-------------------------------------------------------

------------
|         Causes of Death.              |   No. of   | Proportion |
|                                       |   Deaths.  |  per cent. |
------------------------------------------------------------

-------
| Deaths resulting from fire-damp       |            |            |
|   explosions                          |    2019    |    20.36   |
|                                       |            |            |
| Deaths resulting from falling         |            |            |
|   roofs and coals                     |    3953    |    39.87   |
|                                       |            |            |
| Deaths resulting from shaft           |            |            |
|   accidents                           |    1710    |    17.24   |
|                                       |            |            |
| Deaths resulting from miscellaneous   |            |            |
|   causes and above ground             |    2234    |    22.53   |
|                                       |------------|------------|
|                                       |    9916    |   100.00   |
------------------------------------------------------------

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Every reader of the daily papers is familiar with the harrowing accounts which are there given of coal-mine explosions.

This kind of accident is one, which is, above all, associated in the public mind with the dangers of the coal-pit.  Yet the accidents arising from this cause number but 20 per cent. of those recorded, and granted there be proper inspection, and the use of naked lights be absolutely abolished, this low percentage might still be considerably reduced.

A terrific explosion occurred at Whitwick Colliery, Leicestershire, in 1893, when two lads were killed, whilst a third was rescued after a very narrow escape.  The lads, it is stated, were working with naked lights, when a sudden fall of coal released a quantity of gas, and an immediate explosion was the natural result.  Accidents had been so rare at this pit that it was regarded as particularly safe, and it was alleged that the use of naked lights was not uncommon.

This is an instance of that large number of accidents which are undoubtedly preventable.

An interesting commentary on the careless manner in which miners risk their lives was shown in the discoveries made after an explosion at a colliery near Wrexham in 1889.  Near the scene of the explosion an unsecured safety lamp was found, and the general opinion at the time was that the disaster was caused by the inexcusable carelessness of one of the twenty victims.  Besides this, when the clothing of the bodies recovered was searched, the contents, taken, it should be noted, with the pitmen into the mines, consisted of pipes, tobacco, matches, and even keys for unlocking the lamps.  It is a strange reflection on the manner in which this mine had been examined previous to the men entering upon their work, that the under-looker, but half an hour previously, had reported the pit to be free from gas.