Durham Mining Museum - Newspaper Articles (original) (raw)

16th June 1910

The Wellington Pit Disaster

Exploring Party Who Descended The Pit On Sunday Last

Standing (From This End):

• Mr. J. Hanlon, Whitehaven Miners' Agent.
• Mr. R. R. Blair, Assistant General Manager, Whitehaven Colliery Company.
• Mr. R. Steele, Manager, Whitehaven Colliery Company.
• Mr. W. Leck, H.M. Assistant Inspector of Coal and Metalliferous Mines, Cleator Moor.
• Mr. J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Coal and Metalliferous Mines, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
• Mr. A. Miller, Manager of the Harrington Colliery
• Mr. R. W. Moore, Lord Lonsdale' Colliery Viewer and Engineer.
• Mr. S. Turner, Manager, William Pit.

Kneeling (From This End):

• Mr. J. T. Mathers, Whitehaven Miners' Delegate.
• Mr. J. H. Thorne, and Mr. W. Littlewood, "Meco" Experts from the Sheffield Mining Engineering, who made the first exploration before the pit was stopped.
• Mr. A. Mellon.
• Mr. J. Henry, Under-Manager, Wellington Pit.

(Photograph by Mr. J. Bellman, Whitehaven.)

Further Exploration.

Heavy Falls.

The first exploration of Wellington Pit with a view to ascertaining whether the fire is completely extinct was made on Sunday morning.

The photograph was taken at the pit head.

The shaft is to the left, that is on the side on which are Mr. Hanlon and Mr. Mathers. In the background is a hanging of brattice cloths, which curtains off the space in which the bodies of the entombed miners will be coffined as they are recovered and brought to the surface. The coffins are being made by the various joiners in Whitehaven, to the order of the Colliery Company. They will consist of a shell, which will be taken down the pit, in which to bring up the body, and a coffin into which the shell will be deposited on reaching the surface. Besides the 13 in our illustration there were seven others, Whitehaven miners, who descended the pit on Sunday.

Arrived at the first stopping in the intake. Messrs. Steele, Blair, Henry, Thorne, and Littlewood, put on the "Meco" breathing apparatus and proceeded through the doors of the first and second stoppings, and in through the deadly gases. The illustration shows helmet of the breathing apparatus, with the tubes attached that convey the exhaled breath of the wearer through a purifying vessel carried on the back; and there is also carried on the back a vessel containing oxygen, which is given off automatically at a constant pressure, to be mixed with the purified breath in a gas bag carried on the breast. From this mixer, the lungs are re-inflated. Should the oxygen feed fail for any reason when the wearer is far in among the deadly gases of the pit, it would necessarily be fatal. For this reason it will be manifest that care has to be exercised not to get any of the apparatus torn or carried away. By a figure of speech the miner is said to carry his life in his hand. Almost literally the explorer with this breathing mechanism may be said to carry his life on his back. The illustration shows some of the party with the electric lamp which were used for exploring among the gases, and others with the miners safety lamp, which, of course, would be extinguished if introduced into the gases of the enclosed pit. Mr. Henry and Mr. Thorne had not gone far in when they had to return, finding that their breathing apparatus was not working satisfactorily. Others of the party proceeded about 700 yards in, about 40 yards further than the brattice which was put up by the rescuers on the morning after the accident. There the temperature was found to be 85 Fahrenheit. The normal temperature of the mine is from 75 to 80. Mr. Steele then returned, and Mr. Blair and Mr. Littlewood went on some 200 yards further until they were about 30 yards from the friction gear, where the fire is supposed to have originated on the explosion. They found several small falls and then a heavy fall, which almost filled the place with debris. It was impossible to go further to judge what might be the extent of the fall in length. It was thought to be very probable that the fire is extinguished. The restoration of ventilation will follow, and the removal of the fall. There were some half a dozen men working near the friction gear. They would probably be killed outright by the explosion, and if the fire reached their bodies they may have been consumed. Otherwise these bodies were likely to be the first to be recovered. But how long it may take to penetrate so far is pure guesswork. No one knows.

The work of restoring ventilation is being carried on as rapidly as is consistent with safety. On Tuesday a party consisting of Messrs. Thorne and Littlewood went in to the far stopping, where they donned the "Meco" breathing apparatus and proceeded along the intake, a distance of 200 yards, and there created a brattice cloth stopping. Then they opened the separation door next nearest to that point, so as to at once stop the air going further up the intake and divert it into the return airway, thus making good the ventilation of the intake for that 200 yards. So they will proceed with length after length until they arrive at the great fall. Then a big gang will be put on to clear the way up to the friction gear, where some bodies or remains indicative of them, may be expected. Some minor falls are being met with, but these do not seriously inconvenience the advance party with the breathing apparatus. Owing to the weight of this apparatus, 38 lbs on each man's head and shoulders, the work is necessarily slow. From day to day it will be continued as expeditiously as possible, consistent ions already said, with safety; and it may easily be imagined that it is rather perilous work.

Newspaper transcript kindly provided by
West Cumbria Mines Research.