The North Mount Lyell disaster (also known as the Mount Lyell disaster and North Mount Lyell fire) refers to a fire that broke out on 12 October 1912 at the
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as ''Mount Lyell''. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in ...
operations on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
of
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, killing 42 miners. The mine had been taken over from the
North Mount Lyell
North Mount Lyell was the name of a mine, mining company, locality (sometimes as North Lyell) and former railway north of Gormanston on the southern slopes of Mount Lyell in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania, and on to the r ...
Company in 1903.
Events
Sometime between 11:15 and 11:30 am on 12 October the pump house on the level of the mine was reported on fire. As the mine lacked an emergency warning system, those aware of the fire were forced to run along its levels and drives warning others. Of the 170 miners working in the mine, 73 managed to escape that first day. However many, including those who had been working in remote
stopes, were trapped. Outside the mine, uncertainty surrounded the status of the fire and the number of miners remaining inside. Initial rescue attempts proved difficult, and repeated attempts to enter the mine failed.
The rescue plan involved the transportation of
breathing equipment from one of the
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
n mining towns to
Queenstown, via a speedy shipping across the
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...
and the alleged fastest times by engines on the
Emu Bay Railway
The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lyel ...
, the Government
Strahan–Zeehan Railway line between
Zeehan
Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, and neighbouring mining towns of Dundas, Rosebery and Queenstown.
History
The greater ...
and
Regatta Point
Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus on Macquarie Harbour (West Coast, Tasmania).
Port
Regatta Point is often assumed into the name of the locality across the bay in Macquarie Harbour, Strahan, Tasmania. The other ports ...
, and from there by
the Abt line to Queenstown. Such was their rush to get the rescue gear to the mine, the , the ship which crossed Bass Strait carrying the equipment, made the crossing in 13 hours, 35 minutes – a record which stood for many years. Also the train travelling times between Burnie and Queenstown were never bettered.
Once the rescue equipment arrived, rescuers were able to enter the mine. On the level, a rescue party came across a group of deceased miners. One of these miners, a man named Joe McCarthy, had left a note pinned to a timber:
Seven hundred level. North Lyell mine, 12-10-12.
If anyone should find this note convey to my wife.
Dear Agnes. - I will say good-bye. Sure I will not see you again any more.
I am pleased to have made a little provision for you and poor little Lorna.
Be good to our little darling.
My mate, Len Burke, is done, and poor old V. and Driver too.
Good-bye, with love to all.
Your loving husband, Joe McCarthy.
On 14 October, rescuers lowered of rope with a signal
gong
A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
attached to the end down the main shaft of the mine. Late in the afternoon, rescuers heard a rap of the line. When the rope was pulled up, a handkerchief wrapped around a tobacco tin was found attached to it. Inside the tin was a penciled note:
40 men in 40 stope. Send food and candles at once. No time to lose. J. Ryan
Following this discovery, rescue efforts intensified, and firemen were able to descend to the level and rescue all the men trapped below.
Rescue efforts lasted for four days with the last of the survivors brought to the surface more than 100 hours after the fire began.
Aftermath
As a result of the fire, initially 42 people died; the bodies were buried in unmarked graves in the Queenstown General cemetery. Initially, the first two bodies to be recovered were buried in the Linda Cemetery, however when the final victim (John Bourke) was recovered, the pair were buried at Queenstown at the same time as Bourke.
One of the miners, Albert Gadd, who escaped death and then re-entered the mine to assist in the rescue efforts, was hospitalised in Launceston and died on 20 February 1913 from
carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...
. Gadd, whose wife was delivered of a son two months later, can be regarded as the 43rd victim of the mining tragedy. He was posthumously awarded the Clarke Gold Medal from the
Royal Humane Society
The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...
in Melbourne. Silver medals were awarded to 30 rescuers, among them engineer
Russell Mervyn Murray, later the mine's general manager.
Royal Commission
The royal commission that was held at the time of the retrieval of bodies after the fire, and despite various theories as to the cause of the fire, an open verdict remained.
