Notes - The information in this page is mainly compiled from appendices to the reports of the Inspector of Mines and Collieries. Additional details from the main body of the report are given where available. Many accidents are not listed in these reports and additional names have been added from newspaper reports and other sources - information not sourced from the mine inspectors reports is indicated by a shaded gray background
We welcome information on deaths not listed on this page - please complete a submission form
|
Extra details | |||||||||||
Year | Month | Day | Name of Colliery | Where situated | Owner or Company | First Name | Surname | Occupation | Age | Category | Cause of accident and remarks | |
1897 | May | 7 | Barrwood No 1 Pit | Stirling | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Alexr. | Drain | Brusher | 30 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at brushing face. Injured on 7th May, 1897, and died on 15th March, 1898. | |
1897 | October | 1 | Herbertshire No 3 | Stirling | R Addie & Sons Collieries Ltd | Henry | Logie | Drawer | 27 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof on drawing road. Injured on 1st October, 1897, and died on 6th March, 1898. | |
1897 | November | 16 | Grangemouth | Stirling | Grangemouth Coal Co Ltd | Alex. | Marshall | Miner | 23 | Falls of roof | Deceased was taking off coal, when the roof fell upon him. |
|
Extra details | |||||||||||
Year | Month | Day | Name of Colliery | Where situated | Owner or Company | First Name | Surname | Occupation | Age | Category | Cause of accident and remarks | |
1898 | January | 12 | Bardykes | Lanark | Merry & Cunninghame Ltd | Mary | Rafferty | Stone picker | 17 | On surface By machinery |
While crawling up a shoot from the shaker scree to release a
piece of coal her shawl and hair were caught by a revolving shaft. From Main body of report: The deceased had crawled up a coal shoot where she had no occasion to go, when her clothes got caught by a revolving shaft. |
|
1898 | January | 12 | Kinneil | Linlithgow | Kinneil Coal & Coke Co Ltd | Joseph | Gallacher | Waggon trimmer | 30 | On Surface On railways and tramways | While pushing an empty waggon forward to the screen another moved forward, and deceased was crushed between them. The latter waggon was not trigged. | |
1898 | January | 19 | Muiredge | Fife | Bowman & Co | Walter | Thomson | Drawer | 17 | Falls of roof | Deceased and another were filling a tub at a roadhead. when the roof burst out. Deceased tried to escape past the tub, but was caught and completely buried. The other lad escaped along the face. | |
1898 | January | 19 | Westburn No 1 | Lanark | Westburn Colliery Co | John | McVey | Miner | 28 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face where a coal cutting machine worked. | |
1898 | January | 20 | Carfin No 7 Pit | Lanark | Wm Dixon Ltd | Robert | Thomson | Miner | 38 | Falls of side | While drawing props below the head coal, the coal fell upon him. | |
1898 | January | 22 | Oakbank (Oil shale) | Edinburgh | Oakbank Oil Co Ltd | Peter | Turnbull | Drawer | 19 | Haulage By ropes and chains breaking | While guiding a rake of hutches into a side road off a dook the gabbie broke, and the hutches ran forward and crushed deceased. | |
1898 | January | 24 | Broadrigg | Lanark | John Nimmo & Son Ltd | Richard | Kinnyson | Drawer | 15 | Haulage By trams and tubs | While deceased was taking out a snibble from his loaded tub at the foot of a road dipping outbye, a runaway tub came down upon him and he was crushed. The drawer in charge of the runaway tub missed his snibble. | Newspaper report |
1898 | January | 24 | Niddrie | Edinburgh | Niddrie & Benhar Coal Co Ltd | David | Conachie | Miner | 40 | Falls of roof | Deceased was holing coal, when the roof suddenly burst out, killing him almost instantaneously. | |
1898 | January | 25 | Broxburn (Oil shale) | Linlithgow | Broxburn Oil Co Ltd | David | Ferguson | Chain runner | 44 | Haulage On inclined and engine planes | While ascending an In-going-eye mine on a loaded rake of tubs, deceased's body came in contact with some "crowns" on the roof. | |
1898 | January | 25 | Whitehill | Edinburgh | Lothian Coal Co Ltd | John | Leadbetter | Miner | 36 | Falls of roof | Deceased worked in a stooping place, and while engaged holing, he heard the roof "working" to fall, and before he got clear, he was buried beneath the fallen roof. | |
1898 | January | 26 | Tannochside No 3 Pit | Lanark | Calderbank Steel & Coal Co Ltd | Edw. | Hotchkis | Miner | 50 | Miscellaneous underground By explosives | While inserting compressed gunpowder into a shothole it ignited. Another man was also injured. | Newspaper report- Bothwell pages |
1898 | January | 28 | Drumpeller Nos 3 and 4 Pits | Lanark | Summerlee & Mossend Iron & Steel Co Ltd | Thomas | Ward | Brusher | 30 | Explosions of fire damp or coal dust |
Explosion of coal dust. A shot of gunpowder, instead of a permitted
explosive, was fired in a place which was very dry and dusty,
and which had not been watered properly. A special report upon
this explosion has already been published. From Main body of report: The first fatal explosion occurred in Nos. 3 and 4 pits, Drumpeller, Lanarkshire, and by it a fireman and two brushers lost their lives, while another fireman also lost his life while attempting to enter the workings after the explosion. A special report upon this explosion has already been presented to you and published, and as copies thereof were sent to all the managers in the district, it is unnecessary to enter into the details now. It was conclusively proved that the explosion was one of coal-dust alone, that it was caused by a shot of gunpowder illegally fired in a place which was very dry and dusty, that, although the deceased brushers had been told to water the dust by the manager, the dust was not sufficiently damped, and that the manager failed to see that proper appliances for watering were provided. |
See main page |
Wm. | Chalmers | Brusher | 40 | |||||||||
Robt. | Drummond | Fireman | 36 | |||||||||
John | Gordon | Fireman | 48 | |||||||||
1898 | January | 31 | Rosebank | Fife | John Nimmo & Son Ltd | Adam | Donaldson | Oversman | 49 | In shafts Miscellaneous |
Deceased was assisting to redd out an old shaft which had been
abandoned 25 years previously. While lifting a stone into the
kettle, the point of his finger was lacerated. Blood poisoning
resulted, causing his death three weeks afterwards. From Main body of report: An oversman assisting in clearing debris out of an old shaft lacerated his hand, and blood poisoning ensued and caused his death. The old shaft was near some houses and appears to have been a receptacle for dead dogs and cats and other rubbish. |
|
1898 | February | 4 | Loudon | Ayr | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Archd. | Gibson | Brusher | 25 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at coal face while knocking out a prop preparatory to brushing. | |
1898 | February | 4 | Souterhouse No 1 Pit | Lanark | Souterhouse Collieries Co | James | Gillon | Roadsman | 58 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof on road while repairing it | |
1898 | February | 5 | Ingliston (Oil shale) | Edinburgh | Young's Paraffin Light & Mineral Oil Co Ltd | William | Gardner | Miner | 33 | Miscellaneous underground By explosives | While taking gunpowder out of a can with which to charge a shot, a spark fell from deceased's lamp, which was on his cap into the can, igniting the contents and causing an explosion. | |
1898 | February | 5 | Neilston | Stirling | James Wood Ltd | Robt. | Gourlay | Engineman | 47 | On Surface Miscellaneous | He fell off a scaffold, apparently while tightening up a steam joint. | |
1898 | February | 9 | Longrigg | Lanark | James Nimmo & Co Ltd | Alexander | Baillie | Fireman | 20 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Deceased attempted to stop some waggons which were moving too fast, by inserting a prop into the spokes of one of the wheels, and the prop not getting sufficiently far into the wheel came round, and striking him, threw him under the moving train. There were plenty pointed sprags at hand. | Newspaper report - New Monkland pages |
