heart very common among colliers at all ages, from boyhood up
to old age. The most common of them were inflammation of that
organ, and of its covering, the pericardium, simple enlargement
or hypertrophy, contraction of the auriculo-ventricular
communications, and of the commencement of the aorta. These
symptoms were well marked, attended for the most part with
increase of the heart's action, the force of its contraction
being sensibly augmented, and, in many cases, especially those
of hypertrophy, much and preternaturally extended over the
chest.'—Ibid. p. 417.
"Mr. Thomas Batten, surgeon, Coleford: 'A boy about thirteen
years of age, in the Parkend Pits, died of _hæmorrhagia
purpurea_, (a suffusion of blood under the cuticle,) brought on
by too much exertion of the muscles and whole frame.'—_Waring,
Evidence_, No. 36; App. pt. ii. p. 24, 1. 21.
To this list of diseases arising from great muscular exertion, must be
added rupture:—
"Dr. Farell, Sheffield: 'Many of them are ruptured; nor is this
by any means uncommon among lads—arising, in all probability,
from over-exertion.'—_Symons, Evidence_, No. 47, App. pt. i. p.
286, 1. 2.
"Mr. Pearson, surgeon to the dispensary, Wigan: 'Colliers are
often ruptured, and they often come to me for advice.'—_Kennedy,
Report_, 1. 304; App. pt. ii. p. 189.
"Andrew Grey: 'Severe ruptures occasioned by lifting coal. Many
are ruptured on both sides. I am, and suffer severely, and a vast
number of men here are also.'—_Franks, Evidence_, No. 147; App.
pt. i. p. 463, 1. 61.
But employment in the coal-mines produces another series of diseases
incomparably more painful and fatal, partly referable to excessive
muscular exertion, and partly to the state of the place of work—that
is, to the foul air from imperfect ventilation, and the wetness
from inefficient drainage. Of the diseases of the lungs produced by
employment in the mines, asthma is the most frequent.
"Mr. William Hartell Baylis: 'The working of the mines brings on
asthma.'—_Mitchell, Evidence_, No. 7; App. pt. i. p. 65, 1. 31.
"A surgeon who does not wish his name to be published: 'Most
colliers, at the age of thirty, become asthmatic. There are
few attain that age without having the respiratory apparatus
disordered.'—Ibid. No. 45, p. 81, 1. 15.
"Mr. George Marcy, clerk of the Wellington Union: 'Many
applications are made from miners for relief on account of
sickness, and chiefly from asthmatic complaints, when arrived
at an advanced age. At forty, perhaps, the generality suffer
much from asthma. Those who have applied have been first to the
medical officer, who has confirmed what they said.'—Ibid. No.
46, p. 81, 1. 44.
"'I met with very few colliers above forty years of age, who, if
they had not a confirmed asthmatic disease, were not suffering
from difficult breathing.'—_Fellows, Report_, s. 57; App. pt.
ii. p. 256.
"Phœbe Gilbert, Watnall, Messrs. Barber and Walker: 'She
thinks they are much subject to asthma. Her first husband,
who died aged 57, was unable to work for seven years on that
account.'—_Fellows, Evidence_, No. 105; App. pt. ii. p. 256.
"William Wardle, collier, forty years of age, Eastwood: 'There
are some who are asthmatical, and many go double.'—Ibid. No. 84,
p. 287, 1. 40.
"Mr. Henry Hemmingway, surgeon, Dewsbury: 'When children are
working where carbonic acid gas prevails, they are rendered more
liable to affections of the brain and lungs. This acid prevents
the blood from its proper decarbonization as it passes from
the heart to the lungs. It does not get properly quit of the
carbon.'—_Symons, Evidence_, No. 221; App. pt. i. p. 282, 1. 38.
"Mr. Uriah Bradbury, surgeon, Mirfield: 'They suffer from
asthma.'—Ibid. No. 199, p. 278, 1. 58.
"Mr. J. B. Greenwood, surgeon, Cleckheaton: 'The cases which have
come before me professionally have been chiefly affections of the
chest and asthma, owing to the damp underfoot, and also to the
dust which arises from the working of the coal.'—Ibid. No. 200,
p. 279, 1. 8.
"J. Ibetson, collier, aged fifty-three, Birkenshaw: 'I have
suffered from asthma, and am regularly knocked up. A collier
cannot stand the work regularly. He must stop now and then, or he
will be mashed up before any time.'—Ibid. No. 267, p. 292, 1. 42.
"Joseph Barker, collier, aged forty-three, Windybank Pit: 'I have
a wife and two children; one of them is twenty-two years old; he
is mashed up, (that is, he is asthmatical,) he has been as good a
worker as ever worked in a skin.'—_Scriven, Evidence_, No. 14;
App. pt. ii. p. 104, 1. 60.
"Mr. George Canney, surgeon, Bishop Aukland: 'Do the children
suffer from early employment in the pits?' Yes, seven and
eight is a very early age, and the constitution must suffer in
consequence. It is injurious to be kept in one position so long,
and in the dark. They go to bed when they come home, and enjoy
very little air. I think there is more than the usual proportion
of pulmonary complaints.'—_Mitchell, Evidence_, No. 97; App. pt.
i. p. 154, 1. 2.
"Mr. Headlam, physician, Newcastle: 'Diseases of respiration
are more common among pit-men than among others, distinctly
referable to the air in which they work. The air contains a great
proportion of carbonic gas, and carburetted hydrogen. These
diseases of the respiratory organs arise from the breathing of
these gases, principally of the carbonic acid gas.—_Leifchild,
Evidence_, No. 499; App. pt. i. p. 67, 1. 11.
"Mr. Heath, of Newcastle, surgeon: 'More than usually liable to
asthma; mostly between thirty and forty years of age. A person
always working in the broken would be more liable to asthma.
Asthma is of very slow growth, and it is difficult to say when it
begins. Custom and habit will not diminish the evil effects, but
will diminish the sensibility to these evils.'—Ibid. No. 497, p.
665, 1. 10-14.
"Matthew Blackburn, driver, fifteen years of age, Heaton
Colliery: 'Has felt shortness of breath. Helps up sometimes,
but is bound to drive. Cannot help up sometimes for shortness
of breath. His legs often work, (ache;) his shoulders work
sometimes. Working in a wet place.'—Ibid. No. 27, p. 573, 1. 34.
"Dr. S. Scott Alison, East Lothian: 'Between the twentieth and
thirtieth year the colliers decline in bodily vigour, and become
more and more spare; the difficulty of breathing progresses,
and they find themselves very desirous of some remission from
their labour. This period is fruitful in acute diseases, such
as fever, inflammation of the lungs, pleura, and many other
ailments, the product of over-exertion, exposure to cold and wet,
violence, insufficient clothing, intemperance, and foul air. For
the first few years chronic bronchitis is usually found alone,
and unaccompanied by disease of the body or lungs. The patient
suffers more or less difficulty of breathing, which is affected
by changes of the weather, and by variations in the weight of
the atmosphere. He coughs frequently, and the expectoration
is composed, for the most part, of white frothy and yellowish
mucous fluid, occasionally containing blackish particles of
carbon, the result of the combustion of the lamp, and also of
minute coal-dust. At first, and indeed for several years, the
patient, for the most part, does not suffer much in his general
health, eating heartily, and retaining his muscular strength in
consequence. The disease is rarely, if ever, entirely cured; and
if the collier be not carried off by some other lesion in the
mean time, this disease ultimately deprives him of life by a
slow and lingering process. The difficulty of breathing becomes
more or less permanent, the expectoration becomes very abundant,
effusions of water take place in the chest, the feet swell, and
the urine is secreted in small quantity; the general health
gradually breaks up, and the patient, after reaching premature
old age, slips into the grave at a comparatively early period,
with perfect willingness on his part, and no surprise on that of
his family and friends.'—_Franks, Evidence_, App. pt. i. p. 412,
415, Appendix A.
