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

80 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
and all inspectors under this
Mil, Columbia, Noi'Lhumberland and Dauphin ;
act shall reside in the districts for which they are appointed.
Sectiox 24. That for any injury to persons or property occasioned by any
violation of this act, or any willful failure to comply with it provisions, by
any owner, lessee or operator of any coal mine or opening-, a rig'ht of action
shall accrue to the party injured for any direct damage he may have sustained
thereby ; and in any case of loss of life by reason of such willful
neglect or failure aforesaid, a right of action sliall accrue to the widow and
lineal heirs of the person whose life was lost for like recovery of damages
foi; the injury they shall have sustained.
Section 25. All laws of this Commonwealth that are inconsistent with the
provisions of this act are hereb}'' repealed.
BUTLER B. STRANG,
Speaker of the House of Representatives..
CHARLES H. STINSON,
Apprdved—The od day of March, 1870.
Speaker of the Senate..
To His EKCC'lency, Johx F. Harteaxft,
Governor of the Slate of Fennsylcania :
Sir :— In conformity with an act of Assembly, in such case made and
provided, I have the honor to submit to 3''ou the result of my labors in the
capacity of Inspector of Mines for the First, or Pottsville district, during
a period of throe months, extending- from September 22d to December 31st..
1875.
The number of accidents which have occurred during that period is fiftynine,
of which twenty persons lost their lives and thirty-nine were injured;
full particulars of which have been given to the clerk of the district, and
are embodied in his report.
Upon entering upon the duties of this ofiice I found several of the collieries
in a bad condition, in fact accidents were of daily occurrence for the
two first weeks of my official career. The chief cause of these was that
during the first six months of the year the collieries had been idle, owing*
to the deplorable strike which occurred in this district at that time. As the
men refused to w^ork at the wages ofiered by their employers the collieries
were permitted to go out of repairs, and upon resumption some of them
were in a very bad state. I am happy to be able to report that great improvement
has taken place, and as I have the promise of most of the gentlemen
superintending, that these matters shall receive every attention dur-
ing- the suspension of coal shipping in the winter, I have confident anticipations
that at the commencemeat of the season of 1876 we shall find a
better state of affairs prevailing in this district, and that I shall be enabled,
in my next address to your Excellency, to report a marked diminution in
the frequency of mining- accidents.
As a proof of tlie wisdom and good policy of the enactment of the ventilation
law I am happy to inform you that tlie condition of the coal mines,
in regard to the health and safety of the men employed therein, is far better
now than it has ever been in the history of coal mining. Old prejudices are
fast dying away, and now, instead of encountering opposition from owners
and superintendents, I find that in general they are fully conscious of the
advantages to be derived, even by themselves, from the application of the
provisions of the act, and express themselves as being willing to adopt any
improvement that would inure to the safety of the men.