DURHAM AND NORTHUMBERLAND. gg

signed seventy-five men and boys to eternity,besides destroying thirty-seven horses. But itis to be lamented that even this dreadfulsweep did not end the work of misery, astwenty-five widows were deprived of theirhusbands and the means of subsistence, andabout eighty children robbed of their fathers.

I believe the greater part of these watershave since been drained off at great expense,and an immensity of labour. The jury, whichsat over the first body found, gave a verdictsatisfactory to the management of the mineprevious to the accident. It might be goodaccording to the present system, but that thisrequires amendment, and might be much im-proved, there is little doubt of.

Subsequently to the above verdict juries havebeen summoned over other bodies which werefound dead in this colliery; and from the evi-dence produced before them it appears thatmany of the poor sufferers who escaped to thehigher workings must have subsisted for sometime upon horse-flesh, candles, and horse-beans, as part of a dead horse was found nearthem, and but few candles were left, althougha considerable supply had been received justbefore the accident.

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