"John Duncan, aged fifty-nine, hewer, Pencaitland: 'Mining has
caused my breath to be affected, and I am, like many other
colliers, obliged to hang upon my children for existence. The
want of proper ventilation in the pits is the chief cause. No
part requires more looking to than East Lothian; the men die off
like rotten sheep.'—Ibid. No. 150, p. 464, 1. 28.
"George Hogg, thirty-two years of age, coal-hewer, Pencaitland:
'Unable to labour much now, as am fashed with bad breath; the air
below is very bad; until lately no ventilation existed.'—Ibid.
No. 153, p. 406, 1. 46. See also Witnesses, Nos. 4, 36, 53, 131,
152, 155, 175, 275, 277, &c.: 'The confined air and dust in which
they work is apt to render them asthmatic, as well as to unfit
them for labour at an earlier period of life than is the case in
other employments.'—_Tancred, Report_, s. 99, App. pt. i. p. 345.
"Dr. Adams, Glasgow: 'Amongst colliers, bronchitis or asthma is
very prevalent among the older hands.'—_Tancred, Evidence_, No.
9; App. pt. i. p. 361, 1. 44.
"Mr. Peter Williams, surgeon, Holiwell, North Wales: 'The chief
diseases to which they are liable are those of the bronchiæ.
Miners and colliers, by the age of forty, generally become
affected by chronic bronchitis, and commonly before the age of
sixty fall martyrs to the disease. The workmen are, for the most
part, very healthy and hardy, until the symptoms of affections of
the bronchial tubes show themselves.'—_H. H. Jones, Evidence_,
No. 95; App. pt. ii. p. 407, 1. 8.
"Jeremiah Bradley, underground agent, Plaskynaston: 'The men are
apt to get a tightness of breath, and become unfit for the pits,
even before sixty.'—Ibid. No. 30, p. 383, 1. 8.
"Amongst colliers in South Wales the diseases most prevalent are
the chronic diseases of the respiratory organs, especially asthma
and bronchitis.'—_Franks, Report_, s. 64; App. pt. ii. p. 484.
"David Davis, contractor, Gilvachvargoed colliery,
Glamorganshire: 'I am of opinion that miners are sooner disabled
and off work than other mechanics, for they suffer from shortness
of breath long before they are off work. Shortness of breath may
be said to commence from forty to fifty years of age.'—_Franks,
Evidence_, No. 178; App. pt. ii. p. 533, 1. 32.
"Richard Andrews, overseer, Llancyach, Glamorganshire:
'The miners about here are very subject to asthmatic
complaints.'—Ibid. No. 152; p. 529, 1. 7.
"Mr. Frederick Evans, clerk and accountant for the Dowlais
Collieries, Monmouthshire: 'Asthma is a prevalent disease among
colliers.'—_R. W. Jones, Evidence_, No. 121; App. pt. ii. p.
646, 1. 48.
"Mr. David Mushet, Forest of Dean: 'The men generally become
asthmatic from fifty to fifty-five years of age.'—_Waring,
Evidence_, No. 37; App. pt. ii. p. 25, 1. 3.
"'Asthmatic and other bronchial affections are common among the
older colliers and miners.'—_Waring, Report_, s. 72; App. pt.
ii. p. 6.
"Mr. W. Brice, clerk, Coal Barton and Vobster Collieries, North
Somersetshire: 'The work requires the full vigour of a man, and
they are apt, at this place, to get asthmatical from the gas and
foul air.'—_Stewart, Evidence_, No. 7; App. pt. ii. p. 50, 1. 49.
"James Beacham, coal-breaker, Writhlington, near Radstock: 'Many
of the miners suffer from "tight breath."'—Ibid. No. 32; p. 56,
1. 31."
Of that disease which is peculiar to colliers, called "black spittle,"
much evidence is given by many medical witnesses and others:—
"Mr. Cooper, surgeon, of Bilston, gives the following account
of this malady when it appears in its mildest form: 'Frequently
it occurs that colliers appear at the offices of medical men,
complaining of symptoms of general debility, which appear to
arise from inhalation of certain gases in the mines, (probably an
excess of carbonic.) These patients present a pallid appearance,
are affected with headache, (without febrile symptoms,) and
constriction of the chest; to which may be added dark bronchial
expectoration and deficient appetite. Gentle aperients, mild
stomachics, and rest from labour above ground, restore them in
a week or so, and they are perhaps visited at intervals with a
relapse, if the state of the atmosphere or the ill ventilation of
the mine favour the development of deleterious gas.'—_Mitchell,
Evidence_, No. 3; App. pt. i. p. 62, 1. 48."
In other districts this disease assumes a much more formidable
character:—
"Dr. Thompson, of Edinburgh, states that, 'The workmen in coal
mines occasionally die of an affection of the lungs, accompanied
with the expectoration of a large quantity of matter of a deep
black colour, this kind of expectoration continuing long after
they have, from choice or illness, abandoned their subterranean
employment; and the lungs of such persons are found, on
examination after death, to be most deeply impregnated with black
matter. This black deposition may occur to a very considerable
extent in the lungs of workers in coal-mines, without being
accompanied with any black expectoration, or any other phenomena
of active disease, and may come to light only after death has
been occasioned by causes of a different nature, as by external
injuries.'—_Franks_, Appendix A, No. 1; App. pt. i. p. 409.
"Dr. S. Scott Alison: 'Spurious melanosis, or "black spit" of
colliers, is a disease of pretty frequent occurrence among the
older colliers, and among those men who have been employed
in cutting and blasting stone dykes in the collieries. The
symptoms are emaciation of the whole body, constant shortness
and quickness of breath, occasional stitches in the sides, quick
pulse, usually upward of one hundred in the minute, hacking cough
day and night, attended by a copious expectoration, for the most
part perfectly black, and very much the same as thick blacking in
colour and consistence, but occasionally yellowish and mucous,
or white and frothy; respiration is cavernous in some parts,
and dull in others; a wheezing noise is heard in the bronchial
passages, from the presence of an inordinate quantity of fluid;
the muscles of respiration become very prominent, the neck is
shortened, the chest being drawn up, the nostrils are dilated,
and the countenance is of an anxious aspect. The strength
gradually wasting, the collier, who has hitherto continued at his
employment, finds that he is unable to work six days in the week,
and goes under ground perhaps only two or three days in that
time; in the course of time, he finds an occasional half-day's
employment as much as he can manage, and when only a few weeks'
or months' journey from the grave, ultimately takes a final leave
of his labour. This disease is never cured, and if the unhappy
victim of an unwholesome occupation is not hurried off by some
more acute disease, or by violence, it invariably ends in the
death of the sufferer. Several colliers have died of this disease
under my care.'—Ibid. Appendix A, No. 2; App. pt. i. p. 415, 416.
