The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-10-09
MINE ACCIDENTS.
How Disasters In Coal Mines Ar
Brought About.
The Miners "Rob the Pillars or Sup
ports and Substitute Timbers Which
Cannot Stand the Tremen-
dous strain.

It is time that the truth about thes
accidents in the anthracite mining re
gions should be told. Year after yea
they have been occurring with appalling
regularity. The list of the dead an
crippled, the widowed and the orphaned
grows from month to month, while tn
public, intent upon it's own pursuits
learns but little about it until SOM
frightful accident like that which latel.
plunged the town of Pittston int
mourning concentrates attention upoc
it, and then there is a universal outcry
1t is felt instinctively that there mus
be something wrong with the condi
uons under which the mining of Goa
is carried on when disasters of tina
kind can occur in a state which haI
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. 1t has 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
It has done even more than this, inn
portant as this achievement has been.
Under it's provisions no shaft, slope OF
other mine can be worked without hav'
ing at least two avenues of exit-the
usual entrance and the air shaft, the
latter for use in case of disaster in
gangways near the mouth of the mine.
Nor do it's benefactions stop even here.
Inspectors authorized by law to inforce
the laws provisions are regularly ap-
pointed and paid to do nothing else.
How, then, does it come that even after
it is in operation there can be such
disaster as that which recently horri-
fed every resident of Pennsylvania?
The answer to this question has al
ready been hinted at in these columns,
When a 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
ural supports which were originally
left standing. They know from past
experience that this is dangerous pro-
ceeding. Thousands of victims lie in
premature graves as the result of it's
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
tosupport 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 reckoned 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 a faulty system of inspection.
The average cave-in does not occur IN
day or night. Nature, as if to display
her kindness to thosa who have rudely
pierced her heart, gives repeated warn
ings before she asserts her mastery.
There are ominous sounds throughout
the gangways and breasts. The timbers
creak and groan under their increasing
weight. The rats desert the dangerous
places before the timbers give way al
together. These indications of the
strain are often peroeptible for weeks
beforehand, and then the duty of the in
spector is to intervene. If he performs
his duty with an eye single to the pur-
pose for which his office was created
he will either compel the owner of the
mine to make it safe or empty it of
those whose lives are imperiled. 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 reappeintment depends upon his
ability to please the owners of the
mines, not the men whose lives he is
supposed to guard, There are districts
In the state in which the corporation
operating the colleries dictate the NOM
nation of every inspector.-Philadel-
phia Inquirer.
Fish In Deep Water.
L. Il nl,r