Reports of the Inspectors of Mines of the anthracite coal regions of ...

196 Reports of the Inspectors of Mines. [No. 10,
saw the fallen rock, and men working, trying to get out the men from un-
derneath ; I was in the chamber that morning to take in a car ; I took the
car up to where the men were working ; I was there when the bodies were
taken out from under the stone ; I saw Johnson's body when it laid under
the rock, but I did not see Batt's body until after it was taken out ; I did
not help to set up any of the props, and do not know how many props were
heard Johnson say there were plenty of props under the roof; don't
set up ;
know whether a blast had been fired there that morning or not ; I brought
in two cars to them that morning; I did not see either of the men drill a
hole that day ; they were in the habit of knocking out props ; there were
props on both sides of the road ; David James drew Johnson's body out
from under the rock ; I did not notice who was working to get out the
bodies ; I saw Benjamin Humphreys and William D. Morgans there, but
do not know what they were doing.
his
John X Davies.
mark.
David Mosier, sworn : I live in Hyde Park ; am inside foreman in the
Diamond shaft, the same place where James Johnson and George Batt
were killed; the accident happened on Saturday, November 17, 1817; I
cannot say at what hour, as I was not in the mines at the time ;
the driver
boss came to my house and told my wife that two men were killed in the
mines, and my wife sent for me, and found me ; I went to the air shaft,
got a lamp, and went down into the chamber, but found no one there, as
every one had gone ; I was in the chamber on the Thursday before the ac-
cident, about twelve or one o'clock ; at that time I considered that there
was a sufficient number of props there to support the roof; I never heard
them say that they were afraid of the roof; I cannot tell how many props
were standing on the right hand side of the road, but I am certain that
there were two; cannot tell how the accident occurred; do not think the
roof would have fallen if the props were under it; think the props must
have been displaced, but I don't know how ; it may have been by a blast,
or by being discharged by the weight of the rock ;
were in the habit of knocking out props with the shots ;
was not aware that they
I did not examine
the roof of the chamber the last time I was in it, but I sounded it with a
cane I have for the purpose, with an iron knob on the top of it ; I did not
consider the roof of the chamber as being particularly bad, it was about
the average ; did not notice the props were rotten ; examined the roof one
day and told the miner he wanted more props stood, and I went in the
next da}' and found that he had put in some props as I had ordered ;
there
is no rule that I know of compelling men to take poor props ; and I have
heard no complaints about men not being able to get good props ; the
outer edge of the slant is from four to six inches in thickness ; did not
observe that it ran out to a feathered edge ; knew
it was thinner on one
side than the other, but did not think that it ran out to nothing ; don't
suppose that a man could tell the thickness, the props being put in so close