Texas Mining and Trade Journal, Volume 1, Number 31, Saturday, February 20, 1897 Page: 1
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POPULATION 4,000.
Volume 1.
Thurber, Texas: Saturday, February 20, 1897.
Number 31
HEALTH OF COAL MINERS.
AMES BARR0WMAN, mining engineer, in a paper read
before the Mining Institute of Scotland, and printed in the
I Transactions of the Federated Institutions of Mining En-
V gineers, says: "It cannot be denied that coal mining is a
dangerous occupation. With, perhaps, the exception of the
railway industry, it is more prolific in accidents, fatal and other-
wise, than any other occupation in the country. The annual re-
ports of inspectors of mines serve only to keep the facts always
before us, but they preserve a correct record of the nature and
number of mining accidents. They also show, however, the
progressive improvement that has taken place as regards safety
in the occupation of the collier, and this has some bearing on
the figures relating to health, referred to later on. Comparing
the figures for 1855 with those for 1894, it will be sten that
while the number of fatal accidents has fluctuated little, main-
taining an average rate over the past forty years of 1,061 per
annum, the output and the number of persons employed have
increased almost threefold.
1894
188,277,525
705,240
1,127
006
1.6
Output of coal in United Kingdom (tons;.. .64,453,096
Persons employed above and underground.. 242,719
Fatal accidents 955
Deaths per 1,000 tons raised 015
Deaths per i,coo persons employed 3.9
"There is no doubt that the health conditions of coal mining
have also been greatly improved within the same period. This
can of course be said of all occupations and of the people as a
whole; but, apait from this general improvement, we want to
know if there are diseases peculiar to coal mining which have
the effect ot shortening the life of the miner, or, if those diseases
which are common to all are aggravated by mining conditions to
such an extent as to justify the statement that the coal miner is
a short lived man. When we consider that about one-fifth of
the whoíe male population of the United Kingdom, between the
ages of 25 and 65, are miners, it will be recognized that the
question is one of some consequence.
"As to whether there are any diseases peculiur to the miner's
calling there is evidence that, with one or perhaps two exceptions,
there are none such. These exceptions are an affection of the
eyes, termed 'nystagmus,' and, in lesser degree, that disease of
the respiratory organs which usually goes by the name of 'miners'
asthma.' Nystagmus, although not a prevalent affection, is one
with well marked symptoms directly traceable to the posture of
the collier while at work. The symptoms are oscillation, with
more or less of a rolling motion of the eyeballs: giddiness, with
headache, and the appearance of objects moving in a circle, or
lights dancing before the eyes. In severe cases the person af-
fected may stumble and be so much inconvenienced as to be
obliged to stop work. Dr. Simeon Snell of Sheffield has given
this disease special attention for about twenty years, and has pub-
lished the results of his investigations, which show beyond all
reasonable doubt that nystagmus is confined almost entirely to
those underground workmen who are engaged in holding or un-
dercutting the coal, and is due to the miner's habit of looking up-
wards, above the horizontal line of vision, and more or less ob-
liquely while at work lying on his side. It has been observed
also in firemen and others who have occasion frequently to ex-
amine the roof, turning the eyes oblique while doing so. Any
other occupation in which the person may habitually turn the
eyes upwards and sideways will induce nystagmus; but such
cases are so rare that this trouble may be regarded as one pe-
culiar to mining. Turning the eyes downward yields temporary
relief; but there seems to be no permanent cure for it except
abandonment of the kind of work that gave rise to it. It has
been alleged that the use of safety lamps in the mines, giving
less light than the open candle or lamp, has agravated this dis-
ease; but the careful and long-continued observations of Dr.
Snell and of Mr. A. H. Stokes prove that there is no connection
between the use of safety lamps and the alleged increase of nys-
tagmus. The number of miners is on the increase, and greater
attention has been given of late to this affection than formerly,
which circumstances sufficiently account for the supposed relative
increase in the number of cases. Other specialists in this coun-
try and on this continent confirm the conclusion of Dr. Snell.
The disease called miner's asthma, with which a characteristic
black spit is associated, cannot be said to be special to mining
in the same sense that nystagmus is, as there are other occupa-
tions in which a similar disease is prevalent, such as those of
quarriers, masons and pottery makers; still the conditions of un-
derground occupation appear to be conducive to the extension
of this and related diseases of the respiratory organs. It is clear
to an ordinary observer that in the last quarter of a century there
has been a great improvement in coal miners in this respect and
that those who suffer from diseases of the respiratory organs are
relatively fewer now than they were twenty-five years ago. We
do not require the evidence of statistics to convince us of
this, and we can have no difficulty in attributing this better state
of things to the great improvement in ventilation effected within
the time mentioned.
"A further tabulated statement shows the mortality of men
25 to 65 years of agé in England and Wales during a period of
three years. By it there appears to be less than the average
mortality among coal miners than among other men, the figures
being 1,603 to T'799- Tin miners and street peddlers appear to
be a much more dangerous 'risk,' as the insurence men say, suf-
fering twice as much loss per annum as coal miners. Physi-
cians, innkeepers, butchers, potters, plumbers, filemakers, cotton
mill hands and quarriers all appear to be more subject to mor-
tality than coal miners. The statistics show that the classes pos-
sessing the greatest degree of health and longevity are clejgy-
men, farmers, gardeners, and farm laborers."
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Rose, John R. Texas Mining and Trade Journal, Volume 1, Number 31, Saturday, February 20, 1897, newspaper, February 20, 1897; Thurber, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth204539/m1/1/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.