1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

No. 11. BUREAU OP MINES. lithe defendaut compauy to sink the shaft of the second opening toiJunmore vein No. 2 and connect it through that vein with the mainshaft. When they reached Dunmore vein No. 2 by the main shaft,they began driving an opening towards the contemphited foot of thesecond shaft and progressed some 800 feet. Some time in November,1897, the idea of sinl^ing the second opening shaft to the Dunmorevein No. 2 and driving the opening to it through that vein was abandoned,and work was begun some 255 feet from the foot of the mainshaft to drive a slope from that point up to a point in the Clark veinabout 205 feet from the shaft. Men experienced in the business testitiedbefore me that with ordinary diligence this slope could have beenfinished within three or four months from its commencement. Theslope was driven about 130 feet when the work from that directionhad to be abandoned on account of the gas. Dunmore vein No. 2 isvery gaseous, so much so that it has been found necessary by the menworking therein to use the Clanny safety lamp and flameless powder,and to have water convenient for the extinguishment of fire.When Dunmore vein No. 1 was reached in driving the slope upwardthe gas accumulated so rapidly and the ventilation was so bad thatwork from that side of the slope was abandoned. For some timeprior to the beginning of work on this slope and while work was beingdone thereon, the defendants employed men in the Dunmore vein,who were not engaged in the work of making communication betweenthe two outlets, but who were engaged in opening new chambersand in mining coal for the market from chambers which had alreadybeen opened in said vein. When the upward work in the slope wasabandoned, there were some fifteen chambers in the vein being workedor readj^ for work and coal was mined therefrom for the market atthe rate of 38 cars of one and a half tons each, every 24 hours; andthese mining operations were being carried on and had been carriedon in said vein for more than a year before the present bill of complaintwas filed. At the time of the accident already referred to, theshaft from the Clark vein to Dunmore vein No. 2 was not fitted withhidders or any other appliance for escape, and men had to be raisedone by one a distance of 150 feet by means of a rope.After the accidentthe shaft was fitted with iron ladders. The Mine inspector,Mr. Roderick, made many complaints to Mr. Richmond, the generalsuperintendent of the defendant company, and to the foreman underhim, of these flagrant violations of the mine law. He frequently orderedrepairs to the shaft, directed fires to be built under the boilersso as to have steam available, and on several occasions he orderedHe in-the men out of the mine because of its dangerous condition.sisted upon the repairs to the appliance of the second opening fromthe Clark vein to the surface, and upon the completion of the secondopening from Dunmore vein No. 2 to Clark vein, and upon the cessati^\