may be necessary; should the district inspector find any of the provisions of this chapter violated, or not complied with, by any owner, lessee, or agent in charge of any mine, he shall immediately notify such owner, lessee, or agent in charge, of such neglect or violation, and unless the same is, within a reasonable time, rectified, and the provisions of this chapter fully complied with, he shall institute a prosecution under the provisions of section six thousand eight hundred and seventy-one (6871) of the Revised Statutes. The inspectors shall exercise a sound discretion in the enforcement of the provisions of this act, and if in any respect (which is not provided against by, or may result from a rigid enforcement of [,] any express provisions of this chapter), the inspector find any matter, thing or practice in or connected with any such mine, to be dangerous or defective, so as in his opinion to threaten or tend to the bodily injury of any person, the inspector may give notice in writing thereof to the owner, agent or manager of the mine, and shall state in such notice the particulars in which he considers such mine, or any part thereof; or any matter, thing of [or] practice to be dangerous or defective, and require the same to be remedied. For the purpose of making the inspection and examinations provided for in this section, the chief inspector and the district inspectors shall have the right to enter any mine at all reasonable times, by night or by day, but in such manner as shall not unnecessarily obstruct the working of the mine; and the owner or agent of such mine is hereby required to furnish the means necessary for such entry and inspection; the inspection and examination herein provided for shall extend to fire clay, iron ore, and other mines, as well as coal mines.

shall make such per

Operators to

SEC. 293. The chief inspector * Duties of sonal inspection of the mines as he may deem necessary and his chief inspector. other duties will permit; he shall keep in his office and carefully preserve all maps, surveys and other reports and papers required by law to be filed with him, and so arrange and preserve the same as shall make them a permanent record of ready, convenient and connected reference; he shall compile and consolidate the reports of district inspectors, and annually make report to the governor of all his proceedings, as well as those of the district inspectors, the condition and operation of the different mines of the State, and the number of mines and the number of persons employed in or about such mines, the amount of coal, iron ore, limestone, fire clay, or other mineral mined in this State; and for the purpose of enabling him to make such report, the owner, lessee, or agent in charge of such mine, who is engaged in mining, and the owner, report. lessee or agent of any firm, company or corporation in charge of any fire clay, or iron ore mined [mine] or any limestone, or quarry, or who is engaged in mining or producing any mineral whatsoever in this State, shall, on or before the 31st day of January in every year, send to the office of the chief inspector of mines, upon blanks furnished by him. a correct return specifying with respect to the year ending on the preceding 31st day of December, the quantity of coal, iron ore, fire clay, limestone, or other mineral product in such mine, or quarry, and the number of persons ordinarily employed in or about such mine, or quarry, below and above ground, distinguishing the persons and labor below ground and above ground. Every owner, lessee or agent of a mine or a quarry who fails to comply with this section, or makes any return which to his knowledge is false in any particular, shall be deemed guilty of an offense against this section, and shall be fined one hundred dollars, to be recovered at the suit of the chief inspector in the name of the State of Ohio; * * * he shall enumerate all accidents, and the manner in which they occurred, in or about Accidents,etc. the mines, and give all such other information as he thinks useful and proper, and make such suggestions as he deems important relative to mines and mining, and any other legislation that may be necessary on the subject for the better preservation of the life and health of those engaged in such industry.

SEC. 295a. It shall be unlawful for any mine owner, lessee or weighed before operator of coal mines in this State, employing miners at bushel screening.

Coal to

be

Loaders.

Penalty.

Maps.

Escape shafts.

or ton rates, or other quantity, to pass the output of coal mined by said miners over any screen or other device which shall take any part from the value thereof, before the same shall have been weighed and duly credited to the employee sending the same to the surface, and accounted for at the legal rate of weights as fixed by laws of Ohio.

SEC. 295b. The provisions of this act shall also apply to the class of workers, engaged in mines wherein the mining is done by machinery, known as loaders; whenever the workmen are under contract to load by the bushel, ton or any quantity, the settlement of which is had by weight, the output shall be weighed in accordance with the provisions of this act.