1898 | February | 12 | Tannochside No 1 Pit | Lanark | Calderbank Steel & Coal Co Ltd | John | Grant | Miner | 45 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof on horse road while enlarging it. | Newspaper report- Bothwell pages |
1898 | February | 14 | Dunmore | Stirling | Moyes, Murray & Co | James | White | Miner | 39 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | |
1898 | February | 14 | Gilmilnscroft No 3 Pit | Ayr | Gauchalland Coal Co | George | Connell | Miner | 45 | Falls of roof | While "redding" through an old road to reach a stoop the roof fell upon him. | |
1898 | February | 15 | Donibristle | Fife | Donibristle Colliery Co | George | Mitchell | Drawer | 19 | Falls of roof | Deceased was filling at a road head, where 2 ft. 9 in. of head coal was being worked backwards. The coal was believed to be hard, and a shot-hole had been drilled to blast it down ; but about 35 cwts. suddenly fell, striking deceased on the head and causing injuries to which he succumbed a week later. | Newspaper report - Beath pages |
1898 | February | 24 | Montgomeriefield | Ayrshire | A. Kenneth & Sons | Jas. | Robertson | Drawer | 17 | In shafts ropes and chains breaking |
While descending the shaft in the cage, the rope slipped over
the flange of the drum. The cage dropped, and when the rope "stented,"
the connection with the cage broke and the cage fell to the bottom
of the shaft. From Main body of report: The first fatal shaft accident happened at Montgomeriefield Colliery, Ayrshire, and resulted in the death of four boys who were descending the shaft to commence their day's work. The shaft is 80 fathoms deep, and the winding engines are coupled, horizontal, and with two drums 10 feet in diameter. The steel ropes were l 1/8 inches in diameter, and the flanges of the drums projected 4 inches beyond the wood cleading. The rope for the "rise" cage was taken off from below the drum, and when the "rise" cage was at the pithead the rope was coiled round the drum to within an inch of the flange. The cages were doubled decked. It seems that the engineman brought up in the "rise" cage three men who got off at the low scaffold or ground level, and he thereupon raised the cage to the pithead to let four men who were descending in the "dip" cage get off at the pit bottom. When the engineman began to lower the "rise" cage to the low scaffold he failed to draw the "shuts" or "keps" sufficiently far, and the cage rested upon them. He then raised the cage off the "shuts" and lowered it to the low scaffold, where the four boys stepped upon the top deck. According to the statement of the engineman, the drum had only made one revolution when the accident happened, and he stopped the engine at once. In some unexplained way the rope got over the flange of the drum and ran out four coils which, on tightening, got jammed round the drum shaft. The consequence was that the cage dropped a distance of some 120 feet, and the jerk, when the rope tightened, drew the rivets out of the hose, and the cage thus released fell to the bottom without coming out of the slides. The cross beam of the pithead frame was also broken by the jerk. I was unable to ascertain with certainty the cause of such an unusual accident, but it seems to me that the slack rope, paid out when the engineman failed to draw the "shuts" for the descending cage, had to do with the coils getting over the flange. |
Montgomeryfield page |
Wm. | Wallace | Drawer | 12 | |||||||||
George | Millar | Drawer | 17 | |||||||||
Alexr. | Wallace | Drawer | 14 | |||||||||
1898 | February | 25 | Ross | Lanark | Thomas Barr | William | Henderson | Miner | 13 | Falls of roof | Killed by a fall of roof stone, liberated by a "lype" and smooth parting, in a place driven along a stoop side in the Main Coal Seam. | |
1898 | March | 3 | Wester Gartshore | Dumbarton | J & A F Wallace | David | Harper | Miner | 60 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | |
1898 | March | 5 | Cornsilloch | Lanark | Archibald Russell | Colin | Kerr | Miner | 27 | Falls of roof | Deceased was breaking away a place on the rise side of a horse-road. While wedging down a corner, left by the first breaking of coal, a large triangular stone suddenly fell upon him, killing him instantly. | |
1898 | March | 6 | Herbertshire No 3 | Stirling | R Addie & Sons Collieries Ltd | Henry | Logie | Drawer | 27 | See entry under 1 Oct 1897 in section at top of page | ||
1898 | March | 9 | Earnock | Lanark | John Watson Ltd | Lyle | McKerrel | Horse driver | 23 | On Surface On railways and tramways | After uncoupling two moving waggons, deceased appears to have been caught while stepping in between them, and the wheel of the last waggon passed over his leg. | |
1898 | March | 11 | Auldhouseburn, Bankhead Pit | Ayr | Cairntable Gas Coal Co Ltd | James | Shaw | Drawer | 20 | Miscellaneous underground irruptions of water |
A miner holed through on old workings containing water, owing
to the failure to keep boreholes in advance in terms of General
Rule 13. From Main body of report: An irruption of water from old workings took place in Bankhead Pit, Auldhouseburn Colliery and by it three men lost their lives. The Three Feet Seam was being worked, but it is termed the "Seven Feet Seam" in other mines in the locality, as it really consists of the Three and Four Feet Seams in one, with only a few inches of clay separating them. Referring to the accompanying Plan No. 2, Bankhead Pit is the winding and pumping shaft, and the water all gravitates to it. In order to get from the workings to the escape shaft (not shewn on the plan) it was necessary for the workmen to come out to the winding shaft. At the pit bottom there was practically no lodgment for storing water. The adjoining colliery of Crossflat was abandoned in 1882, and the Cairntable Gas Coal Company, Ltd., the owners of Auldhouseburn Colliery, recently acquired this mineral property. On 2nd June, 1897, they wrote to the Secretary of State asking if they could be provided with a copy of the plan of Crossflat workings lodged in the Home Office, and received a reply in the affirmative, but they meanwhile obtained a copy of the workings from the engineer who usually surveyed Crossflat Colliery. On this plan, however, were printed the following significant words : "Not guaranteed as having been surveyed when the pit was stopped." In spite of this they did not take any steps to secure a copy of the Home Office plan, on which were shewn workings not shewn on the plan in their possession. Plan No. 2 shows the relative position of the workings of the two collieries at the time of the accident, according to the plans in the owner's possession, with the addition of the shaded portion of Crossflat workings, which is taken from the Home Office plan. The enlarged Plan No. 3 shows the actual relative position of the workings at the point where the water broke in. Some time previous to the accident a bore was put through on Crossflat workings at the point C, and the waste water was drained off to that level. The working places 3, 4, 5 and 6 were all within forty yards of the old workings, but only in the place 5 were any bore-holes kept in advance, or to the sides, in terms of General Rule 13, while this place was driven 12 feet wide instead of being restricted to not more than 8 feet wide. The place 6 was no less than 18 feet wide, and was driven to within 25 feet of the waste water without any bore-holes whatever. The level A on Plan No. 3 (place 5 on Plan No. 2) had flank bore-holes, as shewn by letters B, but no holes in advance had been bored for some time previous to the outburst. On the morning of the accident, the miner working in the place A had holed in the clay in the middle of the seam to within 21 inches of the waste water without having suspected any danger, when he observed water beginning to come through, and shortly after the water burst through the clay, making a hole which ultimately measured 3 feet 7 inches by 15 inches. The alarm was raised, and the workmen rushed towards the pit bottom. Out of 45 persons in the pit all managed to get up the shaft except 19, whose retreat was cut off by the water rising rapidly in the shaft to a height of 12 feet. The imprisoned men, with the exception of those who were drowned, retired to the rise workings, and it was the next day ere the water was lowered sufficiently far to permit them to ascend the shaft. The bodies of the deceased were found close to the pit bottom, and they seem to have been drowned in their effort to get up the shaft. The manager, by direction of the Crown authorities, was charged with culpable homicide, but was acquitted by the jury. |
