xxii

July 24, 1914.

Supplement to THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Table A.

Description.	Number driven by		Statute tons cut by			
	Elec- tricity.	Compressed air.	1  Electricity.		i  Compressed air.	
			Coal.	Ironstone.	Coal.	Ironstone.
Disc				Tons.	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.
	29	13	315,115	—	229,300	—
Bar 		20	6	131,244	10,241	88,855	2,156
Chain 			21	7	217,103	49,240	86,090	12,665
Percussive 		—	74	—	—	149,558	19,104
Rotary Heading			—	5	—	—	2,386	—
Totals			70	105	663,462	59,481	556,189	33,925

only a period of somewhat less than 11 months. The
figures relating to the non-fatal accidents reported are
of little value for purposes of comparison, as owners and
managers are year by year adopting to a greater extent
the practice of reporting a large number of accidents of
a more or less trivial nature, such as pinched fingers,
sprained wrists, twisted ankles, etc., which are not
required to be reported at the time of their occurrence.
The owners and managers are required to report to the
companies with which they are insured for compensa-
tion purposes every accident which occurs, however
trivial it may appear to be, and they erroneously con-
clude that it is advisable that these accidents should
at the same time be reported to the inspector. Two
accidents due to falls of roof and one shaft accident
each caused two deaths, and two shaft accidents each
caused three deaths.

The following is a summary of fatal and non-fatal
accidents, classified

Fatal
acci-
dents.

Non-fatal
accidents
reported
to
inspector.*

cause :—

All non-fatal
accidents
disabling for
more than
7 days.

Place and cause.

fl

IT

CQ

02

c3
02

A

<D S3
+5 0)

g
g<§
02





m fl

43 <D

02

to H

o's

CO 'H

Pm

1..

65 .

9...

31...

1... 13... 20...

67..	. 243...251... 4,990..

14..	.	5... 5...	39...

13 ..

18
5,009
42

31... 301...307... 9,038.

9,048

106... 113... 562...583... 14,080... 14,117
18... 18... 98... 99... 1,487 .. 1,489

124..	. 131... 660...682...15,567...15,606

121..	. 122	580 614 13.534 13.570

Explosions of firedamp
or coaldust.........
Falls in mines .......
Shaft accidents.......
Miscellaneous under-
ground .............

Total underground...
On surface .........

Gross total in 1913 ...

Total in 1912 .......

* and f See footnotes on page iii.

The death rates from accidents per 1,000 persons
employed were as follows :—Above ground, 0-685 (in
preceding year, 0-715); below ground, 1-229 (1-186);
above and below, 1-108 (1-080).

One fatal and 13 non-fatal accidents from explosions
of firedamp occurred during the year, resulting in one
death and injuries to 20 persons. The corresponding
figures for the preceding year were three fatal and nine
non-fatal accidents, causing three deaths and injuries
to 13 persons. None of these accidents was aggravated
by coal dust. One accident, injuring one person,
occurred in Leicestershire; one, injuring one person, in
Shropshire; five, injuring eight persons, in North Staf-
fordshire; one, causing one death, and one, injuring one
person, in South Staffordshire; two, injuring two per-
sons, in Warwickshire; and three, injuring seven
persons, in Worcestershire.

The number of accidents from falls of ground reported
during the year was 308, causing the death of 67 per-
sons and injuries to 251 others. The corresponding
figures for the preceding year were 271 accidents,
causing the deaths of 59 persons, and injuries to 218
others. South Derbyshire shows an increase of four
accidents and four deaths, Leicestershire of two acci-
dents and two deaths, Shropshire of one accident and
one death, South Staffordshire of four accidents and
four, deaths, and Warwickshire of four accidents and
four deaths; while Gloucestershire shows a decrease of
three accidents and three deaths, Somersetshire of one
accident and one death, North Staffordshire of two acci-
dents and one death, and Worcestershire of three
accidents and two deaths. In the Black Country, taken
by itself, there were 11 accidents, causing 12 deaths,
as compared with 10 accidents, causing 10 deaths, in
the preceding year. Of these 11 accidents, 10, causing
11 deaths, occurred in the Thick or Ten-yard coal.

Fourteen shaft accidents were reported during the
year. Of these, nine were fatal, causing the deaths of
14 persons, and five were non-fatal, causing injuries to
five persons. The corresponding figures for the pre-
ceding year were seven fatal and 15 non-fatal accidents,
resulting in eight deaths and injuries to 38 persons. At
Berry Hill Colliery, Top pit, North Staffordshire, on
July 20, an accident occurred by which an underlooker,
a shaft repairer, and an assistant shaft repairer lost
their lives under somewhat peculiar circumstances. The
shaft is 550 yds. in depth, by 12 ft. in diameter, and is
fitted with two cages running in wood guides. On July
14, while winding water, a descending cage left the
guides 80 yds. from the shaft bottom. It stripped the
shaft, and became fastened 60 yds. below the point
where it left the guides. The winding rope was secured
at pit bank by means of several pairs of glands fitted
over tarred cord lapping, and supported on iron girders
placed across the pit top. The security of the glands
was tested by raising the rope three times to heights

