The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-04-17

The coal-miner passes Ia his cage rapidly
from tho light Of day 10 the darkness OF
the coal bed, several hundred yards beneath
the surface. Here be toiis--too often In
constrained position--for hours, hewi1g
coal BY the dim light Of lamp filtered
through the small meshes OF wire gauze.
His dangers are many, and from the mo-
ment the miner trusts himself on the de-
ecending cage they begin. A man q day 10
killed In the shafts OF our colleries- The
roof above him in his working place 10
often treacherous, aud nearly six mea are
killed 10 every million tons Of coal raised
10 this country, by che fall on the STRATUM
beneath which be labors. Than the coal
itself 10, sometimes continuously, often sud-
denly, pouring oct its csrbursttsd hydro
gen gas, which mixing with air, becomes
tie fire. damp; and with the sad casualties
arising from its explosion we are unforsu-
nately but too familiar. In one moment
scores Of men are destroyed BY the force OF
the explosion, and those Who escape the
Gre damps perish in the deadly cloud Of
"atter-damp," "stythe," or "chOke-damp,"
AZ the carbonie acid formed bY the explo
sion IL vaFiOusly named. Nor are these all
the dangers Of the miner. He suddenly
breaks into old workings, Of which no re-
cords have been kept, and be peIishes by
drowning in the rush Of the liberated wa
tiers. surging under the pressure Of the col
umn Of fluid, which has been gathering, it
may be, for ages. The coal may be set on
fire By an explosion Of gunpowder or from
some accidental Cause, and, famed by the
force Of the ventilating current, becomes
rapidly so extensive as to cut OF all means
Of escape. Then we have the sad record of
the Hartley COlliery. in which, by the break
ing Of the machine. ), the shaft was closed,
and 204 men and bows found living tomb.
A similar accident occurred but few weeks
since near Rotterdam, where the whole body
of colliers at work we're in a moment seal
ed in their colliery for some days; but,
happily, here it was possible to remove the
obstruction from the shaft and release
them.
The toiler in the metal mines, who is not
liable to suffer from explosions Of 6se damp,
is surrounded by numerous dangers, anals
gous to those already described. Beyond
these, from the severity Of the lsbors OF the
metalliferouH miner in air deficient of oxy-
gen, aud witf an excess of carbonic acid,
and from injut ous influence Of climbing on
perp endicular ladders from, it may be, more
than three hundred fathoms beneath the
surface, bronchial diseases are contracted
early in life, and the average period Of his
existence is bu. little above half that en-
joyed by other men.
The very conditions or q miners life
render him peculiar man lie 10 ever re-
ligious. There is no profane speaking in
underground life, /" and whisting is regard
ed as an act Of levity, and always checked.
Yet the miners religion is almost always
that OF the fatalst. /" | shall not die until
it please the Lord" is it's expression. A
man who was brought out o. lie Lundhill
Colliery for dead, bat who recovered was
sooB at work in a neighboring colliery
known to be Of ''6ery" character He
was asked By visitor if be was not under
fear, having already suffered so severely.
"No," was his undertaking reply; " the
Lord that saved me then will save me
again. London AthenGum