On 8th February at Maryville, two men were sinking a blind pit to connect a pair of drifts, one of which was 8 fathoms below the other. There was a bore hole in the blind pit through to the lower drift, and gas from the lower drift came up the hole, ignited at the sinkers open lights and caused an explosion in the lower drift. A boy who happened to be leading water there was killed by the explosion. It seemed to me that the manager was to blame for allowing the accumulation of fire-damp to take place, and by your instructions he was tried before Sheriff Birnie, at Hamilton, for breach of the 1st General Rule, but was acquitted.

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NB Date should be 22 February

chainman

On the 19th March a boiler explosion occurred at Harthill Pit, belonging to the Coltness Iron Company. There were 10 boilers working at the time, and every one of them was shifted. One man was killed and three injured. Separate investigations were made into the matter by an engineer, on the part of the Procurator Fiscal of Airdrie, and myself but we failed to detect anything which led to the explosion.

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Occurred whilst five workmen were being drawn to the surface in the ordinary way. The cage was double decked, and it was the regulation not to raise more than eight men upon it at a time. It appears that on the day of the accident the cage was signalled away from the bottom with five men upon it. All, so far as is known, went right until the cage was about midshaft, when one of the three men upon the lower deck, called out to stop the cage as one of his companions had fallen down the shaft. Those on the top deck also observed him struggling to prevent the other, who was partly off the cage, from falling away. I understand that an attempt was also made to seize the signal wire in the shaft, to make a signal to the surface to stop the cage, but this failed. The cage was drawn to within a few feet of the surface, when by shouting they attracted the attention of the men engaged at the pithead, and the engineman being made aware that something was wrong stopped the engine. The person referred to as having fallen partly out of the cage, was found with his head hanging beyond the end of it, between the cage and the side of the shaft; he was much injured, though alive, but died shortly after. He who fell away from the cage, about mid-shaft, was found at the bottom mangled and dead. As to how the accident occurred, it is supposed that the man who fell away may, in falling, have grasped at his neighbour, and in that way caused him to overbalance and get in contact with the side of the shaft, but what caused him in the first place to fall can only be surmised. The idea of his having fainted was suggested, but of course that is only conjecture. The shaft fittings were not deranged.

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Took place in a mine known to give off gas. I understand that on the morning of the accident, the fireman found fire-damp in one of the ordinary working places, accounted for by changes which had been made in screens, &c. during the previous day. He very wisely prevented the workmen from entering into, or near the " face." Under this arrangement the day's work was concluded safely, and after the workmen had all left the mine, he and his assistant commenced to displace the gas. As a precautionary measure the furnace at the pit bottom was put out, so as to prevent ignition from the return currents passing over it in an inflammable state ; but unfortunately for themselves, they neglected to withdraw their open lights to a safe distance from the explosive mixture with which they were dealing.

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