partment of mines shall at all times be open to inspection by any citizen of this state, and upon the request of the governor of the state the chief of the department of mines shall lay said records before said officer, also maps of mines furnished the chief of the department of mines by the district mine inspectors; any chief of the department of mines who shall violate any of the provisions of this act shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than two hundred dollars, and may in the discretion of the court be imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding one year.

The chief of the department of mines shall be a male citizen of West Virginia, and shall be a competent person, having had at least eight years' experience in the working, ventilation and drainage of coal mines in this state, and having a practical and scientific knowledge of all noxious and dangerous gases found in such mines, and to enable the said chief of the department of mines to perform his duties he shall have the same authority to visit, enter and examine, the mines as is conferred upon the district mine inspector, and he shall have the authority to call the assistance of any one of the district mine inspectors to any district in the state.

The present chief mine inspector of this state, who according to this act, is designated as chief of the department of mines, shall continue in office under the title of chief of the department of mines until July one, one thousand nine hundred and nine, the expiration of the term for which he was appointed as chief mine inspector, or until his successor shall be duly appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed as provided by law; and the governor of this state, shall with the consent of the senate, appoint a chief of the department of mines whose term of office shall begin July one, one thousand nine hundred and nine, and shall be for four years, or until his successor shall be duly appointed and qualified; and the governor, with the consent of the senate, shall each four years thereafter, appoint a chief of the department of mines for the term of four years or until his successor be appointed and qualified.

The salary of the chief of the department of mines shall be twenty-four hundred dollars, and traveling expenses, which shall be paid monthly out of the state treasury upon a requisition upon the state auditor, properly certified by the chief of the department of mines.

Sec. 2. Within thirty days after this act becomes a law the chief of the department of mines shall appoint such an additional

number of district mine inspectors, which with those now in office, shall give one inspector for each mining district within the state, as hereinafter provided, whose term of office shall expire the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred and nine, or when their successors be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed as provided by law, and he shall direct or prescribe in which of said districts each of said inspectors shall serve; and he shall each four years thereafter appoint one inspector for each of said districts.

The salary of each district mine inspector shall be eighteen hundred dollars per annum, and actual expenses; such salary and expenses shall be paid monthly out of the state treasury upon the approval of the chief of the department of mines; provided that before payment of such expenses shall be made to the inspector he shall file an account of such expenses, verified by his affidavit, showing that they accrued in the discharge of his official duties; every person so appointed district mine inspector must be a citizen of West Virginia, having a practical knowledge of mining and the proper ventilation and drainage of mines and a knowledge of the gases met with in coal mines, and must be a miner of at least six years' experience in coal mines, or having otherwise been engaged as an employee for six years within coal mines, and he shall not while in office, be interested as owner, operator, agent, stockholder, superintendent or engineer of any coal mine, and he shall be of good moral character and temperate habits. An inspector of mines shall be removed from office by the chief of the department of mines of this state for incompetency, neglect of duty, drunkenness, malfeasance and for other good causes.

Each of the district mine inspectors shall report in writing monthly to the chief of the department of mines the number and condition of all mines inspected by him during each month and shall deliver to the operator or operators of each mine inspected a certificate of inspection, and shall post a duplicate certificate at a prominent place of the operating company where it may be conveniently read by any of the mine employees; said duplicate certificate shall remain posted until a subsequent certificate is issued by the district mine inspector, and he shall visit each mine in his district at least once in every three months, or oftener if called upon in writing by ten men engaged in any one mine, or the owner, operator or superintendent of such mine and make a personal examination of the interior of all mines, and outside of the mine

where any danger may exist to the workmen, in their respective districts, and shall particularly examine into the condition of the mines as to ventilation, drainage and general safety and shall make a report of such examinations, and he shall see that all the provisions of the mining statutes are strictly carried out; and it shall be unlawful for any district mine inspector to appoint any deputy or other person to do and perform any work required of such inspector; any mine inspector failing to comply with the requirements of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars and be dismissed from office; the chief of the department of mines and the district mine inspectors shall each before entering upon the discharge of his duties take oath of office prescribed by the constitution and shall furnish bond in the sum of two thousand dollars, with security to be approved by the governor, conditioned upon the faithful discharge of his duty, a certificate of which oath and bond shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. Vacancies in the office of the department of mines or district mine inspector shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term.

