men.

to comply with its provisions forthwith. If from any cause he can not procure the necessary supplies or material as aforesaid. he shall notify the mine foreman, whose duty it shall be to withdraw the men from the mine or part of mine until such supplies or material are received.

Interference SEC. 264. The superintendent of the mine shall not obstruct the with mine fore- mine foreman or other officials in their fulfillment of any of the duties required by this act. At mines where superintendents are not employed, the duties that are herein prescribed for the superintendent shall devolve upon the mine foreman.

Location

ers:

of

SEC. 265. After the passage of this act [secs. 226 to 393], it shall fans and boil be unlawful to place a main or principal ventilating fan inside of any bituminous coal mine wherein explosive gas has been detected or in which the air current is contaminated with coal dust. No stationary steam boiler shall be placed in any bituminous coal mine, unless said steam boiler be placed within fifty feet from the bottom of an upcast shaft, which shaft shall not be less than twenty-five square feet in area, and after May thirtieth, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, no stationary steam boiler shall be permitted to remain in any bituminous coal mine, only as aforesaid. SEC. 266. It shall not be lawful, after the passage of this act [secs. 226 to 393], to provide any horse or mule stables inside of the bituminous coal mines, unless said stables are excavated in the solid strata or coal seams and no wood or other combustible materials shall be used excessively in the construction of said stables, unless surrounded by or incased by some incombustible material. The air current used for ventilating said stable shall not be intermixed with the air current used for ventilating the working parts of the mine, but shall be conveyed directly to the return air current, and no open light shall be permitted to be used in any stable in any mine.

Stables in mines.

Taking hay into mines.

SEC. 267. No hay or straw shall be taken into any mine, unless pressed and made up into compact bales, and all hay or straw taken into the mines as aforesaid shall be stored in a storehouse excavated in the solid strata or built in masonry for that purpose. After January first, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four, no horse or mule stable or storehouse, only as afore said, shall be permitted in any bituminous coal mine. Illuminating SEC. 268 (as amended by act No. 74, Acts of 1899). No explo and lubricating sive oil shall be used or taken into bituminous coal mines for oils.

lighting purposes, except when used in approved safety lamps. and oil shall not be stored or taken into the mines in quantities exceeding five gallons. The oiling or greasing of cars inside of the mines is strictly forbidden unless the place where said oil or grease is used is thoroughly cleaned at least once every day to prevent the accumulation of waste oil or grease on the roads or in the drains at that point. Not more than one barrel of lubricating oil shall be permitted in the mine at any one time. Only a pure animal oil or pure cotton-seed oil, or oils that shall be as free from smoke as pure animal or pure cotton-seed oil, shall be used for illuminating purposes in any bituminous mine. Any person found knowingly using explosive or impure oil, contrary to this section, shall be prosecuted as provided for in section two of article twenty-one of this act [sec. 384].

SEC. 269. No powder or high explosive shall be stored in any mine, and no more of either article shall be taken into the mine at any one time than is required in any one shift, unless the quantity be less than five pounds, and in all working places where locked safety lamps are used blasting shall onl; be done by the consent and in the presence of the mine foreman, his assistant or fire boss, or any competent party designated by the mine foreman for that purpose; whenever the mine inspector discovers that the air in any mine is becoming vitiated by the unnecessary blasting of the coal, he shall have the power to regulate the use of the same and to designate at what hour of the day blasting may be permitted.

lands.

