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John Bell, Wallsend, hewer, sworn, saith: I have wrought in Wallsend colliery 19 years gone April. Was last down on the 18th of June, the day the misfortune happened; I went down a quarter past two o'clock in the morning of that day, and returned to bank a little before 11 in the forenoon. I was working at the broken at the east part of the colliery. When I went to work in the morning, I did not find the pit at the broken, so bad as I did the day before. I used a Davy-lamp. There were other five men working at the same place with me, who all had Davy-lamps. The day before the misfortune took place, the pit was in so dangerous a state that we were obliged to come away. We extinguished our Davy-lamps before leaving, except one man who reduced his light as small as possible, so as to give us light to find our clothes before leaving. Edward Combie had previously left us to go to some other men on the other side of the mothergate, to warn them away. There are separation doors between the foul air and the fresh ; one of these doors may be about 60 yards from the headway where we go in to work; the other door is about 20 yards further on ; the entire distance from the place we were working to the outer door, may be about 136 yards. There is placed about two yards and a half from the outer door, an oil lamp. I considered this lamp to be too near the separation doors, and desired one of the boys who keeps the lamps (he is lost,) to shift it further out by, as I was apprehensive that if any fall took place where we were working (which is an usual occurrence,) that the foul air would be forced with such violence against the separation doors as to force through them and explode at the lamp. These doors were quite in order, except that they did not sufficiently fall to. Since I went into that part to work, I never considered the door next the broken to have a sufficient fall, according to my judgment. I was never afraid till the 17th, when a fall occurred. I never mentioned to any of the overmen that I had apprehensions of the unsafety of that door, or that the lamp was too near the door. On the 18th, when I went to work, the lamp that I complained of to the boy the day before, was still there; it was not burning when I went to work, but on returning I found it burning, and on passing the boy who had charge of it, I again repeated that the lamp ought to be removed further off. I have not been down since the explosion, but from what I have heard I have reason to believe the pit did not fire at that place. I saw the overman, John Atkinson, junior, at the place where I was working on the morning of the 17th, having sent for him in consequence of apprehension of the stone coming down. The roof then bearing heavily upon the props, had caused the bottom or pavement to lift, and a quantity of gas was escaping from it; the gas that came away was so overpowering, that we had to extinguish our Davys as before mentioned. On the overman arriving, I pointed out to him the situation of the stone, and he said, if she came heavier on the props, meaning that the stone was likely to fall, they were to take up the plates. About four or five hours after this, the stone did fall, and the consequence was, the gas was forced out a great distance from the broken; the Davy-lamps then became red-hot, and were extinguished as soon as possible, except the lamp before named, the flame of which was reduced, and they left immediately. Combie, the deputy, was present when the stone fell, and left, as before mentioned, to send the other men away. The men who were working with me on the 17th were, Charles Swan and Matthew Buddle on the west side, and on the east side Thomas Rotherford, Thomas Wilkinson, and Jacob Maddison. On the succeeding day this particular place was in a much more workable state, otherwise we could not have gone in. There was only a partial fall of stone, which did not prevent the men continuing their work. They left their work a quarter before 11 o'clock in the forenoon, but I cannot say the pit was then in a safe state for working. This was mentioned amongst the men, and to Joseph Lawson, who was a deputy, and a very cautious man. I warned him to be cautious. We left work on the 18th, not on account of the danger, but that our shift was finished; at the same time I considered the pit was not safe at our place. All the six Davys were on fire this day. (John Bell's and Matthew Buddle's lamps produced; they appear to have been subjected to an intense heat, but no ways injured, or rendered unfit for use.) Since I came to work at the C pit, Wallsend, two men, William Lenox and Andrew Brack, have been burnt by the gas. In the boards where they work with the candle partial explosions of gas have taken place, and I have myself been present when it has fired.

John Bell.

