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

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194 Reports or the Inspectors of Mines. [No. 10.
Explanations of the Cave in.
The caving in of tlie Harleigli colliery occurred on the 20th day ot
June, 181t, wliicli was nothing more than was anticipated, as the crushing
of the mine pillars gave ample indications that the overlying strata had
partially given away, and that a general crush was inevitable. I had visited
and perambulated this mine, on the 21st of April, and restricted some
of tlie workings owing to the crush, and instructed the companj' to put on
a sufficient force to timber the main gangways and slopes. Subsequently
the timbering was done, and continued until nearly the time of the cave
in but, as the greater portion of the mine consisted in " robbing " for the
;
last three years, or previous to the date of my commission, timbering was
of little use, except as a precautionary warning, and a safe retreat for the
men, for the supporting of the superincumbent strata was beyond control.
There were four means of egress for the men in this mine, and, as the caving in
was not an unforeseen expectation, work was continued. On the 30th day of
May, I again inspected this colliery, and observed that the gangway's were
tolerably timbered, but, as the seam was so thick, (thirty feet,) it was im-
to timber the breastings, and these were opened or widened out
to their full width too near the gangway, thereby not reserving sufficient
gangway pillar that a crush on the same was unavoidable, but, had they
kept adequate chain pillar between the different lifts to cut off or break
the superincumbent strata, it is presumed that the cave in would not have
extended beyond the inside slope workings, but, as before stated, the
necessary support was not reserved to meet such contingency, no one
could tell what would be the extent of the cave in. " Whilst others said
that they did not expect fhe crush or fall in to extend further than the
workings of the inside slope," but what was to prevent it? when all the
breasts had been worked up from one breast to the other, leaving no pillar
whatever between the face of the breasts and the gangways, and indeed
had it not been for the large pillar reserved in the synclinal in the Ebervale,
or the adjoining colliery, it is probable that that mine, too, would
have shared the same fate. The night previous to the catastrophe, I gave
the mine boss positive orders not to permit any of his employe's to work
in the slope until the cave in had taken place, and he promised to do so.
(See investigation accompanying this report.)
The following day there was no work at this colliery, owing to the crush,
as stated by the mine boss at the investigation, and he and his assistant
went in iSo. 3, via No. 1, and requested Harr}' Hughes, to go in after
them in course of half an hour. So he went in, and perambulated the
mines in search of the mine boss, and accidently came to where the two
entombed men were working, and eagerly requested them to come to listen
to the mine crushing, as it was about to cave in. But, he said, they merely
laughed at him, or something to that effect; and he left again in quest of
the mine boss, and found him in No. 3 slope, and told him of these two
men being in the mines ; and he, with several others, hastened to their res-