Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-11-13
THE COLLIERY EXPLOSION.
FoOrd Pit, StellartOn, Nova Scotia, the See
Of Another Disaster.

OF Another Disaster.
Between Thirry-Five and Forty-Five Miners
and LabOrsrs Killed.
The FOOrd pit, where the great coal
mine disaster reported yesterday occurred,
is the most important and extensive mine
in the great coal basin of East River.
Nova Scotia is divided into the north and
south slopes. Tho north slope cx-
tends about mile and threc-quar-
ters from the mouth of the pit, the
the south over mile. Hence most of the
men engaged in the north slope escaped
uninjured. It was in these same workings,
in pits now abandoned, that the great fire
occurred in 1861. At that time it was
found necessary to let in tho waters OF
the East river to extinguish the fire. This
however, is the first serious explosion that
has taken place in Foord pit while it has
been managed by tho Halifax mining
company since they obtained the property
in 1872. About two months ago the work,
ings of one Of tho old pits were tapped and
the water burst through, destroying a
large amount of property, but no life. Just
one month ago, on the 18th of October, the
water broke through again in a different
quarter, and swept down the slope like a
torrent, carrying cars and horses and men
before it. On this occasion six men lost
their lives, and so great an amount of de-
bris accumulated in the bottom of the pit
that nearly a week elapsed before all the
bodies were recovered.
The cause of this last disaster was that
gas had collected in one of the bonds OF
headers and is supposed to have been ig-
nited by defective lamp. A full force OF
men-about ono hundred and si1ty-were
in tho pit at the time, and only a portion
of them escaped. When tho news of the
disaster first reached the surface it was
supposed that almost the entire force of
employees had been annihilated, and
scenes of wild excitement followed. Grad
ually, however, members Of the various
gangs came up, much to tho relief Of tho
anxious villagers who had collected at tho
mouth Of the pit.
Everything is in great confusion and it
is impossible to get correct information.
As far rs known forty-seven mon and boys
wero in tho bond and arc supposed to be
lost. Thirty-three Of these were married
men, some with large families. Searching
parties cannot get in very far on account
of masses of coal blocking up the way in
all directions. Messrs. J. Hudson, Of the
Albion mines; Greene, of tho Vale, and
H. S. Poole, of the Acadia, wentdown the
pit. One body was recovered and two
were seen by explorers. Several dead
horses were found. None of the miners
on the north side were injured, and quite
a number of them were surprised at the
crowd around the mouth of the pit when
they came up to dinner, not having any
idea that such terrible fate had befallen
their fellow workmen. Messrs. Hudson,
Greene, Simpson and Poole, with other vol
unteers who went down in the pit, found it
impossible to explore the south side for
any distance on account of the after damp,
there being no air through the side, as all
the doors had been blown down by the
blast. They found some bodies, but could
not identify them. All tho horses in the
pit, twenty-nine in number, are dead.
1t 10 feared another explosion will occur
when thepit gathers gas again. Work is
totally suspended at all the collieries in the
county, and miners have come to the scene
of the accident in great numbers, but are
altogether powerless to render any assis-
tance on account of the precarious cOndi-
ton of the pit. It is not known how the fire
originated, as none from the side where
the accident occurred are alive to tell the
tale. Efforts will be made to recover the
bodies of the missing men as soon as the
pit is considered safe.