Maltby Pit Disaster of 1923
The Inquest
Condition of the Pit
The inquest resumed on 22nd September.
That the miners engaged in fighting the gob fire in Maltby Main Collery ought to have been withdrawn from the affected area of the pit under the conditions which prevailed some hours before the fatal explosion occurred there on July 28, was the opinion definitely expressed by two overmen at the inquiry resumed by Mr. T. H. Mottram, H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines.
Mr. Basil Henry Pickering, agent of the colliery, described the conditions prevailing since the outbreak of the gob fire on April 20. Asked by Mr. F. A. Macquisten, K.C. if he thought 3 per cent. of firedamp a dangerous percentage, Mr. Pickering replied 'Most emphatically, no.' He had heard Mr. Herbert Smith, representing the Yorkshire Miners’ Association, contend during the inquiry that in no circumstances should men be allowed to work when two and a half per cent, of gas accumulated, having regard to the provisions of the Mines Act, but that was the first time he had heard such an interpretation placed on the wording of the Act.
Under such on interpretation the work in saving a mine would be prevented. Speed was the essence of saving the Maltby mine.
After the explosion, the witness and others went down the mine to see if there was any possibility of the 27 missing men being alive. They got as near as 53's stopping as possible, but the conditions were such that it was thought possible that another explosion would occur in a short time, and the state in which the body of the man Renshaw, the only body recovered, was found showed that it was impossible for any of his 26 comrades to be alive.
Accordingly the rescue party withdrew from the pit. Later another party went down the pit, and came to the same conclusion as to the impossibility of there being any survivors.
Mr. Wynne: Had you ever contemplated an explosive mixture of gas extending so far as from 53’s to 95's Crossgate? - No I had not.
Mr. Wynne: Had you known that such a state of affairs existed, would you for a moment have allowed the men to continue to work there? - No, I would not.
Mr. Wynne: You would have thought that the existence of such a state of affairs would have reached your ears fairly quickly? - I should have thought so.
Can you suggest how the organization you had broke down, so as to prevent your hearing of it ? - I cannot suggest how it did.
Questioned by Mr. Herbert Smith as to timber left in old workings, Mr. Pickering said he would not say Maltby Main was a model pit in that respect.
Mr. Smith: Would you say it was a dangerous pit with the timber left in old workings? - I should say too much had been left in.
Mr. Pickering, further questioned by Mr. Smith, said he should most certainly have withdrawn the men when there was 6 per cent, of gas, but as long as there was under 4 per cent, he should allow them to go on with the work of saving the mine.
Mr. Smith: And if you had seen the condition which has been described in evidence by Deputies Outram and Bagley as having prevailed on the morning of the explosion, would you have withdrawn the men?
Mr. Pickering: Yes, I should have certainly withdrawn them to East Plane.
Mr. Smith, observing that there were 122 men down the pit, said it was clearly understood in a conference between representatives of the masters and men that only men should be sent down that were required for the work of erecting the stopping.
Mr. Pickering said that 122 was a comparitively small number of men for the work in hand and that they were not all actually at the stopping.
Mr. Smith: What is your theory of the explosion? - I think that it was caused by the accumulation of gas, I cannot say what caused the accumulation on the face-side of the stopping, and that the gas travelled along and an explosion occurred somewhere in the heated area, and the flame that met this explosive mixture at this point must have come down the coal-face and overwhelmed these men.
Questioned by Mr. Arthur Neal for the colliery management who said that the pit had not got a good roof and that was one of the difficulties. The object of the stoppings was to seal off the fire area and prevent air getting into it, and however tight and sound the packings were made, there would still be the danger of air filtering through the slits in the roof and possibly through the sides as well.
The witness said it was as difficult a position that it was possible for a colliery management to be confronted with. Time after time fire drove them back. They tried every conceivable method of fire fighting, first after consultation with their own staff and later after consultation with experts from other mines. Whether they took the right road or the wrong road, they, all of them took the greatest possible care throughout.
The inquest was adjourned. continued »
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