In answer to Mr. Fraser, he said it was not usual to seal up old workings. This one was sealed off because there had been some indications of heating. He would not call it a fire.

There had been outbursts of smoke or gas at times. It could be seen, and was like vapour and had a sulphur smell. He did not think that a gob fire had broken out but that it was  an outburst of gas due to it accumulating behind the stopping.

Mr. Fraser asked, "Suppose, after investigation, the stopping was found intact, where would you say the fumes which killed these men came from?"

"I should say they came from the old workings and that the stopping had been blown down by an explosion inside the sealed area. He thought that oxidisation of the coal caused heating which developed into a live fire and that the gas, which had collected behind the stoppings ultimately became alight and blew the stopping down and the gas escaped into the air ways in which the men were travelling and so overcame them."
Mr. Blackledge asked, "If I were to put it to you that there had been outbursts of gas as far back as July what would you say?"

"I should say that you were mistaken. They had been canaries at the top of the brow to give warning in case of an outbreak of gas and although I have not seen any of the birds in distress, I have heard of them being so previous to the explosion. My conclusion from that was that carbon-monoxide was present and I warned the men under my charge."

George Catterall aged 41, night overman, of 17, Bag Lane, Atherton, said he commenced at 10p.m. in the No.4 pit. He gave instructions to the night firemen. He met Mr. Monaghan and his party on their way to reinforce the stopping at top of No.7 brow.

About 11.30p.m. he was in No.4 brow arranging for some coal cutting when he heard a dull thud. Volumes of dust were followed by smoke. He sent a message for the Miners' Rescue Brigade but in the meantime organised a rescue team of his own. They went down the intake to the rise unit but they were forced to come back the way they went.

Before doing this they safely directed seven men to No.4 brow. Others they directed to the East Level in No.3 pit. It was a blockage which forced them to turn back. There were seventeen men going to their work. Of these, six men lost their lives. Dykes had a cage of canaries, and since the explosion these had not been discovered.

In answer to Mr. Fraser, Catterall said his theory about the cause of the explosion was on the same lines as that given by Holland.

Dr. G. A. C. Lynch, pathologist of Wigan Infirmary, stated that he performed a post mortem examination on John Bailey and Ernest Huyton. He took a quantity of blood from their lungs, and a spectroscopic examination showed it to contain concentrated carbon monoxide to the extent of 58 per cent of the specimen. In the case of Huyton it was 82 per cent specimen.

James Durkin, he found, sustained a fractured skull and from an external examination he thought that three others died from the same cause.

The body of Monaghan was not seen by Dr. Lynch, the Coroner stating he had permitted it to be taken to Scotland. Returning to the head injury sustained by Durkin, Dr. Lynch agreed that a sudden burst or blast, which might have blown him down, could have caused the injury.

In order to release men so that they could get back to work at the colliery, the Coroner, resumed the inquest on Thursday and read a number of statements made at the previous hearing, so that the men could sign them.

At the resumed hearing Mr. D. Coatesworth, H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines deputised for Mr. Frazer the Divisional Inspector. Two of the injured James Neville aged 49, Victoria Terrace, Bickershaw and William Houghton aged 22, 16 Closebrook Road, Pemberton, Wigan, were not present as the former was being in a convalescent home and the latter too ill to attend.

First witness was William Benson aged 42, fireman, 38a, Westleigh Lane, Leigh. Who said he arrived at the pit bottom at 10.40p.m. On his way to see the Rise district, he heard a dull thud and saw clouds of dust. Then there was a slight smell of smoke. He turned back at once and caused all his men to be sent to the surface. He and others tried to reach the deceased men by the intake. A fall of roof blocked their way. They showed this to an official and then went to No.4 brow. None of the men had time to reach their work when this happened.

Benson was questioned about the stopping. His instructions were to pack it up with fine dirt and build a stone wall. They finished with sand and stone dust and built a new wall. Men from both the night and day shift worked on it, and they did it according to instructions. He inspected the work twice every night as the job proceeded. Benson described one stopping as dry stone walling, whilst the other at No.7 Brow included brick built walls.