Newspaper report - Auldhouseburn page |
John | Hazel | Miner | 33 | |||||||||
Wm. | Gemmell | Miner | 47 | |||||||||
1898 | March | 15 | Barrwood No 1 Pit | Stirling | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Alexr. | Drain | See entry under 7 May 1897 in section at top of page | ||||
1898 | March | 18 | Cowdenbeath | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | George | Durham | Labourer | 65 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Deceased was shifting a truck at a coal washing machine, and in running after it to reach the brake, crossed on to the adjoining engine road, immediately in front of a locomotive, which knocked him down and passed over his legs. He had previously been warned of the approach of the locomotive, but appeared to have forgotten it. | |
1898 | March | 25 | Glenvault Mine (Fire clay mine) | Dumbarton | George Turnbull & Co | Adam | Taylor | overman | 44 | Miscellaneous underground By explosives | A spark off his naked light ignited 14 lbs. of gunpowder illegally stored in the mine. | |
1898 | March | 31 | Kinneil | Linlithgow | Kinneil Coal & Coke Co Ltd | Charles | Sneddon | Miner | 43 | Explosions of fire damp or coal dust |
This accident occurred in a dry and dusty section, giving off
gas. Protector Marsaut lamps were used, and blasting with permitted
explosives was practised. Only four persons were employed in
the section, and the fireman was the only person authorized to
fire shots. Sneddon, it was alleged by the Hamiltons, fired a
shot at the face, in contravention of General Rule 12 (f). A
violent explosion resulted, causing the immediate death of Sneddon
and injuries to the Hamiltons, to which Hamilton, Jun., succumbed
on the same evening, and Hamilton, Sen., eleven days afterwards. From Main body of report: The only fatal fire-damp explosion occurred at Kinneil Colliery, Linlithgowshire, on the 31st March, and caused the loss of three lives and injury to one person. The explosion was primarily caused by a gross violation of the General and Special Rules on the part of two of the persons who lost their lives. The explosion took place in a section of the Six Feet coal, where only the persons killed and injured by the explosion were employed. The mode of working is longwall. The seam yields fire-damp in considerable quantity, and the workings are dry and dusty. The main roadway leading from the section was dry, but not sufficiently dusty to carry forward the explosion. The miners used locked safety lamps of the Marsaut type. Shots were supposed to be fired only by the firemen, who had been appointed shot-firers. Some fire-damp having been found on several occasions lying near the face of the brushing in a road not in use, shot-firing had been stopped in the section by the Manager's order. Notwithstanding this prohibition, two of the miners prepared and fired a shot in the coal. The evidence pointed to the gas having been ignited by the flame of a lucifer match used in lighting the fuse of the shot, rather than to flame accompanying the explosion of the shot. The explosive used in the pit was Nobel's gelignite, a permitted explosive, and some of this was found in the section after the explosion. Lucifer matches were found in the pockets of the deceased men. The explosion was principally due to fire-damp, but was assisted to some extent by coal dust, which was observed in a coked state on timber in the section after explosion. Judging from what was observed after the; explosion, and from the fact that fire-damp was reported on several occasions before the explosion, the ventilation appears to have been inadequate. The discipline was very slack ; I consider the firing of a shot by a miner in a section where shot-firing was prohibited, and where if any shot was to be fired it should only have been fired by the properly appointed competent person, one of the most dangerous breaches of discipline possible. That the discipline in the mine was bad has been proved by miners continuing to take lucifer matches and pipes into the pit after the explosion ; no fewer than 24 miners from Kinneil Colliery have been fined since the explosion for these offences. At the time of the explosion, the shots were fired by the authorized shot-firers in the Six Feet seam by fuze and safety lighters. This method was, in the Manager's view, in accordance with section 2 (6) of the Explosives in Coal Mines Order, as he was of opinion that it was equally secure against the ignition of inflammable gas or coal dust" as electrical firing. Two kinds of safety lighters were in use. (1) Bickford's patent safety lighter, which consists of a tube of sheet tin closed at one end and containing a source of heat, which is set free on compressing the closed end with a pair of pinchers. The open end of the tube is placed on the fuze and securely fixed by a nip from the pinchers. ('2) Norres' patent safety fuze lighters, a German invention, which consists of a tube of brown paper, in which a cap containing inflammable material is fixed, and through the closed end of which a wire passes to the outside of the tube. The tube was placed on the end of the fuze and held there by one hand while the wire was pulled by the other, and by friction ignited the inflammable material in the cap, which in turn ignited the fuze. Along with both safety igniters white tape asbestos lined fuze was used. It is questionable whether these methods are as safe as electrical firing, and the owners of the colliery have substituted electrical firing. |
Newspaper report - Furnaceyard page |
Alexander | Hamilton, sen. | Miner | 46 | |||||||||
Alexander | Hamilton, jun. | Miner | 18 | |||||||||
1898 | April | 1 | Portland No 7 Pit | Ayr | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Wm. | McDonald | Miner | 22 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | |
1898 | April | 2 | Kenmuirhill No 4 | Lanark | Dunn Brothers | John | Mallon | Bottomer | 20 | In shafts falling from part way down |
Thinking the cage was at the mid-working he opened the gate,
pushed a hutch into the open shaft and fell after it. The indicator
in the engine-house was not in order. From Main body of report: The second shaft accident which resulted fatally took place at Kenmuirhill Colliery, through the bottomer at a mid-working opening the gate guarding the shaft when the cage was not there, and pushing an empty hutch into the open shaft and falling after it. It transpired that the indicator, required by the Special Rules to be placed in the engine house and connected with the gate at the mid-working, had not been in operation for weeks previous to the accident. Apparently the bottomer unwittingly contravened the Special Rules by opening the gate when the cage was not at the mid-working, but by the neglect of the officials the engineman was not able to comply with the regulations, which required him to signal to the bottomer should the gate be opened when the cage is not at the mid-working. |
|
1898 | April | 11 | Fergushill No 22 | Ayr | Archd. Finnie & Son | James | Richmond | Miner | 49 | Falls of side | Fall of "falling" at the working face, owing to the want of sprags. | |
1898 | April | 12 | Clydesdale | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | James | Gardner | Bottomer | 20 | In shafts falling from part way down | Deceased, who was bottomer at a mid-working, raised the gate which fenced the shaft in order to signal to the engine-man to stop an ascending cage and place it at the landing. The cage was stopped a short distance above the landing, and immediately set back to it; but in the interval deceased had pushed a tub into the shaft and fallen with it. Had he signalled for the cage with his signal bell, and only raised the gate after the cage had been placed at the landing, the accident would have been prevented. | Newspaper report |
