Colliery Explosion Inquiry

Evidence Of Sparking from Machinery

The evidence of miners who were working in the area just before the explosion took place was continued at Easington colliery, County Durham, yesterday, when the inquiry was resumed into the explosion of May 29, which caused the death of 83 miners. The inquiry is being held by Mr. Harold Roberts, Chief Inspector of Mines.

Ernest Coils, a conveyor puller, said in answer to Mr. Sam Watson (National Union of Mineworkers), that he was at work on a long wall face the night before the explosion. The withdrawal of supports there was always hard when the face itself was withdrawn. Every time a chock was withdrawn a breaker (fracture) started in the roof near the coal-face. When they left work that night the face had not quite settled at one end, and the roof was still weighting (settling) for 30 yards. The atmosphere was warmer than usual, but he did not connect this with a fall in another part of the district.

Thomas Jones, a driller, said that the coal-cutting machines used to get abnormally hot when used on the face, but he had not seen any sparking from them. He had seen sparking from machines used on short wall faces in the district. When he left work on May 28 he had drilled shot holes in the long wall face. He had seen the face since the explosion. The holes were still there and no shots had been fired.

Joseph Ayre, duckbill loading machine operator, replying to Mr. Watson, said that there was sparking for about a minute when the jib of the coal cutter entered the coal face. There was a stratum fault in the seam and they found gas when cutting near this fault.

Replying to Mr. Miron (National Coal Board), Ayre said that when he left the place at 9 o’clock on the night before the explosion (or seven hours before it took place) conditions were good and the ventilation normal. In reply to Mr. Watson, Ayre said that there had been some sparking from the cutting machines.

The inquiry was adjourned until to-day.