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Full Details

Surname
WHITTON
Forename
John
Day
10
Month
10
Year
1929
Age
Occupation
Fireman
Mine/Quarry Name
Cadzow, No.1 Pit
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Bent Coal Co. Ltd
Location
Hamilton
County
Lanarkshire
Details of Event
10 October 1929. Brave Rescue Effort - Three men lost their lives in No.1 Pit, Cadzow Colliery, near Hamilton, yesterday. They were overcome by gas after a shot had been fired. The men were:- Robert Foster, Wilson Terrace, Cadzow (married, with a family of four.) Robert Matthews, Camp Street, Motherwell (single.) John Whitton, fireman, Alness Street, Hamilton ( married, with a family of four.) The men were employed on the night shift on the Kiltongue seam in the pit, and went on duty at ten o'clock on Wednesday night. Between three and four o'clock yesterday morning, Whitton, the fireman, went forward to the section to examine a shot that had been fired. When he did not return Matthews followed. He did not reappear, and Foster went in search of him. Another man, Terence Murphy, followed Foster, but collapsed; and Charles Russell, a fifth man, discovered Murphy lying unconscious. He pulled him out of the danger area by the heels. Men wearing gas masks descended the pit, and recovered the bodies of Foster, Matthews, and Whitton. Medical assistance was summoned, and Dr Nora Steel, of Hamilton, descended the pit. Rescued Man's Story - Terence Murphy, who lives in Low-Waters, Hamilton, recovered consciousness some time after being rescued, and in the course of an interview he stated that work had been in progress for the driving of a mine to discover now coal. This was reached on Wednesday, and three holes had been bored for shot-firing. Ono shot had been fired by Whitton, who after a time went into the place to connect the wires for a second shot. He had been away for some time, when Matthews shouted to him and got No.reply. Saying the must be something wrong, Matthews entered the section, and when he failed to appear Foster followed him. Foster then struggled out from the section and collapsed, he was dragged a short distance by Murphy, who then became unconscious. Murphy said he knew nothing more until he was brought round at the foot of the pit shaft, having been pulled clear by Charles Russell, of Wilson Terrace. Cadzow. Murphy stated that when he recovered he found that Foster had been brought into the pit shaft. He was still alive, but efforts to bring him round failed. Tribute to Lady Doctor - Murphy spoke highly of the conduct of Dr Nora Steel, who, he learned, had gone down to the pit bottom in her ordinary garb to render every possible assistance to the gassed men. He understood that Miss Steel, on ascending to the surface after rendering all possible assistance, had suffered from bruised knees, while her clothes had been ruined. Something Amiss - Charles Russell, who rescued Murphy from the poisonous fumes, told a thrilling story of what happened. "Alexander Stein and I," he said, "were at the 'blind pit' when we became suddenly conscious that something was amiss. I heard Terry Murphy shouting to Stein, 'Hurry up, Sandy.' Stein and I rushed forward. We saw Terry Murphy tugging at Foster's boots, and just then the poor fellow dropped to the ground, overcome by the poisonous air. I felt myself becoming giddy at the time, but with the help of Stein I dragged Murphy into purer air. We then started off to get help, and in the excitement I sustained a few skin abrasions by falling down the blind pit. Pathetic Scenes - There were pathetic scenes at the colliery when the news of the tragedy became known about five o'clock in the morning. A largo crowd gathered, and the shift in the pit stopped work. The bodies of the three victims were brought to the surface about 9 o'clock. This is the second accident of the kind at Cadzow Colliery. One about a year ago caused two deaths. The accident, it is understood, was caused by an inflow of gas from a section of the colliery which has been abandoned. The section of the pit where it occurred is ventilated by tubes, and lit by electric and oil safety lamps. Examination of Pit - An Inspector of the Mines Department was in consultation with the manager all forenoon, and shortly after one o' clock a party, including the manager, the undermanager, and the inspector, along with several men, left the colliery office and descended the mine to examine the scene of the accident. [Scotsman 11 October 1929] Three Miners Gassed – Lanarkshire Colliery Accident Three men lost their lives and two had narrow escapes early yesterday morning owing to the liberation of a pocket of gas in No.1 Pit, Cadzow Colliery, Hamilton, Lanarkshire. The men who were asphyxiated by the fumes were: - John Whitton, married, a