Sec. 3. Each district mine inspector shall, for each year ending the thirtieth day of June, make a written report to the chief of the department of mines of his proceedings, stating therein the number of mines in his district, the improvements made in and at the mines, the extent to which this act is obeyed or violated, and such other information in relation to mines and mining as he may deem of public interest, or as may be required of him by the chief of the department of mines; he shall also suggest or recommend such legislation on the subject of mining as he may think necessary; such report shall be filed with the chief of the department of mines on or before the thirtieth day of September next succeeding the year for which it was made; the chief of the department of mines shall annually make a full and complete written report of his proceedings to the governor of the state for the year ending the thirtieth of June; such report shall include the reports of the district mine inspectors, the number of visits and inspections made in the state by the district inspectors, the quantity of coal and coke produced in the state, the number of men employed, number of mines operated, ovens in and out of blast, improvements made, prosecutions, etc., and such other information in relation to the subject

of mines, mining inspection and needed legislation as he may deem of public interest and beneficial to the mining interests of the state; such report shall be filed with the governor on or before the thirtieth day of December next succeeding the year for which it was made, and such report shall be printed upon the requisition of the governor and in order that the report shall be annually printed and distributed among the operators, miners and citizens of the state, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars annually is hereby appropriated out of the state treasury for this special purpose.

Sec. 4. The chief of the department of mines, by and with the approval of the governor, shall within thirty days after this act becomes a law, divide the state into twelve mining districts in such a manner as to equalize as far as practicable the work of each district inspector.

Sec. 5. The operator or agent of every coal mine shall, within six months after the passage of this act, make or cause to be made, unless already made and filed, an accurate map or plan of such mine, on a scale to be stated thereon, of one hundred or two hundred feet to the inch; such map or plan shall show the openings or excavations, the shafts, slopes, entries, airways with darts or arrows showing direction of air currents, headings, rooms, pillars, etc., and such portions of such mine or mines as may have been abandoned, the general inclination of the coal strata, and so much of the property lines and the outcrop of the coal seam of the tract of land on which said mine is located, as may be within one thousand feet of any part of the workings of such mine; a true copy of such map or plan, shall within the six months aforesaid be delivered by such operator to the inspector of his district, to be preserved among the records of his office and turned over to his successor in office; but it is provided that in no case shall any copy of the same be made without the consent of the operator or his agent; and the original map. or a true copy thereof, shall be kept by such operator at the office of the mine, and open at all reasonable times for the examination and use of the inspector, and such operator shall, twice within every twelve months, and not more than seven months apart, while the mine is in operation, cause such mine to be surveyed and the map thereof extended so as to accurately show the progress of the workings, the property lines and outcrop as above provided; and he shall immediately thereafter notify the inspector of his district who shall forward to the

said operator, or his engineer the maps held by such inspector to be extended as above required.

See. 6. If the operator or agent of any coal mine shall neglect or fail to furnish to the mine inspector of his district any copy of map or extension thereof as provided in preceding section of this act, the mine inspector is hereby authorized to cause a correct survey and map or plan of said coal mine or the extension thereof to be made at the expense of the operator of such mine, the cost of which shall be recoverable from said operator as other debts are recoverable by law; and if at any time the chief of the department of mines have reason to believe that such map or plan or extension thereof furnished in pursuance of the preceding section, be materially incorrect such as will not serve the purpose for which it was intended, he may have survey and map or plan or the extension thereof made or corrected and the expense of making such survey and map or plan or extension thereof under the direction of said chief of the department of mines, shall be paid by the operator and the same may be collected as other debts are recoverable by law; and if found correct the expense thereof to be paid by the state.

Sec. 7. After the passage of this act each operator of a coal mine, before making any additional mine openings, shall furnish the district mine inspector of the district in which the mine is located, a plan of the proposed openings and mine development.

Sec. 8. After six months from and after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the mine foreman or the assistant mine foreman of every coal mine in this state to see that every person employed to work in such mine shall, before beginning to work therein, be instructed as to the particular danger, incident to his work in such mine, and furnished a copy of the mining law and rules of such mine.

Every inexperienced person so employed shall work under the direction of the mine foreman, his assistant or such other experienced worker as may be designated by the mine foreman or assistant until he is familiar with the danger, incident to his work, and it shall be unlawful for the operator, agent or mine foreman of any coal mine, to employ any person to work in said mine, or permit any persons to be in said mine for the purpose of working therein, unless they are in communication with at least two openings or outlets, separated by natural strata, of not less than one hundred feet in breadth, if the mine be worked by shaft, and of not less than fifty