RESCUE WORK

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20918, 25 September 1939, Page 9

RESCUE WORK

ALL MINERS VOLUNTEER DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED ANXIOUS VIGIL AT SHAFTS (Times Special Reporter) HUNTLY, Sunday It was mid-day before the general alarm to all miners that some men were trapped in the colliery was sounded. Within a very short space of time, workers from all mines in the district were hurrying to the scene to offer their help. Volunteers were there in large numbers, but the first party that went down was forced back by the deadly fumes. The Glen Afton and- McDonald mines are both straight bores into a high ridge of coal. The two main shafts meet, making it possible to enter at the Glen Afton end and emerge at the MacDonald shaft head. There are no deep shafts and miners “walk-in” to approach both workings. The main shaft from mine to mine is over two and a-half miles long, while the only road between the two shaftheads is ten miles long. After two attempts to Teach the trapped men from the Glen Afton end had failed parties of rescuers were rushed to the McDonald end and entered. Here also considerable difficulty was experienced, and the men were driven back several times. Hope Dwindles Although there were numerous miners offering their services, the rescue parties usually numbered about 16, and they were linked together with life lines. The remaining men stood grim-faced around the shaftheads with the wives and relatives of the men underground, waiting anxiously for news. As the afternoon wore on, the faint hope that the men would be rescued alive dwindled, and when the first body was brought up at about 3.30 p.m. there were few who held out much hope for the remainder of the men. However the rescue work continued as rapidly as possible. As dusk began to fall three more bodies were recovered from the MacDonald end. Despite the fact that most people had then given up all hope, hundreds waited in the incessant drizzle to see whether they could assist in any way. The ventilating shafts in the mine circulate air from both directions, but when it was found practically impossible to enter from the Glen Afton end, this pump was cut out and the air was blown from the MacDonald end, so that the men had this draught behind them as they went in. Saved by Canaries The three bodies that were recovered just after dusk were located about two miles from the MacDonald end. It was a dreary wait for the men on the top of the shafts. It took the rescue parties about threequarters of an hour to reach the spot and another hour to come to the surface. As soon as the general alarm was spread finches, canaries and budgerigars were brought in their tiny cages from a wide area and the rescue parties took these cages with them. The fumes began to develop much more thickly at about seven o’clock, and several of the parties were saved by the collapse of the birds giving them warning in time that the fumes were thicker. The scenes after dark could not be adequately described. A few of the relatives still stayed at the mine heads hoping against hope that some of the men would have been able to reach one of the many shafts and thus escape the fumes. More miners continued to arrive and the small offices and the hall were crowded with men talking In subdued whispers and eating sandwiches and drinking hurriedly brewed cups of tea. Effort to Locate Fault As each rescue party came to the surface their friends crowded around them asking them about the condition of the air, which shafts they had explored and whether there remained any hope. Most of the rescuers could only gasp out a few words but they were graphic and tragic. Right up until after 10 o’clock men and equipment were rushed from Glen Afton to MacDonald and the men made good time over the slippery hills and rough roads carrying the electric torches, and other gear. After dark the complete plans of the two mines were rushed from Glen Afton to MacDonald and Mr P. Hunter, the mine superintendent, Mr C. M. Richwhite, the general manager from Auckland, and mine inspectors and deputies were consulting those who had been down in rescue parties in an effort to locate the fault. One of the chief reasons for the difficulty in finding the bodies was that the men had apparently some warning of impending disaster, as the bodies that had been recovered were found in different parts of the mine. Most were in the main passage but some were in' side shafts, indicating that the men were attempting to reach a place of safety. The parties had a very difficult task in searching the many side shafts, but as more parties came to the surface the seat of the fault was narrowed down to a section nearer the Glen Afton end than the MacDonald end. Fortunate Not a Working. Day One of ‘the rescuers, in conversation with a Waikato Times reporter, stated that when he went down after 9 o’clock the air v(as still very foul, and the worst part was that the rescuers, not knowing exactly what the fault was or how big the fire was, had to be proceeded very cautiously. From what had been ascertained from the men who had come to the surface the fault occurred in a section that would have affected about 40 men had a full shift been working. Altogether some 200 men would have been in the mine that was affected. Mr Richwhite stated last night that this was the first disaster experienced in the Glen Afton mine in its 16 years of operation. Throughout the whole time not one death had occurred underground. Mr Richwhite said there would, of course, be no work in the mine until the fault had been discovered and rectified. Late last night, when shifts had

been going down regularly for over ten hours, the miners were firm in their resolve to keep up rescue efforts until the bodies had been brought to the surface.