Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills

LLANERCH COLLIERY DISASTER. ADJOURNED INQUEST AT PONTYPOOL. The adjourned inquiry into the circumstances of the Llanerch Colliery Explosion on the 6th of February, by which 176 men and boys lost their lives, was held at the Town Hall, Pontypool, on Tuesday morning, by Mr J. B. Walford, deputy- coroner, and a special jury of which Mr T. Wil. liams, Brompton House, was foreman. There was again a large attendance of the general public. Mr H. D. Green, Q.C., represented the Home Office, and was assisted by Mr J. S. Martin, in- spector of mines for the district, Mr R. D. Bain, deputy-inspector, and Mr J. Robson, inspector for the south-west district. Mr J. E. Ward (Messrs Colborne, Ward & Colborne, Newport) represen- ted Messrs Partridge, Jones & Co., and the officials of the colliery. Mr I. Evans, of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Colliers Federation, was pre- sent on behalf of the colliery workmen, and Mr Whitefiald, Bristol, the National Union of Miners of Great Britain. Mr E. Jones, J.P., was present, together with a large number of mining engi- neers. It will be remembered that the inquiry was adjourned from the 28th ult., principally for the attendance of Mr Joseph Morgan, the mana- ger of the colliery, who was now present. Mr Ward, at the outset, said he proposed, with the permission of the court, to read a statement which had hfipn nrfinarprl hv Mr .Tosenh Morvan. Mr Morgan was then sworn, and Mr Ward pro- ceeded to read the statement as follows I obtained my certificate under the Coal Mines Regulation Act after being examined by the Examunng Board at the Guildhall, Bristol, in July 1878. I was engaged as certificated colliery manager at the Llanerch colliery on the let March, 1887. At that date the special rules were those under the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1872. As soon as the new special rules had been estab- lished under the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887, I saw that each of the officials of the mine was furnished with a copy of them—they were duly posted at the mine and there were a quantity kept at the machine-house and the office for all men employed in the mine. The mode of working the colliery was by a continuous double shift, the men changed each other in their places after the day and night shift, that is, the night shift came in before the day shift came out. The only men employed on the coal in the night shift were in driving headings, the rest were repairers. Occasionally in driving headings there would be three shifts of 8 hours each, when the men would change one another at their places during the whole 24 hours. It was my duty, amongst others to see that an adequate amount of ventilation was constantly produced in the mine, and to ascertain th.e quantity of air in the respective currents, and this I did much more often than once in each month. Occasionally the late Edward Jones (who held an TOnder-Manager's certificate, and for two years was returned by me as under-manager) also gave special attention to the ventilation. There was 66,300 feet of air per minute passing into the colliery, and this was properly distributed through the mine by means of ascensional ventilation. The Meadow Vein seam of coal worked in Cook's Slope was as free from gas as most seams of coal worked in steam coal collieries by means of naked lights. The quantity of air is large, and in my view quite sufficient, and the men considered the ventilation quite sufficient for the colliery, and exceptionally good. Before the colliery was ventilated by means of a fan, the quantity of air averaged from 20,000 to 30,000 feet per minute, and the wind- ways were much shorter than they are at present. The gas spoken of as being in James Greasley's stall was removed on the evening of Monday the 16th of December, and this place was free of gas on the 17th of December. The gas in question was only a small quantity; I had to put my lamp close against the top before I could find any. I saw the place after the gas was removed on Mondav evening. On the Wednesday I waa again in Greasley's stall—then Greasley was working in his upper road near the face. I tested for gas and found none there, and Greasley did not sug- gest that there was gas there he and his two sons were working there at the time, and they saw me test for gas and find none. I went to the colliery on Thursday, the 6th of February, the day of the explosion, with the engine that takes the men from Abersychan to the colliery at 6-10 in the morning. I went into the fan-house and counted the revolutions of the engine, which were from 50 to 52 revolutions per minute. I then went to the top of the pit to go down with the first bond of men, when one of the men called me and I had a business conversation with him of a few minutes. I then went back to the machine- house and then to the pit and descended between half-past 6 and 7 o'clock. I went to the lamp- house and then came back to the bottom of the pit, and about 8 o'clock I instructed Henry Hillier and his men in the new windway near the bottom of the pit; these men were subsequently killed. I then saw Stephen Powell come out of Cook's Slope, and spoke to him. He had been down to No 4 to fetch a Jimcrow from Edward Jones, and he met me at the junction of Cook's Slope after 8 o'clock. He stated that he had seen Edward Jones but that the Jimcrow was not there but had been sent down the Long Slope, and asked me to send it up when I went down the Long Slope. About quarter-past 8, I went down the Long Slope. At the bottom of the Long Slope, I was engaged with Challinger in measuring Chal- linger's work when I heard the explosion, which was nothing more than a hissing noise in our ears-we felt the pressure but heard no report. I said to Challinger I am afraid there is a bit of gas gone somowhere." The haulier came up and said, Don't you think that's a bit of gas, Mr Morgan." I said, Yes." I then told them that we had better get out and see what it was. I told Challinger to catch in his boy and not loose him until we reached the pit. we then started towards the pit having unhitched the horse which followed us up. We came up the slope, but saw nothing until we came within about 400 yards of the pit, where the air comes down from the Rock and Three-quarter. We then saw a door had been blown down