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Full Details

Surname
DITCHBURN
Forename
James Jnr
Day
31
Month
12
Year
1902
Age
31
Occupation
Miner
Mine/Quarry Name
Dalbeath
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Fife Coal Co. Ltd
Location
Crossgates
County
Fifeshire
Details of Event
The bottomer had ascended to the surface for a bag of corn. While he was instructing the engineman to raise the cage from the surface to the upper scaffold deceased and his father came outbye to pit bottom at the close of their shift. Finding neither bottomer nor cage there they signalled for a cage and immediately afterwards the dip cage was lowered owing to the rise cage being raised to the upper scaffold. The engineman raised the latter cage a few inches too far and then set it back and deceased assuming that the return signal bell was out of order and that the shaking of the dip cage was intended as a return signal placed his father on it pulled the signal lever and was in the act of following when the cage was raised crushing him against the door heads and dragging him some distance up the shaft. He fell back to pit bottom and was killed instantly.