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Full Details

Surname
ROBERTS
Forename
George
Day
29
Month
05
Year
1906
Age
30
Occupation
Hewer
Mine/Quarry Name
St Hilda's
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Harton Coal Co. Ltd
Location
South Shields
County
Durham
Details of Event
Deceased was hewing during the night shift next the loose side in a lift in broken workings in the 4th East way of the Low Hutton seam, 4 feet 9 inches thick, when a blue metal stone, 5 feet long, parallel to the face, 2 feet 6 inches wide and 3 feet 6 inches thick, weighing about 3 tons, suddenly fell close to the face upon him, breaking the planks of two pair of gears set under it. It was relieved by a breaker next the face and at its end next the loose side, and by a slip at the other end running parallel to the centre line of the place. Another hewer working with him raised the alarm, bat it was two hours before the body was got clear. The deputy had been in the place at 8.30pm when the previous shift was in, and was in again from 1am. to 1.20am. or 1.5 hours before the accident when he set a single prop and a pair of gears, and left suitable timber lying loose. Deceased was rather uneasy about the roof on account of visible fractures and set a prop and plank next the face on the fast side after the deputy had left. The Local Inspectors reported, ‘In our opinion, it is purely accidental.'