THE HUNTLY PRESS PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT 1 P.M. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1914 Notes and Comments.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 3, 18 September 1914, Page 2

THE HUNTLY PRESS PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT 1 P.M. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1914 Notes and Comments.

The terrible catastrophe that took place last Saturday has engaged the thoughts of all during v the week past to the exclusion of 1 all other subjects. Our sympathies go out spontaneously to 1 the relatives, to the dependants, ( and to the friends of those who, 1 like the soldiers at the front, * have died at their posts in the ( performance of their duties. In * the circumstances, words are 1 futile, and very inadequately ex- 1 press the sorrow and regret that i the appalling nature of the catastrophe has evoked —a catastrophe that was as sudden as it was unexpected, seeing that everyone thought the Huntly mines immune from the gas that started the explosion. The whole of New Zealand was shocked at the cataclysm, and the letters and telegrams that come pouring in from every part of the Dominion show how the people have sympathised with the loss in human life entailed by the terrible disaster that has affected so many homes, and, by the removal of the bread-winner, has produced a state of affairs appalling in magnitude, and fraught with sadness. There is some consolation to be found in the fact that the widows and orphans will be provided for., and, though

nothing can replace the loss of the loyal and faithful workers who have perished while performing their usual avocations, it is consolatory to know that all will be placed beyond the reach of want or destitution, and that no effort will be left undone to provide the means whereby those affected by the awful tragedy will be cared for and adequate provision made for each case. Irradiating the gloom that has hung like a funeral pall over the town and district for the last week, and proving that sorrow contributes the touch of Nature needed to show the kinship of humanity, are the heroic efforts of the various rescue parties, that taking their lives in their hands, have faced noxious gases and overpowering fumes in the endeavour to secure for interment the bodies of doomed comrades ; the practical help accorded by mine managers from all parts of the Dominion: the efforts of the directors to secure the respectful interment of the lamented victims; and the anxiety of the officials to secure and hand over to mourning relatives for proper sepulture the bodies of their loved ones. To express sympathy words are vain —the heart is so full that ; utterance becomes difficult and Lwell nrgb- impossible ; but the widows and the orphans have the consolation of knowing that their dead have fa Iran as soldiers of industry desire to fall, and have met death as honourably and as steadfastly as their fellow soldiers who show an unflinching front to the bullets, the cannon balls and the shrapnel hurled at them by German or Austrian foes. Huntly can ill spare the men that are gone, and while the community grieves over the loss of esteemed fellow residents, the directors and mine officials deplore the death of loyal and faithful workmen and of stalwart and esteemed comrades.