1. On Monday, the 2nd of March 1885, at 8.58 p.m., an explosion took place in the west pit of the Usworth Colliery in the county of Durham, causing the death of 40 persons at the time in that pit. Somewhere about midnight, Mr. Lindsay, R. Cardwell, and E. Donelly penetrated into the portion of the colliery affected, and notwithstanding a very gallant attempt by Mr. Lindsay to save them the two latter perished from the after effects of the explosion. The adjourned inquest upon the bodies of the deceased was held on the 21st April by Mr. John Graham, Coroner, was continued on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, was again adjourned till the first of May, and finally concluded upon the 4th day of that month. The adjourned inquest was attended by Mr. James Willis and Mr. Bell, Her Majesty's Inspectors of Mines, and Mr. John Atkinson and Mr. William Atkinson, Assistant Inspectors. The proprietors of the colliery were represented by Mr. John Edge, while Mr. Atherley Jones attended on behalf of the relatives of the deceased. I watched the proceedings on behalf of the Secretary of State.

2. At the close of the inquiry the jury found the following verdict :–

3. The colliery is owned by John Bowes and Partners, for whom Mr. Alfred Palmer is viewer, and Mr. Morland certificated manager, and the annexed plans will render its general features intelligible.

The upcast or Victoria Shaft is at the western extremity of the colliery, and is sunk to a depth of 170 fathoms to the Hutton Seam above which lie the Low Main, the Maudlin, and the main coal seams. Two downcast shafts are sunk into the same seams, the larger of the two shafts being styled the Wellington, the smaller the Back Shaft. The Wellington Shaft is divided by a wooden brattice, and the air passing down it is thus directed into two pits, the east and the west. The East Pit was wholly unaffected by the explosions and this report henceforward will deal only with the Maudlin Seam workings of the West Pit. The workings are on the bord and pillar system, and are of considerable dimensions.

4. The colliery is worked by three regular shifts, the night shift, the fore shift, and the back shift. The night shift worked from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., the fore shift from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m., the back shift from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The average number of men composing these shifts was 107. In addition a 4 o'clock or tub-loading shift consisting of eight men used to work from 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. This latter shift with additional repairers, stonemen, hewers, and drivers, bringing it s numbers up to 40 was in the Maudlin Seam at the time of the explosion, and it appeared to be a matter of very frequent occurrence for that number of men to be employed at that hour in the West Pit. Included amongst the 40 men underground were four deputies, Winship, McQuillan, Carr, and Greener, who were there for the purpose of examining preparatory to the arrival of the night shift. The general command of the West Pit was in the hands of Thomas Crake, master shifter.

5. The coal of this colliery is described as of a very dusty character, but not more "gassy" than is usual in the district. Within three months of the explosion gas had been reported by the deputies of the West Pit in 14 places. On one occasion, the 18th December, gas was found in the Narrow Board flat, and the place fouled by it was not cleaned till the 24th December. In most of the cases where gas was reported the cause of its presence was said to be the breaking or tumbling down of brattices owing to falls, or the carrying away of canvas doors. The evidence was somewhat conflicting as to the methods adopted by the officials for the removal of the large quantities of dust which accumulated in the ways; but it was alleged that the dust was from time to time taken to bank, that it was also stowed underground, and occasionally watered.

6. Three kinds of lamp were used in the colliery, the Davy, the "Geordie," and the Clanny. Ventilation was effected by a Guibal fan of 45 feet diameter connected as shown in the section plan with the upcast shaft, and a duplicate engine was provided in case of accidents. The current of air passing into the West Pit was measured at a point about 150 yards from the shaft in the main intake, and the average quantity which passed into the Maudlin workings was 32. 713 cubic feet per minute. This main current was first split into Lawson's way at a distance of 616 yards from the shaft; the second split occurs on the eastern side of the Hitch North district a distance of 2,101 yards from the shaft, and the air passing northwards there, and estimated to amount to about 10,000 feet per minute, has to ventilate the whole of the Hitch North, Low North, and Middle North districts ; the distance on the main airway from the split to the last working place in the Middle North being 1,733 yards. The air obtained in the Middle North district has, as can therefore be seen, before reaching it, traversed and ventilated all the Hitch North and Low North districts, their working places and goaf edges. This method of ventilating the three districts above mentioned, though supported by the mining engineers called on behalf of the owners, does not seem satisfactory, and some alterations in it, the details of which should be carefully considered, is advisable. In the Narrow Board district some alteration in the ventilating system was projected, and some progress made in the work necessary for its completion a month before the explosion, but owing to some unexplained cause these operations ceased. It would seem that in that district the ventilation was somewhat weak; it is difficult otherwise to account for the continued fouling of the place mentioned above (and which was said to be about 200 yards from the main intake) for a period of six days.

7. The general character of the colliery, taken in connexion with its freedom from gas on the morning of the 2nd March, did not suggest any anticipation of disaster. The gas reported on the occasion mentioned had never given serious alarm; only one sudden outburst of gas had occurred in the West Pit in the last 10 years, and for the three years before the explosion none such had ever been heard of either from the coal faces or goaf edges. Taking the period immediately before the explosion no gas of any sort had been reported since February 24th, nor had any external symptom attracted the notice of, or suggested any warning to, the officials on the day of the disaster itself. No barometer or thermometer existed in the Maudlin Seam workings or were placed in a conspicuous position above ground near the entrance to the mine; but several of such instruments were proved to be in the other workings and in the immediate vicinity of the shafts at bank, and no fall of any of these barometers or unusual atmospheric conditions were noticeable. The evening of March 2nd was cold and dry. Whatever view is taken of the causes of the explosion, it is necessary therefore that some circumstance much out of the common must have immediately preceded it. What that circumstance was formed the subject of a very large portion of the seven days' inquiry, but the conclusion to be drawn from the investigation ought even now, and after the verdict of the jury, in my judgment, to be stated with some reserves of doubt.