File:Ralph Mine Disaster (1914) (20477185083).jpg

Original file (5,446 × 2,748 pixels, file size: 2.61 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Summary

Description

On 12 September 1914 a huge explosion shook the Waikato town of Huntly at 7.20am. The Ralph's Mine main shaft was in the centre of the town, and a column of smoke and dust rose up from it. The mine had formerly been declared very safe, and free from most types of dangerous gases, so the miners were allowed to work with naked lights. At first the explosion was blamed on coal dust. However, subsequent enquiries revealed that Frank Reed, an inspecting engineer of mines from a different area, had warned on August 15 that "firedamp was prevalent" in the mine, and recommended the use of safety lamps.

After the disaster Reed measured 350,000 cubic feet of gaseone mixture, which he said could not possibly have built up only in the 6 days after the explosion.

43 men lost their lives in the disaster.

The images are from a volume of press cuttings from Auckland Mines Department - the text is from the NZ Herald 14.9.1914, and the photographs from the Auckland Weekly News 17.9.1914

BCAV A17/17/15 - this record is held in our Auckland Regional Office.

For more information email Auckland.Archives@dia.govt.nz

For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ArchivesNZ
Date
Source Ralph Mine Disaster (1914)
Author Archives New Zealand from New Zealand

Licensing

w:en:Creative Commons
attribution share alike
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
You are free:
  • to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
  • to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
  • attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.
This image was originally posted to Flickr by Archives New Zealand at https://flickr.com/photos/35759981@N08/20477185083. It was reviewed on 18 April 2016 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0.

18 April 2016

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Items portrayed in this file

depicts

2 September 2015

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current14:24, 18 April 2016Thumbnail for version as of 14:24, 18 April 20165,446 × 2,748 (2.61 MB)NearEMPTinessTransferred from Flickr via Flickr2Commons

The following page uses this file:

Global file usage

The following other wikis use this file:

Metadata