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Full Details

Surname
SMITH
Forename
William
Day
16
Month
03
Year
1932
Age
Occupation
Miner
Mine/Quarry Name
Garriongill
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Coltness Iron Co. Ltd
Location
Wishaw
County
Lanarkshire
Details of Event
Remarkable Fatality - Pit Worker Hit By Piece of Stick Thrown At Pony - An accident of a remarkable nature was stated at a public inquiry held at the County Buildings, Hamilton, on Monday, to have resulted in the death of William Smith, miner, 210 Caledonian Road, Wishaw. Giving evidence, a young man said that on February 25 he was employed in Garriongill Colliery, Overtown, as a pony driver, and was assisting another man to work a horse that had only been brought down that day. The horse was working unwillingly and ultimately refused to draw at all. Then the animal commenced to prance about from side to side, and he was at a loss to know what to do with it. The horse half-wheeled and threw him to the ground. When he fell his hand touched a small piece of wood, which he picked up and threw at the horse's neck in order to ward the animal off him. The horse wheeled right round and, he thought, the wood passed through underneath its head and struck William Smith. The latter shouted “Oh!” and, running to him, witness saw that his nose was bleeding. Fiscal - You had no intention of striking him? Witness - No; I couldn't see him at the time. The deceased's son, who was working in the same place at the time, said that the previous witness and his father were quite friendly, and he was perfectly satisfied it was a pure accident. It was stated that the unfortunate man was taken to hospital, but the wound turned septic, and he died on March 15. Sheriff Brown said that the man's death was the result of “a very unfortunate accident,” and the jury returned a formal verdict. [Hamilton Advertiser 2 April 1932]