Chapter II: Slavery in the British Mines (2)

"Joseph Reynard, aged nineteen, Mr. Stancliffe's pit, Mirfield:
'I began hurrying when I was nine; I get now; I cannot hurry,
because one leg is shorter than the other. I have had my hip bad
since I was fifteen. I am very tired at nights. I worked in a wet
place to-day. I have worked in places as wet as I have been in
to-day.'

["'I examined Joseph Reynard; he has several large abscesses in
his thigh, from hip-joint disease. The thigh-bone is dislocated
from the same cause; the leg is about three inches shorter; two
or three of the abscesses are now discharging. No appearance of
puberty from all the examinations I made. I should not think him
more than eleven or twelve years of age, except from his teeth. I
think him quite unfit to follow any occupation, much less the one
he now occupies.

Signed, "'U. BRADBURY, Surgeon.']

"'This case,' says the sub-commissioner, 'is one reflecting the
deepest discredit on his employers.'—_Symons, Evidence_, No.
272; App. pt. i. p. 298, 1. 29.

"Elizabeth Eggley, sixteen years old: 'I find my work very much
too hard for me. I hurry alone. It tires me in my arms and back
most. I am sure it is very hard work, and tires us very much; it
is too hard work for girls to do. We sometimes go to sleep before
we get to bed.'—Ibid. No. 114, p. 252, 1. 44.

"Ann Wilson, aged ten and a half years, Messrs. Smith's colliery:
'Sometimes the work tires us when we have a good bit to do;
it tires we in my back. I hurry by myself. I push with my
head.'—Ibid. No. 229, p. 224, 1. 12.

"Elizabeth Day, hurrier, Messrs. Hopwood's pit, Barnsley: 'It
is very hard work for us all. It is harder work than we ought
to do, a deal. I have been lamed in my back, and strained in my
back.'—Ibid. No. 80, p. 244, 1. 33.

"Mary Shaw: 'I am nineteen years old. I hurry in the pit you were
in to-day. I have ever been much tired with my work.'—Ibid. No.
123, p. 249, 1. 38.

"Ann Eggley, hurrier in Messrs. Thorpe's colliery: 'The work is
far too hard for me; the sweat runs off me all over sometimes. I
am very tired at night. Sometimes when we get home at night, we
have not power to wash us, and then we go to bed. Sometimes we
fall asleep in the chair. Father said last night it was both a
shame and a disgrace for girls to work as we do, but there was
nought else for us to do. The girls are always tired.'—Ibid. No.
113, p. 252, 1. 17.

"Elizabeth Coats: 'I hurry with my brother. It tires me a great
deal, and tires my back and arms.'—Ibid. No. 115, p. 252, 1. 59.

"Elizabeth Ibbitson, at Mr. Harrison's pit, Gomersel: 'I don't
like being at pit; I push the corf with my head, and it hurts me,
and is sore.'—Ibid. No. 266, p. 292, 1. 17.

"Margaret Gomley, Lindley Moor, aged nine: 'Am very
tired.'—_Scriven, Evidence_, No. 9; App. pt. ii. p. 103, 1. 34.

"James Mitchell, aged twelve, Messrs. Holt and Hebblewaite's: 'I
am very tired when I get home; it is enough to tire a horse; and
stooping so much makes it bad.'—Ibid. No. 2, p. 101, 1. 32.

"William Whittaker, aged sixteen, Mr. Rawson's colliery: 'I am
always very tired when I go home.'—Ibid. No. 13, p. 104, 1. 55.

"George Wilkinson, aged thirteen, Low Moor: 'Are you tired now?
Nay. Were you tired then? Yea. What makes the difference? I can
hurry a deal better now.'—_W. R. Wood, Esq., Evidence_, No. 18,
App. pt. ii. p. _h_ 11, 1. 30.

"John Stevenson, aged fourteen, Low Moor: 'Has worked in a
coal-pit eight years; went in at six years old; used to rue to go
in; does not rue now; it was very hard when he went in, and "I
were nobbud a right little one." Was not strong enough when he
first went; had better have been a little bigger; used to be very
tired; did not when he first went. I waur ill tired.'—Ibid. No.
15, p. _h_ 10, 1. 39.

"Jabez Scott, aged fifteen, Bowling Iron Works: 'Work is very
hard; sleeps well sometimes; sometimes is very ill tired and
cannot sleep so well.'—Ibid. No. 38, p. _h_ 10, 1. 29.

