1879.] Influence of Coal-dust in Colliery Explosions. 413 



Smoke and soot came up the upcast. The flame had travelled all 

 through the mine and 100 yards up the shaft. Naked lights were 

 used and shots were fired. 



Apedale (27th March, 1878). 40 men killed. Depth (?). Smoke 

 and flame came up the shaft. The workings were set on fire. 



Haydock (7th Jane, 1878). 195* men killed. Depth of the workings 

 750 feet. Smoke and dust were ejected from the shafts. The mine 

 was dry and dusty. It was not possible to say how or where the 

 explosion had occurred. Locked safety lamps were used and no shots 

 were fired in the district where the explosion happened. 



Abercarne (11th September, 1878). 264 men killed. Depth (?). 

 A flash of flame and a column of black smoke ascended high into 

 the air above the mouth of the shaft. The workings were set on 

 fire. This mine was well ventilated, and no accumulations of gas of 

 any consequence were known to exist in it. The workings were un- 

 usually dry and contained much very fine coal-dust. Locked safety 

 lamps were used and no shots were fired. 



Dinas (13th January, 1879). 63 men killed. Depth of the shaft, 

 1,218 feet. The workings extended under high ground, where they 

 were from 1,500 to 1,800 feet below the surface ; they were very dry and 

 dusty. Small accumulations of explosive gas were sometimes formed 

 in them, but not of sufficient magnitude to account for the disaster. 

 The bottom of the principal shaft was filled up with rubbish in con- 

 sequence of the timber which supported the entrance to the workings 

 being blown away by the explosion. This obstruction has not yet 

 been removed at the time I write, and the workings have not been 

 .entered, nor the bodies got out. I had visited this mine several 

 times during the two or three years preceding the accident, and knew 

 its general condition well. The return air coming from the working- 

 places, and therefore filling nearly one-half of the existing open space, 

 contained always more than 2 per cent, of fire-damp. In this respect 

 it did not materially differ from the return air of most of the steam 

 coal collieries in the district, being better than some and worse than 

 others. If there had been no coal-dust present I should have con- 

 sidered it to be comparatively safe. As it was, I strongly and 

 repeatedly urged the manager to water the roadways so as to keep 

 them always damp or moist, and he actually had two water-carts made 

 for that purpose. On the occasion of my last visit before the 

 explosion, however, I found they were not being employed, and I had 

 no power to enforce my views. The result has been exactly what 

 might have been anticipated, and what is liable to happen any day in 

 every mine similarly circumstanced. It is quite plain that, with 2 per 



* The official reports are not yet published, and in some cases the number of 

 men killed may not be quite correct, as they are taken from the reports in the 

 Times. 



