The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 1, 1868.

THE COLLIERY ACCIDENT..

Two more victims have to be added to the long rd,.
of killed by the explosion at the Hindley coalpit. Two
young men seriously injured in the accident have died
from their wounds, thus bringing the total to sixty-one, and
it is feared that some others of the injured will succumb
to their injuries. There still remain several dangerous
cases under the treatment of Mr. Brayton, the surgeon,
and his assistants. The principal of these are John
Tyldesley, of Sta.ckyfold, who is very badly burned; John
Gerrard, of Chapel-lane, Hindley, seriously burned, but
doing well ; Thomas Ingram, Sandy-lane ; Thomas
Sergeant Hollins and James Reyes, Hindley Green ;
John Tinsley, Stackyford ; and Thomas Winnett, Stacky-
fold. None of these men can give any satisfactory
account of their escape. They appear to have been
" dazed," and to.have had the good luck to struggle into
safety.
Amongst those who escaped were a number of men at
the far end of the workings, who first tried to work their
way to the pit shaft by the ordinary route. On the way,
however, they came to a door, and finding several bodies
lying about, they began to notice which way the current
of air was flowing. Finding the ventilation was com-
pletely reversed, they, after a short consultation, resolved
to follow the wind, and so managed to reach the shaft.
A singular escape was that of a man named Ramsdale,
who was working 100 or 500 yards away from the pit eye.
He knew what had occurred immediately the sound of
the explosion was heard in the workings, and throwing
down his tools he rushed along the level, where he was
soon met by the after-damp. He came upon three little
lads, who were screaming with terror and had given them-
selves up for lost. Ramsdale told them to hold on to his
trousers, and in that position he dragged them through the
foul gas. After desperate efforts he reached the shaft
with his charge all safe, and he sent the boys up first,
feeling, he said, that he could stand the gas better than
they could.
The bodies that were most burned were found in what
are known as the clip workings, and in that portion of the
pit along which the flames of the furnace were driven
when their current was reversed. Many were scorched
about the head and face, as if they had just been
caught by the fire as it passed, and nearly all
seemed to have left their places, and after running as far
as they could to have succumbed to the deadly choke-
damp. On Sunday the last sad offices before burial were
performed to the dead, and on Sunday morning the bodies
were placed in neat coffins which had been made on the
premises. The calamity has rendered nearly fifty children
fatherless, and at several of the houses poverty stares them
in the face.

The inquest on the bodies of those killed by the Hindley
Colliery explosion was simply opened—nothing further
can be said of its progress—on Monday. A correspondent
thus describes it :—" Mr. Driffield, the coroner, arrived at
about eleven o'clock, and before long the jury had assem-
bled. Mr. Higson, the Government inspector, was present,
and was joined by Mr. Dickinson, the inspector of an
adjoining district. Amongst the other persons present were
Mr. Southworth, the manager of the colliery in which the
explosion occurred ; Mr. George Gilroy, manager to the
Ince Hall Coal and Cannel Colliery ; and Mr. William
Bryham, manager of the Rose-bridge Collieries. The men
were represented, so far as the National Miners' Associa•
tion was concerned, by Mr. Pickard and Mr. Halliwell,
the agents for the Wigan and the West Houghton dis•
tricts. Before swearing the jury Mr. Driffield
said that he did not propose to do more that day than
would. enable him to grant the warrants for the burial
of the dead. He had been told that there was great
excitement among the people because he had not attended
earlier, and that they thought he had not been acting con.
siderately towards them. He could not do anything other
than had been done. It was not until Friday that he
received information of the calamity, and when he
received it he was on his way to hold two inquests
in differents parts of his district. He could not alter
his arrangements for that day. On Saturday he had had also
two inquests to hold. He could not send his precept to
Hindley until Saturday morning. Nothing had up to
that time been said to him about the excitement. On
Saturday morning he was only asked to make arrange-
ments whereby the bodies might be placed in the care of
the relatives ; and that he did. Late on Saturday night a
messenger reached him at Prescot, where, after the day's
work, he had gone on private affairs connected with the
very recent loss of his brother. It was impossible for
him to do anything until Monday. He could see no
reason for the feeling which had been manifested.
There had been nothing in his movements or in his
conduct which he could have so changed as to afford a
speedier burial than was now possible. He hoped, therefore,
that the relatives would not attach blame to him. After
this short speech of the coroner, the jurymen were sworn,
and it was arranged that at its rising the court should
be adjourned until Thursday. In the meanwhile the
Government inspectors will make a formal inspection
of the mine, and so be prepared with evidence. The
formal evidence of identification of the bodies was then
taken, and shortly afterwards the inquiry was adjourned.
There was a short interruption of the proceedings.
About a score of men, mostly fathers of families in which
deaths had occurretl, came up the stairs towards
the door or the court and chafed again at the delay.
They became excited, and went so far as to threaten
that they would break into the room and shew the
coroner that he had, as they believed, trifled enough with
them already. Their voices were loud, and they were
quite capable of carrying out this threat, but they con.
sented to go away quietly on the assurance that the
coroner was even then doing what they wanted, with as
much rapidity as the formal requirements of his office
would permit.