COAL - Clpdigital.org

ACCIDENTS IN THE ANTHRACITE MINES.
In his annual report for 1904 on the anthracite
coal mines of Pennsylvania, James E. Roderick,
chief of the bureau of mines, discussing accidents,
says accidents in and about the anthracite mines
occur with alarming frequency. This is especially
true of the accidents that result from falls of
coal, slate and roof, and from mine cars. Many
lives, also, are lost in the shafts by reason of deranged
machinery or through the carelessness of
the engineers. Two very serious accidents of
this kind occurred during the year; one at the
Auchincloss shaft of the Delaware, Lackawanna
& Western Railroad Co., by which 10 lives were
lost, and the other at the Baltimore shaft of the
iJorrance colliery of the Lehigh Valley Coal Co.,
by which four lives were lost. In each case the
engineer lost control of his engine.
More accidents resulted from falls of coal, roof
and slate than from any other cause. At least
one-half of these accidents could have been
avoided if the victims themselves, their co-employes
and the men directly in charge of the mines
had been more careful. On an average, six lives
are lost by falls to one by explosion of gas. While
the law demands that, as the men advance in their
workings, the persons in charge shall see that all
dangerous parts are taken clown, this is only
partly done, and we cannot hope to reduce the
number of accidents until both parties—employer
and employe—perform their duties with greater
fidelity. The employe should use his best judgment,
especially when sounding doubtful parts
of the coal, sides or roof, and should make an
effort to take down, or to make secure by timber
or otherwise, all such parts. The employer, on
his part, should see that the foreman has a sufficient
number of assistants to cover every working
place in the mine at least once a day. He should
see that the people who are actually engaged in
the mining of coal are enabled to do so under the
safest conditions possible. The foreman's assistants
for this work could be designated timber
bosses, and their special duty would be to examine
the safety of the roof and sides of every working
place, and to see that sufficient timber is furnished
the miners, and that tne miners put up
the timber when needed. The timber boss should
also make a note of the condition of each place
as to its safety and as to the ventilation, and his
observations should be recorded in a book to be
kept in the mine office for the inspection of the
foreman, the superintendent and the miners, and
especially for the inspector while on his tour of
duty. Books for this purpose could be furnished
by the department of mines. A penalty should be
attached for any violation of the law on the part
of the superintendent, foreman, timber boss or
miners. We shall never have the pleasure of
THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. 49
recording a reduction in the number of accidents
from falls until there is a more systematic effort
made by both employer and employe to keep the
working places in a safer condition.
Of the 496 lives lost inside the mines during
the year 1904, 75 were lost in 23 accidents. The
loss of life was as follows: By falls, 10; explosions
of gas, 12; explosions of powder and dynamite,
18; cars, 4: falling down shafts, 9; fumes
from mine fire, 5; fumes from locomotive in a
tunnel, 10. The causes of these fatalities can be
classified as follows: Negligence of victims, 14;
negligence of others, 33; unavoidable, 28. It is a
regrettable statement to make that of the 75 persons
killed. 33, or 44 per cent., lost their lives
by the carelessness of other people. There ought
to be a law by which such carelessness would be
made punishable by a heavy fine and imprisonment.
Of the 496 persons killed inside the mines, 3
were foremen, 1 fire boss, 233 miners, 145 miners'
laborers, 31 drivers and runners, 20 door-boys and
helpers, and 63 other employes. On the surface
there were 99 fatal accidents, including 1 foreman,
5 blacksmiths and carpenters, 3 engineers and
firemen, 11 slate pickers (men and boys), and 79
other employes. Of the fatalities, 83.4 per cent.
occurred inside the mines, and 16.6 per cent, outside.
Of the 161,330 employes, 68.4 per cent, were
employed inside, and 31.6 per cent, outside. Of
the 496 fatal accidents inside the mines, about 75
per cent, occurred among the miners and miners'
laborers. These two classes are the heaviest sufferers
in the way of fatalities.
Every year when the accidents that occur in
and about the coal mines are analyzed, it is found
that the responsibility rests to a great extent
with the victims themselves. Of the 595 lives
lost during the past year in and about the anthracite
mines, 282, or 47.4 per cent., were lost through
the negligence of other victims, 56, or 9.4 per cent.,
through the negligence of other persons. In the
case of 53, or 8.9 per cent, of the accidents, the
responsibility cannot be determined, and the remaining
204, or 34.3 per cent., are classified as
unavoidable. These figures are truly a sad commentary
on the supervision and carefulness of the
persons most interested—the operators, superintendents,
foremen and miners.
The Pittsburgh Block Coal Co., with offices in
the Farmers' Bank building, Pittsburgh, is opening
a new mine at Hopedale. Ohio, on ihe Lake
Erie, Alliance & Wheeling railroad. The vein is
Pittsburgh No. 8, and the capacity will be in the
neighborhood of 1,000 tons per clay. This company
is installing a box car loader at its Ginther
mines.