in the return and felt the air thick there. We went on and saw a few stones and sticks lying about the road. When we got within 100 yards of the pit we saw several posts and ropes lying across the road. When we got up to near the way to the airbridge we found rubbish and timber very thickly strewed about the ground. I then heard Tom Langley or the other one snore very heavily. I said, Hold on, boys, when I went down I left two or three men here and we had better take them up with us." George Saunders turned round and caught in Tom Langley's legs. I caught him round the chest and picked him up. Philip Williams called on the others to stop and assist in carrying the others they came back and assisted me to carry William Jenkins. We carried them up the slope, and had great difficulty to do so. When near Cook's Slope, Sanders dropped the man's legs, and said I can't carry further." I dragged Langley a little further and felt myself getting too giddy to stand. I said, We will lay him here where the air is fresh, and after we get a little fresh air we will come back and fetch him." The others did the same with Jenkins. I now saw that the force of the explosion had been greater just above Cook's Slope than it was in the Long Slope. I went on to the cross cut between the hard heading and the Meadow Vein Slope. I saw several lights pass- ing from the Rock workings. I went through and inquired if anything had happened in the Rock or Three-quarter, and was told nothing had happened there. I saw two being carried to the bottom of the pit that had been affected by the after-damp coming out along the hard heading. I went on to the bottom of the pit and found great confusion there. I asked if anyone knew where it had happened, and the Rock and Three- quarter men said it had not happened in there, but it must be somewhere in Cook's Slope. I went into the Return and found a deal of fresh air coming up with the after-damp. I crossed the pit and appealed to the men that were not affected by the after-damp to go down and fetch Langley and Jenkins to the bottom of the pit. They hesitated, but after I stated that they should not go up the pit until they had fetched them from there, eight men went and brought Langley and Jenkins to the pit bottom. Jenkins revived directly, but Langly slept on for a while. I found John Beard had been dragged from the bottom of the pit and put to sit in a little airway, his foot was cut off and he was bleeding very freely. I tied a scarf round his leg, putting pressure upon the artery to stop the flow of blood, after which I went back to the pit bottom to send the men to the surface. I found that the cage was some distance up the pit. The men pushed me up as far as they could reach, and I climbed up into the cage. They then pushed Thomas Sulway up, and I assisted him into the cage also we then got Lewis Evans up. The air was very strong on the bonnet of the cage on to which we had to climb. We then found that the slides were broken and consequently there were no guides for the cage. After a good deal of difficulty we got the cage into the slides, and signalled for the cage to be pulled to the surface. When we were going np we were passed in the pit by several colliery managers going down. We were going slow, and I spoke to them and asked them to try and restore the -ventilation as soon as possible. I went to the top and the mechanic went down to examine the breakage. He came back up and said he would have to take the cage off. I then decided not to wait for them to take off the carriage, but that I would go down the upcast as I knew the separation doors were down, and there was no danger in doing so, I did this because I knew that there were three employed in the Return near the upcast shaft. When we got to the bottom I told off those that were in the cage to go down the north side, asking them to pick up the three that were there and carry them with them to the bottom of the pit. I went down myself on the other side, taking one man with me to endeavour to put up the Meadow Vein separation, so as to restore the ventilation as quickly as possible. When we had completed that I returned to the bottom. We then followed down Cook's Slope, restoring the ventilation as fast as we could; all the main doors were down, the aircrossing on Cook's Slope was blown up, and the ventilation had to be carried down by brattices being put across the openings. We then proceeded to get up the bodies of the men we found killed. The doors on numbers 1, 2, and 3, were all blown inward. There was a fall on No 4, and we could not then say how that door was blown. The doors below were blown inward and downward. One sheet in the cross-heading in No 4 was not disturbed all the others were blown down but showed no signs of great violence. The timbers in No 4 were slightly charred from the face of Henry Lewis's heading outward, the signs of burning extending up John Williams's heading and down Lewis Bridges' heading to near the windway, where the signs of burning ceased. I believe that none of the men in No 4 heading, or thereabouts, were burned, with the exception of Lewis Bridges. In wo o we saw slight signs of burning on the timbers in George James's stall (40 on plan). Where stowing was being done, we found more or less signs of burning on the timbers all the way in that heading, and out along the horse windway to near the jump, the signs of burning then ceased. We found slight signs of burning in William Allsopp's and James Meadows' stajls (Nos 60 and 68 on plan). Out- side of that we saw no signs of burning. We went in along No 2 heading and saw slight signs of burning on timber near John Wilcox's stall (No 75) the first stall on the intake from the main return. These signs continued more or less around the face of the heading, after passing a few yards outside of the face of the horse wind- way. I saw no signs of burning along the horse windway of No 2, but it was evident that heat had passed along No 2 heading as Edward Jones (No 73) was found with his hair singed. In the two headings off No 2 beading, sometimes called North Branch, we found signs of burning more or less in several places, but indicating no great violence. On this heading almost every man had run away from his working place. In the night of Thursday, a small fire was found burning the bot- tom coal in the lower road of the 8th double stall