SEC. 295c. Any mine owner, lessee or operator of coal mines in this State, neglecting or refusing to comply with the conditions required to be performed by sections 295a and 295b, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, be fined in any sum not exceeding six hundred ($600) dollars, nor less than three hundred ($300) dollars, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 296. The owner or agent of any mine having an excavation of not less than fifteen thousand cubic yards, shall make, or cause to be made, an accurate map or plan of the working of such mine on a scale of not less than two hundred feet to the inch, showing the area mined or excavated, and the location and connection with such excavation of the mine, of the lines of all adjoining lands and the name or names of each owner or owners, so far as known, marked on each tract, and the owner or agent shall annually thereafter make, or cause to be made, an addition to said map. showing the progress and plan of the working of such mine during the previous year up to the date of survey: Provided, That said additions shall be made semiannually whenever the mine inspector deems it necessary and so directs. The map shall be kept at the office of such mine, and open to the inspection of the mine inspector, or his assistants, at all reasonable times, and at the request of the inspector the owner or agent shall file a correct copy of such map with said mine inspector at Columbus, and in case of refusal on [the] part of the owner or agent to make and file such map, the inspector is authorized and required hereby to cause such map or maps to be made in duplicate, at the expense of said owner or agent, the cost of which shall be recoverable against the owner or agent in the name of the State mine inspector; and in case of refusal by said owner or agent to make, or cause such map and the additions thereto to be made, for sixty days after notice by the mine inspector, said agent or owner shall be liable to a fine of five dollars for each and every day until said map is made, which shall be collected in the name of the State of Ohio, at the suit of the State mine inspector, and the amounts so recovered shall be paid into the township school fund of the township when collected. And when any mine is exhausted or abandoned, and before the pillars are drawn in any portion of the mine, the owner or agent thereof shall cause to be made a correct map of such mine, showing the area and working of the same to the day of abandoning, or of drawing pillars for the purpose of abandoning, and tile such map within ninety days thereafter at the office of the county recorder in the county where such mine is located; said map shall have attached thereto the sworn certificate of the mining engineer mak ing the map, and of the mine boss in charge of the underground workings of said mine; such map shall be properly labeled and filed by the recorder, and be preserved as a part of the records of the land on which such mines are located, and the recorder shall receive for said filing from said owner or agent a fee of fifty cents.

SEC. 297. It is unlawful for the owner or agent of any coal mine. worked by shaft, to employ or permit any person to work therein, unless there are, to every seam of coal worked in each mine, at least two separate outlets, separated by natural strata of not less than one hundred feet in breadth, by which shafts or outlets distinct means of ingress and egress are always available to the persons employed in the mine; but it is not necessary for the two

outlets to belong to the same mine, if the persons employed therein have safe, ready and available means of ingress and egress by not less than two openings. This section shall not apply to opening a new mine while being worked for the purpose of making communication between said two outlets, so long as not more than twenty persons are employed at any one time in such mine, neither shall it apply to any mine, or part of a mine in which the second outlet has been rendered unavailable by reason of the final robbing of pillars previous to abandonment, so long as not more than twenty persons are employed therein at any one time. The cage or cages, and other means of egress shall at all times be available for the persons employed, where there is no second outlet. The escapement shafts shall be fitted with safe and available appliances by which the persons employed in the mine may readily escape in case an accident occurs deranging the hoisting machinery at the main outlets, and such means or appliances for escape shall always be kept in a safe condition; and in no case shall an air shaft, with a ventilating furnace at the bottom, be construed to be an escapement shaft, within the meaning of this section. To all other coal mines, whether slopes or drifts, two such openings or outlets must be provided within twelve months after shipments of coal have commenced from such mine; and in case such outlets are not provided as herein stipulated, it shall not be lawful for the agent or owner of such slope or drift to permit more than ten persons to work therein at any one time. In case a coal mine has but one shaft, slope, or drift, for the ingress or egress of the men working therein, and the owner thereof does not own suitable surface ground for another opening, he may select and appropriate any adjoining land for that purpose, and may make an additional shaft or outlet under, through or upon any intervening land, or landing adjoining,

