Reports of the Inspectors of Mines of the anthracite coal regions of ...

118 Reports of the Inspectors of Mines. [No. 10,
cident, I hastened thither, and descended at once to the scene of the fire,
where I found a number of men working towards the fire, and exposed to
unnecessary danger from falling of roof, which was being melted by the
fire. I at once ordered the men to stand a number of props, and ordered
Baker, the mine boss, to see that the men secured the roof well as thej^
advanced towards the fire. I measured the air just inside of the fire on
this occasion, and found only '7,470 cubic feet per minute. On the 29th of
October, I went there again, and found that the fire had been extinguished,
and I finished my examination of the workings and the system of ventila-
tion for the colliery.
I found only one door on the entrance to the east heading, where there
should have been two for use, and an extra one for emergencies. That
door was near the foot of the shaft, and is marked "A" on the accompanying
map, and there was another door between the air-way and gangway at B.
Now, it will be seen at a glance that, when either of these doors were open,
as they must be a great portion of the time for the coal, &c., from that
gangway to pass through, the air was almost entirely cut off from the
workings of that heading, and would take the course indicated b}' the red
line on the map, to the upcast at C
Another single door was located on the head of the slope at D, which
was a division door between two currents—one entering down the main
shaft and intended for the east heading, and the other entering through
the second opening and ventilating the workings on the right and left of
the slope, as indicated by the red line on the map of that section. This
current came up the slope to the door at I), which was intended to turn it
to the west of the shaft, and thence to the upcast at C
When there, on the 29th of October, I ordered Samuel Baker, the mine
boss, to put in double doors at each of these places, and I supposed it
would be done immediately. I also wrote a letter to John Jermyn, Esquire,
informing him that they had not over half the amount of ventilation in the
east heading that was needed. But when the explosion occurred, on the
15th of November, I found that my orders had been entirely ignored.
Nothing had been done. And notwithstanding that Samuel Baker knew
he was violating the law by thus neglecting to provide double doors where
I had ordered them, he chose to take the risk. When I assert that he
kneiv he was violating the law, I make the assertion because I had informed
him that the law required double doors in those places, and that it was
very important that the}^ should be put in immediately, because the mine
was generating so much gas. I was satisfied that he knew but little of
bis own knowledge about working a colliery and carrying on ventilation,
and I so informed Mr. Jermyn. About nine days before the explosion,
Mr. Jermyn had dismissed Baker, and had employed another mine boss,
in the person of one David Birtley. He also professed to know tliat the
law required double doors in the places referred to, but did no more than
his predecessor to have them put in, though he had been in charge for over