ined, and if the mine is safe he shall remove the danger signal, or change the color thereof to safety, in order that the employees may enter said mine and begin work; in the performance of the duties on the part of the fire boss or bosses they shall have no superior officer, but all the employees working inside of said mine or mines shall be subordinate to said fire boss or bosses in this particular work; the fire boss shall upon having completed the examination of the mine before each shift, make a written record of the condition of the mine within a book having a form prescribed by the chief of the department of mines, which record shall at all times be kept at the mine subject to the inspection of the district mine inspector or chief of the department of mines; it shall be unlawful for any person to enter said mine or mines for any purpose at the beginning of work upon each shift therein until such signal or warning has been given by said fire boss or bosses on the outside of said mine or mines as to the safety thereof, as herein provided, except under the direction of said fire boss or bosses, and then for the purpose of assisting in making said mine safe; and each person who shall enter such mine except as aforesaid, before such notice or signal has been given, or any operator, agent or fire boss who shall violate the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not less than sixty days nor more than one year.

Sec. 14. Mines in which explosive gas is generated in dangerous quantities from the coal or adjacent strata shall be worked exclusively by the use of locked safety lamps, and no open lamp nor torch shall be used except as may be permitted in writing by the district mine inspector; the safety lamps used for examining any mine or which may be used for working therein, shall be furnished by, and be the property of the operator of the mine, and shall be in the charge of some person to be designated by the "fire boss" and at least two safety lamps shall be kept at every coal mine. whether such mine generates fire damp or not.

Any operator, agent or other person who shall fail or refuse to comply with the requirements of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the county. jail not less than thirty days nor more than one year, in the discretion of the court.

Sec. 15. In order to better secure the proper ventilation of every coal mine and promote the health and safety of persons employed therein, the operator or agent shall employ a competent and practical inside overseer, to be called mine foreman, who shall be a citizen of this state, and an experienced coal miner, or any person having five years' experience in a coal mine, who shall keep a careful watch over the ventilating apparatus and the airways, traveling ways, pumps and drainage; and shall see that as the miners advance their excavations, proper break-throughs are made, to properly ventilate the mine, and that all loose coal, slate and rock over head in the working places and along the haul ways be removed or carefully secured so as to prevent danger to persons employed in such mines; and that sufficient props, caps and timbers, as nearly as possible of suitable dimensions, are furnished for the places where they are to be used, and such props, caps and timbers shall be delivered and placed at such points as the rules for the government of each respective mine provide for them to be delivered; and every workman in want of props, cap pieces and timbers shall notify the mine foreman, or such other person who may be designated for that purpose, at least one day in advance giving the length and number of props or timbers and cap pieces he requires; but in case of an emergency the timbers may be ordered immediately upon the discovery of any danger; and it shall be the duty of each miner to properly prop and secure his place in order to make the same secure for him to work therein. The said mine foreman shall have all water drained and hauled out of the working places where the same is practicable, before the miners enter and said working places kept dry as far as practicable while the miners are at work; it shall be the duty of the mine foreman to see that the cross-cuts are made as required by law and that the ventilation shall be conducted through said cross-cuts into the rooms by means of check doors placed on the entries or other suitable places, and he shall not permit any room to be opened in advance of the ventilation current. Should the mine inspector discover any room, entry, airway or other working places being driven in advance of the air current contrary to the requirements of this act he shall order the workmen working such places to cease work at once until the law is complied with.

And the mine foreman shall measure the air current at least twice each month at the inlet and outlet and at or near the faces of

the advanced headings and shall keep a record of such measurements in a book having a form prescribed by the chief of the department of mines. An anemometer shall be provided for this purpose by the operator of the mine.

And in mines in which the operations are so extensive that all the duties devolving upon the mine foreman can not be discharged by one man, competent persons having had three years' experience in a coal mine may be designated and appointed as assistants, who shall act under the mine foreman's instruction; and shall be responsible for their conduct in the discharge of their duties under such designation or employment.

