DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70266#0049
EXPLOSION AT FELLING GOLLIERY.
35
ing posts by the next, at 11 o’clock in the morning.—The
establishment it employed under ground, as will be seen in
the succeeding narrative, consisted of about 128 persons,
who, in the fortnight from the 11th to the 25th of May,
1812, wrought 624 scores of coal, equal to 1300 Newcastle
chaldrons, or 2455 London chaldrons.
At half past eleven o’clock, on the morning of the 25th
May, 1812, the neighbouring villages were alarmed by a
tremendous explosion in this colliery. The subterraneous
fire broke forth with two heavy discharges from the John
Pit, which were, almost instantaneously, followed by one
from the William Pit. A slight trembling, as from an
earthquake, was felt for about half a mile around the work-
ings ; and the noise of the explosion, though dull, was heard
to three or four miles distance, and much resembled an un-
steady fire of infantry. Immense quantities of dust and
small coal accompanied these blasts, and rose high into the
air, in the form of an inverted cone. The heaviest part of
the ejected matter, such as corves, pieces of wood, and small
coal, fell near the pits; but the dust, borne away by a
strong west wind, fell in a continued shower from the pit
to the distance of a mile and a half. In the village of He-
worth, it caused a darkness, like that of early twilight, and
covered the roads so thickly, that the footsteps of passen-
gers were strongly imprinted in it. The heads of both the
shaft frames were blown off, their sides set on fire, and their
pullies shattered in pieces.
As soon as the explosion was heard, the wives and chil-
dren of the workmen ran to the working pit. The crowd
from all sides soon collected to the number of several hun-
dreds, some crying out for a husband, others for a parent
or a son, and all deeply affected with an admixture of hor-
ror, anxiety, and grief.
The machine being rendered useless by the eruption, the
rope of the gin was sent down the pit with all expedition.
f 2
35
ing posts by the next, at 11 o’clock in the morning.—The
establishment it employed under ground, as will be seen in
the succeeding narrative, consisted of about 128 persons,
who, in the fortnight from the 11th to the 25th of May,
1812, wrought 624 scores of coal, equal to 1300 Newcastle
chaldrons, or 2455 London chaldrons.
At half past eleven o’clock, on the morning of the 25th
May, 1812, the neighbouring villages were alarmed by a
tremendous explosion in this colliery. The subterraneous
fire broke forth with two heavy discharges from the John
Pit, which were, almost instantaneously, followed by one
from the William Pit. A slight trembling, as from an
earthquake, was felt for about half a mile around the work-
ings ; and the noise of the explosion, though dull, was heard
to three or four miles distance, and much resembled an un-
steady fire of infantry. Immense quantities of dust and
small coal accompanied these blasts, and rose high into the
air, in the form of an inverted cone. The heaviest part of
the ejected matter, such as corves, pieces of wood, and small
coal, fell near the pits; but the dust, borne away by a
strong west wind, fell in a continued shower from the pit
to the distance of a mile and a half. In the village of He-
worth, it caused a darkness, like that of early twilight, and
covered the roads so thickly, that the footsteps of passen-
gers were strongly imprinted in it. The heads of both the
shaft frames were blown off, their sides set on fire, and their
pullies shattered in pieces.
As soon as the explosion was heard, the wives and chil-
dren of the workmen ran to the working pit. The crowd
from all sides soon collected to the number of several hun-
dreds, some crying out for a husband, others for a parent
or a son, and all deeply affected with an admixture of hor-
ror, anxiety, and grief.
The machine being rendered useless by the eruption, the
rope of the gin was sent down the pit with all expedition.
f 2