University of Virginia Library

From William Dodd, the under-manager at the Diglake Mine, come these particulars of the disaster: Shortly before noon, on Monday, January 21st, a boy ran into the office, saying, “There is water rushing down the 1oft. dip.” Dodd hurried out and saw 3ft. to 4ft. of water rushing right through the pit bottom, and making along the roadway. He shouted at the top of his voice, “Make off for Boyle's Hall.” By this time the large volume of water was joined by another torrent from a different direction. With considerable difficulty Dodd fought his way through it to the Staple Pit, about 100 yards off. Descending, he found three men. He told the two oldest to make their way to Boyle's Hall, and the third to go with him. Further down were four lads who were beyond a pool of water which was only nine or twelve inches from the roof. He shouted to them to plunge into the stream and he would catch them as they came by. They followed his instructions, and were landed in safety. Dodd then shouted to some others, but got no answer, the walls at that moment collapsing and filling the place from top to bottom. After this he made an effort to go down the dip with the full current, and dropped through a trap-door, and here he met the fireman, Thomas Longshaw, and got him to come along with him. In the main dip he was washed along by the current like a straw, and had it not been for a post that he was knocked against he must have been drowned. The stream he found too deep for any living man to get down, and he gave up the attempt. With Longshaw he then made his way to the Staple Pit Shaft, but found the water pouring down in a roaring torrent. Longshaw tried to go up, but failed. The water subsided a little, and they went to look at the main dip but found it no shallower. With the water pouring down on them, the two men then made their way desperately up the ladders at the Staple Pit. At the top Dodd felt someone lay hold of him, and overcome with exhaustion, sunk into unconsciousness. When he came round, kind friends offered to escort him home, but he was determined to help the men in the “boundary side,” and called for volunteers to go with him. Three men offered themselves, and sixteen men were found in the boundary, and six lower down. These were all saved. Dodd and the three men then went to the overcast, cast, where they found the water had subsided a little. One man stayed here to help the men through the stream, while Dodd and another made their way further upwards into the workings, and knocked at the brick stoppings, and men rushed down in answer to the alarm. Dodd shouted, “Where are you lads?” and they answered, “We are here William, and we are glad to see you.” He told them to follow his light, and they made their way up the stream, keeping themselves up by the bell-wire. After these were in safety two of the volunteers came and said they had found six more men and wanted assistance. Three men went with them, and the six, greatly exhausted, were rescued. All were now out of the top workings. Dodd and another then made their way towards No. 2 pit, and found water up to the armpits. Dodd asked his companion if he could face it, and he said, “Yes, I can swim.” He swam away, while the under-manager followed for a distance of sixty or seventy yards. Four lads were found perched on the top of an engine, and these were handed from one to the other along the roadway, as the water was too deep for them to walk in. These were the last to be saved. There were twelve in the 8ft. seam, but probably they could not face the torrent, as they were warned. One man, Beech, Dodd thinks, lost his life in trying to save others. William Dodd has since been summoned to Windsor Castle, and has received, from the hand of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, the gold Albert Medal for conspicuous gallantry.