John Shilton
This arose out of the previous case. It was now considered necessary to examine the staple to ascertain if possible from whence the stone fell which was supposed to have struck deceased in the above case. For this purpose a temporary arrangement of a winch and trident legs over the shaft was made, and deceased was being lowered in a loop. He fell out of the loop when a few fathoms down. It was rumoured, but not clearly proved in evidence, that deceased was subject to attacks of giddiness. Altogether these two cases showed much want of judgement and care. The permitting men to commence work at the bottom of a shaft without its previous examination, and the firing of shots in a return air way without any authority or previous arrangement, showed anything but good discipline. There was no want of attention on the officials as far as looking after the work was concerned, the overman had frequently been there, and knew shots were being fired, but though the enginewright had ordered this to be done, moreover it did not occur to him that it was necessary to examine the shaft above the men, either before they commenced to work or after they had fired shots. The enginewright had been there, but as the miners were not directly under his charge, he thought the overman would have made all arrangements. The manager had himself marked the work (cutting bunton holes) to be done, but had never contemplated the use of shots, in fact the nature of the work was such that the use of shots was very likely to spoil it altogether.
Pub.
Date | Article (Newspaper) |
|---|
| 17 Nov 1881 | Inquest on the Fatal Accident at Lowca (Whitehaven News) |
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