1900 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

viii ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc.
While the area of anthracite coal is
somewhat limited, the mines
will be equal to a proportionate increase for years to come, but the
production of bituminous coal is limited only by the demand and the
capital invested.
In the production of 51,217.318 tons of anthracite coal, 411 lives
were lost
in and about the mines, and 1,057 persons were injured.
This loss of life made 230 wives widows, and 525 children orphans.
The production of anthracite coal per life lost was 124,600 tons,
while the production per non-fatal accident was 48,455 tons. The
production of anthracite coal per life lost in 1899 was 117,211 tons,
which shows an increase of production in favor of 1900 of 6,780 tons
per life lost.
The number of employes in and about anthracite mines during 1900
was 143,826, and the number of fatalities per 1,000 persons employed
was 2.86.
The number of employes in and about these mines during 1899 was
140,583 which shows an increase for 1900 of 3,243.
The number of fatalities for every 1,000 persons employed in 1899,
was 3.28, which is a reduction per fatal accident of .42 per 1,000 employ/d
in favor of 1900. In other words, if the ratio of 1899 were
applied to 1900 the number of fatalities would have been 472 instead
of 411, which shows that the record of lives lost in 1900 was,
proportionately, 61 lives better than that of 1899.
This proves that
1900 shows the best results in this respect of any year since the
records have been kept in the anthracite region.
In the production of 79,318,362 tons of bituminous coal, 265 persons
lost their lives and 584 were injured. This loss of life caused 145
wives to become widows and made 297 children orphans.
For each life lost in the bituminous mines 299,300 tons of coal
were produced, and for each non-fatal accident there were 135,786
tons. The production of coal per life lost during 1899 was 283,167
tons, which shows an increase of 16,133 tons per fatal accident, in
1900.
The number of employes in and about the bituminous mines in 1900
was 109,018, an increase of 17,578 over that of 1899.
The number of fatal accidents per 1,000 employes in 1899 was 2.82,
while in 1900 the ratio per fatal accident for each 1,000 employes
was 2.43, which shows a reduction of .39 per 1,000 employed. While
this reduction seems to be slight, it
indicates that the saving of life
in the bituminous region was 42 in 1900 as compared with 1899.
In my opinion all concerned can be congratulated on the good
results in both the Anthracite and Bituminous regions, as the record
of the Anthracite region shows the saving of 61 lives and of the
Bituminous region 42, a total reduction in fatalities of 103, as compared
with 1899.