The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1867-01-08
THE ENGLISH COAL MINE ExPLO-
! - SIoNs. 81

4 49,
Terrible Details Of Suffering and Death
III Scenes and Incidents of the Disaster. !
The London Star describes come of the scenes
when the explosion occurred atthe Oaks colliery.
Thousands rushed to the pit mouth, and the
thought of all was how to hei p. At first there
we're difficulties. The s'stith" could not at once
be faced by the beings with human lungs, and
the ropes of the cages bad been damaged by the
shock These being quickly renewed, and the
foul vapor having little passed away, descents
at once began, aud soon the bodies lying imme-
diately around the bottom of the shaft began to
be brought to view. It was these apparently,
that was most fearfully disfgured, and beyond
these it was at first impossible to 60. The roads
and air. courses were choked. 1t was only by
slow degrees the workings could be explored,
aud the night, was far gone before even a score
of. three hundred aud eighty men were drawn
up into the open air only less murkey than the
darkness below. AS the search slowly pro-
crossed, there began to appear to the eyes of the
explorers the familiar sights of great coalpit
calamity. Here horse and its boy driver had
fallen suddenly together if 10 battle and there
lay group Of men as if moved down by
scythe. Along the "plain" is, the main
central road of the pit-the crowd of workers
had striven to rush as the report of the explo-
sion fell upon their ears and told them of their
danger. But group after group must have been
met by the after damp, and many less violently
in contact with it seemed to have fallen in their
growing languor over petty obstacles, and to
have been suffccnted as they lay too feeble to
rise and resume their flight. This is what the
interior of coal volcano is like after an erup
ton; and the Imagination can hardly realize,
much less exaggerate, its CHASTITY horrors. Mean
while the expeditions from above go on, multi
plying and quickening. Then there comes
brief hiatus, aud then another descent But
the men return The air in the pit is too foul
to be braved even in this holy and humane un-
dertaking But the bold dwellers in these dark
and treacherous places will not believe it. AS
the searchers reascend they are tainted with
eowaldice, and while they are being jeered
another party is organized. There are seven
mel in it. They are all practical men. Two
are eminent mining eng ineers, and several are
underground stewards. They desceud-not, it
is feared, to rise again-for there was imme-
diately second explosion. Another hero, one
Dawson, again descended, but there was third
outburst of the deadly destruction. And then
all efforts were for the time given up, when
seventyslx of the more than three hundred
bodies had been brought to light. ...
At another one Of the mines, the scene is thus
described
OF the dead they counted many; within
space of fly yards there were not fewer than
thirty eight, and at every few PAGES the number
was increased; it was also found that the stables
were destroyed, and about eighteen or twenty
horses were killed. Some of the party returned
to the surface and called for more volunteers to
repair the air-ways and get out the dead
Plenty Of willing hands joined heartily in the
dangerous task, and in the course of the even
r1,r5t ho, L,p
thus employed. One of the most affecting
scenes which the persons so engaged came upon
was the discovery of more than twenty men,
nearly the whole Of whom were locked 10 each
others arms. They had faced death together,
and had carried the friendship of life to the
very threshold Of the grave. Others had evil
IDENTIFY been swept away while taking leave Of
each other, aud in the terror and confusion of
the moment others had still remembered to ap-
peal to the mercy of their God. Not few were
thus found in the attitude of prayer. A more
awful spectacle than that presented to the
searcher on Wednesday night could hardly be
found, even on battle field. i'm .E..
Horses, coal tubs, and in some cases men and
lads, were heaped together in one confused mass,
and some of the bodies so much disfgured,
more by dirt than mutilation, that their friends
could hardly recognize them; some had to be
identified by button or shoe, or some part of
their tat:ered garments. BY midnight nearly
fifty bodies had been brought to the surface, and
the dense and increasing throng at the pit bank
took painfully excited interest in the duty of
identifying the bodies At times the bodies
were brought up SO rapidly that the space re-
served for them at the pit mouth was quite
crowded, and as relatives and friends claimed
the dead they were carted away. covered with
blankets, and in many eases, followed by weep
ing women and children.