every coal mine or colliery, shall employ a competent and practical inside overseer, to be called mining boss, who shall keep a careful watch over the ventilating apparatus, over the airways, the traveling ways, the pumps and sumps, the timbering, to see, as the miners advance in their excavations, that all loose coal, slate or rock overhead is carefully secured against falling, over the arrangements for signaling from the bottom to the top and from the top to the bottom of the shaft or slope, over the metal tube from the top to the bottom of the shaft or slope, for the purpose of talking through, and all things connected with and appertaining to the safety of the men at work in the mine; he or his assistants shall examine carefully the workings of all mines generating explosive gases every morning before the miners enter the coal mine or colliery, and shall ascertain that the mine is free from danger; and the workmen shall not enter the mine until such examination has been made and reported, and the cause of danger, if any exist, be removed; and he or his assistant shall also, every evening, when the workmen leave the mine or colliery, go over the mine and see that the doors of the passage ways are all properly closed, and that all the airways are free and unobstructed to the passage of air through them; and it shall be the duty of the mine boss to measure the ventilation at least once per week, at the inlet and outlet, also at or near the face of all gangways; and all measurements to be reported to the inspector once per month. ANNOTATIONS. MINE FOREMAN OR BOSS. 1. MINING BOSS-VIOLATION OF DUTY-LIABILITY OF OPERATOR. 2. MINING BOSS OR FOREMAN-NEGLIGENCE-LIABILITY OF OPERATOR. 3. MINING BOSS OR FOREMAN-FELLOW SERVANT OF MINERS. 4. NEGLIGENCE-LIABILITY OF OPERATOR. 1. MINING BOSS-VIOLATION OF DUTY-LIABILITY OF OPERATOR. Section 8 of this act defines the duties of a mining boss, and the act shows that it is for the better protection of the workmen from danger. There can be no liability on the part of the mine operator, unless it is shown that he violated the statute. Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. v. Carroll, 89 Pa. St. 374, p. 380. Bogdanovicz v. Susquehanna Coal Co., 240 Pa. St. 124, p. 130. A mine operator who is guilty of no negligence in employing a mining boss and neither employed as a mining boss an incompetent man, knowing him to be so, nor employed him without knowledge of his capacity and fitness, or without making inquiries as to his qualifications, and who places a competent mining boss in charge of the mining operations is not in default. Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. v. Carroll, 89 Pa. St. 374, p. 380. Where a coal mine operator has complied strictly with this statute in providing a practical and skillful inside overseer or mining boss, he has thus fulfilled the duty imposed upon him by the statute and it is not for the court to charge him with an additional obligation, and if he has not violated the statute he is not responsible for the negligence of such mining boss. Waddell v. Simonson, 112 Pa. St. 567. William v. Thacker Coal & Coke Co., 44 W. Va. 599, p. 603. 2. MINING BOSS-NEGLIGENCE LIABILITY OF OPERATOR. A coal-mine operator who complies strictly with section 8 of this act and provides a practical and skillful inside overseer or mining boss has fulfilled the duty imposed upon him by the act and he can not be charged with additional obligations and he is not liable for the negligence of such mining boss. Lineoski v. Susquehanna Coal Co., 157 Pa. St. 153, p. 168. See Redstone Coke Co. v. Roby, 115 Pa. St. 364. Reese v. Biddle, 112 Pa. St. 72. Wadell v. Simonson, 112 Pa. St. 567. Where a mine forman has the entire control of the inside operations in regard to the workings, miners employed and the ventilation, subject to orders from the general superintendent, the mine operator is not liable for his negligence. He is not Lehigh Valley Coal Co. v. Jones, 86 Pa. St. 432, p. 439. Lineoski v. Susquehanna Coal Co., 157 Pa. St. 153, P. 171. See Watkins v. Lehigh Coal & Nav. Co., 240 Pa. St. 419, p. 424. Under this act a mine foreman is not an agent of the mine owner. clothed with the powers of engaging and discharging the miners and laborers at pleasure and is nowhere in the act designated as an agent of the owner or operator of the mine. His duties are specifically defined in the same manner as the duties of the engineer and as the duties of other employees are defined in various other sections. He has no general power or control but his duties are confined to special matters and the fact that they are different from those of his fellow employees or that they are of a higher grade does not avoid making him a fellow servant and co-employee of the miners operating the mine. Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. v. Carroll, 89 Pa. St. 374, p. 382. Wolcutt v. Erie Coal & Coke Co., 226 Pa. St. 204, p. 209. Bogdanovicz v. Susquehanna Coal Co., 240 Pa. St. 124, p. 131. See Lehigh Valley Coal Co. v. Jones, 86 Pa. St. 432, p. 440. Reese v. Biddle, 112 Pa. St. 72, p. 80. Lineoski v. Susquehanna Coal Co., 157 Pa. St. 153, 168. 