Reports of the Inspectors of Mines of the anthracite and bituminous ...

No. 12.] Sixth Bituminous District. 425
The followino: is a table sliowing- the quantity of coal mined, and the
persons employed in the district each year since 1885; also giving- the
quantity of coal mined per fatal accident during the same period and num-
ber of men employed per fatal accident, with increase of district, etc
1885, . . .
1886, . . .
1887, . . .
1888, . . .
1889, . .
1890, , . .
1891, . . .
Total,
Year.
Coal production.
2,203,028
3,075,421
3,341,381
3,263,596
4,205,029
5,790,714
7,000,000
28,881,119
Number of men.
Increase of coal production in tons 1891 over 1885, .... 4, 796, 972
Increase of number persons employed, 8, 199
Total number of accidents during this period of seven years, 57
:
3,508
5,408
6,078
6,877
7,891
9,863
11,647
50,272
Total coal production, 28, 881, 119
Number employed per fatal accident, 882
Number of tons mined per fatal accident, 506, 686^
Summary of the Condition of the Mines at the Close of 1891.
By a careful record kept of the air passing through all the mines in
the district on my last examination, I find that 1,940,000 cubic feet per
minute passed. The number of persons employed is about 9,240 in the
mines; this would give to each about 210 cubic feet per minute, which
shows a veiy satisfactory condition of the ventilation in general, but
there are a few mines that do not come up to this mark by a great deal,
as there is scarcely 100 cubic feet per minute entering them, while there
are others that sufficient quantities are propelled into the mines, but it
is not properly distributed and conducted to the face of the workings.
This average of the quantity of air propelled into the mines for each
person employed, naturally leads us to the conclusion that the means
employed to ventilate the mines is adequate to the work. So then if
the ventilating apparatus is sufficient to propel the quantity into the
mine and the miners sufifering for air, it must be the fault of the mineboss
for not conducting it properly around the working faces. I am
compelled to say that this fault is too common in our mines to-day of
neglecting to properly distribute and conduct the air to the men after it
enters the mine. Some neglect this part of their work by allowing other
duties to be forced on them, that should not be, while others omit that
part of the work from a false notion of economy to save a few yards of
air-ways, or a few hundred feet of lumber, or possibly a few yards of
brattice cloth, while there may be a few who do not know how to conduct
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