NEIMME: papers
Minutes of evidence to the Children's Employment Commission.
Chapter 5. State of the place of work in coal mines.
It is obvious that the effect of labour on the well-being of the labourer must be materially influenced by the nature and condition of the place in which the employment is carried on. The circumstances which mainly influence the salubrity, comfort, and safety of the place of work in coal mines are the thickness of the seam of coal, and the consequent dimensions of the subterranean roadways, together with the ventilation, drainage, and temperature of the mine.
l. Thickness of the Seam of Coal, and Dimensions of the Subterranean Roadways.
198. On the thickness of the seam of coal, more than on any other single circumstance, depend the natural facilities for rendering the coal-mine convenient, considered as a place of work. How greatly those facilities must vary in different districts will be at once apparent when it is considered that the seams of coal at present actually worked in various parts of the kingdom differ from ten inches to ten yards in thickness.
199. When the seam of coal is thick, the roads made for the conveyance of the coal from the workings to the foot of the shaft are always proportionally high. Whenever the seam of coal is thick enough to render it the interest of the owner of the mine to make the main roads and the side roads sufficiently high for a man to stand upright, in this fortunate case the interest of the proprietor and the comfort of the workman coincide. In this comparatively rare case all the operations of the mine, are in general conducted on a scale of great magnitude; one result of which commonly is that the mine, considered as a place of work, is at least not oppressive to the workpeople; and it is indeed easily, that is, without much expense to the proprietor, provided with all the conveniences and comforts appropriate to mining labour. Little difference will lie felt in seams of different thickness, as long as this is not less than from five to six feet; but then as the thickness of the seam diminishes it rapidly becomes more expensive, in proportion to the quantity of coal to be procured, to make the roads for carrying on the operations of the mine of a convenient height; and the cost of doing this is materially affected by the nature of the strata both above and below the seam. Supposing the seam to be very thin and yet the coal to be of excellent quality, and supposing the strata both above and below the seam to be of such a nature that they cannot be removed, so as to snake the roof high and the floor even and smooth, without very great expense; in this case the economical working of the mine will require that tile roads be made no higher than is absolutely indispensable for getting the coal and conveying it to the foot of the shaft. Now it may be possible to work such a mine with profit, supposing that no expense is incurred beyond what is necessary to obtain barely sufficient space to render it practicable for the miner to carry on his operations; while it may not be possible to work such a mine with profit, due regard being paid to the convenience, or even to the safety and health, of the workpeople. It is conceivable that, in a case such as is here supposed, labourers in a mine may be obliged to carry on their work under circumstances highly oppressive and injurious : whether this be actually the case in any of the coal-mines at present worked in this country, tile evidence about to be adduced will show.
200. In order that a more distinct conception may be formed of the real bearing of the facts collected on this subject under the present Commission, it may be proper to state in general terms (Footnote: This must be considered only as a rough estimate, not as assigning the requisite space with positive accuracy within a few inches, more or less) that no coal-mine can be worked, with tolerable convenience or comfort to the workpeople, of which tile main roads are less than from five to six feet in height, and the side roads two feet and a half. When the roads are six feet high and upwards there is not only ample space for carrying on the general operations of the mine, but the coals can be drawn direct from the workings to tile foot of the shaft by the largest horses. `When the main roads are four feet and a half high the mine may still be rendered sufficiently convenient for tile workpeople, and the coals may be conveyed along these roads to the foot of tile shaft by ponies or asses. But, when the main ways are under four feet, the coals can no longer be conveyed along these roads by ponies or asses, or even by adult or young men; they can only be conveyed by children. Yet it is in evidence that, in many mines which are at present worked, the main gates are only from twenty four to thirty inches high, and in some parts of these mines the passages do not exceed eighteen inches in height. In this case not only is the employment of very young Children absolutely indispensable to the working of the mine, but even the youngest Children must necessarily work in a bent position of the body, in the manner hereafter described.
2. Ventilation.
201. The best mode of ventilating mines hitherto discovered is that by means of two shafts sunk near each ether, perhaps from 12 to 20 yards apart. A stream of air is made to descend one shaft, called the downcast-shaft, and a corresponding stream of air to ascend the other, called the upcast-shaft. The air is set in motion by means of a fire which is kindled in the upcast-shaft. A portion of the air in contact with the fire in this shaft, undergoing the ordinary chemical change which takes place in atmospheric air in the process of combustion, is decomposed : the nitrogen is separated, and the oxygen uniting with tile carbon of the fuel forms carbonic-acid gas. Both these gases, as well is the portion of atmospheric air which remains undecomposed, being heated, are expanded, and occupy a proportionally larger space than the same weight of common atmospheric air, and in obedience to the laws of all fluid bodies are borne upwards, consequently a strong current of air ascends this shaft; but if a free communication has been established below between the two shafts, an equal current must at the same time necessarily descend the second shaft to fill up the partial vacuum which has been made in the first.
202. Here then a power is generated capable of forcing a current of fresh air far beyond the distance to which any mine extends. The great generator of this power is the fire, and this power will act with a force and steadiness proportionate to the degree of heat steadily maintained at the bottom of the upcast-shaft.
203. After two shafts have been sunk in a coal-field, the first operation is to establish a communication between their by digging out the coals from the one to the other. The next is to carry forward a mainway from tile foot of each shaft, and then to snake a road from the extremity of one mainway to the extremity of the other. If a door be now placed in the road which leads directly from the foot of the one shaft to that of the other, tile air cannot then pass that way, but must go round along the one mainway across to the other, and thus to the foot of tile shaft in which there is the fire, up which shaft the current must ascend.
204. To whatever distance we suppose the mainways, the sideways, and all the other works of the mine to be carried, communications may thus be made between them, and by means of doors properly placed, the circulation of the air may be conducted and guided through them to any extent and in .any direction that may be desired. A very simple diagram, showing the principle of these arrangements for ventilation, without the intricacy attaching to a plan of all the ways in an extensive pit, is added in the margin from Mr. Fletcher's Report, § 20: App. Pt. 11. p. 822.
205. As the fresh air that descends the downcast-shaft passes along the various roads through which it is directed, it not only affords the means of healthy respiration to the workpeople, but in its course collects and carries with it every heterogeneous matter which it can hold in solution, or which is capable of being mixed with it, which it conveys out of the mine through the upcast-shaft into the air above. The various matters which are thus conveyed out of a coal-mine in this ascending current are atmospheric air, carbonic acid gas, nitrogen gas, carbureted-hydrogen gas, moisture, and animal effluvia.
206. In looking at the plans of large coal-pits there seems to be great perplexity and much ingenuity in the manner in which the air is conducted to the different parts of the mine, but the great principle in all is the very simple one which has now been stated, and at the cost of maintaining a sufficient fire at the foot of the upcast-shaft, and an adequate arrangement for conducting the current of air through the pit, any coal-mine can be perfectly ventilated.
207. Several of the Sub-Commissioners have given detailed descriptions of the different modes of ventilation adopted in their respective districts. (See Dr. Mitchell, Report, § 245, et seq. : App. Pt. I., p. 30; § 1.01, et seq. : p. 97; § 8, et seq. : p. 120; J. C. Symons, Esq., Report, § 141, et seq. : App. Pt. I., p. 184; J. R. Leifchild, Esq., Report, § 160, 'et seq. : App. Pt. I., p. 539; J. L. Kennedy, Esq., Report, § 61, et seq. : App. Pt. II., p. 153; J. Fletcher, Esq., Report, § 19, et seq.: App. Pt. II., p. 822).
208. From the evidence it appears that in all the districts there are particular mines in which, often at great expense to the owners, every precaution is taken which intelligence and skill can devise to render the mine healthy and safe; but that there are great numbers of mines in which both ventilation and drainage are grossly neglected, and in which, as a necessary consequence, there is often a frightful destruction of human life.
3. Drainage.
209. Next to the due supply of the coal-mine with pure air, which is necessary alike to its salubrity and safety, its healthfulness depends upon its being properly drained. Some pits are naturally very dry; others cannot be made and kept so without constant care and much expense. Various modes are adopted for the drainage of coal-pits, such as bringing the water to the surface in buts worked by machinery, or by successive lifts of pumps, or by collecting the water in a sink or sump at the bottom of one of the shafts, and then drawing it up in buckets by the engine when the engine is not engaged in raising coals; or by sinking a shaft on purpose, in which is placed a series of pumps for raising the water from one lift to another, until from the highest pump of all, which brings the water to the surface, a perpetual stream is made to flow. But without entering into any further account of this, it may suffice to state that, whenever the floor of the pit lies in such a way that the water will flow to the place to which the lowest pump descends, then the pit can be effectually kept dry.
210. In regard to all the conditions which have been described, there is the greatest variety in different coal mines in each district, and a corresponding variety in their character as places of work.
4. Temperature.
211. Coal pits are almost always comfortably warm; and in general the deeper they are, the warmer. By proper ventilation the heat can generally be so regulated main roads the heat is often oppressive in the side gates and at the workings. Oppressive heat may always be regarded as an indication of imperfect ventilation. It is stated that in the mines of the Yorkshire coal fields the thermometer stands in the main roads at from 50° to 60°, in the side roads from 60° to 65°, and at the workings from 64° to 72°. In the deep mines in the northern coal field the temperature is considerably higher. In one of the Hetton pits in South Durham the temperature was found to be 660 at the bottom of the shaft, and 700 in the workings; but in the Monkwearmouth colliery, the deepest in the northern coal field, the average temperature ranges from 78° to 80°, and in some parts of this mine it occasionally rises to 89°.
212. SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE.-In this coal field the principal ream of coal is 10 yards thick, the roads which are cut out of the coal are seven or eight feet wide and about nine feet high; and with such a thickness of the seam it would be easy to make the roads of still greater height, were this attended with any advantage; but a greater height of the roof would increase the danger to the workpeople in case anything should fall out of the roof, from the velocity acquired in descending from so great a height.
213. In this district. the coals are brought direct from the workings to the foot of the shaft in cars drawn by horses. A railway is laid along the middle of the road, to make the work easier for the horses. Each horse is conducted by a boy, usually from thirteen to fourteen years of age, who marches at the horse's side, his right hand at the bridle; and these boys are naked from the waist upwards.
214. In some of the coal mines in which disturbance has been caused by eruptions of basalt, the roads, instead of being uniformly level, are up-hill and downhill, the risings and depressions being numerous and sudden, and the ascents in some places steeper than Highgate-hill. In such situations horses cannot be employed, the cars are drawn up hill to the foot of the shaft by the jig-chain, and are worked by the steam-engine. Where there is a descent down hill the cars are put in motion by their own gravity, and are kept from going too fast by a chain wound round a cylinder.
215. “In the coal mines of this district the state of the place of work, to persons who have been accustomed to it, is very comfortable. The coal-beds are sufficiently thick to allow abundance of room. The mines are warm and dry. There is a supply of fresh air from ventilation, though less than there easily might be. In conversation with miners, in the whole course of inquiry as to the state of the mines, I never heard a single complaint. The pits are usually of the temperature of a fine summer's day, or, as one of the witnesses expressed, 'it is warm, beautifully warm.' Horses thrive well in the pits. Large, convenient, and comfortable stables are dug out of the coal for them; they grow fat, and their skins are remarkably smooth and glossy, which is attributed to the warm uniform temperature. The miners in the pit are not exposed to close over-heated air, as in some manufactories; and in winter escape the miseries of cold, rain, snow, and frost. However unpleasant the coal pits may be to persons who for the first time go down to see them, to those who are used to them they are exceedingly agreeable" (Dr. Mitchell, Report, § 108-110: App. Pt. I . p. 12). 216. Of the state of a place of work in which the workpeople are capable of pursuing their laborious and dangerous occupation, not only without complaint but with cheerfulness, a vivid picture is presented by the following description of a visit to the Wallbut Pit:
217. On descending the shaft, "the first step from the skip went above the ankle in water and wet coal-dust, and the second step was like the first. It was of no use then to be on ceremony, and we advanced forward. The water in one place was nearly knee-deep, and through this part we went on a carriage with a skip drawn by a horse. The water everywhere fell from the roof in great drops, like the shower of a thunder-storm, out of the roof of the gateways. The horses had wax cloths spread over them to protect them a little from the rain. The water sometimes fell in spouts. It was stated that all this was merely the drainage of the water which had accumulated for ages in the coal and in the measures (strata) above it; and that in four or five months, by the time the gateways were completed, the mine would be thoroughly drained, and would be easily kept dry and comfortable with very little pumping. The horses were obedient, the men and boys seemed very cheerful.
