But these are not all the evils which descend upon the head of the coal miner.  In the whole British Empire there is no occupation in which a man may meet his end in so many diverse ways as in this one.  The coal mine is the scene of a multitude of the most terrifying calamities, and these come directly from the selfishness of the bourgeoisie.  The hydrocarbon gas which develops so freely in these mines, forms, when combined with atmospheric air, an explosive which takes fire upon coming into contact with a flame, and kills every one within its reach.  Such explosions take place, in one mine or another, nearly every day; on September 28th, 1844, one killed 96 men in Haswell Colliery, Durham.  The carbonic acid gas, which also develops in great quantities, accumulates in the deeper parts of the mine, frequently reaching the height of a man, and suffocates every one who gets into it.  The doors which separate the sections of the mines are meant to prevent the propagation of explosions and the movement of the gases; but since they are entrusted to small children, who often fall asleep or neglect them, this means of prevention is illusory.  A proper ventilation of the mines by means of fresh air-shafts could almost entirely remove the injurious effects of both these gases.  But for this purpose the bourgeoisie has no money to spare, preferring to command the working-men to use the Davy lamp, which is wholly useless because of its dull light, and is, therefore, usually replaced by a candle.  If an explosion occurs, the recklessness of the miner is blamed, though the bourgeois might have made the explosion well-nigh impossible by supplying good ventilation.  Further, every few days the roof of a working falls in, and buries or mangles the workers employed in it.  It is the interest of the bourgeois to have the seams worked out as completely as possible, and hence the accidents of this sort.  Then, too, the ropes by which the men descend into the mines are often rotten, and break, so that the unfortunates fall, and are crushed.  All these accidents, and I have no room for special cases, carry off yearly, according to the Mining Journal, some fourteen hundred human beings.  The Manchester Guardian reports at least two or three accidents every week for Lancashire alone.  In nearly all mining districts the people composing the coroner’s juries are, in almost all cases, dependent upon the mine owners, and where this is not the case, immemorial custom insures that the verdict shall be:  “Accidental Death.”  Besides, the jury takes very little interest in the state of the mine, because it does not understand anything about the matter.  But the Children’s Employment Commission does not hesitate to make the mine owners directly responsible for the greater number of these cases.