145 
lapse of many hours. At Jarrow, William Cranstoun 
recovered, after being insensible, as he believes, for tbirty- 
six hours.* And some recovered after shorter periods in 
other cases. While I was writing this paper another 
lamentable explosion took place at Oldham (October, 1850). 
As the newspaper account gives many of the particulars 
which I have endeavoured to ascertain in the other instances, 
I have added it to my tables, although not included in the 
official reports. 
It strikingly proves the mischief of one shaft, divided 
by bratticing, when an explosion does happen. The force 
of the blast extending to the shaft, the bratticing was in 
part blown out, and the entire stoppage of ventilation in 
the passages of the mine was but a part of the evil con- 
sequent on this. The wreck of the brattice formed a pile 
at the bottom of the shaft, six or seven yards high, and 
sufficiently solid to prevent the cage from descending for 
that distance. Think of men and boys, burnt, enfeebled 
by the effects of choke damp, and distracted by terror, 
climbing up a loose pile of broken wood, for six yards ! 
Several were, in fact, maimed or hurt by falls. It was 
four hours before three cages could be got to the bank! 
One boy, clinging, in his eagerness, to the first cage after 
it was full, lost his hold from exhaustion, and was killed 
by the fall. Lamps alone were used. The immediate cause 
of the explosion is believed to have been a fall of roof upon 
a lamp which the hurriers had left upon the ground in one of 
the bays, while they went to the shaft bottom with a journey 
of coals. The seam then in working had only been opened 
two years, and the workings were not extensive, only 55 
yards to the north, and 140 to the south from the shaft.f 
I now approach what has been elsewhere a topic for many 
controversies — the wire gauze lamp. If it become so here, 
* Report, 1847, p. 22. t Leeds Mercury, October 12th, 1850. 