3. MINING BOSS-FELLOW SERVANT OF MINERS. The foreman and the mine boss and their assistants and engineers, miners and drivers, whether at work inside or outside of a mine, are all engaged in the same common work and performing duties and services to effect the same general object, the taking of coal from its natural bed, lifting it to the surface, and preparing it for market. Each has his alloted work to perform, and all are fellow servants or fellow workmen seeking to reach the one common object and accomplish one common purpose. Whether superior or inferior in grade, they are all under one common superintendent and in whose hands alone was the entire charge of the business placed by the mining company. Under such circumstances the mine operator is not liable for an injury to a miner caused by the negligence of its foreman and boss. Lehigh Valley Coal Co. v. Jones, 86 Pa. St. 432, p. 440. See Reese v. Biddle, 112 Pa. St. 72, p. 80. Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. v. Carroll, 89 Pa. St. 374, p. 381. Golden v. Mount Jessup Coal Co., 225 Pa. St. 164, p. 166. Bogdanovicz v. Susquehanna Coal Co., 240 Pa. St. 124, p. 130. West Virginia has followed the construction placed upon this act by the courts of Pennsylvania. The principle has been adopted to the effect that there is no rule under this act for an allegation that a mining boss is an agent of the mine owner or coemployee. He is clothed with no power of engaging or discharging employees and he is nowhere distinguished in the act as an agent of the owner, but is, in fact, no more than a fellow servant with the miner, and his duties are confined to the special matters mentioned in the statute. The mining boss is a creature of the legislature, selected by the mine owner in obedience to the commands of the law and in the interest and for the protection of the miners. McMillan v. Middle State, etc., Coal Co., 61 W. Va. 531, p. 535. 4. AGENT-NEGLIGENCE LIABILITY OF OPERATOR. Where a coal mine operator places the entire charge of the business of mining in the hands of an agent, exercising no authority and no superintendence of his own therein, he may be liable for the negligence of such agent for injury to a miner. This rule of liability applies whether the operator is an individual or a corporation. Lehigh Valley Coal Co. v. Jones, 86 Pa. St. 432, p. 439. The liability of a corporation operating a mine for the negligence of its mining boss is not changed by the fact that such mining boss was appointed pursuant to a statute where the mine operator has a general superintendent over him who has power to direct and control him. : Lehigh Valley Coal Co. v. Jones, 86 Pa. St. 432, p. 440. See Reese v. Biddle, 112 Pa. St. 72, p. 80. Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. v. Carroll, 89 Pa. St. 374, p. 381. EXAMINATION AND CERTIFICATES. LAWS 1885, P. 218. JUNE 30, 1885. AN ACT to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith. NOTE.-Secs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are given here. Secs. 3 and 9 are under the title Miners' Examining Boards. (See p. 253.) The body of the act is under the title Mining Operations-ALthracite Coal Mines. (See p. 614.) ARTICLE VIII. CERTIFIED MINE FOREMAN. SEC. 1. From and after the first day of July, 1886, no person shall be permitted to act as mine foreman unless he is registered as a holder of a certificate under this act. SEC. 2. Certificates of qualification to mine foreman shall be granted by the secretary of internal affairs to every applicant, who may be reported by the examiners, as hereinafter provided, as having passed a satisfactory examination, and as having given satisfactory evidence of at least five years practical experience, and of good conduct, capability, and sobriety. The certificate shall be in manner and form as shall be prescribed by the secretary of internal affairs, and a record of all certificates issued shall be kept in his department. SEC. 4. Certificates of service, which shall have the saine effect for the purposes of this act as certificates of qualification, shall be granted by the secretary of internal affairs, on the report of the examining board, to each person who, for at least one year prior to the first day of July, 1886, has acted at any mine under this act as mine foreman. Certificates of qualification and certificates of service shall contain the full name, age, and place of birth of the applicant, as also the length and nature of his previous service in or about mines. SEC. 5. Before certificates as aforesaid shall be granted, applicants for same shall pay to the secretary of internal affairs the following fees, namely: For examination, one dollar, for registration of certificate, one dollar, for certificate, one dollar. All fees so received shall be covered into the treasury of the Commonwealth. SEC. 6. No mine shall be operated for a longer period than thirty (30) days without the supervision of a mine foreman: Provided however, That any mine employing ordinarily less than ten (10) persons under ground, or one whose daily output is less than fifty (50) tons of coal, shall be exempt from the operations of this section. SEC. 7. In case any mine, except as hereinafter excepted, is worked a longer period than thirty (30) days without such certificated mine foreman, the owner, operator or superintendent