NEARLY A HUNDRED WORKMEN SUPPOSED TO BE ENTOMBED

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 260, 2 May 1888, Page 5

NEARLY A HUNDRED WORKMEN SUPPOSED TO BE ENTOMBED

Tin kan-a- ui\ '.Journal- -peeial hum Huh Hill Pii Man h 29tii, -a\- One ol the mo-i honible di-a-tei- th.it h.i\e e\eroe" cuiied in tin N\ f>t h«i] »pt*no'l fit noon to" ii.i\ in K» nli and l'uii\ - Xo. 6 mmc. and ;b,i le-ulr a lame iimu'iki of men ate entonilicd and thou-and- ot tiollai-' uoithof piopeit) de-tio)cd. .!u-t at the dinner limi). w hen men weie a-cendmg ei<:hi) at a time on the eii>e, a teiiible gas ex-plo-ion iiiviiiiil, lillniL e\ciy entiy with ll. ure-. w Inch -hot out ot the -haft. It cannot be a-( u lamed to-night just how main men .no \et in the mine, but at 11 o'clock one man had beui taken out death The v, 01 k ot i emo\ nig the debii- and cleaning out the -halt h.i- been going on all the afternoon, but if will be -e\eial houis before much can he done tow aid entering the mine piopei . A "Join n.ii' lejioi tei called at theie-idenco ot the -upi i lntendent at 11 o'clock and touii'l him plopped up in a ehaii with hi- hi ce ami ha 1 d- bandaged, and he wasvi ucih aide to talk, but he made the to I !)nii)o -taturent "" At ]ii-t -e\ en minutes attei mood I n,h telephoned that an i \plo-ion ii.id utcuiiui at No 6. 1 -\u nt out a- -(ion a- ]io— -ible and found t lie Miuth due. on which I lie men alw.'n - ascend, ■-tuck in the ,-hat( I a\ out down on a tub loMcied with n.pe-, aiu\ found -ill badly buimdand im <i tv n/\ In fact, l he) weie i i,|/\ •H)inq>-> l ioutin_ r and othei- t-inumy. "We tlnalh mamjicd to bo hoist oil by mean* ot iopi- and ]iulh\\ - in a fainlinu condition, and it \\a» then a.-certaiued that the noith ca<_c (ould bewoiked. 1 i tln n called toi \ olnntei i - to t^odown m ith me t(^ see it an> pool tellow- at the bottom could be yot out. Uobeit Blick, (!ooi<>e ! lleni \ , Chai le- Smallwood, ami Mat Dulehand le-ponded When v, e leaelud the liiittoiii I looked thioiiuh into the entiv and -aw a hiiht 1 a-ked who \\a-^ fheie, and ,i \ oice u -[tonded Mii.iN.' and I told him to put out ni- li<iht. I then a-ked him to ei.iwl to me, hut he \\a^ exhausted. 1!c couldn t do »o, and I l eached tlnoujili the -mall apoituie and dialed him m (he cme. -lu-fa.s this was done the wind ni-hed with the \eloeit\ ot a ej clone, up the entiy. i>ul ti ti^ out all our h<iht- but one. Thi- was tollowcd by two loud icpoit^ and a ino tlamc of liie, which came with a deateuinu roar, completely en\ eloping- us, and went bhootinu out the mouth of the shaft 240 teet abo\e our heads.. \\ c weio all hoiribly buined, and thought oui time had come. The llames ceased a- suddenly .•ib they had come, and we had to abandon the attempt to save the othei-. 1 yelled to the men on top to hoist aw a), and after w hat .seemed houi.s we weie stai ted up and taken out in -atet\, though badl) buined and gieatly e\hau-ted. " I'iobabl) <dl who weie in the mine at the time ot the lii-t explosion aie dead. About eight) -five miners are employed in tin.- mine. The) are mostly negioe.s, who came fioni Sininglitld. 111., when the mine \\ai> opened, los* than a yeai ago." Later de-patche- state that o\ov one hundred miner.- weie buried. Forty bodieshad already been taken out.