These men were all sinkers engaged in No. 2 pit, Craighead, belonging to Messrs. Wm. Baird and Co., and about 7 p.m. an explosion of gas took place in the shaft with the above result.
The pit is being sunk and is now 163 ½ fathoms deep. It is 23 feet long , by 7 feet wide. All the men and materials descend and ascend by the downcast side. Robt. Paterson is manager, and his two sons, John and William Paterson are contractors. At the time of the accident the ventilation was caused by a steam jet placed 8 1/2 fathoms down the upcast. The Upper, Ell, Pyotshaw, Main, and Humph seams of coal (see section) have been passed through, and the sinking continued two fathoms below the last named seam, which point is supposed to be within 12 or 14 feet of the splint or lowest seam of coal. Fire-damp was given off while passing through each seam, the greatest quantity being at the Pyotshaw and Main. There was no gas issuing from the bottom of the shaft at the time of the accident, and the sinkers were using naked lights, but had gauge lamps which they used to examine the bottom after firing "sumping" shots, when fresh feeders of gas were most likely to be struck, or for going into the "upcast" or working in the shaft near any of the seams of coal which have been passed through.
Between 6 and 7 o'clock in the evening the five men who worked in the bottom were up on the pithead getting their "piece." John Paterson, one of the contractors, saw them and arranged with James Robertson, chargeman of the shift, to put on the plumb lines the first thing on their going down. The plumb line for one side of the pit was fixed in the upcast at a point 118 fathoms from the surface, and was reached by an opening in the midwall which was covered with canvas to prevent loss of air. The opening was 3 feet high and 2 ft. 6 ins. wide. A few minutes to 7 o'clock, Burnes, McGill (both deceased), and Garrety got on the ''kettle" and went to the bottom with naked lights; they sent away a load of stones, and about five minutes afterwards Robertson, the chargeman, and Ricd. Pollock descended. They stopped 118 fathoms down at the place for hanging down the plumb lines, and it appears Robertson remained .on the kettle while Pollock stepped off and passed through the screen (S.S.) into the upcast side. They say they had been told there was fire-damp in the upcast, and as they had no safety lamp Pollock went through in the dark and adjusted the plumb line, the only light being what shone through from Robertson's light on the "kettle." Having adjusted the line, Pollock was in the act of returning through the opening to get on the kettle again, when an explosion took place. They were both slightly burned but managed to return to the surface. The force of the explosion knocked out several fathoms of midwall and also some of the barring, which, falling down the shaft where the other three men were, killed two of them and injured the third one, Garrety. None of these three were burned. The ventilation of the lower part of the shaft was destroyed by the broken midwall, and repeated efforts failed to reach Garrety, who was held fast by the fallen debris in the bottom of the pit. The brattice was repaired temporarily and water run down to dispel the gas which had accumulated, and about 3 a.m on Wednesday Garrety was rescued and is likely to survive. After the recovery of Garrety and the failure to hear anything of the other two, it was judged that they were dead, and it was deemed advisable to make the shaft safe where the explosion had damaged, and postpone the search till this was done. The bodies of the two men were recovered on the evening of the 13th.
I examined the place carefully on Saturday, and I find that the principal seat of the explosion has been about the Ell coal seam, about 144 feet below the point where the men entered, and doubtless the gas came from this seam and from the Main and Pyotshaw seams, which are notoriously fiery when newly cut. I am not able to say whether the gas was ignited by the men in the shaft or the men in the bottom; it may have been either, although I am inclined to think the men in the kettle did it. The accident, however, was caused by an accumulation of gas which might reasonably have been expected unless driven away by sufficient ventilation. There was not the slightest difficulty in doing this, and I think the managers and owners are to blame for neglecting to do it.
When Pollock was in the upcast the screen was open, and no doubt a portion of the air would pass through the opening, but I do not think this would have had much effect if the pit had been sufficiently ventilated. The machinery and other arrangements of the colliery are very good, and this is the first accident of any kind that has occured in this large undertaking during the two years it has been in operation.
See Fig 2 and Fig 3

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