1898 | April | 13 | Mossband | Lanark | Linridge Coal Co | Archibald | McLean | Brusher | 30 | Falls of roof | Deceased was widening and brushing a horse-road through a longwall waste. In pulling down some stowage, he relieved a stone which fell upon his back, causing injuries to which he succumbed eleven days afterwards. | |
1898 | April | 14 | Hill of Beath | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | John | Fren | Waggon greaser | 70 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Run over by train of waggons. | |
1898 | April | 19 | Dumbreck | Stirling | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | John | Diver | Brusher | 34 | Falls of roof | While putting in a building he knocked out a prop, when a loose stone supported by the prop fell upon him. | Newspaper report - Stirling pages |
1898 | April | 19 | Longrigg | Lanark | James Nimmo & Co Ltd | John | Campbell | Miner | 35 | Falls of roof | Deceased appeared to have been holing at a long wall road head, to have heard the roof "working," and to have been in the act of making his escape, when he was caught and killed instantly by a large stone which fell from a keen clayey lype. | Newspaper report - New Monkland pages |
1898 | April | 22 | Allanton | Lanark | Morningside Coal Co Ltd | Archibald | Scott | Drawer | 17 | Haulage On inclined and engine planes | A set of ten loaded loaded tubs was being lifted from a level at its junction with the engine dook. The two loading tubs were very lightly loaded, and deceased was assisting the dook runner to guide them round the curve. When the strain came on the rope the tubs were pulled off the rails towards the inside of curve and struck deceased, causing injuries to which he succumbed four days afterwards. | |
1898 | April | 22 | Gateside | Dumfries | J I McConnell | Alexr. | Stitt | Drawer | 15 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working place. | Newspaper report - Dumfriesshire pages |
1898 | April | 22 | Shields | Lanark | Glasgow Iron & Steel Co Ltd | John | Brady | Brusher | 27 | Falls of side | Fall of side at the working face. | Newspaper report - Lanarkshire pages |
1898 | April | 23 | Ayr Colliery, Sundrum No 3 Pit | Ayr | George Taylor & Co | Joseph | Nimms | Miner | 17 | Falls of side | Fall of coal. | |
1898 | April | 28 | Carfin No 6 Pit | Lanark | Wm Dixon Ltd | Chas | Lafferty | Boiler fireman | 36 | On Surface Miscellaneous | Fall of stone wall in front of boilers owing to the pressure of the dross heaped up behind it. | |
1898 | May | 2 | Niddrie | Edinburgh | Niddrie & Benhar Coal Co Ltd | James | Blyth | Drawer | 19 | Haulage On inclined and engine planes | Deceased was ascending an incline, the average dip of which was 60o. He sat on a carriage with his back towards the roof, and on approaching the lowest part appeared to have leant backwards or raised his head, which came in contact with the roof, and he was knocked backwards over the carriage and fell to the bottom of the incline, a distance of about 135 fathoms. | |
1898 | May | 3 | Craighead | Lanark | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Mark | McGeachie | Drawer | 23 | Falls of roof | Fall at road head of coal which formed the brushing. | |
1898 | May | 6 | Dumbreck | Stirling | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Andrew | Bell | Loco. Guard | 20 | On Surface On railways and tramways | While illegally spragging a waggon with a plank, 5 1/2 feet long, it knocked him in front of the wheel, which ran over him. | Newspaper report - Stirling pages |
1898 | May | 9 | Castlehill | Lanark | Shotts Iron Co Ltd | James | Edgar | Wagon shifter | 26 | In shafts falling into shaft from surface | Coal was being filled from a bing, and deceased was placing the loaded tube upon the winding cage at pit mouth, in order that they might be raised to the upper scaffold for screening purposes. Immediately after sending away the cage with a loaded tub, he pushed another tub forward and fell with it to pit bottom, a distance of 30 fathoms. The shaft was fenced with a hinged gate, which deceased neglected to close after placing the tub on the cage. | |
1898 | May | 10 | Birkenshaw | Lanark | Larkhall Brickfields Ltd | Robert | Vallance | Miner | 24 | Falls of roof | Killed by a fall of roof stone in a district of long wall workings, in the Virtuewell Seam, recently re-started. | |
1898 | May | 10 | Little Raith | Fife | Lochgelly Iron & Coal Co Ltd | William | Burden | Pony driver | 14 | Haulage By trams and tubs | Deceased was found lying under the first tub of a loaded rake which he was taking outbye. His cap and lamp were found some distance back near to a broken crown on the roof, and it is supposed his head had struck said crown, stunning him, and causing him to fall off the first tub on which he sat. | Newspaper report - Beath pages |
1898 | May | 14 | Prestongrange | Haddington | Summerlee & Mossend Iron & Steel Co Ltd | Robert | Harline | Brusher | 17 | Falls of roof | Deceased had just turned out a loaded tub on a haulage road, at a point where some men were redding a water course. A bar suddenly broke, and the roof came in over a length of 25 ft., swinging out a number of other bars, and completely burying deceased. | |
1898 | May | 17 | Nethercroy No 1 Pit | Dumbarton | Carron Co | Alexr. | Barrie | Miner | 52 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | Newspaper report - Stirling pages |
1898 | May | 18 | Birkrigg | Lanark | Darngavil Coal Co Ltd | Robert | Rae | Manager | 30 | In shafts ropes and chains breaking |
The winding rope broke while deceased was ascending the shaft,
and he was precipitated to the bottom, a distance of 40 fathoms.
The rope was made of steel wire, was 34 ins. circumference, and
had been in use since September 1894. The shaft is 67 fathoms
deep, and the rope broke 6 fathoms from the cage. Water constantly
ran down the rope, which caused internal corrosion. A series
of tests were made with the broken ends of the rope, and the
average breaking strain was found to be 18 tons, but the torsional
strain was very little. From Main body of report: By the breakage of a rope a manager lost his life. In this case, as in a similar case last year, the rope when tested did not show a great diminution of tensile strength, but the torsional strength was far below what it should be, and it seems probable that the breakage was due to a sudden torsional strain. |
|
1898 | May | 18 | Quarter | Lanark | Colin Dunlop & Co | Harry | Smith | Labourer | 72 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Deceased was employed cleaning bricks on the side of the railway leading to the colliery, and it is supposed he was struck by the locomotive engine as it passed. | |
1898 | May | 20 | Blackston | Renfrew | Wm Black & Sons Ltd | Alexr. | Freeman | Boiler fireman | 42 | On surface By machinery | While starting an unfenced donkey engine with his foot it got caught by the flywheel. | |
1898 | May | 28 | Kelty | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | Euphemia | Brown | Pithead worker | 13 | On surface By machinery | While a boy was lowering a hoist cage, which had risen too far, a tub containing an iron pipe was pushed on to it, and the cage fell away suddenly before the hutch was secured, the hutch fell off and struck the deceased girls, who were sitting on a box near foot of hoist. | |
Agnes | Bain | Pithead worker | 13 | |||||||||
1898 | May | 31 | Carronrigg | Stirling | A. G. Moore & Co. | Janet | Prow | Hutch runner | 16 | On surface By machinery |
Caught by the spur wheels of the haulage engine after crawling
through the fencing with other girls to take a meal. From Main body of report: The deceased with other girls went into the dook engine-house, and went inside the fencing of the engine to take their meal, as it seems they were in the habit of doing. She fell among the moving parts of the machinery, and was killed instantaneously. The under manager was working the engine at the time, and he ought not to have permitted the girls to go inside the fencing. |
