South Yorkshire Times, December 16th 1932.
Midnight Explosion in The Silkstone Seam
Seven Lives Lost
” Five Minutes To Twelve “
A Flash of Flame
Pitiful Scenes
Widespread Sympathy: Relief Fund Formed
Wombwell, Wath and Brampton in Mourning.
Seven victims of an explosion in Cortonwood Colliery early on Friday morning have been buried this week with every evidence of widespread public sympathy.
Two other men who were severely burned lie in the Beckett Hospital and are, happily, reported to be progressing towards recovery.
The inquest on the seven victims was opened and adjourned at Wath on Monday after evidence of identification only had been taken.
A post mortem examination of one body is to be made to settle the point whether carbon monoxide was present. The inquest will be resumed on December 28.
Immediate steps have been taken to set up a relief fund for the stricken families. A Joint committee representative of the Wombwell and Wath Urban Councils, the Brampton Bierlow Parish Council, the Colliery Company, the workmen, and the Yorkshire Miners’ Association, has been appointed and an appeal has been issued.
Once more tragedy has visited South Yorkshire on the eve of Christmas. In the early hours of Friday morning a disastrous explosion occurred in the underground workings at Cottonwood Colliery. Four men were killed outright and three others died in hospital. The victims are:
The Dead
WALTER NUTTER (28), married, 25, Barnsley Road, Wombwell.
ROYAL OUTRAN (45), married, Victoria Road, West Melton.
WILLIAM LANDLES (31), married, 35, Carnley Street, West Melton.
ALPHONSO ALLEN (51), married, deputy, 30, Cliffe Road, Brampton,
ALBERT EDWARD WINDLE (15), 70, Firth Road, West Melton.
FRED HUMPHRIES (21), single, 55, Pearson Field, Wombwell.
NORMAN SCARGILL (17), single, 6, Goodyear Crescent, Wombwell.
Still In Hospital
JOHN WM. ECCLES (22), 38, Stckewell Road, West Melton.
JAMES EDWARD MOORE (17), single, 2, Prospect Terrace, Wombwell.
The explosion occurred in the Silkstone seam and was confined to a small area where, it is stated, shot-firing operations were in progress. One of the victims, Allen, the deputy, had charge of the work. Gas was ignited, a sheet of flame swept across the face and nine men were badly burned. A rescue party found them with clothes hanging in rags from singed bodies. Rescue operations were quickly organised. The officials headed by Mr. R. Graham, general manager, and Mr. H. Fawcett, the manager, hurried to the mine and helped, to get the victims out. Within a short time the living were rushed to hospital at Barnsley where everything humanly possible was done to ease pain and save life. Unfortunately of the five rescued alive three were in hopeless case and have since died.
Official Statements
Early on Friday, Mr. R. Graham issued the following statement:
“The explosion occurred in the Silkstone seam at about midnight, and as a result four men have died and three men and two boys are in hospital suffering from burns. We sent for rescue parties, but they were not needed. The men died as the result of burns, and though we are not sure what caused the explosion we believe that some gas may have come out of some old waste with tragic consequences. About twenty men were in the seam at the time on night work.
“Everything is normal now. It is always the custom to close the mine for a day following a fatal accident, and so the men are not at work to-day. This is the first actions accident we have ever had.
“Mr. Herbert Smith, president of the Yorkshire Miners’ Association, came here as soon as he heard of the tragedy, and the Divisional Mines Inspectors, Mr. E. H. Frazer and Mr. C. W. Scott, have been. We are doing everything we can to lessen the grief which this sad occurrence has caused.”
Mr. W. Fawcett, the manager, stated:
There was a flash on the machine face and five men were injured and four men were killed. Later two of the injured died.
“The flash, which took place about 50 or 60 yards along the face, is believed to have been a slight explosion, due, it is thought, to shot tiring.
‘The Cortonwood rescue team, with apparatus, was quickly on the scene, but there was no need for the apparatus to be used.
