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NEWPORT DISASTER

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NEWPORT DISASTER ir m DEATH-ROLL OF 20 Trench Flooded by Tide The disaster at the new lock of the Alexandra Docks extension works appears from calculations which the contractors (Mesers. Easton Gibb and Sons) made on Saturday afternoon to be even more serious in respect of loss of life than was feared on Friday evening immediately after the calamity. And one of the elements whioh then caused serious apprehension, viz., the force of the tide upon the artificial dam at the mouth of the trench fulfilled on Satur- day the worst fears. Water percolated, as the spring tide rose, in through the earth- work, flooding the bottom of the trench, and so completely blotting out the hopes of rescue which had been entertained about the poor fellows below, some three or four of whom had been known to be alive. They had up to after midnight on Friday been communicated with by conversation and by the passing in to them of stimulants and sus- tenanoe. The collapse of the timber work, which had been so laboriously constructed to keep intact the trench whilst it was being prepared for the concrete, weakened its power of resistance, and the pressure of water from the River Usk completed the work of devastation. Up to this time on Saturday and right away through from the period at which the terrible disaster occurred there had been continuous and most strenuous endeavours to get at the imprisoned men and rescue as many as possible alive. But when the water made its way through it became absolutely certain that the only thing then left was to olear the trench and remove the dead bodies. It was a particularly sad climax on Satur- day to the h?rodsm and the persistency of the reecuers, as well a6 to the 13, ??i4r and noble endurance of the entombed men, that &11 hope should have been cut off. The Scene on Sunday I The soone at the trench on Sunday would haw been witnessed by thousands of people if Messrs. Easton Gibb and Sons, the con- tractors. had oared to issue so many permits. But they discreetly decided to limit the num- ber to those who had some bona-fide business or interest in the matter and who applied at their office for passes. They would issue none to women. The roadways leading to and from the works were thronged. As a. matter of fa-et. there was very little doing at the trench. There were 50 or 60 men at work taking away such of the plant M could be taken to pieces easily. It was decided to dismantle the big concrete mixer, whioh stood upon the north side of the trench —that great, 63-ton object which was so con- spicuous in the "Evening Express" photo- graphs on Saturday. The work of clearing the bottom of the trench of all obstructions and getting out the dead bodies of the fifteen to twenty men will n^t be started at once. The engineers were on Sunday considering various schemes for dealing with it, but none have as yet been decided upon. It is no easy matter, as anyone could see. Those enormous sheet Piles-400 or 500 of them-besides the struts, have, of course, all been twisted out of their original position, and it will be a matter of considerable diffi- culty to remove them, as they are so deeply embedded. But the engineers are by no means dismayed a.t tåe prospect. The chief drawback now is that the accident will delay the completion of the great lock by possibly six months beyond the time originally fixed. REPLY TO RUMOURS I niportant Statement by Mr. W. C. Cooper A very important matter was dealt with on Sunday, and one which will allay a good deal of public feeling and anxiety. During Satur- day and Sunday there had been persistent rumours about the work and material in the trench. It was carried from lip to lip that men who had been working on the job had come out because they feared it was unsafe, that Riga timber had been used when pitch- pine ought to have been, and other things of that sort. With a view to getting to know the exact value of these persistent and widely-spread statements, one of out represeivtativea saw on Sunday Mr. W. G. Cooper, the agent for the contractors, and asked him if he had heard anything of the kind and what was the answer. Yes," replied Mr. Cooper, I beard the rumour for the first time at four o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Since then I have heard a good deal of it. It was most absurd. One rumour went the length of eaying that the timbers rose and fell six inches with each change of shift. The whole story and every bit of it it4 most absurd. When we heard of the rumour that men had come out of the trench because thy were afraid to work there we asked all the leading gangers about it, and they said they had not heard a word about any such thing. It is quite true tha-t we used Riga wood for the struts and wailings and pitch-pine for the piles. That is the ueual thing to do, and we have been doing it all the time without anyone complaining. The timber is good, as anyone who understands the matter can see for him- self. It was the same kind of timber as was u&sd in the trench on the other side. And, then, as to the work not having been pro- perly done, as I believe wag also suggested by the rumour, why, there are relays of workmen, gangers who look after the work, sectional gangers, the chief walking ganger (or outside manager), the engineers, and myself all on the side of the contractors. Than there is the resident engineer, who inspects the work periodically, aid ve have had a number of weJl-known engineers here, who have complimented us upon the trench. Nor can any fault. I think, be found with the time it occupied in con- striletion-fiv.e, weeks. That is rather under than over thy usual time, and it is always better to get a trench done quickly than tardily, beside, the firm (Easton Gibb and Sons) do not insure our men now, and it is not very likely that we would do anything to incur extra risk. We have had as many as 3,000 men working at these docks, and another thousand at the quarries at Trehy* (Bedwas). But we do not insure under the Workmen's Compensation Act." "Do you think the water which has gone into the trench is all river water?" Mr. Cooper. "-No, not all river water. Some river water, no doubt, has made its way in through cracks rr, ?