THE FATAL MINING ACCIDENT AT HALF-OUNCE.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1367, 16 December 1872, Page 2

THE FATAL MINING ACCIDENT AT HALF-OUNCE.

As already reported to us by telegraph, a melancholy accident took place in Wheeler and , party's claim, at IJalfOunce, on Wednesday, 11th December, which resulted in the sudden and violent death of two fine young men and the partial disabling of another... Wheeler's -« »-— •• ' ■ In. i. .^-tlv^aaJL. Ounce Lead, which includes the claim formerly known as the Long Drive. The main tunnel is over 2000 ft in length, and the accident occurred about 200 ft from the further, end of the tunnel and about 18?t from the mouth. Between two and three o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday five of the party* were at work blocking a face of about 30ft in width. At the moment of the accident George and Walter Wheeler were driving the laths of a set of timber which they had just placed in position.. Joseph Roland, a shareholder, and Frank Liudstrum, a wages man, were affixing an extra length of, rail to the tramway, and George Wheeler, son., •was atteuding to the truck. Without the slightest warning's crash took place, the roof commenced to run, and the two younger Wheelers, Roland, and Lindstrum were simultaneusly buried in the falling earth and timbers. George Wheeler the elder happened to be further out in the tunnel, and hearing the noise he ran in towards the spot just in time, as it afterwards appeared, to save the life of his younger son, George Wheeler, l^e was covered to the breast, and the old man succeeded in placing a slab in such a position oyer him that the falling earth was turned aside, and the greater weight kept off him till assistance arrived. After Mir Wheeler did what he could under the circumstances, he ran outside and gav6 the alarm. James Johnstone, who was working at the brace on the adjoinirg claim, was the first to rush to the respue, and the word was passed to the surrounding claims by a boy named Renton, who was fossicking in the creek. As soon as the nature and extent of the calamity was ascertained, the work of recovering the unfortunate men was set about in a most systematic manner. Geo. Wheeler was taken oat first, He \ias badly bruised about the lower parts of his body, but not very seriously injured. Lindstrum was taken out some hours afterwards comparatively unhurt, and; the dead body of Walter Wheeler was found about nine o'clock in the evening. It was jammed among fallen and broken timbers, and fastened in such a manner that it took ten hours of unremitting labor to extricate it. From the composition of the ground, in which was runnirig-a sort of Gne drift sand and silt, the greatest skill and caution were required, but fortunately there were men equal to the occasion and the work. The roof and sides had to be secured inch by inch, and to lessen the vibration, the timber holding Walter Wheeler's body had to be removed by boring auger holes in it, and cutting it away bit by bit with chisels and knives. So thoroughly had the ground to be boxed that by the time the body was recovered a complete chamber of timber had been built round it. Ie was seven o'clock on Thursday morning before the remains of Wheeler were taken to the surface. The exact place in .which the body of Roland was likely to be fouud was not known with certainty, and consequently the recovery of it became a matter of prospect-, ; ing. At about four o'clock on Thursday afternoon the man in the face of the drive i came upon the legs of the corpse. By about eight in the evening the body was uncovered to the middle of the waist, wtiereV piece of wood, either a prop or a cap-piece, was found jto be lying across it, firmly pressing the remains of the pour fellow to the portton' of the :

