1900 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

No. 11. MINING LAWS OF PENNSYLVANIA. cxxv
coal mine on said land, and it shall not be practicable to drain or
ventilate such mines or to comply with the requirements of this act
a* to ways of ingress and egress or traveling ways by means of
openings on lands owned or held under lease by him, them or it, and
the same can be done by means of openings on adjacent lands, he,
they or it may apply by petition to the court of quarter sessions of
the proper county, after ten days' notice to the owner or owners,
their agents or attorney, setting forth the facts under oath or affirmation
particularly describing the place or places where such opening
or openings can be made, and the pillars of coal or other material
necessary for the support of such passageway and such right of way
to any public road as may be needed in connection with such opening,
and that he or they cannot agree with the owner or owners of the
land as to the amount to be paid for the privilege of making such opening
or openings, whereupon the said court shall appoint three disinteres(ed
and competent citizens of the county to view the ground designated
and lay out from the point or points mentioned in
such petition,
a passage or passages not more than eighty feet area by either
drift, shaft or slope, or by a combination of any of said methods by
any practicable and convenient route to the coal of such person, firm
or corporation, preferring in all cases an opening through the coal
srrata where the same is practicable. The said viewers shall, at the
same time, assess the damages to be paid by the petitioner or petitioners
to the owner or owners of such lands for the coal and other
valuable material to be removed in
the excavation and construction
of said passage, also for such coal or other valuable material necessary
to support the said passage, as well as for a right of way not
exceeding fifteen feet in width from any such opening to any public
road, to enable persons to gain entrance to the mine through such
opening or to provide therefrom, upon the surface, a water course of
suitable dimensions to a natural stream to enable the operator to
discharge the water from said mine if such right of way shall be
desired by the petitioner or petitioners, which damages shall be fully
paid before such opening is made. The proceedings shall be recorded
in the road docket of the proper county, and the pay of viewers
shall be the same as in road cases; if exceptions be filed they shall
be disposed of by the court as speedily as possible, and both parties;
to have the right to take depositions as in road cases. If, however,
the petitioner desires to make such openings or roads or
waterways before the final disposition of such exceptions, he shall
have the right to do so by giving bond, to be aprpoved by the court
securing the damages as provided by law in the case of lateral railroads.
Section 2.
It shall be compulsory upon the part of the mine owner
or operator to exercise the powers granted by the provisions of the