Description

A serious accident happened on Sunday the 11th January at the St. Helen's Colliery, Cumberland, by which two men, David Peacock, engineer, and John Ostle, engineman, were scalded to death.

At 8 a.m. on the day in question, the fan engine had been stopped to enable some repairs to be done to the fan, and after these had been completed the two deceased went into the engine house to start the engine, Immediately after there was a loud report, and on seeing a rush of water from the fan engine house, a pumpman named Robinson Banks immediately ran to the boilers and shut off the steam, and on entering the engine house he found both men lying dead.

The following report by Mr. G. F. Bell, who with Mr. Thomas Bell, Inspector in charge of the Durham District, and Mr. R. P. W. Oswald made a full investigation, and afterwards attended the inquest, fully describes the position of affairs, and to my mind gives the correct explanation of the cause of the explosion.

"On the 12th instant I received a telegram informing me that an accident had occurred on the previous day at the St. Helen's Colliery, whereby two men had lost their lives.

"On the 13th I visited the colliery and made inquiries into the cause of the accident. It appears that on the morning of the 11th (Sunday), about 8 o'clock, the ventilating fan had been stopped in order that some repairs might be done to it. This work was carried on under the superintendence of the resident engineer and the manager of the colliery, and about 4 o'clock in the afternoon the fan was ready to be started again.

"David Peacock, the engineer in charge of machinery at the colliery, and John Ostle, the engineman, then went into the fan engine house to start the engine, Ostle taking hold of the wheel of the steam value, while Peacock looked on. It would seem that as soon as Ostle had done this, the steam pipe leading to the cylinder burst, and the steam rushed on the to two men, and scalded them to death before a man named Banks, who was near, could run and turn the steam off at the boilers about 130 feet away.

"The place where the accident happened was in the fan engine house, the cylinder of the engine, steam value and pipes being shown in the hand sketch. The red line shows the fractured part of the pipe blown out (8" x 5") and the extending line of fracture. Connected with the cylinder and steam pipes are three waste or drain pipes (one is shown at A) which are used to drain off any water which may gather by condensation in the pipes.

"Drain pipes are always opened by enginemen before starting an engine which has been standing, but, according to statements made, it seems not to have been the custom to use these taps for some time, although they were in working order. In this case the engine had been standing eight hours, and, in my opinion, there would have be an accumulation of water in the bend of the pipe B from condensation of steam, and the bursting of the pipe was due to its sudden expansion, caused by the rush of steam forcing the water up the pipe, on the opening of the steam value by Ostle. The pressure of steam at the time was 50 lbs. per square inch, the ordinary pressure being 65 lbs.

"After the accident the pipe was taken out and cut across in order to ascertain its thickness, and at the side it gave way it was found to be only 5/16ths of an inch, which at the opposite side it was 1 1/8 inch, showing a very unequal casting, but, although a bad and uneven casting, it had been in use about 12 years. The proper thickness of the metal all round should have been ¾ths of an inch."

Mr. Bell's views were entirely borne out by the evidence given at the inquest, when a verdict of "Accidentally killed, caused by the bursting of the steam pipe without first opening the drain taps at the base of the steam pipes" was returned.

Knowing the peculiar arrangements of these steam pipes, and that the fan had been standing for eight hours, the attempt to start the engine without first opening the drain-cock showed, to say the least, a lamentable want of care on the part of the deceased men.

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Sources

• 1891 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6625), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 14 Where to find this report
• 1891 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6625), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 21, Accident Number: 2 Where to find this report

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