Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 04 March 1892
Stopping Denaby Pit for a Lark
John Martin of Conisborough, an engineman employed at Denaby Main Colliery, has a rare form of wit —rare as it is dangerous.
He never troubles himself with a thought of future possibilities, but on the contrary, when the fit for having a lark is upon him he goes on with or without help, regardless of consequences.
It was the 16th of February when last the propensity for a lark, as he terms it, manifested itself in a rather overbearing degree, and it took the form of delaying the pit by suddenly signalling to a brother engineman to stop his engine, and then as suddenly by the same means, setting it in motion again. The effects of this joke might have been serious. Supposing a man had been running down the line with a corve when the engine stopped, he might have gone to make inquiries and got to a narrow part of the road when the engine restarted and been seriously injured or killed; in fact from a similar lark a man was killed a few year, ago.
Martin, himself, notwithstanding this, told the magistrates that he considered there was no danger in his lark, but fortunately the magistrates saw the seriousness of the offence, and inflicted a fine of 20s. and costs as a warning to others.
The rule which defendant was charged with infringing provided that no person without authority should interfere or give any signal. On the day named defendant said to a young man named Colladine “pull the wires together and let’s stop Rudges engine.” Colladine refused and defendant then said ” We’ll have a lark with Rudge. ” He pulled the wire and stopped Rudge’s engine, and directly afterwards be gave a signal for Rudge to start his imagine again.