The Colliery Explosion In Cumberland

The colliery explosion which as we reported yesterday took place at St. Helens, near Workington on Thursday night, turns out to have been still more disastrous in its consequence than had been at first supposed. There are now 11 men lying dead in a joiner's shop in the colliery yard, there are 17 more down in the mine, of whom it is thought that none can possibly have survived, and seven others are in the local hospital, or at their own homes suffering from injuries of a more or less serious character. The William pit, No. 3, at St. Helens, which was the scene of the catastrophe, is the property of a limited liability company, and is situated about two miles from the town of Workington. It consists of an upcast shaft and a downcast shaft, the former being 85 fathoms deep, and the latter 119. The 85 fathom shaft communicates with the ten-quarter seam, which is 5ft 6in in height, where 83 men are employed. The deeper shaft reaches the main band, which is 7ft 6in high, and gives employment to 236 men. It was in the south portion of the main band, and about 1,200 yards from the pit bottom, that the fire originated, which about 12 hours later gave rise to the explosion, The relief party, which was organised immediately after the occurrence of the explosion, had a most difficult task in conducting their explorations of the workings. The after-damp was most oppressive, and about midnight, when the party returned to the top of the shaft, they were in a most deplorable condition. They had been so much affected by the gas that they reeled like drunken men, and some of them had to be borne on stretchers from the pithead to the engine room. The greatest sufferer was Mr. Johnstone, the manager of the mine, His brother, Mr. William Johnstone, of Aspatria, who had also been one of the searching party, gave the following narrative:— "We have been to the far end of the big dip, quite 300 yards away. We came across some bodies in the far end of the dip. We shook them, and left no means untried to find if any were alive, but all were dead. There were, as far as we could tell, 10 or 12 bodies lying all near together; there might be more. It was impossible for any one to be alive who was in that part of the mine when the explosion occurred. It was when we were returning that we were overcome. My brother fell off the stretcher as we were bringing him along. All our party are safe now; the air is quite good where they are. There will be no trouble in getting them all to bank." Dr. Ormrod, who had rendered gallant service by accompanying the search parry and returning to the surface with each of the rescued, said that the after-damp was so oppressive that it would be impossible for anyone to go down for the other bodies.

In the present condition of the pit the gas was accumulating, and with the fire sill raging there was every reason to anticipate another explosion.

The engineering staff of the colliery has been reinforced by engineers from many of the pits in the district, they were in almost constant consultation yesterday, and they have agreed that it would be unsafe at present to attempt to explore the underground workings. They decided, however, to run a stream of water down the shaft with a view to improve the ventilation and get rid of the after-damp and they hoped that if these measures should prove successful it might be possible to send another exploring party down the mine at night. The St. Helen's Colliery Company have announced their intention of providing coffins for the whole of the deceased and bearing the cost of their interment.

A coroner's inquest which was opened yesterday on the bodies of the miners killed in the explosion has been adjourned to May 17, it being hoped that by that time the bodies remaining in the still burning workings will have be recovered. The inspector has received a telegram from the Home Secretary expressing regret at the calamity and asking for more particulars.