varying from 6 in. to 4 or 5 ft., and dropping the glands
upon the girders. This rope was then detached from
the winding drum, and the other winding rope was
used for repairing purposes. The work of repairing the
stays and guide rods had proceeded continuously until
10.55 p.m. on July 20, when the accident happened. At
the commencement of the work, the manager had, at
the request of one of the deceased men, examined a
block rope and condemned it as unfit for use, and had
supplied a new rope as a substitute. Shortly before the
accident took place the deceased came to the pit top and
informed the banksman that they had lost the set of
blocks which they had been using in the shaft, having
dropped them down the pit, and unfortunately they
took the set with the condemned rope down the shaft
to replace that which they had lost. They descended
the shaft with two new guide rods lashed to the bowk,
and were stopped at the position where these rods were
to be fixed. A few minutes later the banksman heard
a grinding, noise, and saw a shower of sparks issuing
from the glands, caused, apparently, by the rope running
through them, and on examination it was found that
the rope by which the cage was suspended had dis-
appeared down the shaft. The body of the underlooker
was subsequently found in the shaft bottom on the top
of the coiled up winding rope, and the bodies of the
other two men were found in the bowk, they having
apparently been killed by the falling rope or by the
rider, which had been smashed. The two guide rods
which had been suspended from the bowk were found
resting in the sump, the lashing chain of one being
intact and that of the other broken. The chain by
which the blocks had been hung in the shaft was found
attached to a stay above the bowk, and the broken block
rope was found in and around the bowk. This rope was
identified by the manager as that which he had con-
demned on July 14. Apparently one of the guide rods
suspended from the bowk was being lifted by the block
rope in order that it might be swung into position, when
the rope broke under the strain, and the guide rod, in
falling down the shaft, struck the suspended cage with
great force, causing the winding rope to be pulled
through the gland, and the rope end, in its passage down
the shaft, had struck the bowk and rider and killed the
men. The glands by which the rope was fastened had
been examined nine hours prior to the occurrence of the
accident, and found to be in good order, and measure-
ments taken showed that up to that time the rope had
not slipped at all. Tarred cord lapping is frequently
used under similar circumstances to protect a winding
rope from the pressure of the glands, but probably this
purpose could be better served, and greater security
obtained, by lapping the rope with soft iron wire. The
fact, however, that the glands held the rope without
slipping for so many days indicates that the attachment
had been carefully made, and would have been sufficient
in ordinary circumstances.

Thirty-one fatal and 301 non-fatal miscellaneous
underground accidents were reported during the year,
resulting in 31 deaths and injuries to 307 persons. The
corresponding figures for the preceding year were 34
fatal and 250 non-fatal accidents, resulting in 34 deaths
and injuries to 251 persons.

By explosives there were six fatal accidents, result-
ing in the deaths of the same number of men. The
cause of the accident which occurred at Lunts Colliery,
Worcestershire, on July 21 was not clearly ascertained.
It may have been that flame from the explosion of the
bottom shot ignited the other fuses, but it is equally
probable that deceased had lighted the three fuses, that
two of them had hung for a short time, causing him to
conclude that the fuses had not been properly ignited,
and that he returned in* order to re-light them, when
the shots went off. In previous reports Mr. Johnstone
has repeatedly called attention to the danger of charging
and attempting to light more than one shot at a time
by fuse, as it not infrequently happens that one or
more of the shots may hang for a short time, and the
shot-firer, assuming that the fuse or fuses have not been
properly lighted, returns to the face to do this without
waiting for the interval provided for in section 3 of the
Explosives in Coal Mines Order of September 1. This
section applies only to shots which miss fire, and as it
appears to be doubtful whether a shot which has hung
fire under the above conditions could be properly classed
as a missed shot, the question of broadening the Regu-
lation to cover shots which anyone had attempted to
light may have to be considered. Of the non-fatal
accidents classed under “ blows from stones projected
by shots,” no less than four occurred in an exactly
similar manner. Another was apparently due to the
wholly erroneous idea, frequently held by workmen,
that the high explosives only strike downwards. A
shot-firer, firing a ripping shot charged with Monobel,
took up his position 32 yds. from, but in the direct path
of, the shot, which was fired electrically. Four others
were due to shot-firers, for one cause or another, entrust-

ing the coupling up of the firing cable to the shot to the
stallman, in direct contravention of the Regulations.
The shot-firer in each case coupled his battery to the
other end of the firing cable, and owing to a misunder-
standing with reference to the signal to be given to him
when all was ready, fired the shot before the stallman
had taken shelter.

