I'm indebted to Joe Stocks for sending me this Report.
Altofts Colliery Explosion.
Report by Frank N. Wardell. Her Majesty's Inspector of Mines.
Presented to both houses of Parliament in 1887.
Sir, (The Rt. Hon. H. Matthews, Q.C., M.P., Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State.)
I have the honour, in accordance with your instructions, to submit to you this, my final report on the explosion at Altofts Colliery, and, at the same time, I forward a printed account of the proceedings at the inquest, taken from the daily newspapers.
As you are aware from my former Report, this explosion took place on the 2nd October, but the inquest could not be held until all the bodies had been recovered, some ten weeks afterwards.
This was owing to the fact that the work of recovery and of restoration of the ventilation was very slow, and was carried out with the greatest deliberation and caution.
The falls in the mine were very extensive, the ventilation, beyond a small radius from the bottom of the shafts where the under-casts had been blown out, was entirely at a standstill, and gas, of course had consequently accumulated throughout the mine.
Great risk had to be encountered, in case of any standing smouldering fire, to prevent air passing on to it, and so fanning it into a flame and, perhaps, causing a further explosion.
It can readily be understood that the greatest care had to be observed, and although the work of restoration was in consequence slow, yet it was accomplished without any further disaster or loss of life, and was conducted in a mot creditable and praiseworthy manner by al concerned.
The Altofts Collieries embrace several pits or shafts, and three seams of coal were being worked there.
This explosion occurred in the Silkstone seam, which is here worked at a depth of 430 yards.
The colliery is situated near Normanton, and is the property of Messrs. Pope and Pearson Limited.
It has been worked for more than twenty years, and hitherto without any loss of life whatever from explosion.
Until a few months previous to October, the system of lighting had been one of naked lights exclusively.
By degrees, safety-lamps had been introduced, and at the time of the explosion were in use throughout the mine, with the exception of the bottom of the shafts, and for certain prescribed distances along the main intake roads.
The pit porch, and an underground engine-house, as well as the roads immediately in the vicinity of the shafts, were lighted by gas, which was brought by means of pipes from the surface.
The day on which the explosion occurred was a Saturday, and the time about three o'clock in the afternoon. The regular day-shift of workmen had left the pit about one o'clock, and this was a matter of thankfulness, inasmuch as had the explosion taken place previous to this hour, there would probably have been about 400 persons in the mine.
The number actually down at the time was 28. Of these, 20 were killed and eight injured, two of these latter dying from the effects of their injuries.
The total loss of life amounted therefore to 22.
Nine of these poor fellows were engaged about and near to the bottom of the shafts, being employed at the furnaces, in the engine-house, the smith's shop, and the lamp cabin, and also three of them repairing gas-pipes.
Nine others, byeworkmen, and contractors, were taking some side off the road, for the purpose of straightening it, at a point some 500 or 600 yards from the bottom of the shaft, on what was called the West Bord.
Two men were working up the No. 1 chain road, some 1,200 yards from the shaft. All the above 20 persons were killed by the explosion itself; the remaining two, both deputies, died from the effects of afterdamp, and bore no marks of burning whatever. One of them was found at the top of No. 6 return, and the other in the north-west main road, about 600 yards further in than "Roper's drift," which was the place where I have stated that the nine men were making the road straight. In order to do this, blasting was being carried out by means of gunpowder.
It was, in my opinion, here where the explosion originated, and it was caused by the firing of a shot.
Three shots in all had apparently been fired, within a few yards of each other, and from my examination, and from the evidence given at the inquest, it would seem as though the first two shots had been fired without producing any disastrous effects.
The mine is a very dry one and exceedingly dusty.
The concussion from these shots would cause the roadway to be filled with floating particles of fine coal-dust.
The third shot-hole had been drilled in a most unskilful way, and as a consequence, although it was not exactly a blown-out shot when fired, still the work was only partially done, a very small quantity of material was blown down, and there would be a very large diffusion of flame into the roadway, where there was not only a large quantity of coal dust on the roof, on the sides, and on the timber, but also, as I have described, floating in the air.
This, I believe, became ignited, and so caused the explosion.
