Prosecutions

fines.

Act repealed.

Emergency.

shall cause all persons violating any of the provisions of this act to be prosecuted therefor.

§ 6. All prosecutions for fines and penalties, under the provisions of this act, shall be by action of debt or indictment in any court of competent jurisdiction, and the fines so collected shall be paid one-half into the school fund of the county wherein the same shall be collected.

7. That "An act to provide for the inspection and sale of mineral oils used for illuminating purposes," approved April 19, 1869, be and the same is hereby repealed.

8. Whereas an emergency exists, by reason of there being no sufficient law on this subject, requiring this law to take effect before July first, eighteen hundred and seventytwo, therefore this act shall take effect from and after its passage.

APPROVED April 9, 1872.

MINERS.

In force July 1, AN ACT providing for the health and safety of persons employed in coal

1872.

mine to

be

mines.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the Map or plan of owner or agent of each and every coal mine or colliery in made and fled. this state, employing ten men or more, shall make or cause to be made, at the discretion of the inspector, or person acting in that capacity, an accurate map or plan of the workings of such coal mine or colliery, and of each and every vein thereof, showing the general inclination of the strata, together with any material deflections in the said workings, and the boundary lines of said coal mine or colliery, and deposit a true copy of said map or plan with the inspector of coal mines, to be filed in his office, and another true copy of said map or plan with the recorder of the county in which said coal mine or colliery is situated, to be filed in his office, both of which said copies shall be deposited as aforesaid, within three months from the day when this act shall go into effect; and the original, or a copy of such map or plan, shall also be kept for inspection at the office of such coal mine or colliery; and during the month of January of each and every year, after this act shall go into effect, the said owner or agent shall furnish the inspector and recorder, as aforesaid, with a statement and a further map or plan of the progress of the workings of such

coal mine or colliery continued from the last report to the end of the December month just preceding; and the inspector shall correct his map or plan of said workings in accordance with the statement and map or plan thus furnished; and when any coal mine or colliery is worked out or abandoned, that fact shall be reported to the inspector, and the map or plan of such coal mine or colliery in the office of said inspector shall be carefully corrected and verified.

fusal to furnish

§ 2. Whenever the owner or agent of any coal mine Neglect or reor colliery shall neglect or refuse to furnish the said in- map. spector and recorder, as aforesaid, with the statement, the map or plan, or addition thereto, as provided in the first section of this act, at the times and in the manner therein provided, the said inspector is hereby authorized to cause an accurate map or plan of the workings of such coal mine or colliery to be made at the expense of the said owner or agent, and the cost thereof may be recovered by law from said owner or agent, in the same manner as other debts, by suit in the name of the inspector and for his use.

§ 3. In all coal mines or collieries that are, or have been, in operation prior to the first day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, and which are worked by or through a shaft, slope or drift, and in which more than fifteen miners are employed, if there is not already an escapement shaft to each and every said coal mine or colliery, or a communication between each and every said coal mine or colliery, and some other contiguous mine, there shall be an escapement shaft, making at least two distinct means of ingress and egress for all persons employed or permitted to work in such coal mine or colliery. Such escapement shaft, or other communication with a contiguous mine, as aforesaid, shall be constructed in connection with every vein or stratum of coal worked in such coal mines or collieries; and the time to be allowed for such construction shall be one year for each one hundred feet in depth of such escapement shaft so to be constructed, or fractional part thereof. And each and every such escapement shaft shall be separated from the main shaft by such extent of natural strata as shall secure safety to the miners, such distance to be left to the discretion of the inspector or person acting in that capacity. And in all coal mines or collieries that shall go into operation for the first time after the first day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, such escapement shaft or other communication with a contiguous mine, as aforesaid, to be made for the purpose aforesaid, shall be constructed within one year after such mine shall have been put into operation, where the depth of such coal mine or colliery does not exceed one hundred feet. And in all coal mines that are of a greater depth

Escapement

shafts.

Ventilation.

Bore holes.

Means of siging, etc.

than one hundred feet, there shall be allowed one year within which to construct each hundred feet or fractional part thereof of such escapement shaft. And it shall not be lawful for the owner or agent of any such coal mine or colliery, as aforesaid, to employ any person to work therein, or to permit any person to go therein for the purpose of working, unless said owner or agent shall have first complied with the requirements of this section. And the term "owner" used in this act shall mean the immediate proprietor, lessee or occupier of any coal mine or colliery, or any part thereof; and the term "agent" shall mean any person having, on behalf of the owner, as aforesaid, the care and management of any coal mine or colliery, or any part thereof.

4. The owner or agent of each and every coal mine or colliery shall provide therefor an adequate amount of ventilation, by forcing, when practicable, the circulation of pure air through to the face of each and every working place in every such coal mine or colliery, so that every such coal mine or colliery shall be fit for men to work therein, and free from standing gas and from danger to health and life by reason of any noxious gas. The ventilation required by this section may be produced by any suitable appliances, but in case a furnace shall be used for ventilating purposes, it shall be built in such a manner as to prevent the communication of fire to any part of the works, by lining the up-cast with incombustible material for a sufficient distance up from the said furnace.