"William Sharpe, Esq., F. R. S., surgeon, Bradford, states: 'That
he has for twenty years professionally attended at the Low Moor
Iron Works; that there are occasionally cases of deformity, and
also bad cases of scrofula, apparently induced by the boys being
too early sent into the pits, by their working beyond their
strength, by their constant stooping, and by occasionally working
in water.'"—Ibid. No. 60, p. _h_ 27, 1. 45.

The statements of the children, as will be seen, are confirmed by the evidence of the adult work-people, in which we also find some further developments:—

"William Fletcher, aged thirty-three, collier, West Hallam:
'Considers the collier's life a very hard one both for man and
boy, the latter full as hard as the former.'—_Report_, No. 37,
p. 279, 1. 17.

"John Beasley, collier, aged forty-nine, Shipley: 'He has known
instances where the children have been so overcome with the
work, as to cause them to go off in a decline; he has seen those
who could not get home without their father's assistance, and
have fallen asleep before they could be got to bed; has known
children of six years old sent to the pit, but thinks there are
none at Shipley under seven or eight; it is his opinion a boy is
too weak to stand the hours, even to drive between, until he is
eight or nine years old; the boys go down at six in the morning,
and has known them kept down until nine or ten, until they are
almost ready to exhaust; the children and young persons work the
same hours as the men; the children are obliged to work in the
night if the wagon-road is out of repair, or the water coming on
them; it happens sometimes two or three times in the week; they
then go down at six P.M. to six A.M., and have from ten minutes
to half an hour allowed for supper, according to the work they
have to do; they mostly ask the children who have been at work
the previous day to go down with them, but seldom have to oblige
them; when he was a boy, he has worked for thirty-six hours
running many a time, and many more besides himself have done
so.'—Ibid. No. 40, p. 274, 1. 23.

"William Wardle, aged forty, Eastwood: 'There is no doubt
colliers are much harder worked than labourers; indeed, it is the
hardest work under heaven.'—Ibid. No. 84, p. 287, 1. 51.

"Samuel Richards, aged forty, Awsworth: 'There are Sunday-schools
when they will go; but when boys have been beaten, knocked about,
and covered with sludge all the week, they want to be in bed to
rest all day on Sunday.'—Ibid. No. 166, p. 307, 1. 58.

"William Sellers, operative, aged twenty-two, Butterley Company:
'When he first worked in the pit, he has been so tired that he
slept as he walked.'—Ibid. No. 222, p. 319, 1. 35.

"William Knighton, aged twenty-four, Denby: 'He remembers "mony"
a time he has dropped asleep with the meat in his mouth through
fatigue; it is those butties—they are the very devil; they
impose upon them in one way, then in another.'—Ibid. No. 314, p.
334, 1. 42.

"— —, engine-man, Babbington: 'Has, when working whole
days, often seen the children lie down on the pit-bank and go to
sleep, they were so tired.'—Ibid. No. 137, p. 300, 1. 10.

"John Attenborough, schoolmaster, Greasley: 'Has observed that
the collier children are more tired and dull than the others, but
equally anxious to learn.'—Ibid. No. 153, p. 304, 1. 122.

"Ann Birkin: 'Is mother to Thomas and Jacob, who work in Messrs.
Fenton's pits; they have been so tired after a whole day's
work, that she has at times had to wash them and lift them into
bed.'—Ibid. No. 81, p. 285, 1. 59.

"Hannah Neale, Butterley Park: 'They come home so tired that they
become stiff, and can hardly get to bed; Constantine, the one
ten years old, formerly worked in the same pit as his brothers,
but about a half a year since his toe was cut off by the bind
falling; notwithstanding this, the loader made him work until the
end of the day, although in the greatest pain. He was out of work
more than four months owing to this accident.'—Ibid. No. 237, p.
320, 1. 51.

"Ellen Wagstaff, Watnall: 'Has five children, three at Trough
lane and two at Willow lane, Greasley; one at Trough lane is
eighteen, one fourteen, one thirteen years of age; and those
at Willow lane are sixteen and nineteen; they are variously
employed; the youngest was not seven years old when he first went
to the pits. The whole have worked since they were seven or seven
and a half; they have worked from six to eight; from six to two
for half days, no meal-time in half days; she has known them when
at full work so tired when they first worked, that you could not
hear them speak, and they fell asleep before they could eat their
suppers; it has grieved her to the heart to see them.'—Ibid. No.
104, p. 292, 1. 18.

