The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-02 00:00:00

DREADFUL FIRE IN A COLLIERY.

(From the Durham County Advertiser of yesterday)
It is this week our painful duty to record one of
those fearful calamities which are of such painful
frequency in this county and in Northumberland,
by which the lives of thousands of men have from
time to time been sacrificed, and sorrow and misery
carried into hundreds of previously happy homes.
The catastrophe which we are about to chronicle
took place at " Page Bank," one of the Byers'
Green Collieries, of which, we believe, Mr. R. W.
Jackson, of West Hartlepool, is the principal owner.
Page Bank is about four miles from this city,
and about half-a-mile from the village of Brance-
path. The colliery, which has only been worked
for about three years, is within a short distance of
the river Wear.

Yesterday morning, about 12 o'clock, messengers
arrived in this city with the alarming intelligence
that an explosion had occurred at Page Bank Col-
liery, and that the shaft of the pit was on fire.
Knowing too well the nature of these dreadful
events the intelligence spread through the city like
wildfire. The city fire-engine, as well as the College
engine, was at once despatched, and numbers of
the inhabitants rapidly hurried to the spot. On
arriving at the colliery we found the news, although
perhaps not perfectly correct in detail, was suffi-
ciently appalling, and that no less than between
40 and 50 lives were, if not already sacrificed,hang-
ing upon a thread. A large crowd was assembled
round the mouth of the pit, and up the shaft was
issuing a dense volume of smoke. Water drawn
from the river by the two Durham engines, and
one from Auckland Castle, was being poured down
the shaft, and the whole of the gearing and wood-
work at the mouth of the mouth was either burnt
to cinders or had been exposed to the action of the
fire. From what we could learn from the men em-
ployed above ground at the colliery it appears that
about 9 o'clock in the morning they were alarmed
at hearing a report like an explosion, and instantly
saw flames leap out from the mouth of the pit, the
whole of the woodwork being speedily one mass of
fire. So soon as the alarm and consternation had
in some degree subsided the mouth of the pit was
covered over, and the flames above ground were
soon exhausted or extinguished. This done, the
great question arose how to secure the safety of
those below. It was soon ascertained that not less
than between 40 and 50 men and boys were under
ground, and the smoke was so dense that no attempt
could be made to descend the shaft, and therefore
the best and in fact the only course was to pour
water down the shaft, and by this means endea-
vour to extinguish the ,flames, which were then
evidently raging below. The water, as we have
said, was pumped from the river by the fire
engines as well as by a variety of water-carts em-
ployed for the purpose, but this furnished by no
means so large a quantity as could have been
wished. Brattice cloth was nailed up to the height
of about 15 to 20 feet above the mouth of the pit to
try to create a current of air down the shaft.
About 2 o'clock, the smoke having in some degree
subsided, a man attempted to descend the shaft, in
order to see if he could ascertain the locality of the
fire, but after descending three or four fathoms he
was compelled, in consequence of the density of the
smoke to return without being able to discover
anything. A similar step was attempted two or
three times in the course of the afternoon, but with
like want of success, and the only course left was
to await the abatement of the fire, which was evi-
dently still smouldering in the shaft.
The origin of the accident, so far as that has yet
been ascertained, was given to us by Mr. Richard
Johnson, the superintending viewer at the colliery,
as follows :—The pit is 44 fathoms deep, and the
principal shaft is divided by a brattice, or wooden
partition, into three parts. The air goes down two
of these partitions, and comes up the third to within
about 20 fathoms of the surface. At this point it
is carried through a drift up a staple at the side of
the engine-house, and thence conducted along a
drift to a large chimney, about 50 yards from the
main shaft. There is no direct evidence as yet to
show how the fire originated, but the probability
is that it has been caused by a spark thrown from
the furnace (used in ventilation), igniting the
wooden brattice in the principal shaft. The fire,
owing to the draught of air up the shaft, when
once it had hold, increased to such a fearful extent
that in an instant the whole of the brattice was
burnt out and the coal in the drift leading to the
staple caught fire. The brattice being destroyed,
of course the ventilating power of the shaft has
ceased, but it is thought, as the fire occurred some
20 fathoms from the bottom of the shaft, there
may be sufficient air for the men to breathe
for several days. But, even supposing this to
be the case, should no access be gained for so
long a period, there is the probability of death in
another form presenting itself. The pit makes, on
an average, 450 gallons of water per minute, and
as the pumping apparatus has been destroyed by
the fire, there is this large quantity of water accu-
mulating, in addition to what has been thrown
down the shaft for the purpose of extinguishing
the fire.
The extent of the working is about 80 acres, and
for the•water to fill the colliery and stop all venti-
lation Mr. Johnson calculates will require about five
days ; so that, should the unhappy men even linger
until that time without assistance being rendered,
there is the certainty of their being drowned.
The fire was first discovered by John Kellett, one
of the overmen who was at work. He thought he
smelt fire, and accordingly descended the shaft and
discovered the brattice burning. On reaching the
bottom he found John Mould, another overman, to
whom he communicated the disaster. Information
was then sent to the men in the workings. The
two overmen got into the cage for the purpose of
examining the fire, but they had not been drawn
up many fathoms when a large piece of burning
timber fell and knocked Kellett out of the cage.
•Al ould was then drawn up and reached the mouth
of the shaft in safety, but the flames began to in-
crease so fearfully that all further attempts do de-
scend were out of the question.
Mr. Atkinson, the Government Inspector of
Mines, together with Mr. Armstrong, of Wingatu-
colliery, Mr. It. Johnson, and other gentlemen con-
nected with mining in the neighbourhood, were
present, and superintended the operations. A num-
ber of joiners were busily engaged in constructing
long deal boxes for the purpose of making a tem-
porary air-shaft, to be placed in the shaft as soon
as it is possible to get down to the return drift,
which it is intended, if possible, to close up.
The opinion of many of the pitmen. engaged in
the colliery is that the disaster is attributable to an
explosion of gas. They say that there is a " blow"
of gas in the brattice about 25 fathoms down, which
is conveyed to the shaft by a
,pipe, and that the fire
had extended to this " blow,' and hence the explo-
sion. The shaft of the pit has always been consi-
dered " fiery," and before the colliery commenced
working two men were blown up the shaft by an
explosion of gas. This being the case the men
are only allowed to work with the Davy lamp,
candles being prohibited, a circumstance of which,
strange to say, we heard several of them complain.
The anguish of the relatives and friends of the
unfortunate men left in the mine may be more
easily imagined than described. From one cottage
which we chanced to enter there were four of one
family—a father and three sons—among the hap-
less number confined in the mine. Telegraphic
messages were sent to West Hartlepool, Darling-
ton. Stockton, and other towns for fire engines
during the course of the afternoon ; and one from
Darlington arrived by rail about 4 o'clock. Mr. N.
Wood, and several other coalownefs in the north,
were also telegraphed for.
Up to 7 o'clock, when our account left, there had
been little alteration in the appearance of affairs,
but the smoke ascending the shaft was visibly
decreasing.

DURHAM, OCT. 1.

Instead of 40, upwards of 81 men were in the
Page-bank pit when the fire commenced. To-day
they have been all been got out-71 alive and 10
dead. Many of the former are much exhausted,
some of them having been in the pit 40 hours: The
pit is still on fire at a blower of gas in the shaft.
Eight hre•eugiuee are woridAt