June 25, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1339

COLLIERY ACCIDENTS.

Brayton Domain Colliery.

The inquest on the victims of the colliery explosion at
Brayton No. 4 Colliery, which has been adjourned several
times, was held at the Market Hall, Aspatria, on Friday
last week, before Mr. E. Atter (coroner for West Cumber-
land). The explosion occurred about 11 o’clock on Monday,
April 25, in a portion of the pit which is known as Jackson’s
drift. It appears that a shot was fired which is supposed to
have penetrated an old working charged with gas, with the
result that an explosion occurred, and eight men were very
severely burned. They were all got out alive, but since then
seven of them have succumbed to their injuries. The names
of those who have died are :—Jas. Wilkinson, 59, married,
71, Lawson-street; Jos. Rumney, 60, married, Springkell;
Henry Wilkinson, 32, single, 71, Lawson-street; Thos.
Birney, 64, married, 16, Harriston; Paul Rayson, 25,
single, 36, Harriston; Thos. Herbert Little, 29, single, 8,
Springkell; and Robt. Lightfoot, 20, single, 36, Harriston.

Mr. Thos. Eadie, assistant manager, produced a plan, and
explained to the jury where the shot was fired and the
explosion occurred.

Thos. Harris said that on April 25 he was on the morning
shift. It was about 11 o’clock when the explosion occurred.
He could just recollect the explosion, and then he fell down.
A stone hit him on the head and shoulder. Witness heard
someone shout, and he shouted back. He then crept out of
the place. He was not unconscious. The hole for the shot
was bored by a shot jumper, and would be about 18 to 20 in.
long. He did not know that there was any gas in the place,
nor did he know there was any road round. The explosive
they were using was stowite, and was purchased from the
colliery company. Before April 26 he never heard of any
gas in this locality. He did not know that Rayson and
Little fired a shot about a quarter of an hour before they
fired theirs.

Wm. Brown Band, deputy at No. 4 pit, stated that on
the morning of April 26 he commenced duty at 4 o’clock,
and worked till 12 o’clock. He tested for gas in Jackson’s
drift, but found no trace of any. Witness had never found
any gas in this district. He saw all the deceased workmen
during the shift. The place was inspected again about
half-an-hour before the explosion. Witness became aware
of the explosion by means of a rush of air, and on going into
the working the first man he saw was James Wilkinson,
who was sitting. He told witness that there had been an
explosion. Witness could not say how many men there
were in the pit, but there were 24 men in his district. When
he went into the working place for the second time, about
10.15, he was told that the men were ready for firing a shot,
and if he saw Rumney, he had to tell him. Witness tested
for gas on that occasion, but the hole was not drilled when
he was in. He met Rumney about 250 yds. away, and he
told him what the men had said. The working was under-
cut, but he supposed a shot was needed, because it was too
hard to hew. He tested on the edge of the goaf., but did not
go into the goaf, because he did not think it was safe,
as he did not know the state of the roof. He came to the
conclusion that it was quite clear of all gas. He did not
anticipate the shot going through. Witness, in answer to
questions, said previous to the explosion he had never found
gas in that place, but he had found it since. The only way
he could account for it was that several stoppings had been
blown out by the explosion, and one had been overlooked.
Since it was put in, the gas had cleared away. He would
not call it a gassy seam. There was a thin seam above, but
he had never heard of that upper seam giving off gas to
the goaf.

Mr. Wilson (H.M. divisional inspector of mines) : What
is the smallest quantity of gas you can see on your lamp?
—per cent.

Do you report that when you find it?—If I found it in any
place where anyone was working I would report it.

In reply to Mr. Sharp, witness said it did not occur to
him to suggest to the men to hew the place down instead of
firing a shot. He admitted that if he had said to them,
“ Don’t fire a shot, but hew the place down,” and he would
see they were paid for it, and he had reported it to Mr.
Elliott, giving his reasons, it would have been paid. They did
not consider the question of pay where safety was concerned.
There was no regulation .requiring him to go into the goaf.
Witness did not know if Rumney examined the holes for
breaks according to regulations, or if he found any. The
first shot, of which mention had already been made, was
fired about 15 or 20 minutes before the explosion, and would
be about 60 yds. distant. The first shot also fired into a
goaf. Rumney was a good, responsible man.

