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50 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
sistant in regard to securing his working place,
shall be suspended or discharged by the mine
foreman, and if such negligence or disobedience
results in serious injury or loss of life to any
person, the mine foreman shall give the name of
said workman to the inspector for prosecution in
accordance with section 2, article 26 of this act.
Section 10. The mine foreman shall give prompt
attention to the removal of all dangers reported
to him by his assistants, the fire boss, or by any
other person working in the mine, and in case it
is impracticable to remove the danger at once, he
shall notify every person, whose safety is menaced
thereby, to remain away from the portion
where the dangerous conditions exist. He, or his
assistant, shall, once each week, travel and ex­
amine all the air courses and roads and all the
openings that give access to old workings or falls
and make a record of the condition of all places
where danger has been found, with ink, in the
book provided for that purpose.
In all mines, the mines foreman shall employ
a sufficient number of assistants to insure a visit
to each working place, either by himself or by his
assistants, once each day, while the employes are
at work, and in addition thereto shall give special
care, oversight, and attention to the men drawing
pillars, particularly when falls are thereby being
made. The mine foreman, or the assistant mine
foreman under instructions from the mine foreman,
shall direct that the holes for blasting be
properly placed and shall designate the angle and
depth of holes, which shall not be deeper than
the undercutting, center-cutting, top-cutting, or
shearing, and the maximum quantity of explosives
required for each hole and the method of charging
and tamping. Instructions shall be given
the men by the mine foreman, assistant mine
foreman, or mine boss, or other authorized person,
as to when, where, and how, timber shall be
placed, so as to avoid accidents from falls, and
also, in a general way, how to mine coal with
safety to themselves and others.
At the end of each shift, each assistant mine
foreman shall make a report, in a book provided
for that purpose, giving the general condition as
to safety of the working places visited by him
and shall make a note of any unusual occurrence
observed by him during the day. The mine foreman
shall read carefully the daily report of each
assistant mine foreman and shall sign the reports
with ink not later than the day following.
Section 11. The mini' foreman shall see that
every mine generating explosive gas is kept free
of standing gas in all working places and roadways.
Any accumulation of explosive gas or nox­
ious gases in the worked-out, or abandoned, portions
of any mine, shall be removed as soon as
possible after its discovery, if it is practicable
to remove it. No person who may be endangered
by the presence of said explosive gas, or noxious
gases, shall be allowed in that portion of the
mine until said gases have been removed. The
mine foreman shall direct and see that all dan­
gerous places and the entrance, or entrances, to
worked-out and abandoned places in all mines are
properly fenced off across the openings, so that
no person can enter, and that danger signals are
posted upon said fencing to warn persons of the
existing danger.
Section 12. In any mine where it has been
found impracticable to remove explosive gas from
the inaccessible top of a fall, it shall be the duty
of the mine foreman to make this fact known at
once, in writing, to the superintendent, who shall
immediately report the same to the inspector,
requesting him to make a prompt personal in­
vestigation. If the superintendent and the inspector
are unable to devise means to have said explosive
gas removed within a reasonable time, the
inspector shall direct that a bore hole, or bore
holes, not less than six inches in diameter, be
drilled from the surface to a high point on said
fall, in order to give the gas an opening to
escape to the surface.
Section 13. In every mine generating explosive
gas in quantities sufficient to be detected by an
approved safety lamp, where coal dust is being
carried in the air currents in quantities indicating
danger, the mine foreman shall see that no
person is employed to work in the mine until
he has given satisfactory proof that he can do
the work allotted to him without endangering the
lives of his co-employes, unless said person is put
to work with an experienced miner, whose duty
it shall be to instruct such inexperienced person
how to safely and properly perform his work.
Section 14. In such portions of a mine where
explosive gas is being generated in quantities
sufficient to be detected by an approved safety
lamp, and in which locked safety lamps are used,
the mine foreman shall employ a sufficient number
of competent persons who are able to speak
the English language to act as shot firers, whose
duty shall be to charge, tamp, and fire all holes
properly placed by the miners, and to refuse to
charge any holes not properly placed. No holes
shall be fired by any person other than a shot
firer. They shall use none but incombustible material
for tamping, which the mine foreman shall
see is provided for them at convenient places
inside the mine. Under no condition shall the
shot firer use coal dust or any other combustible
material for tamping. All such holes shall be
fired by an electric apparatus and no person other
than the shot firer shall connect the wires of, or
operate, said apparatus. Each shot firer shall
keep a record of, and report to the mine foreman,
every hole that he has refused to charge, every
blown-out shot, and every hole that has misfired.