Page 71 - Joe Nugent, Inspector of Mines, Ret'd

ISSUE : Issue 70

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1996/6/1

No. 26 Mine Explosion • The Root Cause A poem about yet another mine disaster • in 1978 • by Joe Nugent A Miner's ghost before me stood And asked if I would write Something in a style of verse To tell his story right. I told him yes I'll do it now While it's fresh within my mind. Just tell me what you want to say And this is how it rhymed. We went to work the midnight shift; We went down on the cages; We rode on in the motor road To eam our daily wages. We climbed aboard the arch deep rake Then on to 12 South wall. We shifted in the roof supports And caused the gob to fall. We loaded all conveyors High with bonus coal; Another slice along the face Would help us reach our goal. Don't say amen to rumors That we caused our own demise By fouling up the monitors To help production rise. Oh No! Twas something more severe That brought about our end A danger that was caused each day Which we did not comprehend. Ever since the machines were found To brush the roadway space; The gob side packs were left unfilled. And sent air through the waste. The roadside packs behind us Leaked away good air. But no one seemed to realize The awful danger there. If full ventilation pressure Had been coursed along the face. The firedamp gas would have remained Safely back within the waste. The gas moved out onto the face And drifted to the top Yet nothing really happened 'Till the shearer struck a rock. Then came a fiery circle When the shearer struck a stone Oh God! The wall is all aflame. Never more shall we go home. This message to our brothers all Before it is too late. Make sure the ventilation Comes through the face end gate. Don't let good air stray through the waste To push out firedamp gas For sure as hell when it moves out, A spark will cause a blast. So hope and pray that never more Will such dangers line up right To take away twelve miners Just as it did tonight. is because of electricity or flame shots. Those are the two sources of it. Or some? times what is called "friction ignition." Friction ignition is when a machine, huge machine, is gouging out the coal and it strikes some kind of a bastard rock, huge hard rock, and it creates a fire. That hap? pened in Number 26 Colliery back in '78. So looking back at all the experiences that I've witnessed I would have to say that coal mine explosion disasters are the result of neglect... let's say criminal negligence, but for that purpose we have to prove something. So I stayed there until 1965. I was trans? ferred over to Glace Bay to set up a trans? portation system for transporting coal, a conveyor system. It was a huge affair, cost a lot of money, and didn't materialize. I was over there, I helped to set up a belt, I was one of the supervisors in charge. I helped to set up a belt line there that had the capability of running 1200 tons of coal an hour, if you could get the coal to put on the belt. They were dumping the coal so fast and then the belt was empty, empty, empty, empty, empty. No coal coming out. So what they done is they set up an elaborate system there and didn't have the resources inside--they had the resources but they didn't have the production technique in or? der to get the coal out. Celestial Entertainment presents . . . BRENDA STUBBERT In Jig Time! "An excellent platform for a very talented fiddler." • Steve Winick, Dirty Linen Magazine "Well on her way to becoming tfie female answer to the prolific composer Dan R. MacDonald." • C/jron/c/e-HeraW Order the CD $19.95 or CASSEHE $13.95 plus $2.50 SHIPPING & HANDUNG to: Celestial Entertainment, 393 Newlands Ave., Sydney, N.S. BIS 1Z5 • (902) 567-6302 • [email protected] Ron May pontiac buick gmc ltd. Serving Cape Breton Over 14 Years • Sale of New - Used - Cars - Trucks • Goodwrench Service • Body Shop • Parts Dept. (902)539-6494 • 1-888-4R0NIVIAY • 1-888476-6629 147 PRINCE STREET • SYDNEY PONTIAC MffllQE GAACTTRUCKS RON MAY 71

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