Description

Miscellaneous Underground.

Accident No. 7 is the most serious which appears in my list. It occurred on the 14th May, in the Baldwin Mine, in the Isle of Man, and caused the death of two miners. I visited the scene of the occurrence as soon as possible, but the appearance of the place conveyed no information as to the cause of the accident, or the immediate attendant circumstances.

Mr. Harris, the High Bailiff of Douglas, opened the inquest, the proceedings of which were reported as follows, in the Manx Sun :—

Terrible Accident at the Ohio Silver Lead Mine. — Two Miners killed.

On Tuesday morning information reached Douglas that a terrible explosion of dynamite had taken place at the Manx Silver Lead Mine, better known as the Ohio Mine, East Baldwin, and that two miners had been blown to atoms. It appears that the night shift men had fired two blasts in the bottom of the shaft, which is in course of being sunk to a greater depth, and that one only had gone off, and they left the ground for the men who succeeded them on the next shift, as they could not tell whether the fuse had missed or not, and it would be dangerous to go to work again before allowing sufficient time to elapse to make it certain that the fuse was either spent or gone out. They gave notice of this to the manager, and the shift of men who succeeded them. These were John Cannell and William Corlett, and it would appear that when they had descended the shaft they proceeded to "draw" the charge of the hole, which had not gone off. How far they succeeded in this operation will never be known, and whether they used the ordinary precautions required in so delicate an operation will equally remain a secret. It is thought that in drawing the charge they must have struck the detonating cap with some iron implement, and thus caused the explosion. From the fact that both the unfortunate men had their breast bones driven in, it would seem that they must have been stooping over the hole at the time the charge went off. The catastrophe has cast a gloom over the whole neighbourhood, and much sympathy is expressed for the families of the unfortunate men, who bore excellent characters.

His Worship the Coroner of Inquests for this district (S. Harris, Esq.,) held a preliminary inquest at the mine the same day touching the sad occurrence, informing the jury that he should simply take a little formal evidence that day, and then adjourn to another day to allow time for communicating with Mr. Evans, Her Majesty's Inspector for this district under the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act. The following evidence was then taken:—

John Crowe deposed :— I am the local agent of the Manx Silver Lead Mining Company, the owners of the mine formerly known as the Ohio Mine, in East Baldwin. I have looked at the bodies of the deceased John Cannell and William Corlett, now lying in the workshop or shed belonging to the said Mining Company. The were taken out of the shaft to-day. John Cannell was one of the miners employed in the said mine. He lived at Mount Rule in Braddan. He was a married man, about 30 years of age, an experienced miner, and a sober man. He went to his work as usual this morning down the shaft of the mine, and his dead body was brought up from the shaft this afternoon about two o'clock. He met with his death from an explosion of dynamite in the mine about eight o'clock this morning. The other body is the body of William Corlett, of East Baldwin. He also was a miner, and about 32 years of age. He also was married, and was an experienced miner. His dead body was brought out of the mine about the same time as Corlett's, and he met with his death at the same time and from the same cause.

Dr. Elliott, who was next examined, said :— I have examined the body of William Corlett, now lying in the workshop adjoining, and find a compound fracture of the lower part of the thigh of the left leg, which was almost blown off. The breast bone is almost blown in over the heart, and depressed upon the heart. I did not find any other fractures on his body, but his face is covered as if with powder, and he was killed apparently from a heavy stone having been thrown on his breast from an explosion in the shaft of the mine. He must have been killed instantaneously, and has the appearance as if death had taken place this morning: there is warmth even now in the lower part of his body. I have also made an examination of the body of John Cannell. There is a dislocation and fracture of the right hip and thigh ; the breast bone is beaten in and fractured. His head is almost blown off, his brains completely blown out, and the body has all the appearance of having been killed instantaneously from an explosion of dynamite in the mine. His death must have been instantaneous, and as if it had occurred this morning from the effects of an explosion of dynamite.

His Worship the Coroner then informed the jury that no further evidence would be taken that day, as, under the provisions of the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act, notice must be sent to Mr. Evans, the Government Inspector under that Act for this district, who would most probably be required to attend the inquest. He would therefore adjourn the inquest to Tuesday, the 21st inst.

We understand that his Worship wrote to Mr. Evans the same day, and the Inspector has since intimated his intention of attending the inquest.

