Year: 1867




thousand in number-who had pressed
up close to the pits mouth, where then
sent back by the police, and barricades
put up so as to have an open space
about the shaft. A stream of water was
also sent down the shaft, and about an
hour after this had been done the report
was received that the air had been great
ly improved.


This afternoon the Coroner impaneled
a jury, and inspected the bodies of the
dead. A visit to the desolate houses
where they lay disclosed cases of the most
distressing character, whole families
having been swept off. In one house a
father and three sons lay stretched in
death as though they were calmly sleep
ing, and the fourth son lay dead few
doors off, leaving a young widow in an
agony of grief.


In another family of six that went
out well and hearty in the morning, only
one had been brought back alive, and he
will be cripple for life should he sur
vive his injuries. In some houses the
poverty of the occupants was so great
that they were destitute of the means of
laying out the bodies. and consequently
the corpses in all their CHASTITY disfgure-
ment lay ON the stone floor covered with
sacks. In one house two lads injured
lay on the floor as they were brought
from the pit, the inmates fearing to touch
them lest they should kill them too soon.


In most of the houses the distress and
sorrow were intensified by the fact that
others were to come to swell the list of
victims. In all cases certificates of
burial were given, and the funeral ex-
penses, we believe, will be borne by the
firm in whose service the unfortunate
fellows have died. Orders were given
by Mr.. Davis for an unlimited supply of
every thing requisite for the injured
from the shops in the place, but sad to
relate, this generosity will not be largely
drawn upon, for of all the one hundred
and seventy souls who were down the
fatal pit, at the outside, it is feared, only
two can survive their injuries.


AS to the cause of the accident it
would not only be premature, but rash,
to venture an opinion, as until the fall
in the main drift is cleared away, and
the whole of the workings open to in
spection, it will be impossible to obtain
any data upon which to found rational
opinion. There is no evidence as yet to
show where the gas exploded.


The colliery, which has not long been
in existance, has been rapidly extended,
and it is sunk to the celebrated four foot
seam of Merthyr steam coal. about three
hundred yards below the surface. In
ordinary work the colliery employs
about three hundred hands, nearly
equally divided between day and night
shifts, and the most of them reside in
the village, which is within short dis
tance of the pit. 1t has population of
about eight Hundred, and has sprung up
so rapidly that many of the houses are
still of wood.


1t may here be observed, because it
will explain how it has happened that
the details of an event which took place
on Friday last have not been given to
the public sooner, that the Fernd ale
Colliery is five miles and half by road
from the nearest station, Perth, ON the
Rhondds branch of the Taft Vale; and
persons starting from Merthyr or Cardiff
at eight A. M. can not get to the col
liery till after eleven O'Clock. From
Aberdare the distance is scarcely less
and the route over wild hills is one of
the most rugged and trying that pedes-
trians can encounter in this country.


SUNDAY.-This morning all hope of
safety for those still below has been
abandoned, as the managers of other
collieries who were down in the pit the
greater part of the night on reaching the
surface declared it, to be an utter impos-
sibility for any of the workers to be still
alive.


1t is believed that the explosion took
place in heading where some seventy
colliers were at work, and the place be-
coming filled up, the only means of exit
was cut off, and the remainder who We're
in the pit had been sufiocated by the
after damp.


Relatives and friends are naturally
10th to accept the prevailing belief, and
they still cling to the hope Of many be-
ing rescued, and they still linger about
the pit. One poor woman was at the
pits mouth with an infant in her arms
during the whole of Friday night, anx-
iously but .vainly watching for her hus-
band, who worked below, and it was not
until yesterday morning that she con-
scented to be led away.


Mr.. Williams death was evidently
caused by suffocation. as he was not at
all burnt, and his features were as placid
and composed as if he were asleep. His
body was found with that of nine 9TH
ers, all of whom have been recognized
by sorrowing relatives. In another lot
there was an aged man and his four
grown-up sans, all brought up in rapid
succession, and all lifeless.


The coal trade in this district has been
in depressed state for some time, and
several colliers and some of the small
collieries in the neighborhood of Porth
have been working at Ferndale, and
number of those who visited the pit yes
terday and to-day have had to walk
several miles to obtain tidings, if possi-
BILE, of relatives. An old and expert
enced manager who was in the pit during
the whole of Friday night, says although
it had been his lot to witness the effects
of many explosions, he never during the
whole course of his career, beheld such a
sight as that which he witnessed below.
He is, also, Of opinion that, unless very
great care is taken, other explosions will
follow. Many of the bodies that have
been brought to the surface are frightful-
ly burnt, the clothing completely de-
stroyed, and in some cases portions of
the body have been literally burnt
away, the charred remains presenting
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