In reply to the coroner, Mr. Askew, the manager of the
colliery, said the fan was never slowed down at No. 4 pit,
not even on Sundays. It always ran at the same speed.

Mr. Wilson here pointed out: ‘‘There is no regulation
about going into a goaf, but there is a section which says
you must assure yourself of the general safety. My point
was, unless you are absolutely certain of the safety at that
corner, you ought not to allow a shot to be fired.”

The deputy said if he thought there was any danger to the
men he would examine the place, irrespective of the
regulations..

Joseph Hillary, who has been overman at the colliery for
the last nine years, stated that he became aware of the acci-
dent by a change in the air. Dand came to him, and said
he thought there had been a fall somewhere. Witness went
in and learned of the accident, so he telephoned to the under-
manager what had happened, and he also telephoned through-
out the pit for all the workmen to go home, as there had
been an explosion. There would be from 150 to 160 men
in the pit. He had been in the working that morning before
the explosion, and had examined it thoroughly. He had
been round behind the timber on the Friday before the explo-
sion, carrying a Davy lamp, but found no signs of gas. In
reply to a further question, witness said the gas had come
down over the week-end. The little seam above sometimes
contained gas, and it probably came from there. He had
been in the high side of the goaf many a time. The whole
of the edge was not down. He had to crawl some part of
the way. The fall that came down at the week-end was a
freestone fall. He would have stopped the men firing a hole
through into the goaf. He had never found gas in the
district previous to the explosion.

Hudson Yeowart, overman, stated that he had the place
under supervision 10 weeks previously. He had never seen
any gas there.

Mr. George Henry Askew, manager and agent of the
Brayton Collieries, stated that he was there about 9 o’clock
on April 26. He did not make an examination of the place

until the evening, when he went down into the locality with
• Mr. Cook. In his opinion, there had been an accumula-
tion of gas in the Little seam above the Yard band, and it
had been exploded by the shot. The only conclusion he
could come to was that the shot-firer did not make an exami-
nation immediately beforehand. He was an experienced,
good man, whom he had known ever since he came to the
pit 25 years ago. His instructions were that no shot was
to be fired unless the goaf was properly examined. He
admitted that unless someone went to the other side of the
place no shot should be fired. His instructions were that
any gas found in examinations had to be reported, even if
removed after a short time. From the distance the gas
travelled, there must have been an accumulation, but he did
not think it accumulated over the week-end. He would not
approve of firing into the goaf without he went round to
examine it. It was not a pit that made a lot of gas. There
were big districts where they never saw signs of gas. Com-
pressed powder was not used up to the time of the accident.
He had never given orders for men to hew down when they
got to the goaf.

Mr. Lightfoot (who represented the owners), referring to
the question of permitted explosives, said their use depended
on the provisions of the Order. Where there was. no indi-
cation of danger from the presence of inflammable gases,
they could use explosives not classed as permitted. In this
case gas had not been found within the three months set out
in the section.

In reply to the coroner, Mr. Askew said they had tried
several explosives, and were trying to get a satisfactory one.
They had had two explosions that caused injury. The only
one definitely due to gas was the case of a man who burned
himself in lighting a shot 12 or 15 years ago. Another man
was also burned, but it was not clear whether it was due
to the gas or the blowing out of the powder.

In reply to Mr. Cape, witness said No. 4 pit was a wet
mine throughout.

Robt. Bell, delegate and representative of the workmen,
who was called by Mr. Cape, stated that he visited the
scene on April 29—three days after the explosion, and went
through the whole of the district. In Birney’s place they
found no gas, but there was some leading to Wilkinson’s
place. The first road they tried to get to-Wilkinson’s place
they could not use because it took the lights. They went up
behind, right up to where the hole had been blown through.
They found no gas there. The roof was fallen.

The inspector/ asked for his observations by the coroner,
said the shot should never have been fired under the circum-
stances. The man who was directly responsible was unfor-
tunately the'man who had lost his life. But, apart from that,
that did not exonerate the deputy, because he was a higher
official than the shot-firer. He thought he should have taken
more precaution with regard to the safety of the place. He
made an examination according to his light, but an official
in that position ought to be a man who could discern an
element of danger. A shot was going to be fired into the
unknown, and no official should take the responsibility of a
shot being fired into the unknown, because it might be a
very dangerous zone, as it was in this case. With regard to
the question of explosives, the inspector said there were two
parts of the Order; one referred to places where there was no
danger, and the other to places where safety lamps were
always used, and where permitted explosives could only be
used. The manager had interpreted the Order to use any
explosives, and it was only fair to say that at the’moment
he was not prepared to controvert that opinion. In the
future, however, there could be no question but that they
would only have to use permitted explosives. Whether the
explosion might not have happened if permitted explosives
had been used was quite another thing.