counting upward from No 1 cross-heading. This we put out with the tea out of the men's jacks that we got together. We found a fall about 70 yards from the face of No 1 heading. About '50 yards from the face of the heading we saw slight indications of burning, which increased as we went inward for 20 yards—afterwards the signs became more slight as we got nearer the face, but were still to be seen. Out along the horse wind- way of John Powell's stall IsfB found more or less signs of burning. I do not think we found any signs of burning outside of John Powell's stall, The men had run from theirplaces in this heading some of them a great distance. Counting each double stall as two, there were 141 working places in Cook's Slope of that number 14 were stopped temporarily, 37 were stopped permanently, and 90 were working—141. You could not call any portion of the colliery dusty the driest were Nos 2 and 3. We never found it necessary to water these places because of the dust in them, as although the driest parts of the colliery they were not dusty. I do not think there was a shot fired in No 4 at any time before the explosion if any shot had been fired in No 4 it would have in Harry Lewis' heading, which had not been working for two days. I saw no indication of any shot being recently fired in any part of the mine., I ordered Edward Jones to appoint the haulier near the bottom of the pit as hitcher during the night shift, he having very little to do as haulier and being competent for the post of hitcher. The Meadow Vein seam was worked by naked lights. Naked lights are also in use- at Cwmbran Colliery, Tranch Colliery, Pontnewynydd, British Top Pits, Golynos Colliery, Lower Varteg, Upper Varteg, and at Blaenavon Collieries. By the Coroner: His duties consisted of the superintendence of the whole of the workings of the Llanerch Colliery, and also of Blaensychan. He did not remember a day passing without his going down the Llanerch Colliery, and was cer- tainly at the colliery every day. He went up by the first engine, and did not think he had lost a day in three years. The greater part of his time was devoted to Llanerch. Edward Jones, Ashman, and Peggington were officials under him. He had every confidence in them. In Ashman's report- book there were various entries relating to gas and other matters. He generally saw the report before going down, and also had conversations with Ashman and the other officials. It was not within his knowledge that gas was found and not reported. He did not know of Ashman being in the habit of removing small quantities of gas and not reporting it. So far as he was concerned, all he had to do was with the gap entered in the report-book, and did not remember ever finding gas in Cook's Slope which had not been reported. Ash- man had to be at the pit at about 4 o'clock in the morning. On the 6th he had to go down as usual and make his inspection. Peggington was the night fireman, and had to examine the Three- quarter and Rock workings in the morning. Ash- man confined himself to examining Cook's Slope. In addition to Ashman, there was another fireman in the day for other districts in the mine. Witness was of opinion that he had sufficient time to make a thorough examination before the men went down on the day shift. It had not occurred to witness that the district was too much for Ashman to examine, but thought as it became larger he would have to have assistance. Witness often tried for gas himself in Cook's Slope, not trusting entirely to the reports, and the result of that in- vestigation did not disclose any further gas. Wit- ness was consulted by Mr Jones with regard to the inspector's recommendation as to the adoption of safety-lamps. He told Mr Jones the exact state of the mine as disclosed by the reports and his examinations. The correspondence and interview Mr Jones had with the inspector were in December, and witness probably spoke to Mr Jones before that. Witness told Mr Jones that probably as they got further into the mountain, safety-lamps might become necessary. He did not remember pointing out the existence of gas in Cook's Slope to Mr Jones, but had spoke of gas found in the long slope. About the time of the little explosion in the Three-quarter vein, the men heard that it was likely safety-lamps would be introducei. The men spoke to him about it, and one in particular, Edwin Tudgay, who worked in the Three-quarter, said they did not want safety-lamps there. He had heard the same thing from men working in Cook's Slope. He had been told that they might as well put a lamp in the hands of a banker as to have them down the pit. No danger was appre- hended from working with naked lights. He had heard on one occasion of gas lighting in Cook's Slope from the dropping qf the snuff of a candle. That was in William Flowers' cross-heading, con- necting No. 1 with No. 2. That was the only case of the kind he bad heard of. Flowers told him of it himself. They had not seen any gas for a long time prior. That would be six or eight weeks ago. It would be a mere nothing—only a little bit. Matthews was working the other side-the one in the intake, and the other in the face. It was not upon the occasion when Matthews' boy was burnt; it would be an earlier occasion. It was some time after that he heard of it. Matthews' boy was only from the colliery for one shift, and witness could see no sign that he had been burnt. He was told that the gas ignited by the lamp on the boy's head. There might ve been a desire on Matthews' part to ooliooal what lied happened, as he did not report it. He went through the place next day, and examined for gas with a lamp, but did not find any either then or since. He did not remember any gas being found there since. He had not heard of Parfitt or James Powell lighting gas from the dropping of the snuff of a candle, or that John Powell, the brattice-man, removed gas somewhat frequently. If gas was removed before witness got to the pit in the morn- ing, and was not reported, witness would not know of it. He had not given Ashman instructions not to report caps or flashes, but had told him to report what he saw. If Christopher Lewis had stated that the danger-mark had been put up at his place three or four times since Christmas, witness did not know of it. Witness could not say that the statement was incorrect, but knew nothing of it until he saw it in the