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Full Details

Surname
ALEXANDER
Forename
Daniel Gardner
Day
23
Month
10
Year
1941
Age
43
Occupation
Machineman
Mine/Quarry Name
Michael
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Wemyss Coal Co. Ltd
Location
East Wemyss
County
Fifeshire
Details of Event
23 October 1941: Court of Session – No One to Blame - An Unusual Pit Accident – “The whole affair seems to have been a most unfortunate accident for which no one is to blame,” said Lord Keith in the Court of Session yesterday, in disposing of an action which arose out of the death of Daniel Gardiner Alexander, coal miner, who resided at 7 Queens Avenue, Methilhill, and who died on October 23, 1941. Alexander was employed by the Wemyss Coal Co., Ltd., and on October 11, 1941, he was engaged in cutting coal in preparation for its excavation and removal by the men during the next shift. The seam at which he was working was on a steep slope. One of his duties was to keep the coal-cutting machine in position as it moved along the coal face. As a result of being pinned against one of the steel roof supports by the end of a “stell” or wooden prop. Alexander suffered serious internal injuries from which he died twelve days later. His widow, Mrs Elizabeth Davidson Logan or Alexander and their three children sued the Wemyss Coal Co. for a total of £3700 damages on the ground that the accident was due to their fault and negligence in respect of having had a signal wire in a position where it was liable to foul the “stells.” Lord Keith found for the defenders, holding that the pursuers had failed to prove the material facts on which they relied. The signal wire, he said, was fixed in quite a proper way and in quite a usual place. The accident was a most unusual, if not unprecedented, one. It depended on a combination of circumstances which could not, his Lordship thought, have been foreseen by the defenders. Counsel for the Pursuer—Mr Arthur P. Duffes, K.C., and Mr J. A. Crawford. Solicitors—W. Steele Nicoll & Co., S.S.C., Edinburgh, and W. Philp, Kirkcaldy. Counsel for the Defenders—The Dean of Faculty. K.C., and Mr T.B. Simpson. Solicitors—Wallace. Begg & Co., W.S., Edinburgh, and J.A. M’Ara, Glasgow. [Scotsman 28 May 1943]