Ixxxiv PROCEEDINGS. 
arrived a few years ago, has passed, not without failures, until he has 
been appointed a manager of a coal mine. This instance, perhaps the 
most extreme, illustrates the fact that the advantages offered by this 
scanty system of education are well received by the more ambitious and 
intelligent of our miners. In the end the lodges at the different 
collieries have profited as well as the mines, for I am informed no small 
percentage of their officials and leading men are holders of certificates. 
The fact that the miners recognize the fitness of such men to be their 
guides and advisors is a strong argument that moderation and ,wisdom 
will mark their deliberations. 
As you know, at nearly all of our coal mines the men are raised 
from and lowered to the scene of their work by machinery. The drivers 
of these engines are always selected with much care, as they require to 
be reliable and steady men. It was decided that, in order to increase 
the margin of safety, these men should undergo examination as to their 
knowledge of boilers, machinery, etc. A Board of three mechanical 
engineers was appointed representing, as in the case of the Board I have 
already referred to, the three principal coal districts. The examinations 
are conducted in a similar manner, and already 74 certilicates have been 
issued, including those certificates of service granted those engineers 
found worthily filling their positions at the time the law was passed. 
Whenever a class of candidates offers, mechanical instructors are 
appointed on the principle described already. 
I may mention that the work of the instructors and boards has 
been facilitated by the provision made by law for the establishment of 
night schools in mining and other districts. Many candidates, as might _ 
be expected, however good their practical knowledge and experience may - 
be, are deficient in the exact grounding required for examination, They 
can remedy this by attending the night schools, and the mining instruc- 
tors are thus relieved of much drudgery and able to teach the essentially 
mining subjects with greater detail. 
As is well known, the strength of a chain is precisely that of the 
weakest of the links composing it. In mining, however careful the 
overmen and watchmen may be, one ignorant or careless workman may 
nullify all their efforts and precautions, and in a moment lose his own 
or another's life, cause an explosion, or a fire. In order, therefore, that 
there might as far as possible be no lack of endeavor to make all safe, it 
