August 10th 1904 P. Howley Fall of Coal at Cadeby Colliery
Age:30 Coalminer Fall of Coal
September 10th 1904 – Sam Wagstaff
Thrilling Experiences Of A Denaby Miner.
Entombed Alive For Ten Hours.
Some men are born lucky, and some otherwise. If Mr. Sam Wagstaff, of Clifton Street, Denaby Main, had been one of the latter, indubitably he would by now have travelled to that bourne from whence no traveller returns.
It is seldom that any miner who has the misfortune to be buried under some twenty tons of debris for an hour has the luck to be released alive, but Mr. Wagstaff was buried under that amount of fall for ten hours, and yet was brought out by a band of willing work-mates without having a bone fractured.
A few days ago Mr. Wagstaff was engaged at the coal-face in the East Plane of the Denaby Main Colliery ; it was about three o´clock in the morning, and he was toiling away with the aid of his dim safety lamp, and his driver was engaged filling a tub close beside him.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Hark! Crack! The driver hearing this ominous sound, made a dart for safety. Wagstaff threw down his pick, and was making a wild flight out of harm´s way, between the half filled tub and the coal-face, when his foot caught an obstacle which brought him to the ground. Wagstaff had just regained his feet, when down came the debris with thundering crashes, burying him completely. The frightened driver stopped spell-bound.” Wagstaff, Wagstaff, Wagstaff,” he shrieked. Crash, crash, was the answering sound which reached his ears as more debris heaped itself on top of that which already held Wagstaff in iron bonds.
Pit, pat, pit, pat, and the paralysed driver was quickly queried by several of the miners who were working in adjoining stalls, whose faces showed pale under, the shining coat of coal-dust. The driver´s tongue cloys to the roof of his mouth, and he just raised a shaking hand and pointed down Wagstaff´s stall.
Quickly a band of some sixteen workers including deputies, were striving to dig him out from the top of the fall. However, fall after fall took place, and any idea of digging him out had to be abandoned. Faintly Wagstaff´s voice could be heard urging the rescuers to release him.
” Ay, lad, we´ll hev tha´ out soon ; cheer up,” answered the sweating miners.
Quickly piles were procured and driven through the fall, the idea being to prop up the top portion and release him by undermining it.
Muscular miners drove the piles through with the aid of sledge hammers, when Wagstaff´s voice could be heard “For God´s sake, give it up, it´s going through my head.”
Promptly they stopped driving in the pile they were engaged with, and luckily they did. The sharp, cruel point of it was pressing up against the entombed miner´s head, and it would have crushed it after the next blow.
Ultimately the fall was securely propped up, and feverish miners picked away at the dirt in mad endeavours to reach their work-mate.
Several hours had passed since their promise to get him out, and he was still securely imprisoned.
The veins bulged out on the rescuers heads as they toiled away with un-ceasing energy.
Thank heaven! His legs were laid bare, once reached short work was made of getting him free.
“Quick, quick,” gasped Wagstaff in a faint voice as the debris around him was loosened, and he was dragged by brawny arms from under the fall.
” Got him” was the simple remark of Mr. Soar, the respected under-manager, who was one of the rescuers, as the miner, who had remained conscious for such a lengthy period, fell in a faint into his open arms. He had been buried alive for ten hours, twenty tons of dirt holding him down.
The rescuers shook hands with one another, and when Wagstaff had been conveyed home in the colliery ambulance, dispersed to their various homes to tell their wives and families what had happened, and then forgot it. It´s nothing – it´s all in a miner´s life.
A medical examination of Wagstaff revealed, that although hurt about the body and head, and bruised, no bones had been broken.
He has been in bed for five days, and when seen by our representative during yesterday afternoon, was just regaining the use of his right arm, which had had all the life taken out of it by being so severely crushed.” Will you work down the pit again ?” our representative asked of Wagstaff.
” Well yes, I have worked below the surface all my life, and – there´s nothing else for it.”
” You´ve had a miraculous escape.”
” I think if I had been there much longer I should have been dead by now. It´s funny was on the morning of my forty first birthday it happened.”
” Well, I hope you will soon be all right. Good-day.”
” Oh! I think I´ll soon be right. Good-day.”
September 20th 1904 – E.Dawson
A somewhat serious accident befell a youth named E. Dawson at Cadeby Main Colliery on Monday September 20th 1904, whilst following his usual appointment as a driver, he had the misfortune to have his head and body crushed rather badly, and was taken to the Mexborough Montagu Cottage Hospital in the early hours of the morning, and is as well as can be expected.