§ 5. The owner, agent or mining boss shall provide that bore holes shall be kept twenty feet in advance of the face of each and every working place-and, if necessary, on both sides-when driving towards an abandoned mine, or part of a mine, suspected to contain inflammable gases, or to be inundated with water.

§ 6. The owner or agent of every coal mine or colnalling, hoist- liery, opened or operated by shaft or slope, shall provide a suitable means of signalling between the bottom and the top thereof, and shall also provide a safe means of hoisting or lowering persons at the mines, with a sufficient cover over head on every box or carriage used for hoisting purposes, for the protection of persons so hoisted or lowered at the mines. And no young person under fourteen years of age or female of any age shall be permitted to enter any mine to work therein; proof of age to be made by sworn certificate or otherwise, before such young person shall be employed to work in such mine. The neglect or refusal of any person or party to perform the duties provided for and required to be performed by sections four, five and six of this act, by the parties therein required to perform the same, shall be taken and deemed to be a misdemeanor committed by them or any or either of them, and upon con

viction thereof they, or any or either of them, shall be punished by imprisonment or fine, at the discretion of the court trying the same.

§ 7. No person shall, knowingly, be employed as engi- Engineer. neer, or to take charge of any machinery or appliance whereby men are lowered into or hoisted out of any mine, but an experienced, competent and sober person; and no person shall ride upon a loaded wagon or cage used for hoisting purposes in any shaft or slope; nor shall any coal be hoisted out of any coal mine or colliery while persons are ascending out of or descending into any such coal mine or colliery Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be held and deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of the court trying the

same.

8. All boilers used in generating steam in and about Inspection of coal mines and collieries shall be kept in good order, and boilers, etc. the owner or agent, as aforesaid, shall have said boilers examined and inspected by a competent boiler maker, or other well qualified person, as often as once every six months, and oftener if needed, and the result of every such examination shall be certified in writing to the mining inspector; and the top of each shaft shall also be securely fenced by vertical or flat gates, properly covering and protecting the area of such shaft; and the entrance of every abandoned slope and air, or other shaft, shall be securely fenced off; and every steam boiler shall be provided with a proper steam gauge, water gauge and safety-valve; and all underground self acting or engine-planes or gangways, on which coal cars are drawn and persons travel, shall be provided with some proper means of signaling between the stopping places and the ends of said planes or gangways; and sufficient places of refuge at the sides of such planes or gangways shall be provided at intervals of not more than twenty feet apart.

accidents.

$9. Whenever loss of life or serious personal injury Explosions and shall occur, by reason of any explosion or of any accident whatsoever in or about any coal mine or colliery, it shall be the duty of the party having charge of such coal mine or colliery to give notice thereof to the mine inspector, and if any person is killed thereby, to the coroner of the county also and said inspector shall immediately go to the scene of the said accident, and make such suggestions and render such assistance as he may deem necessary for the safety of the men. And the inspector shall investigate and ascertain the cause of such explosion or accident, and make a record thereof, which he shall preserve with the other records of his office. And to enable him to make such investigations, he shall have power to compel the attendance of witnesses and administer oaths or affirma

tions to them; and the costs of such investigations shall be paid by the county in which such accident has occurred, in the same manner as costs of coroner's inquests are now paid. And the failure of the person in charge of the coal mine or colliery in which any such accident may have occurred, to give notice to the inspector or coroner, as provided for in this section, shall subject such person to a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, to be sued for in the name and for the use of the county in which any such accident may have occurred. § 10. In all cases in which punishment is provided by fine or imprisonment under this act, for a breach of any of its provisions, the fine shall not be less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or the imprisonment not less than ten days nor more than six months, or both, at the discretion of the court; except as specially provided in section nine of this act.

11. The county surveyors are hereby constituted exofficio inspectors of mines within their respective counties, and it shall be their duty respectively to call to their aid some reputable practical miner. Said inspector, and any miner so called to their aid, before entering upon their duties, shall be sworn to faithfully discharge the duties imposed upon them by law. Said inspector and said miner shall receive such compensation for their time actually employed, to be verified by their respective affidavits, as shall be fixed by the county board, not exceeding five dollars per day each, to be paid out of the county treasury, for one inspection every year; but in all cases where, on inspection, the provisions of this act shall appear not to have been complied with in operating a mine, the owner or operator of such mine shall pay the expenses thereof, to be recovered, if necessary, as provided in section two (2) of this act.

12. The inspector provided for under this act shall see that every necessary precaution is taken to insure the health and safety of the workmen therein employed; that the provisions and requirements of this act be faithfully observed and obeyed, and the penalties of the law enforced against all who willfully disobey its requirements. He shall also collect and tabulate the following facts, that is to say: The number of acres of workable coal lands in his county; the number and thickness of the coal beds, and their respective depths below the surface; how they are mined, whether by shaft, slope or drift; the number of mines in operation, the number of men employed therein, and the aggregate yearly production in tons; together with an estimate of the amount of capital employed in coal mining in his county, and any other information relative to coal mining that he may deem necessary; all of which facts, so tabulated, together with a statement of the condition of