SALT WELL Dudley, Worcestershire 9th. February, 1865.

The colliery was the property of the Earl of Dudley. The accident happened in the thick coal workings and was the most appalling and destructive on record. In the No.10 Pit and on the morning in question six men were engaged as loaders in one of the openings of the mine when some fifty tons of coal suddenly fell from a height of seventeen feet without any warning. The fall was brought about by a subsidence of the strata which was technically called a “bump”.

All the victims were listed as bondsmen and one of the men was conscious as the rescuers were trying to get him out but he was dead when they did so. The deputy had not sent for a surgeon “for fear of creating an uproar at the top”.

Those who died were:

  • E. Johnson, aged 18 years,
  • W. Mason, aged 30 years,
  • E. Roberts, aged 36 years,
  • J. Smith, aged 18 years,
  • J. Rough, aged 31 years.
  • Pikey, aged 27 years.

There were two inquests held into the deaths of the men. Mr. Matthew Fletcher, the ground bailiff stated that he had instructed the charter master to confine himself to the Eight Yard openings, leaving pillars ten yards square. The opening in which the accident occurred was twelve yards wide at the bottom. Fletcher observed that:

This was a serious departure from his instructions and seriously increased the danger to the men.

Before the accident the coal was overhanging for twenty-four feet from the side of the rib and it was not supported by props. A witness said that this would have been impracticable. The charter master’s deputy had inspected it with a pike before the men came down to work the morning before but not on the day of the accident. He had reached it with the aid of a ladder and found it safe.

Mr. Baker, the Government Inspector commented at the inquiry:

I inspected the Salt Well colliery the day after the accident. I found that the coal had fallen, partly from the roof partly from a face slip and which extended from one side of the opening to the other, running parallel with the structural divisions of the bed or face of the coal, thus favouring the process of rating off consequent upon the superincumbent weight on the one hand, and the upheaving of the bottom of the other, causing the coal to split into columnar masses and roll off. The overhanging coal before the fall extended about 24 feet from the side of the rib and was about 5 feet in thickness and 17 feet 6 inches from the floor of the mine, 9 or 10 feet of which broke off.

Mr. Baker continued his report:

Overhanging coal under any circumstances greatly increase the risk to life and limb in working thick coal seams. The structural divisions of the coal appear to be extremely treacherous, consequently opening too wide should be carefully avoided, therefore the work should be set out at safe and reliable dimensions and well supported with timber props here they can be set to moderate heights. I believe it possible to prop overhanging coal even when it is 17 feet high.

At the first inquest the jury deliberated for twenty minutes and returned a verdict of “Accidental Death” and made the following recommendations:

That in future the openings in No.10 pit do not exceed eight yards in width, that all overhanging coal above the band be either got down or timbered, and it is the opinion of the jury that this should have been done before the accident happened. That the butty and doggy be cautioned as to the mode of examining the pit before the men commence working and the jury are of the opinion that hitherto proper examinations have not been made in the pit. That on any future occasion, when an accident happens in the pit, it at once be communicated to the banksman, and the surgeon sent for.

A similar verdict was returned by the second inquest into the deaths of some of the men. The Inspector concluded his report by saying:

It is but due to the memory of the charter-master, who is since dead, to say that he had worked at the pit for 10 years without the loss of a single life.

 

REFERENCES
Mines Inspectors Report. 1865.
The Colliery Guardian, 18th February 1865. p.106., 25th February 1865. p.121.

Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.

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