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	Individual Details		Individual Details

Age:
Died:	3rd Dec 1875
Accident:	3rd Dec 1875
Born:
Colliery:	New Tredegar
Company:	Powell's Duffryn Co.
Occupation:
Notes:	Explosion of firedamp
Buried:	[not known]
Category:

The most serious explosion of the year took place at New Tredegar, on the 4th of December, and I believe the best account I can give of it will be to transcribe the evidence of two of the witnesses, and insert what they said, in this part of my annual Report.

Many were examined in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, the colliery being situated in both counties, consequently we had two coroners and the same number of juries. They could not, of course, take the evidence simultaneously, therefore it was arranged that one inquisition should immediately follow the other. I will commence with the statement of my assistant:—

 

Thomas Cadman said, — I am H.M. assistant inspector of mines in the South-western District of the kingdom.

As soon as possible after hearing of the dreadful calamity which had occurred on the 4th December last at the New Tredegar Colliery, I accompanied Mr. Brough to the mine, and with him and at other times made very careful inspections of the scene of the disaster, taking measurements of the quantities of air passing through the workings.

There was comparatively little damage done to the mine by the blast, other than blowing out doors and stoppings, and as soon as the gas was cleared we had no difficulty in going through every place.

I found that there had been two distinct explosions; one on the Friday evening, and the other on the following morning.

There was an old stall road (marked as Joel Ancock's stall on the plan produced), each end of which had been partially stopped off, but to keep it clear of gas a small current of air was allowed to pass through. Some gas accumulated in or near the stall referred to, and was fired by a shot in the main roadway, near the entrance to the old place, burning two men in the next road, I understand, somewhat severely. This explosion occurred on the Friday night.

On reference to the plan you will see that the scene of the explosions consists of a straight main heading, with three working stall roads off it on the right-hand side, and four on the left, with one working face around all. The air coming down the straight road first ventilated Joel Ancock's old stall, and the other three on the right hand, and passing around the bottom of the main heading along the face of coal on the left-hand side joined another fresh split above, and ventilated a few more places, after which it passed direct into a main return.

At first I was of opinion, after hearing of the Friday's explosion, that the second was caused from the same blower still burning in the goaf, a gob fire, or that the gas accumulating from that blower had become ignited by some means in the roads on the right-hand side of the heading. Gas appeared to be given off more rapidly on that side, and although its presence could not be detected in the lamp after the air currents had been restored to their proper courses, yet small blowers could be distinctly heard, and so much gas appearing after the explosion when the air was diverted shows considerable quantities would very soon accumulate there.

The fact, however, that very little damage was done by the blast to the workings led me to the conclusion that the quantity of gas exploded was comparatively small, yet sufficient to destroy 23 lives.

Supposing this to have been the case, it should be another lesson to us in the management of mines to maintain the strictest discipline, and, however small we may believe the quantity of gas given off to be, with sufficient wind and every care taken, assure ourselves that, as far as human forethought can provide, there is no possibility of danger arising from the least quantity of gas exploding.

Following up my examination of the mine I discovered, however, evidences on the faces of coal, sides of roads, timber, &c, of the blast of the second explosion, which occurred on the Saturday morning, having started from the left-hand side, and in passing up the face the coal appeared to have been charred, especially nearly opposite Arthur Thomas' stall, and from there up into Moses Prangley's, where the traces of fire appeared most distinct. Everything around gave evidence of the fire having been more intense in that particular place than anywhere else that I could find. The force of the blast also appeared to have blown out at each end of Moses Prangley's stall in opposite directions, convincing me that the gas was ignited at that point, especially when I considered with this fact the general appearance of the workings.

Having arrived at this conclusion, I next endeavoured to account for an accumulation of gas at that particular part of the workings, supposing there had been sufficient wind given to this district to render harmless noxious gases. At the time of the explosion I found some men were employed in making place for and erecting a wooden door in Moses Prangley's stall in place of the brattice sheet hanging there. These men were at work within a very few yards of the sheet, and in moving backwards and forwards might have partially opened it, or removed it temporarily for their own convenience.

If this had been the case I found that the air by passing direct through this stall would not ventilate either the workings below on the left-hand side of the straight road, or any of the places on the other side, and any gas accumulating would naturally find its way to near the entrance to this stall, that being the highest part of the workings in the district, and most of the roads gradually rising towards that point. This will be better understood by referring to the enlarged plan of the district produced, together with the section of the straight heading, which appear to me to show the place very correctly.

Supposing, then, this to have been the case, and a considerable quantity of gas accumulated near the entrance to this stall, it might have been ignited at that point, and would probably result in the effects we find already existing in the workings caused by the explosion we know to have taken place.

