6 
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE. 
who was not above fix years of age, cried out to be drawn 
up; he was quickly followed by fourteen men and boys, 
moll of whom were Ihockingly fcorched, four only hav¬ 
ing efcaped the effeCl of the inflammable gas. But a Ihort 
time was allowed to elapfe before feveral intrepid pitmen 
defcended into the mine, where they found the corpfes of 
fifty-feven of their unfortunate fellow-workmen ftretched 
on the floor; fome. of whom appeared to be burned to 
death, but the greater number to have been fuflocated by 
the after-damp, or azotic gas left by the combuftion of 
the hydrogen with the oxygen gas. Some few ftill re¬ 
tained figns of life, but expired on being brought into 
the air. From thefe circumftances it is evident the blaft 
was partial; for many of the men had quitted the boards 
where they had been at work apparently unhurt, but met 
their fate on the waggon-way, being fuflocated before 
they could reach the (haft. Of the nineteen horfes in the 
mine, fix only were killed ; thole in the ftables having 
furvived, for the air-courfes were foon reftored. 
In about three w'eeks afterwards, an explofion of the 
fame nature took place, at Sheriff Hill, occafioned both 
by fire and water. This explofion, however, was not fo 
deftruClive of human beings as either of the former of 
thofe cataftrophes, though highly diftreffing in its confe- 
quences; for on the prefent occafion all the managing 
and experienced miners employed in the concern loll: 
their lives. The mine at Sheriff-hill is fituated on the 
elevated ground forming the fouthern banks of the Vale 
of Tyne, oppofite Newcaftle, from whence its diltance is 
between two and three miles. Here the low-main coal lies 
more than a hundred fathoms from the furface, and in it 
the excavations have been carried on for a confiderable 
number of years, the pitmen being now employed in 
hewing away the pillars left at the firft working to fup- 
port the roof. On the morning of the 27 th of June, 1815, 
the overman, who firlt defcended the Ilabella pit, finding 
the air in the mine to be impure, with proper attention 
to the fafety of the workmen about to follow him, pre¬ 
vented them from going to work as ufual till the caufe of 
the obftruCtion had been afcertained, and the ventilation 
reftored to its proper courfe. For this purpofe the three 
Mr. Foggets, refident viewers, with five overmen and 
three boys, ventured into the mine, and foon difcovered 
the ftagnation of the atmofphere to be occafioned by a 
body of water efeaping from the five-quarter feam, fituated 
eight fathoms above the low main, forcing- away a large 
portion of roof, and bringing with it a quantity of “ car- 
buretted hydrogen gas.” While taking meafures to 
overcome this accident, w'hich had been long dreaded, the 
inflammable air by degrees dilpl.aced the atmofpheric air; 
a blaft was the conlequence, which in an inftant deftroyed 
all thofe who were near it. Mi - . G. Fogget, having been 
for fome time in a bad ftate of health, had quitted the 
party before the fatal explofion ; but, venturing back in 
hopes of faving his brothers and fon-in-law, fell a victim 
to the azotic gas, or after-clamp, with which the mine was 
now filled. Nearly eleven hours afterwards, a boy who 
accompanied him was found lying among’ the water and 
mud in a ftate of infenftbility; but, on the ufual modes 
to reftore refpiration being adminiltered, flowly returned 
to' life. 
What can we add to thefe faCts ? It is not enough that 
rnen are found, who voluntarily venture their lives in 
thefe fubterranean workingsthe community is called on 
to fee that all poflible protection be afforded them ; that a 
preferring hand, fo far as human power can be deemed 
preferving, is extended ; for their own fakes, for their 
ramifies’ fakes, for the nation’s lake. 
The attention of the public was at length effectually 
directed to the lubjeCt. A few gentlemen had formed a 
fociety, in 1813, at Sunderland, entitled A Society to 
prevent Accidents in Coal-Mines; Dr. Gray, reCtor of 
Bi(hop-Weafmoutl), an aCtive member of this fociety, in¬ 
vited fir H. Davy, in the dreadful year 1815, to examine 
the collieries, with a view to ailift the efforts of the fociety 
to prevent the accidents to which they were fubjedl. 
