A Terrible Sixperience.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 270, 6 June 1888, Page 6

A Terrible Sixperience.

An explosion occuried in the "Rich Hill Mine, in a recently developed colliery district, in Missoiui (America), on 29. A column ot fire l,Ol)Otthigh .shot out of the shaft, and was followed by several explosions. The colliery is wieeked. Thitty deaths ha\ c > esnltcd. Only one of the men in the mine at the timeoi the ex plosion escaped uninjured. Nine others, who were badly injuicd, have been rescued alive, but somo of them, it is feared, will die. The leaking of the natural gas into tho mine caused the explosion. A shaft or gas-well had been boicd, bub it is halt a mile away fiom the mine. i\lr Sweeney, .superintendent of the mine, ghes a graphic account of the lescuc, in which he sajs: — ' As .soon as I hcaid the explosion, I went to the mouth of the mine and found the south cage on which the men always ascend, stuck in the shift about half-way trom the bottom with eight men on it. I went down on a tub lowcicd with ropes, and found them all badly burned and in a fien/y. In tact, they were crazy. Some wore shouting, other? were singing. 1 found it impossible to ha\e the cage hoisted, as the timbers weie all blow n out of position. Wo finally managed, by means of ropes fini pulleys, to hoist the men in a fainting condition, and it was then ascei tamed that the noith en<je could be worked by clearing some timbers which had been diivon through irom the south shaft. This was done by saw ing them short off. I then called for \oluntecrs to go down w ith me to see if any poor fellows at the bottom could be got out. Four men volunteered. When wo 1 cached the bottom I looked through into the entry and saw a light. I asked " Who's there ? ' A \oieo responded and I told him to put out the light. I then asked him to ciawl to me, but he was so exhausted that he could not do so. I leached through a small aperdu'O and dragged him on to bho cage. Just as this had gone the wind ru.shcd with the -velocity of a c\ clone up the entry, putting out all our lights but one. This was followed by two loud repoits and a seething llame of iue, which came with a deafening loar, completely envoloping us for a length ot time which seemed an age. It shot out of (lie mouth of the shaft 240 ft. above our heads, and we all weio hombly burned. "We thought our time had come ; but the (lames i eceded a^ suddenly as they came. had to abandon the attempt. I \el'ed to the men on the top to hoist away ; but it wa« sometime before they got the signal oi understood mj meaning. The moments thus- spent weie a living dc.it h 1 thought they could not hear me, and concluded that we. should luneto ciaul through into the south shaft and undcitako to climb out that way. 1 was just in the act of doing so w hen 1 felt the cage move. We went up about 30 feet, w hen the cage began descending. 1 thought the machinery had broken and wo wore hilling lo an awful death. The wail that went upfiom those men wa« hcarti ending, and I shall ne\er foiget it. The knowledge that at the top were thoir \\i\es extending thcii arms to clasp and shield them fiom iurthir danger, was enough to destioy their reason. All at once, how cvi r, the cage came to a sudden stop, and again began responding, to the pre^uie of tho ropes and pulleys, and we soon weic at the top."