The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1915-02-27
FATALITIES LEse'$< =:
DURING YEAR. lS$;&;;
. .-}>- HlIUIvUvu HII ESvh q
s
Q, 451 Men Killed in Mines Last
Year-Decrease of 334 Over
Previous Year.

WASHINGTON, Feb 26.-The 1914
casualty list for the army of three
quarters of a million men employed
in American coal mines, just made
public by the United States Bureau of
Mines, shows that 2,541 men were
killed. .
Deaths Growing Less.
Comparing the deaths with the year
1918. there is a. decrease of 334, or
one man less killed for nearly every
day in the year.
Shocking as is the violent death
of 2,451 men in "a years time by a.
peaceful industry said Van H. Man.
ming, acting director of the bureau,
the men Of the bureau who are en-
gagged In the campaign to reduce this
casualty list find, in comparisons with
other years, some facts that are rather
comforting and some indications that
the improvement noted in the saving
of life will be further accentuated as
the years. pass.
In the first place, coal mining in
, 1914 cost the lives of 3.s men in every
1000 employed, while in the year
1913 the death rate was 1913. That
reduction alone means a saving of
more than 800 lives.
THE number Of miners killed for
every one million tons Of coal mined
in 1914 was 4.81. In the year 1913.
there were 4.S9 miners killed for every
one million tons mined. With the
exception Of the year 1912, the 1914
rate is the lowest yet recorded for
the United States
THE amount of coal produced for
each miner killed in 1914 was 20s,07s
tons, which is the largest amount on
record with the exception of the year
1912.
There were 316 lives lost in dis.
asters in which more than five men
were killed, which is a reduction OF
14S deaths when compared with the
disasters of 1913.
Bureau of Mines Succeeds.
When the Bureau Of Mines bekar
its work, the great cause of great dis
asters in the coal mines Of the United
States, was the explosion Of coal dust
This phase Of the problem was taken
up more vigorously than any othe,
and it " indeed gratifying .to@ the
@hlleeeu the cxp ploSfo1rB from coal
dust in 1914 have decreased 96 per
cent from the previous year.
"Whilerthe Bureau Of Mines is lead.
ing in this national movement to re-
duce the number Of deaths in thu
mines, it realizes fully that not much
progress could be made, were it no
for the helpful cooperation it obtain!
from the. state bureaus, the miners
themselves, the operators and variou:
other agencies. The Improvement be
ing made may rightfully be credited
to closer and more careful inspection
by the state inspectors; better en-
forcement Of laws and regulations b,
the operators; a better realization o.
the dangers attendant upon the mine
in his daily work and his efforts to re
duce accidents due to the educationa
campaign conducted in his behalf
the extended use of safety lamps i,
doubtful mines; the use of permiss
ible explosives that have been passe.
upon by the bureau Of mines; tn
wetting of dusty mines to prevent ex
plosons Of coal dust; the f1rst-aid an,
( rescue training which saves lives tha
otherwise might be lost by reason o
a injuries received; the enactment of in
dustrial accident compensation laws
: and last but not least the fine spiri
b of cooperation on the part Of al
concerned"