The holers lay on their sides, with the water covering their lower thighs. There was not a murmur of complaint. There was a long gateway of some hundred yards in length, and other roads coining off at right angles from it, from one to the other of which airways were drawn which formed the means of ventilation. In one place the gas bubbled up through the water, and when a candle was held to it there was a flash. The horse-road was about eight feet across and eight feet high, and there a railway was laid down. One of the most remarkable things in this pit was the cheerfulness with which men and boys proceeded with their work, seemingly unconscious of there being any hardship in it" (Dr. 1,Iitchell, Report, 43-48 : App. Pt., I., p. 6).
218. NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE.-III the Pottery district the seams are of sufficient thickness to permit tile employment of horses and ponies to draw the coal along the mainways to the foot of the shaft; and no young Children are employed underground. But in the Cheadle district " the seams of coal are not more than from three to four feet thick; consequently all the main ways are low, with 'shaley' roofs and wet bottoms : no ponies could, therefore, work in them. I descended the Dilhorn Pit, and had to stoop, my hands supporting the body, upon my knees, the whole distance" (S. S. Striven, Esq., Report, § 2, 9, 15 : Pt. II., pp. 127, 128, 129.)
219. SHROPSHIRE.-Instead of the ample space for carrying on the work of the mines, which the ten-yard seams of Staffordshire afford, the seams are so thin is the Coalbrook Dale district, that there is not above one bed in twelve in which a man can stand upright. Of' fifteen pits at present in work, the section of which has been carefully taken, two-thirds of the beds do not exceed three feet; in three of the pits the beds are above two feet, but do not exceed three feet; and in four of the pits the beds are under two feet. This may he considered as a fair statement of the thickness of the seams in this district. In general, the best coal is found in the thin seams. Of course, the general system of working must be such as will suit these thin beds, and must be materially different from that of tile Staffordshire coal mines.
220. " In the Staffordshire mines it is usual at once to extend tile horse-ways from the shafts out to the farthest boundary of the mine, and there to begin working, and gradually to come back to the shafts: the reason is that they are afraid lest tile roof of the mine should fall in if they began near tile shafts, and they should have to incur the expense of sinking fresh shafts: but in this district, where the roofs are very low, it is comparatively easy to support them, and accordingly they begin near the shafts, and work farther and farther away; and they extend the horse-way, and lay down the rails, gradually as they proceed. By this method they avoid having capital unnecessarily lying dormant in horse-ways before they are wanted. As the mine advances, other horse-ways are made, so that they may be able conveniently to reach every part; and then the system of ventilation becomes much more complicated."
221. " In face of the working is laid down a railroad, of which the rails are removable from time to time at pleasure. Upon these rails, which are about 16 inches apart, are placed small carriages, called dans, with wheels only six inches in diameter, and on these low carriages the coals are placed, in order to be wheeled to the horse-way, where they are placed in the carriages which are to be drawn by horses to the foot of the shaft. Many of the beds are exceedingly thin, and hence the space iii the workings is so low that the men lie on their sides, and it would be impossible for men to push forward the little carriages or dans, as they could not possibly get room to move easily, and, between fourteen and fifteen years of age, even a boy of ordinary growth becomes inconveniently large. In all beds there are some places where the measures (strata) above and below the coal, approach much nearer to each other than is usually the case, so that beds, which are in most parts 30 inches apart, may become as narrow as 18 inches, and the men employed can barely creep through, and could not by possibility in these places drive the dans half as easily as do the boys."
222. " When the men have moved along the face of a working, and all the coals brought down have been removed, the rails are taken up, and a new railway is made farther on; and on the ground in face. of the working just cleared out, the small coal or slack is pushed back, and all the measure (stratum) taken from above or below the coal is built up also; and thus the space where the coals were is filled up, and the visitor who comes to look at the mine never sees large empty spaces, but only the horse-ways and the narrow side lanes of the workings. This is done for various reasons: to get rid of the rubbish, which would be an incumbrance; to support the roof of the pit; and, for a reason as important as any, that there may not be any room in which a body of carbureted hydrogen gas may accumulate and explode. A current of air may also be made to pass through the horseways and workings, which could not be made to pass through a large wide space" (Dr. Mitchell, Report, §§ 248-252: App. Pt. I., p. 31).
John Anstice, partner in the Madeley Wood Iron Company, thirty years of age: “The coal pits in this district have beds of various thickness, but very many are very shallow, in consequence of which it becomes necessary to employ boys to push the carriages on railing, as it would be impossible in such beds to introduce horses or asses for the purpose. Wherever horses can be employed, it is much more advantageous for the proprietor; and for his own interest, if he had no higher motive, he certainly would not employ boys" (Dr. Mitehell, Evidence, No. 39: App. Pt. L, p. 79,1. 1). Joseph Jones, ground-bailiff to the Madeley Wood Iron Company, aged fifty-eight Many of the beds of coal which are worked in Shropshire are very thin, and are under two feet; and oftentimes it happens in beds which are thicker that. at particular parts the roof and the bottom may consist of hard rock, and may bend so as to approach nearer to each other, and in such parts as these the mine is very low, though it may not be so generally. There is a large roadway made through the pit, at a heavy expense, where there are carriages drawn by horses; but the coals must be brought from the workings on each side in small carriages, in this district called dans, and horses and asses could not get in or walk along, and the dans are pushed before them on iron rails by boys" (Ibid. No. 44: P. 80, l. 50). William Tranter, agent to the Coalbrook Dale Company: “Some of them (the mines) are two feet in thickness, but there are places to go through at times no more than 18 inches, or perhaps 20 inches. The boys crawl on their hands and knees. The face of the work along which the dans are drawn is made as straight. as possible, in order to get out the coal in as good a state as we can" (Ibid. No. 41 : p. 79, 1. 41).
223. WARWICKSHIRE.-In this coal field the thickness of the seams is from five to seven feet, a space sufficient to admit of the place in which the miners work being made, without difficulty, perfectly comfortable. In this district also the coalmines are easily drained, for the seams of coal in general lie on a declivity, and the water readily flows down to the lowest part below the workings. On descending a mine in this district the Sub-Commissioner observes: "We found ourselves when at the foot of the shaft on the side of the hill steeper than the slated roof of a house, the descent being towards the west. The passage through the gateway or main road was for the most part sufficiently high to admit walking without much stooping." (Dr. Mitchell, Report, § 9, 10: App. Pt. I., p. 90).
224. LEICESTERSHIRE.-In the Ashby-de-la-Zouch coal field the coal mines are exceedingly comfortable: the beds are of sufficient thickness to enable all persons to work without being forced into a fatiguing or disagreeable position; the mines are perfectly dry, no water being met with below a depth of 100 yards from the surface; and by a powerful ventilation the impure air is rapidly carried off. "On arriving at the foot of the Moira Bath Pit, we had a mile to go before arriving at the place where the miners were at work. The road for the greater part of the way was sufficiently lofty to enable us to walk upright, and even to go bareheaded without fear of being hurt. Every here and there were candles with the ends in clay stuck against the coals forming the sides of the roads. Several boys were engaged in sweeping the railways. There were several faults, and for part of the way the sides of the road and roof were composed entirely of sandstone instead of coal. In some places the road was secured by brick walls on the sides, and also by wood. We met horses and carriages with coals. Generally two horses walked one after the other between the rails, drawing two or more carriages; A lad, almost a man, walked at the head of the first horse, and a boy of ten or twelve at the head of the second. The air was warm in this part of the pit, though in the neighbourhood of the shaft where the air, then about 25° Fahrenheit on the bank, entered, it would be exceedingly cold. The usual system of a moveable railroad, laid along the face of the workings piece after piece as it is wanted, is adopted here.
225. " On returning back the stream of air, which had been in our faces, was now in our backs, and the heat was felt to be oppressive, and coat and waistcoat were laid aside, but notwithstanding, before corning to the foot of the shaft every remaining portion of clothing was wet with perspiration. Happily the cabin, as it is here called, the same as the hovel in Staffordshire, near the mouth of the shaft, with its warm blazing fire, afforded a hospitable protection from the frost and. snow.
226. "The heat in this pit is caused by the presence and working of about 80 risen and boys, with 30 horses; also by the burning of 100 to 200 candles at a time. The late Mr. Edward Mammatt, in his collection of geological facts respecting the Ashby Coal Field, p. 76, says, `From the fact that 44° to 46° of Fahrenheit indicates the ordinary heat of water in these mines, it may be inferred that this is the true temperature of the earth at these depths.'
227. "The mine throughout was perfectly dry, and it was stated that no water in that part of the country was met with more than 300 feet below the surface. Water has to be sent down in iron casks for the use of the people who choose to drink it, and for the 30 horses which are there to drag the coals. The salt water which supplies the Moira baths is pumped from a depth of 100 feet lower than the bed of the mine" (Dr. Mitchell, Report, § 58 et seq.: App. Pt. I., pp. 96, 97). 228. From the evidence given by Mr. Woodhouse of Overseal, mining overseer of the Moira Collieries, who has had great experience in the scientific ventilation of coal mines, it appears that a large saving of expense is invariably realised in practice from the adoption of the improved modes of ventilation, because the constant introduction of fresh currents of atmospheric air into the pits, besides being necessary to the health and safety of the workpeople, tends in a remarkable degree to protect the wood-work of the mine, and to keep the roadways dry and in good order. After speaking of the drawbacks from the profits of collieries arising from an imperfect system of ventilation-imperfect as regards the whole quantity of air passed through the workings, but still more imperfect in its distribution, he says The improved system adopted in the collieries on the Tyne and the Wear, of dividing the workings into districts, and so obtaining a current of fresh air in every division, may in many cases be adopted at a trifling expense in these counties; and although the extent of the workings in general bears no proportion to those in the collieries in the north, the principle remains the same, and the result would be favourable in a corresponding degree. It may be urged that the immense quantity of gas given out of the coal in the north has called for the improved system there, which is probably the fact; but there are many advantages to be derived from good ventilation beyond the mere prevention of explosion. In pits with a rapid circulation the men respire more freely, the road ways are kept dry and repaired at less expense, and the timber lasts longer by years, and therefore it is a matter of strict economy to ensure a good ventilation. The men suffer most materially from working in an impure atmosphere. In some mines the air can scarcely be perceived to move at all, a thick mist or fog pervading the whole pit; which is caused partly from fermentation in the wastes and old works, partly from the lights, and partly from the heat and effluvia from the horses and men. This, with a large proportion of carbonic acid gas, forms an atmosphere that none but colliers who are accustomed to it could endure, but which has the effect of shortening their days." (Ibid. § 101 : App. Pt. I., p. 97).
Joseph Dooley, ground bailiff' at Swadlincote, Granville Colliery: -There is a greatly improved plan of ventilation now, and the air-ways are very much larger than formerly. Formerly the air was made to enter, and was conducted through the old workings where it met with foul air, and was brought out in the places where the men were at work, now it is quite the reverse. The fresh air is made to enter and come in the workings where the men are employed, and then it passes into the old workings, carrying with it any foul or dangerous air which it may have met with" (Dr. Mitchell, Evidence, No. 76 : App. Pt. I., p. 112, 1. 34).
229. DERBYSHIRE.-In this district the thickness of the seams of coal varies from three to five feet. It is therefore the interest of the proprietors to make the roadways sufficiently high for asses and ponies to draw the coal to the foot of the shaft; In fact, these animals are generally employed for this purpose. Fire-damp is of occasional occurrence, and black-damp very much abounds; nevertheless the whole body of evidence shows that the ventilation in general is exceedingly imperfect. Indeed only a single instance was met with in the whole extent of this district, in which the most efficient mode is adopted, namely, that by two shafts, with a furnace in one. The Sub-Commissioner reports :- " I found the plan of ventilation followed by George Stevenson, Esq., and Company, at Clay Cross, fully answered that gentleman's expectations; it was by sinking two shafts within a few yards of each other, and placing a furnace at the bottom of one, which created a current of air through the whole works in a superior manner to any I had seen before" (J. DI. Fellows, Esq., Report, § 30: App. Pt. II., p. 254).
