Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-01-10
sedI,e{sr lamSa M. .lld thI. when he


usedl,xfety lamps Itis sdtd thst when the
accident happened, number OF the golfers
were driving a headway towards some old
levels charged with foul air, and q .supposi-
ltieaIprevails that, having tspt this air,lt
rushed to the engine plane, and there ex'
ploded, just as in The case of the recent Iac:
-eident at Dukinfeld. Another theory is
that the mine pny have been fredT By, ,ithe'
Iisssuiious use Of the safety lamps Or the
lighting Of match" ssirsdO mall \
The Leeds Mercury, however. says: esslThe
manner in which the pit was worked was
fruitful sutjectafor discussion ,amopg the
crowd, and il was stated BY several well &C,
quainted with the coliery fhata although the
only lights used IN the workings were the
safety lamps, the engine plane ana them
thoreughfareslof the mine were lighted Gbyc
gas. This was natural gas, accumulated in
the pit by placing pipes Ito the .piincipal
assures from which gas oozedD and conduct
'iDg Vt into gaspmeter, wheDceit wns draFn
IS required inthe usual way. Some Of the
men who had worked 10 the mine and COM
sidered it safe, we're inclined to attribute
the explosion TO some accident resulting in
an.escape Of accumulated gas. = II appears,
ALSO that powder was used for blasting IN
the getting Of coal--a practice probablysatd'
tended with farigreater risk than the burn
ing Of naked lights in the main roads, sand
some conjectufes point to this practice as the
rroba Bile cause of the dreadful disaster -
For the inspection of the mine three depu.
ties were regularly employed by, day and
three by night The duty Of these men
was to, visit all the working and other dan
geroUs parts OF the pit every shift, before the
men began to work, to see that they were
III a.. I,,t., ,Ine nd Atlu
performed, without the discovery of any
thing to create alarm.
1T seems, however, that complaints have
been made for some time Of the unusual
heat In the pit. 1t is even alleged that so;ue
.of the men objected to work in it., The
heat Of the atmosphere in the pit ia attrib-
uted to the long distance the air. had to
travel the workings on account of their ex.
tent and the quantity of gas that gathered
in the journey. On this point. however, it
IS only fair to soy that the heat of the at
niosphere was regularly taken, and that
thos8in charge saw no reasoIrto anticipate
danger from its condition. =, ~ -
| In the Oaks colliery the coal, which
rises above the level OF the bottom OF the
shaft, has in the main been got, and for
some time the workings have been chiefly
in che coal which is below the level of the
bottom Of the shalt. In niners'e phrase,
they are 'dip'Q workings. The system Of
working at the Oaks is that known as the
long wall system. 1t is not the. usual sys
TEN in the South Yorkshire district, but 1t
is considered to be, on the whole. safe
system" Al - - %" ''
INCIDENTS. t.Hd
Some of the escs pes of the miners were
very remarkable. One man, Cnamed Bates,
| L..
q mile and half from the shafts.lJ He be-
came aware Of The explosion by q sudden
rush of air. which threw him down and rem
dered him insepsible. On recovering him,
self, he felt that he was being enwrappea ia
the suGochting ichoke danfp, and, with a
desperate effort, he struggled tbwaids the
shafts. The voads were so blown down that
he could hardly find his way, and after
climbing over heaps of debris, he at last
tell helpless. and gave)himElf up for lost
Soma friendlyhand raised him, and once
more he, struggled on towards the SHAFT,
where he at last arrived, and was safely
taken to the surface. se''a" - onl
/ Another man was knocked down senseless.
and one Of tho exploringspartiesJ atterward
isfou0d him grnsping in his arms the body of
a dead cat. Others brought To the surince
alive experienced singulary narrow ESCAPES
from falling debris and after damp. To
avoid the latter, many fell on their faces.
stuffed their clothing in their mouths and
crawled along the level. W
One Of the most affecting scenes which
the soarchers came upon was the discovery OF
more than twenty men, nearly the whole OF
whom were locked in each Others arms -,
They had faced death together, and had
carried the friendship of life to the very
| ,h ahntl -. Az n,tA LnI
! IDENTIFY been swept away while taking leave
!. sion of the moment others had still remem
hered to appeal to the mercy of their God
Not few were thus found in the attitude
Of prayer.
7 A more awful spectacle than that pre-
sented to the searchers on Wednesday night
could hardly be found, even on the battle
Held. Horses, coal tubs, and in some cases
Ten and lads, were heoped together in one
confused mass, and some of the bodies were
so much disfgured by dirt than mutt
lation--thst their friends could hardly re-
copnize them. Some had to be identified
by. n button or shoe, or some of their tat.
tered garments. , tt-.fy
/ Samuel Brown, of Barnsley, states that
when the first explosion took place during
the search for which be had volunteered he
was caught by tho after blast and became
unconscious for some time. Afterwards he
revived and wandered about the North in
cline, falling over mangled corpses in the
road, md found his way to tho pit mouth,
where he pulled the sigma bell. He thinks
there was no other living being In the pit
for after his Consciousness returned he never
oheard any voices or moaning or any other
Indication of life. 81
THE TALK.'o THE HILL coLLIERY. ExPLo
IBTl-y SION.
The explosion in the Talk 'o-the Hill Col.
liesy, in Staifoydshire. occurred at eleven A,
N. on Thursday, December f3. about TWEEN.
" four hours attor the disaster at Barnsey
Upwards of onehpndred lives were lost by
this explosion The collicry Is situated IN
the parish Of Take, about milo from the
Hardcastle Station; il belongs to tho. North
Siaifordshire Coal and Iron Company.
Limited, and has been worked about eight
cen months, The coal which il produces is
known as Ranbury coal, From tho mouth
of The shaiis--twoin in numbcr--to tho bot;
tom ~ the pit is depth OF lhtoe hundred
and fifty yards, and the workings extend
al a.a h,.lsal n ada l., .;,,... l;,an