In summing-up, the Coroner said it was a most sad occur-
rence to investigate the death of seven good reliable
workmen. At the enquiry they had the advantage of the
chief inspector of mines; all parties were represented, and
as far as the evidence was concerned, it was given by reliable
men. Then many of the jury were practical miners, and
could appreciate the evidence given. With regard to the
witness Dand, they might not at first be favourably
impressed, but there was a true saying, “ Put yourself in
his place.” Were they not all liable to make mistakes, and
to be wise afterwards? Did they think Dand did anything
carelessly or negligently, or did they think he was doing
what.he thought to be safe? Whatever their opinion was,
■there was in law nothing criminal or negligent. There-
fore, the only question was : Did they think he was censur-
able? They could not but be struck by the candour of
Dand. When a man made a mistake, there was a great
temptation to be stubborn, but Dand was quite candid. It
was unpleasant to say anything about a man who was gone.
Rumney was known to them. Was he likely to endanger
the lives of people working with him, or was it anything
more than an error of judgment? The object of these
enquiries went very much beyond finding if anyone was
responsible; the chief object was to prevent a repetition of
it. As regards the death of the men, that was due to the
burning caused by the explosion.

The jury retired for a short time, and on their return, the
foreman said they found a verdict that “ Death was caused
by burning from the explosion.” They also added the
following recommendation : “ That no shot shall be fired
in a rib next to any goaf, unless an examination can be made
of the rib on the goaf side.”

The following offers of coal have been accepted by the
‘Stepney Council for the electricity station :—Messrs. Kaye,
Son and Harper, 120 tons Whitwick nutty slack, £1 Is. 6d.
per ton; Messrs. *E. Foster and Company, 1,000 tons
Newdigate peas, at £1 2s.; and Messrs. Charrington, Sells,
Dale and Company, 140 tons Bestwood washed peas, at
£1 Is. 8d.

In arranging for a loan of £15,000 for extending the
municipal electricity undertaking, the Stepney Borough
Council reports that it has accepted the offer of Messrs.
Seymour, Taylor and Company, on behalf of the Derbyshire
Miners' Association, at the rate of 4 per cent., the Council to
pay for the loan in addition to 1 per cent, costs and stamp
duty on the mortgage.

Mr. Herbert M. Wilson, engineer-in-charge of the
Pittsburg Experiment Station of the United States Bureau
of Mines, has resigned from the Government service to
become a director of a newly-formed organisation to be
known as the Coal Mine Insurance Association. The asso-
ciation is a combination of 10 American and British
insurance companies that have associated themselves for the
joint underwriting of coal mine accident insurance.

LABOUR AMD WAGES.

Miners and the Munitions Bill.

The executive of the Miners’ Federation is unanimously
opposed to the coal miners of the country coming under the
provisions of Mr. Lloyd George’s Munitions Bill. The
members of the executive were present in the House of
Commons, and heard Mr. Lloyd George’s speech in intro-
ducing the Bill, and in interviews later expressed them-
selves strongly as. entirely opposed to being brought under
the measure.

Mr. Robt. Smillie (president of the Miners’ Federation)
said the miners did not object to the workers in other trades
placing themselves under the provisions of an Act of Parlia-
ment which meant compulsory arbitration, and considerably
more than has ever been anticipated in any of their previous
discussions in connection with compulsiry arbitration. The
miners have always been strong opponents of compulsory
arbitration. While they might be prepared to admit all
that Mr. Lloyd George advanced with regard to the need
for every effort being put forth industrially to assist the
nation in its present crisis, they contended that, so far as
they were concerned, this could be done, and was done, by
voluntary agreement between themselves and the employers,
and that their efforts in this direction would meet with far
more success than if attempts were made to coerce the mine
workers into a system of compulsory arbitration. The
leaders of the miners had already pledged themselves to do
all in their power to secure the utmost output from the
mines during the present crisis, but if any attempt were
made to place them under the compulsory arbitration
clauses of the new Munitions Bill, their efforts in the direc-
tion of voluntary assistance would at once cease.