230. The consequences of this imperfect ventilation are, that fatal explosions frequently take place; that the work-people are distressed by the quantity of carbonic acid gas which almost everywhere abounds, and of which they snake great complaint; and that the pits are so hot as to add greatly to the fatigue of the labour.
231. But while efficient ventilation is neglected, still less attention is paid to drainage. It is stated by all classes of witnesses that some pits are dry and comfortable, but very many are so wet, that the people have to work all day over their shoes in water, at the same time that the water is constantly dripping ]]poll them from the roof. In other pits, instead of dripping, it constantly "rains," as the people themselves term it, from the roof, so that in a short time after they commence the labour of the day, their clothes are drenched, and in this state, with their feet also in water, they work all day. The Children especially, and in general the younger the age the more painfully this unfavourable state of the place of work is felt, complain bitterly of this, and it must be borne in mind that it is in this district that, according to the evidence, the regular hours of a full day's labour are fourteen, and occasionally sixteen.
James Davis, aged twenty-seven, holer, Lord Middleton's: “There is not a good ventilation; they are very much put about by the black-damp; are prevented working for a day or two together; never has had the wildfire since he worked there; never use the Davv-lamp; the pit is always tried by a man going with a naked candle; the butties are on the look-out to see all is right" (J. M. Fellows, Esq., Evidence, No. 12: App. Pt. II.., p. 266,1.57).-Joseph Shelton, aged sixty-four, pitman: " Often black-damp so as to prevent them working for days together.
The roof is bad, and often occasions slight accidents. The pit in some places is very hot, owing to the ventilation not being good, and the pit so deep" (Ibid. No. 38: p. 273,1. 20).-John Beasley, pitman, Shipley Has frequently experienced the effects of the black-damp, and has known those who have been burnt to death by the wildfire. At Shipley they occasionally use a Davy-lamp, but not regularly. He has within these two years known the pit he works at fired; so that they had to bring up all hands as well as the asses, and close the pit for a week" (Ibid. No. 40: p. 274, 1. 55).-Robert Blount, ten years old : “They have no wildfire, but black-damp; it swells their bellies and makes their heads ache" (Ibid. No. 99 : p. 290,1. 50). Thomas Bawling, agent to Mr. Fenton's coal field, Bagthorp: “Worked by asses, men, and boys; dry altogether, so much so, that. they have to supply the asses with water" (Ibid. No. 71 : p. 283,1. 43).-See also statements of witness Taylor, No. 8; Fletcher, No. 50; Middleton, No. 3; and Bodil, No. 1, as to the dryness of the pits in which they work.
Thomas King, butty at the old pit: “It is dry above; over shoes below" (Ibid. No. 161: p. 306,1.41).-Vincent Wild, coal-agent, Stoneyford Colliery: " The works are wet both under and over; it is not over shoes under, but ' rains' much over-head, so much so that the boys have to wear flannel; not very hot-if they are still it is cold; no one particularly placed for the purpose of looking after the windways or machinery, but mostly two or three are employed occasionally" (Ibid. No. 45: p. 275,1.39).- Samuel Richards, aged forty, pitman: “Works for North and Co. at the Flying Nancy Pit; the pit is very wet both over and under; under it is wet to the knees, and the boys are covered with dirt by the asses splashing." (Ibid. No. 166: p. 307, l. 42).-William Ghent: -Is seven years old; is sure he has worked two years : has to work nearly up to his knees in sludge all day; his legs are cold, but other parts very warm. He had rather get coal than head; it is so wet, and he cannot stand up; it makes his neck ache. He is so tired, dirty, and wet, when he gets home, that he undresses, gets his supper, and is glad when he is in bed" (Ibid. No. 195 : p. 315,11.10,14.)-Joseph Birkinshaw, eight years old: “He drives between; is wet through directly he gets clown." (Ibid. No. 48: p. 276,1. 36).-William Fletcher, nine years old, driver at Underwood : " He is wet quite through in an hour, and has his wet clothes to wear all day" (Ibid. No. 46: p. 276, 1. 3).- Joseph Limb, eleven years old: "The pit is wet where he works; it is over his shoe-tops; is standing there all day" (Ibid. No. 68: p. 28211L 57).-Samuel Elliott, eleven years old, Evans and Co. “It is very wet in his bank; it rains from the roof; is obliged to wear flannel; it is hot sometimes; the sweat and water are running constantly down his face; is wet through before dinner; he has to sit in his wet things to eat his dinner, and never takes them off until he gets home; there is a cabin, but they never change until they get home" (Ibid. No. 63: p. 281,1. 14). -Joseph Fletcher, aged eleven, driver: "In places the pit is nearly up to his knees in mud and water. Is naked when at work to his breeches" (Ibid. No. 53: p. 277,1. 50),-Joseph Birkinshaw, eight years old, and Samuel Vernon, nine years old, Stoneyford These two boys were drawn up from the pit because I insisted upon seeing two of the youngest. After much trouble these two were drawn up for me, and the water actually kept dripping from them and they looked as wretched as drowned rats" (Ibid. Nos. 48,49: p. 276,1.40). Mr. Henry Thorp, agent: "The pits are affected by weather, but are neither too hot or cold. Never knew the workpeople distressed by either" (Ibid. No. 33: p. 272, 1. 8).-John Davis, holer, Lord Middleton's : " It is not an unpleasant heat excepting when the black-clamp is coming; it is then very ` smothery' " (Ibid. No. 12: p. 267, 1. 2).-Samuel Richards, pitman: " It is neither too hot nor too cold except when beans are coming into flower; that's the awkwardest time for a collier' (Ibid. No. 166 : p. 307,1. 44.)-Robert Davis, pitman : “The pit in some places is very hot, owing to the ventilation not being good and the pit. so deep" (Ibid. No. 39 : p.273,1. 51).John Beasley, pitman, Shipley : " He has sometimes found the pit ‘as hot as a stove"' (Ibid. No. 40: p. 274, 1. 9). Robert Blount, ten years old: “The pit is hot, so that the sweat runs off them" Ibid. No. 99 : p. 290,1.49).-Samuel Elliott, eleven years old: “It is hot sometimes; the sweat and water are running, constantly down his face" (Ibid. No. 63: p.281, 1. 15).John Henshaw, eleven years old: - “The pit is hot; it makes them sweat directly they begin to work" (Ibid. No. 135: p. 299,1 17).
232. The general statement of the Sub-Commissioner will be seen to be in strict accordance with this evidence, who says, “I have met with pits where it rained so as to wet the Children to the skin in a few minutes, and at the same time so ]lot that they could scarcely bear their clothes on to work in, and in this wet state they had to continue fourteen hours, and perhaps had to walk a mile or two at night without changing or drying their clothes." (J. D. Fellows, Esq., Report, § 24 App. Pt. II., p. 254.)
233. WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE: SOUTHERN PART.-In that part of the Yorkshire coal field, the examination of which was assigned to J. C. Symons, Esq., the thickness of the seams of coal ranges from ten feet to ten inches. The thick seam pits are situated in the neighbourhood of Barnsley, Silkstone, Sheffield, Wakefield, Chapelton, and Elsecar. The thin seam pits are chiefly in the neighbourhood of Flockton. In the neighbourhood of Barnsley the seams of coal range from nine to ten feet in thickness, and the subterranean roadways are generally about six feet in height. In the neighbourhoods of Silkstone and Sheffield the seams are from five to six feet thick, and the subterranean roadways are commonly about the same height. At Elsecar, near Wentworth, and Rawtnarsh, in Lord Fitzwilliam's pits, the seams average five feet and a half, and the roadways are of the same height. In the neighbourhood of Wakefield and Chapelton there are seams three feet thick, and in the mines in which these are worked the roadways are about four feet in height; but in the neighbourhood of Flockton the seams are only from ten to thirty inches in thickness, and in these the height of the main roads varies from twenty-two to thirty-six inches. There are very few collieries working these thin seams in which the main roadways, exceed a yard in height; there are many in which they do not exceed twenty-eight inches, a considerable number in which the greatest height is only twenty-six inches, and some in which it is no more than twenty-two inches. It is obvious that in such collieries all the coal obtained must be conveyed the whole distance from the workings to the foot of the shaft, through a space not greater than that of a common drain. In a space like this it is impossible either for men or boys to work without great difficulty: the labour of conveying the coal to the shaft can be performed only by young Children, and even these must necessarily work, in a greater or less degree, in a bent posture of the body. It must be borne in mind that, when the main gates are only 28 or 26 inches high, the side gates are often not above 24 or even 22 inches in height. In such a space it is impossible even for the youngest Children to work without an exceedingly constrained posture. Moreover it is in these side gates, in which the height is the smallest, that the ascents and descents, often very considerable, are the steepest; and further, in this part of the mine very frequently no trams are laid down, or if there are any, as they are only placed there temporarily, they are always less evenly laid.
234. In these places, then, the youngest Children must necessarily crawl on their hands and feet; and in this posture they drag after them their loaded corves of coal, without wheels, along roads without trams. It is only the main road which it has been thought worth while, in the instances mentioned by the witness No. 73, to heighten from the thickness of the seam (26 inches) to a yard. Here alone trams are laid down; in what are properly the board-gates no trams are laid, and only the height of the seam itself is left. The same witness adds-" The Children are well tired at night. Not many fall ill. They work from seven to five o'clock." They have harder work, and yet work an hour longer than in the ironstone pits (J. C. Symons, Esq., Report, § 98: App. Pt. I., p. 179; and Evidence, No. 73 p. 241,1. 58).
235. Of the state of ventilation in this district the Sub-Commissioner reports : “I had prepared notes of each different colliery I visited in my district, but I found that a complete and true statement would be more likely to give offence than to do good, and I abandoned the design. I may, however, with truth, state, that ventilation is not sufficiently attended to for the health and comfort of the workpeople in a majority of cases; whilst in some it is so imperfect that it is positively dangerous. I have seen collieries where fire-damp, or black-damp, prevailed, and where slits for increasing ventilation ought to be cut every ten or a dozen yards, and which are not cut for upwards of fifteen and seventeen. The thin pits are almost always the worst ventilated. As a proof of this I would particularly refer you to the concise reply of Mr. Barber, a proprietor of these pits, in which lie states, in reply to query 1st, respecting the provision made for ventilation-` None;-not being necessary.' These are pits where just now Children work all night as well as by day (J. C. Symons, Esq., Report, § 126-134: App. Pt. I., p. 183).
John Thorneley, Esq., one of Her Majesty's justices of the peace for the county of York, says: “Where the ventilation is not sufficiently attended to the health of the children suffers. I have always been of opinion that though Davy's lamp was a valuable discovery, that it has in practice been a curse to the country, for it has enabled colliers to work where they otherwise ought not, and has often superseded a proper renovation of air, and been the cause of the colliers working in an impure atmosphere. Some men left a colliery in the neighbourhood a short time since on the ground that they could not work there with safety, because an air-gate had been stopped to save expense, and which prevented the draft being sufficiently maintained. Tile men were brought before the bench for absenting themselves from their work; as, however, I was aware of the nature of the case, I reprimanded the masters for thus subjecting the men to the danger of explosion every minute of the day" (J. C. Symons, Esq., Evidence, No. 96: App. Pt. I., p. 216,1. 53).
236. Very great difference prevails in different collieries in this district in regard to drainage, and the consequent humidity or dryness of the atmosphere of tile ]]line, and the wetness or dryness of the places in which the Children and Young Persons work. Very often where the ventilation is good the drainage is bad. In many collieries in this district the Children work all day long in water and mud, and in some the men actually hew the coals in water. " In very many collieries the ground is extremely wet, and the atmosphere humid, and of an earthy and damp smell. In some collieries both are equally well provided against, and always with the best possible effects on the health and comfort of the workpeople. At a colliery at Mirfield I found the men actually working in water, and in that and many others the Children's feet are never dry. The Mirfield pit was the very worst I ever saw, there being no engine-pump whatever, but merely a handpump to pump the water into a sort of dam to run out again into the gates. This colliery, nevertheless, belongs to a gentleman reputed for benevolence, but who knows nothing of his own pits" (J. C. Symons, Esq., Report, § 124, 125: App. Pt. I., p. 183).
