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	Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	3rd September 1857
Colliery:	New Gawber
Company:	Sturges and Co.
Cause:	Boiler bursting
Lives Lost:	1
Category:

Accident No. 37 in the Tabular List.

Boiler bursting at New Gawber Colliery, near Barnsley.

It appeared from the evidence in this case that the boiler had only been employed six months ; that it was manufactured at Bowling Iron Works, near Bradford, on the most approved principles and from the best iron ; that it was 33 feet long and six feet diameter, made in the Cornish shape, with an internal flue three feet diameter, and furnished with a steam gauge, safety valve, water gauge, and common wheel float ; that it was originally tested by a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch, was ordinarily worked at 45 or 50 pounds, and steam generally blew from the safety valve at 50 pounds.

After the explosion, the iron flue which formed the fireplace was found collapsed, the upper side having been forced in; the plates of the flue had been red hot, and the boiler seemed to have been short of water long before it burst.

The engineman escaped, but the stoker was unluckily killed ; and although the former thought that the water stood high enough at the moment of the accident, yet the coroner's jury were of opinion, and there was no reason whatever to doubt, that the bursting of the boiler was attributable to deficiency of water, and not to excessive pressure of steam.

Had the engineman attentively watched the water gauge and float as to their efficiency, and not contented himself with merely observing their indications, he would have ascertained clearly whether or not the boiler lacked water. A common float or a safety valve may stick fast, and the tube of a water gauge or of a steam gauge may get choked ; therefore it is absolutely requisite that an engineman should regularly and frequently handle and try these instruments, in order to convince himself thoroughly of their correct action : simply looking at them, occasionally, is not the way to ensure their complete and effective operation.

A fusible plug in the crown of the iron flue, or an alarm whistle, attached to the boiler, might have announced the want of water in time to enable the engineman and stoker to avoid destructive results.

Source: 1857 Mines Inspectors Report, by Charles Morton, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 160

	Brogden, Joseph, Boiler bursting
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