"Dr. Makellar, Pencaitland, East Lothian: 'The most serious and
fatal disease which I have been called to treat, connected with
colliers, is a carbonaceous infiltration into the substance of
the lungs. It is a disease which has long been overlooked, on
account of the unwillingness which formerly existed among that
class of people to allow examination of the body after death; but
of late such a prejudice has in a great measure been removed.
From the nature of Pencaitland coal-works, the seams of coal
being thin when compared with other coal-pits, mining operations
are carried on with difficulty, and, in such a situation, there
is a deficiency in the supply of atmospheric gas, thereby causing
difficulty in breathing, and, consequently, the inhalation of
the carbon which the lungs in exhalation throw off, and also
any carbonaceous substance floating in this impure atmosphere.
I consider the pulmonary diseases of coal-miners to be excited
chiefly by two causes, viz. first, by running stone-mines with
the use of gunpowder; and, secondly, coal-mining in an atmosphere
charged with lamp-smoke and the carbon exhaled from the lungs.
All who are engaged at coal-pits here, are either employed
as coal or stone miners; and the peculiar disease to which
both parties are liable varies considerably according to the
employment.'—Ibid. Appendix A, No. 3, p. 422. See also witnesses
Nos. 7, 44, 112, 144, 146. For a full account of this disease,
see reports of Drs. Alison, Makellar, and Reid, in the Appendix
to the sub-commissioner's report for the East of Scotland."
Dr. Makellar gives the following remarkable evidence as to the efficacy
of ventilation in obviating the production of this disease:—
"The only effectual remedy for this disease is a free admission
of pure air, and to be so applied as to remove the confined
smoke, both as to stone-mining and coal-mining, and also the
introduction of some other mode of lighting such pits than by
oil. I know many coal-pits where there is no _black-spit_, nor
was it ever known, and, on examination, I find that there is and
ever has been in them a free circulation of air. For example, the
Penstone coal-works, which join Pencaitland, has ever been free
of this disease; but many of the Penstone colliers, on coming
to work at Pencaitland pit, have been seized with, and died of,
this disease. Penstone has always good air, while it is quite the
contrary at Pencaitland.'—Ibid. Appendix A, No. 3; App. pt. i.
p. 422."
Other diseases, produced by employment in coal-mines, less fatal, but
scarcely less painful, are rheumatism and inflammation of the joints.
Mr. William Hartell Baylis states that working in the cold and wet
often brings on rheumatism. "More suffer from this than from any other
complaint."[3] Asthma and rheumatism, which are so prevalent in other
districts, are very rare in Warwickshire and Leicestershire.[4] But, in
Derbyshire, "rheumatism is very general. I believe you will scarcely
meet a collier, and ask him what he thinks of the weather, but he will
in reply say, 'Why, his back or shoulders have or have not pained him
as much as usual.'"[5]
George Tweddell, surgeon, Houghton-le-Spring, South Durham, says, in
answer to the question—Are miners much subject to rheumatism?—"Not
particularly so. Our mines are dry; but there is one mine which is wet,
where the men often complain of rheumatism."[6]
Similar evidence is given by the medical and other witnesses in all
other districts. Wherever the mines are not properly drained, and are,
therefore, wet and cold, the work-people are invariably afflicted with
rheumatism, and with painful diseases of the glands.
The sub-commissioner for the Forest of Dean gives the following account
of a painful disease of the joints common in that district:—
"'The men employed in cutting down the coal are subject to
inflammation of the _bursæ_, both in the knees and elbows, from
the constant pressure and friction on these joints in their
working postures. When the seams are several feet thick, they
begin by kneeling and cutting away the exterior portion of the
base. They proceed undermining till they are obliged to lie down
on their sides, in order to work beneath the mass as far as the
arm can urge the pick, for the purpose of bringing down a good
head of coal. In this last posture the elbow forms a pivot,
resting on the ground, on which the arm of the workman oscillates
as he plies his sharp pick. It is easy to comprehend how this
action, combined with the pressure, should affect the delicate
cellular membrane of this joint, and bring on the disease
indicated. The thin seams of coal are necessarily altogether
worked in a horizontal posture.'—_Waring, Report_, s. 63-66;
App. pt. ii. p. 5, 6.
"Twenty boys at the Walker Colliery: 'The twenty witnesses,
when examined collectively, say, that the way is so very
dirty, and the pit so warm, that the lads often get tired very
soon.'—_Leifchild, Evidence_, No. 291; App. pt. i. p. 627, 1.
661.
"Nineteen boys examined together, of various ages, of whom the
spokesman was William Holt, seventeen years old, putter: 'The
bad air when they were whiles working in the broken, makes them
sick. Has felt weak like in his legs at those times. Was weary
like. Has gone on working, but very slowly. Many a one has had to
come home before having a fair start, from bad air and hard work.
Hours are too long. Would sooner work less hours and get less
money.'—Ibid. No. 300; p. 629, 1. 1.
"Twenty-three witnesses assembled state: 'That their work is
too hard for them, and they feel sore tired; that some of them
constantly throw up their meat from their stomachs; that their
heads often work, (ache;) the back sometimes; and the legs feel
weak.'—Ibid. No. 354; p. 639, 1. 18.
"John Wilkinson, aged thirteen, Piercy Main Colliery: 'Was in for
a double shift about five weeks ago, and fell asleep about one
o'clock P.M., as he was going to lift the limmers off to join
the rolleys together, and got himself lamed by the horse turning
about and jamming one of his fingers. Split his finger. Was off
a week from this accident. Sometimes feels sick down in the pit;
felt so once or twice last fortnight. Whiles his head works,
(aches,) and he has pains in his legs, as if they were weak.
Feels pains in his knees. Thinks the work is hard for foals, more
so than for others.'—Ibid. No. 60; p. 579, 1. 22.
"John Middlemas: 'Sometimes, but very rarely, they work double
shift; that is, they go down at four o'clock A.M. and do not
come up until four o'clock P.M. in the day after that, thus
stopping down thirty-six hours, without coming up, sometimes; and
sometimes they come up for half an hour, and then go down again.
Another worked for twenty-four hours last week, and never came up
at all. Another has stopped down thirty-six hours, without coming
up at all, twice during the last year. When working this double
shift they go to bed directly they come home.'—Ibid. No. 98; p.
588, 1. 42.
"Michael Turner, helper-up, aged fourteen and a half, Gosforth
Colliery: 'Mostly he puts up hill the full corves. Many times
the skin is rubbed off his back and off his feet. His head works
(aches) very often, almost every week. His legs work so sometimes
that he can hardly trail them. Is at hard work now, shoving
rolleys and hoisting the crane; the former is the hardest work.
His back works very often, so that he has sometimes to sit down
for half a minute or so.'—Ibid. No. 145; p. 598, 1. 58.
