THE MINING DISASTER AT TEMPLESTOWE. RECOVERY OF THE BODIES. THE PROBABLE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT.
The rescue party at work at the Antimony Hill mine, Templestowe, to recover the bodies of the unfortunate men Young and Grant, who were overwhelmed and drowned by the waters from the old workings on Saturday morning, continued their labours all Sunday afternoon and evening without success. They plodded on steadily through the night, and at half-past 4 o'clock yesterday morn- nig they were able to reach the body of Grant. It was buried by débris just 2ft. from the wall of the shaft, and in the cavity through which the waters had flowed. It was at once taken to the surface, and laid out in the engine-house. Five hours later the second body was got out. It was situated similarly to the first, and was difficult to reach because of the water and of the fallen earth. The news of the finding of Grant's body attracted a large crowd of men, women, and children to the pit's mouth, and when, at a quarter-past 9 o'clock, the signal to "Haul up, men on" was heard and it was understood that the second body was being brought up there was an affecting scene. The widow of the one and the father of the other were present, and though they had known all along that there was not the slightest hope of the lives of either being saved, the certainty of death seemed to add intensity to their suffering. So soon as the wife could be induced by the women around to submit to be taken away the bodies were removed to Finn's Upper Yarra Hotel, the people who had been spectators of the sad scene on the hill-top, and the hardy miners, who had worked incessantly, though they knew there was no hope of saving life, forming a procession behind the conveyance.
Senior-constable Burton, of Heidelberg, having communicated the fact of the recovery of the bodies to the coroner for Bourke, Mr. Candler, the inquest was fixed to be held at Finn's Hotel, on the next (this) day, at 11 o'clock. Mr. Nicholas, the senior-inspector of mines, made a second examination of the mine later in the day, and his conclusions upon the management and working of it will be given by him in evidence to-day, so far as it may concern the inquisition.
When the work of the recovery of the bodies was over, and the manager, Mr. J. C. Matthews, was able to spare time to the consideration and discussion of the circumstances under which the men were working, and the probable causes of flooding, a more precise statement of the facts was obtainable. Prior to the advent of Mr. Matthews as manager the Antimony Hill Company had worked the lode through the Zig-zag or No. 1 shaft. The shaft was sunk vertically for about 100ft., and then it followed the lode (which dipped north) in zig-zag sinks until it reached a total depth of 282ft. The inconvenience of working through this shaft was so great that the manager strongly urged the directors to permit him to sink a new and vertical shaft. His advice was not taken until in a drive running north a prospect of good promise was struck. Then the directors sanctioned the new shaft, and determined to sink it to the depth of 400ft. in four lifts of 100ft. each, believing that when they had reached that depth they would be in a capital position for working the old lode, and also for exploiting the country to the north. The new shaft was started at a point 166ft. north of the No. 1 shaft, the manager choosing that distance after careful calculations and measurements for the reasons that he would be able to run a drill-hole through to the old drive, and tap the water with which since the abandonment of the work in the old shaft it had become filled. The water in the old workings would always be a hindrance to him, and he could not com-bat with it in the old shaft, because he only had a whim there, and baling by whim power is a tedious, expensive, and practically impossible process. In the new shaft he would have the advantage of steam power, and would have the water well under control. He therefore located the shaft where he did because, while it would pass 7½ft. from the terminal point of the drive, and thus, as he thought, be sufficiently far re-moved to ensure safety, it would yet be near enough to permit of its being tapped by a drill. So far as could be observed yesterday by examination and measurement, the manager's calculations were accurate. The northern drive is 159ft. in length, and the second shaft 166ft. removed from the old shaft, so that the space of 7ft. which he desired to keep between them, appears to exist. Then, again, the depth of the second shaft being only 231ft., and full allowance being made for the difference of the altitude on the hillside, the new shaft should be 11ft. above the level of the top of the drive. So that in addition to the end of the drive being 7ft. further north than the shaft, its cap should be 11ft. deeper in the ground than the floor of the new shaft. If the measurements are correct, and there is little doubt that they are—the manager has had many years' experience, and should know his business—then the water must have "wept," or percolated through the small block of ground separating the shaft from the drive. This is the manager's explanation, and there is evidence which goes to commend it as being the correct one. In the weekly report of the operations of the mine, published in The Argus yesterday, there appeared the information—"Sunk 12ft., total 231ft.; shaft in good working country; water increasing. Cut leader in shaft on the 9th, showing little antimony and gold." Apart from the painful coincidence that the report (dated the 12th) and containing the remark "water increasing" should appear in the same issue as the record of the flooding and consequent disaster, the report has an important bearing on the cause of the flooding. The shaft had passed through good solid country till quite recently, when the character of the ground changed, and there were indications beside that of the "leader" referred to of the proximity of a lode. It would appear that this new lode, which will be making from the south and dipping north, joins with the other near the end of the old north drive, and that, as is usually the case at such a junction, the ground is of a soft character, through which water would percolate easily and rapidly. If this junction had been known prior to the sinking of the shaft it would have been foolhardy to have chosen the spot or to have continued the sinking without taking the precaution of putting in a drill hole ahead to test the solidity of the ground.
When Young and Grant went to work at midnight on Friday they were aware of the changing character of the country, and were cautioned to be careful in their work, because they were approaching the locality of the old drive. On the shift before, one of the men had reported that he had seen water oozing from the floor of the shaft, but it was demonstrated that he was mistaken, and Young and Grant commenced their work without any apprehension of danger. They had cleared away and sent to the surface some mullock— two or three buckets only—and had bored and charged a "sinking" hole, using dynamite as the explosive. About 3 o'clock they fired this, and returned after the explosion to see whether it had done the work expected of it. They filled a bucket and signalled to the braceman to have it raised to the surface, but it had barely started its ascent when the knocker line ring "one," signifying "stop." After that came the noise of the rushing waters, the extinguishing of the lights, and the vain attempt of the braceman to render aid. An inspection of the mine when cleared showed that the charge of dynamite in the "sinking hole" had not acted as expected, but had torn sideways through the soft ground lying between the bottom of the shaft and the end of the drive, and had thus opened up a pas-sage for the water. It was but small at first, and was unnoticed as the bucket was filled, but immediately afterwards it gathered strength and poured in in such a torrent that the men had only time to signal the bucket to a standstill before they were overwhelmed. In the suction they were drawn into the cavity started by the blast and widened by the waters, and there they remained till they were discovered dead and disfigured.
1892 'THE MINING DISASTER AT TEMPLESTOWE.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 16 August, p. 6. , viewed 06 Aug 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8450019
see more at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=mining+disaster+at+templestowe
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