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Full Details

Surname
PEARCE
Forename
Owen
Day
09
Month
07
Year
1908
Age
17
Occupation
Shackler
Mine/Quarry Name
Merthyr Vale, No.1
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Nixon's Navigation Co. Ltd
Location
Merthyr Vale
County
Glamorganshire
Details of Event
Deceased was, with other men, illegally riding on the shackles of the last journey along the Jubilee engine-plane, when, owing probably to two men in addition to the rider jumping on to the chain at the tail end of the journey, the ‘spring dog’ or safety shackle, connecting the tail rope with the barhook at the back of the journey, opened, with the result that it ran wild down a gradient of 1 in 12, and deceased, falling between the trams, was run over by several and totally injured. The road was in excellent condition, and well provided with manholes, and the spring-dog as it is called, could not possibly have opened of its own accord. The cotter must have been kicked out, and the big link forced back by the feet of one of the men who were riding on the chain. It was very difficult to get and direct evidence that deceased was on the journey, but it is known indirectly that he was.