Biography

Deceased spent 28.5 years in Victoria before moving to Western Australia. He was working in the ' big ' stope at No. 2 level. At 5 o'clock, the men nearby heard a fall of earth. One yelled out to the deceased, " Are you right?" but got no answer. The deceased groaned and men rushed down the rise to the hanging wall side of the fall and started to pull some of the stones away, calling for others to come and help dig out the deceased, who called out "Be quick!" and kept on mumbling for about five minutes after the fall. By that time, several miners had arrived at the scene of the accident but it took about forty minutes to get him out. Everything was done to get him out quickly but he was dead when finally pulled out. There was considerable discussion at the inquest as to whether the ground where the deceased had been working was indeed safe to work on. About 20 tons of earth had fallen. A pig-sty had been put in to support the roof. The stope where the fall occurred was about 10 feet high and 14 feet wide. It appeared to have been safe but may have required timbering. The jury brought in a verdict that William Samuel Lewis came to his death by a fall of earth but in the absence of expert evidence it was impossible to say whether any blame was attachable to the management. It was hoped than an official enquiry would be held with reference to the state of the mine. Lewis' death was registered by his brother, D. Lewis.