Epitome of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the condition of all mines in Great Britain to which the provisions of the Act 23 & 24 Vict. cap. 155 do not apply, with reference to the health and safety of persons employed in such mines / presented to both houses of Paliament by command of Her Majesty.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Mines
Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Epitome of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the condition of all mines in Great Britain to which the provisions of the Act 23 & 24 Vict. cap. 155 do not apply, with reference to the health and safety of persons employed in such mines / presented to both houses of Paliament by command of Her Majesty. 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.

    22/302 (page 22)
    (B.)—MODE OF ACCESS AND EGRESS. ,adders. strike them on the chest, and their chest is much more resonant than it should be ; and I believe that it is owing to this emphysematous condition. We have had several such men fi'om time to time, and there are some about now, I think. They cannot make any exertion. They are well up in flesh, and some of them look the picture of health, but they cannot work at all, and they are home for months and months. Then these cases often terminate in consumption. 3365. (Mr. A. Bruce.) Do you mean that the ventila- tion in most cases is so positively good as that a man may continue to work in it without bad effects to his health ?—I was once imder ground, and I know that the climbing hurt me a good deal. I climbed 100 fathoms, and was very glad to sit down every 10 fathoms ; it made my h^art beat so violently, that it almost jumped out of my side. 3366. bo you consider the greater part of the bad health, which you have described as being almost universal amoug the mining population, as compared with the agricultural ])opulation, to be the effect of bad ventilation, or of fatigue arising from mounting ladders ?—I believe that both combined have an in- fluence ; but I think that the climbing a long distance has a very prejudicial eff'ect. The heart beats so vio- lently, that the blood is thrown in upon the hmgs, and you are obliged to breathe much more rapidly ; and a long continuance of that, year after year, acts very prejudicially. Mr. Robert Dunstan. 3448. (Mr. Austin Bruce.) What is there in the nature of their employment that makes the difference?—Climb- ing particularly. 3450. In your opinion, can the climlnng be got rid of?—It is got rid of in some instances. 3451. Could it, do you think, be got rid of in more instances ?—Yes. 3452. To what extent do yon think it coTild be got rid of ?—We consider that in an established mine, the man-engine should be employed for lifting the miners up. 3453. Have you ever thought of any other plan than that of the man-engine, and which Avould be more con- venient ?—Yes ; but I do not think that any other plan would be applicable in Cornwall. 3454. Do you think that a man-engine would be too expensive for small mines ?—I think not. I think that a man-engine could be employed very inexpen- sively. 3455. What do you mean by the terms an esta- blished mine ?—I mean where a mine has been dis- covered to contain minerals of sufficient quantity to admit of its being worked to any extent. There are many mines that are very ephemeral. 3456. In all such cases, you think that a man-engine might be employed ?—I think it should be employed. 3457. In yoiir opinion, that would get rid of a great deal of the sufferings of the miners ? —Yes ; the climb- ing is the great bane of the miner. 3594. [Mr. St Auhyn.) You stated at the beginning of your evidence that the climbing up of ladders was one of the principal causes of the bad health of the miners ?—That is the great cause. I have known men in West Cornwall who died on the ladders. They have come up to the top of the ladder, and then dropped down dead suddenly from disease of the heart brought on by climbing. 3595. In your opinion would the adoption of a man- engine, wherever it was practicable, entirely prevent that one cause of illness ?—Prom that particular source. 3633. {Chairman.) When there is only one shaft, it is divided between that and the kibbles, is it not ?—Yes ; and then there is an engine working up and down which makes it dangerous for the men to travel through. All mines should have a private footway apart from all the engines. 3634. So that if any obstruction happened in that one shaft the men would have a way to retreat ?—■ Yes. 3635. Are the shafts lined with wood ?—Yes ; but some of the footways in them are very bad. The kibbles falling away knock away the casing, and make large holes, which render it very dangerous. 3636. That is, if any material were to fall down and break through the division, it might endanger life ?— Yes ; many men have been killed by it. 3637. Is there any security that the ladders are in (B. a.)Zn(We, good condition ?— Sometimes the ladders are injured by the falling a^vay of the kibbles. 3638. Is there any periodical inspection of the lad- ders Not that I know of. 3639. All the bars are made of iron, are they not ?— No ; they are made of wood. 3640. If made of wood, are they not liable to rot and to break ?—Yes ; they wear very thin, and then break. 3641. Then, of course, that is very dangerous for the men ?—Yes, of course it is ; and men fall off the ladders sometimes. 3642. How does that happen?—We can hardly tell that. Perhaps one or two of the staves are broken, and a man coming down, and not holding on by the stave above, has a sudden jerk and goes away. 3643. Do you not think that there should be better security, and that the means by which the men go down or come up should be improved ?—I think that the footways are very often neglected. 3644. (Mr. St. Aubyn.) Is it not the business of the underground captain to look after the ladders ?—Yes, it is ; but when you have only one shaft for the engine- cradle and the kibble, there is not sufficient room very often to make it a good and a safe footway. 3645. (Chairman.) You would recommend in any mine that there should always be a separate footway P— Yes ; there should be a separate footway ; a mine is not safe withqiit it. 3646. Do you suppose that many of the shafts and footways in the mines of this county are in bad condi- tion P—I know that some are. 3647. And those ought to be specially inspected ?— Yes, they ought to be inspected. 3648-78. Do you think it is desirable that the Com- missioners should inquire into that point ?—I do not know the object of the Commission exactly, but it is for the safety of the men that it should be inquired into. Mr. William Wale Tayler. 3811. (Mr. Kendall.) Take the ventilation of the mines ^e?- se on one side, and take on the other side the act of climbing, the want of privies at home, the fact of the men sometimes having bad changing houses, and being exposed to cold and other want of accommoda- tion, and perhaps in some caries not having quite food enough, which do you think is the most injurious to the miners, the ventilation or the other matters ?—The climbing, I think, is the most injurious. 3812. Do you think that the illness which arises from imperfect ventilation is a small item as compared with the others, as far as you know and have heard?—Yes, as far as my experience goes, because there have not been great complaints made about ventilation. There may have been complaints, but not great complaints. 3813. I want to draw two lines : I take ventilation as one, and I take as the other the climbing, the want of proper changing houses when the men come above, the want of care on their own part, and the want of privies and free air at home—which do you think does most damage to the miners ?—The climbing and the other things which you have connected with it, decidedly. Mr. John Pearce. 4106. (_Mr. Kendall.) You have laid great stress upon the men climbing up the ladders, and you seem to think that a great deal of danger arises from their climbing so much as they do ?—Yes, decidedly. Mr. William Petherick. 5568. (Mr. Kendall.) The man-engine had not been introduced there when you came away ?—No. I re- collect going up from 140 fathoms deep, and when I got wi thin 50 fathoms of the surface I would as soon lie down and remain there as go up, I was so exhausted; that principally arose from the inclined state of the ladders ; they were inclined in that way that the weight rested upon the chest and head. 5569. Although you have constantly ascended and descended a mine, still you never ascended without feeling considerable fatigue after mounting a certain number of fathoms ?—Always great fatigue ; it was so at 100 fathoms. 5570. And that would increase as the mine became deeper ?—Yes.