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Full Details

Surname
CHARLES
Forename
Henry
Day
03
Month
05
Year
1914
Age
42
Occupation
Pumpman
Mine/Quarry Name
Arthur & Edward
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Lydney & Crumpmeadow Collieries Co. Ltd
Location
Upper Lydbrook
County
Gloucestershire
Details of Event
The water barrel of a pump with a rising main and a suspension chain weighing together some seven tons, was being raised by a crab engine, geared in three stages, 180 to 1. Deceased had descended the shaft in a kibble to guide the water barrel past a girder, when the teeth of the third pinion wheel broke and the load was thus set free and allowed to fall down the shaft. Deceased was carried by the crab rope and the suspension chain into the sump and killed. The pinion wheel was of cast iron and appeared to be of good quality sod free from flaws. The sides of the shaft were of rock and very uneven, and it is possible that the load was caught and held beneath a ledge of rock, so causing a sufficient strain on the gearing of the crab engine to break the teeth of the pinion wheel.