The Gresford Prosecution At Wrexham on Tuesday, the proprietors of
the Gresford Colliery, and Mr. William Bonsall, its former manager, were found guilty on the minor charges of failing to keep proper records, fined £140, and ordered to pay £350 costs. The major charges, alleging breaches of the ventilation regulations in the Dennis section of the pit, were dismissed. In giving the Bench's decision, the chairman rightly insisted that there was no connexion between the charges and responsibility for the actual explosion at Gresford ; the accused were charged only with distinct acts in breach of the regulations. To bring such charges after a disaster is unusual, but after the evidence produced in the report of Sir Henry Walker's enquiry the Government had no choice but to take action. The proceedings will have served a useful purpose, if only to emphasize that colliery regulations intended to protect miners are meant to be observed, and that breaches of them will be visited with due penalties ; and the evidence taken revealed once again something of the hardships and dangers of the collier's life. Coal-mining, whatever precautions are taken, must remain a highly dangerous and arduous occupation, and only the strictest observance of safety-regulations can afford protection against otherwise inevitable disaster.
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