The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-26 00:00:00

The Colliery Accident at Wigan.

WIGAN, Thursday.
The names of the two deceased whose bodies had
not been identified yesterday are Seth Helleck, 30,
a collier, residing at Rose-hill, Ashton; and George
Pollitt, 20, drawer, living at the same place. As
soon as all had been identified, and tickets stating
their names and residences pinned to the clothes of
each, a dozen persons employed by the firm com-
menced the task of washing and laying out the
bodies. One-third of the coffins required were made
on the premises, and a score have been obtained
from Wigan, and in these the corpses have now been
placed, to await the inspection of the jury. This
will probably take place to-morrow morning, when
the inquest will be opened, formal evidence of iden-
tity taken, and then adjourned for a week or more.
The excitement caused in the neighbourhood by the
accident appears rather to increase than diminish,
as large numbers of persons hourly visit the pit,
where there is but little to be seen, and crowds of
relatives and friends hang round the shed in which
the bodies have been placed.

It has already been stated that the fireman of the
pit, William Marsh, was on his way back to the
workings from the pit eye when the explosion oc-
curred, and by the side of this may be placed the
fact that the leading partner in the firm who .own
the colliery, Mr. Mercer, was actually waiting on
the pit bank to descend the shaft when the explo-
sion took place. He was about to accompany Ash-
croft, the underlooker, into the place of a man
named Hill, but Ashcroft was busy superintending
the lowering of a pony down the No. 1 shaft, and,
fortunately for Mr. Mercer, this operation took
rather longer than usual.
The mine in which the explosion happened is one
of the most peculiar in the kingdom, owing to the
number and variety of the faults which interrupt
the seam, and which it is next to impossible to de-
scribe without the aid of a plan. From the fact of
its being a maiden coal field, and the irregular cha-
racter of the seam, every possible precaution had
been taken to ensure the safety of the men. Extra
firemen were appointed, the use of naked lights
were forbidden, and, as the mine is not generally a
fiery one, the men considered they were working
as safely as possible in a coal mine. It is not to
be believed that the quantity of gas which exploded
was very large, but all agree that the effects of the
explosion must have been terrific. Many of the de-
ceased are burnt very seriously; but few, if any,
have lost their lives by the choke-damp, and it is
thought that the great majority have been killed by
the concussion.

Yesterday, Mr. Higson, the Government inspec-
tor ; Mr. John Higson ; Mr. Evans and his
brother ; Mr. Watkin, from Messrs. Blundell's ;
Mr. Pickard, miners' agent ; Mr. Clarke, of Pem-
berton ; Mr. Clarke, of Ashton ; Marsh, the fire-
man ; and Ashcroft, the underlooker, made a
thorough inspection of the workings ; but it is be-
lieved that not a single fact was gleaned which
would show the cause of the explosion. At present,
therefore, the mystery which surrounds the explo-
sion remains still unsolved, the only conjecture as to
the cause being one which Mr. Mercer is taking
measures to test. Ile believes it possible that there
may have been a " blower," or sudden outburst of
gas, from the floor of the mine at the spot which is
fixed as that where the gas was ignited, and that
the rush of this may have blown the light of the
safety-lamp through the gauze, and so caused the
accident. It is stated that the most careful inspec-
tion has not discovered that any lamp top was off.
The lads who were recovered from the bottom of
the jig brow do not appear to have been much hurt.
Mr. Higson, the Government inspector, will make
another examination of the mine before the inquest.

The Shropsbire Murder.

-0-
STOTTESDEN, Wednesday.

To-day the inquest on the unfortunate young
man Edward Edwards, who was so brutally mur-
dered at Duddlewich Mill, near this place, on Sun-
day week, was resumed before Mr. 'Prow, the dis-
trict coroner, at the Cock Inn in this place. All
sorts of rumours as to the perpetrator of the foul
crime have been rife, but we forbear giving currency
to them.

Mr. Backhouse, of Bridgnorth, attended to watch
the evidence on the part of the family of Mr. Mere-
dith, the uncle of the deceased, with whom he lived.
Before taking any fresh evidence the coroner re-
examined all the witnesses who had given evidence
on the first inquiry. These were Elizabeth llarris
and Samuel Harris, servants to Mr. Meredith ; Mr.
Meredith, and Wm. Dorrell. The additional testi-
mony given by them added very little to their first
depositions. The servants in their re-examination
stated that on the Sunday morning of the !murder
Mr. Meredith, the uncle of the deceased, was in the
house an hour after Harris had seen the deceased go
to the mill. He went out of the house. Harris was
attending to the cows in the yard and Mr. Meredith
ordered him away. Mr. Meredith went to the mill
before church. He did not say anything about the
deceased's accounts when he returned from the mill.

Timothy Fletcher worked for Mr. Meredith and
slept in the house. Deceased always helped him to
feed the mare and pigs. The deceased usually kept
the key of the mill, and when he was away and wit-
ness wanted it witness had to wait until he came
home. Deceased had a book in which he kept an
account of things sold out of the mill.
Wm. Barber, another of Mr. Meredith's men, de-
posed to hearing the deceased and Mr. Meredith
quarrelling in the mill on the Saturday before the
murder. The deceased afterwards told witness that
Mr. Meredith had been " on with him" about Mr.
Hyde's grist. Had seen the punch produced (a piece
of iron about ten inches long) in the mill. Saw de-
ceased using it a few days before his death.

Mr. Hodges, the surgeon, who made the post mor-
tem examination of the deceased, deposed that he
assisted in carrying the deceased upstairs on the
Sunday evening. There were 16 or 20 wounds on
the scalp. He did not know, in fact, how many.
The punch produced would have been very likely to
produce the wounds.
The Coroner said the skull should have been pro-
duced.

Witness said he expected Dr. Thursfield, who bad
the skull, would have been present for that purpose.
The punch would not have produced all the wounds.
The scalp wounds must have been produced by
some sharp instrument. The bleeding had ceased,
but a little blood might have escaped from the de-
ceased while he was being carried upstairs ; the
sheet round the body, however, would have caught
it. Had known the deceased some time. He was
a weakly boy.

By Mr. Backhouse—lt would take a strong man
to inflict the wounds, which had penetrated to the
brain ; but a person of the deceased's own age (18)
might have inflicted many of the 30 or 40 wounds
found on the head.

Police-constable Brownwell deposed that about
seven o'clock on the Sunday night he was called in
by Mr. Meredith, who informed him of what had
happened. Witness asked if he had any suspicion
who had done it, and he said he had not. Went
with him to the mill, and found on the middle floor
an account-book (produced). It was lying on the
floor open. There was blood on it, and in one place
two large spots of blood, which had been besmeared
as if with the intention of wiping it off. There was
a good deal of blood on the floor. The book ap-
peared to have been struck with something hard,
the blow penetrating through several pages. They
then went to the lower floor of the mill, and here
was also a good deal of blood. There were three
pools of blood, and blood had been spurted against
the wall reaching from the floor about a yard high.
Here they picked up a walking stick and the iron
punch (both produced). They were near a pool of
blood, where Mr. Meredith said the deceased's head
lay. Finger marks of blood were also found.
Superintendent Christie, of Wellington, proved
that he examined the clothes of all the people at
Mr. Meredith's on Sunday. He found twenty or
thirty spots of blood on the leg of a pair of
trousers of Mr. Meredith, in the inner part of
the leg. He had sent the trousers to London to an
analyst. Mr. Meredith's jacket appeared to have
been washed.

The inquest was adjourned for the return of the
officer who had gone to London with the uncle's
trousers.