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SEC. 298. The owner or agent of every coal mine, whether shaft, slope, or drift, shall provide and maintain for every such mine, an amount of ventilation of not less than 100 cubic feet, per minute, per person employed in such mine, which shall be circulated and distributed throughout the mine in such a manner as to dilute, render harmless, and expel the poisonous and noxious gases from each and every working place in the mine, and no working place shall be driven more than sixty feet in advance of a break through, or air way; and all break throughs, or air ways, except those last made near the working faces of the mine shall be closed up and made air tight, by brattice, trapdoors or otherwise, so that the currents of air in circulation in the mine may sweep to the interior of the mine where the persons employed in such mine are at work, and all mines governed by the statute shall be provided with artificial means of producing ventilation, such as forcing, or suction fans, exhaust steam, furnaces or other contrivances, of such capacity and power as to produce and maintain an abundant supply of air, and all mines generating fire damp shall be kept free from standing gas, and every working place shall be carefully examined every morning with a safety lamp by a competent person or persons, before any of the workmen are allowed to enter the mine. All underground entrances to any places not in actual course of working or extension, shall be properly fenced across the whole width of such entrances so as to prevent persons from inadvertently entering the same.

Ventilation.

SEC. 299. The owner or agent of every coal mine operated by Safety applishaft, in all cases where the human voice can not be distinctly ances. heard, shall forthwith provide and maintain a metal tube from the top to the bottom of such shaft suitably calculated for the free passage of sound therein, so that conversation may be held between persons at the bottom and top of the shaft; there shall also be provided an approved safety catch, and a sufficient cover overhead, on all carriages used for lowering and hoisting persons, and in the top of every shaft an approved safety gate, and an adequate brake shall be attached to every drum or machine used for lowering or

H. Doc. 733, 58-2-56

Location boilers.

raising persons in all shafts or slopes; and there shall also be provided in every shaft a traveling or passage way from one side of a shaft bottom to the other, so that persons working therein may not have to pass under descending cages; and all slopes or engine planes, used as traveling ways by persons in any mine, shall be made of sufficient width to permit persons to pass moving cars with safety; but if found impracticable to make any slope or engine plane of sufficient width, then safety holes of ample dimensions, and not more than sixty feet apart, shall be made on one side of said slope or engine plane. Such safety holes shall always be kept free from obstructions, and the roof and sides shall be made of secure. The boilers used for generating steam, and the buildings containing the boilers shall not be nearer than sixty feet to any shaft or slope, or to any building or inflammable structure connected with or surrounding said shaft or slope; but this section shall not apply to any shaft or slope, until the work of develop ment and shipment of coal has commenced.

Engineers to SEC. 300. No owner or agent of any coal mine operated by a be competent. shaft or slope shall place in charge of any engine used for lowering into or hoisting out of such mine persons employed therein any but experienced, competent, and sober engineers; and no engineer in charge of such engine shall allow any person, except such as may be deputed for that purpose by the owner or agent, to interfere with it or any part of the machinery, and no person shall interfere or in any way intimidate the engineer in the discharge of his duties; and in no case shall more than ten men ride on any cage or car at one time, and no person shall ride upon a loaded cage or car in any shaft or slope.

Safety lamps.

Accidents.

