1874 Boiler Explosion
02 March 1874
The Fatal Boiler Accident At Fence Houses.
Fence Houses, Saturday.
A cursory inspection of the scene of the fatal boiler accident at the Britannia Ironworks at once satisfies the person who makes it, that it was fortunate indeed that the dispute between the employers and men as to the quality of coal to be used at the furnaces had caused the works to be laid idle; for if the explosion had occurred while the workmen were at labour, a large portion of them would inevitably have been injured, if not killed. As it was, there were only a few men in the works, but these were standing close to the boiler which exploded. It may be stated that some half dozen yards in front of the boiler is an engine, with machinery. This engine was stopped yesterday, otherwise a sad tale of mutilation of bodies might have had to be told as the men were hurled right in and amongst and about the machinery. The boiler which exploded is a tubular boiler and it is said the cause of the accident was the giving way of the tube. As it stated in the report already published, there was no extraordinary noise, such as follows most boiler explosions; there was only a loud phizz. The fire box first left the boiler, then the fire bars were hurled out and finally, the tube being forced down, the hot water gushed out from the upper part of the end of the boiler. The force of the explosion was so great that at the places where the plates have been forced apart, the rivets appear as if they had been cut in two. The cavity from which the water came – made through the bottom part of the tube being forced down from the plates forming the top of the furnace entrance, was at the widest part – namely in the centre – scarcely three inches wide. The water was ejected with great force and it was shot fully sixty feet from the end of the boiler. One of the men was thrown onto a bar at the back of the engine, about fifteen yards from the boiler; another was landed by the front of the engine; a third was shoved into a coal hole by the side of the engine, about ten yards from the fire-hole; while a fourth was hurled a distance of fully 30 yards, right over a high “roller.” Strange to relate, a man who was lying asleep on a coal heap in a corner, hardly two feet from the boiler, was untouched. The bodies of the men were very much disfigured and in one case, there was only a stocking left on one of the legs. Two men who had been loading iron rails about forty yards from the boiler were not so smart and got slightly scalded. Two or three men were working a few yards in front of the boiler, but hearing the flying material, they moved before the water reached them; the last man to leave, however, a “gaffer,” was thrown down by flying materials. Of course the flying pieces of iron, &c., caused injuries, as well as the hot water. If the engine had been going, the engineman would have been sitting right in the way of the body of scalding water. The fire-box was blown into pieces and the heavy fire-bars were landed at a great distance from the boiler. One of them had been bent round a pillar. Other curious results were to be noted; that the damage to property is comparatively small. The man Munro still lives. Two of the men will probably be buried tomorrow evening. The inquest will be held this afternoon. The works remain idle but a number of men hanging about the outside.
The Inquest.
On Saturday afternoon, an inquest on the bodies of the deceased men was opened at the Wellington Inn, Fence Houses, before Mr Maynard, Coroner. Mr Anderson was foreman of the jury. After the jury had been sworn, they visited the works and after viewing the bodies lying in the house-store, they inspected the boiler, &c. Judith Kenny, widow, identified Michael Gooley’s body. He was a lodger with her and she thought he would be about thirty two years of age. He was a labourer. She knew little about the rest of the men. George Clark, living at Houghton-le-Spring, identified William Davis, Michael Gooley and Daniel Malone. Davis was an under hand puddler and would be about thirty years of age. Malone was a puddler and would be about the same age as Davis. Witness was in the place when the explosion took place and went to Houghton for the doctor. He recognised the men after he came back. Two of the men he had named (Gooley and Davis) lived at Houghton and Malone at Colliery Row. He also knew James Clifford, who would be about 18 years of age. Clifford’s body had been removed to his home, the Bank Top, Dubmire. He was a hammer driver. The whole of the men were killed by the boiler explosion yesterday afternoon. Witness had nothing to do with the engines and boilers. The Coroner then asked the jury to what time they would adjourn the inquest. He had instructed Mr Waller, of Newcastle, to inspect the boiler, as an independent man, and to report to the jury. Mr Hopper said he would give every facility for the inspection. He thought it would be best to take all the evidence respecting the explosion at the adjourned inquest. The inquest was then adjourned until Tuesday afternoon.
04 March 1874
The Boiler Explosion At Fence Houses
The adjourned inquiry into the circumstances attending the death of five men by a boiler explosion at the Britannia Iron Works, Fence Houses, was held yesterday in the reading room of the Works, before Mr Crofton Maynard, Coroner, and in the presence of Messrs Hopper and Radcliff, the owners of the iron works; Mr W. Balden, assistant engineer to the Boiler Insurance and Steam Power Company, Manchester; Mr Englis, inspector for the same company; and Mr Waller, engineer, Newcastle, who had been commissioned by the Coroner to examine the boiler and report thereon. It will be remembered that four men were killed almost instantly by the explosion, viz: Daniel Malone, aged 34, puddler, Michael Gooley, labourer, aged about 34, Wm. Davis, aged 30 and James Clifford, aged 18, son of the foreman puddler, all unmarried. Several other men were more or less injured, one of them, Daniel Munroe, a married man, aged 24, had his leg amputated shortly after the occurrence but he never rallied and died on Monday night. Joseph Wood, boiler mender, said about three o’clock on Friday afternoon he saw the deceased men sitting near the boiler when the explosion took place. They had no business there, but as it was a cold day they were getting themselves warmed. At the time of the explosion, the safety valve was in proper working order and the water guage showed there was about fourteen inches of water in the top of the pipes. About three minutes before the accident, the guage showed a pressure of 35 pounds. In answer to Mr Radcliff, witness said he told the men to go away from the boiler as they had no business there. Everything seemed in proper working order and he could form no idea as to the cause of the accident. Thomas Plews, foreman millwright, likewise examined the boiler in the course of his duty, a few minutes before it collapsed and saw nothing wrong. George Cockburn, foreman smith, in answer to Mr Waller, said there were four cracks in the boiler with false rivets in to prevent them going further. He could not tell what had been the cause of the collapse of the boiler, unless it was from a gradually weakening of the tube from expansion and contraction. The boiler had been in use for about nineteen years. Since the explosion, he had found several old cracks in the boiler, near the firehole. They would, of course, weaken it. There was nothing to show they were working the boiler too long. Mr Balden put in a good order report, made by Mr Englis, the company’s inspector, on 30th December, respecting No. 3 boiler. He likewise put in a statement, the result of an examination of the boiler, which he found in good working order, except at a place in the left side where there was an old fracture between fifteen and sixteen inches long; but as there had been no leakage, it would have been impossible to detect it while the boiler was in working order. By calculation, he found the pressure at the time of the explosion had been 45 pounds. He thought neither the management or over pressure had had anything to do with the explosion. The plates were not fractured when the boiler was insured. Mr Waller also read a report, which in the main agreed with the one put in by Mr Balden. After further evidence had been taken, the jury returned a verdict that the deceased men were killed by the accidental explosion of the boiler but they declined to state any opinion as to the cause of the boiler’s collapse