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

ADJOURNED INQUEST.
The jury are. at the .Bull's-head-inn, Brampton,
on Thursday, pursuant to adjournment.
The Coroner said—l was in hopes when we last
met that by this time the pit would have been so
fa. rs stored that a thorough- inspection could have
been made of it by qualified men with a view to
ascertaining the cause of the explosion. It appears,
however, that such is the devastation caused by
the explosion and the subsequent filling of the pit
with water, that a very large quantity of the roof
has fallen, rendering it perfectly impossible for any
engineer to report upon it at present. It is there-
fere necessary that you should further adjourn un-
til the debris cin be cleared out, and the pit put in
an effi.lient state for inspection by two 'engineers,
who I propose should. repent upon it toyou, and thus
give you scientific evidence upon the matter. The
.devastation in the pit, I am informed, is extreme,
surpassing anything of the kind which was ever seen
in any colliery before. I regret that you have had
occasion to be called together so often, but on Sa-
turday even ng, the 18th inst., when we last met,
I gave directions to Mr. Superintendent Green that
such of the bodies as were not recognizable, inas-
much as they would naturally be in a very ba state
after remaining so long in the pit, ghoul
terred as speedily as possible at Darfield 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 view them, as
1 did not wish to trouble the jury to view more
than ono or two bodies well identified. Since then
I have writt,n to Sir G. Grey on the subject, and
received a reply approving that course.
Mr. C. Morton, the Government Inspector, said,
1 have to apply that you will further adjourn thein-
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
four weeks must be allowed for the purpose of clear-
ing away the falls of roof, restoring the ventilation,
and recovering the dead bodies, before any satis-
factory inspection of the mine can be made with a
view to ascertain the probable cause or causes of
the explosion. I take the present opportunity of
adding that the progress hitherto made, although
slow, has been satisfactory and safe. The measures
that been devised and carried out have been
singularly succe,sful, and I am glad to be able to
state that I fully approve them.
Some conversation ensued as to the length of
adjournment, after which 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
Hemingfield, 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 Lundhill,
and belieVed it to be that of Wm. Moore, who
had lodged at her house for upwards of five weeks.
She could identify it by the boots, stockings,
trousers, and by there being a cord tied round the
bAly. The boots bad been left at her house by a
former lodger who owed her money, and she gave
them to Moore. They were " navvie" boots, with
very short too bits, one of them having a small
" cappel" (hit of leather put on to repair it), under
the lace-bole. His stockings were of a purple co-
lour and knitted. The trousers were of fustian and
had a pocket fa. a rule, and there WFS a piece of
cord round the body.
Peter Rides; of Wombwell, miner, said, yester-
day (Wednesday) morning, Mr. Maddison sent me
into the low south level, near the face, where I
found the body which is identified as that of W.
Moore floating in the water. I placed 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
to view 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 6.
Rube:l fated that hee hs a latourer
from Leic-ster. He believed the bogy t) be that of
his son, who left his house at Leicester some time
ago. The stockings he believed to be those of his
son, but would not swear to them.
Ann Horsfield recalled—Deceased's boots were
too large, and he was, in consequence, in the habit
of wearing rags round his toes, but I cannot swear
that he wrapped any round on the morning of the
explosion. I am positive that the boats taken from
deceased's feet are those of W. Moore. [Tho boots
were examined and found to contian a quantity of
rags at the toes.
The jury now returned to the inn, after which
Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler, jun., of Barnsley,
surgeon, was called, and said—l have examined
the bodies of two men now lying in the shed. They
have died from the effects of the explosion, but
whether from being burnt or from suffocation it is
impossible to say in their advanced state of decom-
position. The second fie 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-
siderably bent. From the form of the bones and
the articular surface, I believe that this existed long
before death.

Wi!liam Corbridge (one of the deputies) deposed
that the deceased, William Moore, trammed for
William Horsfield, and worked in a bank on the
south side of the fifth south boardgate. 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. He had prob ibly at-
tempted to escape after the explosion, and got
nearly to the place where his body was found ' • or
the body miy have floated there from the bank.
This concluded. the evidence.
The Foreman (nr. J. Johnson) expressed a hope
that the jury would not be called upon to view any
more bodies.

The Coroner.—That depends upon whether you
are sat. sfied wi it the identity of those you have
already viewe 1.
The F,,reman.—We are quite satisfied with re-
gard to the identity of the body of Gray, viewed
on the 18,11 inst., and that of Moore.
The Coroner—Then it will not be necessary tha'.
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 ousiht to have our expenses re-

rrabursed.
The Coroner—l would most willingly pay your
expenses if I bad the power. I have now been
coroner for 27 or 21 years. Formerly expenses were
&lowed to the parishes in respect of inquests, and
they sometimes incurred greater expenses than were
proper. In consequence Lord Wbarncliffe brought
forward a motion at the quarter sessions at Ponte-
fract to disc )ntinue allowances to coroner's juries in
the West Riding. 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. Johnston—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 important an in-
quiry we think that our expenses ought to be
allowed. We therefore hope you will bring the
matter before the magistrates.
The Coroner—I will do all I can in the matter.
Mr. Morton thinks we had better not adjourn for
more than three weeks.
Mr. Morton—We hope the pit may be in a state
to be examined within the three weeks, although
we cannot spfak positively.
The jury then adjourned for tbree weeks—namely
to Thursday, the 21st of May.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
The great exertions of the men specially engaged
in recoverin,g tht bodies have been attended with con-
siderable success during the week, considering the
many obstacles-they have had to enceunter.
In addii ion 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, one 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 those
of El jah and Benjamin Beevors s brothers. The
two latter were found in the fifth board on the south
side. From the position in which they were found
there ii every reason to believe that death must
have been instantaneous. One of them was found
sitting down as if he had been in the act of eating