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Full Details

Surname
MORTON
Forename
Joseph Sharp
Day
16
Month
08
Year
1932
Age
Occupation
Miner
Mine/Quarry Name
Lochore, Mary No.1 Pit
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Fife Coal Co. Ltd
Location
Lochore
County
Fifeshire
Details of Event
16 August 1932: Pit Fatalities In Fife - Dunfermline Court Inquiry - Four Mining Accidents - Four pit fatalities in West Fife were the subject of inquiries before Sheriff Umpherston at Dunfermline to-day. Roof Fall. - Three tons of stone was stated to have fallen on Joseph Sharp Morton, miner, 138 Waverley Cottages. Lochore, who was killed in No.1 Pit. Lochore, on 16th August. Charles Delap, miner, 2 Castle Avenue, Crosshill, said he had been helping Morton put some hutches on the rails. A heavy fall came away from the roof and overwhelmed Morton, who was dead when they got him out. Thomas Delap, colliery fireman, the father of the previous witness, said he examined the place where the fall came from and found nothing wrong with it. The props were in and there were no flaws in the roof at the time of his examination. About three tons of stone had fallen from the roof and killed Morton. The only cause of the fall of which he could think was that the weight had broken a prop. Charles Hutchison, colliery manager, Lochore House, Lochore, said the system of propping by props was only a temporary system until the steel girders came down to that part of the road. Flaws in Roof - Asked if the flaws in the roof could have been seen by the fireman in his inspection three hours before the accident, witness said he would have seen one but not the other. The lights were running across the road, which meant they were not so dangerous as if they had been running the whole length. Asked if he thought there were indications of coal being worked improperly there, witness said it appeared there had been some coal stolen from the stopps, but it could not be said who did so. There were two hutches with coal which could not have fallen from the roof. A formal verdict was returned at the conclusion of this inquiry and also at the conclusion of that into the death of John Birrell……[Evening Telegraph 20 October 1932]