"George Short, aged nearly sixteen: 'Hoists a crane. His head
works very often, and he feels sickish sometimes, and drowsy
sometimes, especially if he sits down. Has always been drowsy
since he went there. Twice he has worked three shifts following,
of twelve hours each shift; never came up at all during the
thirty-six hours; was sleepy, but had no time to sleep. Has many
times worked double shift of nineteen hours, and he does this now
nearly every pay Friday night. A vast of boys work in this shift,
ten or eleven, or sometimes more. The boys are very tired and
sleepy.'—Ibid. No. 191; p. 606, 1. 41.
"John Maffin, sixteen years old, putter, Gosforth Colliery: 'Was
strong before he went down pits, but is not so now, from being
overhard wrought, and among bad air.'—Ibid. No. 141; p. 598, 1.
2.
"Robert Hall, seventeen years old, half marrow, Felling Colliery:
'The work of putting makes his arms weak, and his legs work
all the day; makes his back work. Is putting to the dip now
in a heavy place. Each one takes his turn to use the "soams,"
(the drawing-straps;) one pulls with them, and the other shoves
behind. Both are equally hard. If it is a very heavy place there
are helpers-up, but not so many as they want. Has known one sore
strained by putting.'
"John Peel, aged thirteen: 'Is now off from this. Is healthy in
general, but is now and then off from this work.'—Ibid. No. 325;
p. 634, 1. 11.
"Michael Richardson, fifteen years old, putter, St. Lawrence Main
Colliery: 'About three quarters of a year since he wrought double
shift every other night; or, rather, he worked three times in
eleven days for thirty-six hours at a time, without coming up the
pit. About six months ago he worked three shifts following, of
twelve hours each shift, and never stopped work more than a few
minutes now and then, or came up the pit till he was done. There
was now and then some night-work to do, and the overman asked
him to stop, and he could not say no, or else he (the overman)
would have frowned on him, and stopped him, perhaps, of some
helpers-up. Thinks the hours for lads ought to be shortened, and
does not know whether it would not be better even if their wages
were less.'—Ibid. No. 270; p. 623, 1. 32.
"James Glass, eighteen years old, putter, Walbottle: 'Puts a tram
by himself. Has no helper-up, and no assistance. Mostly puts a
full tram up. Is putting from a distance now. Mostly the trams
are put up by one person. Was off work the week before last three
days, by being sick. Was then putting in the night shift, and had
to go home and give over. Could not work. His head works nearly
every day. He is always hitting his head against stone roofs. His
arms work very often. Has to stoop a good deal. The weight of his
body lies upon his arms when he is putting. The skin is rubbed
off his back very often.'—Ibid. No. 244; p. 619, 1. 27.
"Mr. James Anderson, a Home Missionary, residing in Easington
Lane, Hetton-le-Hole, in reply to queries proposed, handed in the
following written evidence: 'The boys go too soon to work: I have
seen boys at work not six years of age, and though their work
is not hard, still they have long hours, so that when they come
home they are quite spent. I have often seen them lying on the
floor, fast asleep. Then they often fall asleep in the pit, and
have been killed. Not long ago a boy fell asleep, lay down on the
way, and the wagons killed him. Another boy was killed; it was
supposed he had fallen asleep when driving his wagon, and fallen
off, and was killed.'—Ibid. No. 446; p. 655, 1. 62."
The children employed in the mines and collieries are distinguished by
a remarkable muscular development, which, however, is unhealthy, as it
is premature, obtained at the expense of other parts of the body, and
of but short duration. The muscles of the arms and the back become very
large and full.
With the great muscular development, there is commonly a proportionate
diminution of stature. All classes of witnesses state that colliers,
as a body—children, young persons, and adults—are stunted in growth.
There are only two exceptions to this in Great Britain, namely,
Warwickshire and Leicestershire. It is to be inferred from the
statements of the sub-commissioner for Ireland, that that country
forms a third exception for the United Kingdom. Of the uniformity of
the statements as to the small stature and the stunted growth of the
colliers in all other districts, the following may be regarded as
examples:—
In Shropshire, the miners, as a body, are of small stature; this is
abundantly obvious even to a casual observer, and there are many
instances of men never exceeding the size of boys.[7] Andrew Blake, M.
D., states of the colliers in Derbyshire, that he has observed that
many of them are not so tall as their neighbours in other employments;
this, in a degree, he considers is owing to their being worked so
young.[8] In the West Riding of Yorkshire, also, there is in stature
an "appreciable difference in colliers' children, manifest at all ages
after they have been three years constantly in the pits; there is
little malformation, but, as Mr. Eliss, a surgeon constantly attending
them, admits, they are somewhat stunted in growth and expanded in
width."[9]
"Mr. Henry Hemmingway, surgeon, Dewsbury: 'I am quite sure that
the rule is that the children in coal-pits are of a lower stature
than others.'—_Symons, Evidence_, No. 221; App. pt. i. p. 282,
1. 47.
"Mr. Thomas Rayner, surgeon, Bristall: 'I account for the
stunted growth from the stooping position, which makes them
grow laterally, and prevents the cartilaginous substances from
expanding.'—Ibid. No. 268, p. 292, 1. 52.
"Henry Moorhouse, surgeon, Huddersfield: 'I may state, from my
own personal examination of many of them, that they are much less
in stature, in proportion to their ages, than those working in
mills.'—Ibid. No. 273, p. 293, 1. 49.
"Mr. Jos. Ellison, Bristall: 'The employment of children
decidedly stunts their growth.'—Ibid. No. 249, p. 288, 1. 8."
Mr. Symons, in Appendix to p. 212 of his Report, has given in detail
the names, ages, and measurement, both in stature and in girth of
breast, of a great number of farm and of colliery children of both ages
respectively. By taking the first ten collier boys, and the first ten
farm boys, of ages between twelve and fourteen, we find that the former
measured in the aggregate forty-four feet six inches in height, and two
hundred and seventy-four and a half inches around the breast; while
the farm boys measured forty-seven feet in height, and two hundred and
seventy-two inches round the breast. By taking the ten first collier
girls and farm girls, respectively between the ages of fourteen and
seventeen, we find that the ten collier girls measured forty-six feet
four inches in height, and two hundred and ninety-three and a half
inches round the breast; while the ten farm girls measured fifty feet
five inches in height, and two hundred and ninety-seven inches round
the breast; so that in the girls there is a difference in the height of
those employed on farms, compared with those employed in collieries, of
eight and a half per cent. in favour of the former; while between the
colliery and farm boys of a somewhat younger age, and before any long
period had been spent in the collieries, the difference appears to be
five and a half per cent. in favour of the farm children.
In like manner, of sixty children employed as hurriers in the
neighbourhood of Halifax, at the average ages of ten years and nine
months, Mr. Scriven states that the average measurement in height was
three feet eleven inches and three-tenths, and, in circumference, three
feet two inches; while of fifty-one children of the same age employed
on farms, the measurement in height was four feet three inches, the
circumference being the same in both, namely, two feet three inches.
In like manner, of fifty young persons of the average of fourteen
years and eleven months, the measurement in height was four feet five
inches, and in circumference two feet three inches; while of forty-nine
young persons employed on farms, of the average of fifteen years and
six months, the measurement in height was four feet ten inches and
eight-elevenths, and, in circumference, two feet three inches, being a
difference of nearly six inches in height in favour of the agricultural
labourers.
