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Full Details

Surname
RUTTER
Forename
George William
Day
01
Month
05
Year
1914
Age
29
Occupation
Hewer
Mine/Quarry Name
Hamsteels
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Owners of Hamsteels Colliery
Location
Esh Winning
County
Durham
Details of Event
Deceased worked in a bord 7 yards wide, in a seam 1 foot 6 inches thick. Tub height was made in the middle by taking down 8 feet 2 inches of stone, and above that 1 foot 4 inches of coal, for a width of 6 feet. A roll put in cutting the top coal out, and crossing the bord almost at right angles. The tub road canch was up to that roll, only a piece of top coal being left in the left corner like a bracket. The deputy, the deceased man's father, saw this in his examination, and warned the hewer to take it down. This he did not do, and after working in the place about one hour and a-half, he was coming from the face under the canch when the piece of coal 3 feet long, 1 foot 4 inches thick, and 1 foot 6 inches wide, fell on to him, and fractured his spine. He died nine weeks later. He told his father that the coal appeared to be firm. He had made an unsuccessful effort to get it down, and left it. The accident illustrates the folly of having attempted to get coal or stone down, and then leaving it without support.