that he thought the mine was heating up and advised that the shaft temperature be monitored. A thermometer was lowered to check when the second explosion occurred at five to nine. Dymond, Minto, Brown, Potter, and Smith (of Monkwearmouth) had gathered around the furnace shaft to check on the air state and were thrown to the ground. No. 1 cage was blasted into the headgear, dense clouds of smoke were emitted, and large burning timbers were hurled into the air. This was a larger explosion than the first. A cage was lowered and shortly after raised but returned empty. It was apparent that the 28 rescuers still below ground (including Jeffcock, Tewart, Siddons, Sugden, Smith (of Lundhill), Barker, and twenty two others) were dead and little could be done to recover the bodies. At 7.40 pm, a third explosion sent black smoke bellowing from No. 2 pit, the downcast shaft. The pit head was considered to be unsafe and spectators were moved to a safe distance. Meanwhile, a telegram from Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle arrived enquiring about the explosion and loss of life. The disaster attracted massive publicity. Last survivor, day three Between 4-5:00 am on Friday 14 December, the No. 1 pit signal bell rang. The mining engineers were sent for and a bottle of brandy and water was lowered by rope; when the rope was raised again, they found the bottle had been removed. As the cage was not usable, a makeshift pulley was set up and a small kibble (bucket) was attached. John E Mammatt, the engineer in charge, volunteered to descend the shaft. Another volunteer was sought and Thomas W Embleton Jr, with the permission of his father (T W Embleton Sr), also went down. Mammatt and Embleton Jr each placed one foot in the kibble and held onto the rope as they descended. Due to its inherent lack of stability, the rope twisted and swung them round as they were lowered so it was with difficulty that they kept from being overcome by dizziness while fending off collisions with the walls using their free arm. In addition to all this, they carried four fragile safety lamps sheltered from the water under their clothes. The men were deluged by streams of water as they descended and the roar from the water made communication nearly impossible. After a quarter of an hour, they reached the bottom