This appears to me to have most probably been the case, and in no other way can I account for all I saw underground.

The whole of the gas exploded may not have been produced at the point where the first explosion occurred ; for, supposing Prangley's sheet to have been left down, considerable quantities would have gradually ascended from the other roads, and especially from the place just below this stall on the straight deep, where we have been told gas was regularly given off, and where the sheet was hung up to slightly divert the current of air so as to clear it off, until so much had collected over the roadway on the main heading (as shown by a red line on the section which I have here), and below the entrance to Moses Prangley's stall, where I presumed the air turned in, as would have done the damage found. This would have required but a short time.

It will be noticed on the section that the roof rises very suddenly near the entrance to Joel Ancock's stall, so that some gas might accumulate above the red line, or at all events be protected while passing gradually along from the main current of air, and not be sufficiently mixed as to become harmless in the very short distance to the entrance to Moses Prangley's stall, where it would be again strengthened by the gas from the other places.

Gas might have been stored in crevices in the roof, and allowed to escape by the effects of the shots fired in the top on the Friday night.

After the coal has been exhausted, however tightly the gob or goaf may be stowed with rubbish, the strata above is sure to settle down to some extent, and in the cracks and openings thus made gas will accumulate, and in many ways may be forced out into the roads at any moment. Gas thus or in any way given off near Joel Ancock's stall would very probably find its way to Prangley's, as we have seen. A current of air sufficient to render harmless all this gas as it was given off gradually, if it had been kept in its proper courses, might in this way be suddenly so charged with gas near an accumulation as to be dangerous for some distance until it had time to mix itself with it. If, therefore, a naked light or a defective lamp happened at this moment to be in or near that place we can thus account for the whole occurrence.

Gas is said to have been given off freely near Ancock's old stall, and probably collected in the joints in the roof causing the first explosion fired by the shot or fuze, and there can be no question as to its having been a great mistake to have allowed the men to enter that district on the Saturday. Blowers will burn very quietly for a considerable time, and are sometimes difficult to discover at once, and quantities of gas may have collected ready to be again ignited, so that time should have been allowed, as well as every examination made, to have ascertained beyond doubt that nothing was on fire in the gob, or that any gas remained there.

With regard to the quantities of air ventilating the mine, I find that altogether on the west side of the pit they have about 20,718 cubic feet per minute, which is split up into several districts; the small district, consisting of eight places where the explosion occurred, has a separate split for itself of about 4,000 cubic feet of fresh air passing per minute. I have made careful inspections in this pit in the course of my duties, and considered it safe and well arranged, the returns being very clear. The impossibility, however, of obtaining a larger quantity of wind by their present ventilating machine, and the workings extending now for a very considerable distance on each side of the shaft, has determined the owners to erect a new fan which will produce a much larger quantity of air, and so provide for future contingencies in further extending their operations.

Safety lamps, as we all know, should only be used as a safeguard in fiery mines against any sudden outburst of gas or other unusual contingency, such as the accumulation of gas through the accidental derangement of the ventilation in some way ; and all mines should be so ventilated that in the general order of things no dangerous gas can be detected in the working places. Should any danger present itself through the air being charged with an unusual quantity of gas, the workmen then have warning and time to escape, provided the lamps are closed and in a perfect condition ; and I believe if such had been the case in the present instance the men would have escaped by simply attending to the 37th special rule of the colliery. If, however, an exposed light was present, no time was given for this.

Referring to an opinion expressed that the doors in Owen Davis' level might have been left open, if that had been the case it would certainly have taken all the ventilation from this lower district, and the place would have become full of gas in a comparatively short time; but I do not think this was likely to have occurred, as there were two wooden doors on that heading some distance apart, both of which must have been left open to allow the air to pass that way; and further, William Evans, the overman in charge of the mine at the time of the explosion, was on the straight deep within a very short distance of the entrance to Owen Davis' level, and if this had happened he must have detected it at once.

It has also been suggested that the sheet on the main deep might have been left open ; but this would have resulted in most of the air passing direct to the bottom of the straight road, and back through the left-hand face, at the same time ventilating the workings on that side in the usual manner, although leaving those on the right hand unventilated.

If, however, the sheet in the first stall on the left-hand side was left down the current of air would turn off the main road, in through that stall to the face, and right away direct to the returns, without clearing this district at all; and further, should the current in any way be suddenly charged, either from a sudden outburst or an accumulation of gas, it would thus carry it direct to the spot where the gas in my opinion was ignited. I also think it more likely that that sheet was left down or partially opened, as the men were working so near it, and it has been said would often pass under it.

