1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

liv ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc.These cases referred to arose under the act of 1870, the great forerunnerof the mining laws of this Commonwealth. This act wasnot perfect—few acts of Assembly are. As was said by Mr. JusticeDean in Waters vs. Wolf, 162 Pa. 167, "The pioneer who lays outthe first path through the forest has difficulties to contend with notalways considered by those who some after him. They look over thecleared ground, see swamps and elevations which could have beenavoided while he saw no other way than to cut through or climbover them. He had but little to guide him but the end to be reached,but they have the knowledge gained from his mistakes which experiencealone now demonstrates to have been mistakes."The exemption from the inhibition of the act of 1870 is containedin the proviso to the third section of that act, and is as follows:''Thissection shall not apply to opening a new coal mine or colliery norto any work for the purpose of making a communication betweentwo or more shafts, slopes or outlets, so long as not more than twentypersons are employed at any one time in the said new mine or working."The exemption from the inhibition of section 1, article 4, of theact of 1801, is as follows: "This section shall not apply to openinga new mine or to opening any new lift of a mine, while being workedfor the purpose of making communication between said two outlets,solong as not more than twenty persons are employed at any onetime in such mine or new lift of a mine, neither shall it apply toany mine or part of a mine in which the second outlet has been renderedunavailable by reason of the finalto abandonment, solong as not more than twenty persons are employedtherein at any one time."robbing of pillars previousThis, as well as other parts of the act of 1891, are no doubt an improvementon the act of 1870. It is to be observed that while theact of 1870 exempted but two classes of cases, the act of 1801 exemptsthree. The first two are substantially those exempted by theact of 1870. The language of the act is very plain, and it is difficultto conceive how any misunderstanding could arise under itto what is exempt from this genera] inhibition. Words might obscurebut could hardly make the matter clearer than is expressedby the letter of the statute itself.asIt simply provides that the inhibitionagainst the employment of persons in the mine does' not apply(1) to the opening of a new mine or (2) to the opening of any new liftof a mine while being worked for the purpose of making communicationsbetween the two outlets so long as not more than twentypersons are employed at any one time in such mine or new liftof amine; or (3) to any mine or part of a mine in which the second outletlias been rendered unavailable by reason of the final robbing of the