fireman, of Hamilton; Robert Foster, a brusher, married, of Wilson-terrace, Hamilton; and Robert Mathie, a single man, and also a brusher, of Airbles-road, Motherwell. Terence Murphy and a young man named Irvine were rescued. Early in the morning a shot prepared by the brushers was fired, and it is assumed now that this liberated the gas. Charles Russell, a young brusher, of Wilson-terrace, Hamilton, who was at work in the section, and who played a heroic part in rescuing Murphy and Irvine, afterwards made it clear that two of the victims might have escaped with their lives but for their helping the others in the gas-charged section. He stated: "Alexander Stein and I were at the blind pit when we .became suddenly conscious that something was amiss.” I heard Terry Murphy shouting out to Stein, “Hurry up, Sandy." Stein and I rushed forward. We saw Terry Murphy tugging at Foster's boots, and just then the poor fellow dropped, evidently overcome by the poisonous air. I felt myself becoming giddy at the time, but with the help of Stein I dragged Murphy into purer air. We saw it was useless to go further." The three victims were brought to the surface at 9 o'clock in the morning. Dr. Norah Steele had been early at the pit courageously descending to the scene and tried to restore life. The courage she displayed created a deep impression. [The Times 11 October 1929] Information from the Mines Inspector's Report - 1929: Suffocation by natural gases  The other accident in which a fireman and two miners lost their lives, and at least one other man had a narrow escape, happened at Cadzow Colliery, Lanark. Natural gases may or may not have been responsible for the men being overcome, but they were certainly responsible for their deaths.At the top of a steep drift a place was being driven to connect with another road when it met a 12ft. Up throw fault. At the top of this fault coal had been worked off about 3 feet in depth by 5ft. Wide by 2ft. 9ln. High, the height of the seam.There was ample ventilation conducted to the bottom of the 12ft. Fault by air tubes and brattice cloth, and there had been no trouble from the presence of gas.  The leading miner bored three shot holes in the coal which was not holed. He charged each of them with 12 ozs. Samsonite No. 3 and stemmed them. The fireman fired the first shot electrically, and after two minutes' interval went in to examine the place. As he did not reply to the leading miner's shout this man followed the fireman, and as he did not return a third man followed him, but collapsed within site of the fourth and only remaining man, who got out with difficulty.All this happened within a very short time, and within 35ft of the face, but a period of one and a half hours then elapsed before the last body was recovered by an overman who wore a smoke helmet.  Next day the brattice cloth was found to have blocked the air tubes at the joint between the cloth and tubes, and as the gas cleared immediately this was rectified and as one of the men had collapsed there, it appeared as if in his fall he had caused the derangement of the ventilation. There was nothing else to account for it, as the brattice was no shoddy erection.  When the face was reached the shot (at one side) which the fireman had fired, was found to have done its work. The primer cartridge of the middle shot was found in position and intact although the back part of the shot hole had gone and the explosive had disappeared. The third shot was intact.  Notwithstanding search by sifting of all the broken material in the place no trace of 10 ozs. Of explosive from the middle shot hole was ever discovered. It would appear that these 10 ozs. Of the charge either exploded with the first shot (in which event they could hardly have left the primer as and where it was found) or that they burned when freed by the explosion of the shot .  A peculiar and hardly definable odour resembling newly split oak was noticed in the place on the day of the accident, and those who tried to enter the place found that their eyes smarted and their throats dried up.  Carbon Monoxide effects were not found when a. post mortem examination of the fireman's body was made, although in other almost similar cases the presence of this gas has been clearly demonstrated.  The men were probably overcome by explosive fumes and afterwards suffocated by firedamp.  The lessons of the accident appear to be not to drive a place low and narrow even in exploration, and to comply with the requirements of the Explosives in Coal Mines Order in every respect, for, if the coal had been holed, much less explosive would have been necessary per shot hole, and if one shot had been fired before a second was charged there would have been no free explosive from a second shot to burn.