The couple had a second child who they named Agnes Houston. But tragedy wasn’t far away. On the afternoon of Tuesday, 5th August 1879 Adam Spencer Houston, who was the fire man at the Baltic Pit near Hurlford, was the sole fatality when the boiler he was attempting to fire suddenly exploded. Accounts of this accident appeared in newspapers across Scotland and most of them were very similar. They do appear to have got one fact wrong. Adam left a widow and two children. Both Annie and Agnes Houston were still alive at the time of the 1881 Census and living with their mother on Galston Road, Riccarton. Their mother was a dressmaker.
Birth : Annie McRae Houston : 11 Apr 1877 Birth : Agnes Houston : 16 Feb 1879 Glasgow Evening Post : 6 Aug 1879 Irvine Times : 9 Aug 1879 From the main body of the Mine Inspector’s Report : Messrs. Taylor and Young practical engineers, Ayr, visited the mine soon after the accident and reported regarding it. After detailing the nature of the construction, &c. they summed up as follows. "We consider that the accident occurred on account of the weakness of the plates at the end of the boiler, and the insufficient manner in which the nearly flat ends were stayed." The question of water, which is frequently introduced in the case of a boiler, explosion, was not suggested, and satisfactory proof remained to show that the accident was not occasioned by an insufficient supply of it.