(From the second edition of the Sunderland Northern Times of Friday.)

The Inquest.

On Saturday morning an inquest was held at the Thornley Colliery Inn, before Mr. T. C. Maynard and a respectable jury. The first duty of the jury, and a painful duty it was, was to view the bodies of the sufferers, which were lying at their own homes ; many of these were shockingly disfigured by the ravages of the fire, and presented a melancholy spectacle.

On their return, witnesses were called and examined by the coroner.

The first witness called was Thomas Shipley, an overman, who went down into the pit immediately after the accident. He learned that it had occurred at the north-west flat. He then proceeded a short distance, and found he could not reach the flat in consequence of the after-damp being so severe. On his return he met Mr. Heckles and others ; they had the board-stoppings by which the current of air is directed, and which were blown out, replaced, and they then went on to the flat. On their road they saw the bodies of five boys, whom he identified by name, and had them taken to bank. To the best of his judgement the fire had originated at the "sheth" trapdoor, at which Robert Gardener was stationed, for the purpose of shutting it after persons went out. He could not account for the explosion, except by supposing that this trapdoor had been left open. If such had been the case the ventilation would be stopped, and the accumulated inflammable gas might ignite at a candle which the boy had usually with him. The man Haswell appeared to have been coming out of the pit at the time of the accident, as he had the whole of his clothes on. The men worked with candles, and not with Davy lamps.

John Usher, the overman of the Harvey seam, stated, that when he left the pit, about 10 o'clock in the forenoon, the workings were in a perfect state of ventilation. He left the seam in charge of Maudlin, another overman. Lamps are used in the stow-boards where the ventilation is interrupted, but in the other parts candles were always used, and he considered they were perfectly safe ; he never had the slightest apprehension of danger. This witness assisted in removing the bodies of two or three individuals to bank. He could not swear distinctly as to the cause of the accident, but his opinion was the same as that expressed by the preceding witness. The air would be sure to have gone back into the courses, if the door had not been neglected. The accident might have occurred if Davy lamps had been used ; workmen are not so cautious with the lamps as with candles, and there was no necessity for lamps in this district if proper care had been used at the trapdoor.

The coroner and jury then went to the house of James Maudlin, for the purpose of taking his evidence. He lay in a distressed condition, his face and hands being dreadfully burnt. He stated that he was about 40 yards from the flat when he felt the explosion, but how or where it originated he could not tell. He thought it was perfectly safe to work that seam with candles, and that there was no necessity for the Davy lamps. Davy lamps, he said, were safe things, but he did not know they would have prevented the accident. None of the men ever complained to him that there was any danger.

John Farrer, master wasteman of the colliery, stated that his examination of the pit led him to agree with the previous witnesses that the explosion arose near the trapdoor kept by Robert Gardener. The reason of that opinion was that the stoppings east of that part were blown west, and the stoppings west of that part were blown east, and he also thought there had been neglect of the trapdoor, which had caused an accumulation of gas in the waste, ignited by the candle of the boy. The colliery owners did not find him with a candle, but he is allowed to have one if he provides it himself, and there has usually been a light at the trapdoor when the witness has passed through.

Mr. Heckles corroborated the testimony as to finding the bodies, and the cause of the accident. He added, that he considered it would be safer to work with the Davy lamp than with candles, provided the ventilation was kept in as good a state. After one or two other witnesses had been examined, The Coroner intimated that there could be no doubt the explosion had originated accidentally, and this being also the opinion of the jury, they returned a verdict — "That the deceased were accidentally killed by an explosion of inflammable gas in the Harvey seam of Thornley Colliery, but how or by what means such explosion was caused the jury could not say." The jury were of opinion that the accident had arisen from neglect at the trapdoor, but they deemed it best to return a general verdict.

The Funerals.

On Saturday evening the whole of the bodies of were conveyed to the adjoining village of Kelloe, and interred in the churchyard. Several hundreds of persons from the village and district accompanied the long and mournful procession. The shops were closed, and business was entirely suspended. A catastrophe of this nature never before occurred at the village of Thornley.