Huntly Disaster.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 93, 15 September 1914, Page 2

Huntly Disaster.

DISTRKSK.LVU DKLAY. ONLY ONE 'MAN FOuND ALIVE: By Telegraph.—i Per Press Association. - Auckland, Monday. Describing th e scone oil him try* on Sunday, a cwxiLspondent says there was a jttourntui crowd -round 'Liie sfufi, waiting patiently hour alter hour lor ntws of wie missing men. The miners unaccounted for now minnber 40 to 00, less seven, who had come up tile main shaft and eleven..who 'had found safety. via .the western outlet. Of tiliat 40, at Itiast 23 wore married men. Late in the afternoon the rescuers begun ha get nearer to the scene of sion, a'bout an hour's walk from the western shaft. At half-past 4 two men eanw up and took away a numlber of stretchers which had betn hastily amproviscd from sacks and raibj. They leinarked that they had found a man plivs. At o o'clock itflie cage shot up and a tall fellow, (life clothes in -tatters flnd his face black as an Ethiopian's, staggered out, supported by two re-s----cuers. "IVb Hliy Brooklebank!' shouted someone, and the crowd broke into oheejs. Brookldban.'; was s.mt. oil homo in a motor. IXuknefe; fell and ipale-faeed women, cheered somewhat: »y the sight of Brooklebank, went away tj their lonely homes. 'ihen the men brought to tha surface that which they il'ad been hiding mercifully at the bottom of tlie shaft, seven cornsos 'blackened ■with cflre, battered and torn by flying coal. These were the bodies ol Hincii, Robinson, W. Burt, Skellern, S. Jackson, Wnorskey and Peckham, sen. These bodies were brought up singly in the cage, carried to waiting trucks, and sent into tho township, whene they were laid sido by side in the Oddfellows' Hall. A new gang of rescuers : was formed.

All night a crowd of minors waited at the wesuent shaft and anxiously cross questioned every man who came to Hie surface to replenish, a lamp w obtain a breath of fresh air. "Found two hoys," wis ithe curt information given by' two men who came up about midnight. "No, wo can't mognise them." Half an hour later another man came up ami reportod that a third toady had tten recovered. Then ea.nre a long, ■weary wait, and daylight was breaking when at 4.30 a.m. a lad who came up for a supply of tea said that yet another (body had been found. Just when the rising sun was bathing all the hilltops four bodies -were brought to —c surface. Miners, gaunt and heavy-eyed after many hours' struggle with the fLines, were forced by die narrowness af •the cage to bring up cacli body standing upright between two or three of tlieni. Four corpses were laid in a row near the pit mouth, and twenty or thirty miners who ihad waited about all night in hopes of joining the, rescue party and! slept fitfully i.i corners of trie tngine-shed, gathered round and tried to identify tbam. - The 'bodies were bi ought in on the Taupiri Company'sprivate railway, and in the early morndig a sa'd little procession of minerscarried their mates through the main street to the Oddfellows'" Hatl, where twelve bodies wero now laid' out. A couple of hourg before tthe body of Jacob Thompson. had uec ' n lound by a party working in the frcnit main shaft Mid conveyed to the nail. The four If.test arrivals iwero iuc:u..ied as C. Maloney and \V. Slavin, two lads, and K. Munsey and John iiolden, two shiftsmen.

Those trying to elucidate the mytvtery of the explosion made inquiries about the positions in which die bodies were found. The rescuers tounl give little information. The. 'bodies, it appear,*, were discovered en all positions. Some had simply fallen forward on'their faces, ethers had 'been thrown backwards and lay with arms bent as it they had! been trying to shield their heads. Others lay against the wall as if they wue swept aside by a rash of air. Some were buried IjeiioaAli falls of coal. Coal dust, an ttscntUvl evidence of a mine explosion, lay Uiioldy everywhere. Hamilton, Yesterday. One man lies in his coffin with 'Bis bands raised to his head as -though' he lifted them to stifle sudden pain, intenso agony ia written: in many faces, these, no doubt, being the men who struggled far tfheir lives. Two bodies have been discovered (bes'de a 'big heaip of debris, and it is thought probable that some of the others who are missing relay (be buried beneath. The men who dceccndedl on Saturday morning were generally recognised as amongst the most respectable; and steady men in the town.