Newspaper report - Stirling pages |
1898 | June | 5 | Banknock Colliery, Broomrigg No 3 Pit | Stirling | Banknock Coal Co Ltd | Wm. John | Howell | Boiler fireman | 29 | In shafts falling into shaft from surface | In some unexplained manner he fell down the shaft. | |
1898 | June | 6 | Pathhead | Ayr | James Gray | Samuel | McCall | Miner | 44 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | |
1898 | June | 10 | Barncluith | Lanark | Archibald Russell | William | Fleming | Miner | 16 | Falls of roof | Deceased was engaged holing, when the coal suddenly burst off for a distance of 15 ft., the tail end striking him, and killing him instantaneously. The fall extended into adjoining place. | |
1898 | June | 10 | Dechmont | Lanark | Dechmont Colliery Co Ltd | John | McMenemay | Drawer | 17 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof on drawing road while passing along it with an empty hutch. | |
1898 | June | 10 | Harthill | Lanark | James Wood Ltd | David | Robb | Stone picker | 14 | On Surface Miscellaneous | Deceased was a stone picker, and in coming from the table he stumbled, and fell down the ladder to the railway, a distance of about 8 feet. | |
1898 | June | 10 | Hopetoun (Oil shale) | Linlithgow | Young's Paraffin Light & Mineral Oil Co Ltd | David | Menzies | Miner | 48 | Miscellaneous underground By explosives | Deceased bored a hole near the bottom of the shale for a "yankee" shot, charged it and ignited the fuse: after the shot exploded, he went back and found it had blown out, and he immediately recharged it, and when the second charge was put back it exploded. Some flame had evidently been left at the back of the hole from the first charge. Gunpowder was used for both charges. | |
1898 | June | 14 | Gauchalland No 4 | Ayr | Gauchalland Coal Co | John | Scott | Miner | 42 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face through failing to secure it with crowns as instructed by the manager. | |
1898 | June | 18 | Bredisholm No 3 | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | John | Walsh | Pitheadman | 36 | On surface By machinery | After re-hosing the winding-rope he was steadying it until the engineman lifted the cage. The cage was raised suddenly, and caused him to fall between the cage and the pithead frame where he was crushed. | |
1898 | June | 20 | Gauchalland No 2 | Ayr | Gauchalland Coal Co | Wm. | Abbott | reddsman | 56 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at his working face through failure to secure it when ordered by the fireman. | |
1898 | June | 20 | Neilsland | Lanark | John Watson Ltd | John | Doyle | Miner | 48 | Falls of side | Deceased while engaged lifting bottom coal, heard the head coal "work "; he was about to get out of harm's way, but before he got clear the coal fell on him. | |
1898 | June | 22 | Gauchalland No 7 | Ayr | Gauchalland Coal Co | James | Wallace | Pony driver | 26 | Miscellaneous underground By trams and tubs | While illegally riding between hutches drawn by a pony, upon going through a screen he got caught by the lintel. | |
1898 | June | 28 | Newbattle | Edinburgh | Lothian Coal Co Ltd | James | Pryde | Miner | 62 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Deceased attempted to climb into one of a train of railway vans, while in motion, for the purpose of being conveyed to his work. He fell, and two of the vans passed over his legs, causing injuries which resulted fatally. | |
1898 | June | 29 | Bothwell Park | Lanark | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | James | Phee | Brusher | 34 | Falls of side | While repairing a road, a stone fell from the side. | Newspaper report- Bothwell pages |
1898 | June | 29 | Cults (Limestone) | Fife | James Martin | John | Laing | Miner | 26 | Metalliferous Mines | While lighting the fuse of a shot, charged with loose gunpowder, it exploded. The cause of the premature explosion could not be ascertained. | |
1898 | July | 2 | Balbardie | Linlithgow | Balbardie Colliery Co Ltd | Matthew | Dougan | Chain runner | 36 | Haulage On inclined and engine planes | Deceased appeared to have been riding up an engine dook on one of a set of loaded tubs, when his head came in contact with a low portion of the roof, causing fracture of the skull. | |
1898 | July | 2 | Broadrigg | Stirling | John Nimmo & Son Ltd | Charles | Irving | Locomotive driver | 62 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Owing to the breaking of a coupling, a train of thirty-nine empty trucks ran away on the main line, and collided with the colliery locomotive which was shunting at the siding. The locomotive driver and brakesman were both very seriously injured, the former succumbing to his injuries on the same day. | |
1898 | July | 2 | Kelty | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | David | Chalmers | Miner | 17 | Falls of roof | Killed by a fall of stone from face of brushing. | |
1898 | July | 4 | Arniston | Edinburgh | Arniston Coal Co Ltd | Alexander | Gear | Miner | 32 | Falls of side | Deceased was said to have been in the act of rising from the holing to drill a shot hole in the head coal, which was 2 ft. 2 ins. in thickness, when about 18 cwts. of head coal suddenly burst off and fell upon him. | |
1898 | July | 4 | Drummuir | Ayr | Glengarnock Iron & Steel Co Ltd | Robert | Scanlan | Fireman | 51 | Miscellaneous underground By explosives | A shot, apparently unknown to him, was being fired, and it went off as he was passing it. | Newspaper report - Ayrshire pages |
1898 | July | 5 | Bank No 1 Pit | Ayr | New Bank Coal Co | James | Sharp | Roadsman | 33 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at brushing face while repairing it. | |
1898 | July | 13 | Fergushill No 28 | Ayr | Archd. Finnie & Son | Wm. | Scott | Miner | 52 | Falls of roof | While brushing his road a stone fell from between two lypes. Caused by want of crowns. | |
1898 | July | 27 | Knockterra | Ayr | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Wm. | McAulay | Miner | 65 | Miscellaneous underground On inclined and engine planes | While drawing a full hutch over the brow of an incline, and having omitted to attach the chain, the hutch ran over him. | |
1898 | July | 28 | Newton No 2 Pit | Lanark | Jas Dunlop & Co Ltd | John | Colquhoun | Miner | 32 | Falls of side | Fall of "falling" at working face. | |
1898 | July | 30 | Lochgelly | Fife | Lochgelly Iron & Coal Co Ltd | John | Wilson | Brusher | 22 | Falls of roof | Deceased was drawing props from under stone, which was to be shot down to brush a road, when the stone fell on him. | Newspaper report - Auchterderran pages |
1898 | August | 1 | Tannochside No 3 Pit | Lanark | Calderbank Steel & Coal Co Ltd | Hugh | McDermaid | Brusher | 25 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at brushing face while putting in a building. | Newspaper report- Bothwell pages |
1898 | August | 4 | Bothwell Park | Lanark | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Edward | Connell | Pony driver | 17 | Miscellaneous underground By trams and tubs | Run over in some unexplained manner by a "race" of full hutches he was taking along a road. | Newspaper report- Bothwell pages |
1898 | August | 4 | Jellieston | Ayr | Dalmellington Iron Co Ltd | John | Docherty | Fireman | 60 | Falls of roof | Fall of coal roof in a roadway while laying rails. | |
1898 | August | 7 | Viewpark | Lanark | R Addie & Sons Collieries Ltd | Wm. | Jardine | overman | 59 |
In shafts falling from part way down While working on a hanging scaffold putting in pipes, he fell off and down the shaft. |
From Main body of report: At Viewpark Colliery an overman while working on a hanging scaffold in the shaft fell off and was killed, and a few minutes after an engineer who had been working beside him, while attempting to step across the shaft to a bunton in order to reach the signal wire, also fell down the shaft and lost his life. | Newspaper report- Bothwell pages |
