60 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 993 



killed per 1,000 employed gradually increased 

 with only slight fluctuation ; the number killed 

 per 1,000,000 short tons also increased, but the 

 rate fluctuated over a wider range. 



During this twelve-year period through 1907, 

 the increase in the death rate was accompanied 

 by an. enormous increase in the production of 

 coal. In 1896 the output was 191,986,000 tons, 

 and in 1907 it was 480,363,000 tons, an in- 

 crease of over 150 per cent. In 1896 each man 

 employed produced 2.64 tons coal per day, 

 whereas in 1907 the daily production of each 

 man was 3.06 tons, an increase of 16 per cent. 

 Since 1907 there has been a marked decrease 

 in the number of fatalities at the coal mines. 



This general improvement has been brought 

 about by a combination of causes, the princi- 

 pal one of which has been more efficient and 

 effective mine inspection on the part of the 

 state mining departments and the state mine 

 inspectors throughout the country, supple- 

 mented by greater care on the part of both 

 operators and the miners. The investigative 

 and educational work of the Bureau of Mines 

 has kept both the operator and the miner alive 

 to the various dangers connected with coal 

 mining, and has shown what precautions 

 should be taken to avoid these dangers. As a 

 result of these educational features, mining 

 companies are organizing safety committees; 

 providing emergency hospitals, training men 

 in first aid and rescue work, so that in case 

 of a disaster they are equipped to cope with 

 any ordinary accident. 



The fatality rates in a number of foreign 

 countries covering a period of ten years, 1901 

 to 1910 inclusive, are as follows : 



Great Britain, 1.36 per 1,000 men employed; 

 Germany, 2.11; France, 1.69; Belgium, 1.02; 

 Japan, 2:92; Austria, 1.04; India, 0.96; New 

 South Wales, 1.74; Nova Scotia, 2.65, while 

 the rate for the United States was 3.74. The 

 low fatality rates in the foreign countries 

 may be accounted for largely by reason of the 

 fact that coal-mine inspection has been in 

 operation much longer than in the United 

 States. In Great Britain the coal mine acci- 

 dent statistics have been collected, published 

 and studied since 1851; France, 1853; Aus- 



tria, 1875; Germany, 1852; and Belgium, 

 1831. 



A chronological list of the more disastrous 

 coal-mine accidents in the United States shows 

 that 275 accidents have occurred since 1839, 

 in which five or more men were killed at one 

 time, representing a total of 6,777 fatalities. 

 Of these accidents there were 135 that killed 

 from five to nine men each, a total of 859; 

 eighty-two that killed from ten to twenty-four 

 men each, a total of 1,237; twenty-five that 

 killed from twenty-five to forty-nine men 

 each, a total of 870 ; eighteen that killed from 

 fifty to ninety-nine men each, a total of 1,221 ; 

 eleven that killed from 100 to 199 men each, 

 a total of 1,534 ; three that killed from 200 to 

 299 men each, a total of 695, and one that 

 killed 361 men. 



Of these larger disasters gas and coal-dust 

 explosions caused 183 accidents and 5,111 

 deaths, or over three fourths of the total num- 

 ber of men killed. The next greatest number 

 of deaths were from mine fires, which caused 

 the loss of 1,082 lives, or over fifteen per cent, 

 of the total number killed, by thirty-three 

 separate accidents. It may thus be seen that 

 accidents from gas and coal-dust explosions 

 and mine fires account for more than ninety 

 per cent, of the total number of men killed in 

 these large accidents, although falls of roof, 

 pillars and walls claim nearly fifty per cent, of 

 the total fatalities. 



TBE SADWM SESOUBCES OF TBE UNITED 

 STATES 

 Secretary Lane proposes to withdraw all 

 lands of the public domain suspected of con- 

 taining radium, that their deposits may be se- 

 cured for the public good and not become the 

 subject of private speculation. Mr. Lane has 

 outlined his plan in a letter to Chairman 

 Foster of the House Mines Committee, urging 

 immediate passage of a joint congressional 

 resolution to empower President Wilson to 

 make the withdrawals. Investigations of the 

 Geological Survey have located public lands 

 believed to contain the substance now so in- 

 valuable in medicine. By the terms of the 

 proposed resolution the Secretary of the In- 



