Year: 1867

| fhrtlcularb OF tho Awful Colnery EXPLOSION


at Ferndale, England-Three Hundred


Persons in the Pit at the TimS-.Frightful


Loss Of Life.


A cable telegram appeared few days
ago which has prepared the reader for
the details, which are now at hand, Of one
Of the most disastrous coliery explosions
ever recorded. 1t was stated that three
hundred persons were in the colliery
when the accident occurred, but it has
since been ascertained that the number
was greater. The Ferndale colliery, the
scene Of the accident, is situated near
Rhondda Each, in the Rhondda valley,
seven miles from Pontypridd, and twenty
one miles from Cardiff, and is worked by
Messrs. David Davies & Sons. For sew
eral days after the explosion efforts were
made to extricate the victims. OF the
result the London Times ofthe llth says


This morning all hope of safety for
those still below has been abandoned, as
the managers of other collieries, who
we're down in the pit the greater part OF
the night, on reaching the surface
declared it to be an utter impossibility
for any of the unfortunate workers
to be still alive. 1t is believed that
the explosion took place in heading
where some 20 colliers were at work,
and that place becoming filed up, the
only means of exit was cut of, and the
remainder who were in the pit have
been suffocated by the after damp; Rel.
atives and friends are naturally 10th to
accept the prevailing belief, and they
still cling to the hope Of many being
rescued, and they still liuger about the
pit One poor woman was at the pits
mouth with an infant in her arms during
the whole of Friday night, anxiously but
vainly watching for her husband, who
worked below, and it was not until yes.
terday morning that she consented to be
led away. Mr.. Williams death was evil
IDENTIFY caused by suffocation, as he was
not at all burnt, and his features were
as placid and as composed as if he were
asleep. His body was found with that
of nine others, all of whom have been
recognized by sorrowing relatives
In another lot there was an aged
man and his four grown up sons, all
brought up in rapid succession, and all
lifeless. The coal trade in this district
has been in a depressed state for some
time, and several colliers from some of
the small colieries in the neiEhborhood
of Porth have been working at Ferndale,
and numbers of those who visited the pit
Yesterday and to-day have had to walk
several miles to obtain tidngs, 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, ne never, during the
whole 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 fol-
low. Many of the bodies that have been
brought to the surface are frightfully
burnt, the clothing completely destroyed,
and in some cases portions of the body
have been literally burnt away, the
charred remains presenting sickening
and frightfu spectacle. At the time
of the explosion thirty FIVE horses
were working in the pit, and every one
of them has been killed. Some of them
had portions of their harness still on,
but every vestige of hair was burnt off
1t is difficult to conjecture what has been
the cause of the accident, but it is feared
that long immunity from accidents in
the Rhondda Valley have made the
colliers reckless of their safety. Some
of the lamps have been found open, but
some believe that this may have been
caused by the force Of the explosion,
but those who are well acquainted with
the construction of the safety lamp de
clare that to be an impossibility In the
colliery is new stable, in which it is
said that four carpenters were working
with naked lights This is believed to
have been the cause of the accident, as q
large quantity of gas is said to be con
stantly in the pit There are numerous
rumors ahoat as to the cause of the
accident but nothing reliable has yet
been ascertained.