The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-23 00:00:00

MONDAY

EVANING, JUNE 23, 1851.

ALARMING COLLIERY ACCIDENT
BEIST.L JUNE 21.—This city and neighbourhood
were )e.t rdey eveeing uterine:l by an accident which
occurred at tee North Side Coaepa, Bedminster, near
this city, by the falling in of the shaft, whereby 40 per-
sons were at once buried alive. On proceeding to the
spa a scene of the most distressing nature presented
itself. Several hundred persons, mostly the relatives and
friends of the men thus immured in the pit, had congre-
gated round the premises, and the cries and lamentations
of the women were heartrending. The following is a
detailed narrative of this shocking occurrence:—
It appears that the works, which belong to Messrs.
Goulstone, Seaman, Garrett, and Co., proceeded without
anything unusual occurring until about eleven o'clock
yesterday forenoon, when, in ascending the shaft, a cart-
load of coal struck the side andnarried away a portion of
the timber, immediately upon which the parties in at-
tendance above heard a quantity of earthwork fall, and
upon en attempt being maeete lower the cart it was found
that it could net pass as the shaft had been blocked up.
Of course apprehensions of a most painful kind were at
once excited for the safety of the unfortunate men below,
and all possible means were taken to repair the shaft so
as to get at them, but unfortunately the nature of the
works was such as only to admit ot three men working
at the time, so that it soon became apparent that very
many hours must elapse before a passage down the shalt
could be obtained. As nearly as could be observed
from an examination of the injury, it seems that the first
pieces of timber, in their fall, must have knocked away
other sets. The shaft is about 135 fathoms in depth,
and the falling in took place at a depth of about 90 fa-
thoms, and from this for about 30 fathoms more the com-
munication was suspended. This would bring one to
the bottom of the first vein, and' beneath that again,
where it was discovered all the men but two were, was a
depth of 15 fathoms.
Immediately that intelligence of this alarming accident
found its way into the district, the wives, families, and
relatives of the men gathered round the pit-yard, giving
vent to the most frantic cries. Men were stationed at
the entrance of the yard to prevent the ingress of the
crowd, and as the door was opened to let any one pass
out it was heavrending to witnesi the eager anxiety with
which every bit of information that could be gleaned was
received. One poor woman, sitting on the ground, with
an infant in her arms, informed our correspondent with
piteous cries that her father, yin, uncle, brother, and
husband were all below.
From eleven o'clock in the morning, the time the ac-
cident occurred, till about halt-past nine at night, the
distressing anxiety as to the fate of the poor fellows con-
tinued unabated. Mr. Goulstone, one ot the proprietors,
remained the whole of the time on the spot, superintend-
ing the exertions mode to deliver the poor men. He
endeavoured to keep up the spirits of the anxious in-
quirers by informing them that in all probability the
places where the men would be at work were at points
remote from the shaft, branching in different directions
from it; that the roads were good, and even supposing,
as there was too much reason to fear, that the fall of the
earthwork had displaced the two air
trunks which passed
down the shaft, the eater which ran into the lower level
of the colliery would carry with, it sufficient air to pre-
serve lite even for days, as the pit extends about a
quarter of a mile round. At halt-past nine o'clock at
night the men first succeeded in making any persons hear,
and Mr. Knight, of Ashton Vale Colliery, with is very
praiseworthy feeling, volunteered- to descend the pit and
see how things were going on. Upon his return he stated
that be had heard some one below open the air hatch
and close it, and that he had conversed with a man
named William Braine, who was below the stoppage,
and who, in reply to his call to him, said, " We want
lights and something to eat." All efforts were now
made to pass lights, and although the men above must
have been almost tired out, they set to work with an
alacrity which refi cted the utmost credit upon them;
lines were procured. and they descended into the pit
with about 31b. of candles. All was now anxiety and
attention, shouting was heard below, and strong hopes
were entertained that the next hoist of the bucket would
put an end to all fears. Unhappily, however, such was
not the case. The men at a quarter past ten o'clock
were again pulled up, when they stated that they had
conversed with two men, William Braine and Morgan
Phillips, who were in the top vein, and had passed can-
dles to them, but that these men) had informed them
that they could not get to the tip leading to the lower
vein, nor could they make anyone below hear them.
Thus things remained till past midnight in a state of
the most painful uncertainty and apprehension as re-
garded the men in the bottom of the level, their lives
of course depending upon whether they had air or
not. The men who were zow in the pit were the
men who went to work at six o'clock in the morning,
and the following list of their names was furnished
by Mr. Goulstone:—James Peddar, James Wellor,
sen., Jos. Britton, Jas. Wellor, jun., John Tovey, Henry
Gibbings, Thomas Boult, Benjamin Weaver, William
Braine, jun., William Bryant, William Samson, George
Smith, Joseph Tovey, John Britten, Henry Clark,
Samuel Sansom, Aaron Britton, John Rennolds, Thomas
Sims, sen., Henry Woodbridge, William Braine, Morgan
Phillips, William Hoskins, Charles James, William
Gibbings, George Cole, Edward Ash, James Ridler,
James Hall, George Edwards, Thomas Iles, Joseph
Denison, Edward Woodbridge, Eli Star, Samuel Star,
George Willen, sen., Daniel Jefferies, Edward Gibbins,
George Vining, John Sttlwan, and Robert Harris.
From midnight till after three o'clock this (Satur-
day) morning the exertions of the men above for the
rescue of those below continued unabated, when they
happily succeeded in rescuing the two men, William