paper. His first connection with the. Meadow Vein, in that particular seam, was in 1875, and had also worked it at Varteg. In his opinion he had thought, prior to the explosion, it might safely be worked with naked lights, and the same was true of Varteg. It was kept free of gas by means of ventilation. By Mr Evans: Witness went to the colliery with the first engine in the morning, and generally received the fireman's report on the surface. He did not always receive the report from the Blaensychan Colliery in the morning. There was 66,300 feet of air per minute passed into the workings, distributed as follows: —Long Slope and Three-quarter, 21,000 feet; Cook's Slope, 20,000 feet, which was again divided with a split of about 6,000 feet going through the small split up through No. 1 cross-heading; and very nearly 14,000 going down belov; in the north level they had 12,000 feet going through the jump; in the stables 6,500 feet; and the waste through the separation doors, &c., accounted for 6,800 feet. He generally received the fireman's report about 6.30 or 6.45 a.m. He considered that the colliery was worked by a continuous shift, in- asmuch as the men changed each other in their places. The repairers would not change each other, and would not take on until the fireman came. He could not say whether tha fireman saw all the workmen before they went in in the morning. He would not see them all, as they did not come all together. The rule of the colliery was that if the men saw Ashman up, and he did not say any- thing to them, everything was considered all right. They would certainly see Ashnlin or Edward Jones before going down. Reports were made to the first batch of men at the lamp-station, and they would then receive authority or otherwise to proceed to their working places. Mr Ward That complies with the rule. Mr Evans: No. Mr Ward: Yes. Mr Evans No. Rule 58 doesr't sa.y the first batch, the second batch, or the Iwentieth batch, but that no person shall proceed to his working place before receiving a report. By the Coroner: It was hardly possible for any man to go in without seeing eitha* the fireman or the under-manager. Mr Green: You'll excuse me, Mr Evans. It says it must be reported safe. It doeai't say that it is to be reported to each workman sife. Mr Evans To whom ? Mr Green In the report-book, presumably. Mr Evans objected, but the point was not pro- ceeded with By Mr Evans Ashman had to examine 90 working-places that morning, tie double stall being reckoned as two, and witness thought 2 hours would be sufficient for the purpose. He could not say how long it would take to examine each place separately, although ie had examined the places scores of times, but bad never timed himself. He had followed Ashman in his examinations many times, but neter had any fault to find. As he had stated, he bad not received reports from time to time of gas being fired by the snuff of a candle. Newberry toli him one day that when lighting a hole a little gas oozed from it, and witness told him to make the match longer. Having regard to all the circumstances, he did not consider it wise to adopt the principle of locked lamps, neither did the men themselves. By Mr Whitefield: Any man whose place was dangerous would be stopped by an official. He could not be certain as to the seat of the explo- sion, but thought it originated either in No. 4 or by the lights of those working in the wind road above No. 4, taking stuff back and stowing it; but that was only an opinion. Thtre was also an official at the station to give information to the men passing, but an exceptional case might occur of a man passing without being warned. He agreed with Mr Jones's theory that there were several explosions-a primary one and other small ones and that the first explosion created a vacuum. He believed the explosion originated in No. 4, and that the gas exuded from the floor. By the Coroner In view of the explosion which had taken place, he did not consider it was a mine which gave off gas freely, but believed there was an outburst. By Mr Whitefield: He would not think of working the pit with naked lights now, as they might have an outburst again. He had told the men that as they went down deeper under the mountain it might become necessary to use lamps, as the coal t there would gire off more freely. By timbers slightly burned he meant timbers less burned than other^were. By Mr Ward: The first batch of men coming to the lamp station had a report made to them by the fireman. If a place was safe, the day of the month would be written upon it, and if it was unsafe the fireman would put up X timbers te bar it off, so that no man would go into a dangerous place, being warned. Witness was at the fall in No. 4 on the morning of the 5th, and was on top of the laggings. He agreed with the witness Henry Lewis that the fall was 8-ft. above the lag- gings. He had never instructed the fireman to report otherwise than in accordance with the in- structions. By Mr Green: A ventilation report-book was also kept. Witness examined the main air cur- rents a few times a month, and reported it in the book once a month. Mr Green: In my book it says once a week. Witness The rule was kept as far as the keep- ing of it was concerned, but we omitted to report it in writing every week. Mr Green: May I take it, whether it was impor- tant or not, that there was an habitual disregard of Rule 23 ? Witness Well, it was an oversight. By Mr Green: He knew of the fall in No. 4 on the 5th February, and had known another fall in the six months before. It was not reported in the book. He regarded the fall as a source of danger, and gave it special attention himself. He looked at the book every day. He did not notice that the first fall was not recorded in the book. The fall in No. 4 heading was not reported either. Both falls should have been recorded by Ashman. The accident to the boy was not reported in the book. It was not a case of serious personal injury, and witness did not see that the boy was injured at all so as to necessitate his reporting it to the inspector. With reference to Ashman's report witness was not aware that he had not reported all gas which he had found. Witness heard it for the first time in connection with the inquest. He had known the Llaneroh Colliery many years, but had only worked there three years. He remembered an explosion there 20 or 21 