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

78 ANNUAL EEPORT OF THE
queliauna river, caul one other district shall be composed of that part of
Luzerne county lying south of the Wyoming coal field, together with Carbon
count}''.
Section 15. The term of office of iutpector of coal mines, appointed under
an act fcA* the better regulation and ventilation of mines and fdr the
protection of the lives of the miners in the county of Schujdkill, approved
April the twelfth, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, shall expire
on the first day of June, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and
sevent}^ and in his room three inspectors of mines, for the counties of
Schuylkill, Dauphin, Northumberland and Columbia, shall be appointed bj'
examiners, to be appointed by the court of common pleas of Schuylkill
county in like manner and form provided by the fourteenth section of this
act ; and the said examiners and inspectors, when so appointed, shall be
subject to like regulations and duties, and entitled to like privileges, franchises
and salaries as are in the said section provided for the examiners and
inspectors for the counties of Luzerne and Carbon ; and the inspectors for
the said counties of Schuylkill, Northumberland, Dauphin and Columbia
shall be assigned to duty in separate districts in said counties, which said
districts shall be laid out and fixed by the examiners as aforesaid, to be
appointed by the court of common pleas of the county of Schuylkill.
Section 16. It shall be the duty of the court of common pleas of the
proper county whenever a petition, signed by not less than fifteen reputable
coal operators or coal miners, or both, setting forth that any inspector
of coal mines or collieries grossly neglects the duties, or that he is incompetent,
or that he is guilty of malfeasance in office, to issue a citation, in
the name of the Commonwealth, to the said inspector to appear, at not less
than fifteen days' notice, on a day fixed, before said judges, when the said
court shall proceed to inquire into and investigate the allegations of the
petitioners ; and if the court find that the said inspector is grossly neglectful
of his duties, or that he is by reason of causes that extend before the
appointment, or that have arisen since his appointment, incompetent to
perform the duties of said office, or that he is guiltj' of malfeasance in
office, the court certify the same to the Governor of the Commonwealth,
who shall declare the office of inspector of the district vacant, and proceed,
in compliance with the provisions of this act, to appoint a properly quali-
fied person to fill the oflice of inspector ; and the costs of the said investigation
before the court shall be borne b}'' the removed inspector ; but if the
allegations of the petitioners are not sustained by the final judgment of the
court the costs shall be borne by the said petitioners.
Section 17. The salaries of the said inspectors appointed for Luzerne and
Carbon counties shall be three thousand dollars each ; tlie maps and plans
of mines and the records thereof, together with all papers relating thereto,
shall be kept by the inspector properly arranged and preserved in a convenient
place in the district for which each inspector shall have been appointed.
Section 18. Each of the inspectors of coal mines and collieries shall give
his whole time and attention to the duties of the oflice ; and it shall be his
duty to examine all the coal mines and collieries in his district as often as
his duties will permit him to do so, to see that every necessary precaution
is taken to insure the safety of the workmen, to see that the provisions of
this act are observed and obeyed ; and it shall also be each inspectors duty
to attend at every inquest held by the coroner, or coroners, in his district
upon bodies killed in or about the coal mines or collieries.
Section 19. That any miner, workman or any other person who shall
knowingly injure any safety-lamp, water gauge, barometer, air-course, brattice,
or obstruct or throw open air-ways, or carry lighted pipes or matches