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

Ex. Doc] Reports of the Inspectors of Mines. 49
LUZERNE AND CARBON COUNTIES,
MIDDLE DISTRICT.
Ilis Excellency John F. Hartranft,
Office of Inspector of Coal Mines,
Wilkes Barre, Pa., February 25^ 1878.
Governor of the CommonweaUh of Pennsylvania :
Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith niv annual report, for the j'ear
ending December 31, 18T7, being my seventh annual report, exclusive of
the one for 1870, which covered only a fractional part of that year.
I flatter myself with the idea that the condition of this district, at present,
in a general way, is good. To say that it is perfect, I do not mean,
as there are, at all times, sections, even in the best managed mines, de-
ficient in one thing or another. Sometimes this is unavoidable, but it is
not always so. And in the writer's opinion, each mine ought to have a
thorough inspection, at least once in each five or six months that the said
colliery was operated.
There were thirtj'-eight (38) lives lost in this district during the year
last past, against fiftj'-flve in 187G, sixt^'-three in 1875, fifty-seven in 1874,
forty-six in 1873, forty in 1872, and fifty-three in 1871. This shows that
the death roll is decidedly less than it has been since 1870, that of 1872
being the nearest. And, further, not since 1871 have the fatal accidents
from explosions of carbureted hydrogen gas (fire damp) been so favorable,
having escaped with losing but one life during the 3'ear, notwithstanding
that the mines of the district generate probably as large f. constant volume
of said gas as an}' other mines in the known world, reaching to thousands
of cubic feet of pure gas per minute, requiring powerful ventilation, and
an ever vigilant care and attention on the part of the mine otficers and
workmen.
It is but just to mention here, that the mines in the district were not in
operation a good part of the time, during the j-ear, caused by the de-
pressed state of the coal trade, which finally resulted in a clash between oper-
ators and operatives, in the shape of a prolonged strike, thereby reducing
the production. It is the opinion of man}', however, that the coal pro-
duction, in the aggregate, was about the same at the end of the year, and
that the only change caused by said stoppage was in the proportions or ra-
4 Mine Rep.