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Full Details

Surname
BARNES
Forename
Robert
Day
24
Month
12
Year
1902
Age
50
Occupation
Miner
Mine/Quarry Name
Philpstoun
Mineral Worked
Oil Shale
Owner
James Ross & Co.
Location
Philpstoun
County
Linlithgowshire
Details of Event
Three shots were prepared one in the bottom charged with 1.5lbs. of gunpowder one in the top charged with 1lb. of gunpowder and one in the centre as a yankee or holing shot charged with about 2lbs. of gunpowder. Deceased apparently ignited the bottom shot first, and in lighting the centre shot he was delayed as the fuse was difficult to catch in lighting the fuse of the top shot which was immediately above the bottom one the latter exploded and he was thrown down the upset a distance of about 40 feet. He was alone in the section at the time he having sent his drawer home and with his body badly injured and a fractured leg he crawled in the dark a distance of 150 feet the greater part rising 1 in 4 until he attracted the attention of some workmen passing in to their work. He died twenty hours afterwards. Deceased and the miners generally in the mine were of opinion that the black tape fuse in use ran one foot per minute whereas by experiment it runs two feet per minute.