Scenes And Incidents From The Life Of A Practical Miner
With A Treatise On The Ventilation Of Coal Mines

28 I had my back south and I never knew until I was involved in a flame of lire, niy strength and action taken from me by the absence of the atmos- pheric pressure, yet in the midst of this intense flame, I retained my pre- sence of mind; and fortunately for me the fire moved with great force to the north, bearing me with it, when I flung myself head first into a hole by the side of the east wall of coal, with water in it, which hole liad been, produced by the hanging of a side wafer, or a frame of stone most danger- ous to look at, as it appeared ready to drop. My head and right arm wei’e covei'ed over with the water which saved my life. My suffering was only momentary, but I had had enough of it; and two of the putters in passing the west end of this board were so severely burnt that they died from its effects. The three men at the coinpass were a little scorched 3-i yards to the north. You now see me, indicated by the single black dot, in the midst of a solid flame of fire, of above 50 yards in extent—my life miraculously saved, as often the miners is; and yet, while I was bearing my smarting sores, I hadalso to bear the severe infliction of a public cen- sure, for the defect or negligence of other men. After this descriptive detail of the occurrence, 1 need not further point out to the practical miner, nor to the man of science, the extent of negli- gence in this case, and the true cause of the explosion, which ought to have been prevented by lioleing the wall to the south, making a straight and direct passage in the east headways for the returning current of air. Then the hydrogen gas, as it escaped from the goaf, would have been swept away into the waste by the air, and thereby rendered harmless. Or why did they not plug up the bore hole and prevent the escape of gas altogether? Or why was I not made acquainted with this state of things, that I might have adopted ways and means to prevent an accident? They knew I had long been engaged as a common coal hewer, which I had refused to do when first requested by tlie chief agent, because I viewed it as a punishment imposed by caprice. It was an inconsistent oversight on his part, and an unnecessary degradation on me. Ami my refusal sprung from a variety of reasons, strongly operating on my mind. We had to be sworn in special constables, and perchance to put the men out of their houses. Tims, are you compelled to draw daggers with your neighbours and friends, when your remaining life time is too short to find a friendly sheath to hide the offending blade in—with the men too, who in youth shared your sports and follies, and afterwards laboured side by side in the dreary mine, cheerfully helping oneanother. How often is it the miner’s lot to risk his own life in saving those of others, and is such a life not cal- culated to create a feeling of active sympathy among those who have shared its dangers, and whose memories are filled with the same records? Or would the chance-directed hand of agency seek to divert nature, ami convert the miner into a hypocrite, to devour his fellow? Is he made like a dog, to pat and fawn on his master only, and obey him right or wrong? Men owe a duty to their employers, which they should at all times obedi- ently perform. But they also owe an important duty to one another, which they must not forget, it being the source of their own general welfare. Their domestic happiness, the social and daily intercourse, all depends ou the performance of that duty. Again, a man rising from the ranks of