Braine and Morgan Phillips, from their perilous con-
dition. We should state that a large number of men
from other collieries in the neighbourhood were em•
played, and they worked with the utmost ardour in the
hope of rescuing, or at least obtaining tidings of th.
buried men, the wives and relatives remaining the
whole period by the side ef the pit, their feelings alter-
nating between hope and fear. Load after load of tim-
ber was used in repairing the sides ef the shaft, so
great was the mischief done ; and what made the
matter worse was that fresh quantiies of earth were
falling from time to time, and some of the men below
asserted that they heard the sound of falling atones
below the first vein, which of course descended to teat
in which the poor fellows were buried. At three o'clock
this morning Mr. Rennolds, son of one of the proprietors
of the Malego Coll Mines, arrived, and urged the
immediate aeoption of measures to bring up the two
men, Braine and Phillips. He proposed
that in addi-
tion to the ordinary pit bonnet, which is a kind of iron
chief d suspended above the bucket to prevent stones and
rubbish falling on the men when engaged in the act ot
ascending or descending, a second one should be pro-
cured from his own works, that these bonnets should be
fastened to the hauling chain, and that either a email
bucket or some nooses of cord, in which the men could
insert their legs, should be appended at the end, the
whole then to be lowered to the first vein, so as to give
the two men the opportunity of effecting their escape.
Some objection was tor some time entertained to this,
as it was thought that the danger arising from the
shattered condition of the shaft walls was so great that
till they were repaired the men would be safer where
they were. It was also suggested that by bringing
them up they would cut off all chance of commenic.-
tion with those in the lower vein, and many feared that
the men themselves would shrink from the risk incurred
by an ascent under the circumstances. Mr. Rennolds,
however, persisted, urging that the two shields would
resist the fall of a ton or more of stones and earth, and
that the worst consequence likely to happen was the
fracture of a limb or limbs, which would be better than
a lingering death. It was at last resolved that a brother
of Phillips should descend and communicate the propo•
eition, leaving the decision to the men themselves.
Phillips accordingly descended, and when drawn up he
stated that it was the wish of the men that the attempt
should be made; accordingly the additional bonnet was
obtained and fastened above a small bucket; but here
a difficulty arose. It was necessary that some
one should descend in the bucket, and the
majority of the men not unnaturally shrank
from the danger. Mr. Goulstone said, of course, he could
not compel any man to risk his life, but he asked implo-
ringly, " Will no one try to save them?" At fifteen
minutes past four o'clock a brave fellow, named James
North, volunteered to descend the shaft. Mr. Goulstone
said be would reward him for his heroism, and he en-
tered the bucket and descended. The strictest silence
was now enjoined on those who were stationed at the
mouth of the pit, in order that there might be no diffi-
culty in catching the " bottom signal," which was shortly
afterwards given, and in a few minutes more the two
poor men, Braine and Phillips, were landed with their
brave deliverer North. The excitement at this time was
most intense. Cries of " Noble North" burst from many
of the spectators, and a number even of the rude colliers
were melted to tears. The poor fellows, when drawn up,
looked very pale and exhausted, having suffered a good
deal from the foul air in the vein. Brandy and water
was administered to them, and, as soon as they had
somewhat collected themselves, inquiries were made of
them as to the probable position of the other thirty-
eight men below. Phillips, who is a Welsh miner, was
interrogated through an interpreter, and he expressed a
strong opinion that there was not a soul alive in the
lower vein, for the air was so bad that it would be impos-
sible to carry a candle or to reach them. He added that
he had crawled on his !lends and knees to the " tip"
leading to the lower mine, where be had called out as
loudly as possible, and bad also thrown pieces of rubble
down the shah, but he could not make any one he ar,
and he much feared that no one survived. Braine pat tly
corroborated this, and said he also used every means to
to attract attention, but without effect; but then
he thought some further effort should be made, as the
men might very possibly be gathered together at some
distance from the tip shalt in the hope that it might be
cleared and themselves hauled up. He thought the air
was not so bad but that it was possible men might live
in it, and he suggested that a windlass might be taken
down, and, if a candle would nut burn, be fixed in the
dark, when some person might descend a rope into the
bottom vein and call or grope for the missing men.
The intrepid man North again 'volunteered for the
work, and it was at once resolved that the experiment
thus suggested should at least be tried. His example
was speedily followed by five other men—who declared
themselves willing to share the danger—viz., Francis
Smith, William Smith, Samuel Page, William Cooper,
and Richard Pike. Francis Smith and W. Page de-
scended first, and after retching the first vein the
bucket was returned, and W. Smith and Cooper went
down next, - and after them North and Pike. The
bucket was subsequently lowered down to them,
loaded with a windlass, canvas to make an air shaft,
some tools, and a strong rope between forty and fifty
fathoms in length. Strict silence was again rigidly en-
forced, as. from the great depth, much difficulty was ex-
perienced in hearing the signal, and the lives of the men
might depend upon its being instantly obeyed by the en-
gineer. The spectators, in order that no sound• might
arrest the attention of the bank-man, withdrew to a
distance from the mouth of the shaft, where in silence
they awaited the result. A lengthened period was now