Single Record

Full Details

Surname

DICK

Forename

David

Day

08

Month

02

Year

1927

Age

27

Occupation

Miner

Mine/Quarry Name

Carriden

Mineral Worked

Coal

Owner

Carriden Coal Co. Ltd

Location

Bo’ness

County

Linlithgowshire

Details of Event

8 February 1927: Pit Explosion – Bo'ness Men Injured – The Cause a Mystery - An explosion, the cause of which is shrouded in mystery, occurred at a late hour on Tuesday night in the Carriden Coal Company's pit to the rear of Bo'ness dock. Four miners were burned, one so severely that his condition-last night was reported to be very serious. The names of the injured are:- James Henderson (single), William Street, Bo'ness, shock and extensive burns to body and neck; Charles Moreland Bell (single), Parkview, Grangepans, burns to face and arms; David Dick (married), Cowdenhill, Bo'ness, severe burns to face and shock; Robert Lowrie (married), Miller Pit Cottages, Bo ness, severe burns to face, and arms, and shock. The men were taken to the pithead, and two doctors, who were early on the ground applied emergency dressing and anti-shock treatment. With all speed they were taken by ambulance to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Safety Precautions - The explosion occurred in the six-foot section, which, it is stated, had been carefully inspected before the men went on night shift at 10 o'clock, and the working place declared free of gas. The pit is known as a "closed" pit, and only electric lamps are used. Lowrie and Henderson are miners, and, Dick and Bell machinemen. Under the supervision of Dugald Anderson, shot-firer, Lowrie, stemmed a hole preparatory to firing a shot. The men were duly warned off, including machinemen, and the four men fell back into what was believed to be a place of safety. The shot was fired as usual by means of electric batteries, and Anderson, detected nothing amiss. Neither he nor workers in adjoining sections heard anything to suggest that a distinct explosion had occurred in any section, and everyone in the vicinity of the pit were taken by surprise when the cry went up that four men had been burned. What happened to cause those injuries is a matter conjecture and must be left for elucidation by H.M. Inspector of Mines, who yesterday conducted an official inspection in the section. The result of the examination is not known. The men were considerably scorched about the face and arms and about the body. Henderson appeared to have suffered most. Two years ago a similar burning accident occurred in the same pit and one of the victims died from the effects of his injuries. [Scotsman 10 February 1927] The Carriden Pit Explosion - David Dick (27), one of the four men severely burned in the recent explosion in Carriden Pit, Bo'ness, died from the effects of his injuries in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, yesterday morning. Deceased was married, and leaves a widow and two young children, who live at Cowdenhill. The family removed from Airth to Bo'ness several years ago. The cause of the explosion still remains a mystery. [Scotsman 15 February 1927] The Carriden Pit Explosion – A Second Death - James Henderson (19), miner, living with his parents at William Street, has died in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, from the effects of burning injuries sustained in the recent explosion in the pit of Carriden Coal Company, Bo'ness. Four men were involved, and Henderson's is the second death from the occurrence. [Scotsman 22 February 1927] Information from the Inspectors of Mines - 1927: Explosion: At Carriden Colliery, Linlithgowshire, on 8th February, when a ripping shot was fired an explosion of gas followed and four men were badly burned, two of them dying within a few days. The explosion happened in the Six Feet Seam, a Navigation Coal, 5 ft. 4 in. thick. The district consisted of a level road off which were five branch roads going uphill (the inclination being 1 in 10), serving a line of face 70 yards long. The output of the Colliery has always been small, as the ground opened out—entirely undersea—is so much faulted. The district in which the explosion occurred was the principal coal producer. The coal was under cut by a chain coal cutting machine on the night shift and there were two machinemen driving it. On the same shift there were three brushers who did the necessary ripping in the five branch roads and in the level. There was also a shotfirer, who fired such shots as the brushers required and did pillaring and general tidying up of the face, and there was a fireman who had the Six Feet Seam and some other small areas under his charges, but was not burdened with work. These seven men were all in the district when the explosion occurred. The ripping of No. 4 branch road was 1 ft. 3 in. thick, and in this a shot hole 3 ft. deep was bored. The hole reached to about 3 in. from a break. A charge of 6 ozs. Samsonite No. 3 and an electric detonator were placed in the hole, which was then stemmed to the mouth with clay. The fireman had passed along the face a short time before the shot was ready. He said he did not find any gas : he admitted he did not warn the shotfirer that the fireman on the previous shift had found gas in a short branch road newly formed off No. 4. I am satisfied the fireman did not himself test for gas, and that when shotfirer made his tests they were quite useless. Before he fired the shot the shotfirer sent one brusher along the face line from No. 4 to No. 1 to warn the machinemen he was about to fire, that brusher did as he was told and retired a short distance out either No. 2 or No. 3. The shotfirer also sent another brusher along to No. 5 branch to prevent any person approaching from that side. He himself retired down No. 4 road almost to the level, and from that point fired the shot electrically. Immediately the shot exploded a gas explosion occurred which burned the two brushers mentioned and the two machinemen. There can be no doubt at all that gas was ignited by the explosive and that the flame spread to gas which filled cavities in the waste close behind. There was some dust on the face also and it was caught up and coked, and there was evidence on the face props of flame having travelled to the left from No. 4 roadhead to No. 1, and to the right to beyond No. 5 road. There was gross carelessness on the part of the fireman and the other shotfirer for which they deserved punishment, but, unfortunately, the evidence as would satisfy a Sheriff was not obtainable.