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With a view to arriving at a conclusion as to the origin of the explosion, I have given much consideration to the state of the Bullhurst and Banbury Seven Feet Seams in respect of the presence of inflammable gas and the existence of coal dust. I have satisfied myself that the explosion was not due to shot-firing, and I have eliminated matches as a probable cause as the section of the Act relating to the searching of workmen was being strictly enforced.

After carefully considering the facts revealed by the evidence of the various witnesses and by personal investigation, I have come to the conclusion that the explosion originated in or near the goaf at the top end of No. 4 district in the Bullhurst Seam, and that the cause was an explosion of gas developing into an explosion of coal dust which traversed roads reached by the Banbury Dip Crut in the Bullhurst and Banbury Seven Feet Seams, to which the force and flame of the explosion were confined. The igniting cause of the explosion of gas in or near the goaf was, in my opinion, either a defective safety lamp or sparks produced when the Bull-dog stone over the goaf fell; of the two, I think the former is the more probable cause. Of the safety lamps recovered all but one — that from Ratcliffe's Place — were found on examination, or on being put to stringent tests by Dr. Wheeler at the Home Office Experimental Station at Eskmeals, to be in such condition that they would not pass flame. The one from Ratcliffe's Place passed flame, but it had a punctured hole through the shield and gauzes near the middle ring, probably made by the pick of the person who recovered it from fallen coal and stone. The edges of the puncture were bright and it appeared to have been due to a recent blow. If the hole. had been made at the time or prior to the explosion its edges would not, in my opinion, have had the appearance they had.

A search in No. 4 district of the Bullhurst Seam for a safety lamp which had not been found at the time of the Inquiry and which I thought might be the cause of the ignition of gas from the goaf, was made by the management and the lamp was found in Dean's Drift (see lamp No. 463 on Plate V.) on 2nd January, 1920. It had a standard missing and the shield at the middle ring was bulged in. It was subjected to stringent tests (described in Appendix D) at the Home Office Experimental Station, Eskmeals, in the presence of representatives of the various interests, and it did not pass flame. It must therefore, I think, be discarded as a probable cause of the explosion of the gas.

As previously stated, while I am of opinion that the probable cause of the explosion was a defective safety lamp, I do not rule out sparks from falling "Bulldog" stone in the goaf at the top end of No. 4 district, Bullhurst Seam, as a possible cause. Dr. Wheeler and Sir John Cadman have both been unable experimentally to ignite gas by sparks from this stone, but in these tests it has not been possible to reproduce the conditions in the pit, and before any definite conclusion can be arrived at considerable research is required and should, in my opinion, be carried out without delay to settle finally whether firedamp can be ignited in the conditions which existed at the Minnie Pit on the day of the explosion. There is no doubt, I think, that the "Bull-dog" stone in the goaf fell just prior to, or about the time the explosion occurred, and it may be that the sparks and flashes caused by its breaking and falling ignited the gas in the goaf. If this theory is the correct one, and it is held by the management and several other witnesses, working from the top and allowing the goaf to become charged with firedamp where the gradient is less than 1 in 5 is attended with considerable risk. The goaf in these circumstances should, I think, either be kept ventilated or packed. It would be safer, where the conditions are such as to allow of its being done, to work the coal from the bottom and fill the goaf with packing or water.

A memorandum by Dr. Wheeler on the igniting power of sparks from stone, including an account of the experiments already made at the Home Office Experimental Station, Eskmeals, is printed as Appendix E.

Breaches Of The Coal Mines Act, 1911, And Regulations Under The Act.

I have alluded in the body of the report to breaches of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, and the Regulations under that Act, namely, failure to record the measurements of the air current in the Bullhurst Seam required by General Regulation 77 (b) and (c) in a book in the form prescribed by the Secretary of State (breach of Sections 24 (1) and 29 (2)); failure to remove, as far as practicable, coal dust from the roof and sides (breach of Section 62 (3)); and assigning to a fireman a district of the mine of such a size as to prevent him carrying out in a thorough manner all his statutory duties (breach of Section 14 (3)).

Outstanding Cases Of Bravery.

There are two cases of outstanding bravery to be recorded. One of them is that of James Thomas Machin, leader of the Rescue Brigade on the occasion when Hugh Doorbar collapsed. The other is that of Frank Halfpenny, who, when the explosion occurred, was 500 yards from No. 1 (or Minnie) Pit bottom at the top of the new haulage. He stated that there was noise caused by reversing of the air current, followed by dust and smoke. He lay down on the floor and after the air current resumed its natural course he got up again and attempted to telephone to the top of Banbury Dip but got no answer. Then, without the slightest hesitation and although there was smoke all round him, he went to the top of the Banbury Dip, a distance of 800 yards, and telephoned to the surface to inform the manager, Mr. Smith, of the state of affairs below ground. He received instructions not to go into and not to allow anyone else to go into the return airway. His going inbye a distance of 800 yards in the circumstances which existed was a brave act. Most men, instead of doing so, would have made at once for the shaft. but Halfpenny proceeded inbye to see if he could render any aid, regardless of the risk he himself ran in doing so. On the way he found the body of a lad lying in the gutter, and lifted it out and put it on the side of the road, while he also found another lad lying unconscious, who ultimately recovered.

Suggestions Made By The Representatives Of One Or Other Of The Interests At The Inquiry.