From the information communicated to him by perfons 
employed in the mines, he was induced to commence a 
feries of experiments on “ carburetted hydrogen gas,” 
which led to feveral unexpected refults, not lefsintereft- 
ing to fcience than ufeful in their application to the arts. 
Before proceeding to defcribe thefe, we muft notice the 
labours of Mr. Stephenfon, an engineer in the Killing- 
worth-main colliery, who previoully to this time had, as 
he aflerts, (in a pamphlet on the fubjeCt, entitled “ A 
Defcription of the Safety-Lamp invented by George Ste¬ 
phenfon,”) made the difcovery that inflammable air will 
not explode through fmall apertures. In the fame pam¬ 
phlet he ftates, that a lamp conftruCted by him on this prin¬ 
ciple was tried in the above colliery on the 21ft of Octo¬ 
ber, 1815, the lamp being carried in fafety into a part of 
the mine where a ftrong blower of inflammable air was 
ifluing. The experiment, he adds, was immediately re¬ 
peated in the prefence of two perfons employed in the 
works. 
Thefe lamps, judging from Mr. Stephenfon’s own de¬ 
fcription, yielded but a feeble light. They were after¬ 
wards improved ; but thefe improvements bear fo clofe a 
refemblance to parts of fir H. Davy’s lamp, hereafter to 
be defcribed, that we conceive Mr. Stephenfon mult la¬ 
bour under no fmall difficulty in eftabiiftfing his claim for 
their original invention. The queftion, at prefent agi¬ 
tated with much warmth, can only be decided by a re¬ 
ference to well-eftablifhed dates and authentic evidence; 
an inveftigation not fuited to the nature of the prefent 
work. 
We have little doubt that the infulation obtained in 
Dr. Clanny’s lamp by water, firlt fuggefted to Mr. Ste¬ 
phenfon the poffibility, that fmall apertures might inter¬ 
cept the exteniion of the flame as effectually as water. 
On this fuggeftion his firlt lamp appears conitruCted, the 
tube which admitted the air being covered with a Aide, to 
diminifh the aperture at pleafure; but the quantity of air 
which could be fafely admitted through one aperture 
being inadequate to the fupport of the flame, it was ob¬ 
vious that the only way to enfure both light and fafety 
was to increafe the number of apertures, diminifffing the 
fize of each. In this manner it appears that Mr. Stephen¬ 
fon proceeded mechanically, without a correct knowledge 
of the properties of the gas, or the principles on which 
the efteCts were produced. We think however, that, as 
an approximation to a valuable difcovery, Mr. Stephen¬ 
fon’s lamp entitled him to the patronage and fupport 
which he has received. It ought alfo to be recollected, 
that Dr. Clanny and Mr. Stephenfon both laboured under 
the difad vantage of living at a diltance from the refidence 
of ingenious practical mechanics to execute their inven¬ 
tions in the molt Ample, cheap, and portable, manner; an 
advantage only to be obtained in the neighbourhood of 
the metropolis, or of large mechanical manufactories. 
We now proceed, without interruption, to the progrefs 
of fir Humphry Davy’s difcoveries.—The hydrogen gas 
united to certain carbonic matter obtained from the coal 
ftrata, being difpofed to take fire, when of a certain ftrength, 
from the contaCt of flame, was known to conftitute the 
fire-damp, which had been fliown by Dr. Henry to be 
“ light carburetted hydrogen gas,” of the fame nature in 
feveral refpeCts with the gas obtained from the diftillation 
of coal. It is produced the moft abundantly from the 
deepeft mines ; and the great l'ources of it are certain 
fifl’ures in the broken ftrata in the neighbourhood of 
dykes, from which currents of it iffue in great quantity, 
and fometimes for a long courfe of years. The abundance 
of the gas thus fpontaneoufly extricated from the ftrata, 
is very probably to be accounted for, as fir H. Davy fug- 
gefts, from the confolidation of the coal having been 
effeCted under a great prefiure. This philofopher, having 
fatisfied liimfelf on the fpot, that the degree of light ne- 
ceffary for working the mines was more than could be 
obtained by the ule of phofphorus, or of electricity, or 
3 b y 
