DISASTROUS COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

Kumara Times, Issue 2778, 17 August 1885, Page 2

DISASTROUS COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

[From the European Mail.]

A terrible explosion occurred at the Clifton Hall Colliery, near Manchester, on June 18th. This colliery is one of the series of pits belonging to Messrs Andrew Knowles and Co., and three seams of coal am worked down one shaft. The first of these is the Dow, the second the Five Quarters, and the third (which is at a depth of 540 yards) the Trencherbone. It was on the lowest level that the explosion took place, and here the seam is known as slightly fierce. The colliery is so constructed that a connection has been formed with the Asjricroft Colliery, which is about a mile away, and men can pass from one pit to the other. There is also to the Clifton Hall Colliery an upcast shaft, which is used almost exclusively for the purpose of ventilation; but there was a capstan rope which afforded a means of egress. On the morning of the explosion 349 men and boys went down the pit, and of this numher 160 were distributed along the levels in the Trencherbone seam. The rest were employed on the other two seams, and did not feel the force of the explosion; but would suffer from the defective ventilation. The explosion occurred about 9.20 a.m. At that hour the men at work on the pit-bank felt a violent shock, which was followed almost immediately by a loud report, and a rush of dust and smoke np the shaft proclaimed that an explosion had taken place. The officials of the colliery at once gathered a party to descend the shaft; but the cages were found to be fast in the shaft, and they could not be moved, and the only alternative which presented itself was to use the capstan rope from the upcast shaft to descend to the downcast. This was done, but a descent was only effected as far as the point where the cages were jammed in the shaft. An effort was then made to liberate the cages, and while this

was being done a message was sent to the Agricroft pit that all possible assistance might be rendered. The workings are in direct communication with the workings of the other colliery, and an attempt was made to get the unfortunate men out of the Clifton Hall Colliery by this route. The process of rescuing was very slow. It was soon found that the force of the explosion had caused a fall of coal which had blocked the Trencherbone seam, and made escape impossible in that direction. In the two other seams, too, it was found that the explosion had turned the ventilation ; and it was therefore difficult and dangerous to explore. However, a plucky effort was made, and a number of men were brought out. The first lot did not appear to have suffered from the explosion j but those who were rescued later were much exhausted, and appeared to have suffered from afterdamp. By noon 116 men and boys out of the 349 had been rescued, and all these came from the Dow and Five Quarters' seams. It was not till 1.30 p.m. that the Trencherbone seam was reached. Altogether 205 men and boys had been brought out of the colliery at that time, and of these eighteen were dead, and one died when he reached the surface. The number of victims is given at 180. The greatest excitement prevailed in the neighborhood, and many painful scenes were witnessed at the pit mouth.

Thomas Worrall, a surviving underlooker, has given a graphic account of the explosion, which was supplemented by others who were working immedi- | ately under his direction. Worrall was superintending operations in the Dow Mine, about 440 yards from the pit's mouth. When the explosion occurred the force of the blast knocked him and all the men and boys who were near him to the ground, props were destroyed movable timber was hurled in all directions, and a number of waggons were lifted out of their places and overturned. Worrall was rendered unconscious by the force of the shock, and when sensibility returned he saw the colliers running for their lives to the pit's eye. Instinctively realising that there was no means of escapa in that direction, but rather danger of suffocation by afterdamp, Worrall instructed the men to make their way towards the Agricroft shaft. The men at once obeyed him, and begged Worrall to accompany them. This, however, he refused to do, declaring that someone ought to remain as guide to those who, having escaped the fury of the explosion, were yet unable to find their way to tlie upper ground. The brave fellow ,-ifc ouch assumed authority over the panic-stricken workers in the Dow and Imv<! Qirtrl-.ers Mine, and, undoubtedly, bv preventing th/=m from rushing to the Ulit'ton Hail sii-ti'r,, saved many of them from death by suffocation. He

stood at his post until he had reason to believe that every man in th«- particular mines in which he was underlooker had been sent to the pit's bank. Ibe fright of the bovs and some of the men he wid, was" painful to behold. One had become delirious with fear, and begun to repeat, in schoolboy fashion, the letters of the alphabet. Men sighed and moaned, some shouted for help, and others muttered words of prayer. The pit bottom was strewn with the dead and wounded. The men working in the immediate vicinity of the pits eye had been blown in all directions Some had been killed by the shock and lay as they fell in different postures; otters, stifled by the deadly gas, had fallen on their faces and seemed as it asleep. The injured were in great pain, and uttered piteous cries. Very tew of the injured men were able to give any account of the explosion Visits to half a dozen of them, most of whom, swathed in oilcloth, were writhing m agony, only elicited corroboration ot "WorraU's statement. At a meeting of a Relief Committee in Manchester Mr Knowles, one ot the proprietors of the colliery, stated that 180 lives were lost in the disaster, and that 85 widows, 279 children, and 36 other persons are left destitute. Ihe necessary relief will absorb the Colliery Club fnnd of £IO,BOO, and £15,000 more is required to be raised.