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


do not know whether they are used yet or
not and am going to leave that for the
others to say, but If not, then we ought
not to have them there, because when
they are there the first thing when
miner gets burned the mine foreman runs
to his cupboard and uncorks his lnseed
oil, or olive oil, land gives the fellow
thorough saturation. That is the first
thing he does, and he sends him on to
the doctor, and sometimes the doctor
gives him another bath of linseed OIL
or olive oil, etc. That used to be the
method of treating burns around coal
mines He is changed, doctor?"
DIR. Cunningham: I'VE do not use 1t at
the hospitals; I do not know what they
do at the Mines"
Mr.. Flynn: Now, gentlemen, If it is
not the proper thing, then that section
of the mining laws ought to be repealed"
Duties of Foreman.
Now, going back to the mine foremen
the first important duty of mine fore
man and his first duty is to look after
the safety of the employe. 1t is his duty
to see that the mining laws are enforced;
1t is his duty to see that the employees
do not violate any of the mining laws: it
is his duty to see that they do not vio-
late any of the rules of the company
in regard to their personal safety. 1t is
not enough, gentlemen. for you to say
to man, in my opinion, Don't you do
that. And, too, many of our mine fore
men believe that they have discharged
their full duty when they say to man.
Don't you do it Gentlemen, that is not
the case; you owe it to the man himself
you owe 1t to your employer, and you owe
1t TO society in generai not only to tell
man not to do a thing that endangers
his life, but you owe it to him to see
that he does not do 1t. You are there
for that purpose; you are there to see
that he does not do it. That is one of
the don'ts I am going to put in there
to see that he don't do anything that
would endanger the life of his fellow
workman the property of a fellow
employe.
II find in going around the mines and
investigating accidents, as required by
law-and the experiences of my associates
are about the same thing-I will say fully
60 per cent of the accidents that occur
from falls of rock and coal and other
causes the mine forrmen will say to
me: Il warned that fellow~not to do that;
I told that fellow not to get on that
trip | told that fellow to set a timber
under that rock; l told that fellow to
pull down that coal not an hour before
he got hurt or killed And the mine fore
man sits back on his dignity and says:
I discharged my full duty; | told him
not to do it. Gentlemen, that is not your
duty. You may have discharged your
legal duty when you have told a man
not to do a thing, but you have a moral
duty to perform, and your moral duty is
to stay right there and see that that
man sets that timber under that loose
piece of rock and makes that place safe
before you leave there; and If you do
that | want to tell you that you will cut
out 70 per cent of the fatal accidents that
occur in Alabama from falls of rock
and falls of coal. / have no patience
with a mine foreman that will tell me he
saw a miner working under a piece of
rock and told him it was dangerous and
then walked out to see him get killed.
'If ] were a coal operator or superin-
tendent of a coal mine aud the mine fore
man came and told me he was In a man s
place 10 minutes or 30 minutes or one hour
before the man got killed, or injured, and
that he knew that rock was loose, and he
knew there ought to be a prop under 1t,
and that he knew 1t ought to be taken
down, and he did not stay there to see
that 1t was taken down, and that man S
life was lost or he was injured, l would
certainly demand his resignation right
away and say he was not competent to
take charge of that mine tell you why:
Every fatal accident that occurs in a coal
mine costs the operator money. l don't
care whether he is legally responsible for
1t or not, the operators are human beings,
and some of them are very sympathetic,
and you know that from experience, ]
suppose. / do not know what per cent.
but / will say rs per cent? don't think
that is high enough-of the fatal acct
dents that happen around the coal mines.
your operator has got to bear all Of the
funeral expenses He has got to furnish