sufficient to extinguish it. joge
this proved to be the case, the demolished stePPtija•
and airways would have been replaced, the yen ere-
lion restored, the bodies recovered, and the °Pot
tions of the pit resumed in a few days, or at n't the
few weeks. It is now, however, clear that the
second or third explosion on the Bth inst. fire_, that
coal at some point much nearer the shafts, a
ha'auf
it is still smouldering. Where this fire is can nt 0
be even conjectured; but the small awn° ear
smoke that had issued up to Wednesday 100 hoe
sidered to be a tolerably good proof that it i_htifte
in the immediate vicinity of the up-cast :oil
Wherever located, its existence renders Deeeeeter•
the flooding of the entire dip workings with ws:liea
The water is now supposed to have about re ;ere
the second half-way. Though arrangements Dif
being made on Wednesday evening for larrgwoo
augmenting the present stream of Wate re-
as to expedite the filling of the mine, the fire
cess of drawing out the water again when the r°.
shall have been extinguished will be veri 00
tracted and tedious, as well as very costl3:; Pit
several months will probably elapse before thisloreee
can be re-opened and no, dead recovered.e
for
thousands of pounds will be swallowed ie th oarlf
page and the expenditure, and meanWhilieornente
300 men and youths are thrown out of°lllPs the,Shef.
The primary cause of the explosion (63Y than 1100
field Independent) is believed to be deePer Womb'
yet been indicated. About March last the p sole&
well Main Colliery took fire. The shafts Wel eat
In
- order to
and the pit filled with choke damp, 11$31
out the fire. The workings of the Worn- Vie, bun"
reach, at the nearest point, to within a e" gape
dred yards of the dip levels of the Edmund':
tio
Colliery. The choke damp is much heavie iosiee
the carbonic acid or explosive gas. The "Po,ss übe
gas in the Wombwell main will consequen Jere
re
forced back into the seams of coal by the P 4.0 the
of the choke damp, and through them 10'4 eQ
workings of the Edmund's Main Colliery ; su, the
doubt is entertained that this is the cause o'aric,
unusual quantity of gas which exuded in the jou
ing of the dip boardgates, where the first ign,
took place. In proof of this it is asserted tlito the
d,
pouring of water into the dip levels of the
on°
mund's Main is causing a corresponding pre-
of gas in 'Wombwell Main Colliery:

A large merchant vessel, the Christ()
has enterei the canal of Castigneau at Toulon, for tl'a
purposeoa of taking on board a number of disnaounted 01'
Cher
rts for conveyance to Cochin China. The Noshek, Oa:
merchant ves,el, is loading provisions and stores I°'
Reunion.
TRADE IN PERTIL—The weavers employed ill
the manufacture of woollen goods, such as druggets, galT)
petticoats, Scc., have plenty of work, and are ntaking los.
188, per week. Several of the manufacturers here have !eel;
received orders from France for ladies' linen dresses, which
Pile CO
wid ei.ploy a large number of hands. The cotton weave !
continue to be poorly off, and the wages rb-alised are I.ov
above Gs. to 9s. A great many persons connected las with
thera,
building trade, as joiners, masons, slaters, and p
are idle at present, there being no building of any ccinaeli
quence in course of erection, nor are their prospects tilt a
encouraging for tte enbuing year.—dotstnon.
rers,