A collier, aged forty-five, examined at Messrs. Stancliffe's Pit, Mirfield, near Dewsbury “ I was working in water, which was about four inches deep in the bank-face, when you saw me before. It was to dip, and we had no pump but a hand one. I was ordered afterwards to pump the water out, because they heard you were going to come last Wednesday, and 1 did it. We pump a dam out first where the water runs into, and then lade the water out of the holes into the dam again. The water keeps filling in very fast again, so that we are constantly working in water. We have so much a dozen more for pumping. The banksman told us to work to the rise when they expected you to come, but we wouldn't, and then he swore at me, and said we wanted to be working in the water when you came. But it was the regular thing for us to work down here to dip" (J. C. Symons, Esq., Evidence, No. 277 : App. Pt. I., p. 291, 1. 27). -Fanny Drake, aged fifteen, hurrier, Charlesworth's Wood Pit: “It has been a very wet pit before the engine was put up. I have had to hurry up to the calves of my legs in water. It was as bad as this a fortnight at a time; and this was for half a year last winter; my feet were skinned, and just as if they were scalded, for the water was bad: it had stood some time; and I was off my work owing to it, and had a headache and bleeding at my nose" (Ibid. No. 206, p. 280,1. 23).-Mary Margerson, aged sixteen, hurrier, same pit: “ The pit is very wet. The water comes up nearly to my calves generally, till they let it off. It is often so for a week together" (Ibid. No. 208 : p. 280,1. 17).-William Pickard, general steward to Sir John Lister, Lister Kaye's, Denby Grange : " The biggest part of the gates are dry. There is some places where the water is over their shoes; but very few. It is mostly very dry considering. I don't like to see the poor little children dabble in water, if it can be avoided" (Ibid. No. 255: p. 289,1. 37). -See also witnesses Nos. 219, 220, et seq.
237. In the coal-pits in this district the temperature is seldom oppressive, the thermometer in the main gates generally ranging from 50° to 660; and whenever it is' higher it is from defective ventilation, which is sometimes the fault of the colliers themselves. "Let a colliery be ever so well provided with the apparatus of ventilation, any one may defeat it by keeping a door open. I was passing through from one bank face to another, through an imperfectly made passage, where men were ` getting,' and was surprised to find the, temperature above 70°, although the colliery is one of the best regulated in the country; on asking the reason the answer was, that the colliers did not like a draft, because it made their candles `sweat' (run); and that they kept a door open on purpose to prevent a good current of air!" (J. C, Symons, Esq., Report, § 129, 130: App. Pt. I., p. 183).
238. BRADFORD AND LEEDS.-The only observation made by Mr. Wood under this head is, "that there is occasionally some dampness in particular parts of the mine" (W. R. Wood, Esq., Report, § 19 : App. Pt. II., p. H 4).
239. HALIFAX.-In this neighbourhood, in the two beds of coal at present worked, called the Hard or Lower and the Soft or Upper bed, the seams vary in thickness from 13 to 27 inches. There are seams which vary from five to eleven inches in thickness, but these are not worked. The thinnest seam at present worked appears to be 13 inches. Generally, however, throughout both the Bradford and the Halifax districts the thickness of the soft-bed sear]] is 16 inches. The greatest height of the main-roads in this district is 40 inches, and of the side roads 26 inches. Of course with such heights of the main and side roads the necessity of employing Children in conveying the coals the whole distance from the workings to the foot of the shaft is imperative. Tile distance from the workings to the shaft
is sometimes very great. " In the Bootle Town Pit I walked, crept, and rode 1800 yards to one of the nearest `faces,' the most distant was 200 further" (S. S. Striven, Esq., Report, § 36: App. Pt. II., p. 62). In reporting on this district, the Sub-Commissioner adds: "I know but of two gates that will admit of the use of horses (Messrs. Rawson's Swan Bank and the Junction Pit at Low Moor). In some of them I have had to creep upon my hands and knees the whole distance, the height being barely twenty inches, and then have gone still lower upon my breast, and crawled like a turtle to get up to the headings. In others I have been more fortunately hurried on a flat board mounted upon four wheels, or in a corve, with my head hanging over the back, and legs over the front of it, in momentary anticipation of getting scalped by the roof, or of meeting with the still more serious infliction of a broken head from a depending rock; whilst in others I have been able to accomplish my journey by stooping" (Ibid. § 33-35: p. 62).
Mr. James Holmes, proprietor of Long Shaw Colliery, Northowram : “ Our gates or mainways are generally made a yard high; we cannot make them above or below the seams, because the soil a foot or two above is so loose that it would fall in; as it is we are obliged to prop. We cannot go below the seams because the coals would close in, and the seats or floor rise more than ever; they are so full of water, we are obliged now to remove 80 or 90 rails every week, and lay them afresh to hurry upon" (S. S. Striven, Esq., Evidence, No. 47: App. Pt. II., p. 115,1.11).-Mr. Isaac Clayton, agent and principal; Bradford Union: " I am a surveyor for some proprietors in the neighbourhood, and am pretty well informed of the depths of all the shafts, heights of mainways, length of gates, and other matters relating to mining. The greatest height of our gates is about 3 feet 2 or 3 inches, that is in the better bed; the blackbed gates are not much less, except in the bveways and workings, in which you will find it
2 feet or 26 inches. If the gates are made higher it would occasion the proprietors a great outlay, because the roofs are hard and difficult to get down; if we made them 4 feet high we should have to shut them up altogether, because the coal would not pay for getting; we are therefore under the necessity of employing children instead of horses or men (Ibid. No. 49: p.115, 1. 35).-See also witnesses Nos. 27, 59, &c.
240. Ventilation in this district is " extremely imperfect," excepting in the mines which belong to the great companies; in these the works are carried on with “ system, order, and regularity, and upon a scale of magnitude not to be attained by the small proprietors; their machinery (barring the horse-gins), shafts, roofs, floors, porches, and upcast furnaces are therefore superior to any others that I have met with, either in this or any other district. The currents of air passing through their mines, by this last provision, are so strong that I have had many times a difficulty in opening a door against them-a handkerchief held up in any of the passages would blow out, as in half a gale of wind. It would certainly much surprise me to hear of an explosion in any one of them, except from the extreme negligence of the men in the headings, or from their ignorance, or that of their children, of the principles of the Davy-lamp with which they are provided" (S. S. Striven, Esq., Report, § 44: App. Pt. II., p. 64).
241. Of the state of the drainage of the pits in this district, even of those belonging to the companies, some conception may be formed from the following notes of the Sub-Commissioner: “Messrs. Waterhouse, Lindley, near Huddersfield:- Bottom deep in mire." (S. S. Striven, Esq., Evidence, No. 9 : App. Pt. II., p. 103,1. 44). " Mr. James Wells's Colliery, Norwood Green: Bottoms wet and undrained; roof rotten." (Ibid. No. 35: p. 111, 1. 15). " Low Moor Company's Level Pit:-Bottom in some places near knee-deep in muck and water, full of holes, and most painful to walk, much more to hurry in; so much carbonic gas present that the candles were repeatedly put out" (Ibid. No. 37 : p. 111,1. so). Low Moor Company's Way House Pit: Bottom ankle-deep in muck and water; equally rough and uneven as the last." {Ibid. No. 35: p.112,1. 23).- I descended Mr. Samuel Hall's Engine Pit close by, which is a most dangerous and fearful one, from the circumstance of their working two seams by the same shaft without the slightest protection at the bottom of the first shaft to the mouth of the second. On alighting from a corve in a dark bottom you naturally grope about for a footing and a shelter from falling coal and water. On the platform there is not more than 6 inches of foot-room, so that if I had not. exercised the utmost caution a fall into the second shaft would have been inevitable; the banksman refused to descend with me, and gave neither warning nor light-not from wilfulness, but thoughtlessness" (Ibid. No. 82: p. 125,1. s).
242. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.-In this district the height of the subterranean roadways," says Mr. Kennedy, "varies from twenty inches to six . feet; the greater number being from three feet to three feet six : but in some cases it is not more than twenty inches. In almost all the mines of this district, both carbonic acid gas (choke or black damp) and carbureted hydrogen gas, or fire-damp, are found, but not nearly in the same degree that they exist 1n mines in Newcastle. I am informed by an experienced coal owner that it would be impossible to work the mines of Lancashire with their present-inefficient system of ventilation, if they had as much fire-damp to contend against as they have in the mines of the north. Choke-damp, from its being of greater specific gravity than atmospheric air, occupies the lowest part of the workings; but as its presence is easily detected by the diminished flame of the candles, it rarely causes much annoyance, though it may be said to be very common in this district. I have myself "
seen the air loaded to such a degree witl1 this gas that the candles would scarcely burn when placed near the floor of the mine, a few yards out of the main aircourses" (J. L. Kennedy, Esq., Report, § 58, 59 : App. Pt. II., p. 154).
243. OLDHAM.-In this district, "the depth at which the seams are found varies from a few fathoms to 120; the thickness of those which are worked, from eighteen to forty-eight inches; and their dip, generally to the west of south, from one yard in six to one in two; there is often a considerable flow of water; firedamp is troublesome in some of the pits, though not generally; choke-damp is apt to accumulate in considerable quantities, and when the barometer is low to extend itself considerably through the workings.
244. "The mines in the thin mountain-seams in the higher parts of Oldham and Rochdale parishes are, with few exceptions, worked on a very small scale, and ill a very rude manner. Several, indeed, are entered by 'breast-eyes,' or day-holes, in the hill-side; and others by ill-constructed pits, with very rude and insecure gearing. Many have insufficient drainage; ways so low that only very little boys can work in them, which they do naked, and often in mud and water, dragging sledge-tubs by the girdle and chain, in a ventilation which proves sufficient only because the deleterious gases are almost unknown. But. the greater portion of the coal wrought in the Oldham district is raised by proprietors of larger capital. Each colliery has two or more shafts, perhaps twenty yards from each other; one, the downcast pit, sunk towards the clip of the strata, for the air to descend, and the other, the upcast pit, towards their rise, for it to return to the surface. 'Pile current is generally quickened by a furnace in the upcast shaft.
245. " The mainways are, in the larger mines, three feet six inches or four feet high, where the young people have to work, and sometimes six inches higher; but in the narrow seams they are sometimes as little as one foot ten inches, with width enough only for the passage of the tub, a candle stuck in the front of which, or in the drawer's cap, is the sole light in these dark and narrow passages. These passages are kept on a level by being run across the clip of the strata; but there are inclined passages from one gallery into another. Where horses are employed, the ways, by removing portions of the floor or of the roof, according to the material of which they are composed, are made a little higher. The ends or bays where the getters work are no higher than the thickness of the strata wrought. The construction of the roadways is various, from the rudest up to the excellent flat railways found in some of the larger mines; and, what is of still more importance to safety, that of the shafts is unfortunately very various also; and that of the gearing for effecting ingress and egress, and drawing the coals, scarcely less so" (J. Fletcher, Esq., Report, § 1'7, 19, 23, 24: App. Pt. II., p. 822, 283).
According to Andrew Knowles, Esq., colliery proprietor and worker: " Throughout the Lancashire and Cheshire coal field the strata are of such a quality that they emit little fire-damp, and they are so much inclined in their dip, that this gas, which is of lighter specific gravity than the common atmospheric air, easily escapes without. any danger, and without any extensive provision of air-doors, trappers, and artificial draughts, which become necessary when the strata pour out more gas, and found in flatter strata. Not half the mines in this country have any fire-damp whatever; the consequence is, that the class of children employed in other districts as trappers are here almost unknown. Is not aware of any mines in which trappers are employed. The Davy-lamp also is generally dispensed with, except. for trying the different workings before the colliers commence their labour. In mines subject to fire-damp lamps are always provided for trying the state of the mine. But there is not, perhaps, for 10 miles round here (Little Bolton) one used in working. There may be a few used in the mines about St. Helen's, and about Wigan, but it is not generally the case in this coal field' (J. Fletcher, Esq., Evidence, No.I : App. Pt _II., p. 838,1. 5).
246. NORTH LANCASHIRE.-In this district the seams of coal vary in thickness from eighteen inches to four feet, and the height of the subterranean roadways from thirty-three inches to six feet. The drainage is often extremely bad. The evidence given by several of the witnesses is to the following effect : "The place was always knee-deep in water, sometimes it was belly-deep.” “The pit was not above twenty inches seam, and had a foot of water in it; could hardly keep his head out of water sometimes. Drew with a belt." “ A terrible wet pit; the men sit oil a board when they work, and they lade the water out once in half an hour" (A. Austin, Esq., Evidence, No. 3, App. Pt. II., p. 811, l. 46; No. 12, p. S14,1. 23; No. 4, p. 812, 1.2).
