ACCIDENTS IN MINES.

PART I.

THE causes of accidents in mines, and the development of measures and applications for combating or avoiding them, have, for many years past, been the subjects of careful study and experimental investigation, at the hands not only of practical men possessing special knowledge and experience in connection with mines, but also of eminent authorities in science and its applications.

Since 1835 a succession of Royal Commissions and of Parliamentary Committees has collected and weighed the results of experience and the views and opinions of miners, mine-managers and scientific experts; legislative enactments consequent upon these successive official inquiries have, from time to time, effected important improvements in the condition, the working management and the supervision of mines, whereby the proportion borne by accidents to the number of men employed, and to the coal or minerals raised, has been gradually diminished. Much of the improvement which has been effected in the working and management of mines since 1850 has unquestionably been due to the appointment at that time of Government Inspectors of Mines, and to the provision by the Act of 1855, of certain important general rules for the conduct of mines, as well as of power for owners to frame special rules for the government of their mines, defining the conduct of the various workers "in a manner best calculated to promote the safety of those employed therein,"-such special rules being submitted to the Home Secretary, and becoming, after his approval of them, as legally binding as the clauses included in the Act itself.

I

But although great improvements had been effected, the necessity for more extended legislation was not long in being made manifest, and an Act was passed in 1860, after a protracted discussion, which embraced not only additional measures for improved ventilation and protection in other ways against accidents but also provision relating to the education of the children of miners, and to other matters tending to improve the condition of those connected with. mines. The operation of the Act was moreover extended to ironstone mines of the Coal-Measures. It was attempted by some Members of Parliament, but without success, to act upon suggestions made by representatives of the miners, and to provide by this Act for the legal qualification of managers of mines, and for various other measures which became the subject of subsequent legislation, including the provision of two shafts to every mine. The inquiry into the great disaster in Hartley Colliery in 1862, involving a loss of nearly two hundred lives, of which a large proportion might most probably have been saved had the mine been provided with a second shaft, led to the passing of a short Act in that year which rendered the provision of two shafts compulsory.

The continued heavy mortality due to accidents in mines, in spite of the undoubtedly beneficial effects of the successive advances in legislation which have been indicated, led to renewed representations to Parliament, resulting, eventually, in the appointment of a Select Committee in 1866, and to the introduction of successive Bills between 1867 and 1872, which were, however, not passed. But early in the session of 1872, the Home Secretary, Lord Aberdare (then the Right Hon. H. A. Bruce) brought in a Bill, which by its provisions was a very considerable advance upon all previous measures relating to mines. This Bill became law as the Coal-Mines Regulation Act and the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act for 1872, which Acts still regulate the working of mines. Several of the provisions established by these Acts had long been much advocated, especially in connection with coal-mines, chief among these being the condition that all persons acting as managers of

mines must hold, from the Home Office, certificates of competency or of sufficient service to afford a guarantee of their fitness for the post of manager. The regulations regarding the use of powder, the employment of safetylamps, the inspection for firedamp and other important matters were improved, the general rules for the conduct of mines were considerably amplified, and the powers of the owners to make special rules for the discipline of the mine were much strengthened.

That the progressive legislation in connection with mines, the sketch of which, just given, carries the subject to the first session of this year, has proved most beneficial in diminishing the proportion borne by the accidents to the number of persons employed in mines, and in improving the condition of miners generally, has been admitted even by those who have, since the legislation of 1872, been most prominent in pressing for further inquiries and further legislation.

In a speech made in Parliament by the late Mr. Alexander Macdonald, in June, 1878, it was stated that when, about 1850, the output of coal did not exceed 50,000,000 tons, the number of persons employed in mines being a little over 200,000, the deaths slightly exceeded 1000 in the year; while in 1877, when the output of coal was 134,000, 000 tons, and the number of people employed was at least double that in 1850, the deaths were a little over 1200 in number. But it was warmly maintained by Mr. Macdonald that, on one hand, the benefits which should accrue from existing laws were far from being fairly realized, while, on the other hand, further and more stringent legislation was urgently needed in several directions. Although particular stress was laid, in the debate ensuing, upon the lamentable loss of life due to explosions in mines, as pointing specially to the necessity for great reforms, the important fact was several times dwelt upon, that certain causes of accident which attracted but little public attention gave rise, year after year, to a proportion of deaths far exceeding that due to explosions.

STATEMENT of PROPORTIONS of DEATHS from EXPLOSIONS in COAL-MINES, from FALLS of ROOF, and SIDES, and from OTHER MISCELLANEOUS CAUSES, to TOTAL DEATHS in MINES from ALL CAUSES, DURING the YEARS 18751885.

Deaths from explosions of fire-damp, 23.57 per cent. of the total deaths from all

Abram Colliery, Wigan..

178

The Table' on preceding page which has been compiled from the annual Reports of the Mine Inspectors for the years 1875 to 1885 inclusive, gives the total number of deaths due, in each of those years, to explosions, to the falls of roof or sides in mine workings, and to other causes classed together as miscellaneous.

It will be seen that the proportion of deaths from explosions, in the total number of deaths during these eleven years, is only 23.57 per cent.; the mortality due to this cause exhibits, however, considerable fluctuations which are, it need scarcely be said, due to the specially heavy loss of life caused by particularly calamitous explosions in some years. The maximum percentage of deaths from this cause in these eleven years was 41.6 (in 1878), and the minimum (in 1884) 6.9, while last year it was very nearly 30. On the other hand, the number of deaths arising from falls of roof and sides is not only almost always higher than that due to explosions, but it also exhibits comparatively small fluctuations; the number of deaths from this cause in different years is nearly constant (and the same may be said of the number of deaths from miscellaneous causes), but the proportion which it bears to the total deaths is raised. or lowered according to the degree of severity of the accidents due to explosions. The highest percentage of falls in the last eleven years was about 47 per cent. of the total deaths, in 1881, and the lowest was about 33 per cent., in 1878, when the deaths from explosions considerably exceeded those in any other of the eleven years, but even in that exceptional year the deaths due to all other causes were nearly 59 per cent. of the total deaths.

It is not, however, surprising that the daily occurrence of fatal accidents, singly or in small numbers, in the ordinary pursuit of the miner's vocation, which combine to contribute to the majority of deaths in mines, should attract but little public attention; while the paralyzing moral effect exercised upon small communities, and the heart

(1) Final report of Her Majesty's Commissioners appointed to inquire into Accidents in Mines, p. 6. London, 1886.