years ago, by which seven lost their lives. Apart from that, the pit had the reputation of being safe. That explosion occurred in the old workings, and the new workings had a perfectly clean record. Newberry did not tell him that he had to fly from the gas, and as soon as he lit the match the gas would light it instead of him. Witness examined the place, but could not find that the complaint was well founded. With reference to the cavity in No. 4, it would be about 6ft by 6ft. 6in., being about 7ft. or 8ft. off the laggings, making a total height from the floor of about 14ft. That was a likely place to give off gas. After witness's examination on the 5th, it was examined again by Ashman and Peggington on the 6th. His conversation with the men as to the use of safety lights was within a week of the 16th October. On the 19th the inspector had an interview with Mr Jones. Mr Jones asked witness's opinion as to the safety of the three- quarter seam. The examination by the workmen he took to be the result of the report that locked lamps were to be adopted. There was a strong feeling against the use of locked lamps. Several adjacent collieries were worked by naked lights, He did not know of any explosions having occurred in any of them. After an adjournment for luncheon, witness was further examined by Mr Green, and stated that since the accident locked lamps had been intro- duced, the colliers receiving 7! per cent extra for their use. There was also the expense of the lamps and their maintenance to be considered. Mr Jones had never raised any objection to the use of the lamps on the ground of expense, provided he thought their introduction necessary. The men did not think the use of the locked lamp neces- sary, and had pooh-poohed the idea in conversa- tion with witness and Mr Jones. Witness was aware that the inspector thought locked lamps were necessary, and mentioned that to the men. In reply they said they hoped the blessed things would not come there." Witness understood that he would have his instructions on the subject after the question had been settled by the inspec- tor and Mr Jones. Personally, he did not think they were necessary. Re-examined by Mr Evans: His instructions to the men were not to remove any gas if there was anyone about outside of it. He was sure that the I rule was carried out with regard to the with- drawal of the men if a dangerous accumulation of gas was found. On the removal of the gas from James Greaseley's place, he was sure the men were removed. Be had not heard of gas being found in Newbury's place, and therefore could not say as to what otepir were taken in that case. Mr Evans: All I want is to get to the real cause of the explosion, so as to prevent a similar one in future. Witness: And that is exactly what I want. By Mr Wkitefield: He did not know that the Inspector recommended locked lamps for the whole of the colliery, and did not know that was Mr Jones's impression until he read it in the paper, and then he thought it was a mistake. His opinion before an event and afterwards would change. Opinions changed with circumstances. As they had had an outburst of gas, and as they might have it again, he had altered his opinion. By Mr Martin: The report of the examiner was open to the inspection of the workmen, so that anyone in the mine could examine that book. The report was thus capable of being tested. The day of the month was the test by which it was known whether the fireman had inspected or not. Not to have the mark would be a contravention of the special ralo, and would subject the examiner to the penalties under the Act. A collier not finding the mark would leave the place and report the mattef, and not doing so would be a contravention of the Act on his part. He thought the time which the examiner had for inspection quite suffi- cient, &nd had had no report from any colliers a3 to not filing the mark. He had seen no indica- tion of a groujjd weight or crush at the time of the accident. Ashman had said nothing about hearing « gruinpe4" bttt that he heard one of the men say that he heard one after the explosion. They were going to alttir the ventilation by putting in more splits in Cook's slope. He did not think gas could have existed in the north heading, beyond the stables, at the time of the explosion. A shot might have been put in in the new engine-house to blast the sictej but did not think it had been done on the day of the explosion. The faces of the head- ings were dampish. On the floor of the headings there might have been some dust, the result of dryness, but it could hardly be called dust. The mine could not be called a dry and dusty one, but the reverse, as at one time they were drawing water from three of the headings. Assuming that the cavity in No. 4 had been filled up as he had instructed, it would not hold any quantity of gas. It was slightly wet at the fall. He had found no blowers of gas from the floor iq Cook's Slope, except on the one occasion with reference to Matthews's boy. He had heard of a blower being found in Cook's Slope on the Tuesday following the accident. The inspector and witness had also heard a bubbling in the water ahead of them in Cook's Slope. He understood that the finished stalls were examined every day, and had made inquiries eil that point. To a certain extent, they would require examination. He had no rea- son to think- that gas accumulated in any of them, and had had none reported to him before the ex- plosion. It was not customary to build up the sides of the wastes, carrying them forward, and leaving them hollow in the centre. The width of the packs would be from 7 yards to 8 yards. The doors in Nos. 1, 2, and 3 were all blown inwards, but he had not satisfactorily ascertained how those in No. 4 had gone. By a Juror: He could not say what time the fireman came up in the morning after his examin- ation, but should think it was about half-past 6. Men would go down sometimes before the fireman c^me back to the lamp-station. By the Foreman: He considered, prior to the explosion, that it was perfectly safe to work by naked lights. ». a By a Juror: He visited the finished places, and never saw gas, even when a sheet had been left partly down. By another Juror: What Greaseley had said about his not being able to go to his stall till Friday was not true. Anothet Juror I am going to ask a question now which may not be quite admissible, and if so the Coroner must correct me. (To witness); Were you down the Glyn Pits after the accident there P -Yes. You saw Mr Martin there ?