October 15th 1904 – Luke Kenney
An accident of a somewhat serious nature befell a young man named Luke Kenney, he being admitted to the Mexborough Montagu Cottage Hospital on October 15th 1904, with a dislocated hip and cuts to the head, caused by a fall of dirt, at the Denaby Main Colliery.
October 26th 1904 – John Farmer
John Farmer, a miner at Cadeby Main Colliery, met with an accident on Tuesday October 26th 1904, which resulted in his removal to the hospital at Mexborough.
October 27th 1904 – A Johnson
Age: 36 Labourer Crushed between two Wagons D.M.
Killed In Fog At Denaby. – Ex-Guardsman´s Dreadful Death.
Coroner´s Inquiry.
In the thick of a foggy night last week, Albert Johnson, of 46 Church Street, Mexborough, was engaged removing empty wagons from a siding in the Denaby Colliery yard, when a full dirt train, coming from the direction of Cadeby, collided with the last of the line of empties, fouling the crossing, causing a `bump´ which spelt a life – the life of Johnson, who despite a shouted warning, failed to evade the danger, and was jammed between the closing buffers, where he was cruelly pinned until released. The poor fellow never spoke again, and died twenty minutes later.
His death leaves a widow and two children to mourn their loss, and much sympathy is felt towards the bereaved.
Deceased was a genial fellow, generally respected, and had seen active service in the South African War, on returning from which he was made the recipient of a purse of gold, given by Mexborough admirers, whose warm recognition formed one of the brightest hours of his cruelly closed life.
The circumstances of the fatality formed the subject of a coroner´s inquiry, held on Friday by Mr. Dossey Wightman, at the Mexborough Montagu Cottage Hospital.
Mr. J. Venables was foreman of the jury, and there were also present Mr. Wilson, H.M. Inspector of Mines, and Mr. A.H. Barnard, agent, representing the Colliery Company.
The first witness called was George Witham, father-in-law of the deceased, who, he said, was thirty six years old last birthday. He was a labourer for the Denaby Main Colliery Company, for whom he had worked altogether about twenty years. Previous to the South African War, in which he served eighteen months with the Coldstream Guards, he worked below ground, but through his
eyesight, after returning, he worked on the top at the washer. He was a healthy man, and was killed on October 27th.
George William Liversedge said he was a slack washer at the Denaby Colliery, and worked with deceased, whose duty was to empty slack wagons which came from the Denaby pit screens. Witness had worked at the colliery for about four years, and had known of deceased doing similar work for about two and a half years.
The accident happened about 12-30 a.m. on the Thursday, they were both working together, helping to get the wagons out after they had emptied the slack. They were getting them down the travelling road. It was a foggy night. There were eighteen empty wagons standing on the line, and deceased was `pinching´ at a wheel to move an empty wagon. Witness now knew that a locomotive fouled the wagons at the end of the line, and when he heard the wagons being `tupped´ up together, he shouted to the deceased, ” duck”, so that he could get underneath the buffers. Witness could not say whether deceased `ducked´ or not, as the buffers caught and pined him. Witness, who was standing at the side of the wagon, was spun round, and he went down to the locomotive driver to ask him to draw up the eighteen wagons, so as to set deceased at liberty. Deceased lived about twenty minutes after, but a surgeon arrived before he died.
Witness, asked for an explanation how it was deceased didn´t `duck´, said when a man was in a predicament like that he hadn´t time to think. The eighteen wagons were there in the ordinary course of work, and the weather at that time was dreadfully foggy.
Replying to the Inspector, witness said in the ordinary way wagons were not run over the crossing where the engine fouled the end wagon.
Previously the Inspector had explained to the jurymen a plan, which showed that the engine responsible for the collision was to pass over the crossing which passed at the end of the straight line where the deceased was working.
Witness, proceeding, said deceased was in charge, and it was the usual custom to `pinch´ wagons out of the road at the accident end, regardless of the other end, where, however, the points were put down. No doubt he said, casing the brakes would cause the wagons to go a little towards the crossing.
Replying to the Coroner, witness said, he knew the line was fouled at the crossing before the accident happened, but they were trying to remedy that by getting another wagon on the `grate´. If the locomotive from Cadeby had arrived ten minutes later, the accident would not have happened.Replying to further questions, witness said there were not more empties than usual.
