186 Mr. Buddle's Account of the Explosion in Jarrow Colliery. 



It was, however, deemed prudent, in consequence of the dangerous na- 

 ture of the pit, to place it under the care of the most experienced over- 

 man in the colliery. In a short time afterwards, this fatal accident 

 happened, but as the overman, together with his deputies, and nearly 

 all the people who were in the pit at the time perished, the immediate 

 cause of the accident could not be distinctly ascertained. We had, 

 however, very strong presumptive proof, that it had been occasioned by 

 the too great confidence of the overman in his own judgment, and that 

 he had not given the usual alarm, "put out the lows/' in due time. 

 At the moment of the accident, I observed the barometer to be stand- 

 ing at 28*8 inches. 



Second — by the accumulation of the inflammable air in the threads 

 and fissures of the roof and pavement. 



This case rarely occurs, except in a Sandstone (Post) roof, or in a 

 pavement formed of a stratum of coarse Coal, or below which, at no 

 great depth, a thin seam of Coal lies. 



Sandstone roofs are subject to fissures of various sizes and extent^ 

 called threads and gullets by the colliers — the larger ones being called 

 gullets. These fissures, which run generally in a vertical direction, fre- 

 quently communicate laterally by partings or fissures to a considerable 

 extent — so that the Sandstone roof of a seam of Coal abounding; in 

 inflammable air, may be considered as a sort of ce/Zw/ar gasometer, of 

 vast magnitude, which receives the inflammable air, as it is evolved 

 from the Coal below, far beyond the limits of the workings of a pit. 

 This natural gasometer I'etains, or discharges its contents, according 

 to the various changes in the density of the atmosphere, and produces the 

 same effect precisely, as is described under the first cause. The only 

 difference is, that in the latter case, the discharge is generally more 

 sudden and copious. 



Backworth has been more subject to this cause of danger, than any 

 other colliery under my inspection ; and has, in consequence, been sub- 

 ject to more sudden transition, from a state of safety, to a state of dan- 

 ger, and vice versa. Of late, however, since the working out of the 

 Coal pillars commenced, we have been much less subject to this 