The verdict of the jury at the inquest was that "The whole of the workmen killed, except the two deputies, met their deaths from an explosion of coal dust, which originated in the West Bord, and was caused by the firing of an unskilfully drilled shot by one of the men engaged in widening the road; and the two deputies were suffocated by the stoppage of ventilation consequent on the explosion."
Mr. Barker, by your instructions, assisted me in representing you at the inquest, and may I state that he agrees with me altogether in my views as to the cause of the explosion. I am indebted to him for his assistance. The owners of the colliery, and the manager were also represented, as also were the relatives of those killed, and the Miners' Association.
On being informed of the explosion, I at once went to the colliery, and from that time until the bodies were all recovered, and the pit restored, I was constantly there, rendering all the assistance and advice I could both above and below ground. I was well seconded by the manager, as well as by Mr. Jacob Higson and Mr. Marshall Nicholson, mining engineers. The time was a most trying one, and the work very arduous and attended with considerable personal risk.
When I was able to examine the mine, before the inquest, I was attended by the above gentlemen, and also by the president and secretary of the Miners' Union, Mr. Cowey, and Mr. Pickard, M.P., and by two of the workmen of the colliery who were selected for the purpose by the general body of the men.
In the accompanying newspaper reports will be found full particulars as to the inquest, and my opinions as expressed above were agreed with by the men themselves and those representing them, as well as by the owners and managers. There was no difference of opinion whatever.
His is I believe, the first recorded case in which a verdict has been returned of death from explosion of coal-dust alone.
It is possible for such a small percentage of gas to be mixed with dust, as to be undiscernible, and which cannot be detected by the usual test of a safety-lamp, and which yet would form a highly explosive mixture; but it is very difficult to believe in even such a minute portion of gas in this case, for a current of fresh air, direct fom the shaft, of about 50,000 cubic feet per minute, swept along past this point, and there was no place near where any gas could have lodged or accumulated.
The effects of the explosion were confined to the intake-roads ----- for certain distances along them. The return roads were all in good order; indeed it appeared, wherever the coal-dust ceased, that is when out of the roads subject to dust from transit of the corves of coal, there ceased also the evidence of explosion.
The coal "faces" throughout the mine bore no trace whatever of the explosion, and when I examined them the absence of any disturbance was such that the workmen might have only just left their working places in the ordinary way. The direction of the force of the explosion was without exception from the intakes towards the returns.
The amount of air passing through the mine at the time of the explosion was about 148,000 cubic feet per minute.
A certain amount of gas was given off the coal "face" in the ordinary course of working, which the ventilation was sufficient to dilute and render harmless.
A small seam of coal, below the Silkstone, also gave off a small quantity of gas. Bore-holes were put down to this at intervals, to relieve the pressure, and allow the gas to be carried away.
The shots which were being fired in the West Bord for the purpose of making the road straight were fired in stone, not in coal. They were fired in accordance with the provisions of the 8th General Rule, although, as I have stated, this point was on one of the main intakes, and the men were allowed to have, and had, naked lights. The competent person who, under the rule, fired the shots, was the deputy, and no other person was authorised to do so, it was stated.
On this occasion the deputy may have fired the first two shots ---- in all probability he did --- but from the position where his body was found, it was impossible that he could have fired the third and last shot. This shot must therefore, it would seem, have been fired by one of the contractors or workmen themselves.
Dust, as I have stated, accumulated in this mine to a very considerable extent. This was removed from day to day, by being put into tubs and taken out.
Water was also taken and scattered on the roadways, so that means were being adopted to deal with it.
It is quite evident, however, that this question of coal-dust, is a most important one, and there can be no doubt that the existence of dust to any great extent in a mine forms an element of danger.
It is not only required that the floor should be watered, which is generally done, but that some means should be found whereby the roof and sides and timber should be moistened, for it is there, quite as much as, or more than, on the floor, where the fine particles of dust accumulate.
The pit appeared to me to be well ventilated, the discipline good, and the management efficient.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
Frank N. Wardell.
Photo courtesy Joe Stocks.
Plans courtesy Joe Stocks.
|
