Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-01-10
ST, CLAIRsvILLE, O.:
Thursday, jan 1 o, 1sez..,
THE C0L11ERy DISASTERS nv
ENGLANH.
Fuu Particulars Of ExpiOssonss+
Four Hundred andEity Lives
UDst-.Dreadful scenes.

-Four Hundred ana Fifty Lives
Lost--Dreadful scenes.
The Ensiisf, mails, recefvea by the Aus.
tralasAS, bring fullpccounts of the terrible
explosives at tie Oaks and Talk.o' the. Hill
co!lieries in Yorkshire and Stpffordshiies9si
The latterbccurred twenty two hours after
the YofEshire disaster. The total number
of livecloa was about -four hundred and
nifty. RI p irl th / 'tf.I
Gable dispatches, sfew days.ago, gave an
outline OF these terrible accidents, but the
following details, gathered from the Eng.
lish papers show thatthe worst was not told.
THE, OAKS cOLL1ERY EXPLOSION.
The Oaks cplliery. explosion occurred on
Wednesday, December II, about p NJ.
This colliery isabout a mile and half from
psrty H,Mr r.. Eickletbwaite, who has leas
ed it to Messrs. Firth, Barber & Co. .a Its,
!. workings were probably of greater extent
than those Of any other coliery in the South
Yorkshire district, and the number of,hspds
employed was little short of four hundred
and City. The ramfcations underground
extended over arge1n area. and the most
distant points Of the colliery were over three
miles from each other.
SO far as could be ascertsined, it is beliov-
ed that three hundred and twenty y.tour per.
sons went into the pitat 6 o'clock on Wed.
nesdaygmorning, and they were subsequent
ly followed by at least six more there is
strong reason for believingtha the number
was over six, and that in round numbers
nearly three hundred and fify men and boys
were in the pit when the accident happened.
Nssriy alliwere killed, %
g TIE EXPLOSION.
The first intimation OF the disaster was at
twentyminntes past one O'Clock in the after
noon, when the people engaged about the
pit mouth observed a slight tremulous mo.
tion otthe earth, followed by a dull, heavy
explosion, that could'be heard more than
mile oE.- Dense columns Of smoke and dust
shot iu1d Che air from ench OF the shafts,
and in ;alfew seconds the pit bank was wrap
ped ina,thick black cloud ,lthat hung like a
funeral pail over the il.fated spot. The
shock of the explosion startled the people
living In the neighborhood. and rush was
made to the pit bank, Frantic women, ter
rified children and golfers from adjoining
works, eagerly crowded round the place. TO
ascertain the cause and the results; and the
anxietypnd depair depicted by that motley
throng was scene thatno pep can describe.
On recovering from thel first shock OF alarm,
tho viewers and underviewers, several of
whom bad como to tho surface few min
utes before the occurrence, inspected the
gear and machinery Of The down-cast shafts,
and informa ation Of the Incident was sinul
taneously Forwarded to Mr.. 4. Dymond, the
managing partner, aud Mr. Superintendent
Greenbalgh, OF Barnsey. who shortly arriv.
ed with o number Of policemen. ~ "a
yeBEdINNINd THE SEARCH.
As soon as possible q psrty,of men eau.
tiously descended. aud at the bottom of the
shaft found about eighteen men and boys
much sffected by the afterdamp and many
of them seriously burned. They were at
ence sent TO the surface. A search was
made fof others Of the living, and as it was
also important to learn whether the coal had
caught Ere, Mr.. Dympnd and party OF
!iewers and oolliery managers from adjoin'
ing works proceeded to make an examina.
tion ofthe pit. They penetrated about Eve
hundred or soven hundred yards to the bot.
tom ofthe up east shaft. The air was load.
ed with noxious gas to such mn extent that
ono Of the party was nearly oyerpowcred by
it. ltwas found thnt an Immense amount
Of damage had been caused to the sides and
roots Of the workings !; that the airways
wore literally blown to pieces, and that not
living man was to be found in the pit. OF
dead they counted many within the space,
OF fifty yards there were not fewer than
thirty-eight, and that at every few PAGES the
number~was increased; it was also, found,
that the stables were destroyed and about
eighteen or twenty horses killed. Some of
the party returned tothe surface and called
for more volunteers to repair the air ways
and get out the dead. Plenty of willing
aud in the course OF the evening and night
more than one hundred men were thus EN-.
ployed.
sEARcHERs KILLED. .oss.
Ono exploring party, when about seven
hundred yards from the shaft, felt the air
sucking, and made every haste out and saw
ed their lives; but another party, consisting
Of David Stewart, William Sugden, Chris,
topher Siddons, Thomas Nadin, William
Stephenson (workmen), and Mr.. Jeiicock,
mining engineer. lost their lives.
- SECOND EXPLOSION.
A second explosion took place on Thurs.
day morning while the parties in charge
were in the act Of drawing ont the dead,
consequent upon the previous explosion -
The renort was like that Of q cannon The
news OF this second disaster spread like light
ming, and hundreds of tho friends and rela,
tives Of the poor creatures In the pit were
quickly on thespot The scene Of Wednes.
day was. again renewed Tha poor women
could be met on tho road 10 the colliery,
fainting with excessive grief while Others
were seen tearing their hair. apparently wild
with excitement The scene in tho neigh.
hood ofthe oollery was truly heartrending.
n THIRD EXPLOSION.
At9A,, NJ, the pit exploded again, kill.
Ing all the volunteers who were searching
for the dead. Happily the foulness of the
pit had been 80 great previously that about
ten minutes TO Hine oil the searchers, to the
number OF sixteen, came back. When they
did soithey we're accused Of cowardce by
the men who we're waiting TO descend. and
these latter at once went down to continue
the search. They had not baen in the pil
many minutes when il fred, tho crash of
the explosion being Distinctly heard at places
nearlys mile distant.
Three HUNDRED AND. FIFTY TWO LIVES
- lost.
A fsct sorroborating previaus statements
~ to the number Of men in the pit at thS
time dfIths explosion camel to light during
the Investigations. aud strengthens thu IaS-
sertioAs.ss TO the loss OF human iio. A
Manchester paper says: I'VE are informed
on creditable authority. that four hundred
and thsrS In raps had hee m issued an WeJn.s