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Date:	6th October 1906
Colliery:	Threlkeld (Lead and Zinc Ore)
Company:	Threkeld Mines Ltd.
Cause:	Killed by shot
Lives Lost:	1
Category:

Deceased, who was an experienced miner, 66 years of age, having charged a hole with 2½ cartridges of gelignite, placed a short piece of lighted candle under the fuse, and turned to leave the working. He had only to travel 2 or 3 yards to get to a place of safety, but when he reached the corner of the working he looked back, and observing the place to be in darkness he said to his mate, "Its gone out" (meaning the candle had gone out), and he turned back with the object of relighting it. He had just reached the face when the shot exploded. The fuse had of course run properly and if deceased had waited a couple of minutes before returning to the working the accident would have been avoided. The special rules in force at this mine provide that in the event of a shot missing fire no person shall enter that working place until the lapse of an hour. In this case (and I have had a similar experience in many non-fatal cases) the workmen evidently did not consider it a miss-fire. Miners as a rule interpret a miss-fire to mean a case where the fuse is known to fire but fails to detonate the explosive. This is a very limited application, and it cannot be too emphatically laid down that once an attempt has been made to light the fuse, and the men have left the working, if from any cause the shot fails to explode, it becomes a case of miss-fire and must be treated as such.

Source:

1906 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 3449), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 53, Accident Number: 3 Where to find this report

	Wren, Fletcher, aged 66, Miner, killed by shot
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