.ramway on which they were lying, j U six o'clock on Friday morning, notwithstanding the incessant exertions made vy successive relayß of men, the body, had lot been extricated. During Thursday tight, owing to the closeness of the weather and the necessarily defective ventilation, the atmosphere underground vas so bad at times that the lights would iot burn ; still, work was not positively liscontinued. ' The 7 cutting away the imber from Wheeler's ..'body'- was continued in the dark, and parties of miners •vere driving from two of the adjoining claims all night. During Thursday, the party driving from Porrayet's claim broke mto Wheeler's tunnel, at a spot about 500 ft from the scene of the accident, and the current of air.thua produced, together with the mechanical appliances utilised, somewhat improved the ventilation. A coroner's inquest was held on the remains of Walter Wheeler, at Foldie's Hotel, Hotel, Mabille, on Thursday afternoon. The depositions of George Wheeler, the brother of the deceased, and. also that of the father, were taken by the Coroner, 0. Whitefdord, Esq., at the house where they reside, George Wheeler being still unable to leave his bed. Most of the foregoing particulars were elicited at the inquest, and a Verdict of accidental death was returned by the jury, of which Mr John Gillman. was foreman. The precise cause of the accident will probably never be known, as Walter Wheeler was the only person who would be likely to account for it. He was the manager of the claim, and according to the evidence of his father and others at the inquest, he .was a thoroughly competent miner and of great experience in underground workings. The supposed and most i feasible cause of the; sad misadventure is to be found in the peculiar conformation of the ground, and possibly in an error of judgment in the timbering of the roof just where the party were working, the jround was rising rapidly, and the prop 3, it ia stated, were not set with a sufficient lean or cant to fairly receive the full weight of the superincumbent earth. Instead of being placed, at right angles with the roof, or at all events at an angle so as to catch the weight, they were, it is said, set almost perpendicularly upright. If this was the case, the calamity is easily accounted for, because the laths being tilted at a high angle against the roof, the props, not being properly secured, slipped out, when the, ground settled on to the laths and cap-pieces. Only two sets of timber gave way, the next but one to the face and another. The rest Of the work is still standing securely. That the ground is exceptionally loose and dangerous is proved by the_ quantity of stuff which forced its way in a few seconds through the comparatively small aperture caused by the giving way of one or two sets. The inquest on the" body of Eoland will be held as soon as it is recovered, and the remains of both will be interred at the cemetery at Ahaura. The victims of this catastrophe were both fine young men in the full vigor of manhood. Wheeler especially was a fine-looking, active young fellow, a proficient at athletic exercises of every descriptiop, and a general favorite. Less than; a week ago, 1 during a conversation with the writer, he expressed himself in terms of pleasurable anticipation of the manner in .which* he intended to enjoy himself at the athletic contests and other festivities -4nnagW»e approaching^! Dhrisinaaaholii Miayß, pftir-nAX vvatßßT «> have been reared upon the Gold Fields of .Australia and New Zealand. Great sympathy is felt for his surviving brother and his father, the latter particularly, who is an elderly man, very much respected, and he appeared to feel his loss most acutely. Roland was a Savoyard, born in the vicinity of Nice, but brought up at Sente, a French maritime town on the Gulf of Ly6ns. He was about JJO years of age, very steady in his habits, and of a quiet and inoffensive disposition. He followed the occupations of - a fisherman and boatman for along time at Grey mouth. The lamentable occurrence, from its suddenness and -the length of time it has taken to recover the bodies, has oast a gloom over the entire j district, but the melancholy circumstances attending it are in some degree relieved by the pluck and energy, amounting almost to actual heroism, displayed by the fellow-miners of the lost men in calmly and bravely facing danger in the yery presence of death, while pewevering in their efforts to recover the remains of their dead comrades.

An inquest was held at the Coart House, 4haura, on Friday, lJ^h inst., before C. Whifefoord, EBq,,;Coroner for the district, on the remains of Joseph Roland. A jury having been sworn, Mr Alexander Faldi was chosen foreman. After viewing the body, which was at Gilmer's Pfotel, the depositions of several witnesses: were tajfen touching, tte cause of death. The evidence "was similar to that adduced at the inquest on the body of Walter Wheeler, at Half-Ounce, on the preceding day. The witnesses were questioned very particularly by the jury and the Coroner as tq the cause of the agci? dent, but nothing was elicited to show that the sad occurrence arose through carelessness or negligence on the part of either of the men who were killed^ or the survivors. One witness said that the set of timber which first gave way must hay.c been improperly put in, and tliat thia was the immediate cause of the breakdown, A verdict of accidental death was re* turned. The body of Roland was not finally recovered till half-past ten o'clock on Friday morning. The remains of both the unfortunate men were conveyed from Half Ounce to the Ahaura, followed by nearly every resident of Half-Ounce and Duffer Creek. Immediately after the inquest on the remains of Roland the funeral took place. The Warden's Court, which was sitting all day, was adjourned for the inquest and funeral. The mournful procession, which was the largest of the kind ever witnessed at Ahaura, started at five o'clock. The body of Walter Wheeler was interred in the portion of ground "set. apart for members of the Church of England, and the funeral service was read by Rev. Mr Taylor, who happened to be on a visit to Ahaura. The rev. gentlemen delivered an impressive address at the conclusion of the burial service to the !args gathering assembled round the grave. The services at the grave of Joseph Roland, who was a Roman Catholic^ were, in the unavoidable absence of the Rev. E. Pertius, performed by Mr Felix Prayer., a countryman of the deceased. Thus concluded the' proceedings in connection' with' one of the most melancholy events which has yet happened "on the "Grey told Holds. v ■ ; -•