Colliery Flooded

Yesterday morning two men were drowned in the workings of Elswick South Colliery, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the lives of 30 others placed in jeopardy. The men were at work in the Beaumont seam, when a rumbling noise attracted attention, developing as it came nearer into the roar of a rushing volume of water. When this was realized the men hurried to the bottom of the shaft, and with the exception of two, who, it is conjectured, stumbled in the run to the shaft and were overtaken by the flood, were safely drawn to the bank. The names of the men drowned are Thomas Watson, Elm-street, New Benwell, and Robert Smith, of Deleval, both of whom were married. The water had apparently broken in from some old workings. Special pumping operations were at once begun, but it is expected that it will be some days before the bodies can be recovered. The other parts of the colliery are not affected by the flooding of the Beaumont seam, which is the only part of the mine which will be rendered idle for a time. The men who have been employed there will be given work in other districts.