247. CUMBERLAND.-In this district, in the inland collieries, the seams of coal are at least from four to five feet thick, and in the sea-coast pits from eight to ten feet; and the subterranean roadways are in general of such dimensions that horses are able to go direct to the workings and to draw away the loaded corves. The pits are usually well ventilated, and tolerably dry, Lord Lonsdale's especially (J. C. Symons, Esq., Report, § 21 : App. Pt. I., p. 302):
248. SOUTH DURHAM.-The coal mines of this district are often most extensive, equalling that which if above ground would be considered farms of the first magnitude. " The manner of cutting out the coals is not the long way, as in the districts already described, by horse-roads and long workings, extending from one horseway to another, and throwing back the spoil, the top, and the bottom measure (stratum), and the slack as they proceed; but the mode in the northern coal district is to cut out the coals so as to leave great rectangular masses, called pillars, behind them. To take an illustration from a familiar object, imagine a window to be a map or plan of a portion of a Durham coal-field. The wooden partitions between the panes of glass will represent the whole workings, or first workings, from which the coal has been cut. The panes of glass will represent the rectangular masses of coal left behind. The picture is not quite correct, inasmuch as the wooden partitions of a window are not in proportion large enough; but suppose it to be an old-fashioned window, such as we may sometimes see, where the wooden partitions take up one-third of the whole space of the window, then is the picture very near the truth. The whole workings in the coal cross at right angles, like the wooden partitions, and are in extent about one-third of the space, and the rectangular masses of coal occupy the remaining two-thirds. Such in form, and extending many square miles, are the great coal pits of the north.
249. "The pillars vary much in their length and breadth in different collieries, as well as in their distance from each other; but in general they are from 30 yards to 35 yards in length, and from 7 yards to 11 yards in breadth. The object in former times seems to have been to cut as much of the coals as they thought they could do, without letting down the roof by the pillars being crushed by the superincumbent weight, or without the floor being forced up between the pillars, or the pillars themselves being pressed downwards into the strata below. They thus abandoned more than half of the coals, and it is only the increased value of the coals in the present day which has induced the present proprietors to endeavour to cut down and send up what has been left behind" (Dr. Mitchell, Report, § 16, 22: App. Pt. I., p. 121).
250. The seams of coal in this district vary in thickness from two feet to seven feet. According to Mr. Edward Potter, coal-viewer and manager of the South Hetton Colliery, " the principal vein, which runs over the whole of the eastern pal-t of the county of Durham, called the Hutton Vein, is from four to four feet and a half, and there is frequently two feet of coarse coal unfit for market, which is taken up to snake horse-roads. The workings are very rarely, if anywhere, under three feet in this county, and by far the greater part of from three to four feet and a half. No seam below from two and a half to three feet in thickness would pay for working in this or the next county" (Ibid. § 14'7: p. 135).
251. In most pits the top and bottom of the coal consist of shale, or indurated clay, so that a portion of the top or bottom may, without heavy expense, be taken away, if deemed desirable, and sufficient space obtained for the convenient working of the pit. "This state of the mines is the most complete security that young Children are never employed, nor can be profitably employed, to bring the coals from the workings to the horse-ways, because such heavy work can be done far cheaper by strong boys and young men. The putters do not become of too large size for this work at fourteen, and from that age to fifteen, but may continue on to twenty-one, as most of them actually do" (Ibid. § 148: p. 135).
Mr. Thomas Crawford, jun., coal viewer, Little Town and Sherburn : " The seams in this county are not one in a hundred less than three feet in depth; and then when it does so happen there is a part cut away at the top or bottom to make the working three feet thick, which is the lowest we have. Our horse-way is five feet, or five feet six. Four feet, is far more usual, and sometimes it is a little more" (Dr. Mitchell, Evidence, No. 88; App. Pt. 1., P. 148,1.12).
Evidence to the same effect is given by Mr. John Wood, manager of Clarence Hetton Colliery (Ibid. No. 90: p. 150,1. 23).
252. Carbureted hydrogen gas abounds so much in the mines of this district that great attention to ventilation is absolutely indispensable. Ventilation is here universally effected by means of the double shaft, or by one great shaft divided into upcast and downcast channels; and a current of air sufficiently powerful to force its way to the remotest parts of these immense mines is created by a furnace in the upcast shaft, which is kept constantly burning, day and night.
Thomas Crawford, jun., coal viewer, Little Town and Sherburn: “There are two shafts in each colliery, by one of which the air descends, and by the other it ascends. There is a great furnace, the entrance to which is forty yards from the foot of the shaft, and the air comes into the shaft at the height of three fathoms. There is the same mode adopted at the other colliery, and it is the usual method in this county. The furnaces are kept constantly burning, day and night, Sunday and all. We have had no explosion since we commenced, seven years ago. We have had no choke-damp; at least we never see it produce any effect" (Ibid. No. ss p. 148, 1.4).-.Edward Potter, coal viewer, South Hetton Colliery: “We have our shafts of 15 feet diameter, and divided into three equal parts at the centre, of course the angle is 1200. In the first working or whole working the men use candles exclusively, and are safe in so doing, as we can guide the air into every working part so as effectually to carry off dangerous gas. But when the men are at pillar-working, that is, removing the pillars, no candles are at all allowed, and the Davy-lamp alone is used; and for this reason, that it would be impossible when so large openings are made, and a vacant space left beyond, for us to secure the men against sudden danger from a large portion of the roof falling in, and throwing a huge flood of gas, and dashing it against the lights. When the stone is very hard, sometimes half an acre, sometimes a whole acre, and even in an extreme case, five acres may be left vacant, and the roof may break and fall down at once" (Ibid. No. 89: p. 149,1. 19).
253. In this district "the mines for the most part are dry; but there are exceptions. The place of working is on the whole very satisfactory, and such as persons accustomed to coal mines will consider very comfortable" (Dr. Mitchell, Report, § 145-150: App. Pt. I., pp. 134, 135).
254. NORTH DURHAM and NORTHUMBERLAND. The seams of coal are here described to range from 2 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 6 inches in thickness. The thinnest seams at present worked are those of Shilbottle Pit, which are about 2 feet 6 inches in thickness; St. Lawrence colliery, 2 feet 9 inches; Wylam, Walbottle, Sacristan, and Charlaw Pits, where the thinnest seam is 3 feet 2 inches. In most other pits the seams are from 5 to 6 feet thick.
255. It is stated by the coal viewers that, in general, in the narrow seams, the heights of the roads are never less than from 3 feet 4 inches to 4 feet. According to Mr. 'William Hunter, viewer of Walbottle Colliery, for instance, "Generally the heights are from 3 feet 4 inches to 4 feet. Hewers go in no lower places; wherever the seam is under 3 feet 2 inches high, height is made for the boys, either by taking up the bottom or taking down the top" (J. R. Leifchild, Esq., Evidence, No. 240: App. Pt. I. p. 618. 1. 13).-Mr. Matthias Dunn and Mr. Edward Boyd, coal viewers, give similar evidence (Ibid. No. 261 : p. 621, l. 44; and No. 495: p. 661, 1. 33).
256. These statements may be true of the coal mines of which these gentlemen have the superintendence: nevertheless it appears from the evidence that. there are collieries in which some of the roads, at least, are not more than 2 feet or 2 feet 2 inches high, and others in which they are not more than 3 feet high; and great complaint is made by the Young Persons working in these places, of the inconvenience and pain they suffer from the lowness of the roof and want of space to work in.
James Richardson, aced seventeen, putter: “ In the Bensham seam they are putting places 2 feet high, and dare not keep their fingers oil the tub at the top, else they would get knocked against the roof" (Ibid. No. 272: p. 624,1. 17).-James Richardson, a wasteman, says “There are places here as long as 200 yards, where the height for the hewers is not more than 26 inches. One north-way is all low places, and perhaps one-third of the colliery is low in the ways" (Ibid. No. 266: p. 623.1. 4).-Mr. Oliver, under-viewer:- At Shilbottle Colliery he has seen boys put coals under a height of 30 inches only. The little lads there, of ten, twelve, thirteen, or fourteen, put the tubs by keeping their hands on the end of the tram, and putting their heads against the tub. The lads wear backskins there to keep their backs from hitting against the roof. There will perhaps be 20 lads doing this. The seam there is 30 inches thick, and they only cut away tops and bottoms for horses and ponies" (Mid. No. 95 p. 584,1. 63).-William Ritson, going in thirteen, putter: "When he was at Blaydon Main, last year, he was in a place about 30 inches in height, and there he rubbed the skin off his
back now and then, when he was putting a corf of 10 pecks by himself. The corf often stuck against the roof there" (Ibid. No. 176: p. 601, 1. 64).-Henry Harrison, aged sixteen: “Worked at Hebburn four months ago. There he put. The seam was about 30 inches thick; but they made the height about a yard. Very often used to rub the skin off' his back there: had a very sore back sometimes" (Ibid. No. 171: p. 603,1.43).-John Scott, aged sixteen and a half, putter : “The height of the places is about a yard, in some places a bit more. Almost every day lie hits his back against the roof. Whiles they may drop down upon their knees." (Ibid. No. 243: p. 619, 1. 16).-Robert Crawford, aged sixteen, putter: " Sometimes it rubs the skin off his back. Some have felt so bad as to lie down a few minutes till their backs were less painful. Feel their backs stiff in the morning sometimes" (Ibid. No. 31: p. 574, 1.9).Peter Ratter, aged fifteen, putter: "Is now putting in low places, and is strained sore at times. The skin of his back is often knocked off. Has now marks on ids back where he has hit it yesterday and to-day" [Shows the marks] (Ibid. No. 127: p. 595, 1.51).-Michael Turner, aged fifteen and a half, helper-up : “Some places are low. Many times the skin is rubbed off his back and off his feet. His head works (aches) very often, almost every week. His legs work on (ache) sometimes so that he can hardly trail them" (Ibid. No. 145: p. 598, 1. 59). John Maffin, aged sixteen, putter: “In many places the corf scrapes against. the roof. Sometimes rubs the skin off his back by rubbing against the sides" (Ibid. No. 141: p. 597, 1. 62).-Luke Gray, aged forty-two, hewer : - Many times the skin is off his back [that of the foal] by the corf rubbing it off. Last fortnight his back was skinned almost all the way down by the corf cowping [or falling] upon him, by getting off the tramway. He was off three days from this. He wears a backskin of leather: all the foals do here. The low-seam boys can travel bent very nearly double. They go nearly bent double in walking in general" (Ibid. No. 91: p. 584, 1. 19).
257. It is in this and the ad, joining great coal districts that the true principle of ventilating coal mines has been fully developed, and very generally carried into the most complete operation, which the present state of science renders practicable. In this district either the double shaft, or the division of a single shaft into two, is almost universal, and an immense furnace in the upcast shaft, always burning night and day, is the ordinary mode of producing and maintaining the requisite currents of air. The Sub-Commissioner reports:- "As the pits abound in the inflammable gases, it is absolutely essential to adopt the most perfect system of ventilation that can be devised, and on this point the talent and ingenuity of the most eminent colliery viewers appear to have been concentrated. The main and general principles which have been carried out into their existing detailed system by the improvements of John Buddle, Esq., and other experienced viewers, may be said to resolve themselves into these four particulars:-
I. The downcast shaft.
2. The upcast shaft.
3. The free course for the entrance, transit, and exit of the atmospheric air.
4. The rarefying furnace at the bottom of the upcast shaft.
258. " If these four arrangements be complete, the ventilating system may be considered as nearly perfect as possible; but from tire additional expense of sinking two shafts in cases of great depth or difficulty, the first two are frequently merged into one, and one shaft is made to answer the purposes of two, by all air-tight wooden division, denominated a `brattice,' separating the shaft into two or three distinct, often triangular, compartments, one of which serves as a downcast and another as an upcast shaft.