"Ann Wilson, Underwood: 'Is stepmother to Matthew Wilson and
mother to Richard Clarke. Has heard what they have said, and
believes it to be true; has known them when they work whole days
they have come home so tired and dirty, that they could scarcely
be prevented lying down on the ashes by the fireside, and could
not take their clothes off; has had to do it for them, and take
them to the brook and wash them, and has sat up most of the night
to get their clothes dry. The next morning they have gone to work
like bears to the stake.'—Ibid. No. 112, p. 294, 1. 5.

"Hannah Brixton, Babbington: 'The butties slave them past any
thing. Has frequently had them drop asleep as soon as they have
got in the house, and complain of their legs and arms aching very
bad.'—Ibid. No. 149, p. 302, 1. 44.

"Michael Wilkins: 'Never has a mind for his victuals; never feels
himself hungry.'

"John Charlton: 'Thinks the stythe makes him bad so that he
cannot eat his bait, and often brings it all home with him again,
or eats very little of it.'

"Michael Richardson: 'He never has much appetite; and the dust
often blacks his victuals. Is always dry and thirsty.'

"William Beaney: 'Has thrown up his victuals often when he came
home; thinks the bad air made him do this.'

"John Thompson: 'Often throws up his food.'

"Thomas Newton: 'Threw up his victuals last night when he came
home. Never does so down in the pit, but often does when he comes
home.'

"Moses Clerk: 'Throws up his victuals nearly every day at home
and down in the pit.'

"Thomas Martin: 'Many times feels sick, and feels headache, and
throws up his food. Was well before he went down in the pit.'

"Thomas Fawcett: 'Many a night falls sick; and he many times
throws up his meat when he is in bed. Sometimes feels bad and
sick in the morning.'

"George Alder: 'Has been unwell of late with the hard work. Has
felt very sick and weak all this last week.' (Looks very pale and
unwell.)

"John Charlton: 'Often obliged to give over. Has been off five
days in the last month. Each of these days was down in the pit
and obliged to come up again.'

"John Laverick and others: 'Many times they fell sick down in the
pit. Sometimes they have the heart-burn; sometimes they force
up their meat again. Some boys are off a week from being sick;
occasionally they feel pains.'

"Six trappers: 'Sometimes they feel sick upon going to work in
the morning. Sometimes bring up their breakfasts from their
stomachs again. Different boys at different times do this.'

"George Short: 'It is bad air where he is, and makes him bad;
makes small spots come out upon him, (small pimples,) which he
thinks is from the air, and he takes physic to stop them. His
head works very often, and he feels sickish sometimes.'

"Nichol Hudderson: 'The pit makes him sick. Has been very bad in
his health ever since he went down in the pit. Was very healthy
before. The heat makes him sick. The sulphur rising up the shaft
as he goes down makes his head work. Often so sick that he cannot
eat when he gets up, at least he cannot eat very much. About a
half a year since, a boy named John Huggins was very sick down in
the pit, and wanted to come up, but the keeper would not let him
ride, (come up,) and he died of fever one week afterward.'

["The father of this lad and his brother fully corroborate this
statement, and the father says the doctor told him that if he
(the boy) had not been kept in the pit, he might have been,
perhaps, saved. This boy never had any thing the matter with him
before he went down into the pit."—_Leifchild, Evidences_, Nos.
156, 169, 270, 83, 110, 142, 143, 374, 194, 364, 135, 100, 101;
App. pt. i. p. 582 _et seq._ See also the statement of witnesses,
Nos. 315, 327, 351, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 365, 377, 381, 382,
384, 403, 434, 454, 455, 457, 464, 465, 466.]

Similar statements are made by all classes of witnesses in some other districts. Thus, in Shropshire:—

"A surgeon who did not wish his name to be published: 'They
are subject to hypertrophy of the heart, no doubt laying the
foundation of such disease at the early age of from eight to
thirteen years.'—_Mitchell, Evidence_, No. 45; App. pt. i. p.
81, 1. 16.

"Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler, surgeon, Barnsley: 'I have found
diseases of the heart in adult colliers, which it struck me arose
from violent exertion. I know of no trade about here where the
work is harder.'—_Symons, Evidence_, No. 139; App. pt. i. p.
261, 1. 36.