In the district of Bradford and Leeds, there is "in stature an
appreciable difference, from about the age at which children begin to
work, between children employed in mines and children of the same age
and station in the neighbourhood not so employed; and this shortness
of stature is generally, though to a less degree, visible in the
adult."[10]
In Lancashire, the sub-commissioner reports that—"It appeared to him
that the average of the colliers are considerably shorter in stature
than the agricultural labourers."[11] The evidence collected by the
other gentlemen in this district is to the same effect. Mr. Pearson,
surgeon to the dispensary, Wigan, states, with regard to the physical
condition of the children and young persons employed in coal-mining,
as compared with that of children in other employments, that they
are smaller and have a stunted appearance, which he attributes to
their being employed too early in life.[12] And Mr. Richard Ashton,
relieving-officer of the Blackburn district, describes the colliers
as "a low race, and their appearance is rather decrepit."[13] Though
some remarkable exceptions have been seen in the counties of Warwick
and Leicester, the colliers, as a race of men, in some districts, and
in Durham among the rest, are not of large stature.[14] George Canney,
medical practitioner, Bishop Aukland, states, "that they are less in
weight and bulk than the generality of men."[15]
Of the collier boys of Durham and Northumberland, the sub-commissioner
reports that an inspection of more than a thousand of these boys
convinced him that "as a class, (with many individual exceptions,)
their stature must be considered as diminutive."[16] Mr. Nicholas Wood,
viewer of Killingworth, &c., states "that there is a very general
diminution of stature among pit-men."[17] Mr. Heath, of Newcastle,
surgeon to Killingworth, Gosforth, and Coxlodge collieries, "thinks the
confinement of children for twelve hours in a pit is not consistent
with ordinary health; the stature is rather diminished, and there is an
absence of colour; they are shortened in stature."[18] And J. Brown,
M. D., Sunderland, states "that they are generally stunted in stature,
thin and swarthy."[19]
Of the collier population in Cumberland, it is stated that "they are
in appearance quite as stunted in growth, and present much the same
physical phenomena as those of Yorkshire, comparing, of course, those
following similar branches of the work."[20] Thomas Mitchell, surgeon,
Whitehaven, says, "their stature is partly decreased."[21]
Of the deteriorated physical condition of the collier population in
the East of Scotland, as shown, among other indications, by diminished
stature, Dr. S. Scott Alison states that "many of the infants in a
collier community are thin, skinny, and wasted, and indicate, by their
contracted features and sickly, dirty-white or faint-yellowish aspect,
their early participation in a deteriorated physical condition. From
the age of infancy up to the seventh or eighth year, much sickliness
and general imperfection of physical development is observable. The
physical condition of the boys and girls engaged in the collieries is
much inferior to that of children of the same age engaged in farming
operations, in most other trades, or who remain at home unemployed.
The children are, upon the whole, prejudicially affected to a material
extent in their growth and development. Many of them are short for
their years."[22]
In South Wales, "the testimony of medical gentlemen, and of managers
and overseers of various works, in which large numbers of children
as well as adults are employed, proves that the physical health and
strength of children and young persons is deteriorated by their
employment at the early ages and in the works before enumerated."[23]
Mr. Jonathan Isaacs, agent of the Top Hill colliery:—"I have noticed
that the children of miners, who are sent to work, do not grow as they
ought to do; they get pale in their looks, are weak in their limbs,
and any one can distinguish a collier's child from the children of
other working people."[24] Mr. P. Kirkhouse, oversman to the Cyfarthfa
collieries and ironstone mines, on this point observes—"The infantine
ages at which children are employed cranks (stunts) their growth, and
injures their constitution."[25] John Russell, surgeon to the Dowlais
Iron Works:—"In stature, I believe a difference to exist in the male
youth from twelve to sixteen, employed in the mines and collieries,
compared with those engaged in other works, the former being somewhat
stunted; and this difference (under some form or other) seems still
perceptible in the adult miners and colliers."[26]
A crippled gait, often connected with positive deformity, is one of the
frequent results of slaving in the mines.
In Derbyshire, the children who have worked in the collieries from a
very early age are stated to be bow-legged.[27]
In the West Riding of Yorkshire, "after they are turned forty-five or
fifty, they walk home from their work almost like cripples; stiffly
stalking along, often leaning on sticks, bearing the visible evidences
in their frame and gait of overstrained muscles and over-taxed
strength. Where the lowness of the gates induces a very bent posture,
I have observed an inward curvature of the spine; and chicken-breasted
children are very common among those who work in low, thin
coal-mines."[28] Mr. Uriah Bradbury, surgeon, Mirfield:—"Their knees
never stand straight, like other people's."[29] Mr. Henry Hemmingway,
surgeon, Dewsbury:—"May be distinguished among crowds of people, by
the bending of the spinal column."[30] Mr. William Sharp, surgeon,
Bradford:—"There are occasionally cases of deformity."[31]
In Lancashire district, John Bagley, about thirty-nine years of age,
collier, Mrs. Lancaster's, Patricroft, states, that "the women drawing
in the pits are generally crooked. Can tell any woman who has been
in the pits. They are rarely, if ever, so straight as other women
who stop above ground."[32] Mr. William Gaulter, surgeon, of Over
Darwen, says—"Has practised as a surgeon twenty-four years in this
neighbourhood. Those who work in collieries at an early age, when
they arrive at maturity are not generally so robust as those who work
elsewhere. They are frequently crooked, (not distorted,) bow-legged,
and stooping."[33] Betty Duxberry, whose children work in the pits,
asserts that "colliers are all crooked and short-legged, not like other
men who work above ground; but they were always colliers, and always
will be. This young boy turns his feet out and his knees together;
drawing puts them out of shape."[34]
Evidence collected in Durham and Northumberland, shows that the
underground labour produces similar effects in that district.
Mr. Nicholas Wood, viewer of Killingworth, Hetton, and other
collieries:—"The children are perhaps a little ill-formed, and the
majority of them pale, and not robust. Men working in low seams are
bent double and bow-legged very often."[35] J. Brown, M. D. and J. P.,
Sunderland:—"They labour more frequently than other classes of the
community under deformity of the lower limbs, especially that variety
of it described as being 'in-kneed.' This I should ascribe to yielding
of the ligaments, owing to long standing in the mines in a constrained
and awkward position."[36] Mr. Thomas Greenshaw, surgeon, Walker
colliery:—"Their persons are apt to be somewhat curved and cramped. As
they advance in life, their knees and back frequently exhibit a curved
appearance, from constant bending at their work."[37] Mr. W. Morrison,
surgeon of Pelaw House, Chester le street, Countess of Durham's
collieries:—"The 'outward man' distinguishes a pit-man from any other
operative. His stature is diminished, his figure disproportionate
and misshapen; his legs being much bowed; his chest protruding, (the
thoracic region being unequally developed.) His countenance is not less
striking than his figure—his cheeks being generally hollow, his brow
over-hanging, his cheek-bones high, his forehead low and retreating.
Nor is his appearance healthful—his habit is tainted with scrofula.
