Article from the Gateshead Observer, 15^th April 1843

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Letter to the Editor

The King Pit Calamity

To the Editor of the Gateshead Observer.

Sir, — I trust you will be so kind as to give insertion to the following letter in your journal. You have appended to your report of the inquest at Wrekenton, a statement made by Mr. Carr. It is therefore that I claim a place for this statement of mine.

I am prepared to make oath, that I was at Wrekenton on the 5th of April, soon after 7 o'clock in the morning. I was informed that the pit had fired. I immediately repaired to the pit heap, and found a number of men, women, and children congregated thereon. The women and children crying, and some of them fainting — every one making anxious inquiry after a father, a husband, a son, or a brother. It would make one's heart bleed to hear the widow, the bereaved mother, or the fatherless child, making their inquiry, "Have you seen my husband?" "my son?" or "my father?" If the answer was "No," the scene was dismal : if "Yes, and safe," oh! With what gratitude they raised their hands to Heaven, and embraced their own with rapturous delight. I shall never forget the scenes.

I was prepared to see gross neglect, but certainly not to the extent I witnessed here. Not a lamp nor a brattice could be found. When the first lamp was down the pit, it was nine o'clock — nearly two hours after the explosion ; whereas a well regulated colliery would have been furnished with lamps (in proper trim) and brattice boards. Here was two hours' delay. All was in the utmost confusion — no one to order anything for a considerable time ; and had it now been for the kindly assistance rendered by the men of Springwell, Sheriff Hill, and other neighbouring collieries, the requisites could not have been procured as soon as they were. Well might Burns and Richardson state what they did respecting the lamps being out of repair. I examined the first four lamps I saw come up the pit :— some were rusty, and the rest so dirty and greasy that a person could hardly distinguish whether they were ignited or not. I have seen many dirty lamps, but never in my life any half so bad as these were. Now, if five were got up alive two hours later than they might have been got up, who can say that three-fourths of the persons exposed to the suffocating element below, could not have been extricated alive, if there had been lamps, and the other necessaries requisite on such occasions? But, alas! no effort could be made to save the lives of the unfortunate victims, until lamps and men could be brought from Springwell. Two hours lost — all through neglect. I have seen a great deal of imperfect management during my experience as a miner, but King Pit exceeds all I have ever seen or heard tell of any where (and there are some "toppers" in these two counties).

It is true that Mr. Carr did state, in my presence, that when he was down the pit (a fortnight prior to the calamity) he was in all the boards, and there was not a cubic foot of foulness (gas) in the pit at the time he was down, and the pit was properly ventilated. But who can credit the assertion! Cuthbert Todd and Thomas Steel stated that they worked in the first board north of the mothergate, and that it had been foul five weeks. Even Mr. Grace himself, besides others, stated that this board had been foul from the commencement — that it has always had dumb blowers. So much for the accuracy of Mr. Carr's statement.

I understand that the King Pit is going to work with lamps on the 11th inst., and there is to be no powder used. This is no security for life. The Davy lamp is not secure, nor any other that I have yet seen. Ventilation is the only radical remedy. But this would be expensive, and therefore cannot be thought of! The pitman's sphere of labour is capable of being made as safe and healthful as any other. The why is it not? Because, I repeat, the owners are afraid of the cost.

Fellow workmen, do not be deceived. Do not sacrifice your lives, as has been the custom of pitmen in days that are past. The "safety lamp" is no security for your lives. Practical men have proved this to a demonstration :— as, for instance, Mr. Deakin, of Blaenavon, in a letter to the Mining Journal, quoted in the Gateshead Observer.

There has only one side of the question been told at former inquests, but we are determined that both sides shall be told for the future. Was there ever such a mass of evidence laid before a jury as on the present occasion? The ill used pitmen are determined to have justice, let the expense or trouble in procuring it be what it may ; so that owners and viewers who work their pits in an unfit and improper state, are warned that if any accident occurs, they will have the benefit of a full inquiry. We know there is law for us, and we will have it.

One excuse of the masters is, that the men never make their complaints known to them. I hope for the future of the miners will all speak out the open, naked truth, and declare what they know to be wrong. If they dare not speak to the master themselves, let them furnish me with a true statement of their grievances, and I will declare it — personally, if practicable — or in writing, at any rate — so that ignorance can no longer be pleaded as an excuse.

"Man's inhumanity to man, makes countless thousands mourn."

Fellow pitmen, your country, your wives, your children, all that is near and dear to you upon earth, require you to do your duty to yourselves, your God, and your fellow men. By doing so you will reap the benefit yourselves, and greatly oblige,

Yours truly in the cause of the suffering pitmen,

April 10,

David Swallow, General Secretary.

[We have largely curtailed Mr. Swallow's letter ; for it contained much that was irrelevant, and much that the law would not allow us to publish, had we been inclined — which we were not. — Ed. G.O.]