239 
usuall}' attended to by skilled men whose duties are confined 
to this work, and not by an unskilled hewer of Coal, whose 
only object is to economise his own time and labour. I have 
observed this evil wherever men are allowed to timber and 
build the roads for themselves. This beneficial rule might 
be made more general and perfect, even in Longwall mines, 
than it is at present. The importance of this portion of 
Coal mining being done well, we can all well understand 
when we remember that the existing drain upon the lives of 
our miners cannot be traced to explosions, for the heaviest 
item is due to falls of the roof. 
In 1868 and 1869, the deaths by explosions in the British 
Coal Fields amounted to 411, whilst by falls of the roof we 
find 911, or more than double. The public take but little 
heed of the latter, because of the comparative smaUness of the 
event, when a fall of roof is recorded, and one or two Kves 
onl)^ lost ; but they do take heed of explosions, on account of 
the disastrous consequences which usually follow, although in 
themselves of rare occurrence ; but the colliery manager, who 
has an eye to a good balance at the end of the year, knows the 
ultimate cost of these frequently- occurring accidents, which 
only take one or two lives at a time, but which justify the 
writer in making rather more than a passing reference to. 
Associated with the miners' duties just referred to, comes 
the use of gunpowder in collieries, which, like the packing 
and timbering, should devolve upon one man skilled in the 
use of the same, and a close observer of the presence of the 
smallest portion of gas ; for, when the miner has this danger- 
ous weapon in his own hands, he is tempted to use too great 
a quantity than is absolutely- necessary to separate the mass 
of Coal worked upon from the solid, instead of bringing it 
down with as little fall as possible ; and so, while protectiug 
himself, avoid the possibility of disturbing the ordinary 
ventilation of the mine. 
