DEATH OF ALBERT WELLS

Grey River Argus, 11 May 1923, Page 7

DEATH OF ALBERT WELLS

inquest at Reefton. I In our issue of Wednesday we re I ported tbo death of Mr Albert An.brosi ‘ Wells, who was killed while worltmj I in the Beeftor. Coni Company’s mine oi Tuesday night. x\.i inquest «as held at ilir- L’enftoi Courthouse on Wednesday, before Mr E J. Scantlebury, Coroner. Scrgt. Hyland watched the case in' I ihe Police. Mr Mark Fagan, work linen's inspector, for the relatives am Lie Miners’ Union; Mr 1. I’attersoi I ror the Beefton Coal Company; and M: C. J. Strongman, mine manager am nwiiiig-lnspcetor of Mines, for th< Mines Department. Mi-- x. MANAG-EK I.' BOX. '1 he ill'st witness was Ernest W. Tat wv mine manager for the Reeftun Coa compmiy, who said .leeease,l had gum tu v.urK at 4 p.ai. on the previous day Al 530 lie vas informed that an uu I culout had taken I’lme in the mine When Im got there deceased’s head onlj was uncovered. He (witness) put an hut prop amt a tom m to make tin mace absolutely sale and tnen pro Lceed to remove the fallen coal -sofa eieully to get the body out. He m , “i ,everv morning before .-peeled the m..-. «. . , ,en entered. Everything in the anno on i’ucsday was quite normal, neunim'tou and Brevis worked thu place ill the day slult. Ihii-e won m umiipkinits about the mnio during th ua- The men were extracting a pil ' He could not account for the ac r'idenl. H rnimt have come away sun deuly. There was plenty of timber in he idnee They "ere taking down the " p coni' This was more dangerou: An ordinary work. The mine wm ~,.,1 timbered, ami plenty c'f Umoet • x .iia’.'o "livre was always a 'l.im-er ill'"emil coming away suddenly He was not in that place after 4 p.m. MANAGER CROSS-EXAMINED. To Mr Strongman: Bo knew it wm leeessary to examine the mine befon m en went on shift. Ho ilnl not do si ■ s he had to "o down to the Linns am it was late when be got back. He du not have a eertilieuteil deputy J ‘ for one but he was unable t< come. The men were taking tops dowi at this particular time. Hie day shil started dropping these tops. He du not know how far the tops were takes Town. He had not drawn any tiinbei tn inking down this they worked tin ■ini from tin' front ami i

nAssary put a light shot in the coal If coal were loose on top it would b< removed with a bar. The prop wm a support ami the support, was actually removed by taking the coal from the ton of the prop with a pricker bar. tm were working the roof supponee by the back row of props. > ll ' l,:ieK row was four feet distant. Ilia was not the maximum distance. He did no think the removal , f the prop witn i. charge would be safer, as according to the stone being around the prop, «•* the prop being so tight, it. would k necessary to remove a portion of tin era! to enable you to drop it. He considered if safer not to draw timber al all; and this was one of the eases, lb was using 7ft props. The prop was buried to within a toot of the top. Ihi timber regulations provided fur lout feet between the props. He was using xtra strong timber. No matter wha> supports were put in at. this place i < accident would have happened. He du. not thiuk it broke the timber. DR. SCOTT’S EVIDENCE. Dr. Scott said he inspected tin! bod} that morning. ’There was a wound on top of the head, some abrasions on top ■ f the ri’fht shoulder, the back oi the chest, and the right loin (on the back). On the front there were abrasions on he chest and ot beth legs. Tn addition the neck of the dcceas-ed was' broken. H.(‘ evidently received a fall of coal or earth on the head or bars.. The. fall had glanced from left side to right. The weight and force of ihe> fall had knocked' him to tho ground, and the abrasions on the front ol the. body were lhe result of contact with, the floor of the mine. Lying in this position tin coal had smothered him. Death was instantaneous. He had •evidently been knocked unconscious. Death was due to shock from injuries together with asphvxia. A MINER’S STATEMENT. Ernest Fro vis, minor, employed by tho Reef ton Ct al Company, deposed he worked in the mine on Tuesday from S a.m. to 4 p.m.. He was extracting pillars. Bob Bennington was with him. Tho mine was absolutely sate when he left. He had no trouble at all when on shift. He had had 20 years’ experience in coal mining ami considered the mine absolutely safe. To Mr Strongman: He pulled up a 12ft set of rails and brought the two tops back Bft or 9ft. He htd two rows (d“ props in this distance. He did not use a shot in getting lhe tops; but used a pricker bar. These props had gone into the floor .15 or 16 inches. The props he passed coming back were covered with debris to within a foot of the top. It ■was impossible to remove these. Before going to work Mr Talley t> Id them that all was safe. DECEASED’S MATE. Richard Currie deposed that he went on shift at 4 p.m. with deceased. They met the men h aving elf work and these said everything was quite all night. He was engaged taking down tops in. the mine The pillars had been partly taken down. They were taking out the top coal left, and had taken out 8 or 9 trucks prior to the accid*ent about 5.45 or 5.50. Ho and deceased were both standing looking at it after one prop was eased. There ivas no • movement, anywhere; everything was very quiet. Next thing he hoard a crack and ran. Ho got about four or five yards from

whore they wore standing and struck a match. He could then see a fall had taken place, but could not see his mate. There was still a little stuff coming down. Thon ho ran away for assistance. He met Smith in the level ami told him to come along and bring his two mates. Tie rushed back with the assistance of others and helped to 1 get deceased out. He was completely covered. Thev were only a few minutes getting the coal off deceased’s head. Ho ct nsidorod the condition of the position perfectly safe. There was always plenty of timber available. He knew deceased had several years’ experience iu coal mining, and was a capable miner. CROSS-EXAMINED. To: Mr Strongman: When changing shifts their .mates told them everything [ was safe. He saw Air Tatlcy at the : binn when going past. He did not. toll ‘them to go in. There was an examinaI tion board at the shed near the mine. There was no examination board at the mine mouth. They were 25 feet from ' the trucking level. They were just talking and looking at it. Witness had

just filled a truck and deceased was standing lot king on. Witness cut coal from the top of the props with a pricker bar. He did not: remove props altogether. They loosened the head board, or cap. It was not go< d mining ; to have a lot of coal laying about your feet; the coal had all boon r<moved from the top of the prep. He thought it advisable to leave the prop wdierc it was. He did not think it should have been removed with a Sylvester. He did not stop filling the truck to listen to •the roof. He was not expecting it to fall. He heard the coal working a little while before, but it then stopped AIR STRONGMAN’S EVIDENCE. Chas. Jus. Strongman, mine manager, acting as Acting-Inspector of Coal Alines, said that ho macle an inspection of tho mine on Tuesday in ctmpany with Air Fagan and the mine manager. The mine was well up to standard. The Act and regulations had been fairly well complied with. The timber used in this particular place was unusually stout. The coal extraction presented no unusual difficulties. He visited the mine after the accident and saw where the accident occurred. Deceased was lying under about three tons of coal. ScverttV'men were engaged emh avouring to: get the body out. This was accomplished about 9.5 p.m. THE VERDICT. The Coroner said there r,n difficulty in arriving at a verdict. He found that deceased was killed ihrnug? a fall of eoal at the Burke’s Creek Aline, no blame being attachable to I anyone,