Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	21st February 1902
Colliery:	Ludworth
Cause:	(See description below)
Lives Lost:	1

No. 75 on the list occurred at Ludworth Colliery, belonging to Messrs. The Weardale Steel, Coal and Coke Co., Ltd., on February 21st, and caused the death of a master shifter.

The deceased man intended going from the Five Quarter to the Main Coal seam hanging on, and instead of getting the onsetter to give the signals to the winding engineman he gave them himself. He first signalled for the cage, and then for it to go down to the Main Coal seam, and was attempting to get in, when the engineman, expecting the onsetter was there and that anyone going down would be in the cage before the signal was given, as soon as he got it, dropped the cage and deceased was caught and killed.

The onsetter at the time was filling some timber into a tram 300 or 400 yards from the shaft, by the deceased man's orders.

He was, I understand, an excellent official, and this makes his death, under the circumstances, the more sad.

Source:

1902 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 1590)

	Brown, William Michael, aged 57, Master Shifter, deceased signalled to the winding engineman to take the cage from the 5/4 to main coal seam and then attempted to get into the cage, but the engineman, not knowing there was no onsetter there, dropped the cage at once, and Brown was caught and killed
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