| Show THE INQUEST AND VERDICT ALMY ALKY uinta wyo march 8 1895 A coronets coron evs inquest nag has been held in the temple of honor hall over the vic time of too toe C J P no 5 mine firedamp fire damp explosion the jury Im paneled by mr william wililam cashion coroner were 1 james jamea bowns foreman james vinery VI kery and doctor gamble ane authorities of the mines minea and a large number of miners were present david thomae government inspect lor was first interrogated by mr bowne as follows cau can you give the court any information as to the cause of the explosion which occurred in the C P no 5 mine on the ruih day or of this mr fomas yoi must remember that I 1 have no over a mine that employs lose less than ton ten persons in it some time since the no 5 mine was shut abut down and when reopened opened re it only employed about seven or eight mon men until recently when the mine was put on lu full work before the explosion occurred the ventilation was in a good condition and the air current averaged 1000 ou ft per minute for bauh man employed in the mine and I 1 considered from the general condition of the mine it was safe and satisfactory sin the explosion I 1 have been info IQ he mine accompanied by mr A IB bradbury superintendent mr lakowske bown mr graham mr bell mr bird and jul other practical miners and examined tb the in whole of the north side workings dge which appeared to be in a clean and safe condition A fall had occurred in ibe be last room on the eighth level hat it did not affect the condition of any anhof of the ibe other workings the air current was clean and steady in its passing through the workings wor kinge from the appearance of the loose material which had beau thrown about I 1 am of the opinion that the explosion Cou occurred in the eighth entry froom from blown out shot ignited t the he line fine a dust that was waa raised up and not let to in motion by the locce ot of the expanded charge of ef we the powder which lb would etain strength as aa it w went en t with the air current till it culminated in the mine explosion mr bowns then your opaul opinion is ia that it was waa a dust ex explosion caused hy by the fire of a blown out shot mr thomas yes air jr mr bowns do you think a fall of the temperature would have anything to do with the cause cauce of the explosions mr thongs well it would bause the gas gag ifancy if any to expand end and it near the floor of the mine but bat from the appearance of the ro mine inis I 1 am of the opinion that it was waa a dust and not a gas explosion A E R bradbury superintendent of the mine was waa next questioned by mr air bowns can you give the court any information as aa ta the cause of the explosion at your mine mr bradbury from my own experience peri ence ot of the mine and the gelok oral eral reports each day from Mr Bruce I 1 cannot can net account for the explosion on im any other principle than it wag waa caused caused by a blown out shot amiot the ventilation of the mine was waa on an average bronit to cubic feet of air per minute was waa watered in the main roads to lesson lessen its tendency to alre no complaints have been made to me of gas gaa in the mine and I 1 taink it if there had been any gas gaa in he work ings inge it would have been reported mr bruce brace had authority to 10 empl employ oy extra bands la in the mine when a he re required their aid and I 1 think if he be tho aught he required assistance to keep t the he mine safe ate he would have got all that his be needed I 1 have been in me he value mine with the inspector and other experienced gentlemen and from all we have own in the workings working the mine is iu in a good condition joseph joaeph bird firemen fireman by mr mf bowns bowne 1 I have been gas gaa inspector for about th three ree years at too the mine sod and under the in of mr james bruce whom I 1 considered consid jered a thoroughly competent person for th the e c cafice he tj tilled lied as mine foreman the fall fail in the jtb level and last room is since the explosion OR oe burred the hole in the exhaust frodi froam tile the seventh to the eighth level is III four foot by ten foot and is near up to the height of the room I 1 dont donit don it think any gas could lodge jn in the exhaust room above the he hole therelene there Ther eleno is no gaa in the working places W where here any las gaa to is found it is written on the danger board keep out gas by this the minim men know they are not allowed to eater such a place the working place plaoma ply oly are examined dally daily and the old abandoned pieces occasionally I 1 am be only firemen fireman in no 6 5 and leave the inside for surface work at seven 26 a in evely morning the rufface work to such as aa filling powder and ag al allaying lating at times timea to in the smiths shop there is no fireman in the mine from seven even its in the morning the miners have to get ast their ratio rails and ties from old rooms that are finished finif hed if there be gion X in any such euch rooms the caution board la Is put up to prevent any one from entering them it to is not dot my place to make any complaint to mr bradbury mr bruce la Is the responsible one and Is the person to communicate to mr bradbury by dr gamble I 1 wrote gas gag on the caution board to prevent any one from going into the she exhaust room to take out ralta rails an aa the place in IB not finished I 1 dian didn thins faa can won in the room the word gas J wae only faed there for the purpose named by mr vickery no workman Is i allowed to go into his working place if faa be found in it if a large quantity of gas be to in a room it la Is not taken out so in ibe work hours gas has bai been taken ogg oat of f rooms during work houn bours but the quantity wai waso mall it if the quantity or gas was large there would woula be a probability of it passing paring into the other workings wor kinga with the air current wilhalm bell by mr bowne I 1 have been connected with the abe mines since ince 1868 and am fireman of no 6 mine the ane ventilation was considered con eldered good prior to the explosion aby dr gamble I 1 cannot gay any what aga b caused the explosion I 1 do no not know whether it was a dust duit explosion caused ay dv a blown out shot or a gas explosion I 1 have never seen dual duat fire la a mine I 1 have heard ofa of a dust aunt explosion at iao no 4 U P mine alroy almy T many blow out cut shots but bat jr have never seen soy any of them fire abe duet the minor miner has to get his hie relie rails and od ties out of the old