I have seen agricultural labourers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and even
those among the wan and distressed-looking weavers of Nottinghamshire,
to whom the term 'jolly' might not be inaptly applied; but I never saw
a 'jolly-looking' pit-man. As the germ of this physical degeneration
may be formed in the youthful days of the pit-man, it is desirable to
look for its cause."[38]
Ruptures, rheumatism, diseases of the heart and of other organs, the
results of over-exertion in unhealthy places, are common among the
persons employed in the mines, as many intelligent persons testified
before the commissioners.
An employment often pursued under circumstances which bring with
them so many and such formidable diseases, must prematurely exhaust
the strength of ordinary constitutions; and the evidence collected
in almost all the districts proves that too often the collier is a
disabled man, with the marks of old age upon him, while other men have
scarcely passed beyond their prime.
The evidence shows that in South Staffordshire and Shropshire, many
colliers are incapable of following their occupation after they are
forty years of age; others continue their work up to fifty, which is
stated by several witnesses to be about the general average. Mr. Marcy,
clerk to the Wellington Union, Salop, states, that "at about forty the
greater part of the colliers may be considered as disabled, and regular
old men—as much as some are at eighty."[39]
Even in Warwickshire and Leicestershire, in which their physical
condition is better than in any other districts, Mr. Michael Parker,
ground bailiff of the Smithson collieries, states that "some of the
men are knocked up at forty-five and fifty, and that fifty may be the
average; which early exhaustion of the physical strength he attributes
to the severe labour and bad air."[40] Mr. Dalby, surgeon of the Union
of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, says—"The work in the pit is very laborious,
and some are unable for it as early as fifty, others at forty-five,
and some at sixty; I should say the greater part at forty-five."[41]
And Mr. Davenport, clerk of the Union of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, gives a
higher average, and says that "a collier may wear from sixty-five
to seventy, while an agricultural labourer may wear from seventy to
seventy-five."[42]
Of Derbyshire the sub-commissioner reports—"I have not perceived that
look of premature old age so general amongst colliers, _until they are
forty years of age_, excepting in the loaders, who evidently appear
so at _twenty-eight or thirty_, and this I think must arise from the
hardness of their labour, in having such great weights to lift, and
breathing a worse atmosphere than any other in the pit."[43] Phoebe
Gilbert states—"The loaders are, as the saying is, 'old men before
they are young ones.'"[44] Dr. Blake says—"He has also noticed that
when a collier has worked from a child, and becomes forty, he looks
much older than those of the same age above ground."[45]
In Yorkshire "the collier of fifty is usually an aged man; he looks
overstrained and stiffened by labour."[46] "But whilst both the
child and the adult miner appear to enjoy excellent health, and to
be remarkably free from disease, it nevertheless appears that their
labour, at least that of the adult miner, is, in its general result,
and in the extent to which it is pursued, of a character more severe
than the constitution is properly able to bear. It is rare that a
collier is able to follow his calling beyond the age of from forty to
fifty, and then, unless he be fortunate enough to obtain some easier
occupation, he sinks into a state of helpless dependence. Better
habits with regard to temperance might diminish, but would not remove,
this evil; and the existence of this fact, in despite of the general
healthiness of the collier population, gives rise to the question
whether, apart from all considerations of mental and moral improvement,
a fatal mistake is not committed in employing children of tender
years to the extent that their strength will bear, instead of giving
opportunity, by short hours of labour, for the fuller and more perfect
physical development which would better fit them to go through the
severe labour of their after-life."[47]
In the coal-fields of North Durham and Northumberland, Dr. Elliott
states "that premature old age in appearance is common; men of
thirty-five or forty years may often be taken for ten years older than
they really are."[48] Mr. Thomas Greenhow, surgeon, Walker Colliery,
North Durham, says "they have an aged aspect somewhat early in
life."[49] Of the effect of employment in the coal-mines of the East
of Scotland, in producing an early and irreparable deterioration of
the physical condition, the sub-commissioner thus reports: "In a state
of society such as has been described, the condition of the children
may be easily imagined, and its baneful influence on the health cannot
well be exaggerated; and I am informed by very competent authorities,
that six months labour in the mines is sufficient to effect a very
visible change in the physical condition of the children; and indeed
it is scarcely possible to conceive of circumstances more calculated
to sow the seeds of future disease, and, to borrow the language of
the Instructions, to prevent the organs from being fully developed,
to enfeeble and disorder their functions, and to subject the whole
system to injury which cannot be repaired at any subsequent stage of
life."[50] In the West of Scotland, Dr. Thompson, Ayr, says—"A collier
at fifty generally has the appearance of a man ten years older than he
is."[51]
The sub-committee for North Wales reports—"They fail in health and
strength early in life. At thirty a miner begins to look wan and
emaciated, and so does a collier at forty; while the farming labourer
continues robust and hearty."[52] John Jones, relieving officer for
the Holywell district, states—"Though the children and young persons
employed in these works are healthy, still it is observable that they
soon get to look old, and they often become asthmatic before they are
forty."[53]
In the Forest of Dean, Mr. Thomas Marsh, surgeon, states that "colliers
usually become old men at fifty to fifty-five years of age."[54] In
North Somersetshire, William Brice, clerk and manager, says "there are
very few at work who are above fifty years of age."[55]
Early death is the natural consequence of the premature decrepitude
thus described to those whom ever-imminent casualities have not
brought to the grave during the years of their vigour. The medical
evidence shows that even in South Staffordshire and Shropshire,
comparatively few miners attain their fifty-first year. In Warwickshire
and Leicestershire it is not uncommon for the men to follow their
occupation ten years longer; but all classes of witnesses in the other
districts uniformly state that it is rare to see an old collier.
In Derbyshire, William Wardle "does not think colliers live as long as
those above ground; very few live to be sixty."[56]
In Yorkshire, "colliers have harder work than any other class of
workmen, and the length of time they work, as well as the intense
exertion they undergo, added to the frequent unhealthiness of
the atmosphere, decidedly tend to shorten their lives."[57] Mr.
