Tuesday 7th March 1893, would be a day Blantyre boy Edward Liddell would remember.
That morning, 13 year old Edward had set off from his home at Auchinraith Rows to the nearby Auchinraith Colliery owned by Messrs Merry & Cunningham.
Edward was employed as a picker separating coal on the travelling tables. He had not long started work that morning when his left leg got caught in the pulleys below the conveyors. Before any help could be fetched, his foot was entirely wrenched off.
The poor lad was at once removed to the Royal Infirmary in the ambulance wagon. The accident was a particularly sad one, as it had been the first day of Edwards working life, his first day on the job, since leaving school. A life changing injury. It got me thinking how culpable Merry & Cunningham were in not protecting against such things.
AI imagines the scene before the accident.