SEC. 301. All safety lamps used for examining coal mines, or which are used in any coal mine, shall be the property of the owner of the mine, and shall be under the charge of the agent thereof, and in all mines, whether they generate fire damp or not. Ventilation. the doors use[d] in assisting or directing ventilation of the mine, shall be so hung or adjusted that they will shut of their own ac cord and can not stand open; and all main doors shall have an attendant, whose constant duty shall be to open them for transportation and travel, and prevent them from standing open longer than is necessary for persons or cars to pass through; and the mining boss shall keep a careful watch over the ventilating apparatus and the air way, and he shall measure the ventilation at least once a week, at the inlet and outlet, and also at or near the face of all the entries, and the measurements of air so made shall be noted on blanks, furnished by the chief inspector; and on the first day of each month the mining boss of each mine shall sign one of such blanks, properly filled with the said actual measurements, and forward the same to the chief inspector, and any mining boss making false returns of such air measurements shall be deemed guilty of an offense against this section. Every person having charge of any mine, whenever loss of life occurs by accident, connected with the working of such mine, or by explosion, shall give notice thereof forthwith, by mail or otherwise, to the inspector of mines, and to the coroner of the county in which such mine is situated, and the coroner shall hold an inquest upon the body of the person or persons whose death has been caused, and inquire carefully into the cause thereof, and shall return a copy of the finding and all the testimony to the chief inspector. The owner, agent, or manager of every mine shall, within twenty-four hours next after any accident or explosion, whereby loss of life or personal injury may have been occasioned, send notice in writing to the chief inspector, and shall specify in such notice the character and cause of the accident, and the name or names of the persons killed and injured. with the extent and nature of the injuries sustained. When any personal injury, of which notice is required to be sent under this section, results in the death of the person injured, notice in writ ing shall be sent to the chief inspector within twenty-four hours after such death comes to the knowledge of the owner, agent or manager; and when loss of life occurs in any mine by explosion, or

accident, the owner, agent, or manager of such mine shall notify the chief inspector, or the district inspector, forthwith, of the fact, and it shall be the duty of the chief inspector to go himself, or require one of the district inspectors to go at once to the mine in which said death occurred, and inquire into the cause of the same, and to make a written report, fully setting forth the condition of the part of the mine where such death occurred, and the cause which led to the same; which report shall be filed by the chief inspector in his office as a matter or [of] record, and for future reference.

For any injury to persons or property, occasioned by any viola- Damages. tion of this act, or any willful failure to comply with its provisions by any owner, agent or manager of any mine, a right of action shall accrue to the party injured, for any direct damage he may have sustained thereby; and, in any case of loss of life, by reason of such willful neglect or failure, aforesaid, a right of action shall accrue to the widow and lineal heirs of the person whose life shall be lost, for like recovery of damages for the injury they shall have sustained.

The owner, agent, or manager of any mine shall also give notice to the chief inspector of mines in any or all of the following cases :

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aj

2. Where any working is commenced for the purpose of opening a new shaft, slope or mine, to which this act applies.

3. Where any mine is abandoned or the working thereof discontinued.

4. Where the working of any mine is recommenced after any abandonment or discontinuance for a period exceeding three months.

5. Where the pillars of a mine are about to be removed or robbed.

6. Where a squeeze or crush, or any other cause or change may seem to affect the safety of persons employed in any mine, or where fire occurs, or a dangerous body of gas is found in any mine.

One who voluntarily assumes a risk thereby waives the provisions of a statute made for his protection; and, where a statute does not otherwise provide, contributory negligence is a defense whether the action be brought under a statute or at common law. 40 N. E. Rep. 886.

SEC. 302. No child under fifteen years of age shall be allowed to work in any mine, during the school term of the public schools in the district in which such minor resides, and no child under fourteen years of age shall be employed in any mine during the vacation interim of the public schools in the school district in which such minor resides, and in all cases of minors applying for work the agent of such mine shall see that the provisions of this section are not violated; he shall also keep a record of all minors employed by him, or by any person employed in said mines, giving the name, age, place of birth, parents' name and residence, with character of employment, and he shall demand from such minor proof that he has complied with the requirements of the school laws; and it shall be the duty of the mine inspector to inspect such record and to report to the chief inspector of mines the number of minors employed in or about such mines and to enforce the provisions of this section.

SEC. 303. In case any coal mine does not, in appliances for the safety of the persons working therein, conform to the provisions of this chapter, or the owner or agent disregards the requirements of this chapter, any court of competent jurisdiction may, on application of the inspector, by civil action, in the name of the State, enjoin or restrain the owner or agent from working or operating such mine, until it is made to conform to the provisions of this chapter; and such remedy shall be cumulative, and shall not take the place of or affect any other proceedings against such owner or agent authorized by law for the matter complained of in such action.

Notices

re

quired, when.

Employment

of children.

Enforcement.