Thomas Rutherford, lives at Wallsend, hewer, sworn, saith: I have worked at Wallsend colliery for about 20 years; was working near to where the last witness was on the 17th and 18th June; can corroborate what John Bell says happened on the 17th ; I have heard the evidence he has given, and as confined to what happened on the 17th, it is correct. On the 18th, I went down about two o'clock in the morning, and found things better than I expected ; the pit was in a more workable state than it was the day before; in consequence of the fall that had taken place the previous day the foulness had subsided. There was a trifling fall on the 18th, but it was at some distance from me; these falls frequently take place at the old goaves, and are not much minded. Where I was working I found myself very warm all the day, but I did not notice anything particular about the lamp. I was working about 20 yards from the place John Bell was ; in the range of our working we may occasionally approach within six or eight yards of each other, and can hear each other talk, and when we are so near, could if we looked from our work see each other. Bell and his companions finished their work before I did, and Buddle came to me before he had done his work, and said his lamp had fired. I stopped and finished my work, and when I left I told the boy to be careful in filling the coals; my companion and myself left our work a little before 12 at noon; the boy would have had to remain about five hours after they left, to put the coals away; Bell and his companions might leave their work about an hour and a half before him. There are several boys always left behind the hewers, to put the coals after the hewers? work is done. The boys are all furnished with Davy-lamps for lights. The boys are superintended in their work by the deputy and back overmen; these overmen are not stationary at one place, but go about the pit, and continue there till the boys have finished taking the coals away. When the Davy-lamps first came into use, I have known an instance of the top being taken off by a boy, but have not heard anything of the kind for several years. The Davy-lamps when first used were not constructed with a lock, but those I have seen lately have all locks. I understood the explosion took place a little before two in the afternoon; the pit was not in a worse state when I left, than it was when I went in the morning. I never found the pit in so bad a state as it was after the fall on the 17th ; Thomas Wilkinson and Jacob Maddison were working with me.

Thomas Rutherford (his mark).

Charles Swan, Wallsend, hewer, sworn: I have worked 14 years at Wallsend colliery; have worked four years in the Bensham seam ; always considered it a dangerous seam, from the great quantity of foul air that exists in it. Several small explosions often take place, but they are not considered dangerous. On the 18th June, I was working at the broken, on the east side of the colliery, with John Bell, Matthew Buddle, and Thomas Rutherford, we went down to work about two o'clock in the morning; when I first commenced work, I placed my Davy-lamp near the roof, and she immediately fired; I then took the lamp down, and cautioned the men to be careful with theirs. After I had worked for an hour, I put my Davy-lamp up again near the same place, and she fired again ; I took it down, and while fixing it against the prop, it fell and went out ; I sent it away with one of the putters to be relighted, but not till it had been examined by the boy who had the charge of the lamps; three or four Davys were sent in lighted before I got my own; I continued to work with them till I was done. When I left my work I did not consider the pit safe there; the foul air was coming off the goaves at the north side of them ; we left about half-past ten o'clock in the forenoon. No fall had taken place to my recollection that day, at the place I was working. I met Simpson, the back overman, as I was leaving, I told him to caution the boys to be careful. I was working at the same place on the 17th, the previous day; the time I was there then was short, and I did not discover more danger than usual; I was in the jud where John Bell and his party were working for a short time, and found the place in a dangerous state; this was before the fall; the men were afraid to go in to work till the deputy came, who renewed some of the timber; I had done my work, and soon left them. James Hepple, the young man who was in the chief charge of the Davy-lamps, had not come near them either on the 17th or 18th, or been there for a week before. The boy under Hepple, called Thomas Elrington, who has charge of the lamps, may be about 13 years of age; neither he or Hepple came when his Davy-lamp went out; but they sent him fresh ones in the course of five minutes. I saw the overman at the place where I was working on the 18th ; I saw the same overman, John Atkinson, jun., on the 17th, when he was sent for by Bell. As far as I could judge, all the doors were right; but at best, with all the care that can be taken, I consider the Bensham seam is very dangerous to work in. The men have no higher wages for working in these dangerous places. There is a band of stone runs through the broken the same as the whole; the stone is taken out altogether before the coal is touched, if there is not room for it; the stone is sent away by the boys to other parts of the old workings. If any stone is mixed with the coal, the pitmen are fined. The tops of the lamps are never taken off for a better light, to enable them to separate the stone from the coal.

Charles Swan.

George Jude, Wallsend, hewer, sworn, saith: That I have been employed at Wallsend colliery 27 years. The last five days previously to the misfortune, I have been working at the whole coal, in the second north-west district; Robert Bell was working with me at the same board ; we worked with candles; the pit was well ventilated at the place where we were working; there was no gas that we perceived at our place; there was no fire when we blasted the coal; there are no old wastes near to where we were working; I always considered the Bensham seam generally to be a dangerous one, but at the place where I worked it was not so; there was always good air from the C pit. The explosion that took place and destroyed 52 men, 14 years ago, was in the Bensham seam ; since that period, believes the workings have in general been better ventilated.

George Jude.