At Pooley Hall Colliery, Warwickshire, on January
14, a non-fatal accident occurred, the circumstances
attending which were very peculiar. A fairly heavy
shot, charged with Bobbinite, had been fired in the coal
near the gateway end. It brought down the breast coal,
but left a bench of bottom coal. The stallman and his
loader drilled a horizontal hole for a distance of 18 in.
in this bottom coal. It passed through some pyrites,
and was very hard to bore, requiring considerable exer-
tion on the part of the two men boring it. On with-
drawing the ratchet drill, the stallman found that the
cutting edge was broken and blunted, but he did not
touch it, and could not say whether it was hot or not.
Another hole was thereafter drilled in the coal, but
4 yds. to the left. It was charged with | lb. of
Bobbinite, and duly fired, and did its work w’ell. It
did not, however, touch the knob of bottom coal at the
with | lb. of Bobbinite. The time between the drilling
gateway end, and the stallman proceeded to charge it
of this hole and the charging of it must, therefore, have
been considerable, as it was drilled before the left-hand
shot was charged, and was not charged until about four
minutes after the left-hand shot had been fired. The
shot-firer connected the fuse wires to one end of his
firing cable, and reeled out the cable along the long-
wall face, leaving the stallman and his loader at the
gateway end to fill out a tub which had been nearly
loaded, and which stood on the flatsheets in front of the
shot. The stallman *was between the tub and the face,
in the act of pushing the tub outbye, when the shot
exploded, and a piece of coal projected from it struck
him. The shot-firer maintained that he had not fired
the shot, that the battery was on the floor about 2 ft.
from him, that the firing key was in his pocket, that
the cable had not been connected to the battery at all,
but that he was in the act of rubbing the wire ends with
his fingers to clean them, -preparatory to attaching them
to the battery, when the shot exploded. A holer who
had retired with him, and was sitting immediately in
front of him, confirmed this. It was suggested (1) that
the socket of the hole had been highly heated owing to
the friction due to boring, and that the heat in the coal
had ignited the Bobbinite; or (2) that the left-hand shot
had shaken the coal for some distance and caused cracks
in which coal dust was left smouldering, and that this
crept along the crack and reached the explosive in the
shot at the gateway end. It appeared to Mr. John-
stone, however, (1) that the interval which had elapsed
between the drilling and the charging of this hole was
sufficient to cool it if it was hot, and if not sufficiently
cooled, that the explosive would have been ignited
immediately after being rammed in, whereas, as stated
above, an interval of three or four minutes elapsed
between the charging and the ignition of the shot; and
(2) that if smouldering dust in cracks in the coal
extended as far as the shot at the gateway end, it would
have ignited the charge immediately on its insertion,
and that if, on the other hand, the incandescent dust
did not extend as far as the shot hole, it wrould be very
unlikely that the smouldering could reach it within the
time named. The accident could be more easily
explained by the assumption that the battery had been
tampered with, but there was no one near it except
the shot-firer and the holer, who maintained positively
that the firing cable was not, and had not been in any
way connected to the battery, and both were said to
be reliable men.

By underground haulage 16 fatal and 207 non-fatal
accidents were reported during the year, resulting in 16
deaths and injuries to 207 persons. The corresponding
figures for the preceding year were 19 fatal and 160 non-
fatal accidents, causing 19 deaths and injuries to 161
persons. Of the above, 10 persons were injured while
illegally riding, and three persons were killed and nine
injured by going in front instead of behind tubs while
moving them by hand on inclined roads.

By electricity, two fatal and four non-fatal accidents
were reported during the year, resulting in two deaths
and injuries to four persons. The corresponding figures
for the preceding year were two fatal and three non-
fatal accidents, causing two deaths and injuries to three
persons.

Mr. Nelson, who investigated an accident at Fly
Colliery, and subsequently attended the inquest, was of
opinion that the cables were too light for use under-
ground, and that the conditions which obtained at the
scene of the accident were perfect for an electric shock.
The cables did not comply with the existing Regula-
tions, but it was stated at the inquest that they were in
use prior to June 1911, and were, therefore, exempted
from these Regulations by Regulation 137 (b). An
accident at Exhall Colliery, Warwickshire, on December
22, should clearly never have occurred if reasonable and
proper precautions had been taken. It emphasises the
necessity for the entire control and direction of elec-
trical apparatus during repairs or extension being in the
hands of a properly trained expert. The non-fatal acci-
dents do not call for special comment here, further than
that every one of them might have been prevented had
proper care been exercised.

By machinery, 11 non-fatal accidents were reported
during the year, resulting in injuries to as many per-
sons. The corresponding figures for the previous year
were two fatal and 12 non-fatal accidents, causing two
deaths and injuries to 12 persons.

At Kemberton Pit, Shropshire, on October 27, a fatal
accident occurred under circumstances which were very
unusual, and in which the actual cause of death was
not made quite clear. A section of top coal workings,
known as the Coronation section, had been sealed off