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Snailbeach Lead Mine George's Shaft Accident |
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The fatal accident,
which cost 7 lives, was caused by the breakage of a steel winding rope at George's
Shaft about 6.15am on 6th March 1895. The rope worked in a shaft 252 yards
deep and was almost solely used for raising and lowering men. The winding
system consisted of two separate cages, each of which had its own rope
passing over pulleys on the headgear to the same drum. The ropes were wound
on the drum so as to bring one cage to surface at the same time as the other
cage was at the shaft bottom. The rope in question wound on a 7ft diameter
drum and passed over a pulley on the headgear which was 8ft 8ins in diameter.
Both the drum and pulley were too small for a rope of this circumference and
they should have been at least 12ft. The weight of a cage and chains was
14cwt and 7 men were allowed to ride at once. The working load of the rope
would thus be about 25cwt, exclusive of the rope itself, and this was within
the specification. On the morning of
the accident George Williams, the engineman, raised steam and ran the cages 3
times through the shaft as a test. He then raised 2 cage loads of night shift
men before lowering the morning shift. It was while the third cage load of 7
men were going down that the rope broke, just after it had passed over the
pulley and the cage half way down the shaft. An examination of the broken
ends of the rope clearly showed the cause of breakage to be internal
corrosion. It was so severely corroded where the breakage occurred that the
inside was practically rotten and not fit to carry the weight of the rope
alone. There was also considerable internal corrosion in that part of the
rope, which fell down the shaft, but the part remaining on the drum was still
in good condition. The engine, drum, pulleys, cages and conductors were all
in good working order and there was nothing to suggest that the accident had
been caused by anything other than the internal corrosion of the rope. The
latter was examined daily by a fitter named Ed. Edwards and his written
reports were always that the rope was "all right". At the inquest,
he said that no broken wires were visible and this appeared probable since
none were seen on the part of the rope left on the drum or on the companion
rope, which had been bought at the same time. It is obvious that
the maintenance on the ropes was unsatisfactory by present day standards. It
was not known when, or how often, they had been re-capped and there was no
regular time or person appointed to grease them. Edwards said that the rope
had not been re-capped for 3 years and the 'rope oil' used as a lubricant
appeared to form a stiff crust on the surface without penetrating much.
Although the shaft was not very wet, the mine water was said to corrode iron.
It was apparently the practice of the engineman, when the cages were not in
use, to keep them about half way down the shaft. This meant that the same part
of the rope was then always on the pulley and it was at this point that it
broke. One of the miners giving evidence said that he and others were afraid
of the rope but no complaint had been made.
The verdict was
"accidental death caused by the breakage of a defective rope" and
the jury thought that the rope had not been properly looked after and had
been used too long. Although the Mines Inspector felt that the company and
their agents should be censured, there was no breach of the Metalliferous
Mines Regulation Act as it stood at the time. More recent legislation
stipulates that a winding rope must not be used for more than 31/2 years and
would probably have required it to be galvanised in these conditions.
Re-capping is required at intervals not exceeding 6 months and the pieces cut
off must be examined for internal corrosion. This job must be done by a
person appointed by the manager and the results entered in a special book. At
intervals not exceeding 20 days, the wire must be cleaned, checked for broken
wires and examined closely at intervals of not more than 300ft or at other
places liable to excessive wear. It is therefore unlikely that this accident
could have occurred under present legislation and, if it did, the management
could be heavily fined or imprisoned. The Wellington
Journal of 1895 includes a report by W Holyoake, a Snailbeach miner, given at
the inquest :- "I went with
seven others down the mine in the second cage. There was no jerk in going
down. When we got down we lighted our candles and waited till the next party
should come down. In two or three minutes we heard the cage coming down. The
noise was like thunder. The cage crashed down with the bodies in it. The cage
was smashed up. The rope came down on top of the cage. We signalled up at
once and proceeded to take the rope away by drawing it along the level. The
rope was knocked about. We had to knock the cage to pieces to get the bodies
out. There was no sign of life in any of them. I had every confidence in the
rope and it always looked perfectly safe."
The top part of the
winding rope recoiled out of the shaft and George Williams the engineman had
a narrow escape. Members of the day shift waiting at the shaft bottom were
treated to the sight of the 7ft 6ins high cage reduced to a mere 18ins by the
smash and yet, when the rescue party descended the ladders to recover the
mutilated bodies, it is said that a watch worn by one of the dead was still
ticking. After adjustments to the winding engine, the bodies were brought to
surface in the second cage. The Rev. Cope
visited the bereaved families after the disaster and his "assurances
that the exit of the departed was a glorious change" apparently gave
much comfort. He subsequently published a booklet about the disaster, which
concentrated on three of the victims who were lay preachers. He made much of
the spiritual guidance they exerted on their fellow miners and their virtuous
lives, they were said to quote from hymns at every opportunity. The funeral
procession was of immense length, even though the journey to the graveyard
was long and there was deep snow on the ground. Large numbers of poorly clad
miners were reported as taking part in the procession.
Like most mines of that
period, Snailbeach had its share of dangers but the general standard of shaft
maintenance seems to have left a lot to be desired. The daywork book of 1862
has several references to "boiling composition and tarring wire ropes
for winding engine" - not a very effective remedy for preventing
corrosion and wear! There was also another rope breakage in 1897 but this
time the cage was fortunately empty. On this occasion, the 400 yard rope
consisted of two lengths spliced together with couplings. One length, only 2
years old, broke close to the coupling and dropped the cage 40 yards. One of the twin
winding wheels was removed towards the end of the 19th Century,
leaving just a single one to wind with. |
Last revised: 20 February 2010