—Yes. There's a report current in the town (it has been told to the jury, and it has been told to me) that Mr Martin said to you that you had more need to be at your own place, looking after that, than to tie there ?-He never said it. I don't know whether he meant it or not. (Laughter.) I wish to contradict it, then.—Mr Martin can contradict it. He never suggested it. Mr Isaac Evans, miners' agent, was examined at the request of the Coroner. He said he was first acquainted with the Llanerch Pit some 27 years ago, when he worked in the Meadow Vein, which was the only portion worked at that time. That part was now worked out. It would be pet- haps 1000 yards from Cook's Slope. At that time locked lamps were chiefly used. The pit was just being opened out., and was very fiery. There was a great deal of disturbed ground, in which gas accumulated. He worked there for about two years. After they got up over the second fault" naked lights were introduced chiefly into the col- liery. He did not remember the occurrence of any accidents. His next, experience of the mine was after the explosion. Ho had made an inspec- tion of the mine. He should say that there was an accumulation of gas in No. 4 heading, and also in Nos. 2 and 3 headings. It might have been im- possible to detect the presence of gas owing to the inaccessibility of the cavity. In two of the work- ing places the fire had been so strong that coal on a full tram had been actually coked, and in the presence of the manager be took a scale off one of the lumps of coal which was quite a quarter of an inch thick. In his opinion it would be impossible for a much younger man than Ashman to cover the distance and examine all the working-places in two hours and a half. By Mr Ward In his examination after the ex- plosion he found no traces of gas. As their agent, he was constantly meeting the men of the Llan- erch Colliery, but had never had any representa- tion from them that locked lamps were necessary. He had no reason whatever to believe that the reports of the examination made by the workmen on November 14 and January 14 were incorrect. He had known some of the examiners for 27 or 30 years, and had always found them thoroughly respectable and reliable men. By Mr Green He considered that the cavity in No. 4 heading was a dangerous place, and a place where gas was likely to accumulate. Naked lights should not have been used there. It was possible for gas to escape through the interstices of the timbers, so as to ignite. Mr T. H. Deakin, Parkend, Forest of Dean, gave evidence as to the condition of the colliery on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday after the explosion. The ventilation of the col- liery was fairly good, despite the fact that the ventilating doors were not bricked up, as before the explosion. Several faults converged at No. 4, and the strata were very muah broken. In his opinion, that was the seat of the explosion, and that the primary cause of the calamity had been a sudden outburst of gas from the floor, probably yielded by the coal underlying. Having regard to the special circumstances of the mine-the food roof and that sort of thing—he thought the reman could make the examination in the time allotted him. He would have to travel about If miles per hour. By Mr Whitefield: Places not gobbed up should have been examined every morning. By Mr Ward He was of opinion, from all he had seen, that the management were reasonably justified in concluding that the colliery could be worked with naked lights. By Mr Green: In his opinion the explosion was doe to a blower in No. 4, where he noticed dis- turbed ground. Having regard to that circum- stance, it would have been a wise precaution to use safety lamps. Mr Ll. Llewelyn (of the firm of Hoskins and Llewelyn) detailed the result of his examination of the mine. By Mr Green: He could not understand the explosion occurring in No. 4, as the roof in the lower level was very bad and resting on timber, and had the explosion occurred there he should think the whole place would have been closed. Re-examined by Mr Ward: He should describe the Llanerch as a non-fiery colliery. The court then rose. On the Court re-assembling on Wednesday morning, Mr W. H. Routledge, colliery manager, Tredegar, was sworn, and deposed that be had had 20 years practical experience of mines in various parts of the country, and had assisted in several accidents. Shortly after the accident he arrived at the Llanerch Colliery, and assisted in getting out the bodies and restoring the ventilation. He subsequently spent three days, in company with other engineers, in making a detailed examination. The system of working the coal was in his opinion the best in such a seam for the prevention of all kinds of accidents. The seam of coal was easy to ventilate, and since the falls occurred no places had been met with which were likely to contain gas. Under the conditions given, he would have considered the pit safe to work with naked lights. With reference to the primary cause of the disaster, he was of opinion that either an accumulation of gas or an explosive mixture of gas on the road had been ignited in No. 4 district top heading. It was highly probable that the gas came suddenly from the floor owing to a seam of coal being a short distance underneath, and to the troubled and weak nature of the ground at that point. The appear- ance of a portion of the floor, which was found con- siderably upheaved, and was exuding a slight quantity of gas on the Tuesday after the accident, gave the reason for that belief. As to how and at what point in the district the first ignition took place he was unable from examination to say. He thought the original volume of gas was small, but of very perfect explosive mixture, and that when the flame reached the intake and return the coal dust in those two roads was agitated (by the force of the blast) from the timbers, and carried the flame up the intake to the bot- tom of the pit with increasing intensity, and in the return as far as No. 8 district, where it appeared to die out. In the other districts, where the effects of high temperature had been observed, he was of opinion that secondary explosions of weak mixtures of gas occurred with