388 Miscellanies. 



been presented. Either of these causes would have involved careless- 

 ness. The density and inflammability of the gas might have caused the 

 wire to have become oxidated, and thus to fall to pieces ; but that could 

 not have occurred till after indication by flame inside the gauze, of a 

 danger in the face of which it would have been madness in the laborers 

 to remain. Whatever might have been the immediate cause, the arrange- 

 ments and rules of the pit, drawn from the lights of science and experi- 

 ence in mining, were such as if properly attended to, to have insured 

 safety. But would it not be well, in order to diminish the chances of 

 danger from even carelessness itself, to use Davy's lamp exclusively , in all 

 pits, where there has been an exhibition of carburetted hydrogen or " in- 

 flammable gas ?" 



One of the superintendents of the operations in the pit, who was below 

 when the explosion took place, was a man of great skill in his profession, 

 having been many years engaged in it, in some of the most famous of the 

 English mines. He was a Scotchman, named John Rynard. 



Mr. John Hancock, a native of Chesterfield, of respectable family, was 

 the other unfortunate superintendent. 



The laborers were all colored men. The superintendents above the 

 shafts say that about forty were below. They cannot speak with cer- 

 tainty. Many had gone to distant plantations to see their wives, and it 

 was not known how many had returned. 



The explosion was so powerful as to blow pieces of timber out of the 

 shaft to a distance of one hundred yards from it. Three men were blown 

 up in a coal hamper, to a height of some thirty or forty feet above its top ; 

 two of them fell out of the hamper in different directions, and were im- 

 mediately killed — the third remained in it, and fell with it, escaping most 

 miraculously with his life, having both legs broken. He is now doing 

 very well. Much loose coal was blown from the drifts to the bottom of 

 the shaft, and four of the bodies, as we have already stated, were taken 

 from beneath a large bulk there, in a mutilated state. Four were taken 

 out shortly after the explosion on Monday — one of whom died. The 

 others are in a fair way to recover. 



Every possible exertion consistent with safety, has been made to rescue 

 the unfortunate beings. It appeared upon going down the shaft, that 

 much carbonic acid gas (the product of combustion) was present. This 

 is called at the mines " black damp," and though not inflammable, is 

 well known to be eminently destructive to human life. This then had 

 first to be dispersed. The partitions too, in the shaft, necessary for the 

 ingress and egress of air in the pit, were much torn to pieces by the ex- 

 plosion and had to be repaired, as death would have resulted to those who 

 went down the shaft. 



These explosions were formerly very common in the north of England. 

 One occurred at the Felling colliery in Northumberland, England, on 



