The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-24 00:00:00

THE DREADFUL COLLIRRY A CCIDENT

IN NORTH UMBERLAND.

SHIELDS, THURSDAY MORNING.

The sinkers have been pursuing their labours
during the night to make the shaft in Hartley New
Pit secure from the fall of stone and to effeet better
ventilation in the workings ; but until these are
finished no active operations can be recommenced
to remove the bodies of the 215 men and lads out
of the mine. The colliery authorities have furnished,
as far as they have been enabled to do so, a list of
the poor fellows who have lost their lives in the pit.
It is as follows, and is the most terrible record, as
regards numbers, that has been published in con-
nexion with colliery accidents in the North country,
or perhaps in England :—Amour, James, married,
back-overman; Amour, Richard, boy, son of the
above; Allan, William, married; Atwell, Frank,
married; Atchison, Adam, married; Alderton,
William, married ; Ainsley, John, married ; Arm-
strong, John, married; Armstrong, Edward, boy,
Armstrong, John, boy—sons of the above ; Ander-
son, William, boy; Beoadfoot, John, single; Brown,
George, married, brakesman at inclined plane ;
Bewick, Robert, killed on Thursday week, Bewick,
John, married, Bewick, James, married, brothers ;
Birtley, Samuel, married ; Brown, William, mar-
ried, killed on Thursday week ; Blackburn, Samuel,
married; Burn, William, single; Brown, Thomas,
married, Brown, Ralph, single, brothers; Bell,
Mark, single ; Bell, Thomas, married; Bell,
Thomas, boy, cousin of above; Burn, John, mar-
ried; Burn, Thomas, boy, son of above; Ben-
nett, John, married; Cole, Thomas, married,
deputy-overman ; Clough, Henry, married, rolley-
way-man, first day in pit ; Campbell, James,
married ; Coulson, John, married, Cheetham,
Alfred, married; Chambers, Thos., married ;
Chambers, Clark, son of above; Carling, Geo., mar-
ried; Cross, Philip, married; Cross, Philip, single,
son of above; Cousins, John, boy, Cousins, Robert,
boy—brothers ; Davidson, John, married, a rolley-
way man; Davidson, Wm., boy, son of above;
Dixon, Wm., married; Dawson, Thos., married;
Dawson, John, boy, son of above; Duffy, Patrick,
married ; Duffy, James, boy, son of above ; Dixon,
Win., single ; Douglass, John, married; Dixon,
Robt., boy ; Elliott, Ellison, married, a stoneman ;
Elliott, Edward, single ; Fulton, Gee., married ;
Forster, Joseph, single; Forster John, boy, brothers;
Ford, John, married, Ford, Henry, married, brothers;
Ford, Peter, nephew of Wm. Oliver; Fairbairn,
Win. married; Fairbairn, Geo., single, son of above;
Gleghorn, Oswald, lodger with T. Liddle ; Graham,
Christopher, married; Glen, James, single, Glen,
Wm., boy, Glen, Geo., boy, brothers; Gwinelly,
Patrick, single; Gallagher, John, married; Gal-
lagher, Duncan, brother of above ; Gallagher, Jas.,
boy, nephew of above ; Gledson, Wm., married ;
Gledson, Wm., married, Gledson, Geo., married,
Gledson, Thos., married, sons of above ; Gledson,
Thos., son of above; Gibson, Henry, single;
Howard, James, single; Harding, John, boy ; Har-
rison, Thos., boy; Hayes, Geo., married ; Hall,
Geo., married; Humble, Peter, married; Humble,
Joseph, married, nephew of under-viewer ; Hepple,
Thos,, single ; Hill, Geo., married; Hindmarsh,
James, first day in pit; Houston, Andrew, married;
Hill, Gee., single, stoneman; Hamilton, James,
married; Hamilton, James, boy, son of the above;
Hodge, John, single; Hunter, Henry, boy; Ken-
nedy, Wm., married ; Liddle, Wm., married ; Li d-
dle, Geo., single, Liddle, Jas., single, sons of the
above; Liddle, John, married; Liddle, Thos., Lid-
dle, George, and Liddle, John, sons of the above;
Liddle, Thos., brother of John Liddle ; Liddle, Thos.,
son of above; Laws, Thomas, single; Laws, George,
single, onsetter, brother of above ; Logue, William,
married ; Long, John, boy, Long, Robert, boy, cou-
sins; Mason, Hugh, single; Morgan, Andrew,
widower; Murray, Michael, single; Myher, David,
married; Marley, Robert, married; Manderson,
Peter, married ; Miller, Walter, stoneman, Miller,
William, married, stoneman, brothers ; Macaulay,
Thomas, married ; Mallon, Robert, married ; Mul-
len, John, married ; M'Luskey, Richard, single ;
Macfarlane, William, boy ; M'Kie, John, married ;
M'Kie, Adam, son of the above ; M'Racon, William,
single; North, Robert, married, North, George,boy,
North, John, boy, and North, Alexander, boy, all
brothers ; Nicholson, John, married ; Nicholson,
Joseph, single; Nesbit, Peter, nephew of Peter
Manderson ; Nicholson, John, boy ; Ormston, John,
married; Oliver, William, married; Oliver, John,
single, Oliver, James, married, Oliver, William,
single, and Oliver, Peter, single, sons of above;
Pape, William, boy, nephew of John Tranent ; Pear-
son, Thomas, single; Palmer, William, married;
Jacques, Winship, married; Johnson, Robert, single,
Johnson, Joseph, married, brethers ; Rutherford,
Thomas, married; Robinson, --, married; Red-
path, William, married ; Rowley, Edward, married;
Rutherford, William, single, Rutherford, John, sin-
gle, brothers ; Riley, Hugh, married ; Robson,
Ralph, married (killed in the cage); Richardson,
Alexander, married ; Robinson, Thomas, married ;
Ross, Thomas, married ; Rounall, Robert, married ;
Robson, James, boy ; Stamsby, James, single ;
Small, Robert, single ; Sebastian, Thomas, single;
Sharp, George, married (killed in the cage) ; Sharp,
George (killed at the same time) ; and Sharp, John-
son, son of G. Sharp, sen ; Sherlock, Patrick, sin-
gle; Stanley, William, single; Smith, Frank, mar-
ried; Sharp, Henry, married, and Sharp, Thos., mar-
ried, deputy-overman, brothers, and cousins of G.
F harp,sen. ; Scurfield,George,married ; Smith, Win.,
glassmaker, Seaton Sluice, who was down the pit
as a visitor ; Softley, Edward, -boy ; Skinner,
George, boy ; Tranent, John, married, deputy over-
man ; Tranent, George, boy, son of the above ; Tel-
ford, William, married, rolleyway-man ; Thirlaway,
George, married ; Taylor, Joseph, married ; Taylor,
James, single; Tibbs, William, married; Tranent,
William, married, an onsetter ; Weitch, John, mar-
ried ; Watson, Thomas, married, rolleyway-man ;
Wilson, George, married, rolley way-man ; Wand-
less, Christopher, single; Wandless, John, single,
and Wandless, Thomas, single, brothers; Walker,
Benjamin, single; Watson, James, married; Wat-
son, Joseph, son of the above ; Wade, George, mar-
ried; Weir, Thomas, married; Weir, Robert,
single ; Whalpool, Patrick, single ; Watson, John,
married, and -Watson, Thomas, single, cousins;
Wilson, William, boy, nephew of Frank Smith ;
Wilkinson, John, married ; White, William, single;
Wilson, William, boy ; Walker, James and Wil-
liam, boys, brothers; Younger, Henry, married,
deputy overman ; Youll, John, married.
The list gives a total of 205 men and boys who
were working in the pit at the time of the accident,
and who are now all dead. It is supposed that even
this large number does not give the whole loss, as
the names of some of the men were unknown, in
consequence of their being new hands at the col-
liery.