Ellis Brook said he was foreman shunter with the `loco´ which caused the accident. He was coming from Cadeby with nine wagons of dirt. The whistle was blown ten or twelve yards before they got to the wagons, and it was foggy, and witness was about seven wagon lengths in front of his engine, when he saw the line was fouled. He signalled to the driver to stop, and shouted for him to hold the train up. The driver saw and heard him, and put on his brake. The engine wheels however, skidded, and ran into the empties, about half a wagon length was foul of their line. That, no doubt, was the cause of knocking up the line of the empties, which killed the man at the other end. If it had not been foggy and the rails greasy, the engine could have been stopped in time.
Replying to the Inspector, witness said his line should not have been fouled. He had previously passed the point four times. The men at the emptying station
he advised to keep the wagons back and the crossing clear. He told the last witness and others, but not the deceased. He warned them that he was coming back again, and that he was working backwards and forwards all night. When witness walked in front of his `loco´ he did not expect to find the line fouled, but to turn some points. The driver certainly whistled within a reasonable distance of the place. Those who unloaded ought to have known the line was fouled at the crossing.
Goulding, the engine-driver, corroborated the former witness as to the signal to stop being received, and the impossibility of stopping sooner on account of the greasy rails.
The Coroner said the only thing he could not understand why the people who put the empties in had not known the line was foul.
Mr. A.H. Barnard said deceased was responsible for seeing the number of wagons did not exceed the lengths of line and overlap the crossing.
The first witness, recalled, said Stables was the chargeman, not the deceased.
Mr. Barnard said Stables was in charge of the washer generally, and was in a superior position to Johnson.
The man Stables, said his duties were confined to the washer, while Johnson had to do with getting out the empties. The last time witness saw the empty wagons they were just forcing the road. He told the shunter, with the express purpose of getting the road clear. The shunter said he would attend to it directly, and witness returned in the wagons.
Describing the accident, he said deceased just bent down and appeared to slip, and then, going across, was caught by the buffer.
A juryman said a stop-block near the crossing would do away with the danger, but witness said they could not put one there, Further, he said he did not know that eighteen was the usual number of wagons.
The Coroner said that unless they were pinched very, very tight, eighteen wagons would be too many for the length of line. His difficulty was to find out who were the responsible parties. There seemed to have been a lot about at work, but no one appeared to be the ostensible head. He had never known in previous enquiries such a case. Several of them appeared to have some sort of authority over the lot. It certainly looked as if it was seen by one or two that the empties did foul the line. The man in charge of the locomotive said he was entitled to come and go all night. Evidence had also been given that the driver got a signal to stop, but the weather and the weight of the train prevented him doing so in time, with the result that the train ran into the wagons fouling the line, and the man at the other end got killed.
A juryman said, under the prevailing conditions of work there was always a possibility of the line being fouled again, and of another accident occurring.
The Coroner said that was why he asked whether eighteen wagons was more than the usual number. There seemed no alternative but to bring in a verdict of accidental death, but there had evidently been carelessness in having too many empty wagons on the line.
Mr. Barnard said that was so, but the men had no business in having so many there.
The Coroner : Who is responsible ?
Mr. Barnard : The men who work the wagons down. The responsibility rested with deceased and the other man. Otherwise there might have been any number put down.
A juryman asked whether anything could be put up to do away with the possibility of another accident.
Mr. Barnard promised to look into the practicality of the suggestion.
The Coroner said he hoped the Colliery Company would take a warning to see that the line was not overcrowded in the future.
Mr. Barnard : I think I can insure that in future.
The Coroner said it was one of those cases in which it was easy to be wise after the event. The representative of the Colliery Company had readily admitted there were too many wagons on the line. It was a very big concern, and if this gentleman ( Mr. Barnard ) would undertake to see that steps were taken to avoid too many wagons being put there in the future, he would be inclined to feel satisfied. Obviously, it was not to the advantage of the Colliery Company to have such accidents.. Rather the reverse, and he was satisfied that the Denaby Main Colliery Company would do all they could to prevent a similar accident in the future.
“Accidental Death” was the verdict returned.
November 27th 1904 – George Fearn
A serious mishap befell a young man by the name of George Fearn of Doncaster Road, who injured the spine of his back in a fall of roof at Denaby Main Colliery on Saturday November 27th 1904.
December 9th 1904 – George Lawrence,
George Lawrence, a joiner, employed at Cadeby Main Colliery, fell down unconscious on Friday night December 9th 1904, whilst following his employment.
December 17th 1904 – Ernest Stonehouse
A somewhat serious accident befell a youth named Ernest Stonehouse of Strafforth Terrace, on December 17th 1904, whilst following his employment at Denaby Main Colliery, he having the misfortune to have his ribs injured.
He was conveyed to Mexborough Montagu Cottage Hospital, and the latest report is that he lies in a very critical condition.