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

INSPECTORS OF MINES. 7T
the investigation lie shall have the power upon such occasion to compel
the attendance of persons to testify, and to administer oaths or affirmations
thereto, the cost of which investigation shall be paid by the county in
which the accident occurred in the same manner as costs of inquests lield
by the coroner or justice of the peace are now paid ;
and the failure of the
person in charge of the coal mine or colliery to give notice to the inspector
and coroner, as provided for in this section, sliall subject him to a fine of
not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, to be
recovered as other fines are to the county treasury.
Section 13. All boilers for generating steam in and about coal mines and
collieries shall be kept in good ordei', and the owner or agent thereof sliall
have them examined and inspected by a competent boilei maker, or other
well qualified person, as often as once in six months, and oftener if needed,
and the result of such examination, under oath, shall be certified in writing
to the inspector for the district ; and all machinery in and about the mines,
and especially in the coal breakers, where boys work, shall be properly
fenced off, and the top of such shaft shall be securely fenced ofl" by verticle
or flat gates covering the area of said shaft, and the entrance of every abandoned
slope and air or other shafts shall be securely fenced off.
Section 14. Upon the passage of this act the Governor of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania shall, upon the recommendation of a board of examiners,
selected for that purpose, composed of three reputable miners in
practice and two reputable mining engineers, to be appointed by the judges
of the courts of conamon pleas of Luzerne county, all of whom shall be
sv/orn to a faithful discharge of their duties, appoint three properly qualified
persons to fill the office of inspector of coal mines and collieries in Luzerne
and Carbon -counties, whose commissions shall be for the term of five
years or during good behavior, but they shall be at all times subject to re-
moval from office for neglect of dut}' or malfeasance in the discharge of duty
as hereinafter provided for ; and the person so appointed shall have attained
the age of thirty years, be a citizen of Pennsylvania, and have a knowledge
of the different systems of Avorking coal mines, and have been intimately
connected with the coal mines of Pennsylvania for a period of five years,
and have had experience in the working and ventilation of coal mines where
fire-damp and noxious gases are evolved. Before entering upon their duties
they shall take an oath or affirmation, before an officer qualified to administer
the same, that they will perform the duties of the office with impartiality
and fidelity, which oath or affirmation shall be filed in the office of the prothonotary
of the county ; and they shall provide themselves with the most
approved modern instruments and chemical tests for carrying out the intentions
of this act. The examiners provided for in this act shall be appointed
by the judges of the courts of common pleas for the county at the first term
of the court in each year, to hold their places during the year, and vacancies
shall be filled by the court as they occur : and the said examiners shall
meet whenever candidates for the office of inspector of mines are to be appointed,
of which meeting public notice shall be given in at least two papers
published in the county at least two weeks before the meeting. The ex-
aminers shall agree in their recommendation of candidates to the Governor,
and they shall recommend only such as they find qualified for the oflice ; the
said examiners shall receive three dollars per day for every day they are
actually engaged in the discharge of their duties of examiners under this
act, to be paid to them by the county ; one inspector shall be appointed for
the district in the Wj'-oming coal field, Luzerne county, lying east of and
including Jenkins township, and one district shall be composed of that part
of Wyoming coal field lying west of Jenkins township and west of the Sus-