Deposition at the Adjourned Inquest on Death of Four Firewatchers

THE room had four windows, which could be opened, and(a wall ventilator; on the night of the tragedly the windows were shut. The question was, suppose the gas stove was burnintg, could the men have died from suffocation clue to insufficient ventilation? Io answer this question the following test was devise(l. Two extra stoves, similar pattern to that already there, were to be installed in the firewatchers' room. 'two individuals were to enter the room in the morning; close the door and win(lows, as they were on the night ol the accidlent, and light all three stoves. If no signis of suffocation occurredl after eight hours it could reasonably be concludled that suffocation could be ruled out as the cause of deatlh. It might be objected that the test was not quite fair, because five people were in the room on the night of 2ncd December, and(i only two were to be in on the day of the test. The objection, however, would not be valid, because the two extra stoves would use up as much air in a given timne as thirty men. Ihe conditions of the test would therefore be much more rigorous than those obtaining at the time of the accident. It is necessary to say a few words about the tests to be performed by the individuals in the room, tests to see if there was any tendency towards suffocation. TIo understand these we must consider a little more closely the meaning of the wor(d suffocationi in this connectioni. It woul(d cover three possibilities: (a) oxygen starvation, due to the oxygen in the room being used up-mainly by the three stoves; (b) carbon-dioxide poisoning, due to accumulation of this gas which would be produced by the burning stoves, and, to a smaller extent, exhaled by the subjects. Strictly speaking, these two-oxygen starvation and carbon-dioxide poisoning-would be covered by the term suffocation. But there would be another possible cause of diisaster, (c) carbon-monoxide poisoniing. I'his gas, which is deadly poisonous, forms about 18 per cent. of Belfast coal gas. When gas is burned in a modern pattern stove, in good order, all the carbon monoxide is destroyed in the burning-process. Still the possibility of incomplete combustion, of carbon-monoxide poisoning, could not be overlooked. During the test eight hours in the room with the three stoves on, the individuals would busy themselves with tests to see if conditions …