EXPLOSIONS IN COAL MINUS. 205 



have had the disagreeable experience know that the first intimation 

 that they must have recourse to spectacles is one of the most painful 

 experiences of ordinary human life. At all times the want of suffi- 

 cient light to see by is a hard trial. The more need there is of atten- 

 tive vision, or the more the eye perceives the failing of its own power, 

 the more intolerable is the hardship. Now, in mining the attention 

 has to be kept vividly directed to the effect of every blow of the pick. 

 There are many kinds of work which can be done with but little 

 exertion of eyesight. Mining is not one of them. In a fair face of 

 coal the operation of " getting," as it is called, may be a straightfor- 

 ward one ; but this is far from being always the case. We have seen, 

 too, that it is not always to the face of the coal that the chief care of 

 the miner has to be directed. One third of the lives lost are due to 

 falls, of face or of roof. With every blow of the miner's pick that 

 danger has to be borne in mind. It is a danger increased tenfold by 

 obscurity. The experience of our public works is enough to prove 

 that, if the workings of our mines could be made as light as day, both 

 shaft accidents and accidents from fall of roof would be enormously 

 diminished in number. Does the reader know how the miner has to 

 ascertain whether the roof is coming in upon him, or whether the 

 " creep " from below is overpowering his hastily fixed props and poll- 

 ing boards ? We can tell him from experience. 



A piece of damp clay is, or should be, always at hand in a mine. 

 Frequently it is to be met with in the workings. If not, some should 

 always be brought down. In cases where there is no fear of explosion, 

 and indeed in all cases fifty years ago, a bit of wet clay forms the 

 usual miner's candlestick. In cases where luxury is studied, a bit of 

 wood with a hole in it carries the " farthing dip." But even this fas- 

 tidious candlestick, if it has to be set down on the ground, is made 

 secure from a casual overset by a dab of wet clay. Now, if any un- 

 due cracking is heard in the timbers, or if a rattle from above gives 

 warning that the roof is not altogether in a stable condition, what 

 does the miner do ? He smears a bit of wet clay into any crack that 

 he observes in a prop, polling board, or junction of the timbering of 

 the mine, and then quietly watches, to see whether the damp clay 

 cracks. If not, it is probable that the timbering is sufficient for its 

 work. If it does, the timbering has, in all haste, to be strengthened. 

 Peril of life is on the one hand, anxiety to see as clearly as possible on 

 the other. The miserable ray thrown by the miner's lamp seems only 

 to mock his anxiety. Is there any wonder if he affronts the more dis- 

 tant peril in his desire to avoid the more threatening one ? His nose, 

 he may think, will give him timely warning of the neighborhood of 

 "fire-jack." To guard against the more fatal danger of roof-fall he 

 has only his eyes. Is there any wonder that he seeks for more light, 

 even at the risk of a naked flame ? 



We do not, of course, for a moment intimate that it is only for the 