working gait sif lie be cap cannot not got get them eleew elsewhere here we 3 are oot not in the habit of examining rooms not got during work hours we t always see aee that tabt the rooms are free frova from gm gas before the men man are allowed to i ealter them 4 f lellam graham mine foreman at asto 6 C p mine almy by mr Y can you give the court any gg lim formation as ae to the cause of the ex is lasion at the te no 0 5 0 awe on OD the cy of mares marco amr graham the cause of the ex or of the mine Is io in consequence S the 8 gas of the mine coming in con foot w with th the naked lights of the work t len 0 1 I know there was waa gas gaa to in the mine boo 1 because I 1 have seen it 2 cause I 1 have heard of it from oeners wio floo have seen it and in addition I 1 know for or myself that there is always a in it and lots lets tf f it behind the taw p jogs it was not a dust duat explosion as so an explosion of gas gaa there are lao bo dust explosions to in lignite coal macei the coal does not possess the properties that will cause it to explode by mr bowns Bowne was there not a dust explosion in no 4 ko sir air it cannot be called an 40 tofi it is in true that by a runaway trip trio quantity of fine dust duet was put in on which was ignited at a boy boys boya a ston p atad and how far did it go with all boys boto that were ou on the spot only oue one Y had bad his bis hand burned by mr bowns bowne did you never see ee an explosion in a grist mill it is in no 5 mine we are talking about by mr bowns did you nevareen neva neve reea rEes a sawdust explosion no air it is ia no 6 5 mine mr graham continued it must be b understood that the lignite coal is ie altogether different from the bituminous coal the constituent elements ele mento of the latter bring it within measure a dust debt explosion and even this class of c caal jai has been tested so ao far as to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it will not explode as aa a duat dual in and of itself alone la in expert intents modie mane with bituminous coal by professor froberg Pr eberg ot of prussia he be subjected the ibe bituminous boal to a rigid test teal in this respect viz he had bad a large stone on the ground and covered it with fine dry dust dual coo coal he be then placed three cannone oan none fixed one above the other the low asanon was fired off to lift the rook and put pul the fine dust dual to in motion the was waa fired oft off into the floating dust duet and the third was fired off into it and all failed to ignite the dust duit second experiment fix fixing ing his bis cannons as aa before he be diffused I 1 per cent of firedamp fire damp botbyl met bylic lic hydride into the dust duit and fired off his lowest lowe cannon which ignited the dust third experiment he diffused 8 per cent ot of firedamp fire damp into the oust ants and fired off his hie cannon and such the force produced that hat it throw threw a case feet into the air what then about the explosion of fine duet dust duet will accelerate the ex of fire jamp but it will never explode in and ot of itself alone abere was wa sufficient air going into the mine it it W waa properly conducted through the working places it to is not a question lon as aa to the amount ol of air that taatia Is sent ent in and out of the mine but whether we the current in passing through the fall workings carries oft off the lie gas that to is being generated from we the measures with it IL if one fine dust will explode la a fiery mine why should it not explode ina in a mint min that does not generate inflammable gat gab if any ady gentleman has seen or heard of such an occurrence it to la well to know it but I 1 am satisfied in my own mind that thai no DO such explosion over ever occurred and I 1 am also satisfied that this thia was an explosion of firedamp fire damp and a not ot of dust duet robert miller by mr bowns I 1 went into the no 6 5 mine with the ex floring party we were in the jtb and ana ath leleh there was a cave in the ath entry of eleven feet deep wn ten feet wide and fort feet in length was lull jull of gas gaa to the depth named 11 by 10 by 40 equal to cubic teet ot of gas gae in the furthest room in the entry it in ia known that gas had been cleaned out to in working places place previous to the explosion steward Hu by mr bowne 1 I have known Mr Bruce a long time and considered him a good business buei nesa man antho in the mine but I 1 have heard beard him say bay more than once they had more work on their bands than they could do I 1 have seen been gas gan in the mine and in more than otie one room before the explosion occurred orson morris by Mr Bowns I 1 have known ma M bruce for many years and considered him a competent ma man in for the office he be filled in the mits mine it happened J out pro krovious to the explosion that our oar room was not la in a safe afe condition and I 1 went to see aee mr bruce who said be had bad not forgot us but had being fighting gas all the morning the evidence of the following persons was to the same effect H morris 1 I Oran Uran tage H godby JL raw bottom A brown 1 I loata 1 I baker J clark 1 I harris T scott I 1 houd hood 1 crawford joseph burtor by mr bowne I 1 have worked seven Beven years yeara in noa mine mano about p m at the second room un on the eighth level two Flun landers were vere going into too seventh room for or ratio rails but were prevented ty by the ordera order sor of mr bird who said there were buu but brods d redact of feet of gas gaa in that room I 1 ha have aaen gregot gaa got out of rooms when men have been working to in butelo room james jamea bell and john M den er linemen of no 5 mine sold before the tb jury j ury that the ventilation tan fan of tho the mine was waa kept at a steady ipe of from 34 to 88 revolutions per dr harker informed the jury fury that he had bad at attended the ini injured ared men M mr r maltby and mr mason who had since d died led from their I 1 VJ a ries he said laid qu quite I 1 to a num berot berof the men he beaw saw come front from the he mine to the surface were bably burned and others othera died from buffoon tion some of the injured men who were injured at the surface joseph P F bell james jamea makels makela thomas thomaa butte jobu hannah john martin slid and john jobu crawford are progressing slowly but are not dangerous danger oua R THE VERDICT ALMY wyo maron marco verdict of the jury in the bed canyon explosion la is that the explosion won waa caused by gas gaa probably accelerated by d dual net B R B R HoDG sox |
