The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-23
OFFICIAL REPORT MADE
 ON BANNER MINE HORROR

the form of moisture of water vapor Thi; l vapor was then carried throughout the
 mine by the air current and deposited or
 tho walls, roof, gob and floor of the mine
 The system of haulage in use in this
 mine is electric locomotives and mules | Electric locomotives operated on the main
 roads, while mules brought the coal from
 the miners and out the cross entries tc
 the locomotives.
 "On April at 635 a. m. an explosion
 occurred in the foregoing described
 mines in which 12S men lost their lives
 as a direct result thereof.
 The above total does not represent the
 total number of men in the mine at tine
 time of explosion as about 90 men es-
 capped before the after damp had reached l them. The machine men and their help
 CTS and the bosses had not yet entered
 the mine for work, with the exception of l o. w. Spradling, an under foreman, and
 Lee Jones, the shot firer (both free white mem who were in the mines and were 1 killed
 Saturday. the 18th, I spent the day in
 Banner mine, making an investigation ss | to the cause of the explosion, and ar
 rived at the following conclusons: l Commencing at the face of the slope
 we entered the twelfth left, which is sl l feet in a slight disturbance, with no
 heat. was shown at this point
 The tenth left which is in 342 feet,
 was next examined; heat was shown at
 this point. but the disturbance was slight. Sixty sticks of bitumnite one hundred 1 GOO detonators, 10 clay dummies and 100
 feet of fuse were found at No. l room of
 the tenth left heading
 '"The ninth left entry was next exam na |, .f tlN ,r,,i. ion +stg shown as travelling up this enry. One
 hundred pounds of No. l bituminte. 25O
 feet of fuse three rolls of paper and six
 cartridges made up ready for use were
 found at the end of the sidetracks which
 was the greatest force shown on the
 entry. A slight cap of gas was found In
 the heading on the airway in this head
 ing.
 The eighth left entry was next exam
 ined, passing up the airway at the last
 cross cut in this entry; much heat was
 shown and much coke shown on props.
 In a box between the sixth and seventh
 rooms, 75 sticks of bituminite were found. No gas was found in this entry.
 'The seventh left entry was then en- | tered by way of the aircourse; much dis
 turbance was shown in this entry Be- ! tween Nos 14 and 15 rooms a box was | found containing four sticks of bitum-
 mite, 22 feet fuse, four rolls paper and
 two dozen detonators. Twenty-one fec. l inside of No. II room a magazine had
 been used for the storage of explosives I for that days work in that particular ertry. This magazine entry and air | course had inner and outer wall built l of stone and cement The outer wall had a door feet by 21a feet to allow for passage into and out of magazine. Ac- | cording to a statement of the mine off cials 160 sticks of sbituminite should have been found at this point, 40 sticks left over from previous shift, 20 shots made up ready for use and 100 sticks supposedly carried down by shot firer One of the shot firers for this entry was found in | the near neighborhood of this magazine. There was much force shown on the heading road, as continuous falls of rock and coal were encountered in passing out l of this entry. Indications of much heat | is shown al the face of all working rooms
 on this heading. Room Nos. g. 10 and II are being prepared to bring back the top coal the coal above parting previously | left as a roof, which is taken down after 1 room has been worked up to It's limit This entry shows the effects of a greater amount of explosive force than any other entry.
 The fifth right entry was examined, I together with all the working rooms on 1 1t. Evidence of heat was shown by the
 coke on the room props. Evidence of
 much disturbance was shown also In this entry. On the entry road near No. 8 room, 27 sticks of btumite and 100 feet of fuse were found. The magazine in this entry is located near No. 9 room We here found 251s sticks bituminite,
 three shots ready for firing. together witL
 a box containing 90 detonators.
 ivfh iohf Va nnf ,t,xv
 where but slight effects of disturbance
 were shown. Effects of heat were also shown by coke formed on the props. Tn a box near No. room we found 65 sticks of bituminite.
 After having made thorough exam ination of all parts of the mine affected by this explosion. and with the evidence furnished, I have arrived at the follow ing conclusion as to it's origin and cause The explosion originated by a prematul e explosion of btuminite at the magazine located in the cross-cut between entry and air course about 21 feet inside of room No. + on the seventh left heading. l ar, led to this conclusion because of the fact that the force of the explosion divided it. self here, travelling in the direction of the heading face and also In the oppo- site direction toward the slope. Further evidence shows that 120 sticks of bituni- nite were missing at the mazagine, and the man. or presumably the man, who carried 100 sticks down that morning was found badly mutiiated at that point. There may be theories as to how the bitu- infinite exploded, but the fact remains that 1t did explode, as it was not found at or near the magazine.
 "The mine, as before stated. Is venti- | lated on the split current system. Tho overcasts and brattices are made of stone and cement No doors are used in the ventilating system, thus making 1t im- possible to impair the ventilation at any part of the mine by leaving doors open,
 which would permit the air to short cir cuit As long as the ventilating fan was kept in operation the ventilation could not be impaired, and the automatic fan recorder which accompanies this report shows the fans to have been in opera ton regularly and continuously up until the minute of the explosion.
 "The force of the explosion up to the air shaft did not show any evidence of heat as no scorchings are found on the shaft timbers. This was not the case at Virginia, Mulga and Palos. Each of these places flames shot out of the mine and the explosive gas was found in large quanties when recovering the dead bodies. The Banner mine generated some gas
 but not in large quanties. as shown hy the daily report of the fire bosses, little gas has been found at any time. Since the explosion, with impaired ventilation and after the lapse of 10 days no gas beyond a cap has been found which shows how difficult 1t would be for gas to accumulate under normal conditions. '"The evidence as shown by coke de- | posted on timbers, cars, walls, etc, leads |. ktA ln I I