_de in the dam by the collapse, but though the dam looks so alight at the top, on the outside we have made what is called a six-to-one slope, which increases its thickness very much. Beside the river water there is an accumulation now of water which always finds its way into a sinking whenever you get to the gravel." TO__h LIST OF DEAD I i,r ot- the live bodies at the mortuary I have been identified as follows:- 1. Sidney Anderson, single, 14. Wolseloy- gtreCt. Newport. 2. Herbert Francis Hath way (27). married, with wife and two children living at Winterbourne, near Bristol. 3. William Uoughtcn, about 40 years of a-ge. believed to be a native of ])orsct.sMre. 4. Henry LockYtJr. about 40 years of age, belonging to Sitcom be, near Bath. 5. -Not yet identified. Amongst otners, the surnames only of the meu who were believed to be in or about the trench at the time of the accident are:— Ganger Musson, Trent, Ash, Hopkins, Lowell, Brown, Brennan. Tawdry, Grieves, Austin, Turner, Snell. Randle, Williams Cox, Tutor, Jacksoai. Denton, Edwards, Knight, Buokley, Talbot, Clay bough, Griffin, Tompki nson, Wilson, Warner, Goddard, Lewis, Daley, Welsh. Webster, Summerton, Cook, Fletcher. Lloyd. Lydney, Y-illgl Andereon, Tryan, Carter, Doudaw, Mack, Roberts, Barker, Housley, Baker, Gumm, Sullivan, and Holder. Several of thete are supposed to have escaped without injury. List of the Injured I The following are the names 01 tne men who had been taken to hospital: Albert Davies (22). 9, CJOunyoena-etreet. Buffering from a cut head and injury to riba. John Brown, 38, Lime-street, broken leg. Robert French. 106, Raglan-street, broken leg. John Brain (42), Commercial-street, broken arm and shock. John Brown (26). George-street, severe shook. Fred Barfield, Wolseley-street, fractured leg, cut head and hand. John M'CaPbhy (18), 13, Hill-street, injured wrist. Treated and discharged. Edwin Ash (16), 8, Mill-parade, sprained ankle. Treated and discharged. John Palford, or Playford (50). 2, Caetle- Ctreet, out head. Treated and discharged. John Leggy, 7, Emlyn-terrace, internal Injuries. Two patients are at Wie "worxnouee ooa- jpital: Th«y are:— Aroert Musecm (38), gaager, of 41, UMwrence-1 I street, with fractured breast bone, fractured collar-bone, and ribs. Frederick Davies (32), of 15, Castle-etreet, with fractured collar-bone. Of those who have been identified amongst the killed, the best known locally was a young craneman, Sidney Anderson, who lived with his mother in Wolseley-street, near the Alexandra Dock. He is spoken of by all who knew him as a most exemplary young man, and the sole support of his mother. Like several of the others employed at the works, he was known by two names—Anderson and Powell, his mother having married a second time. She was completely grief-stricken at his fate, and, in conversat,ion with one of our representatives on Saturday, re-called the fact that three Qr four years ago an elder son also met with his death in a trench at Avonmouth dock, then in course of construction. The surviving son (Sidney), then in his teens, cheered her up and said, Well, mother, I will keep you now." They came to Newport, and he had a job at the docks extension works. Anderson's was one of the first of the dead bodies brought out of the trench on Friday evening. THE INQUEST. The coroner ('Mr. Lyhd-on Moore) has decided to open the inquest this (Monday) afternoon at 2.50. It will proba,bly only be necessary to take sufficient evidence of identification to allow the bodies so far recovered to be buried. Then there will be an adjournment for a sutaciezit interval to allow all the circumstance to be inquired into and the evidence marshalled. The coroner visited t,he scene of the accident on Sunday, and examined the timber. Work to Go On Now that all hope of getting out any of the men alive from the trench has been aban- doned, the engineers are considering a, scheme to devise the best plan for clearing the trench and to go on with the work again As a preliminary, the contractors arc now filling in the trench with I'<and and making: the place more firm for the men to work upon. It seems apparent that the whole p,la,ce will have to be piled around again, as it was originally, before it can be op-enc-<i up. These steps, of course, are not token out of dip- respect for the dead men. as it is only the proper course to be pursued in going on with the work, which includes the removal of the bodies. Originally the trench took five weeks to construct, and it seems quite likely t-hat many weeks will now elapse before the bodies can be reached and brought to the surface. With reference to th- water v,-pk-h hn" been finding its way into the trench during the last day or awo, powerful pumps will be let down to keep it clear. The condition of the injured men in both h-ospitals this morning is fav-,iirably reported upon. Mr. John Macaulay, the gren,-raj manager of the docks company, states that the com- pany are naturally deerdy grieved and con eerned at the disaster, but it is necessary to push on with the work fast as possible. It is scarcely possible that even to-day a complete list of the men Supposed to be in the trench will be available because the con- tractors are so indifferently informed as to the identity of the men. A Mournful Incident Whilst sand was being tipped into the trench to-day the parents and two brothers and two sisters of the boy who has been known t-hrol-ighout the pitiful stories of the disaster as King visited the scene, and cast affectionate glances at the place, which will not be opened arrai'n probably for a month or six weeks, wb-ere the lad remains. In con- nection with this matter, it is necessary ,to state that the boy was only known in the works by his fancy name, "Kingy." His parents' name ie Williams.

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