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Mr. Blackwell, who attended the Hartley inquest on behalf of the Home Office, makes the following observations on the use of single shafts in mines in his report :—

It is indisputable that the working of mines of any description through a single shaft, introduces and element of serious additional danger into such operations.

In those cases in which furnace ventilation is employed in connection with a single bratticed shaft, the quantity of air passing through the pit must necessarily be restricted, as the heat of the furnace cannot be raised without danger of firing the brattice.

Single shafts lined and bratticed with timber are used in some districts in this country, where no adequate reason can be alleged for adopting them, the depth in the districts now referred to being small, the strata to be passed through being easy to penetrate, and the position of the minerals to be reached being well known.

In other districts where large and unexplored tracts of minerals have to be won at great depths, where rocks of extreme hardness, or other strata presenting great difficulties in their penetration, have to be passed through, where immense volumes of water have to be encountered and stopped back by tubbing, and where the outlay attendant on such operations is proportionately large, the results of this outlay being at the same time uncertain, it cannot be surprising that a system should be adopted, in some instances, which is attended by a considerable dimunition in the outlay to be sustained, and not presenting more than a remote and contingent chance of extra exposure of the persons engaged to those dangers which are, after all, inseparable from mining operations.

The cost of the labour and materials required for the sinking of two shafts in a new winning in place of one shaft, the sectional area of the two taken together being equal to that of the single shaft, may be estimated to involve an additional expenditure of from 10 to 25 per cent, according to the depth, the nature of the strata, and the quantities of water which have to be passed through. The actual amount of this extra outlay would, however, vary from trivial to very large sums. In most cases, the difference in cost ought certainly not to be regarded; but if new winnings were again to be made of the same expensive character as some existing examples, in which 500, 600, or 700 yards in depth of strata have been sunk through, under the most formidable difficulties, and at enormous cost, it appears questionable whether the additional outlay necessary to provide two shafts in place of the single one, by which these great depths have hitherto in every case been attained, would not impede the development of such enterprises. The evils and dangers arising from the use of single shafts in mining operations have, however, been already so fully acknowledged, and have been rendered so evident by this recent accident, that it appears desirable that such a system should not in future be permitted.

With regard to mines now in operation, the difficulty of arriving at a just conclusion appears greater.

In those deep mines worked by a single shaft, where large quantities of water have been stopped back by tubbing, and where the strata present unusual difficulties to their penetration, the sinking of a second shaft of even the smallest diameter would involve a most serious outlay; and since these deep, difficult, and originally costly winnings are frequently those which are the least profitable in a commercial point of view, it is probable that the effect of any legislative enactment, forcing such an additional outlay as the necessary condition of such mines continuing to work, would be cause their stoppage, and to throw one of employment a large number of the mining population.

The replies of the Inspectors of Mines to the circular letter of the Home Secretary, there is a general agreement of opinion as to the necessity of further legislation for the prevention of accidents through the falling in or closing of shafts. The following are the recommendations of Mr. Higson, and they may be taken as representing the views of nearly the whole of the inspectors :— 1. That the 6th General Rule be so amended as to compel every future working and pumping pit or shaft to be securely cased or lined throughout with iron, brick, or stone. 2. That on and after the 1st of January, 1863, proper guides or conductors shall be provided, and used in every pit or shaft in which persons ascend or descend; and that at every working pit or shaft there shall be moveable or self-adjusting guards or gates to fence off the entrance thereto. 3. That from the workings of every mine there shall be two distinct shafts or outlets, not less than ten yards apart. 4. That mines now opened and being worked with a single bratticed shaft may be continued for three years, if during that period active operations are in progress to provide a second outlet, and the means of egress therefrom. 5. That for the purposes of exploring or proving the ground, a single bratticed shaft may be use for a period of six months after finding the vain or seam, provided that not more than ten persons shall be in the pit at the same time. 6. That when water has to be pumped in a single bratticed shaft, proper and satisfactory preparations shall be previously made to prevent detached portions of the machinery or other apparatus, in case of breakage, falling into the pit or shaft. 7. That during the time persons employed in working any mine are ascending or descending the pit or shaft, pumping in that pit or shaft be suspended.

 

Name	Age	Occupation	Notes
Blackwell, John Kenyon		Commissioner	Whos Who Page
Higson, Peter		H.M. Inspector of Mines	Whos Who Page