THE KING AND A BRAVE MINER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 158, 28 March 1908, Page 10

THE KING AND A BRAVE MINER.

~HO\V HIS. MAJESTY HONOURED. HIM. The . conspicuous ; braverfi . "displayed. ::by Francis Chandler,.'a colliery deputy; of Church Street, Jump, near Bariisle.v, '-ill endeavouring to rescue a number d Workmen at the. Hoyland . Silkstone Colliery, . in •November, last,' when some of the; men Jps,t' thpj.r. jives, in the collapse.of the boiler-house, has been rewarded, with the .Edward'.Medal of', the.'First'.'Class.'' Tho King decided to' do Chandler the honour :of .personally, investing hijri with'the medal.', % Chandler,, who• is', close 'on sixty-,years of age; was in charge of seven' men .repairing the''; boiler-house ' when : the- - collapse took I>laco, .Tho fall, of a heavy girder killed one man outright, and thp'V others were piriued down under a . mass ,of dobris. "'All' ; werei •sovercly hurried ahd'fo\nv, succumbed later. ! ■ Every light 'was- extinguished. Chandler,' though severely burned himselfj made 11 gallant attempt at : taking one sufferdr on his back to ia pkco of safety. : Ho. tlien crawled to tho pit bottom, and went to the surface for rescuers,, whom he'afterwards lod ~to the. scene of tho disaster.''

-:Ono of Chandlers sons- was among the killed, and, a second was' seriously' injured. Ghandler, himself was • confined to tho ho's•pitakfor some. timo after tho disaster, 'and at: one :--timo his: life was' almost :despaired! v - Chandler, modestly, 'trill not speak'' Of''his work'. His only : comment is that lie did jio more than anybody else would' have do»e. The coroner's-jury .which investigated .the'deaths of the victims thought otherwise, and suggested y . that 'Chandler's conduct should ha brought to the.notice of t-lio authorities. ' t ' ■■V ..