31^st March 1925

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Flooded Pit

38 Miners Trapped By Water

Rescuers Baffled

(From Our Correspondent.)

Newcastle, March 30.

Thirty-four miners were entrapped by water this morning in the View Pit, Scotswood, a western suburb of Newcastle, and at nightfall 33 of them were still in the mine. [A later message gives the number as 38.]

The inrush of water occurred at half-past 10 at a place known as the Irish standage in the Brockwell seam. There were nearly 300 men in the pit at the time, but with the exception of the 34 whose escape was cut off, they were able to get to the bank.

A putter named James Tracey, who had a remarkable escape, said he heard a hewer say he had "holed," and water was soon afterwards seen to be coming in. Another putter who managed to get away said the water was up to the necks of some of his mates, and some of them were clutching at a projecting ridge near the roof.

Of the 34 men 26 were working at a higher level than the other eight, and there was some possibility, it was thought, of their being saved. The task set the rescue parties, however, was one of extraordinary difficulty. Fire and rescue brigades from the adjoining station at Elswick, and from Houghton and Crook in Durham County and Ashington in Northumberland, were quickly on the scene, and a rescue party with Mr. G. T. Nicholson, the manager of the pit, at its head, descended into the workings. Foul air hampered their labours, and by 5 o'clock in the afternoon practically all hope of the first eight men being got out alive had been given up, as they were working in a "dip" where the water would be likely to be over their heads.

Thousands of people thronged the pit-head, and there was no lack of volunteers for anything that could be done to reach the entombed men. The anxiety of the women, whose husbands and sons were among the missing, was terrible, and here and there a wife or mother collapsed in grief.

Of the original 34 only one had got out up to 6 o'clock, leaving 33 men to be accounted for, and it was feared that the greater number of them might not have found their way to the workings of the adjacent high pit.

Men who came to the bank said the water rushed in with a thunderous bang, and in places was up to the roof. Fathers and sons and brothers, and other close relations, are among the trapped men. Rescue operations were being vigorously pursued as the daylight closed.

The mine is owned by Messrs. Benson and Sons.

Rising Water.

Later.

At 8 o'clock it was believed that there were 38 men in the Scotswood pit. Heroic efforts to reach them had been frustrated by great difficulties.

This part of the Northumberland coalfield is about the oldest in the county, and has been worked for probably 300 to 400 years. Disused workings are therefore numerous in the district, and it may be that the inrush of water came from one of these places, perhaps from the old Paradise pit, which was closed many years ago. The old workings are invariably full of water, and if other and more modern workings pierce them the position is dangerous unless the water is promptly checked. In this instance the water came in like a torrent and the pumps available could not cope with it. Extra pumping power was brought into action as the day advanced, and it was strengthened still further at night. The water gained with such rapidity that it seemed that nothing short of a miracle could save the entombed men, even though they may have sought refuge on higher ground.

The rescuers had no chance of reaching them along the mainways, but attempted to get to them by way of the old workings, and it became a race for life between them and the rising water. The odds seemed to be against the rescuers.

The rescuers were withdrawn from the pit shortly before midnight.

The Missing Men.

A list of the men involved in the accident, so far as is available, is as follows :—

James Nixon, Dean-terrace, Scotswood ; James Nixon, jun., son of above, of the same address ; William Halliday, Bells Close, Scotswood ; George Halliday, son of the above, same address ; Thomas Bibby, Ridley-terrace, Scotswood, and a brother, also of Scotswood ; J. Gray, Lemington ; George Batey, Lemington ; Joseph Loughran, Elswick ; James Murthwaite, single, Elswick ; Joseph Westray, Deleval ; William Richardson, Elswick ; John Collins, Ridley-terrace, Scotswood ; William Carr, Scotswood ; Jack Graysons, Bridge-crescent, Scotswood ; Andrew Graysons, single, Chapel-terrace, Scotswood, son of the above ; Joseph Averton, Elswick ; Charles Dixon, Dean-terrace, Scotswood ; James Bushby, Deleval ; John Martin, Ridley-terrace, Scotswood ; Robert Haverlick, Deleval ; Thomas Trewicks and William Trewicks, brothers of Deleval ; William Fowler, Prospect-terrace, Scotswood ; R. Heslop, Scotswood ; E. Jackson, Tanyard, Elswick ; Charles Simpson, Scotswood ; Isaac Booth, Elswick ; Jack Lee, Blackett-terrace, Scotswood.

A hewer who left the pit stated that he had met an overman named Samuel Evans, who was going back into the pit, hurrying his men out and collecting others. He was last seen engaged in that work.

Another list gives the following names :— Christopher and Thomas Batey (brothers), Prospect-terrace, Scotswood ; Ralph Carr, Chapel-terrace, Scotswood ; Matthew Errington, Pit-yard, Deleval ; Matthew and George Hetherington (brothers), Bells-close ; Thomas Danskin, Montague-street, Scotswood ; William Guthrie, Chapel-terrace, Scotswood.

Rescuers Driven Back.

Water And Foul Air.

In the evening rescue operations were hampered by foul air, and men who had been erecting stoppings for ventilation purposes were temporarily withdrawn. Among those at the pit head was Mr. William Weir, President of the Northumberland Miners' Association, and Mr. William Straker, secretary.

A man who had been engaged for over ten hours in rescue work said that he had been up to his knees in water. A sudden gust of foul air extinguished his lamp, and the lamps of the men who were erecting canvas stoppings in the hope of guiding fresh air into the flooded area. So pungent were the fumes that they were compelled to return to the bank. Left without any light and threatened by the rising water, they had only the tramway lines to guide them back to the shaft bottom.

Another of the rescue party said he had no hopes for eight of the men, who were working in a dip in the lowest part of the mine. They were not without hope, however, that some of the other men might eventually find their way out of the pit by another shaft about a mile away.