VENTILATION RESTORED. Huntly, Yesterday. Communication was istablis-reu on Sunday between the two main downcast shafts a niilo aad a quarter apart, a*tarnishing a good current, of ventilation and making the main roadway safe for the exploring parties. Considering the violence! of the explosion the damage to property is not serious. To-day's exploration is expected to affect die recovery of most of the .missing men, but some "may bo under the debris. There are evidences that the fire blast went pretty well round - the workings. One of the last bodies recovered was that of Bowler. Although in the main air shaft, Bowler apparently iliad not suffered from fire, as most of the other dead lhad done. David Patterson's body was found in the same locality in a sit ting posture. Before going to IWutly, Patterson was a mine manager on the West Coast. MINE BECOMING FLOODED. Hamilton, Yesterday. Two bodies were brought to the surface thin morning, that of John Bowler «"ed 20, single, and that of May-> land, a clipper. Croat difficulty is now being experienced in the (rescue work, owing to tflie flooding of the mane, the pumps having been disabled in the explosion. Six further bodies have (been discovered, tat tiho depth and rapidity with which the water is rising prevented these being recovered. Twenty aio supposed to 1)0 stffl below. Die tunera! of twenty took place tins alteinoon.

ITOTY-TWO DEAD OR IIISSIXG. Auckland, Yesterday. Tlic bodies of Jaimes Darby, \V. Mitcliell and A. Huston have, Ibeni recovered )t transpires that another manvras below, making tho total dead and missing forty-two. 0.T3E0 INQUEST. Auckland, Yesterday. Tho inmres* on tihe victims »£ the IHrafcly disaster wias hell yesterday, and Sr M«ntitetion of the bodies yw igtfjwxraed till ■*e»J

•THE VICTIMS. j !■ Auckland, September 13. The Herald representative gives a list of the killed in the Huntly disaster as follows: —Alexander Izatt, -on-shover's assistant, single (died in Hamilton hospital) ; John Whorskey, deputy, married; J. C. Skellern, deputy, married; H. I'eckham, senr., deputj', married j" William Burt, shiftman, single; S. Jackson, shiftman, single; W. Hinchoo, shiftman, single; J. Robertson, trucker, married; J.. Holden, shiftman, married; William Slavin, trucker, single; Jacob Thompson, horse-driver, single; Robert Munsey, shiftman, married; (J. Moloney, trucker, single; Wm. Kelly, contractor, married; I). Lyons, shiftman, married; H. Burt, trucker, single; John (Steele, roundsman, married; D. Patterson, roadman, married; W. Paterson contractor, married. The following are missing, and are probably dead: —William Gowans, undcrmanager, married; James Darby, deputy, married; Win. Smith, deputy, married; W. Brocklebank, senr., shiftman, married; J. Greener, shiftman, married; F. Berry, winchdriver, single; F. Taylor, winchdriver, married; J. Martin,'trucker, single; J., Bowler, trucker, single; W. Mayland, junr., i clipper, single;' Joseph Jackson, clipper, single; W. Mitchell, trucker, single; T. Molesworth, enginedriver, married; J. W. Jones, roadsman, married; W. Blenkensopp, shooter, married; Seymour Topper, trucker, married; Arthur Itushon, roadman, married; Wallen McWure, boy, single; T. Cassen, trucker, single; W. Burton, trucker, single. « The following who reached the surface were seriously injured:—J. Jackson, severely burned; Joseph O'Brien, burned hands. The following escaped with slight injury:—B. Healey, bruised arm; Mottram, body bruised and leg injured; and Wm. Brocklebank, junr., consider tuc.bafuli; Brocklebank, considerably cut and bruised. AX OFFICIAL STATEMENT.

DAMAGE TO (PROPERTY NOT SERIOUS. Auckland, Last Night. An official statement of the position underground was obtained this, morning from Air James Fletcher, mine, manager, and Mr E. S. Wight, late manager. Owing to an injured knee, Mr Fletcher had been unable to go below, and Mr Wight had superintended operations since Saturday. Mr Fletcher, however, has been indefatigable in his efforts to organise matters above ground. "The work of exploration is proceeding satisfactorily,'" remarked Mr Wight. "Connection was effected yesterday between the two main iowncast shafts, which are a mile and i-quartcr apart, thus establishing a good current of ventilation throughout the main roadway, and making the mine safe for the exploring parties." Questioned as to the damage to property, Mr Wight said that, considering the Violent nature of the, explosion, as evidenced in all parts of the mine, the damage to property was not serious.