FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE CENTRAL ITALY MINE.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1804, 4 May 1874, Page 3

FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE CENTRAL ITALY MINE.

A :veby .painful;, accident occurred on .Saturday afternoon ,thp Central Italy. imine'by which one .life was lost,, another' ; man was injured, and two others .narrowly i !escaped. ! ' ; Ataboufc 2 o'clock .on Saturday: .iafcerhdon-' V: James' V McAuliffd,* John I .3yla'nd, :, ah.d George' MoMullen, three \ ■'miher&'in'the .employ of the Central Italy j '.Company,-, wdre'workingin'the rise which j jis'being put : 'up" from'the No. ; 3 level of, the'mineon the'main 1 reef.' There was a| -dangerous.oyackinthereof, .and the men! .having .prepared .timbers -to"' secure,the i • groilnd,rWere under of.the i -manager placing them in positiqn.wlien, i - withatremendous crashi.abouttwo tonsj of c rock came away.;' The; mass; fell on I ; top of poor -MoAuliffe, who was almostj Juried by'it, and whose death must hare | 'been : instantaneous, for 'he spoke' nor. cried'.out -after the occurrence.'.'A pqrtidnof the debris alio struck ! knocked him over,, inflicting 1 ; some'bruis'es wHich' we are glad tq'firid are j .not'!dangerous^'but.]MoMullen and Mr: -.Cornes, . the manager,. escaped, withoutj i injury. '„)The alarm was, at. ,once : given,; and rthe men* set to work .to extricate; ; Mciuliffe with- all. possible speed, but it; was.at bnce'seen that he was quite dead.j The body was carried down the passjaudj through'(the:';lev.el to; the, main. <enginei (.shaft,;, ,and,,from, thence to .the brace.! ■-. When.-,the .body. it''wasi i; found that both legs .were, of; • them in two places,' the. left arm and right' .shoulder, were also .broken,, and a severe 'fracture of ithe.jaw .bone -was.also ob-j -' : Berved,'but beyond'this there iwas very '•little=irijury to the* head.'»The''body was, greatly bruised, and there'is ho doubt the; internal injuries "we're of, themselves severe' '''ehough :; to\have r death.) '^oAuliffe^ ''years,'pf. age; : , ! and ieaW'.'a' wife mi one „child mourn his 'death, and'Wlearn 1 i .that .the,.,poor'widow isi'hourly' expecting to be confined with another.jctildj...The occurrence cast_ quite a gloomthrough the town on Saturday evening! We r have recently ( enjoyed s a comparative {immunity'frqo}^aociden'tsjp'f this naturej ' and the surprise 'and alarm treated by this event was "yery'great. It is the first accident that'has occurred in the Central 'J Italy "mine i it (has; been; under : the management of, Mr Cornes, whose carp . and attention.in. regard to the,, prevention ; of accidents, by, adopting, all, necessary .j precautions,has ; al ways .-been great., .'But I Jin spite of., all that .skill and, experience •• can* do, ithose iengaged. ini.mining, always run a large amount of risk. -In the present instance the danger was- noticed, early. :i: ''The 7 men' : o'oming off shift at 8 ;o!clopk in the' morning called the< attention. '' r 6f 'the ,: 'deceased' ;, antt' : his m'ateß to the dangerous crack'4h''the^bof,''and Mr Cornes w.as,alsp';made. acquainted with ■ it. Contrary; ' ' to ) hisi j.ustial.'''custom -on !,the ; ,,Saturday, ,wh;cli. is .-pay-day!, i he went-, below ; ..to inj .inspect- and give, instructions regarding ■ * this part of the mine. iHe even cautioned. ''the ; men not to stand under .the crack ,; '■ where, if the stnfffell at all, it must drop, and pointed out where they could work securely' while making the necessary re'pair's.'"'.' jßyland 'and' McMullen followed ". his.instructions/ but,McAuliffe, in his anxiety to have the timber set properly, .went found under the flake just a moment J before' it ! fell ; Deceased has for some time been in the'employ of the company. • He was a good practical miner,' and was. well liked<<by' -his'mates-and by the manager. An inquest on the remains will be held this forenoon. j •■