water-gauge, barometer, air-course, brattice, or obstruct or throw open air-ways, or carry lighted pipes or matches into places that are worked by safety-lamps, or handle or disturb any part of the machinery of the hoisting-engine, or open a door, and not have the same closed, whereby danger is caused in the mine, or enter any place of the mine, against caution, or disobey any order given in carrying out the provisions of this act, or shall ride upon a loaded car or carriage in any shaft or slope, or on any plane in or around any of said mines, or do any other act whereby the lives or the health of persons, or the security of the mines or machinery, is endangered; or any miner, having charge of a working-place any coal mine or colliery, who shall neglect or refuse to keep the roof thereof properly propped and timbered, to prevent the falling of coal, slate, or rock; every such person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment and fine, at the discretion of the court.

in

XXII. PENALTY FOR DISOBEYING ORDERS, THEREBY ENDANGERING LIFE, AND FOR INJURY TO ANY OF THE APPARATUS IN AND ABOUT COAL MINING IN MERCER COUNTY. PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF THE ACT 22 APRIL, 1870, P. L., 1256.

Act 22 April, 1870, Sec. 8, P. L., 1256.-Any person in Mercer County who shall knowingly injure any safety-lamp, water-gauge, barometer, air-course, water-pipe, or other property, belonging to the mine, or obstruct air-ways, or carry lighted matches into places that are worked by locked safety-lamps, or disobey any order given by persons in authority, whereby danger is caused to the mine, or enter any place in the mine when forbidden by the inside-viewer, or in any manner endanger the lives of the miners, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. trying the same.

1. Commonwealth v. Reynolds, Luzerne Legal Register R., 218.—" A mining boss has no discretion in the performance of the duties imposed on him by sections 8 and 9 of the Mine Ventilation Law.

2. "He cannot say, in answer to an indictment for neglect of duty, under section 8, in not providing that a door was so hung as not to stand open, that the door was not necessary.

3. "The duty imposed on the mining boss cannot be delegated by him to another.

4. "But if the company took from his charge a particular portion of the mine, and placed it in charge of another, he would not be responsible for neglect of duty in that portion of the mine, although the company might be responsible in case of accident.

5. "If the door was one affecting the ventilation, it is no answer to say that it was not necessary to the ventilation, or that no gas had accumulated in that part of the mine.

6. "Whether a door is a 'main' or 'check' door held to be a question of fact, but if found to be a 'main' door the defendant could be convicted for not providing for it a constant attendant."

Act 22 April, 1870, Sec. 9, P. L., 1256.—Any owner, lessee, operator, or agent of any coal mines in said county of Mercer, neglecting or refusing to comply with the provisions of this act, and any person violating any of its provisions, shall be held and deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, in the Court of Quarter Sessions of said county, shall be punished by fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

XXIII. PROVIDING FOR THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF PERSONS EMPLOYED IN COAL MINES.

Act 22 May, 1879, Sec. 1, P. L., 75.-No owner or agent of or at any coal mine or colliery, operated by shaft or slope, shall place in charge of any engine, whereby the men are lowered into or hoisted out of the mine, any but experienced, competent, sober engineers, and every engineer so placed in charge of an engine shall constantly attend to the engine of which he has charge, and shall not allow any person, except such as may be deputed by the operator or agent, to touch or meddle with it or any part of its machinery; he shall work his engine slowly and with great care when any person is ascending or descending the shaft or slope, and when any person is about to descend or ascend the shaft or slope, the men at the bottom or top, as the case may be, must inform the engineer, by the metal tube, the signal, or otherwise, thereof; and no one shall interfere with, or in any way intimidate, the engineer in the discharge of his duties, nor ride upon a loaded wagon or cage in any shaft or slope; and whenever ten men shall have arrived at the bottom of any shaft or slope, they shall be furnished with an empty wagon or cage to ride up, and in no case

shall more than ten men ride on any wagon or cage at any one time in any of said mines; and upon any person violating the provisions of this section, he shall be held and be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, he shall be punished by fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court trying the same.