thereof shall be subject to a penalty of twenty dollars per day, for each day over the said thirty (30) days during which the said mine is worked, unless it shall be clearly shown that the said owner, operator or superintendent has used all reasonable means for the enforcement of this article and to prevent the mine from being worked contrary to this act: And provided further, That in case no suitable or satisfactory certificated mine foreman may at the time be obtained, some suitable person may be appointed to act as mine foreman for the space of three months, or until such person can obtain the proper certificate under this act. SEC. 8. In case of the loss or destruction of a certificate, the secretary of internal affairs may supply a copy thereof to the person losing the same, upon the payment of the sum of fifty cents: Provided, It shall be shown to the satisfaction of the secretary that the loss has actually occurred. CERTIFIED MINE FOREMEN-EMPLOYMENT. LAWS 1891, P. 176. JUNE 2, 1891. AN ACT to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania, and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith. * NOTE. Article VIII of this act, except secs. 3 and 9; and copies of General Rules 1 to 13 of Article XII are inserted here. Sec. 3 of Article VIII is under the title, Miners' Examining Board. (See p. 263.) Sec. 9 of Article VIII is under the title, Fire BossesEmployment and Duties. (See p. 56.) The body of the act is under the title, Mining Operations-Anthracite Coal Mines. (See p. 635.) ARTICLE VIII. CERTIFIED MINE FOREMEN. SEC. 1. It shall not be lawful, neither shall it be permitted, for any person or persons to act as mine foreman or assistant mine foreman of any coal mine or colliery, unless they are registered as a holder of a certificate of qualification or service under this act. (Amended. See p. 207.) SEC. 2. Certificates of qualification to mine foremen and assistant mine foremen shall be granted by the secretary of internal affairs to every applicant who may be reported by the examiners, as hereinafter provided, as having passed a satisfactory examination and as having given satisfactory evidence of at least five years' practical experience as a miner, and of good conduct, capability, and sobriety. The certificate shall be in manner and form as shall be prescribed by the secretary of internal affairs, and a record of all certificates issued shall be kept in his department. SEC. 4. Certificates of qualification to mine foremen and assistant mine foremen shall be granted by the secretary of internal affairs to every applicant who may be reported by the examiners, as heretofore provided, as having passed a satisfactory examination and as having given satisfactory evidence of at least five (5) years' practical experience as a miner, and of good conduct, capability, and sobriety. The certificate shall be in manner and form as shall be prescribed by the secretary of internal affairs, and a record of all certificates issued shall be kept in the department. Certificates of qualification and certificates of service shall contain the full name, age and place of birth of the applicant, as also the length and nature of his previous service in or about the mines. SEC. 5. Before certificates as aforesaid shall be granted applicants for same shall pay to the secretary of internal affairs the following fee, namely: For examination, one dollar; for registration of certificate, one dollar; for certificate, one dollar. All fees so received shall be covered into the treasury of the Commonwealth. SEC. 6. No mine shall be operated for a longer period than thirty days without the supervision of a mine foreman. In case any mine is worked a longer period than thirty (30) days without such certified mine foreman, the owner, operator or superintendent thereof shall be subject to a penalty of twenty dollars per day for each day over the said thirty (30) days during which the said mine is operated. (Amended. See following act.) SEC. 7. In case of the loss or destruction of a certificate the secretary of internal affairs may supply a copy thereof to the person losing the same upon the payment of the sum of fifty (50) cents: Provided, It shall be shown to the satisfaction of the secretary that the loss has actually occurred. SEC. 8. If any person or persons shall forge or counterfeit a certificate or knowingly make or cause to be made any false statement in any certificate under this act, or in any official copy of the same, or shall urge others to do so, or shall utter or use any such forged or false certificate or unofficial copy thereof or shall make, give, utter, produce, or make use of any false declaration, representation, or statement in any such certificate or copy thereof, or any document containing the same, he or they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined two hundred dollars or imprisoned for a term not exceeding one (1) year, or both, at the discretion of the court trying the case. ARTICLE XII. GENERAL RULES. The following general rules shall be observed in every mine to which this act applies: Rule 1. The owner, operator, or superintendent of a mine or colliery shall use every precaution to insure the safety of the workmen in all cases, whether |