• There is no doubt that the buried men were alive
so late as Sunday afternoon, and that on the night
of Sunday they perished. Down to Sunday after-
noon, as stated in The Sun of yesterday, the timber
and bratticing which form the obstruction half-way
down the shaft, might have been comparatively I
open fir the air and gases to pass through from I
the bottom of the mine; but after that evening it
might to a large extent become almost airtight. To
get view of the terrible accident. it i:
get a
necessary to recapitulate a little where it has
taken place. Hartley New Colliery is a mine 100
fathoms deep. The high seam is not wrought at
present, neither, to any extent, is the yard seam,
which is below it, but 29 fathoms above the low'
main seam, which latter seam is where the coals
bay° been recently wrought, and in which the
buried men were following their daily occupation
at the time of the accident. The colliery is more
liable to the inflow of water than almost any other
mine in the Northern coal trade. It is a steam-
coal mine, and has been a very unprofitable specu-
lation to its owners. Some six or eight years ago
the difficulties with the water were so great that a
pumping engine of immense capacity, said to be
working up to 400-horse power, was erected for
clearing the mine of it, and the huge beam, which
lifted 1,500 gallons of water per minute, was placed
over the shaft, the beam, of cast-iron, weighing 40
tons. This day week the ordinary daily work of
the pit was commenced by the first shift going down
between 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning; they were
followed by the lads at 5 ; and the back-shift men
had gone down at 9 o'clock to relieve their "mar-