SEC. 270. If any person, firm or corporation is, or shall here- Openings up after be, seized in his or their own right, of coal lands, or shall on adjacent hold such lands under lease and shall have opened or shall desire to open a coal mine on said. land, and it shall not be practicable to drain or ventilate such mines or to comply with the requirements of this act as to ways of ingress and egress or traveling ways by means of openings on lands owned or held under lease by him, them or it, and the same can be done by means of openings on adjacent lands, he, they or it may apply by petition to the court of quarter sessions of the proper county, after ten days' notice to the owner or owners, their agent or attorney, setting forth the facts under oath or affirmation particularly describing the place or places where such opening or openings can be made and the pillars of coal or other material necessary for the support of such passageway and such right of way to any public road as may be needed in connection with such opening, and that he or they can not agree with the owner or owners of the land as to the amount to be paid for the privilege of making such opening or openings, whereupon the said court shall appoint three disinterested and competent citizens of the county to view the ground designated and lay out from the point or points mentioned in such petition, a passage or passages not more than eighty feet area, by either drift, shaft or slope, or by a combination of any of said methods, by any practicable and convenient route, to the coal of such person, firm or corporation, preferring in all cases an opening through the coal strata where the same is practicable. The said viewers shall, at the same time, assess the damages to be paid by the petitioner or petitioners to the owner or owners of such lands for the coal or other valuable material to be removed in the excavation and construction of said passage, also for such coal or other valuable material necessary to support the said passage, as well as for a right of way not exceeding fifteen feet in width from any such opening to any public road, to enable persons to gain entrance to the mine through such opening or to provide therefrom, upon the surface, a water course of suitable dimensions to a natural water stream to enable the operator to discharge the water from said mine if such right of way shall be desired by the petitioner or petitioners, which damages shall be fully paid before such opening is made. The proceedings shall be recorded in the road docket of the proper county, and the pay of viewers shall be the same as in road cases; if exceptions be filed they shall be disposed of by the court as speedily as possible, and both parties to have the right to take depositions as in road cases. If, however, the petitioner desires to make such openings or roads or waterway before the final disposition of such exceptions, he shall have the right to do so by giving bond, to be approved by the court securing the damages as provided by law in the case of lateral railroads.

when.

SEC. 271. It shall be compulsory upon the part of the mine Right of way owner or operator to exercise the powers granted by the pro- to be procured, visions of the last preceding section for the procuring of a right of way on the surface from the opening of a coal mine to a public road or public roads, upon the request in writing of fifty miners employed in the mine or mines of such owner or operator: Provided, however, That with such request satisfactory security be deposited with the mine owner or operator by said petitioners, being coal miners, to fully and sufficiently pay all costs, damages and expenses caused by such proceedings and in paying for such right of way.

SEC. 272. In any mine or mines, or parts thereof, wherein water may have been allowed to accumulate in large and dangerous quantities, putting in danger the adjoining or adjacent mines and the lives of the miners working therein, and when such can be tapped and set free and flow by its own gravity to any point of drainage, it shall be lawful for any operator or person having mines so endangered, with the approval of the inspector of the

Water.

mines.

district, to proceed and remove the said danger by driving a drift or drifts protected by bore holes as provided by this act, and in removing said danger it shall be lawful to drive across property lines if needful. And it shall be unlawful for any person to dam or in any way obstruct the flow of any water from said mine or parts thereof, when so set free, on any part of its passage to point of drainage.

Approaching SEC. 273. No operator shall be permitted to mine coal within abandoned fifty feet of any abandoned mine containing a dangerous accumulation of water, until said danger has been removed by driving a passageway so as to tap and drain off said water as provided for in this act: Provided, That the thickness of the barrier pillars shall be greater, and shall be in proportion of one foot of pillar thickness to each one and one-quarter foot of water head, if, in the judgment of the engineer of the property and that of the district mine inspector, it is necessary for the safety of the persons working in the mine.

Rules to be posted.

ors.

SEC. 274. All operators of bituminous coal mines shall keep posted, in a conspicuous place at their mines, the general and special rules embodied in and made part of this act, defining the duties of all persons employed in or about said mine, which said rules shall be printed in the English language and shall also be printed in such other language or languages as are used by any ten persons working therein. It shall be the duty of the mine inspector to furnish to the operator printed copies of such rules and such translations thereof as are required by this section, and to certify their correctness over his signature. The cost thereof shall be borne by the State.