“Mr. D. Rose the rescue inspector from the Birdwell rescue station, also quickly came on the scene with a rescue team, who were also not needed. The bodies were recovered by a large number of workmen led by the manager.”
Y.M.A. Rescuers
Newts of the disaster was conveyed to the miners’ offices at Barnsley by the colliery ambnlance which had taken the injured to hospital and at an early hour. Mr. Herbert Smith, the Yorkshire miners’ president, and Mr. Joseph Jones (secretary) arrived at the mine and descended the shaft. Both remained underground for several hours and inspected the workings.
In a statement later Mr. Joseph Hall, Financial xxxof the Yorkshire Miners’
Association, paid a tribute to the officials and others. He said :
“The colliery officials worked so hard in bringing the dead and injured out of the mine that they were almost exhausted by their efforts. I understand there was no lack of helpers, and Mr. Tom Bird and Mr. Tom Abbott (officials of the Cottonwood branch of the Y.M.A.) were among those who helped.
“I well know the part of the colliery where this happened, and I can understand the horror of it and what would have happened and this it been on a longer face and there had been more men in the pit.
“The men who escaped told me that they were working on a 60 yards face in a seam which was opened out about four years ago.
“Shot-firing was taking place and a sheet of flame suddenly went across the face, doing its deadly work in a flash. There was no actual fire—simply a flash and no more.”
Mr. Hall paid a tribute to the work of the colliery officials and ambulance men, and said that the staff at the Beckett Hospital was doing everything that was possible.
Divisional Inspector’s Visit
The Divisional Inspector of Mines, Mr. F. H. Fraser, and his chief assistant, Mr. Scott, were also early on the scene and visited the workings.
The injuries of the men taken to hospital were severe and extensive. Parts of their clothing stuck to their burned bodies and their faces and chests were badly scorched. It was obvious from the first that there was little hope for one or two of them. Humphries and Windle died on the day of admission and the boy Scargill lingered until the following day. Mrs. Windle was with her son when he died. Her husband has not worked since being injured in the same mine three years ago.
Men working further away from the explosion knew nothing about it, though they were working in the same seam. Horace Cadwell, of Brampton, who was about half a mile distant, heard nothing. When word passed along that there had been an accident he could not believe it was due to an explosion, and left his things in the stall, expecting to go back to work. Those nearer the seat of the explosion say “There was a flash —and that was all.” Others working in the seam got the impression of a “puff” or “draught.”
Owing to the fact that the accident occurred in the middle of the night the news did not spread for several hours. Messages however, had carried the tragic news into the homes of the victims.
They were all well known and esteemed in the district.
Walter Nutter, of Barnsley Road, Wombwell was a playing member of the Wombwell Football Club. He formerly played for Chesterfield and was a familiar figure in Midland League circles. He had not been married long.
Royal Outram has been a member of the choir of Brampton Parish Church for 34 years and was also a member of the Victoria Male Voice Choir. He lost two brothers in the war and had been employed at Cortonwood 32 years. William Laudelles came flora South Shields seven a, )pars ago and married a Wombwell girl ”(Mildred Outram).
Alphonse Allen was a class teacher at the Cortonwood Wesleyan Mission.
All those who were killed outright were married.
There were pathetic scenes around the hospital at Barnsley where Mrs. Windle was led away tiorn the deathbed of her son, the breadwinner of the family. It was feared that if he recovered his sight would be gone and in a moment of consciousness he pleaded “You will look after me if I am blind ”
Albert Edward Windle was a son of Mr. and ‘Mrs John Windle. of Firth Road, West NIelton. He has played football for West Melton Rangers anal has worked at Cortonwood since he was 14.
Norman Scargill belongs to an old Wombwell family, his grandparents being Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Scargill of Hough Lane, who recently celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. His brother would have been working with him in the ordinary course but for some reason was sent back home when he reported for work on Thursday night. Norman was a cadet in the Wombwell company of the Church Lads’ Brigade and is one of a family of seven. He had worked at Cortonwood only six weeks having previously been employed at Mitchell Main.