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Full Details

Surname
SIMPSON
Forename
William
Day
09
Month
03
Year
1905
Age
69
Occupation
Miner
Mine/Quarry Name
Bigrigg
Mineral Worked
Iron Ore
Owner
Lord Leconfield
Location
Bigrigg
County
Cumberland
Details of Event
Deceased and another miner, who was seriously injured, were driving a stone drift 6 feet wide by 6 feet high, and were using Nobel’s Gelignite and No.5 Detonators. Two shots were successfully fired, and then two others were charged and the fuses lit. There were two reports hut one was faint, and may have been due to the detonation of the cap only. They waited half-anhour, thinking the Gelignite of the shot that had made the faint report might he burning and filling the place with fumes, as had occurred the week before. When they returned, deceased went first, the injured man following with a pick, and he had just got to the face when the second shot exploded; he was not able to say what deceased was doing at the moment of the explosion. When the drift was examined after the accident, a hammer with the shaft damaged was found 24 feet from the face, and 12 feet further out was a broken steel jumper or drill, which makes it probable that deceased had been unramming the shot.