ART. V.-1. An Act to amend the Law for the Inspection of CoalMines in Great Britain. 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 108. 14th August, 1855. 2. Reports of the Inspectors of Coal-Mines to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the years 1855 and 1856. 3. Evidence taken before the Coroner's Inquest at Wigan relating to the Explosion of Gas which occurred in the Ince Hall Coal and Cannel Company's Arley Mine Pit, February 18th, 1854. With Introductory Remarks. By James Darlington, the Company's Mining Engineer. (For private circulation.) 4. The South Staffordshire Colliery District: its Evils, and their Cure. Two Letters, one of which appeared in the Times' of April 18th, 1855. By the Rev. Charles Girdlestone, M.A., Rector of Kingswinford, Staffordshire. To which is prefixed, by permission, the Letters of Messrs. Walker to the Times' on the same subject. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. THE publications referred to above, and the reports of colliery accidents appearing in the newspapers from time to time, are quite sufficient to prove that there is but little, if any, diminution in the loss of life in coal-pits since the year 1851; that the Act of Parliament 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 108, is to a very great extent ineffective, as well as partial, in its enactments; that government inspection of coal-mines is very incomplete and unsatisfactory; and lastly, that more stringent measures ought to be enforced by the legislature, and a large and efficient staff of inspectors appointed for the protection and safety of colliers or miners in general. It is true that explosions like those at Lundhill, Cymner, and Ashton, are not constant occurrences; yet during the intervals of such wholesale destruction it repeatedly happens that three, six, eight, or twelve men are killed at one time, either by explosion, the slipping or breaking of ropes and chains, falls of coal and roof, or falls in shafts. Taking all the fatal accidents into account, it appears from the inspectors' reports that the deaths resulting therefrom during the six years prior to 1857, average nearly 1,000 per annum, the numbers employed in getting coal being about 220,000 men and boys. For the purpose of more ready reference, we arrange them as follows: The inspectors of coal-mines tell us that, in proportion to the coals drawn, there is a considerable decrease in fatal accidents. Of Dangers of the various Coal-fields. 155 Of the truth of this we are not yet convinced; for in the year 1851, with 216,217 employed in coal-mines, 984 were killed, or 4-5 in ever 1,000 employed. Allowing, for the sake of argument, that in 1856 there were 220,000 working, which would be an increase of nearly 4,000, the number killed (stated in the inspectors' report to be 1,027) was 4.6 in every 1,000. A casual perusal of the inspectors' reports may lead to a belief that fatal accidents have decreased in number; but if the totals given by each inspector be arranged and considered, our doubts will be found to be sustained. We append a summary of deaths occurring through accidents in coal-pits since the year 1851, giving particulars of the way in which such persons were killed, so as to distinguish the principal dangers to which colliers are exposed in the different coal-fields of Great Britain :— SUMMARY OF DEATHS Occurring in COAL-MINES Since 1851. Dangers of the various Coal-fields. Summary of Deaths occurring in Coal-mines since 1851-continued. DISTRICT. 157 From these tables it will be seen that, during the six years named, 5,962 men and boys have been killed in coal-mines.* How many of these deaths might have been prevented? When explosions such as those at Wigan, Blaina, Cymner, Lundhill, or Ashton are heard of, the public mind is aroused for a season, but very soon the poor collier is forgotten. The public generally suppose that fire-damp is the greatest destroyer of life in pits; but the tables already given point to falls of the roof as the principal, and descending or ascending the shaft as the second danger which the miner has to encounter. To be more correctly understood, we add another list of the number killed, and the way in which they met with death, since the year 1851 : KILLED between January 1st, 1851, and December 31st, 1856, in COAL-PITS, in the following manner: In shafts, either in descending or ascending, by falling out 1,399 By explosion of fire-damp +Miscellaneous, under ground 728 Miscellaneous, above ground 210 Total 5,962 It must be remembered that this number does not include those who have been killed in iron-stone pits. † Including those run over by corves or skips, &c. Or Some districts are more fatal than others. Staffordshire and Shropshire, for example, largely swell the number of the slain. By the census of 1851, we learn that there were 32,449 men and boys employed in coal-pits in Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Worcestershire, or about one-seventh of the number of colliers in Great Britain. More than 1,300 lives have been lost in that coalfield; 686 fatal accidents have occurred, during the period we have been investigating, through falls of roof and coal, 337 in shafts through the breaking of chains, or ropes being drawn over pulleys, or through men falling out of skips in ascending or descending the shaft. The loss of life in the Staffordshire coal-field is nearly fifty per cent. above the average. In his report for 1856, Mr. Brough, the inspector, refers to the high rate of mortality, and suggests different modes of operation as being, in his opinion, accompanied with less danger. He severely condemns, and that justly, the old-fashioned mode of drawing; the old and inefficient engines employed; and also the great distance at which many of them are placed from the pits. In alluding to the great number killed by falls of roof and coal, Mr. Brough well observes that the statement of eighty-eight persons in that district alone having lost their lives in this manner, during the year 1856, is so startling as to demand more than usual comment, especially as out of that number fifty-five of the deaths have taken place in the thick coal-a measure peculiar to Staffordshire and Shropshire, varying in thickness from five to fifteen yards. We agree with the inspector in the opinion he expresses that this measure is too lofty to be wrought as one mine: "The difficulty of setting timber to the extreme upper measures, and the danger of removing it if so placed, must be evident to every practical miner.' The greater portion of shaft accidents occur through the bad material used for chains, or the defective machinery employed. It is a mournful thing to state that iron-masters and coal-masters have been morally, if not legally responsible for the death of many of |