Anthony F Francis, 1887-2/10/1926.

LATE TELEGRAMS

A MINER’S DEATH. 

INVERCARGILL, October 4. Anthony F. Francis, 39, married, a miner employed by the Linton Co., was found dead in a section of the old workings. It is presumed that deceased was overcome by fumes. He leaves a widow and four children.   -Stratford Evening Post, 4/10/1926.

AN UNUSUAL FATALITY.

COAL MINER’S DEATH. 

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST. 

SUGGESTIONS OF FIRE DAMP. 

(Per United Press Association.) INVERCARGILL, October 8. What is nowadays a rare type of fatality was inquired into by the coroner, Mr G. Cruickshank, S.M., at Nightcaps today. The inquest was on the body of a miner named Anthony Fitzpatrick Francis, aged 30 years, who was found dead in the abandoned workings of the Linton Coal Company’s mine under circumstances suggesting asphyxiation by methane gas, or fire damp. Constable Boyle, Nightcaps, represented the police, Mr Horace Macalister the Linton Coal Company, and Mr W. A, Stout the relatives of deceased. 

A miner named Henry Weir said that on October 2, at about 2.30 p.m., he was informed by a trucker that Francis was missing. Later he met a shot firer at the bottom of the main dip, and the latter organise a party to search the passages. Witness himself went with the shot firer and a man named Crawford through the return airway. When they came to the "undercast” the shot firer asked witness if he saw any footprints, He then noticed distinct marks on the rough white stone steps of No. 2 “undercast.” The three followed on the same path as the footprints, and finally they could see the reflection of a light shining in the rib of the left airway. Witness called out, but did not receive a reply. A few steps further on he made out a man’s boots against the light of an electric cap lamp. Witness called to the others, “Here he is,” and they went up. Francis was lying in a crouched position on his side with his head on the ground. Witness, continuing, said, that when he put out his hand to raise deceased’s head he felt his own body stiffening. He lost consciousness for a moment, and the next thing he knew was that he had fallen into the dross at the foot of the incline. He thought he must have been affected by gas.

Samuel Crawford, another miner, who accompanied Weir and the shot firer into the return airway, corrobborated the previous witness’s account. He added that when he went up to the body he seemed to lose his breath, and fell back. He had a feeling of constriction in the head, and it appeared to him the attack was caused by gas. He did not remember much until he managed to get out. Once out of the danger area witness warned the others not to go into this particular part of the mine. He informed a miner named Robertson that deceased was lying on the “upcast,” and a party, including witness, went inside again. Robertson reached up and pulled deceased out by the legs. The body was taken into a safe place and artificial respiration was employed without result. 

To the Coroner: Witness said he neither tasted nor smelt the gas, the only indication of danger being a choking sensation and a pain in the head. 

Alexander Russell Malcolm, a shot firer in the mine, gave evidence along lines similar to that given by the previous witnesses. He said that when he approached the body he also “felt queer,” and had to retreat. Weir, who went forward also fell back across witness’s feet. Witness did not see Crawford, but heard him making a strange noise. The party finally went back 6ft or so where the atmosphere was clear. Judging by the effect, witness thought that the gas was fire damp. About 6 p.m., when the place was examined, witness was again present. The air was then clear of gas. 

Questioned by the coroner witness said that he could not say where deceased had intended to go. The overcast in which he was found led merely to an abandoned working of the mine. 

To the Inspector of Mines: Witness said he was carrying an oil flame safety lamp with which he could have made a test for gas. However, he was affected by the fumes so quickly that he could not do this. He was too ill to think of it when Robertson went back to get the body.

Dr J. McQuilkin, Nightcaps, said that he made a post-mortem examination of the deceased’s body. The cause of death was suffocation, which could have been caused by inhaling an irrespirable gas. Death was not due to carbon monoxide poisoning. 

An underviewer at the mine, Edward Charles, said that on the day af the deceased’s death he had inspected all the working places in the mine. Some time after 11 a.m., witness saw deceased, who was then in his regular place. At about 3 p.m. while on the surface above the mine, he was told Francis had been missing. A little later he received an urgent call from below and set off for the main dip but while going down the shaft he met a shot-firer from a different section, who told him that Francis’s body had been found. Several miners were using artificial respiration, but when witness tried the pulse and heart he found no motion. Some time after witness climbed up the ladder in the intake passage and tested the atmosphere with the result that fire damp was detected, apparently in a moving body. The ventilation in the mine was ample to keep all the workings clear. 

George Langford, mine manager for the Linton Company, said he was familiar with the portion of the mine in which deceased was found lying, and knew gas had been found in that “overcast” before, but only at the week-ends, when the fans were idle. The fans were started each night at midnight in compliance with the Mining Act, and were, of course, running on the day of the accident.

To the Coroner: Deceased had no right to go into the “overcast,” as the regulations forbade miners to go away from the working places. 

To the Inspector of Mines: On a previous occasion a large accumulation of fire damp mixture, estimated roughly at about 3000 cubic feet, was found in the “overcast. The construction of the place was probably the reason for the gas accumulating. At this stage the inquest was adjourned owing to the fact that the insurance company holding deceased’s life policy had not received notice the inquiry had commenced. It was agreed to send the company a copy of the depostions before the coroner entered his verdict.  -Otago Daily Times, 9/10/1926.

DEATH OF COAL MINER.

WIDOW GRANTED COMPENSATION. 

(Special to Daily Times.) INVERCARGILL, May 15. The sum of £750 was awarded a miner's widow as compensation in the Arbitration Court, here yesterday. The case was one in which Mary Ann Francis, a widow of Nightcaps, proceeded against the Linton Coal Company on a claim for the sum of £750 as compensation on account of the death of her husband, Anthony Fitzpatrick Francis, and also £20 for funeral expenses. In the statement of claim the plaintiff said that the deceased was employed as a miner at the Linton Coal Company's mine at Ohai, near Nightcaps, and that on October 2 he was killed by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment by being suffocated by gas or foul air of some description. The deceased was found away from the place where he was working. He left a widow and four children, the eldest of whom was 13 years, who were dependent on him. 

The defence denied the allegation that the deceased was killed in the course of his employment, and said that the accident did not arise out of, or in the course of, such employment. “This case is purely one of facts," said Mr Justice Frazer, “and there is no serious dispute with regard to the law points. The coal mine regulations provide that no workmen shall be in any part of the mine other than in the place where they are working, except in the case of emergency or where the cause is justifiable. If the deceased went where he was for curiosity the regulation would be broken. The statutory prohibition must stand, and it cannot be waived. The deceased was working in the mine with a companion, but suddenly went away. Perhaps it may be assumed that he went for natural causes, and where a man is working a long shift it is only to be expected that he will go off once or twice. He may have been exploring, or curious, or filling in time, having no work to do. If he had no work to do, it might account for his going on an exploration tour. There was plenty of work to do, and there is no reason to assume that the deceased found himself out of work at the time. He was a steady worker. It is possible that he may have thought that the route he took was shorter. Taking all the circumstances into consideration, it seems perfectly reasonable to infer that he went for a necessary purpose, and that he was not guilty of misconduct in taking the route he did. There will be judgment for the amount claimed (£750), with funeral expenses (£2O), costs (£ls 15s), and also witnesses’s expenses.”  -Otago Daily Times, 16/5/1927.

Gore Cemetery.