The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-02 00:00:00

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[ PRIDE 4J. STANIPIII9 sr,

TH LATE EXP LO,ION AT LUN DRILL.

ADJOURNED INQUEST.
The jury me at the BulVs-head-inn, Brampton,
on Thursday, pursuant to adjournment.
The Coroner said—l was in hopes whea we last
met that by this time the pit would have been so
fAr r stored that a thorough inspect'on could have
been made of it by qualified men with- a vies. to
a,acertaining the cause of the explosion. It appears,
however, that such is the devastation caused by
the explosion and the sul segued filling of the pit
with water, that a very large quantly of the roof
has fallen, rendering it perfectly impossible for any
engineer to report upon it at present. It is there-
fore necess try that you should further adjourn un-
til the debris can be cleared on', and the pit put in
an efficient state for inspection by two engineers,
who I propose shoal d repoit upon it toyeu, and thus
give you scientific evidence upon the matter. The
devastati .n in the pit, I am informed, is extreme,
surpassing anything of the kind which was ever seen
in any colliery bA•ore. I regret that yen have had
occasion to be called together so often, but on Sa-
torday evening, the 18th inst., when we last met,
I gave direCtions to Mr. Supermten.lent (=teen that
such of the bodies as were not recognizable, inas-
much as they would naturally be in a very bad state
after remaining S 3 long in the pit, should be in-
terred as spee lily as possible at Darfiell church ;
and I was to have notice when one or two bodies
which could be clearly identified had been found,
that the jury might be summoned to vi-w them, as
I did not wish to troobve the ',jury to view more
than one or tivo bodies well'identifie I. Since then
I have written ti Sir G, Gray on the subject, and
received a reply approving that course.
Mr. C. Morton, the Government Inspector, said,
1 have to apply thatyou will further adjourn tbein-
quiry. From an examination of the mine which I
made yesterday, in company with the engineers, I
am of opinion that an interval of probably three or
f ur weeks must be allowed•for the purpose ef clear-
ing away the falls of roof, restoring the ventilation,
an recovering the dead bodies, before any sat's-
factory inspection of the mine' canoe made with a
view to ascertain the probable cause or causes of
the explosion. I take the present opportunity of
adding that the progre ;s hitherto made, although
slow, has been satisfactory and safe. The measures
that have lyen devised and carried out have been
singularly successful, and I am glad to be able to
state- that'l ful'y approve them.
Some conversation ensued as to the leng'h of
adjournment, after Ith ieh the following evidence
was given with regard to the identity of a body re-
covered on Wednesday morning :
Ann, the widow of the late Wm. Horsfield, of
Herningfield, miner, said that her husband and 3
lodgers were among the number who had perished
in the pit. One of the lodgers was W. Moore, aged
32 years. She had that morning inspected a body
which was lying in the reception shed at Lundbill,
and believed it to be th at of Wm. Moore, who
had loclg-d at her house for upwards of five weeks.
She could identify it by the boats, stoking,
trousers, and by the're being a cord tied round the
b Ydy. The boots bad been left at her house by a
former lodger who owed her money, and. she gave
them t) Moore. They were " navvie" boots, with
very short toe bits, one. of them having a small
" capper (hit of leather put on to repair it), under
the lace-hole. His stockings were of a purple co-
lour and knitted. The trousers were of fustian and
had a pocket f r a rule, and th:ire Iris a .piece of
cord round the body.
Peter Fildese of Wombwell, miner; sai 1, yester-
day ( Wednesday) morning, Mr. Maddison sent me
into the Law south level, near the face, where I
found the body which is identified as that of W.
Moore floating in the water. I placid the body in
a coffin, brought it out of the pit, and delivered it
into the care of a policeman.
Thomas Metrich, sergeant of police, deposed to
receiving the body and having it conveyed to the
reception shed.
At this stage the jury went to the reception shed
fo adew the body, which they found in a state of ad-
vanced decomposition, and beyond the power of re-
cognition except from the
,clothes and boots. At
the shed they found
Robert Moore, who stated that he was a labourer
from Leicester. He believed the body t r be that of
his.son who left his. house at Leicar.er some fme
belted 4.llhi..l:hose of his
son, but would not swear to them.

Ann florsfield recaPed—Deceased's boots were
ton large, and he was, in consequence, in the habit
of wearing rags round his toes, bat-I cannot swear
that he -wrapped any round on the morning of the
txplosion.. I am positive that tit.) bo A 3 taken from
deems ci's feet are t'-lose of W. Moore, [The boots
were exa,lained and found to contian a qulnti,y of
rags at the toes.

