Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	28th January 1898
Colliery:	Eston (Ironstone)
Cause:	By explosives
Lives Lost:	1

No. 50 on the list occurred at Eston Mines, belonging to Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co., on January 28th, causing the death of a miner on February the 6th.

The deceased man was charging a shot-hole with powder, and according to the evidence had pushed the pellets of powder to the end of the hole, and put on a wad of hay with his wooden stemmer. He then took the copper stemmer and commenced to stem the hole, and the assumption is that it caused a spark by friction against the ironstone, and thus ignited the powder, and this so severely injured him that he eventually died.

The Cleveland Special Rules require that a wooden stemmer shall only be used for putting in the powder and the wadding, and it is safer to also put on some of the stemming as well and this accident was caused by the deceased using the copper stemmer too soon.

I hope it will be a warning to other miners in the Cleveland Ironstone Mines, and that there will be fewer accidents of this kind in future.

Source:

1898 Mines Inspectors Report (C 9264), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.

	Cockerell, Henry, aged 57, Miner, he had pushed seven pellets of powder into a hole, and also put on the wadding and started to stem, when the charge suddenly exploded, and so severely burnt him about the hands, face, and chest, that he afterwards died
	All names found

 

 Return    Return to Top