*

*

Board of ex- SEC. 275. The board of examiners appointed to examine candiaminers of dates for the office of mine inspector, shall exercise all mine inspect the powers granted and perform all the duties required by this * act, and at the expiration of their term of office, and every four years thereafter, the governor shall appoint, as hereinafter provided, during the month of January, two mining engineers of good repute and three other persons, who shall have passed suecessful examinations qualifying them to act as mine inspectors or mine foremen in mines generating fire damp, who shall be citizens of this Commonwealth and shall have attained the age of thirty years and shall have had at least five years of practical experience in the bituminous mines of Pennsylvania, and who shall not be serving at that time in any official capacity at mines, which five persons shall constitute a board of examiners, whose duty it shall be to inquire into the character and qualification[s] of cand!dates for the office of inspector of mines under the provisions of this act.

Meeting board.

Oath.

Conduct

of SEC. 276. The examining board, so constituted, shall meet on the first Tuesday of March following their appointment, in the city of Pittsburg, to examine applicants for the office of mine inspector: Provided, however, The examining board shall meet two weeks previous to the aforesaid time for the purpose of preparing questions, et cetera, and when called together by the governor on extra occasions at such time and place as he may designate, and after being duly organized and having taken and subscribed be fore any officer authorized to administer the same the following oath, namely: "We, the undersigned, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that we will perform the duties of examiners of applicants for the appointment as inspectors of bituminous coal mines to the best of our abilities, and that in recommending or rejecting said applicants we will be governed by the evidence of the qualifications to fill the position under the law creating the same, and not by any consideration of political or personal favor; that we will certify all whom we may find qualified according to the true intent and meaning of the act and noue others."

of SEC. 277. The general examination shall be in writing and the examinations. manuscript and other papers of all applicants, together with the tally sheets and the solution of each question as given by the

examining board, shall be filed with the secretary of internal affairs as public documents, but each applicant shall undergo an oral examination pertaining to explosive gases and safety lamps, and the examining board shall certify to the governor the names of all such applicants which they shall find competent to fill this office under the provisions of this act, which names, with the certificates and their percentages and the oaths of the examiners, shall be mailed to the secretary of the Commonwealth and be filed in his office. No person shall be certified as competent whose percentage shall be less than ninety per centum, and such certificate shall be valid only when signed by four of the members of the examining board.

cants.

SEC. 278. The qualifications of candidates for said office of Qualificainspector of mines to be inquired into and certified by said tions of appliexaminers shall be as follows, namely: They shall be citizens of Pennsylvania, of temperate habits, of good repute as men of personal integrity, and shall have attained the age of thirty years, and shall have had at least five years of practical experience in working of or in the workings of the bituminous mines of Pennsylvania immediately preceding their examination, and shall have had practical experience with fire damp inside the mines of this country, and upon examination shall give evidence of such theoretical as well as practical knowledge and general intelligence respecting mines and mining and the working and ventilation thereof, and all noxious mine gases, and [as] will satisfy the examiners of their capability and fitness for the duties imposed upon inspectors of mines by the provisions of this act. And the examining board shall, immediately after the examination, furnish to each person who came before it to be examined a copy of all questions, whether oral or written, which were given at the examination, on printed slips of paper and to be marked solved, right, imperfect or wrong, as the case may be, together with a certificate of competency to each candidate who shall have made at least ninety per centum.

SEC. 279. The board of examiners may, also, at their meeting, Inspection disor when at any time called by the governor together for an extra tricts. meeting, divide the bituminous coal regions of the State into inspection districts, no district to contain less than sixty nor more than eighty mines, and as nearly as possible equalizing the labor to be performed by each inspector, and at any subsequent calling of the board of examiners this division may be revised as experience may prove to be advisable.

** *

Compensa

SEC. 280. The board of examiners shall each receive ten dollars per day for each day actually employed, and all necessary expen- tion of board. ses, to be paid out of the State treasury. Upon the filing of the certificate of the examining board in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth, the governor shall, from the names so certified, commission one person to be inspector of mines for each district as fixed by the examiners in pursuance of this act, whose commission shall be for a full term of four years : Always provided, however, The highest candidate or candidates in percentage shall have priority to be commissioned for a full term or unexpired term before those candidates of lower percentage, and in case of a tie in percentage the oldest candidate shall be commissioned.