"Mr. Pearson, surgeon to the dispensary, Wigan: 'They are very
subject to diseases of the heart.'—_Kennedy, Report_, 1. 304;
App. pt. ii. p. 189.

"Dr. William Thompson, Edinburgh: 'Workers in coal-mines
are exceedingly liable to suffer from irregular action, and
ultimately organic diseases of the heart.'—_Franks, Evidence_,
App. pt. i. p. 409.

"Scott Alison, M. D., East Lothian: 'I found diseases of the
heart very common among colliers at all ages, from boyhood up
to old age. The most common of them were inflammation of that
organ, and of its covering, the pericardium, simple enlargement
or hypertrophy, contraction of the auriculo-ventricular
communications, and of the commencement of the aorta. These
symptoms were well marked, attended for the most part with
increase of the heart's action, the force of its contraction
being sensibly augmented, and, in many cases, especially those
of hypertrophy, much and preternaturally extended over the
chest.'—Ibid. p. 417.

"Mr. Thomas Batten, surgeon, Coleford: 'A boy about thirteen
years of age, in the Parkend Pits, died of _hæmorrhagia
purpurea_, (a suffusion of blood under the cuticle,) brought on
by too much exertion of the muscles and whole frame.'—_Waring,
Evidence_, No. 36; App. pt. ii. p. 24, 1. 21.

To this list of diseases arising from great muscular exertion, must be added rupture:—

"Dr. Farell, Sheffield: 'Many of them are ruptured; nor is this
by any means uncommon among lads—arising, in all probability,
from over-exertion.'—_Symons, Evidence_, No. 47, App. pt. i. p.
286, 1. 2.

"Mr. Pearson, surgeon to the dispensary, Wigan: 'Colliers are
often ruptured, and they often come to me for advice.'—_Kennedy,
Report_, 1. 304; App. pt. ii. p. 189.

"Andrew Grey: 'Severe ruptures occasioned by lifting coal. Many
are ruptured on both sides. I am, and suffer severely, and a vast
number of men here are also.'—_Franks, Evidence_, No. 147; App.
pt. i. p. 463, 1. 61.

But employment in the coal-mines produces another series of diseases incomparably more painful and fatal, partly referable to excessive muscular exertion, and partly to the state of the place of work—that is, to the foul air from imperfect ventilation, and the wetness from inefficient drainage. Of the diseases of the lungs produced by employment in the mines, asthma is the most frequent.

"Mr. William Hartell Baylis: 'The working of the mines brings on
asthma.'—_Mitchell, Evidence_, No. 7; App. pt. i. p. 65, 1. 31.

"A surgeon who does not wish his name to be published: 'Most
colliers, at the age of thirty, become asthmatic. There are
few attain that age without having the respiratory apparatus
disordered.'—Ibid. No. 45, p. 81, 1. 15.

"Mr. George Marcy, clerk of the Wellington Union: 'Many
applications are made from miners for relief on account of
sickness, and chiefly from asthmatic complaints, when arrived
at an advanced age. At forty, perhaps, the generality suffer
much from asthma. Those who have applied have been first to the
medical officer, who has confirmed what they said.'—Ibid. No.
46, p. 81, 1. 44.

"'I met with very few colliers above forty years of age, who, if
they had not a confirmed asthmatic disease, were not suffering
from difficult breathing.'—_Fellows, Report_, s. 57; App. pt.
ii. p. 256.

"Phœbe Gilbert, Watnall, Messrs. Barber and Walker: 'She
thinks they are much subject to asthma. Her first husband,
who died aged 57, was unable to work for seven years on that
account.'—_Fellows, Evidence_, No. 105; App. pt. ii. p. 256.

"William Wardle, collier, forty years of age, Eastwood: 'There
are some who are asthmatical, and many go double.'—Ibid. No. 84,
p. 287, 1. 40.

"Mr. Henry Hemmingway, surgeon, Dewsbury: 'When children are
working where carbonic acid gas prevails, they are rendered more
liable to affections of the brain and lungs. This acid prevents
the blood from its proper decarbonization as it passes from
the heart to the lungs. It does not get properly quit of the
carbon.'—_Symons, Evidence_, No. 221; App. pt. i. p. 282, 1. 38.

"Mr. Uriah Bradbury, surgeon, Mirfield: 'They suffer from
asthma.'—Ibid. No. 199, p. 278, 1. 58.