259. "The agent of the ventilation is the difference between the weights of two columns of air, one of which is at the natural temperature, and the other rarefied by the heat of the furnace. The degree of rarefaction being proportionate to the heat, it follows that the efficiency of the ventilation is proportionate to the heat of the upcast shaft; which heat is very variable in different collieries: if there be a steam-engine under ground, the temperature is much increased; and if the mine be one in which gas is largely generated, it is essential to have a larger furnace than common. Thus the mean heat of one upcast shaft has been known to be 146° Fahrenheit, and that of another not more than 80'. Perhaps 90° may be assumed as the average mean temperature (taken half way between the top and bottom) of the Northern upcast shafts.
260. "The ventilating furnace is usually 5 or 6 feet wide, and is placed at some little distance from the bottom of the shaft. It is constantly burgling, and repeatedly supplied with coal, and over it the return-air passes by day and by night. It; however, the returns become so impregnated with gases that they would take fire at the furnace, they are in that case conducted by a separate channel (denominated a 'dumb furnace' by Mr. Buddle) into the shaft, above the fiery furnace." (J. R. Leifchild, Esq., Report, § 164-167: App. Pt. I. pp. 539, 540).
261. Drainage, not being so essential to the safety of the coal-mine as ventilation, has been much less attended to in this district, and the wetness of many of the pits is grievously complained of by the workpeople as always increasing the severity of their labour, and often producing positive disease.
Robert Smith, aged seventeen, putter: 11 Is now in wet places in the high seam; the water is over his ankles in many places. Gets sore feet many times" (.I. R. Leifcbild, Esq., Evidence, (No. 226 : App. Pt. 1. 1). 614, 1.55)'-Cuthbert Todd, aged nineteen, putter: "Some of the places here are wet, over his ankles. Is many tunes the most part of the day in water, over his ankles; most part of the pit is wet now; this causes a swelling in his face very often: whenever he gets his feet wet is very seldom clear of a swelled face [is suffering now from it]. Has been laid up many days from this, perhaps three or four days in a month sometimes. His head works (aches) very often" (Ibid. No. 229: p. 615,1. 27).-Oswald Cleghorn, aged seventeen, putter The wet gave him colds and pains; putting now in a wet place; sometimes over his shoe tops. May be two or three hours out of the twelve in the water" (Ibid. No. 232: p. 615, 1.59).William Ellison, aged fifteen, putter: “Has had sore feet from the water, which is rather salt., and takes the skin off his feet once or twice in a month" (Ibid. No. 233: p. 616, 1. 5).George Faction, aged fourteen, half-marrow : "There is a good deal of stythe in the pit., and it is wet in some places; in one place up to his knees in water, and through this place he passes perhaps 50 or 60 times in a day. Often gets cold from wet, and the water is salt and cankery" (Ibid. No. 267: p. 623, 1.14).-`Walter Windlow, aged sixteen, putter: "Hebburn was very wet, the wet falling from the roof, and being whiles up to the calf of his leg. This was the C. Pit. Was off work there a year very bad with colds; the water falling on him gave him so stiff a neck, that lie could not turn it or go to work" (Ibid. No. 306: 1). 631,1. 42). 262. No complaint is in general made either of the heat or cold of the coal mines in this district. The temperature of the great majority of the pits is inoppressive, and that of some agreeable. In an instance in which the degree of heat was taken by the thermometer, namely, in one of the Hetton pits, in South Durham, the temperature was found to be 66° at the bottom of the shaft, and 70° in the workings; the narrowness of this range, a difference of four degrees only between the temperature at the foot of the shaft and in the recesses of the workings, being itself one satisfactory indication of the excellence of the ventilation. There is one coal mine, indeed, in this district, namely, the Monkwearmouth Colliery, remarkable for its extraordinary depth, in which the average temperature ranges from 78° to 80°.
Mr. Elliott, aged twenty, under-viewer, Monkwearmouth Colliery: "The peculiarities of this pit are the extraordinary depth, namely, 265 fathoms to the Bensham seam, 15 fathoms lower being sunk for "standage," or for a reservoir of water. The ordinary time consumed in going down and coming up the shaft is about from two to three minutes respectively. The tub for drawing coals, and also men and boys, is 7 feet high. It holds 105 peck of coals [Newcastle pecks]. The weight of these 105 pecks of coals by themselves is ' 0 cwt. The shaft produces always, or nearly so, a sensible weight. on the drum of his ears when he descends and ascends the upcast shaft, which is always the case; the other division of the brattice being that for the pumping apparatus, and only descended by the engineers, and sometimes the viewer-in-chief, witness's brother."- Mr. George Elliott, aged twenty-seven: " Is the head viewer here, and at Washington, and at Belmont collieries. Has been viewer here about three years. The peculiarities of this pit, are its extraordinary depth, and it’s consequent great heat. The heat of the unbroken coal or mine is at an average of about 78° (Fahrenheit). The extremest heat that he has known or worked in is 89°, being of course increased by the heat of his body, &c., animal heat" (Ibid. Nos. 366, 367: p. 641,1. 37).
263. In so high a temperature, such labour as that of the colliery must, of course, be extremely oppressive, and in this case a remarkable irritation of the skin is very generally produced.
Alexander Ball, putter: “Is a very hot pit; hotter than Wallsend, Hebburn, or Walker pits. Heat sometimes gives him cold. Puts on a jacket when he comes up the pit. All work quite naked [except, the drivers, trappers, and flatmen], with the exception of a front covering of flannel, and shoes" (Ibid. No. 369:p. 643,1.42).- George Allen, aged fifteen, driver "Whiles the salt-water drops from the roof', and the heat together, strikes boils on the boys. ,The pit is o'er warm; and unless he gets a drink lie is whiles sick" (Ibid. No. 371: p. 6-13,1. 62). -W. J. Dodd, Esq., surgeon: "Is employed by the owners [of this colliery] for colliery accidents; and also attends in ordinary cases of sickness. Has not observed any peculiar difference in this colliery, excepting the great heat, and consequent thirst, and drinking of water. As to the "boils," when a fresh man comes to the colliery he generally becomes affected by these -boils," most probably from the heat in the first instance, and subsequently they are aggravated by the salt water. The salt water used to pour out in quantities from the dykes and troubles, which are frequently met with in the earlier workings of the pit. The water alluded to is not caustic, but exceedingly irritating. After a time, perhaps two or three months, the men become wholly free from "boils," and remain so ever after. In the first place, the great heat, averaging perhaps about 80° in the working places, affects the vessels and glands of the skin, which leads to the production of the boils, afterwards increased by the falling of the salt water upon them. Evidently the heat must be the chief cause, as these boils are sometimes on parts of the body that could not be reached by the salt water. The thing is more like a carbuncle than a boil. It discharges a little. The "tanner" is a detached portion of cellular substance which is cast off from this carbuncle.
These carbuncles appear in succession for a month or two, and then perhaps wholly cease. A little aperient medicine and poultice generally suffice for them; they are very troublesome and irritating for the time they last. Has not heard of their occurring in other pits. The occurrence of these is so distinctive a mark of a fresh man, that witness is well aware of the man being unaccustomed to the pit from this occurrence. They come more on the hewers and men than the boys. The hewers are more exposed to alterations of temperature, and greater physical exertion and confinement of space, and consequently more likely (from being more heated) to suffer from carbuncles. The hewers work perhaps more naked than others, which exposes them to the salt water, &c. This water is more like the diluted brine of a pickle tub than salt crater in common. These carbuncles mostly appear on the legs, from the knee downwards, and on the fore-arm. Out of 12 fresh comers not more than three or four perhaps come to witness for these swellings" (Ibid. No. 385: p. 645,1. 33).
264. EAST of SCOTLAND.-The seams of coal here vary in thickness from 13 inches to 22 feet, and the height of the main roads ranges from 3 to 6 feet. "Where the roof is hard-of freestone, for instance, the height is generally 42 to 6 feet; when soft, a continual cutting or clearing takes place by a set of men and girls, who recle (clear) the roads and ways every night; otherwise the soft material would soon sink and close up the roads; and it has occurred that the whole of the roof' round the pit-shaft has closed up the shaft. A miraculous escape of thirteen persons from a similar accident occurred in the year 1839 at Edmonstone Colliery, in Mid-Lothian, where the roofs are low and soft, and the long-wall system of taking away the coal is in operation " (H. H. Franks, Esq., Report, Ch. 5 : App. Pt. I., p. 383).
Mr. David Butt, overseer, Dysart Colliery, Fifeshire: "Our coal is 22 feet thick, and we quarry the same from top to bottom; and horses draw from wall-face to the pit-bottom on main roads trarnmed with iron; the lowest horseway is six feet high" (R. H. Franks, Esq., Evidence, No. 419 : App. II. I., p. 510,1. 31).- Mr. James A. Naysmith, taxman, Blair Engine Colliery. Perthshire : 'The seam of coal being six to seven feet thick upon which I am now working, no very young children need be employed-nor are they at any time necessary (Ibid. No. 326: p. 495, 1. 1).-Mr. James Grier, manager of the mines belonging to the Earl of Elgin, Elgin Colliery, Fifeshire : - The roads in our mines are all railed, and the roofs cut from four and a half' to five feet high, but the workings are the same height as the seams of coal, which are three feet eight inches, four, and five feet" (Ibid. No. 339: p.497, 1. 11).-Mr. David Adams, over seer to the Edmonstone Colliery The thickness of the seams is from 32 inches to 5 feet, and the main roads are 42 inches to 5 feet high" (Ibid. No. 27: p. 441, 1. 32).
265. It appears from the evidence that even in the narrow seams the height of the main roads is in general not less than three feet.
Joseph Davison, seventeen years old, coal hewer, Preston Hall Colliery, Cranston : "The seam is only 24 inches, and the road three feet high" (Ibid. No. 105: p. 456,1. 45).-George Oliver, mining overman, Haugh Lynn Colliery: "The height of the coal varies from 14 to 19 inches. Children draw from the wall-face to the main roads, which are three feet high" (Ibid. No. 113 p. 457,1.53).-(See also witnesses, Nos. 192, 283, 327, &c.)
266. But though in general the main roads in these collieries are not less than three feet in height, yet it appears that there are coal mines in which the side roads, at least, do not exceed from 22 to 28 inches in height. "The workings in the various seams are sometimes 100 to 200 yards from the main roads; so-that the females have to crawl backwards and forwards with their small carts in seams in many cases not exceeding 22 to 28 inches in height." "The negligence of the under-ground workings corresponds with that above, the roads being carelessly attended to, and the workings very irregularly carried on, so that the oppression of the labour is as much increased by the want of good surveillance as by the irregularity of the workpeople themselves" (R. H. Franks, Esq., Report, § 8: App. Pt. I., p. 383).
267. In regard to ventilation, the coal-mines in the East of Scotland are in general in a deplorable state. Some of the proprietors say that "every known improvement has been applied to their own mines," and several of the workpeople admit that improvements have lately been introduced; but the Report of the Sub-Commissioner, and the evidence given by all classes of witnesses, fully justify the opinion expressed on this subject by Matthias Dunn, Esq., viewer of St. Laurence Main and Shield Field Collieries, Northumberland: "Thinks that the main principles of ventilation in many parts of Scotland are ill understood, and as ill practised as understood, to the great danger of the workmen; they can exist in this state, but minor accidents are constantly happening" (J. R. Leifchild, Esq., Evidence, No. 261 : App. Pt. I., p. 621, 1. 50).
Henry Giddes, managing partner, Bannockburn Colliery, Stirlingshire “As far as the health and safety of our mines are concerned, every known improvement possible to be applied to our mines we have had recourse to. Means are employed to secure the constant operation of currents of air along the wall-faces, and properly constructed air-courses, and furnaces for rarefying the air, are resorted to. Hydrogen gas exists in our mines, and two explosions have taken place within the last two years, but not, of a fatal nature. Davy-lamps are used where and when necessary, and are always in overman's charge ready for use" (R. H. Franks, Esq., Evidence, No. 285: p. 489,1. 13). - Similar statements are made by Thomas Bywater, Esq., proprietor (No. 413); Henry Chisholm, manager (No. 391); John Marshall, overman (No. 278); Robert Maxton, manager (No. 318); and others.
