Milford chronicle., 1896-09-18
NINE ACCIDENTS.
How Disasters in Coal Mines Are
Brought About

Brought About
The Miners ..Rob the Pillars" or Sup
ports and Substitute Timbers which
Cannot Stand the Tremen-
~ dons strain.
1t is time that the truth about these
accidents in the anthracite mining re-
gions should be told. Year after year
they have been occurring with appalling
regularity. The list of the dead and
crippled, the widowed and the orphaned
grows from month to month, while the
public, intent upon its own pursuits
learns. but little about it until some
hrightful accident like that which lately
plunged the town of Pittston into
mourning concentrates attention upon
1t, and then there is a universal cutlery.
1t is felt instinctiyely that there must
he something wrong with the condi-
tons under which the mining OF coal
is carried on when disasters of that
lSfpd can occur in a state which has
wise laws regulating both the ventila-
ton of mines and the conditions under
which the coal itself can be taken out.
But what is the evil and what the rem
edy? Common sense as well as common
humanity prompts the discovery of the
one and the application of the remedy.
The law under which the present
system of inspection is carried on has
worked many reforms. 1t has done
away with many of the evils which
operated so disasterously in the early
days of anthracite mining. Ithas given
to one of the hardest working classes of
labor in the state comparatively pure
air where previously no one could
breathe any but vitiated atmosphere.
1T has done even more than this, inn
navtaat as this achievement has BEEN
Under its provisions no shaft, slope or
other mine can be worked without kav-
ing at least two avenues Of sxit--the
usual entrance and the air shaft, the
latter for use in case of disaster in
Igangways near the mouth Of the mine.
Nor do its benefactiOns stop even here.
inspectors authorized by law to inforee
the laws provisions are regularly APP
pointed and paid to do nothing else.
How, then, does it come that even after
it is in operation there can be such a
disaster as that which recently horri-
fled every resident of Pennsylvania?
The answer to this question has al
ready been limited at in these columns.
When mine is opened all the coal in the
veins is not taken out. Portions of It,
(which are called pillars, are left stand
ing to support the tremendous weight
of the ground above. AS mining be-
comes more expensive, however, and the
supply of coal dwindles, the owners fire. |
quently order the "robbing of the pill
lars"-that is, the removal of the nat
lural supports which were originally |
left standing. They know from past
experience that this Is a dangerous pro
ceeding. Thousands of victims lie in
premature graves as the result of its
adoption. But competition is fierce and
to compete successfully some chances
must be taken. So one by one the pillars
come down, until few, If any, remain
to support the mountains of earth above.
Rough timbers placed at irregular dis |
tances apart are expected to uphold |
what in the wise provision of nature
solid masses of coal had held in place
an absurd proposition upon its face.
Once the mine starts to work" as we
have frequently seen, the number of the
dead is to be recl1oned usually by the
number of men employed at the time
the crash occurs.
So much for the primary cause. The
secondary cause is that which grows
out of faulty system of inspection.
The average cave-in does not occur IN
a day or a night. Nature, as if to display
her kindness to those who have rudely
pierced her heart, gives repeated waTn-
ings before she asserts her mastery.
There are ominous sounds throughout
the gangways and breasts. The timbers
crealS and groin under their increasing
weight The rats desert the dangerous
places before the timbers give way Ill
together. These indications of the
strain are often perceptible for weeks
and then the duty of the in
spectOr is to intervene. If he performs
his duty with an eye single to the per
pose for which his Office was created
he will either compel the owner of the
mine to make it safe or empty 1t of
those whose lives are Imperfect. If he
Is the creature of the operators, as some
Of the inspectors are said to be, he may
be indifferent to the condition. of the
mines or willing that operations shall
be carried on after they are unsafe.
His reappointment depends upon his
ability to please the owners Of the
mines, not the men whose lives he is
to guard. There are districts
n the state in which. the corporation
the colleries dictate the NOM !
nation. of every inspector.-Philadel- {
phia Inquirer