The Mount Kembla Disaster.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 238, 5 August 1902, Page 4

The Mount Kembla Disaster.

The ganeral is that the explosion at Mount E >rabk was due to a-i no -nm ilation of gM. i A romirkablo f.iot h that gas was never known to exist iu the mine before. During the day the manager, Mr Ross, was hear I to express the opinion thai there was not a whiff of ga3 in che whole works. A fireman and a"tester, whose duty it is to inspect all tunnels iu search of gas, went all over the works in the morning, and .failed to find any trace of g*B.. Their signatures that' everything was all right are now in the offioe. , The manager of the mine has never ! deemed it necessary to use safety ; lamps; hence che man always used ; naked lamps. ; The front shift were just coining out at the time of the explosion ; in fact they.did not know that anything out of the common had occurred until they emerged from i the travelling road and saw a great . crowd of men, women and children * gathered there. A singular circumstauce is that the explosion was heard nine miles away, but was not even heard or felt by miners who were leaving off work The ex.plosion is supposed to have * occurred about a mile and a half from the entrance to the pit. It is feared that the bulk of the men - working there perished. Those who got out alive were working » in places situated away fiora No. 1 district. The force of the explosion is terrific. The main road wag absolutely wrecked for more than a mile from the entrance to the mine. The engine-room above the entrance was reduced to matchwood and a huge cog-wheel was ified 300 yards into tbe valley beneath. The worst fears of the people of Mount Kembla and Woolongong, and of the hnndreds who gathered round the ruined machinery and debris strewn at the entrance to Mount Kembla tunnel, have been fully realised. Every man who remained in the mine after the search parties ceased operations at four " o'clock yesterday morning, owing to bad ventilation, is dead. To overcome the foul air it was necessary to force a current of good L . air into the further limits of ihe mine. The searchers found tbe barriers at every stoping or crossr cut from the main tunnel broken * down by the explosion, and the battrices by which good ventilation was secured were therefore destroyed When the air in the mine was purified there came the melancholy . task of getting out the dead. Then, amidst some of the finest mountain I scenery of New South Wales, was witnessed sights of human sorrow c in the most touching form. Women worn out with giief lined the mountain track by which the searchers from the dark alley of the mine came bearing their burdens. Pathetic enquiries aa to the > name of the man or lad borne by 1 the bearers was broken by a shriek Jor sob as some poor woman identified her own. That was the ' of thing that .went on all 1 through the slowly dragging day. J The bodies were rapidly coffined in r,he engine shed, aud friends of the ■dead miners bore the remains iway. From a coign of vantage J could be seen these strange little ; funerals winding out over the hill into the valley beyond, where the miners' humble cottages lay. It is doubtful if the exact number of victims will ever be known. No official record was kept of the number of men entering the mine, and it cannot be said with certainty how many were in at the time of the explosion. The mine authorities' estimate placed the limit of victims At 86, but up to eleven o'clock this morning 92 bodies had ' been brought out, and it is,, known that three others are still entombed. The ventilation is restored, and the workings practically searched from end to end, but for long distances there are heavy falls, and,in similar places where there has been no overhead collapse several bodies were found. The manager, on being interviewed, stated that he could give no explanation of the cause of the disaster. He considered the mine one of the safest aod least gassy collieries in the world. A couple of months ago two students asked to be allowed to obtain gas from the mine for experimental purposes. They went from end to end, and failed to find even a trace. No greater instance of bravery was ever shown than that displayed by Major McCabe and Mr William McMurray, deputy-manager of tbe mine. The manner in which trey met their death was most tragic Major McCabe was at the head of a search party, and both, he and Mr McMurray were overcome by the gas. They were helped by two brave miners named Casiley and Crawford, who in turn also became affected by the deadly gas. McCabe first begged them to let him lie down and save themselves. Caisley and Crawford would not do bo, but struggled on with McCabe and McMurray until they too almost collapsed. "Go for yoac- lives and leave me," said McCabe. Too weak to assist them any more, and scarcely able to crawl withCaisley, Crawford reluctantly left MoCabe and McMurray, and managed an almost superhuman effort reach the open air. When body of Major MoCabe was subsequently found by a search party he was clasping in his anus the body of poor McMurray. It looked is if the latter had stooped down to issiet MoCabe when he collasped. rhus died two brave men.