Larne Times, 21st May 1910.
MINING CALAMITY ON ENGLISH COAST.
PIT EXTENDS UNDER SEA.
137 MEN ENTOMBED.
GALLANT RESCUE WORK.
MESSAGE FROM KING GEORGE.
[...] The following telegram has been sent from the Home Office to Mr. Hanlon, the miners' agent at Whitehaven.
-"The home Secretary has consulted the Chief Inspector of Mines, who has just returned from Whitehaven. He states that it is certain that no one in the mine is alive, and that any attempt to penetrate the sealed off workings must fail, and would be attended with certain death to the rescue party. The Home Secretary thoroughly appreciates the feelings of the miners, and their courage and devotion, but cannot sanction further loss of life. Please convey his deep sympathy to the wives and children of those who have perished, and to all their brave comrades. --Signed, Troup, Under-Secretary of State, Home Office.
[...]In the stricken quarters the grief is harrowing. New-made widows sit huddled and morose in their grief, and children, too young to know what the destruction means, look scared. Many of the homes are without fires. The bright sunlight seems to play in mockery upon the desolate scene. The miners are superstitious, and there is a doubt when the two other pits will start again, for the men will not go to work while their comrades lie unburied. [...]
Belfast Telegraph, Wednesday 18th May 1910.
Miners' Superstition. Illustration at Witehaven.
The strong superstition of the mining community regarding the ill-omen of working while men are still entombed in a pit is illustrated again at Whitehaven.
The William pit, which was closed after the disaster at the Wellington pit adjoining, was opened for work, but not a single miner would start, although a few shift men were willing. Matters are thus at a deadlock.
There is a report that the Home Office are considering a new scheme to reach the bodies.
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