Henry Hemmingway, surgeon, Dewsbury, states—"I only knew one old
collier."[58] Mr. Thomas Rayner, surgeon, Bristall, says—"I have had
twenty-seven years' practice, and I know of no old colliers—their
extreme term of life is from fifty-six to sixty years of age."[59] In
Lancashire, states Mr. Kennedy, "it appeared to me that the number of
aged men was much smaller than in other occupations."[60]
After stating that the colliers of South Durham are a strong and
healthy race, Dr. Mitchell adds—"The work, however, is laborious and
exhausting; and the colliers, though healthy, are not long-lived."[61]
John Wetherell Hays, clerk of the Union, Durham, states, "that the
colliers are not long-lived; that they live well, and live fast."[62]
And George Canney, medical practitioner, Bishop Auckland, says "they
are generally short-lived."[63]
The sub-commissioner for the East of Scotland reports, that after a
careful consideration of all the sources of information which could
assist him in the object of his inquiry, he arrives at the following
conclusion:—"That the labour in the coal-mines in the Lothian and
River Forth districts of Scotland is most severe, and that its severity
is in many cases increased by the want of proper attention to the
economy of mining operations; whence those operations, as at present
carried on, are extremely unwholesome, and productive of diseases which
have a manifest tendency to shorten life."[64] Mr. Walter Jarvie,
manager to Mr. Cadell, of Banton, states that "in the small village
of Banton there are nearly forty widows; and as the children work
always on parents' behalf, it prevents them having recourse to the
kirk-session for relief."[65] Elsper Thompson says, "Most of the men
begin to complain at thirty to thirty-five years of age, and drop off
before they get the length of forty."[66] Henry Naysmith, sixty-five
years of age, collier, who says he has wrought upward of fifty years,
adds that "he has been off work nearly ten years, and is much afflicted
with shortness of breath: it is the bane of the colliers, and few men
live to my age."[67]
In North Wales, it is said that "few colliers come to the age of sixty,
and but still fewer miners. This I believe to be the fact, though I met
with many, both miners and colliers, who had attained the age of sixty;
yet they were few compared with the number _employed_ in these branches
of industry."[68] Mr. John Jones, relieving-officer for the Holywell
district, "thinks they are not as long-lived as agriculturists."[69]
James Jones, overman, Cyfarthfa Works, states "that the colliers are
generally very healthy and strong up to the age of forty or fifty; they
then often have a difficulty of breathing, and they die at younger ages
than agricultural labourers or handicraftsmen."[70] Mr. John Hughes,
assistant underground agent, says "they do not appear to live long
after fifty or sixty years old."[71]
In South Wales, the sub-commissioner reports that he "has not been able
to ascertain, for want of sufficient data, the average duration of a
collier's life in the counties either of Glamorgan or Monmouth, but it
is admitted that such average duration is less than that of a common
labourer. In the county of Pembroke, however, Mr. James Bowen, surgeon,
Narbeth, in that county, informs me—"The average life of a collier is
about forty; they rarely attain forty-five years of age; and in the
entire population of Begelly and East Williamson, being 1163, forming,
strictly speaking, a mining population, there are not six colliers of
sixty years of age."
The Rev. Richard Buckby, rector of Begelly, in answer to one of the
queries in the Educational Paper of the Central Board, writes—"The
foul air of the mines seriously affects the lungs of the children and
young persons employed therein, and shortens the term of life. In a
population of one thousand, there are not six colliers sixty years of
age."
There are certain minor evils connected with employment in the worst
class of coal-mines, which, though not perhaps very serious, are
nevertheless sources of much suffering, such as irritation of the
head, feet, back, and skin, together with occasional strains. "The
upper parts of their head are always denuded of hair; their scalps are
also thickened and inflamed, sometimes taking on the appearance _tinea
capitis_, from the pressure and friction which they undergo in the act
of pushing the corves forward, although they are mostly defended by a
padded cap."[72] "It is no uncommon thing to see the hurriers bald,
owing to pushing the corves up steep board gates, with their heads."[73]
Mr. Alexander Muir, surgeon: "Are there any peculiar diseases to which
colliers are subject? No, excepting that the hurriers are occasionally
affected by a formation of matter upon the forehead, in consequence of
pushing the wagons with their head. To what extent is such formation of
matter injurious to the general health? It produces considerable local
irritation. When the matter is allowed to escape, it heals as perfectly
as before. Do you conceive this use of the head to be a necessary or
unnecessary part of their occupation? I should think it not necessary.
Does it arise from any deficiency of strength, the head being used
to supply the place of the arms? I should think it does."[74] David
Swallow, collier, East Moor: "The hair is very often worn off bald,
and the part is swollen so that sometimes it is like a bulb filled
with spongy matter; so very bad after they have done their day's work
that they cannot bear it touching."[75] William Holt: "Some thrutched
with their heads, because they cannot thrutch enough with their hands
alone. Thrutching with their heads makes a gathering in the head, and
makes them very ill."[76]
In running continually over uneven ground, without shoes or stockings,
particles of dirt, coal, and stone get between the toes, and are
prolific sources of irritation and lameness, of which they often
complain; the skin covering the balls of the toes and heels becomes
thickened and horny, occasioning a good deal of pain and pustular
gathering."[77] James Mitchell: "I have hurt my feet often; sometimes
the coals cut them, and they run matter, and the corves run over them
when I stand agate; I an't not always aware of their coming."[78]
Selina Ambler: "I many times hurt my feet and legs with the coals and
scale in gate; sometimes we run corve over them; my feet have many a
time been blooded."[79] Mrs. Carr: "Has known many foals laid off with
sore backs, especially last year and the year before, when the putting
was said to be very heavy in the Flatworth pit. Some foals had to lay
off a day or two, to get their backs healed, before they could go to
work again."[80] William Jakes: "His back is often skinned; is now sore
and all red, from holding on or back against the corf."[81] George
Faction: "In some places he bends quite double, and rubs his back so as
to bring the skin off, and whiles to make it bleed, and whiles he is
off work from these things."[82] Mr. James Probert, surgeon: "Chronic
pain in the back is a very common complaint among colliers, arising
from overstrained tendonous muscles, and it is the source of much
discomfort to the colliers."[83] Mr. William Dodd, surgeon: "As to the
'boils,' when a fresh man comes to the colliery he generally becomes
affected by these 'boils,' most probably from the heat in the first
instance, and subsequently they are aggravated by the salt water."[84]
James Johnson: "Sometimes when among the salt water, the heat, etc.,
brings out boils about the size of a hen's egg upon him, about his legs
and thighs, and under his arms sometimes. A vast of boys, men, and all,
have these boils at times. These boils perhaps last a fortnight before
they get ripe, and then they burst. A great white thing follows, and is
called a 'tanner'."[85] Dr. Adams, Glasgow: "An eruption on the skin
is very prevalent among colliers."[86] William Mackenzie: "Had about
twenty boils on his back at one time, about two years since. These
lasted about three months. He was kept off work about a week. If he
touched them against any thing they were like death to him. But few of
the boys have so many at a time; many of the boys get two or three at a
time. The boys take physic to bring them all out; then they get rid of
them for some time. If the salt water falls on any part of them that is
scotched, it burns into the flesh like; it is like red rust. It almost
blinds the boys if it gets into their eyes."[87]
Accidents of a fatal nature are of frightful frequency in the mines.
In one year there were three hundred and forty-nine deaths by violence
in the coal-mines of England alone. Of the persons thus killed,
fifty-eight were under thirteen years of age; sixty-two under eighteen,
and the remainder over eighteen. One of the most frequent causes of
accidents is the want of superintendence to see the security of the
machinery for letting down and bringing up the work-people, and the
restriction of the number of persons who ascend or descend at the same
time. The commissioners observed at Elland two hurriers, named Ann
Ambler and William Dyson, cross-lapped upon a clutch-iron, drawn up by
a woman. As soon as they arrived at the top the handle was made fast by
a bolt. The woman then grasped a hand of both at the same time, and by
main force brought them to land.
From all the evidence adduced, the commissioners came to the following
conclusions:—
"In regard to coal-mines—
"That instances occur in which children are taken into these
mines to work as early as four years of age, sometimes at five,
and between five and six; not unfrequently between six and seven,
and often from seven to eight; while from eight to nine is the
ordinary age at which employment in these mines commences.
"That a very large proportion of the persons employed in carrying
on the work of these mines is under thirteen years of age; and a
still larger proportion between thirteen and eighteen.
"That in several districts female children begin to work in these
mines at the same early ages as the males.
"That the great body of the children and young persons employed
in these mines are of the families of the adult work-people
engaged in the pits, or belong to the poorest population in the
neighbourhood, and are hired and paid in some districts by the
work-people, but in others by the proprietors or contractors.
