RIMBERLEY MINING DISASTER. DE BEER'S MINE ON FIRE. ABOUT 700 WORKERS ENTOMBED. HUNDREDS OF LIVES LOST.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 291, 18 August 1888, Page 5

RIMBERLEY MINING DISASTER. DE BEER'S MINE ON FIRE. ABOUT 700 WORKERS ENTOMBED. HUNDREDS OF LIVES LOST.

A vtAV weeks ago, we received cable news of a melancholy mining disaster afc the Kimberley Diamond Fields, South Africa. The following details of the occurrence are from the " Diamond Fields Advertiser" of Saturday, 14oh July; — The most terrible calamity that has ever bolallon Kimberley occuued at Do Beer's Mine on Wednesday night. Between halt- past six and seven o'clock the skip, supposed to be laden with men coining horn the day ehift, was being drawn up from the 7001t. level, and when about half-way up the wire rope broke, and the skip was, it is presumed, precipitated to the bottom. The skip will hold ten men, and it is only used by (lie white miners, the natives coming and going by ihe ladder way. An examination of the rope where it paited showed that it had been very much burnt, and considerably reduced in size. The rope, it may be mentioned. was practically a new one, us it had only been in use for eight days. Shortly after tin-, accident, smoke was keen issuing irom fie shatt, and in a few minutes it became evident that a lire was racing below. The tire-boll waa vigorously rung and pieparatrons were made wnh a view to attempting the rescue of the hundreds oi human beings who were kuown to be underground. The smoke, howevci, became so dense in an incredibly short space of tune, and ib was t>o evident that the conflagration was rapidly spreading, that all hopes oi iender<ng any assistance to the miners below, through that '-bait, had to be reluctantly abandoned. The news that a fhe was laging at Do Beer's \ery speedily spread, and some thousands of persons congregated at the works in a little time. Various weie the rumours set atioat as to the number of men down in the mine, the lowest estimate being 400 and the highest 1.500. We ha\oiea•nou to believe, however, that between 600 and 700 men (including sixty or seventy whites) were down below at the time. It is impossible to say how the terrible die-a=;ter originated. We learn that when the skip biought up a number of workmen at about twenty minutes past six there was not the slightest siyn of lire, and the outbieak, when it did occur, \ cry shortly aftei - wards, must have spread very speedily. At about ten o'clock Number 1 shatt, whoie the lire had been raging fiercely, cased in. Immediately thereafter the smoke, which was issuing from Number 2 shaft, a short distance apart, became more dense. There remaining nothing further to be done on top of the mine, many of the employes, who were d"ing their best in conjunction with the Fne Buga,jc, loimcd themselves into a prrty, along with o hers, ana descended into the open woi kings to effect an entrance through the blue Irom the 380 feet le\cl. The exploring party continued their opeiations with commendable vigour, and wiih far greater success than the mo t i- anguine had anticipated, throughout the wluie of the day. No less than forty-three white men were lescued from the mine, and between 400 and 500 natives. in the afternoon, howe\ cr, all hope of sax ing any more ot the men was abandoned, and preparations were made for drawing the dead bodies, of which there are supposed to be some hundreds still in the mine, to the surface, by moans of a skip and rope, which were laid on at the old workings. From a very early hour this morning the scene of the dreadful catastrophe has been vie-itecl by many thousands of persons anxious to glean the latest information respecting the entombed workers, and the slightest intelligence concerning the safety of them was eagerly devoured. The exploring party worked right through the night with indomitable will, an ( with a peiseveience that was most praiseworthy. And when in the morning their efforts weie rewarded by the rescue of tome white men, the pent-up feelings of the assembled throng found vent in a hearty cheer. Communication had been opened up with the mine, through the old woikings, and as the men emerged therefi om i.hoy ere wai mly welcomed by their deliverers. Though somewhat ex-hau.-^ted, the roscued miners walked tiimly, and all of them wero met by friends, who clapped their hands with suppi eased emotion. Numerous questions were put to the men as to the safety or otherwise of miner.-) who weie know n to have descended the shaft, but except in few instances, little or no tidings could bo given respecting them. The most that could bo gathered was that there weie hundreds ot dead natnes down in the mine, and that in one place dynamite had to be resorted t . in ore 1 or to remove them, and thus make a passage for those who w ere lighting for their lives. The stiutrg eof the white men who ha\e lhcd to tell the talo must have been extremely severe, if wo may judge from only a small por rou of the numerous stories told about t heni. It was stated that one party w.th whom was Harry Paull, a Cornishman, had to cut their way through an immense crowd of dead blacks, and that the diihculties encounteied were s-o great that they would havo given up had it not been lor the example set them by, and encouragement of, I'aull. At about ele\ en o'clock this morning a party ot sixty natives came up together, and their appo irance on the surface wtis the .signal lor an outburst of cheering. The blacks too cheered exultantly, and made wild gesticulations, in recognition ot the salutations of then friends. The following is a list ot white men who are missing : — C. S. Lindsay, Underground Manager ; M. Loggo, G. Armstrong, W. T. Little, R. Parkins, W. Brownlow, T. Peate> E. Cranny, B. Spicer, T. Butler, T, Kichards, K. Bolton, G. Lybfcle, John Faull, Homes, Jas. Ramsay, B. Andrews, T. Nankervis. Rullett, Kennist, W. Timmins, L. Maynard, J Gardner and B. Thomas. Just before going lo press we learn from an authentic source that the number of natives down in the mine at the time of the disaster waa 630, and that 470 of them were rescued, leaving 160 still to be accounted for. We were also informed that there is no iiro in No. 2 shaft and that no danger to this p.'u tof the mine is apprehended. The re«cuc party got down to the flat sheet in this shaft which was found to be all right at the 600 and 700 feet levels.

London, Augusb 13. Mr Parnell has served an arrestmen t upon the Edinburgh agents of the London " Times," in order to enablo him to sue YV. Walters in the Scottish courts for libel.