accidents in eight
years, 1984 (or about one-fourth) were caused by explosions. Remarkable
it is, that in the northern counties of Durham and Northumberland (in
which one-fourth of the coal is raised, and one-fifth of the collier
population employed) the average deaths per annum from explosions do not
exceed 21 out of 248; and as the average of such deaths for the whole
country, including the Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Staffordshire
districts, is 105, so 143 lives yearly are lost because the precautions
against explosion proved to be effectual in the extreme north are
neglected in all the other districts. Equally remarkable it is that
falls of roof have caused nearly 1000 more deaths in the eight years than
explosions, although the latter chiefly excite public feeling. Here,
again, the extreme northern district affords a gratifying contrast with
the others, as, out of an average of 371 such accidents yearly, only 49
occur there. It is suggested that the comparative immunity of the north
from this cause of accident is attributable to the fact, that one man in
six belongs to the safety staff, who are charged with the superintendence
of ventilation, road, and prop making, &c. In other parts no such person
is employed, and the men in their anxiety to get coal neglect these
salutary means of safety. The next greatest number of fatal accidents
occurs in the shafts, 1734 in the eight years. Here, again, the cautious
north exhibits its superiority, its proportion of fatalities from this
source not being more than a fifth part of the proportion throughout the
country. Other fatalities there are, principally the result of bad
discipline, the employment of too large a proportion of boys under
fifteen years, the use of machinery where hand-pulling would be
preferable, the narrowness of the galleries, and such like. Dr. Holland
notices that the system of government inspection has, in the southern
coal districts, led to the discontinuance of the services of "viewers,"
or mine engineers, to direct the operations, which it never was intended
to do. Either these viewers must, as a rule, be reinstated, or the
government system of inspection must be enormously increased. Among the
means suggested to prevent accidents is that of making the coal owner
civilly responsible for accidents caused by the obvious neglect of
reasonable precautions in the working. In the course of the discussion
which followed, it was urged that the worker