Year: 1877

| Which illustrates with startling clear


ness the dangers that lurk in the bow


els of the earth, and the pluck and


heroism which sometimes ennoble


the dull hard life of the miner On
/ "Wednesday evening, the llth of April,


as the men were on the point of leav-


ing work in the Tynewydd Mine,


near Pontypridd, the roar of rushing


water was heard, and the galleries and


tunnels suddenly began to fill. The


water had broken through from an


abandoned and flooded mine, and of


course rose in the main shaft and the
| lateral workings until 1t found its lev


el. Most of the men made their es-


cape, but when the roll was called


ed fourteen were missing. An explor-


ing party went down to look for them,


They found all the galleries within a


few hundred yards ofthe bottom filled


to the roof, but knocking heard be-


hind wall of coal indicated that some


of the missing men were imprisoned


alive in gallery that sloped upward,


its mouth being under water. The wall


was a few yards thick. Volunteers


went at it with their picks; the pris-


oners worked from the inside; in an


hour they could hear ore another's
voices. But the moment the hole was


broken through the confined air, kept
| nnIar 0rpaf lxr = ..a


water, burst out with a terrific explo-
sion, and one of the imprisoned min


ers was shot into the opening as if he


had been blown from gun. He was


taken out dead. Four Others in the


chamber with him were uniniured.


knockings, however, were heard fur


ther on, and it appeared that other


missing men were in similar but
still worse predicament, shut into


chamber of compressed air. 1t is
with the efforts to release this second


party that the chief interest of the


story begins.


The wall behind which they were


confined was in a heading that was


flooded, and nothing could be done but
To pick until the water was pumped
out. Divers first attempted the per-


ilous feat of reaching the opening from


the main shaft through half mile Of


water, and it was afterward ascertain
ed that one of the men from within
had triad fn In


This, however, was impossible. 1t
was not until Monday, the fifth day,
that the volunteers were able to begin


digging. The distance to be cut was


l2o feet. The work went on day and


night with an eagerness that seemed
like desperation, and yet it was so
slow! Cutting through the solid coal,
in gallery not more than three feet


high, where the water, only kept down


by constant pumping, threatened to


rise and engulf them every moment,


with trouble from gas, and the dam
ger of another explosion of air always
before them, the rescue parties took
their lives in their hand whenever
they went into the mine, and their
wives followed them with sad eyes as
they entered the shaft, doubting if
they would come up alive. And the
hope of saving their comrades, shut
up so long without food, was, at best,
but a fororn one. To reduce the dan
ger from the sudden liberation of
the air-danger not only of violent
explosion, but of sudden rise of the
water i'm the chamber as soon as the
pressure should be relieved-air tight
doors were constructed in the cutting,
an air pump was set i'm operation to
establish an equilibrium on both sides
of the wall On the 18th, a week af-
ter the accident, voices were heard,
and the working party We're cheered
by faint cry, Keep to the right
side; you are nearly through" On
the 18th the work had made such
progress that an iron tube was forced
eight feet through the barrier of coal,
and an attempt was made, but with
out success, to introduce milk through
it to the famishing prisoners. The
miners learned then that there were
five of their comrades in the chamber,
all alive, but two of them nearly ex-
hausted.


On the night of the 18th there re-
manned only eighteen inches to be cut
away and the excitement rose to fever
heat. An enormous assemblage of
people surrounded the mouth of the
mine; physicians We're in readiness
a temporary hospital was prepared,
and house near 10y was put in order
for the sufferers, if haply they should
lie got out alive. The state of the work
was discussed in Parliament, and bull
letins were flashed at short intervals
to the furthest ends of the kingdom.
But just when it seemed that few
strokes of the pick might complete
the labor, an eruption of gas took |
place, and the working party had to |
run for their lives. In time, however |
the air was renewed and the work |
went on. AT last, on the afternoon of |
Friday, the Goth, a hole was knocked !
in, and one of the cutting party enter
ed the cavern. All was still; i'm their
weak condition the agitation of the |
moment made the imprisoned men
speechless. The rescuers felt about, |
and, not finding any one, shouted,
Don't be afraid The answer came, |
"All right; we are not afraid,n and |
then pair of rough arms were thrown |
about his neck. The first to be taken |
out was boy named Hughes, and it
is related that when the car came to !
the surface and the long suspense was
over the vast crowd of spectators did |
mot cheer, nor use any of the ordina-
"ry means of showing enthusiasm
"all seemed too serious for that"


Cases of life preserved without food
for ten days, and even longer, are not
rare, though the period of abstinence
which these Welsh miners endured is
considered the longest which man is
capable of sustaining under ordinary
conditions. They were able to drink