Thos. | Devlin | Engineer | 40 |
In shafts falling from part way down While attempting to step from a needle to a bunton, a distance of 4 feet 3 inches, to reach the signal wire, he fell down the shaft. |
||||||||
1898 | August | 8 | Allanton | Lanark | Wm Barr & Sons | John | Hill | Screenman | 46 | On Surface On railways and tramways | In attempting to sprag some runaway waggons, deceased was thrown under the train. The sprag used was an ordinary prop: there were plenty pointed sprags close at hand. | Newspaper report - Hamilton pages |
1898 | August | 10 | Elphingstone | Haddington | R & J Durie Ltd | John | Henderson | Bottomer | 38 | In shafts falling from part way down | Deceased descended the shaft to go to the pit bottom, and through a misunderstanding the engineman stopped the cage opposite a pump, and deceased, who had no light, stepped off the cage. He fell a distance of 14 fathoms. | |
1898 | August | 15 | Climpy | Lanark | Climpy Coal Co | John | Orr | Miner | 22 | Falls of roof | Deceased and his brother were engaged "winning" out inside a "hitch," and while holing the coal the roof suddenly fell out from between two parallel lypes and injured the spine. He died on 8th January, 1899. | |
1898 | August | 17 | Rosehall No 7 Pit | Lanark | R Addie & Sons Collieries Ltd | Walter | Haddow | Miner | 26 | Explosions of fire damp or coal dust |
His naked light ignited fire-damp in an unventilated part of
his working place. Another man was also injured. From Main body of report: The second fatal explosion happened in No. 7 pit, Rosehall Colliery, and by it one man was killed and another injured. The gas had accumulated in the unventilated "cundie," between their working face and an adjoining abandoned working place, and was ignited by the naked light of the deceased. It is doubtful if the fireman had previously inspected the " cundie." |
Newspaper Report - Old Monkland pages |
1898 | August | 17 | Furnacebank | Clackmannan | Teddy | Kerrick | Natural causes | Death not listed in Inspectors report | Newspaper report - Clackmannan pages | |||
1898 | August | 23 | Maxwood | Ayr | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Wm. | Wright | Coupler | 13 | Miscellaneous underground By trams and tubs | While drawing forward full hutches in pit bottom bye, a race of hutches drawn by a horse came up behind, and he was run over. | |
1898 | August | 25 | Ayr Colliery, Drumley No 1 Pit | Ayr | George Taylor & Co | Francis | Strachan | ---- | -- | In shafts Miscellaneous | While placing a hutch on the cage, the engineman started the engine and the hutch fell back on him. | [NB Name on death certificate is Francis Mackie] |
1898 | September | 9 | Ayr Colliery, Drumley No 1 Pit | Ayr | George Taylor & Co | Walter | Dunlop | Miner | 28 | Explosions of fire damp or coal dust |
A sudden outburst of fire-damp rendered the air current explosive,
and it ignited in the airway at the naked light of the fireman,
who was not aware of what had taken place. Other six men were
injured. From Main body of report: The third fatal explosion happened at Ayr Colliery, in No. 1 pit, Drumley, and by it 7 men lost their lives and other 6 were injured. Nos. 1 and 2 pits, Drumley, have recently been sunk, and the Diamond seam, 3 feet 4 inches thick, and lying 189 fathoms from the surface, was being opened up by the longwall system. The annexed plan, No. 1, shows the workings at the date of the explosion. The air current, stated to have amounted to 5,000 cubic feet per minute, circulated as shown by the arrows, and naked lights were in use throughout the workings. It appears that shortly before the explosion the workmen employed in the places A B D E retired to the heading-road to the point K, on account of the roof beginning to "work," and also the hissing noise of a discharge of fire-damp. The fireman, who was in the section F G H, shortly after having left the section from which the men had withdrawn, unaware of what had happened, was returning to these latter places along the airway, and when he had reached the point L, his naked light ignited fire-damp, and caused the explosion, which swept through all the longwall working places, except the place H, and also extended down the heading K. The men employed at H, and two workmen and the manager who were in the level J, were uninjured. Six of the deceased men were at the point K at the time of the explosion, and the seventh was at work in the place F, but was afterwards found at the point M. From the account given by the survivors, among whom was the fireman whose lamp ignited the gas, there seems to be no doubt that, owing to the working of the roof, there was an outburst of fire-damp, evidently in the vicinity of the working places A or B, and that the gas was carried in an explosive state by the air current to the fireman's naked light. The explosion was not a violent one, and little damage was done to the workings. The manager stated that an hour after the explosion there was no fire-damp or afterdamp in the seam, except a trace of gas near the heading face C, from which the air current was diverted by the screens having been blown down. The workings are dry, and after the explosion there was a coating of coal and clay dust throughout most of the working places, with traces of coked dust on some of the props. Apparently the explosion was intensified by the ignition of the coal-dust. It appears that some weeks after the explosion the fireman found the roof "working" in the section F G H, and shortly afterwards the whole current in the return airway was fouled by fire-damp, but this soon cleared away, and on inspecting the workings he could find no trace of gas, except in a small hole in the roof. It is unusual in Ayrshire to have sudden outbursts of fire-damp, and in the adjoining pit where the Diamond seam has been worked extensively, such an occurrence is unknown. Since the explosion the pit has been worked with safety-lamps. |
NB Deceased were: James McCreadie, Thomas Burns, John White,
John Brannigan, Walter Dunlop, Thomas Martin, Hugh McCreadie, Newspaper Reports |
John | Brannigan | Miner | 14 | |||||||||
Thomas | Martin | Miner | 40 | |||||||||
Thomas | Martin | Miner | 13 | |||||||||
John | White | Miner | 55 | |||||||||
James | McCreadie | Miner | 38 | |||||||||
Hugh | McCreadie | Miner | 28 | |||||||||
1898 | September | 9 | East Balquhatstone | Stirling | John Nimmo & Son Ltd | Esau | Edwards | Bottomer | 69 | In shafts falling from part way down | One side of the shaft is used from the Lady Grange Seam to the Splint Coal, a distance of 24 fathoms, for passing down in the cage to attend to a pump. The shaft is then opened at the Lady Grange by raising two doors. Deceased was engaged closing these doors after the oversman had ascended from the Splint Coal, and in some unexplained manner he fell to the Splint Coal. | |
1898 | September | 9 | Thankerton No 4 Pit | Lanark | John McAndrew & Co | Malcolm | Miller | Miner | 40 | Explosions of fire damp or coal dust |
He went into a disused road, to " knock " through to
his working place, when his naked light ignited fire-damp. From Main body of report: The fourth fatal explosion took place in No. 4 pit, Thankerton. The deceased miner, without having authority to do so, and, therefore, contrary to the regulations, went into a fenced-off disused road to " knock " through to his working place, when his naked light ignited some fire-damp, and he was fatally injured. The road he entered was not the one into which he meant to go. |
Newspaper report- Bothwell pages |
1898 | September | 13 | Blantyre Ferme | Lanark | A. G. Moore & Co. | Wm. | Thomson | Miner | 30 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | Newspaper report- Bothwell pages |
1898 | September | 19 | Durie | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | John | Miller | Pithead worker | 40 | On surface By machinery | While attempting to push an empty tub off the cage of a steam hoist, it suddenly dropped, and deceased fell to the ground, a distance of 21 feet, and was killed instantly. | |