little violence. He did not find anything in his examination to lead him to think that the management or the men had been careless, or the least penurious appearance on the part of the owners on the contrary, he thought it one of the best collieries be had ever examined. By the Coroner: He was not acquainted with the Meadow Vein generally, although he worked eight different seams in Tredegar. There was only one place which made much gas, and that was in the main dip, where the coal was deep. There they saw a flash in the lamp, the indication coming from the floor. He considered, in a large seam like that, the pillar and stall system of working was the best system of work- ing, the long-wall system requiring a lot of rubbish for gobbing up vacant places. Generally speaking, there were no disused workings in which gas might accumu- late but there were 18 disused stalls in the colliery. He examined some of them, travelling right around them with the wind, so that they could hardly be called disused. Altogether, he examined two or thre" disused stalls, but found no traces of gas. The ventilation then was hardly normal. He found the fireman's mark in some of the stalls, but not in all. That would be accounted for by the places not being worked. His impression was that there had been a continuous examination all over the workings, and the mark was found in every district. He did not notice that the mark was in all the places which were not worked that morning. wTT« would consider, under the conditionj given as to ventilation, that the pit might safely be worked by naked lights. That was an opinion he formed by reference to the report-book prior to the inquiry. He did not think much gas was found in dangerous quantities, even after the additional evidence he had heard, so that his opinion as to the use of naked lights was unchanged. The accumulation he referred to in his evidence might have been momentary. The gas coming from the floor might rest upon the road perhaps half a minute before being diffused with the air. The weak and troubled ground was likely to be an additional source of danger with regard to gas. That was an opinion based upon his experience in other places. He thought the original volume of gas was small, but of a very perfect explosive mixture, that being about 11 per cent. By Mr Whitefield He had not heard that gas had been found and not reported. By Mr. Ward Supposing for a period gas had been accumulating in No. 4, it would travel to the rise in No. 3. Gas issued from the floor through cracks, and stopped some time in the place, until it became an explosive mixture, and before it could reich the roof it would meet with a naked light and go off. That was his theory of the explosion. He considered that the disused stalls were much safer left as they were than by being bashed off, aa under the conditions of the Llanerch Colliery they were ventilated. In some collieries they became reservoirs or gas. By Mr Green His theory was an issue of gas from the floor, from a seam within a yard underneath. It would be at a point 40 or 50 yards from the cavity in No. 4, and it would probably be about 10 yards back of the horse windroa 1 iu No. 4 heading. He could not fix any period of time when the issue of gas from below began, but it might have continued some time. It might possibly have started after 6 o'clock in the morning, and have continued for au hour or so and filled the cavity. He was inclined to think that-the issue was very sudden. By Mr Ward Judging from the fact that the Meadow Vein seam had been worked for 100 years, from Llanerch to Blaenavon, by naked lights, he should consider that the management were quite justified in continuing that system, and that there was no danger at all. By a Juror There was a current of air near where he thought the gas came from the floor, but whether it would be sufficient to carry it away or not would depend upon the sud- denness with which the gas came out. By another Juror He thought it possible that they could kave a momentary accumulation of gas even if the ventilation was taking its proper course. Mr W. P. James, J.P., colliery proprietor, Abersychan, said he was well acquainted with the Llanerch Colliery, having been underground manager there from 1871, to November, 1873, and manager from the latter year to 1884. During his manage- ment the colliery was always worked with naked lights, the seams that were worked being the Meadow Vein, the Rock, and the Three-quarter. They all gave off a little gas, but never in sufficient quantities to be considered dangerous. The quantity of air he did not average more than from 21,000 feet to 24,000 feet per minute in all the seams. The only lamps were used by the fireman and overman, and there were two or three kept at the pit for the occasional use of the men when driving a heading or before the wind, and for use if any bad falls occurred, and if it became neoessary after the timbering to fill up the vacancy above with rubbish. To that extent only were lamps used in the pit, and also he believed at the time when Mr Isaac Evans stated he was working at the colliery. As to the cause of the explosion and the spot where it originated, witness had spent several days since the explosion occurred in investigating the matter, especially having regard to the charring of the timbers, which to his miud was better evidence of the direction of the explosion than the condition of the bodies would be, the timbers being fixed objects. Ashman was the fireman when he was engaged at the colliery, and he always found him thoroughly trustworthy and careful By Mr Ward At all pits a few lamps were kept for the use of the firemen and officiala. Otherwise the Llanerch Colliery was worked by naked lights. By the Coroner Prior to the explosion he had net visited the pit since 1884. He believed the explosion originated in the horse windway in No. 4 heading, above the fall, that being the only place apparently where the force of the explosion had gone in two directions, towards the face and outwards. The horse windroad also shewed a good deal of upheavel of the floor. The only gas he found in the colliery came from two places in the floor, one being at the bottom of Cook's slope, and the other in Parfitt's heading. Indications shewed that the blast travelled upwards from the horse windroad in No. 4 heading round Lewis Bridge's heading, and