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| Date: | 3rd October 1907 |
| Colliery: | Watergate [CUL] |
| Company: | Flimby and Broughton Moor Coal and Firebrick Co., Ltd. |
| Cause: | Shaft Accident |
| Lives Lost: | 3 |
| Category: |
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| Description | |
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The downcast shaft, 12 feet in diameter, is sunk to the Ten Quarters band at 84½ fathoms, and is traversed by two double-decked cages carrying one tub on each deck ; the decks are both flat-topped and 4 feet high. There are keps at the upper surface level but none at the Ten Quarters band. There are pumps in the shaft ; for 35 fathoms from the bottom is a lifting set which delivers water to a ram which forces to the surface. After the pumps have stood 10 hours water begins to side on the flat sheets at the bottom, the space into which the bottom decks of the cages descend being then full of water.
When the ordinary coal getting shift is in the pit the shaft bottom is lighted by safety lamps, but these are brought away about 2 p.m., after which where is no fixed light.
A signal wire from the bottom works a hammer both on the pit heap and in the engine-house during the coal drawing shift from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. ; after 2 p.m. the hammer on the pit heap is disconnected, and signals from the bottom ate only given in the engine-house. A wire worked by the engineman works a hammer at the bottom.
The printed code of signals in use at the pit contains the following :-
"Up Signals —
3. Men to ascend —
Three to be replied by Engineman when ready. Men may then get on Cage, after which knock.
3. Raise men to surface."
The regular banksmen and onsetters leave the pit at the conclusion of the coal drawing shift at 2 p.m., after which there was on one stationed at the top and bottom of the shaft. When persons were in the pit after the onsetters had left it was usual to appoint one of them to act as onsetter and give the necessary signals.
The afternoon shift winding engineman came on duty at 1.30 p.m. and lowered a pumpman and a joiner into the shaft about 2 p.m. to attend to the pumps. They descended on the top of the west cage, and had various tools with them. They first went to the bottom, where they were engaged till between 3 and 4 p.m., when they went up to the ram to pack it. While engaged at the ram about 5.30 p.m. two of the five persons still in the mine came to the shaft bottom and called up that they wanted the cage — the water was then 20 inches above the flat sheets — the pumpman signalled two to the surface, and the engineman lowered the cage, with the pumpman and joiner on it, to the bottom, and the two men there got on top of the cage, and it was signalled to the surface, there they got off ; the pumpman and joiner then returned to their work in the shaft. About 6 p.m. the deceased persons came to the shaft bottom and they also called up to the pumpman, who had then nearly finished his work. He waited until its completion, and then signalled the cage to the surface, and it was stopped with its top, level with the flat sheets, and remained in that position four or five minutes while the pumpman and the joiner got off, climbing over the gate, and removed their tools and lights. While they were doing this, and after the cage had been a rest a minute, three raps came from the bottom. When the cage at the surface was clear the pumpman shouted to the engineman "bring the men up," and he brought the cage at the surface up so that its bottom deck was level with the flat sheets, and at the same time the other cage descended into the water, and its top deck was level with the flat sheets at the bottom. The engineman then signalled three to the bottom, and expected three from the bottom, when he would have raised the cage. No raps were given from the bottom, and after waiting about half-an-hour, during which time he signalled three to the bottom several times, he became uneasy, and asked the pumpman to go down and bring the men up. The pumpman got on to the top of the cage he had left half-an-hour before, and was lowered down the shaft, and when about meetings heard a crash as of something falling in the shaft, and he signalled by catching hold of the rapper wire from the cage top, and was drawn back to the surface. The other cage was then brought to the surface, and was found to contain in its lower deck three extinguished safety lamps, a tin bottle, and a portion of flesh. A descent was then made by the upcast shaft 50 yards away, and the bottom of the downcast reached, and the bodies of the two Fletchers were found in the sump.
The shaft was afterwards examined and the body of Tindall found lying on a cross timber 30 fathoms from the bottom, some articles of clothing were also found in the shaft. The head was nearly severed from the body of the younger Fletcher and Tindall was much disfigured about the head. The elder Fletcher was not marked.
When the pumpman and joiner were getting off the top of the cage at the surface, the bottom of the other cage would be about 4 feet from the flat sheets at the bottom and about 2 feet 4 inches above the water and it seems almost certain that the deceased persons had climbed into the bottom deck while it was in that position, the last person to get in giving the three raps before he did so.
It is barely possible that they thought they were getting into the top deck and would be in no danger of being lowered into the sump, but a slight inspection would have made it clear that it was the bottom deck and if they were near when the cage came down they would have known it was the bottom deck and the cage had not dipped into the water. In any case they were not justified in getting into either deck until they got three raps from the engineman but some reason drawn from the exceptional circumstances must have induced them to do so. The pumpman stated at the inquest that he heard them call but he could not hear distinctly what they said, and they may have asked for the cage to be set for them clear of the water, and forgetting that men were ascending on the top of the cage concluded it had been so placed for them, or without attempting to send any specific message they may have thought that as the engineman knew the water was up he would not dip the cage into the sump but set it for them clear of the water.
When persons remained in the mine after the ordinary shift was over it was customary to use the top deck.
The manager when questioned by me at the inquest stated he thought it would have been safer to have had an onsetter in attendance at the shaft bottom. The General Rules of the Coal Mines Act contain no provisions as to such attendance but the Special Rules in force at the mine contain some regulations under the head of “Banksman and Onsetter” as to their attendance when persons are ascending to descending ; these regulations are, however, subject to exceptions which applied in the present case. The elder Fletcher, who was appointed to act in the absence of the onsetter and see that the persons remaining underground after the usual time for ascending arrived safely at the surface, was experienced as regards signalling.
It will be noted the code of signals prescribes, when men ate ascending, three raps from the bottom both before and after the answering signal of the engineman.
It is clear that the three raps given from the bottom were either intended at first, or were afterwards acted on by the persons underground, as the finals signal, whereas the engineman looked upon them, as I think he was justified in doing, as the preliminary three. It might be advisable to alter the number of raps in one of these signals so as to prevent the possibility of the being confounded.
| Source: | 1907 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 4045), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 13 Where to find this report |
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| Fatalities | |
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 | Fletcher, John, aged 14, Trailer, shaft accident |
| | Fletcher, William, aged 38, Stoneman, shaft accident |
| | Tindall, Joseph, aged 49, Shiftman, shaft accident |
All names found | |
Those names marked with |
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| Newspaper Articles | |
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| 10 Oct 1907 | The Cage Disaster At Watergate Pit, Resumed Inquest, Yeserday (Whitehaven News) |
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