*

*

SEC. 281. As often as vacancies occur in said offices of inspectors Vacancies in of mines, the governor shall commission for the unexpired term, office of inspector. from the names on file, the highest in percentage in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth, until the number shall be exhausted, and whenever this may occur, the governor shall cause the aforesaid board of examiners to meet, and they shall examine persons who may present themselves for the vacant office of mine inspector as herein provided, and the board of examiners shall certify to the governor all persons who shall have made ninety per centum in said examination, one of whom to [shall! be commissioned by him according to the provisions of this act for the office of mine inspector for the unexpired term, and any

vacancy that may occur in the examining board shall be filled by the governor of this Commonwealth. Compensa- SEC. 282. Each inspector of mines shall receive for his services tion, etc., of an annual salary of three thousand dollars and actual traveling inspectors. expenses, to be paid quarterly by the State treasurer upon warrant of the auditor general, and each mine inspector shall keep an office in the district for which he is commissioned and he shall be permitted to keep said office at his place of residence: Provided, A suitable apartment or room be set off for that purpose. Each mine inspector is hereby authorized to procure such instruments, chemical tests and stationery, and to incur such expenses of communication from time to time, as may be necessary to the proper discharge of his duties under this act, at the cost of the State, which shall be paid by the State treasurer upon accounts duly certified by him and audited by the proper department of the State.

Instruments,

etc., to be property of State.

Bond of inspector.

Duties.

SEC. 283. All instruments, plans, books, memoranda, notes, and other material pertaining to the office shall be the property of the State, and shall be delivered to their successors in office. In addition to the expenses now allowed by law to the mine inspectors in enforcing the several provisions of this act, they shall be allowed all necessary expenses by them incurred in enforcing the several provisions of said law in the respective courts of the Commonwealth, the same to be paid by the State treasurer of warrants drawn by the auditor general after auditing the same: all such accounts presented by the mine inspector to the auditor general shall be itemized and first approved by the court before which the proceedings were instituted.

SEC. 284. Each mine inspector of bituminous coal mines shell before entering upon the discharge of his duties, give bond in the sum of five thousand dollars, with sureties to be approved by the president judge of the district in which he resides, conditional for the faithful discharge of his duties to, and take an oath or affirmation to discharge his duties impartially and with fidelity to[,] the best of his knowledge and ability. But no person who shall act as manager or agent of any coal mine, or as a mining engineer, or is interested in operating any coal mine shall, at the same time, act as mine inspector of coal mines under this act

SEC. 285. Each inspector of bituminous coal mines shall devote the whole of his time to the duties of his office. It shall be his duty to examine each mine in his district as often as possible. but a longer period of time than three months shall not elapse between said examination[s], to see that all the provisions of this act are observed and strictly carried out, and he shall make a record of all examinations of mines, showing the condition in which he finds them, especially with reference to ventilation and drainage, the number of persons employed in each mine, the exter to which the law is obeyed and progress made in the improvement of mines, the number of serious accidents and the nature thereof. the number of deaths resulting from injuries received in or about the mines, with the cause of such accident or death, which record completed to the thirty-first day of December of each and every year, shall, on or before the fifteenth day of March following, be filed in the office of the secretary of internal affairs, to be by him recorded and included in the annual report of his de partment.

Report of In- SEC. 286. It shall be the duty of the mine inspector, on examinaspection to be tion of any mine, to make out a written or partly written and posted. partly printed report of the condition in which he finds such mine, and post the same in the office of the mine or other conspic uous place. The said report shall give the date of the visit, the number of cubic feet of air in circulation and where measured and that he has measured the air at the cut through of one or more rooms in each heading or entry, and such other information as he shall deem necessary, and the said report shall remain posted in the office or conspicuous place for one year, and may be examined by any person employed in or about the mine.