Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	17th February 1900
Colliery:	Easington
Cause:	Shaft Accident
Lives Lost:	2

No. 78 on the list occurred at Easington Colliery belonging to Messrs. The Easington Coal Co., Ltd., on February 17th, and caused the death of two sinkers and injury to another.

This accident was primarily caused by an overwind, but the real cause was the breaking or opening out of the link which joins the spring hook to the chain below the detaching hook.

There was a detaching hook on, and it acted satisfactorily, but the overwind being a rapid one the momentum carried the kibble, which was a full one, up a considerable distance, and the strain when it fell back was such that the link either broke or opened out at the weld ; the kibble then fell to the bottom of the shaft, a distance of about 70 yards, and either it or the stones in it caught and killed two and injured another of the men working there.

The evidence of the engineer at the inquest gives the particulars of the accident, size of link, kibble, load, &c., so clearly that I give an extract of it. He said

"The sinking shaft is down about 70 yards, and it is 20 feet diameter. The kibble is 4 feet diameter by 4 feet deep, and it has an iron bow attached to the centre, to which is permanently attached a shackle by a bolt. This shackle is made of B B B iron. The accident was caused by one of the links in the chain breaking; it is 1 inch diameter and made of B B B iron, and has only been in use a week. It has given way at the weld. The weight of the kibble filled is about 2½ tons.

"The engineman in bringing the kibble out of the bottom of the shaft did not stop it at the right place and there was an overwind; the detaching hook acted all right and liberated the rope, but the jerk back of the kibble broke the link, and the kibble fell back into the shaft bottom and killed the two sinkers and injured a third one.

"The winding engine, which is set back 66 feet from the shaft, has a pair of 26-inch diameter cylinders by 5 feet stroke, and the drum is 15 feet diameter. There are marks on the rope and the drum to indicate to the engineman the position of the load, and there is also a waiter on who has a speaking tube to the engineman.

"There was no roof on the engine-house, and the weather was wet at the time the accident occurred. The brake is a strap one, half round the underside of the drum, and it is cleaded with hemp rope; on the drum it is bare metal. It would be fair to assume that the hemp rope would probably be wet. I have not had any complaints of this drum or brake. Having regard to the weather and ordinary conditions of sinking, I think the brake is sufficient, but there probably might have been a better. The distance from the saddle boards to the bottom of the bell of the detaching hook is about 20 feet. The light in the engine-house was very good; there was an incandescent electric lamp of 25 candle power just over the drum, and there was an arc light between the shaft and the drum.

"The chains are examined every day, and a report of such examination is entered into a book kept for the purpose; the report made on the day before the accident occurred states that the chains were all right. If there was a defect in the welding, it would be difficult to detect, and I do not think the makers of the chain when it was being made would be able to detect a defect if it was what is known as a shell weld. The breaking strain of this chain should have been 28 tons."

The night being a wet one and the engine-house not having a roof on would cause the brake to have less power, and the engineman said at times the exhaust steam from another engine blew across his sight and he lost sight of the token on the rope. There was also no indicator on the engine itself to shew the position of the kibble in shaft.

The management promised that these matters should have immediate attention and he remedied at once.

Source:

1900 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 536), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.

	Arthur, Robert, aged 22, Sinker, A full kibble of stones was taken up too high, the detaching hook acted alright, but one of the links below it broke, and the kibble fell into the bottom of the shaft and killed these two men., Buried: Easington Village Cemetery
	Curry, William James, aged 25, Sinker, A full kibble of stones was taken up too high, the detaching hook acted alright, but one of the links below it broke, and the kibble fell into the bottom of the shaft and killed these two men.
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