The following suggestions for amendment of the Act or Regulations were made during my inquiry

(1) Mr. Cave, on behalf of the North Staffordshire Miners' Association, suggested that Section 67 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, should be amended to require that a report be made of the examination by an official when men have withdrawn themselves owing to the presence of gas or other causes. Evidence was given that shortly after midnight on January 11th the colliers in Ratcliffe's Place had come out of their place owing to the presence of gas and sent for Rowley, who was described as the Assistant Fireman and Shot-firer. Rowley examined the place and found 1½ per cent, of gas in it, but as he considered it was safe to work he told the men they could go back. He made no report because it was considered that one was not required under Section 67 unless the workmen had been withdrawn by an official owing to some ascertained danger. I concur with Mr. Cave's suggestion, and beg to recommend that the Act should be amended to make it a definite requirement that a full and accurate report should be entered in the book required to be kept at the mine under Section 67 (3) of all examinations of places from which a workman has been withdrawn or from which a workman has withdrawn himself.

(2) Mr. Cave and the interests, other than those of the owners and management, were of opinion that every inspection made by a fireman in pursuance of Section 65 should be reported in the prescribed book and Mr. Granville Poole, H.M. Senior Inspector of Mines, agreed with this opinion. I agree with them that if any noxious gas, defects in roof and sides or other sources of danger are observed in any inspection a report should be made.

(3) It was suggested that an official with at least a Second Class Certificate should always be present in a mine when a shift of men is below ground. At the Minnie Pit the overmen in the various shifts did not possess such a certificate. In view of the importance of the operations carried out in shift when neither manager nor under-manager are below ground, it was suggested that an official with the same qualifications as an under-manager should be in charge under ground. With this view I am in agreement.

(4) A desirable amendment of the prescribed shot-firing book was suggested to make it possible to know the place where a shot has been fired and the exact quantity of explosive in each charge. At present this is not required. The number of cartridges is required to be shown but, as the weights of cartridges vary, it is not possible to discover after an accident of this kind the exact weight of explosive put into each shot-hole.

(5) A further suggestion was made that, where shot-firing is prohibited in any place or area, as was the case on the date of this explosion and had been for nearly three weeks prior to it, a notice of the fact specifying the prohibited places or areas should be posted in a conspicuous place or places at the pit-head, and that the person giving out the explosives should be instructed in writing not to issue explosives to any person working in such prohibited place or area. This is a reasonable and desirable requirement and should, I think, be required by Regulation.

(6) It was suggested that all shots should be fired by a fireman or by a person possessing a fireman's certificate. In a mine of the character of the Minnie Pit shot-firing is one of the most responsible duties that can be given to a man and, in my opinion, the suggestion is one which should be given effect to.

(7) Mr. Sumnall, on behalf of the Federation of Firemen, Shotlighters, Examiners and Deputies, asked that consideration should be given to the appointment of a special person to make an examination in respect of coal dust, and that the duty should not be placed on the fireman at all. The duties laid upon a fireman by Sections 64 and 65 under the head of "other sources of danger" include that of coal dust, and I do not think the whole of the responsibility in this respect can be taken from him; but it is clear that a fireman cannot make such a minute inspection in regard to it as is desirable, and I think that Section 62 (5) should be amended so as to place the duty of making the daily examination required by that sub-section on some person other than the fireman, examiner or deputy.

(8) It was suggested that in future the manager should be required to record in a book when an Inspector visits a mine. There does not appear to be any objection to this being done, although I do not think that it is necessary. Owing to the changes which have occurred in the Inspectorate staff during the war and to the retirement of Mr. Saint, Senior Inspector of Mines, some difficulty was experienced in obtaining the date when the Bullhurst Seam and particularly No. 4 district, was last inspected prior to the explosion. From the records in the Senior Inspector's office it was found that this inspection was made by Mr. Clive, Junior Inspector of Mines (who at present is on sick leave and is in Canada) on April 23rd, 1917.

Anonymous Correspondence in "The Staffordshire Sentinel." — During the holding of the Coroner's Inquest and between its conclusion and the opening of my Inquiry, considerable anonymous correspondence took place in "The Staffordshire Sentinel," which showed that there was a strong feeling in the minds of some persons that the evidence given at the Inquest as to the place of origin and the cause of the explosion and the verdict of the jury in this respect were wrong. It was stated that, in the opinion of some of these writers, the place of origin was in the Banbury Seven Feet Seam, and the cause was shot-firing in that seam. In response to the notices which were issued by Mr. H. K. Beale on my behalf, giving the place, date, and time of the holding of the inquiry and asking any persons who wished to give evidence to send their names and addresses to Mr. Beale, one of the writers of these letters (Elijah Holland) applied to give evidence. He was heard at considerable length, as well as other witnesses who gave evidence as to the point of origin and as to the impossibility of the explosion having been caused by shot-firing in the Banbury Seven Feet Seam. Two shot-holes were found in Dean's working place in that seam ; one was charged and rammed, and the other was charged and partly rammed, with the rammer in the hole; two safety lamps were hanging on props near the face, tools were at the working face and a tub with some tools in it. The key of the shot-firing battery was found in the fireman's pocket; the cable of the shot-firing battery was found coiled up on the right-hand side of the heading about six feet from the face, and the battery itself was back from the place.

From these facts, from the evidence, and from what I have seen below ground, I am satisfied that the explosion did not originate in the Banbury Seven Feet Seam. All the indications showed conclusively that the point of origin was in No. 4 district of the Bullhurst Seam and that the force and flame came out of that district, travelled out-bye along the cruts, and into the Banbury Seven Feet Seam roads and workings at the bottom of the Banbury Dip Cruts. There is a consensus of opinion supporting this conclusion.

I wish to acknowledge the courtesy of the legal and other representatives of the owners and management, of the relatives of the deceased and of the federations of workmen and the great assistance they have given me in furthering the objects of the Inquiry.

I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

W. Walker.

 

A copy of this report was kindly donated by
West Cumbria Mines Research.