Although Blainey covers the details of the disaster in ''
The Peaks of Lyell
''The Peaks of Lyell'' is a book by Geoffrey Blainey, based on his University of Melbourne MA thesis originally published in 1954. It contains the history of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company, and through association, Queenstown and f ...
'', writing 40 years after the event, there were still variations upon the "official" versions of the event, amongst "old timers" in Queenstown. Some of these are aired and detailed in Bradshaw's verbatim record of the newspaper reports and the royal commission, as well as being incorporated into Crawford's recent novel.
A number of themes arise from reading Blainey, and others on the subject: the rise of trade unionism on the west coast at the time, and the lack of preparedness for such disasters by the mining companies. Also one recurring theme in some of the stories was the rumour or suggestion of the presence of a woman disguised as a man working underground.
At the Centenary of the event at the
Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival Peter Schulze's book ''An Engineer Speaks of Lyell'' elaborates an argument that the most likely cause of the fire was an electrical fault as a result of faulty installation of the pump motor at the 700 ft level. Schulze, who had access to more documents than Blainey and the twin advantages of an electrical engineering background and mining experience, concludes that the Royal Commission process was manipulated to give a result that best suited the company, for whom an adverse finding could have been financially ruinous. It was especially at fault for naming the suspected arsonist, against whom there was no evidence apart from his prominence as a Union leader. He concedes that following the accident the Company followed best practice in mine management and labour relations.
Casualties
This list of victim details is compiled from the following sources:
*Names -
Archives Office of Tasmania Tasmanian inquest number 13222
*Ages and places of origin - Queenstown Cemetery's records, these details completed by families of the deceased
*Albert Gadd's information -
Archives Office of Tasmania Tasmanian inquest number 13169.
:
Centenary
The Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival of 2012 celebrated the centenary of this event. Part of the celebrations included a collection of songs entitled ''Fire Underground'' performed by The West Coast Singers, an ensemble of vocalists organized and directed by Kerrie Maguire. The West Coast Singers toured Tasmania with this concert in the following months, including performances at the
Cygnet
A cygnet is a young swan.
Cygnet may also refer to:
Places
*Cygnet Island, a small islet in south-eastern Australia
*Cygnet, Ohio, a village in the United States
*Cygnet River, South Australia, a locality on Kangaroo Island
*Cygnet, Tasmania, a ...
and
Tamar Valley Folk Festivals in January 2013.
The tour wrapped up with a performance at the Paragon Theatre, Queenstown in June 2013, on the 100th anniversary of the last funeral of the disaster's victims.
References
Further reading
*
**First written in the early 1950s, Blainey had access to some people who were alive at the time of the disaster
* (Available at Galley Museum)
*
*
*
*
Primary sources
(in some parts Bradshaw has direct transcription from the
Zeehan and Dundas Herald
The ''Zeehan and Dundas Herald'' (also seen as ''Zeehan Dundas Herald'') was a newspaper for the West Coast Tasmania community, based in Zeehan and Dundas from 1890 to 1922.
It was published by William Lawrence Calder and Joseph Bowden, with t ...
for similar dates)
* Archives Office of Tasmania. SC195/82 Inquest number 13222.
*''
The Mercury
Mercury most commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* M ...
'' 12 October 1912 – 10 June 1913.
*''
The Examiner'' 12 October 1912 – 10 June 1913.
*"
Zeehan and Dundas Herald
The ''Zeehan and Dundas Herald'' (also seen as ''Zeehan Dundas Herald'') was a newspaper for the West Coast Tasmania community, based in Zeehan and Dundas from 1890 to 1922.
It was published by William Lawrence Calder and Joseph Bowden, with t ...
" p. 4. 14 January 1914.
External links
* Tasmania GenWeb (22 January 2000),
Mount Lyell Disaster 1912'
{{DEFAULTSORT:North Mount Lyell Disaster
1912 in Australia
Mining disasters in Australia
Disasters in Tasmania
Fires in Australia
1912 fires in Oceania
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
West Coast Range
1910s in Tasmania
1912 disasters in Australia