"Mr. J. B. Greenwood, surgeon, Cleckheaton: 'The cases which have
come before me professionally have been chiefly affections of the
chest and asthma, owing to the damp underfoot, and also to the
dust which arises from the working of the coal.'—Ibid. No. 200,
p. 279, 1. 8.

"J. Ibetson, collier, aged fifty-three, Birkenshaw: 'I have
suffered from asthma, and am regularly knocked up. A collier
cannot stand the work regularly. He must stop now and then, or he
will be mashed up before any time.'—Ibid. No. 267, p. 292, 1. 42.

"Joseph Barker, collier, aged forty-three, Windybank Pit: 'I have
a wife and two children; one of them is twenty-two years old; he
is mashed up, (that is, he is asthmatical,) he has been as good a
worker as ever worked in a skin.'—_Scriven, Evidence_, No. 14;
App. pt. ii. p. 104, 1. 60.

"Mr. George Canney, surgeon, Bishop Aukland: 'Do the children
suffer from early employment in the pits?' Yes, seven and
eight is a very early age, and the constitution must suffer in
consequence. It is injurious to be kept in one position so long,
and in the dark. They go to bed when they come home, and enjoy
very little air. I think there is more than the usual proportion
of pulmonary complaints.'—_Mitchell, Evidence_, No. 97; App. pt.
i. p. 154, 1. 2.

"Mr. Headlam, physician, Newcastle: 'Diseases of respiration
are more common among pit-men than among others, distinctly
referable to the air in which they work. The air contains a great
proportion of carbonic gas, and carburetted hydrogen. These
diseases of the respiratory organs arise from the breathing of
these gases, principally of the carbonic acid gas.—_Leifchild,
Evidence_, No. 499; App. pt. i. p. 67, 1. 11.

"Mr. Heath, of Newcastle, surgeon: 'More than usually liable to
asthma; mostly between thirty and forty years of age. A person
always working in the broken would be more liable to asthma.
Asthma is of very slow growth, and it is difficult to say when it
begins. Custom and habit will not diminish the evil effects, but
will diminish the sensibility to these evils.'—Ibid. No. 497, p.
665, 1. 10-14.

"Matthew Blackburn, driver, fifteen years of age, Heaton
Colliery: 'Has felt shortness of breath. Helps up sometimes,
but is bound to drive. Cannot help up sometimes for shortness
of breath. His legs often work, (ache;) his shoulders work
sometimes. Working in a wet place.'—Ibid. No. 27, p. 573, 1. 34.

"Dr. S. Scott Alison, East Lothian: 'Between the twentieth and
thirtieth year the colliers decline in bodily vigour, and become
more and more spare; the difficulty of breathing progresses,
and they find themselves very desirous of some remission from
their labour. This period is fruitful in acute diseases, such
as fever, inflammation of the lungs, pleura, and many other
ailments, the product of over-exertion, exposure to cold and wet,
violence, insufficient clothing, intemperance, and foul air. For
the first few years chronic bronchitis is usually found alone,
and unaccompanied by disease of the body or lungs. The patient
suffers more or less difficulty of breathing, which is affected
by changes of the weather, and by variations in the weight of
the atmosphere. He coughs frequently, and the expectoration
is composed, for the most part, of white frothy and yellowish
mucous fluid, occasionally containing blackish particles of
carbon, the result of the combustion of the lamp, and also of
minute coal-dust. At first, and indeed for several years, the
patient, for the most part, does not suffer much in his general
health, eating heartily, and retaining his muscular strength in
consequence. The disease is rarely, if ever, entirely cured; and
if the collier be not carried off by some other lesion in the
mean time, this disease ultimately deprives him of life by a
slow and lingering process. The difficulty of breathing becomes
more or less permanent, the expectoration becomes very abundant,
effusions of water take place in the chest, the feet swell, and
the urine is secreted in small quantity; the general health
gradually breaks up, and the patient, after reaching premature
old age, slips into the grave at a comparatively early period,
with perfect willingness on his part, and no surprise on that of
his family and friends.'—_Franks, Evidence_, App. pt. i. p. 412,
415, Appendix A.

"John Duncan, aged fifty-nine, hewer, Pencaitland: 'Mining has
caused my breath to be affected, and I am, like many other
colliers, obliged to hang upon my children for existence. The
want of proper ventilation in the pits is the chief cause. No
part requires more looking to than East Lothian; the men die off
like rotten sheep.'—Ibid. No. 150, p. 464, 1. 28.

