E o07i a 
MISCELLANIES. 
ACCOUNT OF A DREADFUL ACCI-~ 
DENT AT HEATON MAIN COL= 
LIERY NEAR NEWCASTLE. 
(From Thomson’s Annals of 
Philosophy.) 
et Colliery is situated in 
. the bed of coal called the 
high main. It is a considerable 
depth, about 110 fathoms, and the 
shaft is situated at the lower ex- 
tremity of the mine. The shaft 
is divided by boarding all the way 
down, so that the same opening 
served for the wp and down cast 
shaft. The seam towards the 
rise had been formerly worked as 
a colliery, under the name of Hea- 
ton Banks, by shafts distinct from 
the present working, which shafts, 
when the colliery was given up, 
were covered over with boards 
and earth. In the course of time 
these old workings had become 
filled with water ; and the manag- 
ers of the present colliery being 
well aware of the danger attend- 
ing so large an accumulation of 
water, the workings were pro- 
ceeded in with the utmost cau- 
tion. 
The mine was very much sub- 
ject to what the colliers call the 
creep, which is a gradual filling up 
of the horizontal passages. It had 
been customary for some time 
past to bore in various directions 
uponthe lines themen were work- 
ing, in order to ascertain whether 
any body of water lay concealed 
in the adjacent cavities. This pre- 
caution was about to be put in 
practice at nine o’clock on Wed- 
nesday the 3rd of May; but before 
that time had arrived, (between 
threeand four o’clockin the morn- 
ing), a dreadful rush of water 
came through the roof in the 
north-west part of the colliery, 
and continued to flow with such 
rapidity, that only 20 men and 
boys were enabled to make their 
escape. In a very short time, the 
water closed up the lower mouth 
of the shaft; and that night it 
rose to the height of 24 fathoms. 
Some faint hopes being entertain- 
ed that the men below would re- 
tire to the higher parts of the 
workings, which were said to be 
above the level of the water in the 
shaft, every exertion was used to 
open a communication with them 
