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THE COLLIERY DISASTER AT
CWMAMMAN.
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IMPORTANT STATEMENT CONCERNING THE
ACCIDENT.
Mr. E. Strick, coroner for the Swansea Division of the county
of Glamorgan, and a jury empanelled from Brynamman, sat at the
Farmer's Arms in that village at noon on Friday to enquire into
the circumstances attending the death of two of the workmen of
the Garnant Colliery, killed on Wednesday, who lived on that side
of the River Amman, which divides the two counties of Glamorgan
and Carmarthen. The coroner and jury first proceeded to view the
bodies of the two persons, David Robert and Edward Morgan (boy),
and on returning to the room Rees Morgan, father of the latter,
was called, and spoke to the identification of his son's body.
Witness was also employed as an engine driver at the Garnant Colliery.
The deceased was 13 years of age. He left his home on the morning
of the accident at three o'clock, and witness did not hear anything
of him again till the accident occurred. John Isaac Thomas, father-in-law
of David Robert, gave evidence as to his identity. He knew nothing
as to how the accident occurred. The coroner then made out certificates
for the burial of the bodies, and said that was all the evidence
he proposed to take that day. There was another inquiry down at
Cwmamman which had been adjourned by Mr. Rowlands till the 29th
inst., and what he (Mr. Strick) intended to do was to adjourn
the present inquiry until after that one, which may take a couple
of days or more, was over. He, therefore, adjourned till Tuesday,
the 5th of February, at 10.30 a.m. Immediately afterwards Mr.
Prothero Lewis, coroner for the Llandilo division of the county
of Carmarthen, sat with a jury at the Gwyn Arms, in the parish
of Quarter Bach. He explained that he intended to follow the course
adopted by Mr. Strick with regard to the deaths of the two lads
(Evan Robert and Thomas Robert, brothers), the circumstances of
which they had to inquire into. Formal evidence of identification
was given, and the coroner made out certificates for burial. The
inquest was then adjourned to the same day as the one conducted
by Mr. Strick. viz., Feb. 5. The suggestion which is invested
with the greatest amount of plausibility respecting the cause
of the dire event is that the rope received a terrible momentum
by a jerk. This was the theory advanced by the manager of Messrs.
Elliot, of Cardiff, the makers of the rope, and is gaining the
full acquiescence of the responsible officials. The strain which
was on it at the time, in the ordinary course, was so small that
some extraordinary cause must be looked for as a solution of the
question. There is a rumour now in circulation which certainly
would account for such a momentum as we have spoken of, provided
the statement can be substantiated by evidence. All who are in
any way familiar with the working of the cage apparatus in the
shaft of a colliery know that at the top, a few inches below the
surface of the ground, there is a pair of iron rests which work
by a spring, and upon which the cage is supported when it is at
the bank. These are technically known as the "keeps,"
and their operation is just this. They are fastened in the sides
of the shaft, one on either side, and are pressed from their place
of fitting to the inner part of the shaft by a spring. When the
cage is drawn up the sides of it graze over the smooth surface
of each of the "keeps" (which are of iron), and after
the bottom of the cage has passed they fly out and support it,
taking the strain off the winding rope. When, in turn, the cage
is required to descend the "keeps" are draw back by
a switch, which the banksman is in charge of, and it is his duty
to keep his hand on the switch, and thereby hold back the "keeps"
until the whole of the cage is clear of the top. At the Garnant
Colliery, where the accident occurred, the banksman is David Jenkins,
who asserts that he performed all the duty required of him in
holding back the "keeps" whilst the cage was going down.
It is rumoured, however, as contradicting his statement, that
it was some of the men waiting to go down the pit who had the
switch in their hands, and not the banksman at all, and that it
was let go before the top part of the cage was clear. If this
is so there is a tangible theory with which to account for the
calamity. If the keeps were allowed to spring forward from the
walls of the shaft in this way they would catch in a horse box
which was attached to the cage, and stop it in its descent. The
result of this would be that some slack rope would run off from
the winding drum, and when the cage again began to descend (assuming
that it was just caught for a moment and resumed its journey by
its own weight) a powerful momentum would be occasioned by the
slack again falling into play. Then, it is supposed, the fatal
breakage occurred which resulted in the horrible death of the
ten poor fellows. Although as yet the officials have not been
able to obtain a direct and trustworthy statement from any of
the men that the events were as we have stated, there are certain
pieces of evidence which point to it being the most likely cause
of the accident. The rope having broken in the manner previously
described in these columns -all shredded for a considerable distance
-is in itself a suggestion that it took place as the result of
a sudden strain. There is, in addition to this, the fact that
at a point a short distance from the top of the shaft the wooden
guides which keep the cage in its place whilst descending are
clipped away -on one side more so than the other -as if the cage
had rocked just there, and had been tilted against the side where
the wood had been knocked away when caught by the keeps. The man
in charge of the engine says he felt a sudden thud when the cage
was being lowered. He at once stopped the engine, and then, he
believes, simultaneously with his doing this, he became aware
that he had no load -the cage with its living freight had shot
away to the bottom -230ft. The manager (Mr. Hay) and other officials
of the colliery are prosecuting diligent inquiries into these
circumstances, as they believe something of the sort must have
taken place. The banksman denies having been guilty of any laxity
of duty whatever, but there remains in the face of his statement
the fact that ten persons were on the cage at the time of the
descent instead of eight, which was the proper number. Work is
still suspended at the colliery, pending the placing of a new
rope on the drum to take the place of the one which parted on
Wednesday. Four of the bodies were interred on Friday, and the
others will be buried in the course of a day or two. The scene
at the funerals on Friday was a very impressive one, processions
of great length being formed. The hundreds of people composing
them wended their way slowly to the graves, bearing the bodies,
and singing hymns en route.
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