The 1912 Pit Disaster
MR ALBERT GADD INTERVIEWED
BY THE ZEEHAN AND DUNDAS HERALD
(OCTOBER 14 1912)
I went down the ladderway a couple of times to see if it was safe to take a gang of men down. The ladderway was fairly bad. I made an inspection of the 300 foot level and returned. I gave it as my opinion that men could live there. Three men immediately volunteered to go below and four of us got into the cage and went below. We got out at the 300 foot level and then went through the old stope where we hung chain ladders down to the bottom of the pass. We descended these and found a quantity of ore and mullock in the bottom of it. To get through this pass it would have been necessary to send the ore up in buckets. We therefore decided to go to the south and go down to the 500 foot level and endeavour to get there by opening the bottom of this pass. We came back and got to the shaft and then descended to the next level. We went across to the pass and opened the gates and ran out a few tons of mullock. At this time Messrs. R. M. Murray (Engineer in Charge), H. Williams (Shift Boss) and W. Dunn came to the top of the ore pass. Shortly afterwards the Inspector of Mines for New South Wales, also came to the top of the pass and assisted in lowering the ladders to the bottom. We made an examination of part of 500 foot level. We found a man lying across the rails – he was quite dead. He was about 5 feet 9 inches high, thick set and about 25 years of age. We carried him to the foot of the ladderway of the 500 foot level. By this time we were all getting sick and decided to go up. Three men climbed the ladders but I was unable to climb. I was pulled up with a rope to the 400 foot level. From there we went along to the cage and then back to the 200 foot level. The smoke at the 500 foot level was too dense to work in. I consider if a man walked about 50 feet in it he would have quite enough. It was 200 feet into a circular mullock pass through which we thought to get down to the 600 foot level. Our intention was to go down this pass to the 600 foot level and then to the 700 foot level where we could have made an attempt to rescue the men from that level but it would have been madness to try and get to this pass. I think most of the men are in dead ends and don't apprehend much danger. I saw an experiment of the compressed air keeping back smoke in a dead end before I came up on Saturday. I do not think there is much timber burning in the mine at present. I think there is a percolation from the 700 foot level down to the bottom – perhaps down the engine winze – and going up the main shaft, with only a small part of the smoke going up throght the top. That is in my opinion, the reason why the smoke is lasting so long in the mine.
Mr Sticht was also interviewed part of which is: “Referring to the rescue work,” he said that, “Mr Albert Gadd was a very courageous man. He had shown great courage in going down the ladderway from the 200 foot level.”
Private W. M. Gadd. Private Gadd the son of Albert Gadd, was killed in action on April15 1917 in France. They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old ..... Lest we forget.