1873 - Old Forge Coal Mines

INSPECTORS OF MINES. 51
seventy, and in his room three inspectors of mines, for the counties of
Schuylkill, Dauphin, Northumberland and Columbia, shall be appointed by
examiners, to be appointed by the court of common pleas of Schuylkill
county, in the manner and form provided by the fourteenth section of this
act ; and the said examiners and inspectors when so appointed shall be subject
to like regulations and duties, and entitled to like privileges, franchises
and salaries as are in the said section provided for the examiners
and inspectors for the counties of Luzerne and Carbon ;
and the inspectors
for the said counties of Schuylkill, Dauphin, Northumberland and Columbia,
shall be assigned to duty in separate districts in said counties
;
which said districts shall be laid out and fixed by the examiners as^ aforesaid,
to be appointed by the court of common pleas of the county of Schuylkill.
Section 16. It shall be the duty of the court of common pleas of the
proper county, whenever a petition signed by not less than fifteen reputable
coal operators or coal miners, or both, setting forth that any inspector of
coal mines and collieries, grossly neglects the duties, or that he is incompetent,
or that he is guilty of malfeasance in office, to issue a citation in
the name of the Commonwealth, to the said inspector to appear, at not less
than fifteen days' notice, on a day fixed, before said judges, when the said
court shall proceed to inquire into and investigate the allegations of the
petitioners ; and if the court find that the said inspector is grossly neglectful
of his duties, or that he is by reason of causes that extend before
the appointment, or that have arisen since his appointment, incompetent to
perform the duties of said office, or that he is guilty of malfeasance in
office, the court shall certify the same to the. Governor of the Commonwealth,
who shall declare the office of inspector of the district vacant, and
proceed, in compliance with the provisions of this act, to appoint a properly
qualified person to fill the office of inspector ; and the costs of the
said investigation before the court shall be borne by the removed inspector
;
.but if the allegations of the petitioners are not sustained by the final
judgment of the court the costs shall be paid by the petitioners.
Section 17. The salaries of the said inspectors appointed for Luzerne
and Carbon counties shall be three thousand dollars each ; the maps and
plans of mines, and the records thereof, together with all papers relating
thereto, shall be kept by the inspector, properly arranged and preserved in
a convenient place in the district for which each inspector shall have been
appointed.
Section 18. Each of the inspectors of coal mines and collieries shall
give his whole time and attention to the duties of the office ; and it shall
be his duty to examine all the coal mines and collieries in his district as
often as his duties will permit him to do so, to see that every necessary
precaution is taken to insure the safety of the workmen, to see that the
provisions of this act are observed and obeyed ; and it shall also be each
inspectors duty to attend at every inquest held by the coroner or coroners
in ni« district upon bodies killed in or about the coal mines or collieries.
Section 19. That any miner, workman, or any other person, who shall
knowingly injure any safety-lamp, water gauge, barometer, air-course,
brattice, or obstruct or throw open air-ways, or carry lighted pipes or
matches into places that are worked by safety lamps, or handle or disturb
any part of the machinery of the hoisting engine, or open a door, and not
have the same closed, whereby danger is caused in the mine, or enter any
place of the mine against caution, or disobey any order given in earning
out the provisions of this act, or shall ride upon a loaded car or carriage,
in any shaft or slope, or on any plane in or around any of said mines, or