The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-07-24 00:00:00

IMPORTANT PROSSCUrION UNDER TUE
MINES REGULATION ACT AT ROWLEY.

At the Rowley 'aegis Police Court on Wednesday,
before Messrs. Henry Smith and J, H. Smith
(magistrates), Robert Simpson, the certificeten
manager at the Rowley hill Colhely, was sum-
moned at the instance of Mr. W. B. Scott, the
Inspector under the Coal Mines Regulation Act for
the South Staffordshire district, for neglecting to
observe the first general rule of the Act, which
provides that an adequate amount of venti!rt:iou
shall be constantly produced in the working ;dile« a
in the mine. Mr. T. Walker (Wolverhampton) ap-
. peared to prosecute on behalf of the Home Secre-
t Lry, and Mr, W. Shakespeare (Oldbury) defended.
Mr. Walker stated that on the Ist inst. Mr
Scott visited the Rowley Hall Colliery, and upon
entering the workings he discovered that carbonic
mid gas or black damp was prevalent, and his in-
structions were that the heat was intense, The gas
was prevalent to such an extent as to extinguish
candle lights. The workings were in a very unsat-
isfactory state, and Mr. Scott reported the whole
of the facts to the Home Secretary, who directed
the defendant to be prosecuted. Happily there
was no loss of life through the non compliance with
the Act, but the health of the men must have been
seriously interfered with. Mr. Scott corroborated
Mr. Walker's statement, and added that there ap-
peared to be no attention paid to details. The
workings were in a very foul state, and owing to the
inadequate ventilation provided the workings were
. verheated, and the workmen would have to be
withdrawn. In March last he cautioned the de-
fendant to keep the workings in a beau. state.
In reply to Mr. Shakespeare, witness stated that
a pumping engine was at work, and there was
sufficient gas to kill any person His visit to thework-
ings did not improve his health. It was also true
that the noxious gasses caused two of the candles ,
to be extinguished. The temperature would have
been from 90 to 100 degrees, and no effort was
wade to clear the atmosphere. In his opinion the
management of the colliery had not been satisfac-
tory for some time. It was true there was no in-
flammable gas in the workings, and much of the
heat was c ,used through the steam pipes.
Mr. Shakespeare, for the defence, said the ex-
t.eme heat in the workings arose in the first place
from the sultry weather, and in the second hem
the steam pipes laid down in the workings, The
health of the workmen had not in any way been
interfered with, and 141 everything poselole had
been done to make the ventilation good he thought
the magistratos 'would look upon it as being a very
mild ease,

The Bench said it was vary important that the
Coal Mines Regulation Act should la strictly oo-
served, and as the defendant had not provided an
ad-quate ventilation hs would be finfd X 3, and £2
103 costil,

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