The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-26 00:00:00

THE COLLIERY EXPLOSION AT RISCA,
MONMOUTHSHIRE.

The inquest on the bodies of the unfortunate men and
boys killed by the late colliery explosion at Risca, and
on the three unfortunate men who, though surviving the
dreadful burning received by them in the pit, afterwards
expired, has resulted in a verdict attributing the deaths
to the explosion of fire-damp, ignited by the carelessness
of Thomas Davies, one of the men who died some days
after the explosion.
A very general impression prevailed among the col-
liers that the man Davies, who, after he was brought to
the surface on the day of the terrible catastrophe had
readily acknowledged that his neglect had caused the
explosion, would be returned by the jury as guilty of
the manslaughter of his fellow-workmen ; and this rumour
having reached the ears of the suffering man as he lay in
his bed, is supposed to have hastened his death.
The inquest was conducted by Mr. W. Brewer, deputy
coroner, and Mr. Herbert Mackworth, the Government
inspector, whose experience in the coal districts of Mon-
mouthshire and Glamorganshire makes him thoroughly
conversant with the system adopted there, and the cul-
pable neglect too often exhibited, by the colliers.
At the opening of the inquest, some days previously
to the present hearing, the statements of Thomas Davies
and John Williams, two of those who were brought out
alive, but had since died of their injuries, were taken
from their lips as they lay on their beds. Those state-
ments were now read to the jury :—Davies said he and
Williams were working in the same stall on the Saturday
afternoon, and had been engaged in filling a train with
coal. A "sheet" had been used by them at the entrance
of the stall, to turn in the air where they worked ; but
Williams, his comrade, had put the sheet aside for five
minutes. As Davies was leaving work, having been en-
gaged with his naked candle only, and when he was
about ten yards from the stall, the gas, which had been
disturbed probably by the diverted current of air, ex-
ploded at his candle. Then, said Davies, I was suddenly
knocked down, and some one came and brought me out.
We were leaving our work when the gas exploded.
When I left Williams he went back and shut the sheet.
He never asked me to wait till I got the lamp. The
fireman had told us to take care and keep the sheet up ;
but I forget whether he told us that morning. We found
no sulphur in the small windway the day before. We
knew that if we did not keep the sheet down the gas
would collect. We could not work if it was down. I
was fined a short time ago for taking a candle into a
dangerous place. I had seen no gas near the place
where we were at work within two days before. There had
been a blower in the small windway, which John Gib-
bon Williams tried to stop that morning. I took no
notice whether the gas took my light ; it was so quick.
I did not hear whether any one had a lamp near us. We
had a lamp which we could have lighted if we thought
it necessary, Gibbon Williams never told me to wait
for a lamp. I think I was about 10 yards in front of
the other men. I fell on my back when the gas knocked
me down. There is a slope where I was working, but
the gas fired before I got to the foot of it, and I don't
recollect if I had come or got past the length of the
wind-road.
John William's deposition was as follows :—I was at
work with Davies on Saturday afternoon. There was a
sheet across, and we had filled the last train. Five or
ten minutes elapsed before it was put up again. I told
Davies, when he was going out, to wait till I put the
gauze on the lamp, before he went out of the way. I
suppose the sheet was not down above 10 minutes alto-
gether ; and I had just put it up 5 minutes,before the
explosion happened. I cannot say if No. 6 stall door
was open, but the door of my own stall was shut. I
had just taken the full tram through the door into the
heading. After that I went back and shut the door, and
in the time of putting on my clothes the explosion hap
pened. I was about 10 yards from Davies when I saw
the fire. I then called to him, but he did not answer.
I know there was gas there. There was a blower of gas
in the windway. I had a lamp in my hand at the time,
and the gauze was on it. The lamp was blown out of
my hand. We were told to go out the way Davies was
going. There were no men working with lamps there.
There is plenty of them round that part of the pit ;
but these nasty blowers collect the gas when the doors or
sheets are left open. We had that place all in a blaze in
a week before when there were two men working in
the same place in which Davies was working,
and the gas caught fire, but there was no ac-
cident, for that morning I took a shovel and
tried to stop up the blower. We were told to keep the
sheet up, but nothing about the door. It was William
Hazel! and Stephen Crooke that told us to do this, for
the air would then go down the lower side and keep the
blower clear. I knew it was dangerous to go down to
the windway with a naked lamp. I told Davies that,
and bade him wait till I lighted the lamp. He was al-
ways first in going out, and slack in coming in the morn-
ing. If he had been in the pit by himself, he would have
been burned to death many a time. He does not know
the way to try fire properly.
The surgeon of the works, Mr. Edward Robotham,
stated that Davies had received a quantity of small coal
and dust into the bronchial tubes, after the explosion,
in addition to the injuries he had received by burning ;
and having heard that he was likely to be charged with
manslaughter for having caused the deaths of other
people—these causes united to result in his death.
The other men had died from "choke," or the noxious
atmosphere caused by the explosion, and immediately
succeeding it.
The fireman who, on the morning of the explosion,
succeeded the night fireman Hazell, stated to the jury
that Ila,zell, on coming up, reported all safe and free
from gas, though he did not particulary report on the
east side, where the explosion afterwards occurred.
Boys were placed at the heading doors, but not at the
stall doors, though lie considered that men should be put
to perform that work—not boys. When he went down
he examined the various headings, to ascertain if the
workings were free from gas. This he tested with his
lamp—first with the gauze on, and then without it. He
thoroughly examined into every working, and found all
safe ; though in one quarter he found a " blower," or
indication of gas in the roof. Throughout the day the
workinge were still considered safe by him ; bat, not-
withstanding all the precautions which he had, as usual,
adopted, an explosion took place in the afternoon, just
about the time when, on Saturdays, the men ordinarily
prepared to ascend from work.

The mineral agent of the works, Mr. Green, described
the routine of operations adopted by him, and all under
him, who had the control and management of the works,
for the due supply of air, the thorough ventilation of
the pits, and the enforcing of strict rules with regard to
the working by light of the Davy lamp. The men, how-
ever, when the works were found free from gas, ordi-
narily worked with candles, as by the former mode it
would be impossible to procure an existence.
Some witnesses followed, whose evidence went chiefly
to point out the circumstances attendant on the explo-
sion, and the position, &c., in which the bodies of the
dead were found. From all these men there was not the
slightest difficulty in obtaining the most free admission
of the fact that, although the seam of coal was a highly
inflammable one, and scores of men had met their death
in working it, there was still no hesitation among the
colliers generally to work it, after the morning examina-
tion by the firemen, with their naked lights. They as
generally admitted that the ventilation of the pits was
as good as could be procured by machinery, and the
machinery had been put up under the direction of the
most experienced men,-and upon the best principles.
The jury having consulfed for a short time upon the
facts, which were clearly laid before them by the Deputy
Coroner—namely, that the workings had been pro-
nounced free from gas in the morning ; that the men
Davies and Williams, working together in a stall, had
incautiously removed a sheet, and diverted the current
of intake air, and that thereby, in a part of a working
through which they were passing out with naked candles
on leaving work gas had accumulated, which gas, coming
into collision with the candles, had exploded, causing the
deaths of all those whose lives had been destroyed—re-
turned a verdict in accordance therewith, and attributing
the deaths of the poor fellows to the negligence of Davies,
which verdict, had Davies been still living, would have
amounted to manslaughter.