1898 | September | 21 | Deans (Oil shale) | Linlithgow | Pumpherston Oil Co Ltd | Thomas | Laing | Miner | 26 | Miscellaneous underground By explosives | Two gunpowder shots were ready to fire at the face of a dook. Deceased and another miner agreed to light one shot each. They retired after deceased had lit his shot, the fuse of the other shot was thought not to have kindled, but it exploded just as deceased returned to the face after the explosion of the shot he had lit. | |
1898 | September | 23 | Barncluith | Lanark | Archibald Russell | Daniel | Woodhead | Miner | 51 | Falls of side | Deceased was believed to have been setting a prop near the face of a "cut" which he was taking off a stoop when a piece of head coal fell upon him, causing injuries to which he succumbed nine days later. | |
1898 | September | 26 | Neilsland | Lanark | John Watson Ltd | Edward | Curwood | Miner | 42 | Falls of side | Deceased was working at the face of a stooping place in the Ell Coal seam, when some coal from the upper part of the seam suddenly burst off and fell on him. | |
1898 | September | 26 | Woodend | Linlithgow | Coltness Iron Co Ltd | Nathaniel | Duff | Miner | 45 | Falls of roof | Deceased was engaged taking off coal, when the roof fell, and he was crushed between the coal face and a prop, and killed instantaneously. The roof fell away from a "lype" which had been bared when the coal was taken off the face. | |
1898 | September | 27 | Lassodie | Fife | Thos. Spowart & Co Ltd | Joseph | Hunter | Miner | 36 | Falls of side | Deceased was trying to pinch down a cut of coal which had already been shaken by a shot, when a portion of it suddenly came away, hurling the lever down upon the pavement and causing him to fall with it. Before he could get clear the remainder of the coal fell upon him, causing injuries which terminated fatally eleven hours afterwards. | Newspaper report - Beath accidents |
1898 | October | 8 | Holmes (Oil shale) | Linlithgow | Holmes Oil Co Ltd | Dennis | McAulay | Miner | 34 | Falls of side | Deceased was taking out a stoop uphill, and, after firing two shots, was engaged at the face holing with a pick, when a block of shale fell from a clay back and crushed him. | |
1898 | October | 9 | Kirkwood No 2 | Lanark | Kirkwood Coal Co | Michael | Penman | Engineman | 60 | On Surface Miscellaneous | He appears to have fallen from the top of the boilers, a distance of 8 feet. | |
1898 | October | 14 | Saline | Fife | Saline Valley Coal Co | Robert | Beveridge | Miner | 49 | On Surface Miscellaneous | Deceased had volunteered to assist a relative to remove a small boiler from one pit to another; while rolling it down a hill, a projecting stud-bolt appears to have caught his clothing. He was pulled over the boiler, which in turn rolled over him, fracturing his skull. | |
1898 | October | 20 | Arniston | Edinburgh | Arniston Coal Co Ltd | John | Hay | Miner | 41 | Falls of roof | Deceased was setting timber to secure the roof at a longwall face, when a large stone fell upon him, killing him instantly. | |
1898 | October | 21 | Callendar | Stirling | Callendar Coal Co | John | Allison | surfaceman | -- | On Surface On railways and tramways | Deceased and three other surfacemen were riding on a bogie over which they lost control. The other men got off, but deceased remained on until it ran into a waggon. | |
1898 | October | 22 | Harthill | Lanark | James Wood Ltd | Joseph | Gillespie | Oversman | 61 | Falls of roof | Deceased was directing some others who were redding an air-course through a longwall waste. They had just commenced at the side of a haulage-road, when the roof fell, and a large stone pressed deceased's face down upon the debris. He was extricated in about an hour and a half, but meantime had died from suffocation. | |
1898 | October | 24 | Longrigg | Lanark | James Nimmo & Co Ltd | Robert | Campbell | Dirt picker | 13 | On surface By machinery | Deceased was amusing himself by entangling a rope on a revolving shaft, and he was drawn forward and killed. | Newspaper report |
1898 | October | 25 | Earnock | Lanark | John Watson Ltd | Frank | Hailstones | Fireman | 29 | Miscellaneous underground suffocation by natural gases | Deceased went into a rising place where fire-damp was known to be present for some tools, and was overcome. In making his way out he fell and his body got firmly fixed between the stoop side and a prop, and eight hours elapsed before his body was recovered. All who attempted the rescue were more or less affected with the gas. | Newspaper report - Hamilton pages |
1898 | October | 25 | Nethercroy No 1 Pit | Dumbarton | Carron Co | Archd. | Thomson | Miner | 55 | Explosions of fire damp or coal dust |
Explosion of fire-damp, evidently caused by the son of the deceased
unlocking his safety lamp, and striking a match to relight it.
Other four men were injured. From Main body of report: The fifth fatal explosion happened in No. 1 pit, Nethercroy and by it one man was killed and other four men were injured. In this pit the Kilsyth coking coal is worked, and safety-lamps alone are in use. In the section of workings where the explosion happened fire-damp is freely given off, and the working places of the deceased and his two sons were the last to get the air current. It seems that they were leaving their working places, after finishing work for the day, when the explosion took place. Upon an inspection being afterwards made by the manager and under-officials, the bottom part of the safety-lamp, belonging to a son of the deceased, was found on the road (the return airway), about 30 yards distant from the coal face, and beside it a split nail by which a lamp could be unlocked, and a burnt lucifer match. The top of this lamp was found 70 yards farther out the road, and near it was a broken tobacco pipe, while in the vest pocket of the other son of the deceased a lucifer match was found. When I visited the pit afterwards, the whole air current in the vicinity of where the explosion happened was so charged with fire-damp, that a blue cap an inch long was shown on the flame of the lamp, but it seems that no one previous to the explosion had noticed such a dangerous state of matters. The inference is that the lamp, which was found open, had become extinguished, probably by the fire-damp, and the owner thereof, having matches and a lamp key, was in the act of relighting it when the match ignited the fire-damp. Workmen employed in this mine have been repeatedly prosecuted before the Sheriff, at Dumbarton, for contravening the regulations prohibiting smoking or having matches or lamp keys in their possession, and the fines imposed have had no effect in deterring them from risking their own and their fellow workmen's lives. It was brought out at the Inquiry in connection with this explosion, that at this and other mines in the vicinity of Kilsyth, when a workman is about to be prosecuted for any of these offences, his fellow workmen subscribe and provide sufficient money to pay his fine and all his expenses. This state of matters is a disgrace to the miners of the locality. It could, however, probably be brought to an end if every person convicted of offences of this nature were sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine, under section 60 of the Coal Mines Regulation Act. Shortly after this explosion a miner, who worked in the section in which it happened, was found in possession of a pipe, prosecuted, and sentenced to 15 days imprisonment. |
Newspaper report - Dunbartonshire pages |
1898 | October | 26 | Wemyss | Fife | Wemyss Coal Co Ltd | Stewart | Mulholland | Miner | 45 | Haulage By trams and tubs | The place of accident was a dook, and a block, consisting of a prop fixed between the roof and floor, was put in near the face on which the tubs rested ; this block slipped out and tubs moving down crushed deceased at the coal face. The prop appeared to be too short. | |
1898 | October | 29 | Broomhouse | Lanark | Haughhead Coal Co Ltd | Francis | Pope | Brusher | 60 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at brushing face. | |
