A Narrow Escape.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4737, 13 March 1884, Page 2

A Narrow Escape.

TWO MINERS NEARLY SUFFO*

CATED BY GAS. -

. JTbat constant enemy of miners on this field—gas,~very nearly causei'the death of two men, named Andrew Thorburn and Thomas Guy, lastnight. Ever since the winze from the Imperial No. 5 level broke through to the rise from the 6i6ft level, the'ventilatipn in tjbe Imperial and Deep Level Cross mines has not been so good as formerly, owing; to ! the ..stream of air rushing upwards from the bottom level containing so much gas. Various-expedi ents have jbeen tried to-'ge.^ rid of this, but hitherto without effect^- It was attempted to make the Big Pump shaft the up cast, but this I could not be done satisfactorily, and the scheme was then tried of carrying the whole current of air, away from, the winae in boxes. This' answers well when the 640 feet level j is dry, but after a stoppage like that on Sunday night last, as soon as the water is reduced sufficiently in the level to allow j the air to play through it, a cloud of gas, the accumulation in the level while the water was beingjpumped oiifc, is invariablyforced up the winze. \ The? Imperial men expected this rush tottake place last night', and in obedience to orders from I^r Clark," the manager, lighted candles were placed n«3£»r the head of the winze, it being known that as;Boon,as the gas rose it would not go straight up the boxes, but would, escape through tha crevjeesj, and spread through, th© IS p. S workings, and by extinguishing the lights would give the men notice of its approach. Mr JT. Nolan; underground boss of the -shift at work, visited the winze at 7 .o'clock, and-agajn about half-an-hbuf later, a,n,d on the Utter visit heard the si? rushing Up through the the candles burning brightly, and there heing no sign of eas, he thought the rush had either passed or was not coming,; and felt assured all was right; It must have been only a few minutes after N^qn/a visit that the gas rose in a, dense cloud, and filled the drives. Only four men wer« working on the le?el at the time^the

two mentioned and two others, named Rea and Richards, employed in the Imperial shaft. Tne latter were the first to notice the-gas, and proceeding at once to No. 4'level; they gave the alarm.

: Thorburn and Guy, who are employed by the Deep Level Cross G.M. Co., were working in a stope on the hangingwall *; branch of No. 2 reef, between the hanging and footwall branches of the cross-reef. Their version of the affair is as follows :— i The stope is the third one carried along, being, thug about, 15ft. above the level. They had drilled a hole, and Thorburn went down to the level for the powder to charge it. The air was then quite clear. "Me returned to 'the stope; end 'after charging thefhole, which only takes a few minutes, they found the air getting very hot, and decided to go to No. 4 level for the remainder of the shift. To do this th'ay had first to descend to No. 5 level; so, placing the lighted candle under the fuse, they climbed down, and found the gas had risen above the cap-pieces. Their candles immediately went out, and they knew at once they were in a serious fix. Go back they could not, even had that been good policy, for the charged hole above might explode at any minute, and to reach the shaft they would have to travel along^the gas-filled level. Dropping their tools, they made a dash along the drive, hoping to be able to reach the shaft, which was over 300 ft. distant. Thorburn struck his head several times against passes, &c, but managed to get about 30ft. past the Cross boundary, when he was overcome,, and fell .down senseless, remembering nothing further till he found himself in the cage on the way to the surface. Guy got along much better, and in spite of running into passes more than once, he reached the Imperial southward crosscut on the break, which he mistook for that 1 leading to the shaft. He made his way in to the end of this, quite 250 ft. from where he started^ and then we> also overcome by the noxious fumes. .

In the meantime, on news reaching No, 4 level, Mr Nolan went to the surface and despatched messengers to the managers, Messrs Coutts and G. S. Clark. The former at once hurried to the Big Pump shaft, and stopped the flow of water down the air shaft at the 400 ft. level, directing it into the main shaft instead. This in a measure stopped the current of air up the winze. Mr Clark quickly arrived at the Imperial shaft, and it wasdeemedbest to turn water down one compartment, though by this means it was feared the gas would be driven back on to the two unfortunate men. .. Messrs Clark and Nolan then tried to get to No. 5 level, but the gas being too dense in the chamber, they retuued to No. 4. Here Thomas Gentles, a Cross man, said the men might possibly have taken refuge in the higher stopes on the crosslode, and volunteered to go and look for them. He and Nolan then set off, and descended to the intermediate level on the crossreef. They could fiad no traces here, and their candles having gone out, and they being affected by the gas, would pro* bably have perished hed not Mr Coutts, who had followed them, arrived opportunely with a light, and assisted them up to No. 4 level. Meanwhile, however, Messrs Clark and Eea bed tried No. 5 level again, and found the air much better. Proceeding along the western drive to the break, they beard Gay groaning in the south crosscut. This is lOOit. long, and heing so full of gas that their candles would not burn, they had to rush in, at the risk of their lives, and diag Guy out. This they managed to do after one or two attempts, having ones to run back to the shaft for a breath of fresh air. While here they called for rssislanco, and by the time Guy was dragged to the main drive, Mesarj Coutts and Nolan had arrived, and he wps by them taken back to,the shaft. Proceeding fnrlhar seaward Messrs Clark and'Eea \ found Thorburn lying helpicss at Jh'e mentioned above, V.and conveyedl him to the shaft. Both men were hoisted to tße surface, Guy being very violent, and taken on to the Hospiu-ii,' where restoratives were administer..-.!. They quickly rallied, and tins morning Loth said they felt no evil effects of their adventure. •

Great praise is due to Messrs Clark, Eea, Nolan, GenJes, and Coutts for their exertions and pluck in exposing themselves to danger for the purpose of rescuing their fellow creatures, and hud it not been for their persistence, in spife of the effecisiof the gas, from which all suffered more or le«s, the two men must soon have bc?n suffocated. Indeed, it is a wonder how they lived as long as they did in the poisonous atmosphere. The workings were all cle ir to-day.