The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-07-18

the coffin and shroud, and he has not only
got to do that, but 1t causes your men
to reduce your output, and causes the
mine to lay idle. Sometimes when you
have a fatal accident it takes two or three
days to get over 1t, and your output is
run down, your men go to attend the fu-
neral, and all that adds to the cost of the
production of the coal and comes out of
the pocket OF the operator. Now, from a
financial standpoint, you owe it to the
operator to try to prevent every accident
you can.
'I am not unmindful of the fact that
accidents will occur in coal mines. I do not
care how careful the mine foreman is,
because l investigate accidents in coal
mines where men lose their lives or are
injured, where there is no careessness on
the part of anybody; 1t is an unforeseen
thing that nobody could see until the rock
fell, or the piece of machinery broke, or
something occurred to cause the accident.
Accidents of that kind will occur and we
expect them to occur. We will have ac-
cidents as long as we carry on our in
dustrial business, whether coal mining or
steel making or anything else, but the
great trouble with the American people
today is that they have come to believe
that it is necessary to have those acci-
dents in the operation of our business.
Why, some men will get up and say,
Those things are going to happen; 1t Is
absolutely necessary to make those sac
rifices and lives to be lost, and for in
juries to occur IL our modern industrial
system is to go on Now, I want to tell
you that Is not true AS I said before,
90 per cent of the accidents that occur
in coal mines are attributable to the care
lessness of somebody
at Is not always on the part of the
| operator, not always on the part of
| the mine foreman, and not always on
a.%f af h.. MI, -
on the part of somebody that caused
that accident. Now, what we want to
| do is to try to eliminate that careless
| ness. There Is no truer saying than
that Familiarity with danger breeds
Indifference or carelessness. You ex-
pose man to danger constantly, I
don't care what the danger is, whether
on the firing line when the battle is
raging or whether in the steel plant or
coal mine, or on the railroad, the more
he Is exposed to that danger, the less
fear he has of it and more careless he
| becomes That is true with the miner
as with everybody else
There is no more hazardous occu-
| patton than coal mining. Every time
n coal miner, or mine official, goes into
the mines he don't know whether he
| is going to come out alive or not
There are so many ways he can be
! killed that he don't know whether he
| is going to get out or not 1t is
! hazardous occupation, an occupation
! that requires a great deal of care, and
requires skill as well as care, and it
requires carefulness and the mine
| foreman is there to see that that care
fulness and that skill exists; he is there
to see to it that these man make their
( places safe and see that they do not
/ do anything that will endanger their
own lives or the lives of their fellow
workmen"
Mr.. Flynn continued by illustrating
| points and by discussing certain 9th er
phases of the mining business. He
was heartily applauded.
Assistant State Mine Inspector Hillhouse
was introduced and made interesting ami
! practical remarks along the line of Mr..
! Flynn's address.
The programme was concluded with
! the reading of carefully prepared
! paper by Edward II. Coke on the pre-
vention of Accidents in Coal Mines" 1t
| was quite lengthy and as it was re-
i garded as exceptionally able and sug-
gestiye it will be printed in full in to-
| morrow's Age Herald.