There followed many searching questions on lamps, ventilation, gas and supervision, some of the answers given were:

"The butty delivers the lamps to us, we clean them ourselves; the lamps that were found were all unlocked. No7 lamp was the one Leigh had, No 1 lamp belonged to Tavern; I know it from its having a crack in the glass. My lamp was No 23, I clean it myself and take it home with me, I have no key for it and during the last six months I've had it, it had never been locked."

Mr Dickinson, Inspector, was standing in for Mr. Wynne, the government Inspector, who was suffering from the effects of an accident said,

" I examined the pit where the explosion took place, with the view of ascertaining how it occurred. I have heard the evidence of Daniel Rigby, and there seems no doubt from my own inspections and the evidence given, that the gas which was allowed to lay accumulated in the old workings, was the gas which ignited and caused the explosion.

There seemed to be only five persons who could have caused it. Howle, who was living and was said to be much burnt and the four deceased persons: or it may not be improbable that Ralph Malpas may have ignited the gas. I have examined all the lamps and the four davy lamps were in an imperfect state, having no rings to the gauzes, and were not of the standard mesh and the want of a ring was therefore a serious defect. I can, as you have seen, fire the gas, through the gauze, which does not fit closely to the bottom of Hawthorne's lamp.

I consider it very reprehensible that the gas should have been allowed to remain so long as it was said to have done, and very wrong to begin to turn it out whilst the workmen were in the pit. On the south side of the pit I also found an accumulation of gas. In my opinion safety lamps appear to have been more relied upon instead of effective ventilation. It was very proper to have safety lamps in the pit, but they should be used as an adjunct in the mine and by no means as a substitute for ventilation.

The furnace ought not to have been allowed to go out" (a furnace in the up cast shaft was a means of heating the air and making it rise faster, thereby inducing air down the downcast shaft)

"Many of the lamps were in an improper state; as out of 20 I only found 2 or 4 with rings at the bottom of the gauze."

Several of the jury suggested whether Amos, the butty should not be examined. The Coroner intimated that he would call him if desired, but he would not be bound to answer questions, which might incriminate him. There was no doubt that his conduct was marked with a great deal of carelessness and culpability, but not to make him criminally responsible.

The jury considering that there was no necessity for adjourning the inquiry returned a verdict of "Accidental Death" in each case. Amos was called into the room and the foreman told him that the unanimous opinion of the jury was that his conduct was highly censurable, both as regarded the state of the lamps and the ventilation of the mine.

The Coroner referred to the highly responsible position in which Amos had been placed, strongly censuring him for his gross inattention to his duties, and pointing to the melancholy proof of it on the table before him, 10 of a dozen lamps, safety lamps used in the mine, and not one of them locked. The Coroner asked

"how long was it since the lamps were locked"

Amos replied perhaps not for the last three months, there was sensation in the court. The coroner told him that he could hardly find terms sufficiently strong to mark his indignation at his conduct.

The foreman having conveyed the thanks of the jury to Mr. Dickinson, Inspector, for the valuable assistance he had rendered them. The proceedings terminated at 3.30 pm having lasted between four and five hours.