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Sir,

I have the honour to submit the following report on the explosion which occurred at the Brancepeth A pit, on the night of the 13th of April last, causing the loss of 20 lives.

The colliery, which is situated about 8 miles from Durham, and 4 from Bishop Auckland, is owned by Messrs. Strakers and Love, and has worked for 60 years or so.

The chief agent is Mr. R. L. Weeks; Mr. David Grieves is the resident certificated manager, and Mr. Joseph Dowson under-manager and fore overman, under whom are the back overman, master shifter, master wasteman, and 12 deputies.

The seams worked are the B. or Seggar seam, the Jet, and Brockwell, and about 350 persons are employed, about 200 of them being hewers; the out-put was 540 tons per day. The Jet seam is found at a depth of 27 fathoms 4 feet 5 inches, the B. seam at 37 fathoms 3 feet 11 inches, and the Brockwell at 46 fathoms 6 inches from the surface.

The B seam is worked by means of a rise stone drift from the Brockwell level; it was not affected by the explosion, and the seven men who were working in it at the time came out uninjured; it therefore is not necessary for the purposes of this Report to mention it further.

About a mile from the shaft, in an easterly direction, a dip fault was encountered, which threw the Brockwell seam down 78 feet, and advantage was taken of this to drive a stone drift to the Jet seam, which has been extensively worked (see accompanying plan), the distance from the shaft to the end of the Jet seam workings is 2,530 yards. From this fault a road was driven north, known as the Cross-cut Way, for about 1,000 yards, where a rise fault of 45 feet was met with, and the Brockwell seam again reached. The Brockwell seam, between these two faults, and at an average depth of 50 feet below the Cross-cut Way, has been worked out, and was finished about six years ago. From the shaft to the extreme end of the Brockwell workings in the Dairy Way, and Cross-cut North, is about 4,200 yards.

Ventilation is effected by means of two fans, one at Brancepeth, a Waddle, 35 feet diameter, and the other, a Guibal, 30 feet by 10 feet, at Oakenshaw.

The A pit at Brancepeth is a downcast shaft for both of these, and is 10 feet diameter; the upcast shaft is 7 feet diameter. The air courses are shown on the accompanying plan, the blue lines indicating the intakes and the red the returns.

The B and Jet seams are ventilated to the Brancepeth Pit and the Brockwell seam, in which 35 out of 200 hewers were employed, to the Oakenshaw shaft.

The average quantity of air per minute passing into the Brockwell seam workings, for the three months previous to the explosion was 15,104 cubic feet, all of which passed along the Cross-cut Way, and the total quantity for the three seams was 39,364 cubic feet.

The mine gives off little firedamp, and naked lights are used, except in the Brockwell "broken," where the pillars formed in the first working are being taken out. The last occasion on which gas was reported was in January 1891; it was found by a deputy, in the course of his examination, in the Dairy Way workings, and the quantity was so small as to be easily removed, and it did not impede the working of the mine in any way.

The explosion occurred at about 10 p.m., on Monday, the 13th April, when 30 persons were in the pit, 10 of whom escaped; seven, as before-mentioned, from the B seam, two from the "Old South Way," in the Brockwell seam, a road which was but little affected by the explosion (these lads were found by the explorers who first got down the engine plane, about three hours after the alarm was given), and a man named George Wilson, who was engaged attending to the signals at the shaft bottom. He was knocked down by the blast, but not seriously injured. These 30 men went down the pit at 4 o'clock for the purpose of repairing the timber, taking up bottom, and preparing for the following shift of hewers on the Tuesday morning. All seems to have gone well until about 10 o'clock p.m., when a report was heard, followed by a cloud of dust. Dowson, the under-manager, at once descended the pit, and on reaching the bottom found Wilson, the rapper man, unconscious. He soon recovered consciousness, and stated that he felt a strong rush of air and saw a bright light, and after that remembered no more. He was sent to the surface at once, and went to inform Mr. Grieves, the manager, of what had taken place.

A messenger was sent into Durham to me, and I, in company with Mr. Walker, my assistant, immediately proceeded to the colliery, where Mr. Plummer, my other assistant, had already arrived. We at once descended the shaft, and assisted in the work of exploration. As usual in such cases, there was no want of help. Relays of workmen, and many of the agents and managers from neighbouring collieries, offered their assistance, and they were of great service in advising and taking charge of the operations until the whole of the bodies were recovered. Mr. John Wilson, M.P., Mr. J. Johnson, and other representatives of the miners, also took an active part in the work of exploration.

Considerable difficulty was experienced in getting into the workings, owing to afterdamp and falls of roof, though those were not as serious as are sometimes found, owing to the naturally strong nature of the roof in some parts of the mine. Nearly all the stoppings and air crossings were blown out, necessitating much work before the ventilation could be restored sufficiently to enable persons to penetrate to the interior of the mine and recover the bodies. This was eventually accomplished on Sunday morning, the 19th of April, six days after the explosion occurred.

