The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-15 00:00:00

MANSION-HOUSE RELIEF FUND.

The promptitude with which the public have be-
gun to respond to the appeal made by the Lord
Mayor from the bench of the Justice-room on

txhplsotsaioffnorodfshgiarse wchoinelhaoncdclurrorendeinointhreanpyit,
aotf
Talk-of-the-Hill, near Newcastle d L
theTi Nieore-un Newcastle-under-Lyme, yme, on
Thursday, as briefly reported in The Sun of yestez-
clay, is an event far surpassing in fatality any catas-
trophe that has occurred in this part of the country
within living memory. The company working the
mine was formed under the Joint-Stock Companies
Act, and began operations about ten years ago, but
has only lately succeeded in reaching a seam of coal
which has paid profitably for working. An immense
sum of money has been expended on the mine, and
the company recently found an Bft. seam of Ban-
bury coal, a seam highly charged with gas, and at
all times dangerous to work. By the great care used
the mine has hitherto been worked in safety, and
how the present accident originated is unknown.
At the time about 150 men and boys were working
at the Bft. seam, about 300 yards deep, and 50 were
at work in the 7ft. seam, some 60 yards higher up.
The latter were apprised of the explosion in the Bft.
workings by the sound of the rushing gas, which
came towards them, making for theshaft like a noise
of thunder. Knowing too well the meaning of the
sound, these men at once hurried to the lower shaft,
and were drawn up in safety, but the "hooker-on,"
who placed them in the cage to ascend, having to
wait to the last, was struck by the gas, forced upon
a wall, and blown to pieces. Of the 150 men in the
lower workings only 13 were brought alive to the
surface, and one or two of them died shortly after-
wards. All the rest perished. The explosion produced
a shock like that of an earthquake, and dense vo-
lumes of smoke rushed up from the pit and filled
the air, so that nothing could be seen but smoke for
hundreds of yards. The most prompt and energetic
measures were taken by the managers of the mine to
rescue the unfortunate fellows below. Plenty of wil-
ling helpers were at hand, and in spite of the danger
from the gas still remaining in the pit, a number of
men descended, many of whom were brought up
shortly afterwards half suffocated, and were only
restored by contact with the fresh air. The draw-
ing up of the dead bodies was continued up to be-
tween 8 and 9 on Thursday night, when Mr. Wynne,
the Government inspector, and several mining en-
gineers and managers, who had come from different
parts of the district to volunteer assistance, com-
menced efforts to clear the foul air and restore the
ventilation of the pit. This was done as far as was
practicable with safety, and the search for bodies
was resumed. Up to 7 o'clock yesterday morning
58 bodies had been drawn up, and then another
effort was made to restore the ventilation. This
occupied some hours, and great fears were enter-
tained of a s'cond explosion, as in the case of the
Barnsley mine, but up to 11 o'clock no further firing
had taken place. The clearing of the pit of dead
bodies will probably occupy another day, as some
are in workings in the extreme end of the pit, which
are difficult to reach, and which are believed to be
more highly charged with gas than the other parts,
and consequently most dangerous. In addition to the
great sacrifice of human life, 14 horses were burnt
to death, and their stable, set on fire by the gas
igniting the straw, was destroyed. This set fire to
a portion of the pit, but the flames were soon ex-
tinguished. Considering the nature of the explosion,
the pit has not been greatly damaged, and the gas
seems to have spent itself before reaching the top of
the shaft, where the only damage done was the
blowing off a portion of the gearing. As the dead
bodies were brought up they were taken to the
Swan Inn, where they were washed and laid out,
and most of them were identified ; but some re-
mained unclaimed, on account of the mutilation of
features and form. The great majority of the corpses
have no disfiguration ; the faces are placid as in
sleep ; but a small proportion are much mutilated.
Some of the latter are dreadfully injured—the
heads separated from the trunks, and skin
peeled off in ribands and patches, and limbs gone.
The greatest distress is caused by the occurrence.
Most of the men were married, with families, and
some most harrowing tales are related of the condi-
tion of the poor survivors. The men lived for miles
around, and several hours elapsed before the sad
news spread to all their homes. When it did, wives,
.
niniit long there was a mostmothers, sisters, brothers, and children hurried to
the pit bank, where all
distressing Thousands of colliers from neigh-
bouring
o I i scene.
ies ,
and other persons from all parts
of the district, came to the colliery, where they
collieries,
watched the for
operations
the recovery of the dead
bodies in saddened silence. Scarcely a house in the
village but has blinds drawn at every window, and
scarcely a family in the village which has not lost
one
or more of its props.

HANLEY, Friday.

The search for bodies will be resumed at ten
o'clock to-night. The Government Inspector has
been through the mine, and is of opinion that the
number of bodies still there is not more than 20.
This will bring the total deaths to about 80.
The inquest has opened to-day, and, after evi-
dence of identity, adjourned till to-morrow.
Several bodies are still unidentified.

SIGNBOARD LITERATURE.—A third edition of the

" History of Signboards" is now being issued. The large
paper edition for book amateurs and those who illustrate
favourite volumes with additional prints, cuttings, &C.,
will not be published until after Christmas.—•lofz Re-
view.

ueey drvi I
ngeet
gehrs :sse
MRs. CHARLOTTE WINSOR.—It has been the des-
tiny of that weird old woman to give more trouble,
to waste more time and money, and to sit longer in courts
of justice, than any other criminal of ancient or modern
times. To bring down the excellent Calcraft on three
fruitless errands to Exeter; to have her scaffold thrice built
in the
and her grave thrice dug ; to speculate much and long, in
uneducated astonishment, on the eccentricities of the Eng..
lish law ; to mediate on the difference, which has puzzled
owfifsietr; headsan d t
ot hbaen
occupiedhors between
nu tdhgse s(
(unbeknown)
on
hheaknricoNeawrbnug
reamdf:os.sbjvar,
solution of hamlet's problem, "To be, or not to be," this
was a " simple coming-in for one woman."
andsi tnolpr stories
doingse
natr are
of
during
currenturtihoeg lhaewr i, tst
imprisonment.tl the
delay, NVietst
B of
ssa
hi
doh,
final arrangements were made. Death had no terrors
for her, nor life either ; but she abhorred uncertainty. She
was very cheerful when first awaiting her execution ; con-
doled
timewit pleasantlyhherh advisingusbanaonhis approaching loss, at the
line as he could, him to take another wife as
for he would never get on without one.
Her first sensation, when the event was put off, and she
found that still she was not to be sot free, was one rather of
annoyance than otherwise, deepening into strong disgust,
when the second reprieve came. " Let 'em hang me, or let
'em let me alone," she said ; " I don't like being made a fool
of." At another time : " I've told 'em I done it (she con-
fessed her complicity in the murder, bat always maintained
that Harris was the chief agent), what do they want more ?"
Shallow logic ! though at first sight not without force. She
condoled with her husband on the provoking uncertainty
in his further matrimonial arrangements, of which she was
the unwilling cause; but her indignation culminated when
she was removed from the condemned cell, after 12 months'
, tenancy, to make room for a wretched woman condemned for
poisoning her husband, who had not been tried on a Satur-
day, and who, no- minikin-pin's "point" being in her case
discoverable for reservation, had to be hung "on the
merits." This unjust eviction almost wrung tears from the
stubborn eyes of Winsor.—Dickens's "Ak the Year Round."