Mr.. W. Straker (secretary of the Northumberland Miners’
Association) said if Mr. Lloyd George was going to coerce
the miners, he had undertaken a big task. Whatever he
said of other industries, the miners were capable of
managing their own affairs, and intended to do so.

Mr.. Geo. Barker (South Wales representative on the
executive) said this Bill would arouse antagonism among the
working classes. The war was popular to-day among the
workers, they were determined to see it through, but it
would be an unhappy thing if ill-advised action by the
Government made it unpopular. The Bill was a menace
to the liberties of the workers.

The executive of the Miners’ Federation, on Wednesday,
met at the Westminster Palace Hotel, London,' under the
presidency of Mr. Robt. Smillie, for the purpose of con-
sidering the report of the Coal Supplies Committee and the
draft of Mr. Lloyd George’s Munitions Bill, which was
introduced later in the day in the House of Commons. A
strong feeling of opposition was developed in the executive
to the coal miners of the country coming under the pro-
visions of the Munitions Bill. The chief grounds of opposi-’
tion were to the settlement of disputes between employers
and workmen by the method of compulsory arbitration,
which, was regarded as a denial to the workmen of the right
to strike.

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

The Conciliation Board on Monday had before it the very
serious question of suggested action by employers in regard
to non-unionism, the workmen’s representatives making
application that the owners would arrange with them some
method of dealing with the non-unionist question so as to
avoid stoppages of work. Proposals to this end had been
submitted in writing, according to the request made by the
owners’ side at a previous meeting, it being desired that
those proposals should be submitted to the Coal Owners’
Association. The employers had also in mind the recom-
mendation of the Departmental Committee appointed by the
Government, which was to the effect that some endeavour
should be made to meet the workmen’s objections on this
subject. Mr. F. L. Davis (chairman) said that the subject
had been considered by the coal owners, and they were willing
to discuss the question in order to arrive at an arrangement,
provided the workmen’s representatives were willing to give
an undertaking that there should be no further stoppages,
and also that the present Conciliation Board agreement
should be continued for the duration of the war, with the
addition of the war bonus of 17J per cent.,- which is now
being paid. Mr. James Winstone (the acting-president of
the South Wales Federation, who holds that position on
account of the appointment of Mr. W. Brace, M.P., to the
Home Office) stated that the workmen could not assent to
the condition proposed with reference to continuing the
present agreement. He argued that the non-unionist ques-
tion was altogether a different matter, and urged that it
should be dealt with separately. As to the question of the
agreement itself, he was particularly wishful that the owners
should enter into negotiations, so that some .arrangement on
the subject might be arrived at before the end of the month,
he pointing out that not only would the agreement end, but
also that its termination automatically ended the individual
contracts of the workmen. From the employers’ side, how-
ever, it was stated definitely that negotiations for a new
agreement could not be entered upon; and therefore the
workmen adhered to their refusal to accept the condition
suggested.

The proposals of the men on the non-unionist question
were :—That the secretary of each trade union lodge should
be furnished with a list of the men employed, and that all
workmen not members of the Federation should be informed
by the colliery officials and by the lodge representatives that
during the war employers and workmen had agreed upon
the necessity of every man joining the union. Further, that
each man given employment should be informed by the
officials before starting that he was expected to become a
member of the Federation; a list of all new men to be
supplied to the lodge secretary each week. If it happened
that, notwithstanding these efforts, men still refrained from
joining the Federation, and there was risk of interference
with the regular working of the collieries, then there should
be a conference both between the officials and the Federation
representatives, in an endeavour to arrange a settlement
before any notice of stoppage was given.

Inasmuch as at the Conciliation Board meeting no advance
was made towards agreement, it is inevitable that there must
be Government intervention, for there remain only a few
days before the working agreement terminates.

The workmen also made application that there should be a
joint audit of the colliery books, so that the selling price of
coal might be ascertained, and a statement as to the average
profits during the past year be arrived at.- The owners con-
ceded this, making the condition that a fully qualified
chartered accountant should be appointed to act on behalf of
the men. It is anticipated that this audit will go far to
dispel the idea as to huge profits having been made; for it
is clearly recognised in the trade that middlemen, rather