Newspaper cutting, 19^th November 1900

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The Preston Colliery Disaster

Resumed Inquest

The adjourned inquest on the victims of the Preston Colliery disaster, which occurred on November 16th last, was resumed in the Town Hall, North Shields, before Mr. H. T. Rutherford, deputy coroner for South Northumberland. Mr. J. L. Hedley, Government Inspector of Mines, and Mr. G. F. Bell, Assistant Inspector, were present. Mr. Cooper, of the firm of Messrs. Cooper and Goodger, Newcastle, represented the colliery owners, and Mr. R. Maitland, secretary of the local miners' lodge, and Mr. Joseph Atkinson, local inspector, attended on behalf of the men. Mr. J. K. Guthrie, manager, and other officials of the colliery company, were also present.

James Ross, sinker, said that on November 16th last he was engaged in sinking a shaft at Preston Colliery, near North Shields. He was employed in fixing a bed plate for a wall, and started work with other men at 6 o'clock in the morning. They continued working until 11.30 in the forenoon, without anything of note happening. At 11.30, or a few minutes later, there was a loud explosion, and he was rendered unconscious. When he recovered he found himself on his knees on the bed-plate. He was injured, but managed to creep out to the arching, and from there was assisted to bank. He was burnt down the right side of the face, the left arm, and on various parts of the body, and was ill for a month. He was not one of those taken to the infirmary.

On the suggestion of Mr. Hedley, Mr. Guthrie, the manager of the colliery, produced a plan and section of the shaft in which deceased men were working when the accident happened. He explained that the place was 32 fathoms from the surface, and the men were at the Bensham Seam, getting ready to turn an arch into the pit. Some were employed on the cradle, and others were in the arching.

The plan having been explained to the jury, Mr. Hedley asked if, until the date of the accident, Mr. Guthrie had ever seen gas in the shaft.

Mr. Guthrie: I was down constantly, and made numerous examinations, and never saw a trace of gas.

Mr. Hedley: What sort of light were you using?

Mr. Guthrie: Naked light. There was a large electric lamp, with three lights, hanging over the entrance to the Bensham Seam. After the accident, the place was all in darkness at that point.

Mr. Hedley: When you got down to the Low Main Seam did you see any gas? — No; there was water in the Cannel Seam, but no gas. I was frequently down, and never saw any indication of danger.

Mr. Hedley: Can you give me an idea how far the water was below the cradle?

Mr. Guthrie: 49 feet.

In reply to Mr. Hedley, Mr. Guthrie said he thought the accident was due to an ignition of gas, and not to an explosion, as no damage was done to the shaft. As to where the gas came from, he thought it was a sudden outburst through the water from the Low Main Seam.

Replying to further questions, Mr. Guthrie said that, despite the fact that no gas had been seen before or since the accident, electric light had been fitted to the bottom of the pit, and the whole of the workings throughout the old pit had been provided with safety lamps.

James Ross, recalled, said he could not say whether the shaft had been examined for gas before the commencing of the shift on which he was working. The master sinker generally did that. Frank Martin, one of the victims, was the charge man of the shift.

Thomas Tennant, sinker, said he was in the shaft at the time of the accident, and was working beside Ross. He could throw no light upon anything after the firing of the gas.

William Hall, master sinker, said he was working in the shaft until 7 o'clock in the morning of the accident, and saw no indications of gas at any time.

By Mr. Hedley: He had had about 30 years' experience as a sinker, and had worked upon a cradle under which the water was rising. They had not the slightest suspicion of any danger.

The men's report on the accident was put in. It stated that they had made a practical examination and found nothing unusual, with the exception that at the new shaft upon the east side there were about twelve feet of cribbing about eight feet wide destroyed, and part of the shaft falling away, but not much to complain of. Everything else was practically in the same condition as before the explosion.

The Verdict.

The jury found that the deaths of the men were purely accidental, and resulted from a cause which could not have been foreseen. They were quite satisfied with the statement given by the manager of the colliery, and attached no blame to anyone.