At the adjournment—

John Crowe, sworn, said:— I am local agent to the Manx Mineral Company, and have to see that everything is carried on in a proper manner, and that the men do their work in a satisfactory way. The mine has been carried on about three years by the present Company, and has been worked about 11 years altogether. I was brought up a miner, and have worked in many mines in the Isle of Man and in England, and have had considerable experience as a practical miner. We have 12 men now working underground. They work three shifts. The deceased men, John Cannell and William Corlett, were two of the men employed as miners here. They had worked here since the beginning of last harvest time. They were good miners, steady and industrious — very. On the night of the 13th, James Thompson, John Gelling, Thomas Quaine, and William Callow were the night shift at the mine. They went to work at 10 o'clock, and left work a little before 6 a.m. on the 14th. We give out the dynamite daily ; sometimes two boxes ; a sufficient supply for the day of dynamite fuse and caps. On the day of the 13th the ordinary quantity was given out. It was from 10 to 15 lbs. of dynamite. It is made up in small cartridges, consisting of six to the pound weight. They come ready made up by the manufacturers. The men use dynamite according to the burden the charge is required to move. I have not had any previous experience in the use of dynamite. We have had it in use here for about five months. Directions how to use it come with every 5 lbs. package. They are given to the workmen using it. There is a shaft in the mine with levels running north and south. The shaft is about 80 fathoms deep, and the men are engaged sinking on the bottom, when they have to carry on blasting operations. The rock is rather hard, and dynamite has to be used for blasting it. It consists of a hard spar and clay-slate. I have been down since the accident took place. The place was then covered with water. I know from my own former observations what the place is like. The accident occurred at the bottom of the shaft. When the night shift came up as I have described, they were followed on the morning of the 14th by Jno. Cannell and William Corlett, the two deceased men. That was all that went down that morning. After they went down they begin to fill the stuff into the kibbles, and send it to the surface. They had sent up seven kibbles, but when the eighth was being drawn up it stuck in the shaft for a while, and was afterwards found to be empty. This showed there was something wrong with the men at the bottom of the shaft. I came here just at that time. One of their own mates, who was at the top at the time, went down the shaft to see what was the matter. He returned, and told us he believed that all was over at the bottom, there being no light, and he could hear no sound. I sent four men to see what was the matter. They came up shortly, and told me that the men were lying quite dead at the bottom of the shaft. The bodies were brought up the shaft, and placed in Company's shed, where the jury saw them. The tools used are drills, hammers, and picks. We never used iron, copper, or steel stemmers. We have only proper swab sticks for ramming the charge in the holes, and, so far as I know, we have strictly conformed and complied with the printed rules and regulations laid down for the use of dynamite. I have known blasts to hang fire about an hour and a half. That is the longest I have known. It was about seven o'clock in the morning when the seventh kibble came up. We use the best double tape fuse, which we buy with the dynamite. The fuse is kept in a perfectly dry place. The men use their own judgment as to the quantity of fuse they take. We never restrict the men in any matter of the kind. They are supplied with materials at their own discretion. My opinion is that the accident occurred through one of the charges not having gone off when fired, and that it exploded while one of the deceased men was steadying the kibble, and the other standing by preparing to fill.

James Thompson, miner, sworn, said :— On the 13th I was one of the men engaged on the night shift. We went down at 10 o'clock, taking nothing but candles with us. We had previously sent the dynamite down in the kibbles. There were about eight or nine charges in the kibble. We shortly began to bore preparatory to blasting. We had one hole 3 ft. 6 in. deep. It was in blue rock mixed with spar. Our companions were at work boring another hole 3 ft. deep. These borings were going on near each other, about 4 ft. apart. We then drew water from the shaft, and, having done this, bored two more holes. The water was swabbed out of the holes, and the charges put in. There were six cartridges put into each hole; I think so. I did not put them in. Each hole was charged. They were put down with a wooden rammer. Water was used as a stemming. I put the fuse into a cap, and the cap into a primer, according to the printed instructions. The fuse was three feet long in each hole. This fuse was sufficient; and the match also takes time to burn, so that we have time enough to reach a place of safety. I saw the fuse of the hole that killed the men running. We heard only three holes going off. My mate went down afterwards to ascertain what was amiss. He went down in about five minutes. It was John Gelland who went down. I met Cannell and Corlett (the deceased men) in the changing house. I told them about these holes, and that we thought that one of them had missed fire, but that we could not tell with certainty, owing to its being covered with stuff from the other holes. They then went down. John Gelling charged all the holes.

John Gelling, miner, sworn, said :— I was Thompson's mate on the night in question. I am a miner, and have worked underground about seven years. I charged all the holes. Thompson put in the fuse, and the four were lighted at the same time. The detonators were put into primers in each hole. We went up to the 70 fathom level lodge. I looked down the shaft, and saw that three of the fuses had taken fire, but I could not see the one at the south end. We could not see that one on account of the timber we were standing on. The bottom of the shaft was slightly sumped in the middle. We heard three charges going off. We waited about ten minutes. I went down to see how things were, and saw that three holes had gone off. The fourth was covered over with stones from the other blasts.

Robert Cullon, miner, sworn, said :— The debris was left by order of the coroner until the place was inspected by Mr. Evans, the Inspector of Mines. Yesterday evening I went down the shaft, and found the loose stuff lying in it, just the same as when the dead men were found. I am most certainly of opinion that the last explosion (the fatal one) took place from the hole under the chain ladder. Both men were quite dead when I went down about 9 o'clock. No stuff was lying on them, except a very little on Corlett's legs.

Henry Taggart, blacksmith, sworn, said :— I heard the conversation between Thompson and Gelling and the dead men. They told them the hole had missed.

The jury returned a verdict that the deaths were purely accidental.

It was, in my opinion, the result of the explosion of nitro-glycerine which had exuded from the unexploded charge of dynamite, caused by a blow from one of the tools used by the men.

Sources

• 1878 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2321), North Wales District by T. Fanning Evans, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 448, Accident Number: 7 Where to find this report
• 1878 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2321), North Wales District by T. Fanning Evans, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 450 Where to find this report

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