ED. NOTE.-Above amends, Sec. 11, Act 3 March, 1870, P. L., 8.

XXIV. PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO PROVIDE MEANS OF CONVEYANCE OF PERSONS, INJURED IN OR ABOUT THE COAL MINES, TO THEIR HOMES; STRETCHERS, AMBULANCES,

ETC.

Act 10 May, 1881, Sec. 6, P. L., 18.-In case of the neglect or refusal of any individual, firm, or corporation to comply with the requirements of this act, they shall be subject to a penalty of one hundred and fifty dollars, after hearing and conviction before any alderman or justice of the peace, on the report of said mine inspector, and in default of payment of the same shall be imprisoned for thirty days, unless defendant enter bail for his appearance at next term of Quarter Sessions, to be tried as for a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, said court shall impose a fine not exceeding said one hundred and fifty dollars.

ED. NOTE.-This section does not apply to employers of less than twenty persons.

XXV. SAFETY AND HEALTH OF PERSONS EMPLOYED IN MINES.

Act 3 March, 1870, Sec. 10, P. L., 7.-The neglect or refusal of any person or party to perform the duties provided for and required to be performed by sections six, seven, eight, nine, and ten of this act, by the parties therein required to perform them, shall be taken and be deemed a misdemeanor by them, or either or any of them, and, upon conviction thereof, they, or any or either of them, shall be punished by imprisonment and fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars, or either, at the discretion of the court trying the same.

XXVI. NONE BUT EXPERIENCED ENGINEERS TO BE EMPLOYED BY OWNERS OR AGENTS OF MINES. PENALTY FOR INTERFERING WITH THEM.

Act 3 March, 1870, Sec. 11, P. L., 8.-No owner or agent of or at any coal mine or colliery, operated by shaft or slope, shall place in charge of any engine, whereby the men are lowered into or hoisted out of the mine, any but experienced, competent, sober engineers; and every engineer so placed in charge of an engine shall constantly attend to the engine of which he has charge, and shall not allow any person, except such as may be deputed by the operator or agent, to touch or meddle with it or any part of its machinery; he shall work the engine slowly, with great care, when any person is ascending or descending the shaft or slope, and when any person is about to descend or ascend the shaft or slope, the men at the bottom or top, as the case may be, must inform the engineer, by the metal tube, the signal, or otherwise, thereof.

And no one shall interfere with, or in any way intimidate, the engineer in the discharge of his duties, nor ride upon a loaded wagon or cage in any shaft or slope; and in no case shall more than ten men ride on any wagon or cage at one time in any of the said mines. And upon any person violating the provisions of this section, he shall be held and deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, he shall be punished by fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court trying the

same.

Amended by XXIII. p. 456.

XXVII. ALLEGED LUNATICS ENTITLED TO THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS UPON OATH OF ANY RESPECTABLE

PERSON.

Act 20 April, 1869, Sec. 3, P. L., 79.—On a written statement, properly sworn to or affirmed, being addressed by some respectable person to any law judge, that a certain person then confined in a hospital for the insane is not insane, and is thus unjustly deprived of his liberty, the judge shall issue a writ of habeas corpus, commanding that the said alleged lunatic be brought before him for a public hearing, where the question of his or her

alleged lunacy may be determined, and where the onus of proving the said alleged lunatic to be insane shall rest upon such persons as are restraining him or her of his or her liberty.

XXVIII. A MISDEMEANOR TO PREVENT OR INTERFERE WITH COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PATIENTS IN AN INSANE ASYLUM AND THEIR COUNSEL.

Act 20 April, 1869, Sec. 2, P. L., 78.—It shall be unlawful, and be deemed a misdemeanor in law, punishable by a fine of not exceeding one hundred dollars, for any superintendent, officer, physician, or other employé of any insane asylum to intercept, delay, or interfere with, in any manner whatsoever, the transmission of any letter or other written communication addressed by an inmate of any asylum to his or her counsel, residing in the county in which the home of the patient is, or in the city or county in which the asylum is located.