30 November Work continued throughout the night of 15 October and into the following day. It focused on finding survivors and fighting the fire that blocked the entry into some workings of the western returns. The fire caused the roof supports to become unstable, and falls triggered outbursts of methane. Several rescuers were injured by the falls, one fatally. Before descending the mine many of the firefighters wrote what they thought might be their last letters home, and some made their wills. As the water pipe in the shaft was out of operation, fire-fighting continued with hand extinguishers and work was only possible in 20-minute shifts. Despite wearing respirators, several rescuers were overcome by the effects of firedamp. During the course of the day, 56 bodies were raised to the surface and, that evening, a new water supply, connected by three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) of pipes to a nearby reservoir, was installed in the Lancaster shaft. Reginald McKenna, the Home Secretary, visited the colliery on 15 October representing King George V, who was attending the marriage of Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife. The king sent a £500 donation to a disaster relief fund; the royal couple displayed their wedding presents at St James's Palace and charged a shilling for entrance, raising £1,200 for the fund. The fund was started by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff; another collection, the Mansion House Fund set up by the Lord Mayor of London, raised more than £3,000 on its first day. William Brace, the local MP speaking on behalf of the South Wales Miners' Federation, announced on 16 October that the priority would be given to putting out the fire and that no more search parties would be looking for survivors. Brace observed that the fire was blocking the western workings and consuming the oxygen in the air, making it unlikely that anyone was left alive. Progress in tackling the fire over the previous days had been slow, and it had only been extinguished in the first 30 yards of the roadway—still from the coal face. Two coroner's inquests were opened: one in Senghenydd for the men who died in the colliery, and one in Cardiff for those who had died in hospital; both were adjourned the same day. The first funerals took place the following day, Friday 17 October. An estimated 150,000 mourners gathered for