I and my assistants have on several occasions made careful examinations of all parts of the colliery which had any bearing on the explosion, and I have also had the very valuable assistance of my colleague, Mr. J. L. Hedley, the Inspector for the Newcastle District, who volunteered his services, and who was down the pit on several occasions, and attended the inquest on the four days on which evidence was taken.

In the course of exploration it became apparent that the force of the explosion had radiated from a point in the Cross-cut Way, about 148 yards from the Staple Curve, and near this place drills and blasting gear were found, and about a yard or four feet on the out-bye side was the remains of a shot hole, and beneath it a stone with a corresponding hole, proving conclusively that a shot had been fired here. A water tub and two scoops, used for watering the places where shots were required, were also found within a short distance of the shot hole (see plan). Subsequently, driven through a stenton stopping, close to where Dowson's body was found, some clothes, a box of squibs, Dowson's lamp, and a powder canister, were discovered. The powder can bore the initials "G. R.," and belonged to a man named Lawther, better known as Rutherford, whose body was found in the Dairy Way.

The canister was flattened, the bottom blown out, and it showed signs of having been subjected to heat, and it was suggested that the powder remaining in it, after the shot was made ready, had exploded, either from the effects of the shot or some other causes.

The hole was about 17 inches deep, and it seems probable that two pellets were used, making a charge of about half a pound. The only explosive used in the mine has been compressed powder, made up in bobbins or pellets, about 4 ozs. each. The shots in the portion of the mine where naked lights were used were fired by means of squibs, in other parts by a wire heated in the flame of a safety lamp, and applied to a fuze.

There was no satisfactory explanation as to why this shot should have been fired. The stone is a strong grey post, which it was stated had stood in its present position for 22 years, and from all appearances it might have stood for another 20.

Some suggestions are: (1) that the intention was to put up another pair of timbers, and that a portion of the roof had to be taken down to allow of this being done, though it did not appear to be necessary; (2) that the stone was to be taken down to improve the entrance to a refuge hole, as it was somewhat lower than other parts of the engine plane, and (3) that the master shifter, Rogerson, had given this order with the intention that the stone should be brought down with wedges, but the men finding it harder than they anticipated, and having powder and other appliances at hand, put in a shot without his knowledge. Whatever may have been the motive, it is quite clear that a shot was prepared and fired.

Special Rule 114, sub-section D., reads, "Whenever it is necessary to begin or resume the use of gunpowder or other explosive, or to fire a shot in any return airway or main haulage road, the official in charge must first obtain permission from the manager or under-manager."

In addition to this, about three months before the explosion, as the result of a discussion on the subject of dust explosions with some other mining authorities, Mr. Grieves issued a further verbal order that shot was not to be fired on any haulage road without his own consent being first obtained. This was communicated by Mr. Grieves to the under-manager, and by him to the master shifter (Rogerson), and no such permission was given or asked for on the day in question.

The master shifter's (Rogerson) body was found 59 yards on the out-bye side of the shot, and the small tram which he was in the habit of using when going about the pit was close by, a little on the out-bye side of him; he was lying facing outwards, but it is impossible to say with certainty whether he was going outwards, having passed the shot, or was coming in towards it, from the Jet seam, where his duties would take him, when the accident occurred, and had himself had time to turn round, or been swung round by the force of the blast.

The hole was drilled nearly at right angles to the engine plane, but pointing a little inwards, and was not in a position to blow down much stone; a hole more or less parallel with the road would probably have been more effective, and it was suggested, from the position and direction of the hole, that it was unlikely that a man of Rogerson's experience would have drilled, or ordered a hole to be drilled, in such a position. and, moreover, some stemming was found adhering to the sides of the hole, composed in part of coal dust, which is most unsuitable tamping, and is in contravention of General Rule 12, and this strengthened the theory that the hole was prepared by a less experienced person than Rogerson. Partly from the position of the shot hole, and partly from the fact that about three inches inside it there was a natural joint or jack in the stone, the powder had less work to do than was anticipated, and this would cause a certain amount of flame to be given off, aggravated, no doubt, by the coal dust in the stemming.

Powder was given out from the stores, as required, on application, either to the master shifter himself, or to the stone-men under his charge, and the custom was for the men to take home any powder they had remaining over and keep it in their own possession in powder tins, supplied for the purpose, until it would be required. It was therefore impossible to determine what amount of powder was taken down the pit on the night of the explosion, or what quantity there would be in possession of the men in the Cross-cut Way, though, as no shots were known to be going to be fired that night, and only one canister was found after the explosion, the presumption is that there would only be at the most 5 lbs., which is the maximum quantity allowed to any one person.