The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-02-21
ANNUAL
REPORT
Inspector STEMS Statistics For the Sixth
Anthracite District.
COMMENT ON MINE OPERATIONS
The Inspector Says N~ine-Tenths Of the
Accidents Are Due to Inexperience
n Recklessness-Foreme Also
Raped on the Knuckles
For Laxity.

Mine Inspector William Stein to day for
warded to the State Department Of Mines his
annual report on the operations in the Sixth
Anthracite District and before doing SO
favored the local press with a copy of the
statistics embraced in the report.
In an interview bearing upon his Observa-
tions in the district during the past year. In
spector Stein said to a HERALD reporter to-
day that during 1897 there were G more fatal
and 20 more uou-fatal accidents i'm his dis
trict than there were in 1896. There was al
so an increase Of n in the number Of en-
ployes during 1897 and a decrease of As, $50
tons in the production Of coal.
The causes producing so many accidents, Ne
said Inspector Stein, must be quite apparent
to all skillful miners. Nine-tenths of them
is the result of inexperienced or reckless
mining Of coal. The law is mandatory that
the operator should provide for the safety Of
its wOrkmen, and that is practically carried
out, yet the accidents seem to be increasing,
and we look for no improvement unless we
have men practically taught to detect the
danger incident to the mining of coal as it
presents itself, and at the same time be able
to avoid that danger"
Mr.. Stein also stated that it is very notice
able that the general condition of the col
%lieries in his district are being yearly i'm
proved, and it is also very apparent that the
coal companies are making a study whereby
the lives Of their workmen may be best pro-
tected against danger.
In further commenting in the interview on
accidents Inspector Stein said that during
1897 there were no unusual accidents result
ing in the loss Of more than two lives at one
time, yet some of the mine officials do not
put forth the efforts they should to avoid at
least some of the accidents. 1T seems, 20
said the Inspector, that some of the mine
foremen are rather impressed with the
idea that, having been qualified by the
mine board of examiners, the miner him
self is responsible for his own safety. in so
far as the actual cutting of coal is concerned"
The Inspector added that a mine foreman
cannot be expected to supervise the actual
mining of coal in all his mine openings, yet
accidents have occurred during the year where
the mine foreman was, to some extent, culpa-
BILE to the accident, in that his discipline was
laxative in not enforcing the instructions
given him by his superiors and seeing that
they were obeyed. When a mine accident
occurs, killing from five to twenty men, it
strikes into the hearts Of a discerning COM
munity. But when one man is killed i'm that
or this cOlliery until the death rate reaches 10
a month, or 70 a year, we are sometimes too
apt to give it but very little thought and, to
the minds Of some, it seems a matter of
course.
The following are the statistics furnished
by the report Number of inside employees:
Inside foremsn, 50; fire bosses, 1870. Miners.
1855; miners and laborers, 2s34; drivers and
runners, SIS; door boys and helpers, pa; all
other company men, 3l99; total inside, II, O32.
Outside employees Outside foremen, G2;
blacksmiths and carpenters, 1913; engineers
and tremen, SOP; slatepickers, 1863; all other
company men, 1896; supcrintendents book
keepers and clerks, 1O2; total outside, 1924;
grand total, CLOSE.
On the production of coal Total in tons.
6,475, $50 quantity used in tons for steam
and heat, $780, OIL sold to local trade and
used by employees, 90, O32 railroad shipments
in tons, 5,625, 6SS average number of days
worked, l40i fatal accidents, 70 non-fatal
accidents, 73 kegs of powder used, 1IG. III :
pounds of dynamite used, 233, ops steam
boilers in use, 0O3 horses and mules used.
2,O72; wives left widows, 80 orphans, 50 ;
fatal accidents inside, SO; outside, Z nom
fatal accidents inside, S.; outside, Is %triting
accidents, 81 number manned, 81.
The following shows the number of acct
dents at the respective collicries in the dis
trict st. Nicholas, 3 inside Gilberton.
inside and l outside Ellangowan, 6 inside
Hammond, l inside and l outside Indian
Ridge, 2 inside Knickerbocker, 2 inside
Kohinoor, ? inside Mahanoy City, l inside.
Suffolk, l inside S~chuylkill, ? inside
Shenandoah City, 3 inside; Tunnel
Ridge, . inside West shenandoah.
? inside Maple Hill, 6 inside ORA,
per, l inside Packer No. ?, l inside
Packer No. 4, 4 inside; Packer No. 3, . i'm.
side and l outside; Packer No. 5, ? outside
and one inside; Primrose, l inside; Honey
brook No. 4, 2 inside Honeybrook No. ., /
inside VIM. Penn, 4 inside; Park No. ., g
inside; Silver Brook, l inside and l outside.
Oneida, ? inside; Lawrence, 2 inside; North
Mahanoy, 3 inside and 2 outside.
The nationalities of the victims are CLASH
fed as follows Fatal accidents-American
10; English, 81 Irish, 8; Welsh, ?; Scotch, 0;
Germans, s; Polish, 80; Hungarians, 6
Italian, @. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., 10; Eng
lish, 81 Irish, ~ Welsh, q Scotch, 0; Ger.
mans, o. Polish, 20; Hungarians, S; Italians, 3
In concluding his report to the state de.
partment Inspector Stein refers to the per.
manent abandonment of the Schuylkill col
liery as a shipper and the connections mad,
from the Seven-foot vein in the North Maha
noy colliery to the Buck Mountain vein o
the Schuylkill colliery to take what Goa
remains to be mined to the North Mahauoy
colliery breaker. The connection be
tween these two collieries also serve
AS drainage TO take all the wate
from the pumps in the lower lifts o
the Schuylkill c~olliery, and also the waite
from tho Springdale colliery, which wa
abandoned in May, last. For this purpos
two new duplex pumps with Is inch plungers
As inch stroke and 80 inch cylinders, with
maximum Of IS strokes per minute, were pu
in position at the bottom of the 4th lift o
the new pump slope sum for the purpose il
the North MahanOy c%ollisry to a depth 0
1850 feet, through which the water is pumpe,
in two 1S-inch column pipes to the surface
and thence to the breaker tor the purpose o
washing the coal.
In his report Inspector Stein has compli
mented the p. & r.. G. Al. Co. for the ex
csllent manner in which this work has beef
constructed. 1t has lined all the puml
houses with 14-inch brick and cement wall
and has placed IS pound T iron rails on to-
s..N..l e - ...u, Al. v..F .. 90 4