On the other hand, David Butt, overseer, Dysart Colliery, Fifeshire, says : "We have no other method of ventilating our pits than by leaving open unemployed shafts" (Ibid. No. 419: p. 510,1. 37).-Mr. John Paton, manager, Largo Ward Colliery, Fifeshire The choke-damp gathers below in soft weather, and the small coal below has often taken fire spontaneously, and acted injuriously on the men, but they have always recovered on exposure to the air" (Ibid. No. 421: p. 511,1. 7).--George Oliver, mining overman, Haugh Lynn Colliery : "At times bad air is in the pit, and so it is in all" Ibid. No. 113: p. 457, 1. 54).-Janet Cumming, eleven years old: “Bears coals; obliged to scramble out, when bad air was in the pit" (Ibid. No. 1 p. 436,1.12).- Jessy Wright, eleven years old, coal-bearer: " I leave work when bad air is in the pit, which has frequently occurred since I've been here" (Ibid. No. 13: p. 439, 1. 11).-Alison Adam, twelve years old, coal-bearer, Edmonstone Collierv, parish of Newton: " Bad air frequently stops my breath" ([bid. No. 12: p. 439, 1. 3).-Isabella Read, twelve years old, coalbearer: -When the weather is warm there is difficulty in breathing, and frequently the lights go out" (Ibid. No. 14: p. 439, 1. 30).-James Wood, twelve years old, coal-hewer, Tranent Colliery: “When bad air is in the pit we are compelled to stop away sometimes for three and four days together' (Ibid. No. 157: p. 465, 1. 18).-Margaret Watson, sixteen Years of age, coal-bearer "we often have bad air below, had some a short time since, and Post brother by it; he sunk down, and I tried to draw him out, but the air stopped my breath and I was forced to gang." (Ibid. No. 115: p. 458,1. 15).-See also witnesses Nos. 105, 153, 346, 428, et. seq.
268. In general the drainage in this district is quite as bad as the ventilation. "The roads are most commonly wet, but in some places so much so as to come up to the ankles; and where the _roofs are soft the drippy and slushy state of the entire chamber is such that none can be said to work in it in a dry condition, and the coarse apparel the labour requires absorbs so much of the drainage of water, as to keep the workmen as thoroughly saturated as if they were working continually in water" (R. H. Franks, Esq., Report, § "7: App. Pt. I., p. 383).
Alexander Gray, ten years old, pump-boy, New Craighall Colliery : - “I pump out the water in the under-bottom of the pit to keep the men's rooms dry. I am obliged to pump fast or the water would cover me. I had to run away a few weeks ago, as the water came up so fast that I could not pump at all, and the men were obliged to gang. The water frequently covers my legs and those of the men, when they sit to pick." (R. H. Franks, Esq., Evidence, No. 68 App. Pt. I., p. 449,1. 17).-John Duncan, ten years old, trapper, East. and West Bryant's Collieries: "Where I sit is very wet, but I dry myself when I go home" (Ibid. No. 38: p. 413,1.52). Thomas Duncan, eleven years old, trapper, East and West Bryant's Collieries: "There is plenty of water in the pit; the part I am in it comes up to my knees" (Ibid. No. 42: p. 444,1. 20).Robert Thomson, eleven years old, horse-driver, New Craighall Colliery : "The pit is very wet and sair drippie. The women complain of the wet, but they are obliged to like it." (Ibid. No. 69: p. 449, 1. 37).- Janet Cumming, eleven years old, bears coals, Shefiff Hall and Somerside Colliery : "The water comes frequently up to the calves of my legs" (Ibid. No. 1 p. 436,1.9).-Alexander Reid, twelve years old: We often work in slush over our shoe-tops" (Ibid. No. 7 : p. 437,1.43).-Janet Moffat, twelve years old, coal-putter, New Craighall Colliery, parish of Inveresk : "The place of work is very wet and covers my shoe-tops." (Ibid. No. 70 p. 449, 1. 50).-John Allen, twelve years old, hewer, Bannockburn Colliery, Stirlingshire " Works in the Plean Pit, which is full of water; the water having risen above the dip." (Ibid. No. 290: p. 489, 1. 44).- Margaret Harper, thirteen years old, putter, Hard Hill Colliery, West Lothian: "It is dirty slavish work, and the water quite covers our ankles" (Ibid. No. 155: p. 471,1. 24).- Margaret Hipps, seventeen years old, putter, Stoney Rigo Colliery, Stirlingshire: "The pavement I drag over is wet, and I am obliged at all times to crawl on hands and feet with my bagie hung to the chain and ropes" (Ibid. No. 233 : p. 479,1. 53).-(See also witnesses, Nos. 97, 46, 309). Margaret Chirce, twelve years old, putter, Kipps Colliery. West Lothian: "Father has the dropsy from sitting in wet work" (Ibid. No. 212: p. 475,1. 45).- Alexander Gillespie, twelve years old, hewer, Lochgellie Colliery, Fifeshire : "Father dead, died from dropsy, brought on by sitting in damp work" (Ibid. No. 391: p. 506, 1. 2).-Catherine Walter, sixteen years old putter, Donibristle Colliery, Fifeshire Father died some time gone of dropsy, from sitting in damp work and bad air" (Ibid. No. 378: p. 503, 1. 18).-Ann 'Smith, seventeen years old, coal-putter, East and West Bryant's Collieries : "Father died a few years since of cramp in the limbs from sitting in wet work; he was thirty-eight years of age" (Ibid. No. 50: p. 445,1.33).
269. WEST of SCOTLAND.-In the coal fields of this district the seams vary in thickness from 12 inches to 14 and 15 feet; and it is stated by the Sub-Commissioner that it is a general rule that colliers have no right to complain if the roads are kept 3 feet high, and they are usually a few incites more than this. Mr. James Allan, manager of the Gowan Colliery, records a striking illustration of the superior efficiency of ventilation with the double shaft and furnace.
He states that, when depending for ventilation on a single shaft divided by a partition of timber, although "every precaution was taken to prevent an accumulation of the inflammable air, several explosions did take place by which a number of the workmen were burned, and some lives were lost; the employment in consequence was very unsteady, and attended with great expense. In order to remedy this great and growing evil, an additional shaft was sunk (7 feet diameter) at the distance of 12 feet from the original one; new machinery adapted for raising the coals by these two pits was erected; the wooden partition was taken out of the old shaft, and a furnace erected at the bottom of the new one, which is kept constantly burning: the effects of this alteration,. as was anticipated, have been the efficient ventilation of the workings, the workmen enjoying comparative safety, and being kept in regular work. All the pits at the colliery are now fitted up upon the same principle, having a, partition of solid strata betwixt them lit place of a wooden one; the first outlay is considerable, but, after being fitted, becomes a great saving of expense, independent of its other beneficial results" (T. Tancred, Esq., Evidence, No. 3 : App. Pt. L, p. 357, 1. 52).
270. The Sub-Commissioner adds: "Mr. Houston, of Johnstone Castle, showed me a very simple instrument which he had found very effectual in drawing out impure air from his pits. It was merely a circular fan with vanes like those of a winnowing-machine, only working horizontally in a circular case. This case was fixed air-tight into the mouth of the pit, and being worked by hand was so powerful that its effects extended to the distance of three-quarters of a mile. To show the power it possessed, a part of the pit being on fire, the fan drew the flames and heated air towards it with such force that men were able to approach sufficiently near to erect a wall round the part on fire, and thus to prevent its spreading. Black-damp was also drawn out of a pit where it was applied, so that a man could walk behind it with a lamp, which, if he extended it far enough, would be instantly extinguished, showing exactly where the body of gas was" (T. Tancred, Esq., Report, § 75: App. Pt. I., p. 331).
271. NORTH WALES.-In many of the mines in this district the roads are low and narrow, the air foul, and the places in which the people work dusty, dirty, and damp. The ventilation in general is very imperfect; but the managers of the works state that improvements in ventilation are slow beginning to be introduced.
Mr. James Eddy, agent, Aberderfyn Coal Works: "There is inflammable air in the pits. We have done much to improve ventilation, and with good effect. The men use safety-lamps, and every precaution to avoid accidents is used" (H. H. Joues, Esq., Evidence, No. 36: App. Pt. 11. p. 381, 1.61).-Daniel Ellis, under-ground agent, Plas Mostyn Colliery, Wrexham: “A good deal of improvement has taken place in the system of working coal. We work it narrower than formerly. When we used to work a greater width more gas was generated, and the danger greater. We have plenty of air now, by good air-ways and shafts: use safety-lamps" (Ibid. No. 52: p. 392, 1. 1).
272. SOUTH WALES.-In the Blaenavon and Clydach Iron and Coal Works in the north-eastern angle of the South Wales Mineral Basin, near Abergavenny, the thickness of the seams of coal varies from 2' feet to 3 feet. The horse-roads are 5 feet 6 inches to 6 feet high; the roads where horses are not employed, 5 feet, 4 feet, and 3 J feet high. The works are entered in part by shafts, but principally by levels. The head-gear and chains are of the best quality; the workmen need not descend into the mines at all by the chains, as there are footways to go to the bottom of the shafts from the surface. It is not the wish of the employers that any should descend or come up the pits at all by the chains (as there are footways to the workings), only during the time the new pits are being sunk (R. W. Jones, Esq., Report, § 6, 7, 8 : App. Pt. II., p. 610). In the Abersychan Coal Works the seam of coal is seven feet thick; and, according to David Rees, aged sixteen, haulier, “The roads are high enough to walk in anywhere" (Evidence, No. 24: App. Pt. II., p. 605, 1. 58). In the Coal and Iron Works in the vicinities of Bridgend, Neath, and Swansea, in the county of Glamorgan, according to H. Cooper, clerk to the Cambrian Iron and Spelter Company, "The thickness of the seams of coal varies from 18 inches to 6 feet; and the smallest height of the mainways is 5 feet 6 inches" (R. W. Jones, Esq., Report, § 4: App. Pt. II., p. 666).
In the new iron works of Messrs. Jevans and Company, in the Vale of Neath, according to W. Jevons, Esq., one of the partners, “The beds of coal vary from 3 feet to 18 feet. in thickness; the mainways are all high enough for a horse; the coals are drawn out in frames or waggons by horses along the main levels, but boys between thirteen and eighteen years of age are employed to draw (single) such trams from the stalls to the main levels" (R. w. Jones, Esq., Report, b 8, Pt. 11., p. 667.)-According to George Crane, Esq., proprietor of the Yniscedwin Works, “The thickness of the seams of ironstone coal varies from 22 inches to 20 feet; but there are not any worked under 3 feet. The lowest mainways are about 5 feet 6 inches high" (Ibid. § 11: p. 668,1.1).
273. In some of the great works in this district much attention is paid to ventilation; and when any parts of them are ill ventilated, "it is the result of casual circumstances, and the free ventilation is speedily restored and maintained " (R. W. Jones, Esq., Report, Ch. 16 : App. Pt. II., p. 583).
According to William Hood, Esq., manager of the Abersychan Works, “Furnaces are sometimes employed to assist the ventilation. This keeps the workings well aired, and is the principle employed at all the pits" (R. w. Jones, Esq., Report : App. Pt. 11., p. 590,1. a4).-Samuel Burgess, colliery agent, Pontypool Collieries: “The air is generally good where the boys are put. Our air now is as pure under ground as it can be; we do not use Davv-lamps. Our longest way is more than a mile and a quarter long. We have got it now all through the mountain, and out the other side" (Ibid. No. 8: p. 599,1. 49 )
274. But it appears from the Evidence and Report of R. H. Franks, Esq., that in great numbers of coal-mines in this district ventilation is grossly neglected, and that this neglect is in part occasioned by the comparative immunity of these mines from carbureted hydrogen gas. The prevalence of carbonic acid gas, although it undermines the health of the workpeople, does not kill instantaneously like fire damp. The presence of a quantity of carbonic acid gas sufficient to produce the most injurious effect on the people, may yet not be sufficient absolutely to stop the working of the mine; but the evidence shows that as long as it is possible to go on, as long as a candle will burn, as long, that is, as there is air enough to support the degree of combustion necessary to afford light, the labour is continued. When this noxious gas so far prevails over the quantity of atmospheric air supplied to the workings, that the combustion of a candle can no longer be maintained, then the people leave off work for a few days, and the necessity which compels this temporary cessation of labour under such circumstances is regarded as a hardship by some of the proprietors. "We have carbonic acid gas in the workings," says Morgan Thomas, Esq., Craigyralt Colliery, parish of Eglwysilan, Glamorganshire "I nearly lost my life once in it. I lost a great deal by bad air preventing the work the summer before last" (R. H. Franks, Esq., Evidence, No. 120: App. Pt. 1I., p. 523, 1. 58). "Air-doors are not necessary," says Mr. Jonathan Isaacs, agent, Top Hill Colliery, Glamorganshire : "There is no fire-damp; there is some little choke-damp in this and the other pits in the neighbourhood, and many men suffer front the asthma which it creates at the age of from thirty-five to forty" (Ibid. No. 144 : p- 527, 1. 63).