"That there are in some districts, also, a small number of
parish apprentices, who are bound to serve their masters until
twenty-one years of age, in an employment in which there is
nothing deserving the name of skill to be acquired, under
circumstances of frequent ill-treatment, and under the oppressive
condition that they shall receive only food and clothing, while
their free companions may be obtaining a man's wages.
"That, in many instances, much that skill and capital can effect
to render the place of work unoppressive and healthy and safe,
is done, often with complete success, as far as regards the
healthfulness and comfort of the mines; but that to render them
perfectly safe does not appear to be practicable by any means yet
known; while, in great numbers of instances, their condition in
regard both to ventilation and drainage is lamentably defective.
"That the nature of the employment which is assigned to the
youngest children—generally that of 'trapping'—requires
that they should be in the pit as soon as the work of the day
commences, and, according to the present system, that they should
not leave the pit before the work of the day is at an end.
"That although this employment scarcely deserves the name of
labour, yet, as the children engaged in it are commonly excluded
from light, and are always without companions, it would, were it
not for the passing and repassing of the coal-carriages, amount
to solitary confinement of the worst sort.
"That in those districts where the seams of coal are so thick
that horses go direct to the workings, or in which the side
passages from the workings to the horseways are not of any great
length, the lights in the main way render the situation of the
children comparatively less cheerless, dull, and stupefying; but
that in some districts they are in solitude and darkness during
the whole time they are in the pit; and, according to their
own account, many of them never see the light of day for weeks
together during the greater part of the winter season, except
on those days in the week when work is not going on, and on the
Sundays.
"That, at different ages from six years old and upward, the hard
work of pushing and dragging the carriages of coal from the
workings to the main ways, or to the foot of the shaft, begins; a
labour which all classes of witnesses concur in stating requires
the unremitting exertion of all the physical power which the
young workers possess.
"That, in the districts in which females are taken down into the
coal-mines, both sexes are employed together in precisely the
same kind of labour, and work for the same number of hours; that
the girls and boys, and the young men and young women, and even
married women and women with child, commonly work almost naked,
and the men, in many mines, quite naked; and that all classes of
witnesses bear testimony to the demoralizing influence of the
employment of females under ground.
"That, in the East of Scotland, a much larger proportion of
children and young persons are employed in these mines than in
any other districts, many of whom are girls; and that the chief
part of their labour consists in carrying the coal on their backs
up steep ladders.
"That, when the work-people are in full employment, the regular
hours of work for children and young persons are rarely less than
eleven, more often they are twelve; in some districts they are
thirteen, and in one district they are generally fourteen and
upward.
"That, in the great majority of these mines, night-work is a
part of the ordinary system of labour, more or less regularly
carried on according to the demand for coals, and one which the
whole body of evidence shows to act most injuriously both on
the physical and moral condition of the work-people, and more
especially on that of the children and young persons.
"That the labour performed daily for this number of hours, though
it cannot strictly be said to be continuous, because, from the
nature of the employment, intervals of a few minutes necessarily
occur during which the muscles are not in active exertion, is,
nevertheless, generally uninterrupted by any regular time set
apart for rest or refreshment; what food is taken in the pit
being eaten as best it may while the labour continues.
"That in all well-regulated mines, in which in general the hours
of work are the shortest, and in some few of which from half an
hour to an hour is regularly set apart for meals, little or no
fatigue is complained of after an ordinary day's work, when the
children are ten years old and upward; but in other instances
great complaint is made of the feeling of fatigue, and the
work-people are never without this feeling, often in an extremely
painful degree.
"That in many cases the children and young persons have little
cause of complaint in regard to the treatment they receive from
the persons of authority in the mine, or from the colliers; but
that in general the younger children are roughly used by their
older companions, while in many mines the conduct of the adult
colliers to the children and adult persons who assist them
is harsh and cruel; the persons in authority in these mines,
who must be cognizant of this ill-usage, never interfering to
prevent it, and some of them distinctly stating that they do not
conceive that they have any right to do so.
"That, with some exceptions, little interest is taken by the
coal-owners in the children or young persons employed in their
works after the daily labour is over; at least, little is done
to afford them the means of enjoying innocent amusement and
healthful recreation.
"That in all the coal fields accidents of a fearful nature are
extremely frequent; and that the returns made to our own queries,
as well as the registry tables, prove that, of the work-people
who perish by such accidents, the proportion of children and
young persons sometimes equals and rarely falls much below that
of adults.
"That one of the most frequent causes of accidents in these mines
is the want of superintendence by overlookers or otherwise,
to see to the security of the machinery for letting down and
bringing up the work-people, the restriction of the number of
persons that ascend and descend at a time, the state of the
mine as to the quantity of noxious gas in it, the efficiency of
the ventilation, the exactness with which the air-door keepers
perform their duty, the places into which it is safe or unsafe to
go with a naked lighted candle, the security of the proppings to
uphold the roof, &c.
"That another frequent cause of fatal accidents is the almost
universal practice of intrusting the closing of the air-doors to
very young children.
"That there are many mines in which the most ordinary precautions
to guard against accidents are neglected, and in which no money
appears to be expended with a view to secure the safety, much
less the comfort, of the work-people.
"There are, moreover, two practices, peculiar to a few districts,
which deserve the highest reprobation, namely,—first, the
practice, not unknown in some of the smaller mines in Yorkshire,
and common in Lancashire, in employing ropes that are unsafe
for letting down and drawing up the work-people; and second,
the practice occasionally met with in Yorkshire, and common in
Derbyshire and Lancashire, of employing boys at the steam-engines
for letting down and drawing up the work-people."—_First Report,
Conclusions_, p. 255-257.
Well, what did the British Government do when the heart-rending report
of the commissioners was received? It felt the necessity of a show of
legislative interference. Lord Ashley introduced a bill into the House
of Commons, having for its object the amelioration of the condition
of the mining women and children. Much discussion occurred. The bill
passed the House of Commons, and was taken to the House of Lords, the
high court of British oppression. Some lords advocated the measure,
whereupon Lord Londonderry and some others spoke of them as "bitten
with a humanity mania." Modifications were made in the bill to suit
the pockets of the luxurious proprietors, and then it was grumblingly
adopted. What did the bill provide? That no child under _ten_ years of
age, and no woman or girl, of any age, should be allowed to work in a
mine. Now, children may be ten years of age, and above that, and yet
they are still tender little creatures. The majority of the sufferers
who came to the notice of the commissioners were above ten years of
age! In that point, at least, the bill was worse than a nullity—it was
a base deceit, pouring balm, but not upon the wound!
The same bill provided that no females should be allowed to work in
the mines. But then the females were driven to the mines by the dread
of starvation. Soon after the passage of the bill, petitions from the
mining districts were sent to Parliament, praying that females might be
allowed to work in the mines. The petitioners had no means of getting
bread. If they had, they would never have been in the mines at all.
The horrors of labour in the mines were consequences of the general
slavery. Well, there were many proprietors of mines in Parliament, and
their influence was sufficient to nullify the law in practice. There is
good authority for believing that the disgusting slavery of the British
mines has been ameliorated only to a very limited extent.