then up the return, then across the road into No. 2, then into the face. There were indications of burning outside the timbers on No. 3 (lower road), and then around the face into the horse wind- road in No. The charring of the timbers was more intense in the cross-cut than anywhere else. There were uipular in- dications in Nos 1 and 2 heading, and he nw some clothing which h«d been burnt 40 yards or 5» yards outside the face ol the horse windroad in No. 1. Without the further know- ledge gained by the fact of the explosion, he would have arrived at the same conclusion as the owners of the colliery as tithe salty of working the pit with naked lights. Hedid not consider it a fierv or dusty mine, and had worked it for 11 years with naked lights. ByMrjfivaos: lJanng his management there was only one-third of the present ventilation. Durinsr the last 3 ear they worked the rock, three-quarter and elled aoames. A little gas was then met with. They removed the gas, and if they found the ventilation insufficient they increased it. He did not remember gas issuing fram the bottom in any part of the colliery during his management of the colliery, and had never heard of it prior to this occasion. He considered the disturbed ground in Nos. 3 and 4 headings was due to faults' which had never been proved before. He did not think there was any accumulation of gas in the eld workings or in the gobs in tle present workings. He had tried the tap in dozens of places, and always found it strong and sound. He thought the fireman could do his duty thoroughly in the allotted time. for there was a lot of the road which he could not examine at all for gas. He saw the fireman's mark in many places, but did not look for tkem particularly. Kr J. Morgan, the manager, was re-examined briefly as to the duty of the boy whose body was found under the fall in No 4 heading. Witness said the boy was engaged at the time of. the accident in stowing rubbish in the third spouthole, above Cook. Upheavals of the ground did not exist prior te the explosion. Mr E. Jones, J.P., was also re-cal'ed at this point. Mr Green Did you or any of the directors of the colliery know of the fall or the existence of this cavity 1-1 had no knowledge of it whatever. And you first heard of it after the explosion ?—After the explosion. Mr Morgan, re-examined by Mr Green, said the fall tapered in the ordinary way, and at the top it was not more than a foot or 15 Inches In diameter. A Juror You knew of this fall before the explosion T—I knew it on the Wednesday. And you knew it was not reported as well ?—No, I didn't. Not till after 1-Not till after. Mr J. S. Martin, H. M. Inspector of Mines for the district, who affirmed, stated he reached the colliery about 3 p m on the day of the accident, and went down the pit, and soon found there was no probability of those remaining in the mine being alive. Exploring parties were at work, and the bodies were got out of the mine as soon as possible The damage to the mine was not extensive, the only heavy falla existing in No 4 No 1 levels He had since made inspections with a view of ascertaining where the explosion originated and the cause, and had no reason to think that the use of the explosives had anything to do with the explosion The statement of the fire- man that he had visited all the working places on the morning of the accident was in some measure corroborated by the find- ing of his mark in several places The fireman stated that he found no trace of inflammable gas in any of the stalls that morning, but that he had not visited the abandoned placet since the workmen's inspection. Taking into account the absence of fire damp on the 14th January in the disused stalls (when the men examined them), and the fact that when the ventilation had only been partially restored, no fire damp was found in any of the finished stalls, there waa little reason to believe that there was an accumulation there at the toime of the explosion. He was quite prepared to acoept the statement that gas issued from the floor in No. 4 heading. The floor of the slope itself did not appear to be dusty, in con- sequence no doubt of water being thrown out from the bottom, as mentioned by Cook. Water also dripped by the fall in No. 4 heading. In Nos. 2 and 3 headings the coal was bleeding, and as already stated, dust existed more or less in different places. As to the origin of the explosion, he believed it was due to a sudden outburst of gas from the floor of No. 4 head- lng, which outburst became ignited by contact with naked lights, and that the dust on the timber and the sides of the slope increased and extended the effect of the fire damp enkh sion. He had in this district steadily and pertistently advo- cated the abolition of naked lights in all mines where gas was met with. During 13 years experience in the Manchester dis- trict, he had known explosions by which 4, 10, 18, 43, 65, and 176 lives were lost. Safety lamps had now been introduced into that district with the best results. As to the appeal by the workmen of the Cwmbran Colliery to revert to naked lights, he thought, having regard to the fact that the workings were in the back vein worked at Kisca, and extending for 3,000 yards from the bottom of the shaft towards the Abercarn colliery, where uvwards of 160 bodies were at present entombed &II the result of the explosion in 18/8, that the appeal for sympathy would fall flat, and that public opinion would be very strongly 1I.J,inst them in the matter. In his opinion, the responsibility of those who work collieries in this district (which were likely to contain accumulations of gu) with naked hts, would be Tery onerous. By the Coroner Before the explosiont looking at the words of the Act, he could not have enforced the Act. With the evi- dence he should have been able tG put forward he did not think he would have been able to obtain a conviction neither did he think he would have succeeded in an arbitration. Bxcept for the small explosion in October, he did not believe that the mine was one in which naked lamps ought not to have been used. By Mr Evans: He was more or less acquainted with all the seams worked in the locality. All had been represented to him u non-fiery, and he had not found many accumulations of gas. At the bottom of Cook's Slope more gas was given off than he had seen in any of the collieries in the locality. There