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Full Details

Surname
TAGGART
Forename
Thomas
Day
21
Month
03
Year
1905
Age
55
Occupation
Miner
Mine/Quarry Name
Foxdale
Mineral Worked
Lead
Owner
Isle of Man Mining Co. Ltd
Location
Foxdale
County
Isle of Man
Details of Event
The Beckwith shaft is a vertical shaft 320 fathoms deep cutting the lode at 260 fathoms. It is rectangular in section, 13 feet long and 10.5 feet wide, and is divided into spaces, for winding, pumping, and ladders. In the winding space two cages each having a single deck, run to the 320-fathom level in wooden guides. There the cages are 5 feet 6 inches high inside measurement; a centre bar runs down the middle, and loose iron bars with the ends ground down are dropped into slots fixed about half-way down the cage as a protection when men are riding. There are also fixed bars in the cages for men to hold on by. The miners were descending about 6am. and the cages were run up and down empty twice and met no obstruction, then six men descended and they said a small quantity of stuff had fallen on the cage; then another six men descended, and one of them stated at the inquest that when the cage reached the 185-fathom level it struck something in the shaft, seemed to Stop, and then dropped away, descending afterwards smoothly to the 290-fathom level, when it was found that deceased, who was carrying a saw, was missing, and his body was found on a sollar 15 fathoms below where the cage had stuck. An examination showed that some pack ing put in a rise near the shaft at the 181-fathom level had given way, and a piece of timber 5 feet long and 10 inches square had projected, and was found on the top of the cage in which deceased was descending. Daily inspection of the shaft by competent shaftmen is made, the last inspection lasting from 9.30 p.m. to midnight of the previous day, having disclosed no defect.