The jury now returned to the inn, aftdr
Mr. 111 iehael Thama 3 Sadler, jun., of Barnsley,
surgeo.,, was c ired, and said—l have examined
the bodies of two men no .v lying in the shed. Thy
have died ft.oaa the effects of the explosion, but
whether from being burnt or from suffocaton it is
impossible to say in their advanced state of decom-
posi7ion. The second toe on the left foot of the
body recovered this morning, and said to be that
of a man named Tunnercliffe, I found to be con-
ziclerably bent. From the form of the bones and
the articular surface, I believe that this existed long
before death.
Wiliam C.:rbridge (one of the deputies) deposed
that the deceased, William Moore, trammed for
William Horstield, and worked in a• bank on the
soats side of the fifth south boardgtte. • Saw him
at the bottom of the shaft about nine o'clock on
the morning of the explosion. His body was found
at the fir end of the south level, which is about 90
yards from his workplace. Ho had prob tbly at-
tempt.'d to escape atter the explosion, and got
nearly to the place where his body w2.s found ; or
the body raly havo floated there from the b
This concluded the evidence.
The Foreman (Mr. J. Johnson) expressed -a hope
that the jury would not be called upon to view any
more bodice.
The Coroner.—That depends upon whether you
are satisfied with the identity of those you have
already viewed.
The Foreman.—We are quite satisfied wilt re-
gard to the identity of the body of Gray, viewed
on the 18. h inst., and that of M, -ore.
Tho Coroner—Then it will not be necessary that
you should view any more.
The Foreman—The jury wish me to ask whether
yen cannot do something for them in the way of
getting their expenses allowed. We think that as we
give our time we ought to have our expenses re
imbursed.
The Coroner—l would most willingly pay your
expenses if I had the power. I have now been
coroner for 27 or 21 years. Formerly expenses were
allowed to the parishes in respect of inquests, and
they sometimes incurred greater expenses than were
proper. In consequence Lord Wharncliffa brought
forward a mo' ion at the quarter sessions at Ponte-
fract to discontinue allowances to coroner's juries in
the West RicUng. The application was made at the
instance of a number of ratepayers, and the matter
was fully discussed. It was mentioned that jurymen
called upon to act at the assizes had to travel all
the way to York and had no expenses allowed, and
it was thought proper that coroner's jurors should
be put upon the same footing.
Mr. Johnson—But this is not an ordinary case.
The Foreman-1 think if an explanation had
been made to the magistrates at quarter sessions
they would have granted us expenses.
The Coroner—lf you will make any recommen-
dation to me I shall have pleasure in laying it
before the magistrates.
The Foreman—We are quite willing to give our
time, but in so protracted and iiriportant a
ou ht an
in-
o he
query Ivo think that our expenosues
willbrio gt t y
allowed. We therefore hope
matter before the magistrates.
The Coroner—I wilt do all I can in the matter.
Mr. Morton thinks we had better not adjourn for
more than three week..
Mr. Morton—We hope the pit may be in a state
to be examined within the three, weeks, although
we cannot speak positively.
Tho jurythe,n adjourned for three weeks—namely
o Thursday, the 21st of May.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
The great exertions of the men specially engaged
in recovering the bodies have been attended with con-
siderable success during the week, considering the
many obstacles they have had, to encennter.
In addition to the 14 bodies recovered up to
Thursday afternoon, 7 more have been recovered
up to this day. With two exceptions, they were in
such a state as to allow of identification. On Thurs-
day two bodies were brought up, ono of which was
identified as that of John Dawson.
Between 8 and 9 o'clock the same night 2 more
bodies were found, which were recognised as tho
The
se
of El'jah and Benjamin Beevors, brothers.
two latter were found in the fifth board on the south
side. From the position in which they were found
there is every reason to hel;eve that death must
have been instantaneous. One of them was found
sitting down as if he had been in the act of eating

IVElivs pAptut
4. tjt:ii -4-. -
his diuner when the expl, * .„, .r.--v,"NI • ‘ ler
4,
h, 1 ~ne arm rased and rl.•4:f -'l. L *lir : -if
stride••ly rat-xd to 1,r0,r ' •:.4., ......Mf.„i;: • of
the blast. - a 14. ' 'l'4 1 Ili
This morn'ng the shif :477Z7,t,g_,,1'A1k "A '•ck
on Thursday night before ..• n:.7,744:qa, pon
3 metre bode.t. On their remdaal to seeming-
shed all of them were reeoffnise.l. -Two of Vtem
were found t 3 be Barnett and G. Bailey, father and
son; the other was named S. Depledge. All the
holies wore quite black and very much burnt.
It was expected that inere of the bodies would
be brought out this evening, as -the men at work
have felt a strong smell peculiar to bodies in the
immediate vicinity of the pit in which they are now
at work.
The clearing of the pit is being rapidly carried
forward, and it is expected that in the course of
next week a considerable number of bodies may be
recovered. The working patties have been able to
proceed along the south level to a considerable dis-
tance, but the banks are in such a state of devasta-
t. on that they will require a good deal of labour be-
fore they are in a state to allow of a thorough ex-
ploration leing made. In the north level great ex-
ertions are still being made by the men tr allow of
a passage, into the workings, but from the quantity
of debris, it will be a work f some t;me.
Twenty-one bodies have now been recovered, but
it is expected that three we.•ks at least wll elapse
before the pit is in such a state as to almit of its
being thoroughly explored.