The Colliery Disaster

The work of recovering the bodies of the miners killed in the explosion at West Stanley Colliery on Tuesday has been continued without intermission. Yesterday afternoon 164 had been brought to bank, four more had been located, and it was hoped that the total loss will not be found to exceed 168.

A public meeting was held on Saturday morning in the Theatre Royal, Stanley, with the object of constituting a committee to administer the relief fund that had been opened for the benefit of the widows and orphans and relatives of those who had lost their lives. Mr. J. E. W. Fairley, chairman of the Stanley Urban District Council, presided. It was resolved that that council should constitute a relief fund committee with power to add to its numbers. It was stated that a meeting would be held early this week at which the committee will be augmented by members representing the various churches, friendly and co-operative societies, and other organizations.

The funerals of 135 of the victims of the disaster took place yesterday afternoon amid a scene of public mourning. By 1 o'clock in the afternoon the crowd numbered, it was estimated, 200,000 people. The funerals were attended by Mr. J. H. Burn and Mr. F. H. Burn, owners of the colliery, and by most of the colliery managers in the surrounding mining district. The Durham Miners' Association was represented by Mr. J. Wilson, M.P., and other officials, and the Northumberland and Durham Miners' Permanent Relief Fund, the local co-operative societies, and all the miners' lodges in the district were represented. Before the interments took place services were held in the various churches and chapels of the different denominations, and all the buildings were filled by relatives and friends of the dead miners. The first funeral took place shortly after 1 o'clock, and for four hours there was a continual procession of coffins and mourners from the houses to the cemeteries. Several slight accidents occurred among the crowd, and between 50 and 60 cases were treated by the ambulance corps.

The subscriptions to the relief fund received up to last night amounted to £1,900, including contributions of £500 from Mrs. J. H. Burn, of Hexham, 100 guineas from the North-Eastern Bank, and £25 from the officials and workmen of Elswick shipyard.

A Reuter telegram from Denain states that the secretary of the National Federation of French Miners has sent a message of condolence to the secretary of the Miners' Conference at Manchester on the occasion of the Durham colliery disaster.