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	Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	5th December 1884
Colliery:	Etherley
Company:	H. Stobart and Co.
Cause:	(See description below)
Lives Lost:	1
Category:

Miscellaneous Accidents Underground.

The deaths from the above causes have been 24 at the coal mines, and two at the ironstone mines, making 26 altogether. Three were caused by premature explosions of shots; three on incline and engine planes; 14 crushed to death by trains and tubs; two by machinery, and four from sundry causes. One of the latter, No. 69 on the coal mines list, occurred at the Rush (George) Pit of the Etherley Collieries. At the bottom of the shaft a steam-boiler is fixed for driving an engine used for pumping and hauling purposes, and is within about 54 feet of the shaft side. A "sludge drift" for carrying off the waste water connects the boiler-house with the sump at the bottom of the pit; the sump is 24 feet deep, and at 16 feet from the bottom a scaffold is placed across for cleaning and other purposes. The boiler is fed by gravitation from a cistern fixed in a seam higher up the shaft, and the feed is regulated by a valve fixed on the pipe connecting it with the boiler.

At 10 o'clock on the night of the accident, Dinsdale, the master shifter, went into the engine-room and told Vitty, the man in charge of the boiler, that they were going to clean out the sump that night, and that he was to be careful not to unplug or sludge the boiler until after they were done ; to which he replied, "All right."

The work proceeded until near midnight, when suddenly there was a rush of hot water down the drift, which fell on to the deceased (Barrett) who was standing on the scaffold in the sump, unable to get out, even with assistance, for two or three minutes, and was badly scalded all over his body, dying after 15 days' suffering.

Immediately after the accident, Dinsdale went to the engine-room, and, addressing Vitty, asked him if he knew what he had done; to which he replied, "Yes; I quite forgot the men were in the sump." It transpired in evidence that the necessity for this sludging of the boiler was caused by the further neglect of duty of Vitty in carelessly allowing the boiler feed to remain on too long, and until the boiler was too full of water, and to cover his own neglect he ran the water out of the boiler, which fell into the sump and on to deceased. Vitty was censured by the coroner and jury for his negligence. As I could find no section in the Act, or any special rule, under which to prosecute Vitty, I communicated with the chief constable of the county, who placed the case in the hands of the Public Prosecutor, and as there appeared to be great difficulty in gaining a conviction it was allowed to drop.

Source:

1884 Mines Inspectors Report (C 4429), Durham District by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 222 Where to find this report

	Barrett, John (died: 21 Dec 1884) , aged 54, Shifter, scalded by sludge water from underground boiler ; while cleaning the sump the boilerman opened the sludge valve
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	Those names marked with , have a web page providing individual details of the accident, the page may also include a photograph of the deceased. Click on the symbol next to the name to see the web page.

 

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