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The meteorological conditions on the day of the explosion were not favourable to any abnormal issue of firedamp ; a falling barometer does not affect the issue of gas from the solid strata so much as from goaves and abandoned workings; but in the present case there were no such reservoirs of gas and the barometer was rising gradually, and had done so nearly the whole of the previous day.

The local Inspectors inspecting the mine under General Rule 38 had inspected the 1st South district on the 6th November, 1906, when they reported as follows

The coal from the Busty seam is sold as gas coal, or made into coke, and is a soft bituminous coal of good quality. Provided the conditions are sufficiently dry it produces dust in considerable quantities in its working, haulage, and screening.

The endless rope road and main intake, the first part of the haulage road leading to the 1st South district, was dry, and there was, I believe, sufficient fine coal dust on the timber and upper parts of the road to have propagated an explosion once reaching it. There was, in addition, coal dust on the floor mixed with impurities.

The first part of the driving road, that extending from the endless rope road to the commencement of the temporary driving road through the old pillars, leading to the 1st South district, was dry, and this road had been an endless rope haulage road. There was less coal dust on the timber and upper surfaces than on the road nearer the downcast shaft; but there was some, as well as dust on the floor.

The driving road made through the old pillars in the Busty seam and in the left-hand crosscut — both where in the Busty seam and in the so-called Towneley seam — was somewhat damp and free from dust. Where it passed through the Towneley seam the sagre floor had been shot up to a depth of two or three feet in order to make height.

At the point where the crosscuts passed from the Towneley seam to the Busty seam, some water was given off from the leaders of the troubles, and it collected in both the outside crosscuts and was led out in water tubs. The centre crosscut was also stated to be damp at this point; after the explosion there were falls of roof here which prevented the dampness being seen.

After passing this damp zone the remainder of the crosscuts and the three headways were dry until near the face; here water stood on the floor in the last stenton between the left-hand and middle headways, and there was water on the floor in the right-hand headway just beyond the last holing.

The coal at the face of the left-hand headway was bleeding water pretty freely, and this was also the case to a less extent in the middle headway. The stenton going between the middle and right-hand headway was drier. On the third day after the explosion, and before the current of air had been restored by bratticing, drops of water could be seen on the roof of the left-hand headway near the face, and while the stenton between the middle and right-hand headway was being bratticed to remove gas a slight mist was observed, no doubt due to the colder air meeting warm saturated air.

The return air-ways generally were free from dust except the inner portion of the return air-way from the district of explosion.

Within the area over which the explosion extended the dust would practically be confined to the floor; there would be no deposits of fine dust on the timber, &c., comparable to the deposits on old intake air-ways and mechanical haulage roads.

In order to arrive at some idea of the quantity of dust present, a sample of all the loose matter — except the largest pieces, which were thrown aside — on a square foot of road, was collected after the explosion from a point marked on the large scale plan near the termination of the left-hand headway. This point was just outbye of a large fall of roof which closed the road, and the surroundings had not been disturbed since the explosion as the road was not passable. Dr. Bedson, Professor of Chemistry of the Armstrong College in this town, kindly made a mechanical analysis of the sample for me with the following results :—

	Lbs.	ozs.	Per cent.
Total weight of material	10	12	—
Weight of material which would not pass through No. 10 sieve	6	4½	58.43
Material between No. 10 and No. 30	2	4½	21.22
Material between No. 30 and No. 80	1	4	11.62
Material which passed through No. 80 sieve	0	15	8.72
			99.99

Summary.
				Per cent.
Between	0	and	10	58.43
"	10	"	30	21.22
"	30	"	80	11.62
"	80	"	upwards	8.72	practically coal dust.
				99.99

The following hygrometrical observations were made after the explosion :—

	Place	Time		Dry Bulb	Wet Bulb
19th December, 1906—				°F.	°F.
	Surface	10.20	a.m.	45	44
	Intake at downcast	11.10	"	70½	63½
	Commencement of crosscuts	11.30	"	66	63¾
	Back crosscut going stenton	11.50	"	65½	64½
	Last stenton between left-hand and middle headways	12.30	p.m.	70½	69¾
	Middle headways beyond last stenton	2	"	70¾	70¼
27th December, 1906—
	Surface	11	a.m.	Frosty. Hygrometer not graduated low enough.
	Intake at downcast	11.10	"	60	53½
	At water in return crosscut	11.40	"	64½	64
	Last stenton between left-hand and middle headways	1	p.m.	66½	66

Owing to a fall in the return airway the current of air circulating when the above observations were taken was probably considerably below the amount circulating prior to the explosion.

The rise in temperature in the air after descending the downcast shaft was largely due to heat from steam pipes carried down the shaft from the surface.