El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-02
1851 KILLED;
100000 HURT
Mine Casualty List for Year
Is Heavy; 10, Killed
in Three Years.

Washington, ID. T., Dec. z-That
peaceful industry has It's horrors as
well as war is shown in the casualty
list of American mines and uuarries
for 1913, issued today by the United
States bureau of mines. This list gives
1851 men killed in the year. The num-
Der of men injured was not tabulated,
but it is estimated that it reached
100, 600.
Altogether in the coal mines. metal
| mines and quarries 1,047,010 men were
employed, and the death rate for each
| 1000 men engaged was 3.49, or nearly
| three and one-haf men.
DR.. Joseph A. Holmes, director Of
/ the bureau of mines, comes forward
with the statement that, taking the
/ hazards of the industry into consider
alton, this list of death and injury is
/ excessive and unnecessary and a dis
] credit to the industry and the country.
| In Three Years 10000 Killed.
Commenting on the deaths in the
/ mines, DR.. Holmes said: we stand
/ aghast at the slaughter in Europe as
| reports reach US concerning the terri
| BILE war that is raging, and we pride
1 ourselves on our freedom from war
through the adaptation of higher ideals
| and standards. Yet to me this report
on the death in one year of 1851 men
| engaged in a peaceful industry is quite
as discreditable. And when we con-
I slider that this record is being repeat
| ed year after year, the very thought OF
/ it becomes appalling. In the last three
! years, as far back as the records OF
the bureau covering certain branches
! of the industry go, the mines and
quarries of the United States have
| swallowed up 1O,4S7 human lives and
have incapacitated temporarily proba-
bly, a quarter of a million men,
Much of it Unnecessary.
"And the saddest part Of 1t all IS
that a great part of this death roll and
a still greater part of the injuries are
not necessary. l believe 1 am conSer-
vative when I say that half Of the
1851 men killed in the year 1913 might
have been saved and three-fOurUhs OF
! the 100000 men injured in the same
! year might have escaped injury had
all the various agencies involved, the
operators, the miners, and the state
! and national governments done their
| full duty in the matter. Perhaps no
one of these agencies has done It's IuIl
duty. For the bureau of mines, as rep
resenting the federal government,
! can say that, owing to a lack Of ade-
| quate funds, this bureau has fallen
| short of doing its full part in this
great safety movement; and 1 there
I fore hesitate to criticise the seeming
shortcomings of any other agency.
Death List Smaller in Europe.
at is not to the credit of the United
States that the very European coun-
! tries embrOiled in the greatest conflict
of the ages kill in their mining indus
, tries but One-half or even One-thifC
. I of the number of men we kill. I refer
to the number killed for every 1000
! | employed. which is a fair basis fol
comparison. According to the --latest
f | foreign statistics Belgium killed one
: | man in every 1000; Great Britain anc
J France one and one-halt men, and Ger
many two and One-half men, as COM
} pared with the American death rate OF
three and one-half.
with such a grewsOme record as
| has the United States in its mining in
! dustry, it is high time something more
| drastic is done to bring this excessive
! loss of life down to a basis that viii bt
| more favOrably compared with othel
| countries. 1t can be done; it should bt
! done; and I hope that the American
! people will see that it is done.
Federal Aid Reduces Rate.
Before the federal government be
! gan its attempts to aid in reducing tbs
J mortality of the mines, the death rat'
I was steadily increasing; and although
: every year our coal mines grow deep
creasing depth the explosive gases in
crease, this increase in fatalities hal
I fortunately been stopped and the rat
| is now being slightly reduced. But thi!
is only a beginning Of what I hop
/ will soon be a much greater improve
| ment What we really aim to do is T.
/ aid in saving the lives of at least two
men in every 1000, of the three ant
A one-half men per 1000 now killed il
our mining operations.
I'm an industrial army Of over 1,
100000 men working underground
that will mean a yearly saving of more
than 1000 lives; and in the combined
mining and mineral industries, EN-
/ ploying two and one-third million men
I hope we can aid in preventing 80, 00
| to 10000 accidents each year.
Always a Hazardous Industry.
| 1T must not be forgotten that min
ing is and always will be a hazardous
! industry and that each year it will de
| mand as its tribute to modern civil
| 1atiOn a certain death roll. We canno
( avoid the inevitable. but we can avoi,
the unnecessary; and that would meal
! each year the lives of at least 200
miners spared to the nations wag
earners and to their wives and fami
lies; and a reduction TO an extent o
10000 to 10000 in nonfatal accident
| in the mining and metallurgical indus
/ tries of the country Surely this
| something worth striving for"