The Creswick Mining Disaster.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4354, 14 December 1882, Page 2

The Creswick Mining Disaster.

[Reutke's Telegrams.]

Melbotjbne, Yesterday. Three of the bodies of miners drowned by the flooding of the Australasian mine, at Creswick. were recovered this evening. The water in the shaft is being reduced rapidly, and the work of repairing the tubes which supply the works with fresh air is now being proceeded with.

Divers attached to H.M.V.S. Cerebus were sent to Creswick to-day to assist in rescuing the miners in the flooded Australasian mine. Tbe apparatus, however, with which they were provided proved inadequate to enable them to reach the place where the men were at work. The divers endeavored to communicate with the imprisoned miners, but their signals were unanswered, and it is Relieved that the miners have perished. There is great excitement < and distress in Creswick district.

Later. —This day, A telegram just received from Creswick reports that five men have been saved from the mine, but the remaining 21 were all dead when the relievers reached them.

The Latest. All Hands Safe.—Great Enthusiasm.

The announcement of the finding of the bodies in the Australasian mine is now contradicted. Divers have been found to be utterly useless, and foul air has so far arrested the progress of the relief party. According to the * latest reports, the miners are entombed alive in the eleren jump works. Later telegrams from Creswick, timed 7 a.m., report that the relievers have ascende^'the shaft of the mine all cheering lustily, and have stated that when in. the main drive, near the eleven jump works, the entombed miners plainly repeated, " All right, we are all safe." It is hoped they may be rescued within an hour. Great excitement and enthusiasm prevails at the entrance of the mine, where crowds of people are collected!

.The Very Latest. Only Five Saved.

The latest telegrams from Creswick state that the rescue was one of extreme difficulty, owing to the quantities of mullock and wash dirt in the drives. Numbers nine and ten race were searched unsuccessfully, but on arriving at No. 1), the relief party heard a cry, •• All right," and this led to the widespread belief that all were safe. The rescuers, however, subsequently found that five only were alive. Their names are Manly, Bowen, Corbett, Maloney, and Kirk. All are very ill irom their long confinement. The total deaths in all are now known to number twentytwo/ '-." '„.; - V ,■ *