HE TABL
A W eek ly N ew spap er and R ev iew .
DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.
From the B r ie f o f H is Holiness P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , fu n e 4, 1870.
V o l . 80. No. 2730. L ondon, S e p t em b e r 3, 1892.
p eice 5d „ by p o s t 5k =i.
[ R e g i s t e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a i . P o s t O f f i c e a s a N ew s p a p e r .
C h r o n ic l e o f t h e W e e k :
Page
One hundred and Forty-three Miners Entombed Alive— Are we •too Clean for Cholera?— Action of the Local Government— Sir W. H . Dyke at Dartford— Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Labouchere— The Manchester Ship Canal— Great Fire in the C ity— Lord Roberts on .Imperial Defence— Why Novelists don’t Write Plays— The Glut o f “ B .A . ’s ” in India— Mr. Gladstone and the Cow— The First of September— Cabinet Quarrels in G e r m a n y .................................... 357 L e a d e r s :
“ The Pallium and the Archié
piscopal Oath ” . . . . . . 361 Glimpses o f Blue Book . . . . 362 The Planet Mars . . . . . 363 Catholicism in Wales . . . . 364
C 0 N T
Page
Monte Generoso ............................365 N o t e s ........................................................ 366 A D irg e . . . . . . . . . . 3 6 8 R e v ie w s :
St. Bernard “ In tim e” . . . . 368 “ The Month ” . . . . . . 368 Hymnus P a l l i i . . . . . . . . 369 League o f the Cross Convention . . 370 A Night in a Salvation Shelter . . 370 C o r r e s p o n d e n c e :
Rome :— (From Our Own Corre
spondent) . . . . . . . . 373 Dublin :— (From Our Own Corre
spondent) ....................................... 375 L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it o r :
The Hymn on the Pallium . . 376 '
ENTS.
L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it o r (Con
Page tinued) : Our “ Catholic ” Choirs . . . . 377 Church Music . . . . . . 377 Convents and Oxford Local E x
aminations . . . . . . 377 Rood-screen, Pertenhall, Bedford
shire .................................... 377 The Enthronement of the Arch
bishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh................................................378 Lord Grimthorpe on the Lincoln
Judgment . . . . . . . . 379 St.Macartan’s Cathedral, Monaghan 380 Broad Church or Broad Farce? . . 381 The Salford Rescue Society . . 381 New Version of an Old Rhyme, for the Benefit of Hawarden Excursionists . . . . . . . . 382
Catholics Abroad . . . . . . 383 A p p e a l t o t h e C h a r i t a b l e . . 383 Recent Publications . . . . . . 383 F rom E v e r y w h e r e . . . . . . 384 Social and Political . . . .3 8 4
SU P P L EM E N T . N ew s from t h e S chools :
Education in 1891 . . . . . . 389 Catholics and the College of Pre
ceptors . . . . . . . . 3QI About E d u c a t io n .........................391 N ew s from t h e D io ceses :
Westminster . . . . . . 391 S o u th w a r k ......................... . . 392 L i v e r p o o l .................................... 392 Portsmouth . . . . . . . . 392 St. Andrews and Edinburgh . . 393 Glasgow . . . . . . . . 393 Argyll and the Isles . . . . 394
*** Rejected M S . cannot be rettirned unless accompanied with address j and postage.
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE MINERS
ENTOMBED ALIVE. O NE of the most horrible mining catastrophes which have taken place in modern times occurred on Friday at the Park Slip Colliery near
Bridgend, South Wales. The night shift had come to the surface shortly before six o’clock in the morning, and the firemen reported all well. The day shift, numbering 143 men, then went down, and work was in full swing when a terrible explosion was heard. The shock is said to have been terrific— the ground shook as from an earthquake, and houses trembled half a mile away. The explosion was followed by great columns of smoke and fire which burst through the mouth of the pit and almost immediately destroyed the sheds and wooden buildings at the mouth. Taught by a painful experience, the inhabitants of the neighbouring village at once knew what had happened, and soon were crowding to the scene of the disaster. The pit has been worked for about 30 years, and, although not considered dangerous, it has always been customary to make use of locked safety-lamps. The daily output averages about 300 tons, and the work gave employment to about 200 men. A t first it was taken for granted that the whole o f the 143 men entombed had perished except two men who were at the pumping station. One of these relates that hearing a loud crash and guessing its meaning, .he immediately told his comrade to lie down. This they both did, and only just in time, for a moment later a vast body of flame passed over them. A rescue party was immediately organized and succeeded in penetrating some 300 yards into the workings, when they were confronted by a heavy fall from the roof, which completely barred their way. When the rubbish had been removed and ventilation with great difficulty restored, they passed down the workings for another 250 yards, and there they found the dead lying thick in their way. The day closed finding the rescuers still struggling but without finding signs of anything but 'death. The next morning, although the best experts in the district were of opinion that not even one of the entombed men were alive, the rescuing parties again got to work. But progress was very slow, and by Sunday morning only 900 yards out of 1,150 had been opened up; the
N e w S e r i e s . V o l . XLV1II., No, 2,039.
after-damp and the frequent fall of the roof many times causing work to be suspended. So impossible did it seem that anybody could be alive, that Mr. Robson, telegraphing to the Home Secretary, reported that everybody in the mine appeared to have perished. A small body of explorers, however, still pushed on, and nearing the furthest point thought they heard voices. The leader shook his head and said there could be no life beyond. A few moments later an unmistakeable shout was heard. Four of the imprisoned men had felt the fresh air borne along yard by yard by the the explorers coming to meet them. A few steps further rescued and rescuers had fallen on one another’s shoulders unmanned by emotion. When the first excitement was over, the explorers learned that there were others alive still beyond. Finally, the number of men brought to the bank during the day was increased to 33. There were eight more below who were too weak to be moved at once, and to these medical aid was sent down. Further inquiries have shown that the number of those who were in the pit was greater than was first supposed, and the recovered bodies number n o .
A grateful sense that we are not as other a r e w e t o o people, is, perhaps happily, always strong c h o l e r a ? among Englishmen when there is talk of an epidemic. We say happily, because cholera,
by directing renewed attention to sanitation, has probably saved more lives in this country than it has taken. It is well, however, to provide against the cry for quarantines, which the presence of cholera amongst us may cause to be raised by thoughtless or ill-informed persons, to recall the reasons for which that system was finally abandoned in this country. Sir John Simon, in one of his official reports, has pointed out what quarantine against cholera would practically mean in this country. T o be effectual it ought to exclude from entry not merely such persons as are obviously sick, but also the healthy, until they had passed locked in quarantine, so many days of probation as the germs of disease may lie latent. Thus, if one case of cholera breaks out among a number of persons in quarantine, all the others must begin their period of probation again. In such a country as ours this would require gigantic establishments at every port, and involve an interruption of commerce which could never be borne. In proportion as the quarantine was strict the resolve to evade it would be strong, I f we take 10 days as the time in which the disease may remain undeveloped or be designedly concealed, a quarantine system in England would mean that 10 days instead of an hour would be the minimum time in which any person,
