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

60 Reports of the Inspectors of Mines. [No. 10,
area of over one hundred square miles, and, where an aggregate number
of fifteen tliousand workmen are employed, two tliirds of tlie same being
emplo3'ed inside the mines, then, I sa}^ he cannot make very frequent visits,
as he has to attend to all serious or fntal accidents, examine into and re-
cord their causes, &c., receive, examine, and record all reports of air measure-
ments, which are made weekly in each mine, and reported monthlj^; all ac-
cident reports, steam boiler reports, testing of safety catches, and bridle
chains, besides attending to the extensions of each map or tracing of each
mine in the district, once in each six months.
To attend to the above requires a good deal of time and attention, as
there are many communications to be written in connection therewith, besides
what is above mentioned. There are many communications required re-
lating to the condition and required Improvements of the mines after the
different visits.
Considerable time is required to attend to law suits sometimes as a
witness, in cases between the working and their employer, being mostly
subpoened on both sides and requiring as high as six and eight consecutive
days in the one case; and again, when it becomes his duty to bring suits
for violation of the law, against the one party or the other. In such a
case he has to spend the time necessary to bring the case before the alderman,
and next to spend one, two, or three days before the grand jury
waiting, and probably a week more before the court. So that much of the
inspector's time is spent in matters relating to his business, of which the
ordinar}^ workman has no idea; yet he, the inspector, is compelled to
do so. Once a month he must make out a report to the clerk of the mining
district. He has to make an annual report of his doings to his Ex-
cellency the Governor, which requires considerable time, as he has to
attend to the matters of accidents as usual, and which requires a goodly
proportion of the time, when the fatal cases reach as high as six, seven,
eight, nine, or ten in one month. Besides all the above, he has to keep
a day book, in which he records all matters that come under his super-
vision during his examinations, and, in fact, is to contain notes of all his
doings.
The writings of the office, are more than many have to do, for a regular
salary. Many of the workmen have an idea that an inspector has nothing
to do, except be in the mines all the time, and imagine when they see
him not donned with his mining uniform, that he is surely neglecting his
duty, &c.
It is also thought by many of the workmen that an inspection of each
mine should be made very frequently ; some have mentioned as often as
once per month. In my opinion, such a course would simpl}^ be saddling
the responsibility upon the State officers, when they have not the control
necessary to have everything as they desire, nor an opportunity to see it
carried out in its details ; and this would create a shield behind which the
mine officers would take refuge. If an inspector is able to make a general