Alexander Harton, lives at the Low Moor End: I am a wasteman, and have been employed at Wallsend colliery 23 years. My duty is to keep the air-ways good, and am constantly down the pit seven hours a day. I consider the Bensham seam to be a foul, dangerous pit, more so than any in this neighbourhood, and it requires the utmost caution and attention to keep her in a workable state. On the 18th of June, my master, Mr. John Atkinson, senior, and myself, travelled all round the wastes, and the air appeared to be as good as at any time I recollect. We went down the pit that day before two o'clock in the morning, and were down about six hours, coming up at eight o'clock in the forenoon. We passed the men at the different board ends, and the work was going on as usual. We found all the main doors correct that day. I have heard the men who were working at the north-west quarter near the C pit, say, that their Davys were rather fiery; one day when I was there, I observed the flame rise up on the Davy, which was occasioned by the gas, but it soon subsided again; I told the men I would shift them to another place if they liked; but the flame so soon subsiding to its usual state, they continued. I was through the dumb-drift on the 18th, in the morning, and found the air there as good as usual. Since the misfortune happened, I have been over all the workings of the pit as far as they could be explored, but have not yet discovered any appearance to lead to or conjecture where the explosion commenced. I have got no further than the crane at the far end of the pit. The places which I have visited, especially the first west-north district, there has much damage been done; the doors, traps, and stoppings have been blown away, and also much damage has occurred at the far west district. We have not yet been able to get into the dumb-drifts.

Alexander Harton his mark.

George Watkin, lives at Wallsend colliery; is a hewer; sworn; saith: I am 26 years of age, and have worked in the Wallsend pit all my life; I have worked in the Bensham seam seven years, and have been working at the whole coal for the last six months. The Bensham seam is considered dangerous to work in, but not where I was employed, which was at the first west crane quarter, near the C pit. That on the 18th June, and previous days, we had too much air; it sweeled the candles, so much so, that I asked the deputies to take the brattice down to lessen the current of air. I have, in the absence of the overmen, taken the brattice down myself, and have not been found fault with for so doing.

George Watkin

James Hepple, Wallsend, sworn; says: that I have the care of the Davy-lamps; I have never observed the lamps to have sustained any damage by the apertures having been widened, or otherwise; recollects the place where Charles Swan was working; it was the broken, at the east crane; it was no part of my duty to visit the place where he worked; the two boys who are under me attend to this place; and when the lamps go out they take them away, retrim, light, and send them back.

James Hepple.

Jacob Maddison, Wallsend-Moor, says: I am a hewer, and have worked for several years in the Bensham seam, Wallsend. Generally speaking, the Bensham seam is more dangerous than the main seam. On the 17th June there was a fall where I was working, and a great quantity of foul air came away; my lamp fired on the 17th, and so did the whole of the lamps of those who were working at that place. The foul air drove us back to the narrow board: when this happened we were obliged to leave work as soon as we could, for we considered at that time the jud to be in a very dangerous state by the fall. On the 18th, the following day, when I returned to work near to the same place I found the new jud, which was about nine yards off the jud we had worked at the day before, in a very workable state; I continued to work there the whole day, and nothing occurred to annoy me. My lamp did not fire that day. I returned from work about half-past 11 o'clock in the forenoon, and was at the bank by 12; Charles Swan was working about 12 yards from me; and Bell close to me. I have once or twice before seen the Bensham seam in as bad a state as it was on the 17th, occasioned by a fall, and have once before seen the lamp fire.

Jacob Maddison.

John Dawson, Swan's Row, Wallsend, sworn; says: I am hewer, and have been employed at Wallsend colliery for 30 years and more; I have worked in the Bensham seam several years; I have always considered it to be a very dangerous seam ; have known explosions of gas to take place in the Bensham seam, but no person hurt, except on this occasion, and when the accident happened 14 years ago. I have been twice in the broken and twice in the whole this quarter. I have known the gas take fire in the east narrow boards where the broken is now worked, and the men have had recourse to wet cloths to extinguish it, when I wrought in the east juds, where Bell and the other men have been working. When I first went into the east juds to work I have seen the lamps on fire, and in that state have considered it unfit they should be continued there. I went out for the deputy, and told him, and he instantly took a trapper to put on a door, which admitted more fresh air, and thereby made it safer to work. I have known when falls took place a deal of foul air come off; and I considered it required great caution to work at this quarter.

John Dawson His Mark and Seal.

Robert Giles, Wallsend, hewer, sworn; saith: I was working in the Bensham seam on the 18th June, at the broken, in the west and north quarter; I could find no fault while I was there, the air appeared to be as good as usual; there was no fall while I was there; I left the pit about ten o?clock in the forenoon; my lamp did not fire that morning; I have only been 12 days working in that quarter; my lamp never did at any time fire while working in that quarter; I never heard of any of the other men's lamps firing in that quarter.

Robert Giles His Mark.

Robert Usher, Wallsend, hewer, sworn; saith: I have worked in the Bensham seam for these 14 years past. On the 18th June I was working in the west district. I felt no difference in the ventilation; the air appeared just as usual. There was no fall where I worked; my lamp did not fire. For two months past I have been working at that place, and my lamp did not fire at any time; can form no idea where the pit fired.

Robert Usher His Mark.