The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1877-06-07
A Thrilling Welsh Story.


During period Of nearly ten days Il
terrible battle has been raging in the
Welsh collicry of Troedyrhiw, battle in
which death savagely fought on one side
and the brave miners of Pontypridd on
the other. The tale is one that will live
long in the homes Of the Rhondda valley.
It is story the details of which have
been given day by day and which has
stirred to the lowermost depts the SYM
pathies OF the English people, and en-
listed the earnest solicitude of the Queen
herself. Day after day since the strange
calamity occurred which closed number
OF hapless miners in a tomb, the first It'd
ings for which the newspaper was
searched at every household table has
been the latest report from that dreadful
Troedyrhiw mine. When the news had
been read that the miners were still
entombed, public sympathy and interest
gradually quickened into an absorbing
anxiety which converted the battle waged
so long and earnestly for life into nation
al event. It was on April IL, just as the
day-shaft colliers were quitting the
Troedyrhiw pit when the catastrophe oc-
Cured.
Some last incautious blow, or some ac-
cidental breach Of wall or vein, burst the
thin partition which held back a vast con-
cealed reservoir Of subterranean water.
when suddenly with a rush like that of
an angry incoming sea, black Cocytus
Of flood broke in upon the mine. Filling
the lower galleries and bottom of the
shafts, driving before it the atmosphere
from ~ H. :.
mysterious deluge cut off two parties of
men who escaped with difficulty from the
peril of immediate drowning TO find
themselves immured in the first and
second adits of the mine nearest the up
per shafts. No sooner was it known that
number of operatives were missing than
scores of brave, hardy volunteers were
forthcoming to rescue their fellows. Many
at once descended the shaft, which is 276
feet deep, and entered the workings. It
was then ascertained that all the work
ings within a few hundred yards of the
bottom of the shaft were filed with water
to the roof, and no hope was entertained
! that anyone would be discovered alive
While the explorers were consulting as
| to what movement should be made, faint
tappings were heard on the other side of
the coal, as was conjectured at distance
of thirty or forty feet. No sooner was
this discovery made than score of men
threw off their coats and with mandrills
commenced cutting through the solid
mass.
The imprisoned were also at work.
Throughout the night, relays of men
toiled with desperate, untiring energy,
cheered and encouraged by the tapping
and sounds Of labor of the imprisoned
men. The task was very laborious, it
having to be performed in deep water,
but such was the progress made that on
the following morning a mandril struck
through and a hole was made into that
part of the pit where five men were shut
up. The next moment terrific explosion
occurred and one of the imprisoned, a
miner named Morgan, was hurled into
the opening, where the resources found
him dead. The inundation had been so
sudden rs to imprison the air in the inner
workings, and the force of this had kept
back the water from the five mon in that