There is another fact which points to Moses Prangley's stall, or somewhere very near it, as being the scene of the disaster. It will be noticed that in every direction the further we go from that spot the less the effect of the explosion. For instance, the men in that place and the next below were very badly burnt, while those in the bottom stall and the face of the deep were hardly burnt at all, but are said to have been killed by the after damp.

As to the lamp found with a hole in it, I cannot, of course, give any positive evidence, but if that hole was in the gauze before the explosion it very probably caused the dreadful calamity we are now enquiring into. In any case, however, I am of opinion that the explosion was caused by an exposed light of some kind in Moses Prangley's stall, and that the air turning in there through the sheet being left down was charged with gas, as I have described. It is difficult to account for the occurrence in any other way, and, after very careful consideration, I believe this was actually the case.

Lionel Brough said, — I am Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of the South-western District of the Kingdom. As soon as I heard of the explosion I proceeded into Monmouthshire, and, picking up Mr. Cadman at Newport, we drove together to the pit, and went down it without any delay whatever.

I do not think the disaster was caused by the doors in Owen Davies's level being negligendy left open, nor can I for a moment entertain the idea of "gob or standing fire" having had anything to do with the ignition of the damp. During the many hours that intervened between the explosion of gas on Friday (caused by shot firing) and the one next day that occasioned so many deaths (23) any smothering fire would have betrayed itself by the sense of smell. I am compelled, therefore, to fall back, and I do so with very great diffidence, on the hypothesis of the damaged lamp, which has already been exhibited in this room.

There was not a very large quantity of gas exploded ; the working places were but little knocked about, with one exception ; — I allude to Sprangley's stall and to a portion of that of Arthur Thomas. In this small space there was evidendy fierce igneous action, as shown by the coal faces being partially coked, and the brattice cloth was reduced to tinder. In Sprangley's place the "blast" flew both ways, in fact it exercised a powerful radiating force, and for that reason I feel confident that the explosion took place in that very stall.

Subsequent trial with the spirit level showed that spot to be the most elevated point of all the surrounding workings. It was a mound, and the very low specific gravity of carburetted hydrogen tended to its creeping up into such hollow tump or apex.

The men working in the stall would often have occasion to pass under the canvas door, and it is not unlikely that it was so many times down as almost to be said to be really open. There were unquestionably small "blowers" round about that part of the colliery. I both saw them bubbling up through the water, and heard the sound they made most distinctly; there was one three or four yards below Sprangley's stall, and all of them, unless artificially prevented, would naturally drain up into the dome-shaped space already described. Mr. Cadman has in his report gone into the minutiae, therefore repetition on my part is unnecessary. I may, however, simply add that in round numbers the air passing per minute amounts to 40,000 cubic feet, besides 7,000 feet more for the horses, but this split is not sent into the working faces at all. I may further observe that, in my opinion, the real matter in hand is as regards the ventilation of the part of the colliery where the explosion occurred. It is not much over an acre in extent, and only 20 persons were employed there. The quantity of fresh wind dedicated to this portion of the pit amounted to about 4,000 cubic feet per minute, and I really must say that such a split, properly handled, ought to have been an ample column of air in motion.

The explosion took place in Sprangley's road; that admits of no manner of doubt; and the accumulation of gas, in my opinion, arose from neglect of the "scale sheet" in that very stall. With regard to who or what fired it we arrived at no determinate conclusion. The perforated lamp would be a very important factor indeed if it had but been ascertained to whom it belonged, as then it would have been easily identified with Sprangley's stall, and the entire question would have been solved.

The triangular portion of the workings shown on the accompanying plan is composed of eight stalls, only seven of which were under exploitation, reckoning, of course, from Joel Ancock's down to the extreme (and sharp) angle, and up again to Moses Sprangley's.

All that small portion of ground appears to be rather disturbed, but there is reason to hope that it will be passed through, and that then, probably, more regular strata will be arrived at, and the "blowers" cease to make their appearance.

 

At each inquest the verdict was in such terms as to be incapable of any other interpretation than that of accidental death.

Pub. Date	Article (Newspaper)
04 Dec 1875	Colliery Explosion (Annual Register for 1875)
11 Dec 1875	More Colliery Disasters, Twenty Lives Lost At Newport (The Penny Illustrated Paper)

• 1875 Mines Inspectors Report (C. 1499), South-Western District by Lionel Brough, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 118 Where to find this report
• 1875 Mines Inspectors Report (C. 1499), South-Western District by Lionel Brough, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 125, Accident Number: 49 Where to find this report

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