275. "There is," says the Sub-Commissioner, "a particular vein of coal, being a red-ash coal, extending from Penwhyn Frank, in the parish of Trevethan, in the county of Monmouth, to Llanvabon Church, in the county of Glamorgan; and from Malnmoel, in the parish of Bedwellty, in the county of Monmouth, to Church Farm, in the parish of Mynyodduslwyn, in the same county; to this my attention was more particularly drawn by the fact, elicited in the course, of examination in that district, of the frequent stoppages of the works, in consequence of choke-clamp; and as the subject is of peculiar interest in the economy of mines and the health of the miners, I subjoin the following communication on the subject, received from Edward Scott Barber, Esq., mineral surveyor of Newport "The principal seam at present in work for the supply of the export trade of Newport is a red-ash coal, in which fire-damp is not found. The absence of fire-clamp in this vein [the Mynyodduslwyn] has operated very prejudicially throughout the district, by creating a confidence in the minds of the parties engaged, that whatever the state of the ventilation may be, no explosion of fire-damp can possibly occur; consequently the ventilation of the collieries is much neglected. It is a common occurrence for colliers to-be obliged to leave their work from not being able to keep their lights in, and, in some cases, when the wind is at an opposite point to the level, the ventilation is so bad as to stop the work; the colliers work as long as they can keep a light in, but the small quantity of air necessary barely to maintain combustion must be a very unhealthy atmosphere for respiration" (R. H. Franks, Esq., Report, § 118 App. Pt. 11., p. 489).
276. As the general result of his investigations in this district, the Sub-Commissioner reports: " That labour, in the collieries of the counties of Glamorgan and Pembroke, in South Wales, and of Monmouth in England, is, from want of proper ventilation and economy of mining operations, extremely unwholesome, and productive of diseases which have a manifest tendency either to shorten life or reduce the number of years of useful labour in the mechanic" (Ibid. § 125: p. 491).
The collieries in this district appear in general to be dry, excepting in the main-roads, which are often wet and muddy, and many of the workpeople complain of their feet being constantly wet. Of the Dowlais Collieries it is stated that they are among "the finest in South Wales, and, with the exception of the wet and dirt on the roads, arising from the magnitude of the workings, and the traffic of trams and horses upon them, everything appeared to be in the best working order. From the whole of the Dowlais Collieries I was informed that they raise about 1500 tons of coal per day, the whole of which is consumed in their own gigantic works" (R. W. Jones, Esq., Evidence No. 136: App. Pt. 11, p. 649, 1.23.) See witnesses Nos. 14, 25, 53, 184.
278. FOREST OF DEAN.-In this coal field the thickness of the seam of coal varies from two to five feet. In the collieries working the thickest seams, horseroads are made up to the headings, and the coals are drawn by horses direct from the workings to the foot of the shaft.
Mr. John Trotter Thomas, managing proprietor of coal-works at Howlett's Slade : " In most of our collieries the horseways go up to the headings. The Darby and Mile-end Pits are the only exceptions; where the coal is carted into the horseway. We use no hodding. We work four feet and a half seam" (E. Waring, Esq., Evidence, No. 39: App. Pt. II., p. 26, 1. 10).-David Mushet, Esq., proprietor and worker, Bixslade, near Coleford: 11 The vein of coal averages five feet; in these works there is no hodding" (Ibid. No. 37: p. 25, 1. 4).-Mr. Peter Teague, managing partner, Hopewell New Engine and Prosper Pits: “ We have no vein in work less than from four to five feet thick" (Ibid. No. IS: p. 19,1. I0).
279. In this district, however, seams of coal are worked not exceeding two feet, and from two feet to two feet ten inches thick.
Mr. Samuel Barton, aged forty-one, manager of the Tormentor Pit, near Bilson : "Our seam is two feet thick. We work away some of the top to make a better headway for the hodders. Our vein dips a good deal, which gives them easy hauling with the full hods. They have only the empty ones to pull up" (Ibid. No. 44: App. Pt. II., p. 28,1.34)-Mr. Stephen Yemm, manager, Churchaway, Nofold, and Protection Coal Pits, near Bilson : “Work a vein of two feet two inches; use hods drawn by boys through very low-roofed passages" (Ibid. No. 29: p. 22,1. 23). -Mr. John Davis, aged thirty-three, manager of the Haywood Coal Pit near Cinderford “We work a two-feet-ten-inch vein: we clear a sufficient headway by cutting away the clod at bottom; the roof is sound rock" (Ibid. No. 43: p. 28,1. 9).
280. The lowest height of the roads in these thin-seamed mines is not stated either in the Report or Evidence; but it will be observed that it is said by one of the witnesses (Ibid. No. 29: p. 22, 1. 25) that the passages " are very low roofed; and it is distinctly stated by another witness that in some of the coal-mines in the neighbouring district the roads do not exceed two feet six inches in height. By the same evidence it also appears that there is no real necessity for working in such contracted spaces, since "there is a bed of soft stuff above the coal."
281. On this subject, David Mushet, Esq., expresses a very strong and decided opinion "that there is no necessity for boys being ever obliged to work in such contracted ways as compel them to go on their hands and knees. In all cases the rubbish might be so removed from the narrow workings as to give sufficient headway: and the only reason it is not done is the increased expense to the proprietor, and consequent deduction from his profits. The original railway in the old Forest pits was a single pole carried along the middle of the road about eighteen inches from the floor; on this a sliding cart was placed, containing the coal, and the man conveying it had to balance his load whilst he propelled it. The next stage of improvement was laying beech planks on each side, and employing carts with wooden wheels. Has seen the knees and palms of men and boys, who have worked long in narrow seams, perfectly hoofed by continued pressure on those parts" (Ibid. No. 37 : p. 24, 1. 42).
282. In like manner it is stated that " it would be easy for the coal-owners to give the hod-boys more headway-and reasonable that they should do so-by clearing out a portion of the rubbish, widening the passage, and stowing away the clod at the sides. This is done in some pits, where the veins are equally shallow, that the boys may not be forced literally to crawl like reptiles through the bowels of the earth" (E. Waring, Esq., Report, § 80 : App. Pt. 11., p. 7).
283. The mines in this coal field are wholly exempt from carbureted hydrogen gas; and carbonic acid gas is not very prevalent. There is a general concurrence of opinion among the witnesses examined that the ventilation at present is sufficient to obviate danger to the workpeople, and to prevent them from sustaining any material injury from the want of fresh air.
David Davies, Esq., of Althorp House, Sydney, lessee and worker of the Hopewell and Miles's Level Collieries, near Coleford : “ The pits are well ventilated. Fire-damp is unknown in the Forest, and there is very little choke-damp" (E. Waring, Esq., Evidence, No. 8: App. Pt.II.,p. 15,1.51). -David Mushet, Esq. The carbonic acid gas used to be very troublesome when we had a less supply of pure air than now. The recent Act of Parliament, granting powers to sink air-shafts in the Forest enclosures, is likely essentially to benefit the workings" (Ibid. No. 37: p. 24,1. 50). -See also witnesses Nos. 46, 9, 18, 25.
284. Great attention is paid in this district to the drainage of the coal-mines, by which the roads are kept dry under-foot, while expedients are adopted to protect the workpeople from the drippings of the roofs.
David Mushet, Esq. We carry off all our water by drainage, and keep the workings dry under-foot. The men are protected from drippings through the roof, as well as can be done, by iron plates and boards" Ibid. No. 37: p. 25,1. 12).-Mr. Aaron Goold, manager, Bilson “The pits are quite dry" (Ibid. No. 14: p. 17,1. 45).-Mr. Peter Teague : "A good deal of water in wet seasons, which is carried off by drainage. The workings are generally quite dry" (Ibid. No. 18: p. 19, 1. 2).-Mr. John Blanch, Futtrill: “One working is wet, the remainder are quite dry: use boards over the wet workings to protect the men (Ibid. No. 25: p. 21, 1. 14).- Mr. John Trotter Thomas, managing proprietor of coal works at Howlett's Slade: " The water is carried off by drainage. The men are protected by plates and boards when working under drippings" (Ibid. No. 39: p. 26,1. 12).
285. SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE.-In this coal field the seams vary from one foot to six feet in thickness. In the collieries working the thick seams, the mails and side roads are sufficiently large to allow all the operations of the mine to be carried on without oppression to the workpeople. But, ill some cases, as at Yate Common, the extreme narrowness of the seams altogether precludes adults even from cutting out the coal; and the work is, therefore, performed by young lads whose size, it is said, "is suited to the contracted space;" the height in some instances being no more than two feet (E. Waring, Esq., Report, § 6: App. Pt. I1., p. 31).
Mr. Joseph Staley, managing partner, Yate Common: "The thickest vein is 2 feet 6 inches, and is worked by the young men: the boys cart through a 2 feet 6 inch passage-way; the young men have 4 feet, there being a bed of soft stuff above the coal to cut away before they Borne to the roof" (Ibid. Evidence, No. 49: p. 39, 1. 42).-Mr. Samuel Long, underground manager, Hole Lane: "The seams worked are 6 feet and 2 feet 6 inches; depth of the several shafts are 108, 60, and 34 fathoms; worked by steam-engines; running-stages over the pits. The Cowherne Pit requires sixteen hours out of twenty-four pumping to keep dry: the engine is thirty-six-horsepower; that at the deep pit is sixty-four-horse power (Ibid. No. 59: p.42, 1. 30). -Henry Hewitt, Esq., assistant-manager of coal works at Coal pit Heath, consisting of eight pits, carried on by Sir John Smyth, Bart., and Co. Have very little use for doors in the pits, the workings being so extensively connected with each other that the ventilation is perfect; not troubled with bad air, being well ventilated everywhere" (Ibid. No. 48: App. Pt. II., 1). 39, 1. 15).--Mr. Thomas Waters, managing partner of the coal works at Warmley : " Ventilation good, except when the wind sets against the pit's mouth, when the foul air is troublesome" (Ibid. No. 51: p. 40, 1. 25).-Mr. William Bryant, underground manager, Golden Vale: “ Foul air is kept under by ventilation, but is often troublesome. Had one man fall down insensible from it, but was restored on being taken into the fresh air" (Ibid. No. 61: P. 43, 1. 1).- Mr. Charles James, underground manager of the Short-Wood Collieries: " Workings kept middling dry by engine-pump" (Ibid. No. 67: p. 41, 1.13).-Henry Hewitt, Esq. Kept dry by four pumping-engines, two of which are generally sufficient" (Ibid. No. 48: p. 39,1.5).-Mr. Joseph Staley, managing partner of coal works at Yate Common The workings are quite dry; a pumping engine of sixty-horse power is constantly at work when there is water: three or four days a-week is sufficient in summer' (Ibid. No. 49: p. 39,1. 50).
286. IRELAND.- Of the collieries in Kilkenny and Queen's Counties, it is reported that "The passages are narrow and low, seldom more than three feet high, and often less. In many places there was but just sufficient room for me to crawl. I did not recover from the effects of the severe labour of this underground visit for several days, the muscles of my legs being so painful as almost to prevent my walking." (F. Roper, Esq., Report, § 6 : App. Pt. I., p. 873).
287. At the Drumglass Colliery in the county of Tyrone, "the pit is exposed to the disadvantage of much water coming into it : this is of course raised out, and the working is less exposed to noxious gases than it is in most others. We have not had occasion for the safety-lamp yet, there being next to no damp." At that of Coal Island, in the same county, "the place is very airy, and is as dry as a clayey bottom will admit of its being, effectual care being taken to keep the pit clear of water. No 'damp' in this mine; the safety-lamp has never been wanted; and there is so sufficient a supply of air that we have not a single forcing-pump" T. Martin, Esq., Notes of Evidence, App. Pt. I., p. 884, 1. 19; 11. 885, 1. 20).