1898 | November | 1 | Calderbank | Lanark | Glasgow Iron & Steel Co Ltd | Hugh | Mann | Brusher | 25 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at brushing face. | Newspaper Report - Old Monkland pages |
1898 | November | 2 | Ayr Colliery, Sundrum No 3 Pit | Ayr | George Taylor & Co | Archd. | Frew | Miner | 40 | Falls of side | Fall of coal and stone from working face. | |
1898 | November | 3 | Earnock | Lanark | John Watson Ltd | George | Sommerville | Miner | 14 | Falls of side | Deceased and a miner who employed him had arrived at the face, and before the miner examined the place, deceased commenced to work at the coal with a pick, when a quantity of coal fell from the upper part of the seam and crushed him. A stooping place in the Ell Coal. | |
1898 | November | 4 | Bonnybridge (Fireclay) | Stirling | Bonnybridge Silica & Fireclay Co | James | Kirkwood | Miner | 56 | Falls of roof | After firing a shot deceased returned to within a few feet of the face, when some stone fell from the roof on him. | |
1898 | November | 9 | Pollok Colliery, Lochinch Pit | Renfrew | Wilson's & Clyde Coal Co Ltd | James | Kerr | Bottomer | 40 | Miscellaneous underground sundries | He either fell on the plates in the pit bottom, or was struck by something which fell down the shaft. | |
1898 | November | 11 | Allanton | Lanark | William Barr & Sons | Thomas | Blakely | Brusher | 39 | Miscellaneous underground By explosives | Deceased and another brusher were engaged brushing a road; the shot which was to bring down the brushing failed to do its work, and two plug holes were prepared in the sides, and each was to ignite one : the shorter fuse ignited first and both retired along the wall face, and when the shot exploded deceased returned to ignite his fuse, when it went off just as he reached it. Deceased informed his neighbour that his fuse had not fired, but it is evident he had ignited it without being aware. | Newspaper report - Hamilton pages |
1898 | November | 17 | Victoria (Ironstone Mine) | Renfrew | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Philip | McEarney | Pony driver | 14 | Miscellaneous underground By trams and tubs | Found dead under the first of a race of hutches he was bringing out to the shaft. | |
1898 | November | 18 | Nethercroy No 3 Pit (Ironstone mine) | Dumbarton | Carron Co | Duncan | McDougall | Labourer | 44 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Run over by a waggon of ironstone while crossing the rails in front of it. | |
1898 | November | 23 | Douglas | Lanark | Coltness Iron Co Ltd | William | Moffat | Bottomer | 53 | In shafts falling from part way down | Deceased was bottomer at a mid-working in the shaft, and thinking the cage, which was ascending from a lower level, was going to stop at his level, he opened the gate and pushed a loaded tub into the shaft, falling with it to the bottom level, a distance of 36 fathoms. The engineman failed to warn him in time by signal. | |
1898 | November | 24 | Cadzow | Lanark | Cadzow Coal Co Ltd | Hugh | Cairney | Labourer | 55 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Deceased was pushing some waggons forward to the screen, when some others, which he had neglected to sprag, came down, and he was crushed between them. | Newspaper report - Hamilton pages |
1898 | November | 25 | Wellshot No 1 Pit | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | Hugh | Kane, jr | Miner | 19 | Falls of side | Fall of side of road near working face. | Newspaper report |
1898 | November | 29 | Gartshore No 11 Pit | Dumbarton | Wm Baird & Co Ltd | Thos. | Brown | Miner | 54 | On Surface Miscellaneous |
George Brown poured some naphtha upon the stove in the lamp room,
thinking the fire was extinguished, and caused an explosion.
Another miner was injured. From Main body of report: Two miners were killed and 1 injured by an explosion of naphtha in a lamp room into which they had gone without authority. One of them, apparently thinking that the stove fire was out, took a can of naphtha, and was pouring some of it into the stove, when the liquid ignited and caused the accident. It seems that they meant to relight the fire in the stove to warm themselves while waiting to get down the pit. |
|
George | Brown | Miner | 26 | |||||||||
1898 | November | 29 | Gateside No 2 Pit | Lanark | Flemington Coal Co Ltd | Patrick | McLaughlan | Miner | 74 | Falls of side | Fall of coal. | |
1898 | December | 1 | Blantyre | Lanark | Wm Dixon Ltd | John | Weldon | Miner | 32 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | |
1898 | December | 1 | South Broadrigg | Linlithgow | John Nimmo & Son Ltd | George | Frazer | Miner | 24 | Falls of side | Deceased, who was taking out the last pillar of a stoop, had holed the coal for a length of 9 feet from a shearing cut by a shot, and to a depth of about 2 feet, when it suddenly came away from a lype, and fell upon him. No gibs appeared to have been set. | |
1898 | December | 6 | Hamilton Palace | Lanark | Bent Colliery Co Ltd | Hugh | Nelson | Pumping engineman | 35 | On surface By machinery | Found dead beneath the pumping engine, having been crushed by the machinery. | Newspaper report - Bothwellhaugh pages |
1898 | December | 8 | Leven | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | John | Staig | Pithead worker | 18 | On surface By machinery | Deceased was pushing a loaded tub off a hoist cage, when the cage was raised and he was crushed against a beam above. Some one had tampered with the brake. | |
1898 | December | 14 | Bredisholm No 1 Pit | Lanark | United Collieries Ltd | Daniel | Conlin | Miner | 22 | Falls of roof | Fall of roof at working face. | |
1898 | December | 14 | Rosewell | Edinburgh | Lothian Coal Co Ltd | James | Robertson | ---- | 57 | In shafts whilst ascending or descending by machinery | Deceased and five others were descending the shaft on a cage running in wire rope guides, at the usual speed. When about 20 fathoms from the pit bottom, he suddenly fell from the cage and was killed instantly. | |
1898 | December | 21 | Bannockburn | Stirling | Alloa Coal Co | Wm. | Douglas | Drawer | 17 | Miscellaneous underground On inclined and engine planes | Fall of wheel-frame and roof at top of self-acting incline. | |
1898 | December | 21 | Wellsgreen | Fife | Fife Coal Co Ltd | John | Forrester | Waggon trimmer | 74 | On surface By machinery | While deceased was supposed to be climbing a fence, he appears to have placed his foot at return wheel of conveyor, and the leg was drawn in. | Newspaper report - Fife pages |
1898 | December | 22 | Newbattle | Edinburgh | Lothian Coal Co Ltd | Robert | Darling | Drawer | 21 | Haulage By trams and tubs | Deceased was taking a loaded tub down a side road dipping 1 in 5. He appeared to have been in front of the tub in contravention of Additional Special Rule 5. The tub overpowered him and drove him against the dip side of the level, causing injuries to which he succumbed three weeks afterwards. | |
1898 | December | 23 | Herbertshire, Stripeside, No 2 Pit | Stirling | R Addie & Sons Collieries Ltd | Robert | McKay | Waggon trimmer | 40 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Found dead under a loaded waggon which he seems to have been moving forward from the screen. | Newspaper report - Stirling pages |
1898 | December | 24 | Balgonie | Fife | C B Balfour | Robert | Penman | Signal boy | 13 | On Surface On railways and tramways | Deceased was riding on the buffer of a locomotive engine near his post; in jumping off he must have stumbled, as he was run over by the waggons the locomotive was drawing. | Newspaper report - Fife pages |
1898 | December | 28 | Balgonie | Fife | C B Balfour | James | Nicholson | Drawer | 16 | Falls of side | Deceased was working at the coal face in a longwall working of the Dysart Coal, when some coal fell from the face upon him. | Newspaper report - Fife pages |
1898 | December | 29 | Glencraig | Fife | Wilson's & Clyde Coal Co Ltd | Thomas | Oswald | Pony driver | 24 | Haulage By trams and tubs | Deceased was coming outbye with a loaded rake, and by some means unknown fell in front of the tubs. It is supposed he was attempting to shift the points in entering the lye while the tubs were in motion and stumbled. |