DISASTROUS ACCIDENT AT BRADFORD.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1005, 5 March 1883, Page 4

DISASTROUS ACCIDENT AT BRADFORD.

THRILLING DETAILS. [From the London Times, Dec. 30.] A frightful accident occurred at Bradford yesterday morning by the fall of a mill chimney, whereby nearly thirty people were killed and about forty injured. The mill is called Newland Mill, and is situated in Upper Castlestreet, Bowling, Old-lahe, a suburb of Bradford. About five minutes past eight a large mill chimney, 75 yards in height, standing in the mill yard, fell upon the; spinning and drawing sheds, and demolished a vast portion of the premises. Fortunately the accident occurred at the lime of breakfast, when only a small number of workpeople were on the premisi-S. The scene was an appalling one. A great portion of the premises were carried down to the ground and reduced to an immense heap of ruins. Broken masonry, twisted woodwork, and shattered machinery were crushed together in a mass, in whicn they were hardly distinguishable. Large gangs of workmen and policemen were soon set to work to rescue any who might be buried. In an hour eight or ten bodies were recovered, and many wounded persons. . The search was prosecuted with vigour during the rest of the day; and up to ,6 o’clock last night no fewer than 24 dead bodies had been recovered, while no fewer than 40 persons were found to be more or less injured. The rooms which adjoin the chimney were spinning; rooms, and at the time the chimney fell the spinners, to the number of about 50 would be getting their breakfast. The chimney was erected twenty years ago, and was apparently a stout and substantial structure, and the only cause that can be assigned for its falling is the high wind which blew on Wednesday night. Sir Edward Ripley’s men were repairing the chimney. : So badly were the features of the deOd distorted, or, in many cases, actually crushed, that’ the ’ identification of the unfortunate victims was a slow and painful process. As a rule those in the upjier floors principally suffered, and most of the,fatal injuries were fbund to have been' sustained oh the head. The workmen who were in the basement.appear to have escaped most lightly. A group of girls were seated together at breakfast, some were killed and some were seriously injured, while one was so slightly hurt that she was able to walk home. In the top storey, just at the point where the chimney, in its full, cut off one end of the mill with the precision of h-knife, two Irish; women, Lizzie Walsh, of Caledonia street, and Mrs Whelan, of Duncan street,, were together. Mrs Whelan, struck with a falling beam must have been!killed instantaneously. The beam could not be removed, and the body was long visible on the topmostedge of the ruins. The girl Walsh was not killed at once, but remained moaning and crying as efforts wore made torelease her. She was imprisoned about three hours, during which the Rev Canon Motler and the Rev. Father, Mulcany administered to her the last riles of the Roman Catholic Church. A still more painful case was that of a girl one of whose legs it was necessary to cut off for the purpose of getting her out of the mins. Emily Mitchell, one of the dead, had the top of her skull cut quite away. William; Shackleton; another, was so crushed that his face had lost all human appearance, and he could be recognised only by his clothing/ Spine others, with blackened faces, had been suffocated. All bore evidences,of the terrible nature of their last momenta. *The recovery of the living and dead was watched with breathless, interest. At' times silence was called, and at once operations were suspended while the workers listened for some sound to indicate life in the ruins. In f one cose a boy was brought out looking very grimy and. very much but evidently not much worse. In another the crowd cheered as ah overlooker, named Irving Wright, weakened though he was by loss of blood from a sculp wound,. made an attempt to Walk, supported on each side, from the debris into the street. The work of clearing the ruins was continued by several hundred men during the whole day, and the; work was continued through the night by means of the elecr trie light. 1 A large number of medical men were soon on the spot, actively engaged in. rendering all the aid in their power. The Mayor (Alderman Priestman) and many influential inhabitants visited the scene of the accident during the day. A correspondent sends ns some additional particulars about this lamentable accident. ; He states that Mill street is almost in the heart of the town, and in all directions tower chimneys connected with numerous mills. The chimney that has fallen was the second in size and importance of the whole number, and was about 80 yards high. It has been regarded for some considerable time past wiih feelings of anxiety, because portions of it have fallen at different periods. So late as a fortnight ago portions fell, and when the same thing happened on Wednesday, some of the workpeople became so anxious about its safety, that they refused to go on with their work unless something were done to make the chimney safe. In consequence a number of men were, employed yesterday in repairing the chimney, and only discontinued their work to go to breakfast, which meal lasts from 8 to 8.30. Great and shocking as is the loss of life, it would have been very much greater if the accident hj ad occurred a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later. Many ; wonderful escapes might be recorded, as as many deaths of the most pathetic nature. A little child was taking her father his breakfast at the mill, and was struck down and killed. One of the medical men—of whom there were many, working every one with the utmost zeal to relieve pain and distress—came upon a poor girl who was lying with her legs so crushed that it was impossible to get her out, and the doctor decided to perform amputation as she lay.

This he did, bat the unhappy girl died during the operation. The young man Wright, who was rescued alive, was sitting at breakfast near a girl at the time of the, accident in an upper story of the mill. They were carried in the fall to the basement, and after Wright’s rescue, the poor girl’s shrieks attracted the workmen, who proceeded to dig for her. At length, however, her cries were heard no more, and when she was reached she was dead. The scenes that took place immediately after the accident were most touching. Women and children were rushing hither and thither, and striving to recognise the dead who were in many instances beyond all recognition. At the time the chimney fell, a train from Bradford to Halifax was standing in St. Dunstan’s Station, and the first intimation that something was about to occur was a frightful whizzing sound, this being i followed by a deep murmuring noise of evil omen to all who live in districts where colliery explosions are of frequent occurrence. The passengers' rushed to the carriage windows just in time to see the catastrophe. One passenger says the base of the chimney appeared to subside, and then the massive stone which divided the structure about half-way up split in several parts, and the whole of the upper part of the chimney fell with such violence that hardly two bricks were left together.