On all haulways space not less than ten feet long and two feet six inches wide, between the wagon and the rib, shall be kept open at distances not exceeding one hundred feet apart, in which shelter from passing wagons may be had; it shall further be the duty of the mine foreman to have bore holes kept not less than twelve feet in advance of the face, and, where necessary, on sides of the working places that are being driven toward and in dangerous proximity to an abandoned mine or part of mine suspected of containing inflammable gases or which is filled with water; on all haulways where hauling is done by machinery of any kind, the mine foreman shall provide a proper system of signals and a conspicuous light,and also for the carrying of a conspicuous light on the front and rear of every trip or train of cars when in motion in a mine, and when hoisting or lowering of men occurs before daylight in the morning or at evening after darkness, at any mine operated by shaft, the said mine foreman shall provide and maintain at the shaft mouth a light of a stationary character sufficient to show the landing and all surrounding objects distinctly, and sufficient light of a stationary character shall be located at the bottom of the shaft so that persons coming to the bottom may clearly discern the cages and other objects closely contiguous thereto; no cages on which men are riding shall be lifted or lowered at a rate of speed greater than six hundred feet per minute; no mine cars either empty or loaded, shall be hoisted while men are being lowered or hoisted, and no cage having an unstable self-dumping platform shall be used for the carrying of workmen unless the same is provided with some device by which the same may be securely locked when men are being hoisted or lowered into the mine.

At every mine where ten men are employed under ground it shall

be the duty of the operator thereof to keep always on hand at the mine a properly constructed stretcher, a woolen and a waterproof blanket, and all necessary requisites which may be advised by medical practitioner employed by the company, and if as many as one hundred and fifty men me employed, two stretchers with the necessary equipments as above advised; the mine foreman, or his assistant, shall visit and examine every working place in the mine, every alternate day while the miners of such places are at work and shall direct that each and every working place shall be secured by props or timbers whenever necessary, which shall be placed and used by the miners working therein as in this act provided, to the end that such working places shall be made safe, and the said mine foreman shall not permit nor shall any one work in a place known to be unsafe unless it be for the purpose of making it safe. The mine foreman shall notify the operator or agent of the mine of his inability to comply with any of the requirements of this section, and it shall then become the duty of any operator or agent to at once attend to the matter complained of by the mine foreman, so as to enable him to comply with the provisions hereof if the same can be practically done. Any operator or agent of any coal mine, or other person who shall neglect to comply with the requirements of this section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemenor and shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail not less than ten days nor more than ninety days at the discretion of the court. mine foreman or employee failing to comply with this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five dollars, nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not less than ten days nor more than ninety days, in the discretion of the court.

Any

Sec. 16. The operator or agent of every coal mine shall furnish the inspector proper facilities for entering such mine and making examinations or obtaining information; and if any inspector shall discover that any mine does not, in appliances for the safety of the persons employed therein, conform to the provisions of this act, or that by reason of any defect or practice in or at such mine the lives or health of persons employed therein, are endangered, he shall immediately, in writing, notify such operator or agent thereof, stating in such notice the particulars in which he considers such mine to be defective or dangerous and if he deem it necessary for the protection of the lives or health of the persons employed in

such mine, he shall, after giving notice of one day to the said operator or agent, in writing notify immediately the chief of the department of mines, who shall immediately examine the mine reported to be unsafe, and if upon such examination the mine reported to be unsafe is in fact found to be in an unsafe condition, the chief of the department of mines shall forthwith order the mine to be closed until it is placed in a safe and proper condition for mining operations; the owner or operator of any mine so closed may apply to the circuit court wherein such mine is located, or the judge thereof in vacation, by petition for an order directing said mine. to be re-opened, and such court or the judge thereof in vacation shall immediately hear and determine the matters arising upon such petition, and if upon full hearing thereof the court or the judge thereof in vacation shall find that said mine is in a reasonably safe condition, the prayer of said petition shall be granted; but notice of said hearing shall be given to the district mine inspector or the chief of the department of mines three days at the least before said hearing; and in all such hearings the attorney general shall appear for the state and defend the same.

Sec. 17. No boy under fourteen years of age, nor female persons of any age shall be permitted to work in any coal mine, and in all cases of doubt, the parents or guardians of such boys shall furnish affidavits of their ages; any operator, agent or mine foreman who shall knowingly violate the provisions of this section or any person knowingly making a false statement as to the age of any boy under fourteen years of age, applying for work in any coal mine shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than ten nor more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail not less than ten nor more than ninety days, in the discretion of the court.

Sec. 18. No miner, workman or other persons, shall knowingly injure any shaft, lamp, instrument, air course, or brattice, or obstruct or throw open airways or carry matches or open lights in the places worked by safety lamps or disturb any part of the machinery or appliances, open a door used for directing ventilation and not close it again, or enter any part of a mine against caution, or disobey any order given in carrying out any of the provisions of this act, or do any other act whereby the life or health of any person employed in the mine or the security of the mine is endangered; any person who shall violate the provisions of this section