Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission on metalliferous mines and quarries : volume 1.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Metalliferous Mines and Quarries.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission on metalliferous mines and quarries : volume 1. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    69/406 page 61
    7 July 1910.] Mr. .T. S. Martin. [Continued. that is practically an everlasting job ?—There is timber. 1790. It requires inspection and repairing oftener ? —There is a different system. 1791. (Mr. Thomas.) Particularly with regard to cage roads, which are very much used ?—There is more repair on the cage roads in metalliferous mines than there used to be. 1792. (Mr. Redmayne.) Where the shaft is vertical there will be less accidents ?—I think so. 1793. The tendency now is towards sinking vertical shafts P—In Cornwall. 1794. Elsewhere as well as Cornwall ?—There is something to be said on both sides. Personally I like the perpendicular shaft whenever it can be had, especially for riding. During the same period 102 deaths occurred underground at 31 mines in the No. 14 district area, which comprised Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and part of Somerset (45 from falls, 33 in shafts, 9 from explosives and 15 miscellaneous causes). Of these mines 23 are now working, of which 12 are in Cornwall and account for 81 of the accidents (30 from falls, 30 in shafts, 7 from explosives and 14 miscellaneous) and of these accidents 67 occurred at five mines and 14 at six mines. The five mines at which accidents occurred are the largest and the deepest in the county. The lodes have very steep underlays and the workings of some are 20 to 40 feet wide and have wide and large gunnises or cavities above them. Of the 67 deaths, 27 occurred from falls, 21 in shafts, 5 from explosives, and 14 from miscellaneous causes. I have taken out these figures in order to show how far inspection is capable of being profitably extended. The fact is the number of mines in which the accidents occur is a comparatively limited number. 1795. (Chairman.) Are you of opinion upon the whole that mining in Cornwall is carried on with care ? —There has been considerable criticism as regards inspection and the management of the mines, going almost as far as to attribute, if not actually doing so. callousness to the managers of Cornish mines and insufficient Government inspection, if not incompetency of the inspector. With the above figures I bring the critics and the managers face to face with each other, and if the critics who have written to the effect I refer to are in a position to prove their case, I think they should come before this Commission and put forward what they have to say. It may be that they can, from their practical experience, propound some means for the abolition of such things as accidents and deaths from them in mines, other than that known to me, namely, the stoppage of them, and if they can—the only way I know of stopping accidents in mines is the stoppage of them—I am sure the Commission will be grateful to them. 1796. (Mr. Redmayne.) The stoppage of the mines P—No, the accidents. It was suggested in one article that I read, that the gunnises should be filled up, as is done in the slate mines of North Wales, with which comparison was made ; I cannot claim to much experience in those mines, but I do know that the conditions are totally different from the conditions existing in Cornwall. I wish it to be understood that I considered this method of filling up the cavities, and several years ago referred to it in my annual report. I, however, did not pursue it, as I found, when I con- sidered the circumstances, it was not practicable. To have enforced it would certainly have been effective by killing the industry. 1797. (Chairman.) It would have been too expensive, in your view P—Quite. The shafts for one thing are not suited for sending material down. The material is also not at hand. It should be understood in consi- dering the Oomish mines that the ore extracted is ground into fine sand, very fine in fact, and from that, the ore is extracted. It is extracted by various mechanical operations till it leaves the precincts of the mine. It is afterwards manipulated again and again as it flows down stream; a considerable number of persons are employed in doing this and a livelihood is obtained for them. It would be necessary to bring that stuff back something like 5 or 6 miles to the mine in order to use it again for filling up these gunnises and spaces, and I think to all those present who have a knowledge of Cornish mining, that in itself would be impracticable. The conditions of Cornish mining do not and have not allowed of things being carried on a s 1 would like to see them, but it would not have been in my province to enforce my own ideas or fads undercover of the Mines Act, to the closing down of the mines, which at onetime Ibelievel might easily have done, so impecu- nious were the mines. I considered it my duty to consider matters from the point of view of safety combined with what was practicable, and I now consider that I was right in doing so and fulfilled my duty to the Home Office, the owners of the mines, the men who were found employment, and the community at large, and would lie prepared to follow out the same course again. Mining is mining, and is and always will be attended with risk, and, in my opinion, the duties of inspectors are to see that no unreasonable risk is run, and if unreasonable risk exists, to take steps for its removal at whatever cost, but not to overdo tilings when the state of the industry will not stand it. If I had my own way, and philanthropy was the object of carrying- on the mines, with ample capital behind me, I would require new shafts to be sunk at almost every mine in Cornwall, and have other things done on the same scale, but that would not be practical mining under the existing conditions. 1798. What have you to say on the question of falls of roof and sides ?—The question of falls of roof and sides is a difficult matter, and I see very little that can be done in it. To make a close and careful exami- nation daily or even monthly in some of the huge caverns is impracticable, and so far as I can see an inspection with the best light attainable is all that can be done. Accidents in these places are, however, oidy a portion of those which occur. Omission to examine after blasting and errors of judgment account for a number of them. Then again I fail to see what effect inspection can have upon the shaft accidents, which seem practically in all cases to be within the men's own control and action. Falling away from ladder roads is completely in the man's own hands. 1799. Would not you say the condition of the ladder roads has partly to do with it ?—No, I think that the condition of the ladder roads as a rule is satis- factory. 1800. (Mr. Redmayne.) Are not some of them too near the vertical ?—Not many. I do not think that is the cause of the accidents. 1801. (Chairman.) You would put it in this way, those accidents would occur even if the ladders had been ever so perfect ?—I do not know about '■ ever so perfect. I think in most cases they are reasonably so at present. There are perhaps a few where they might be improved. I do not think it is on the steep ones that the accidents have occurred. 1802. (Mi-. Redmayne.) Do you think that the limited standing room as between ladder and ladder has anything to do with it?—No, I think the sollars or platforms are sufficient. I speak as a rule ; I will not say there are not exceptions, but they are very few comparatively. 1803. (Mr. Thomas.) The ladder roads are very little used ?—Yes. 1804. Excepting for shaft work ? — For shallow shafts they are. Accidents from explosives in the same way are hi the men's own hands. No rules should be necessary to cause men to avoid ramming nitro-glycerine with a heavy copper rammer, or forcing the nitro-glycerine down into holes with such an instrument, or if men cut fuses too short, or fiddle about lighting a fuse too long, um-am a shot or bore in the socket of a hole already blasted without proving the absence of uncon- sumed explosive. 1805. (Chairman.) Still you would have rules for those things ?—They are already provided : it is merely the carrying of them out. These are the causes of several of the accidents which I hold to be witbin the men's own action. You cannot expect an official to be
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