"George Hogg, thirty-two years of age, coal-hewer, Pencaitland:
'Unable to labour much now, as am fashed with bad breath; the air
below is very bad; until lately no ventilation existed.'—Ibid.
No. 153, p. 406, 1. 46. See also Witnesses, Nos. 4, 36, 53, 131,
152, 155, 175, 275, 277, &c.: 'The confined air and dust in which
they work is apt to render them asthmatic, as well as to unfit
them for labour at an earlier period of life than is the case in
other employments.'—_Tancred, Report_, s. 99, App. pt. i. p. 345.

"Dr. Adams, Glasgow: 'Amongst colliers, bronchitis or asthma is
very prevalent among the older hands.'—_Tancred, Evidence_, No.
9; App. pt. i. p. 361, 1. 44.

"Mr. Peter Williams, surgeon, Holiwell, North Wales: 'The chief
diseases to which they are liable are those of the bronchiæ.
Miners and colliers, by the age of forty, generally become
affected by chronic bronchitis, and commonly before the age of
sixty fall martyrs to the disease. The workmen are, for the most
part, very healthy and hardy, until the symptoms of affections of
the bronchial tubes show themselves.'—_H. H. Jones, Evidence_,
No. 95; App. pt. ii. p. 407, 1. 8.

"Jeremiah Bradley, underground agent, Plaskynaston: 'The men are
apt to get a tightness of breath, and become unfit for the pits,
even before sixty.'—Ibid. No. 30, p. 383, 1. 8.

"Amongst colliers in South Wales the diseases most prevalent are
the chronic diseases of the respiratory organs, especially asthma
and bronchitis.'—_Franks, Report_, s. 64; App. pt. ii. p. 484.

"David Davis, contractor, Gilvachvargoed colliery,
Glamorganshire: 'I am of opinion that miners are sooner disabled
and off work than other mechanics, for they suffer from shortness
of breath long before they are off work. Shortness of breath may
be said to commence from forty to fifty years of age.'—_Franks,
Evidence_, No. 178; App. pt. ii. p. 533, 1. 32.

"Richard Andrews, overseer, Llancyach, Glamorganshire:
'The miners about here are very subject to asthmatic
complaints.'—Ibid. No. 152; p. 529, 1. 7.

"Mr. Frederick Evans, clerk and accountant for the Dowlais
Collieries, Monmouthshire: 'Asthma is a prevalent disease among
colliers.'—_R. W. Jones, Evidence_, No. 121; App. pt. ii. p.
646, 1. 48.

"Mr. David Mushet, Forest of Dean: 'The men generally become
asthmatic from fifty to fifty-five years of age.'—_Waring,
Evidence_, No. 37; App. pt. ii. p. 25, 1. 3.

"'Asthmatic and other bronchial affections are common among the
older colliers and miners.'—_Waring, Report_, s. 72; App. pt.
ii. p. 6.

"Mr. W. Brice, clerk, Coal Barton and Vobster Collieries, North
Somersetshire: 'The work requires the full vigour of a man, and
they are apt, at this place, to get asthmatical from the gas and
foul air.'—_Stewart, Evidence_, No. 7; App. pt. ii. p. 50, 1. 49.

"James Beacham, coal-breaker, Writhlington, near Radstock: 'Many
of the miners suffer from "tight breath."'—Ibid. No. 32; p. 56,
1. 31."

Of that disease which is peculiar to colliers, called "black spittle," much evidence is given by many medical witnesses and others:—

"Mr. Cooper, surgeon, of Bilston, gives the following account
of this malady when it appears in its mildest form: 'Frequently
it occurs that colliers appear at the offices of medical men,
complaining of symptoms of general debility, which appear to
arise from inhalation of certain gases in the mines, (probably an
excess of carbonic.) These patients present a pallid appearance,
are affected with headache, (without febrile symptoms,) and
constriction of the chest; to which may be added dark bronchial
expectoration and deficient appetite. Gentle aperients, mild
stomachics, and rest from labour above ground, restore them in
a week or so, and they are perhaps visited at intervals with a
relapse, if the state of the atmosphere or the ill ventilation of
the mine favour the development of deleterious gas.'—_Mitchell,
Evidence_, No. 3; App. pt. i. p. 62, 1. 48."

In other districts this disease assumes a much more formidable character:—

"Dr. Thompson, of Edinburgh, states that, 'The workmen in coal
mines occasionally die of an affection of the lungs, accompanied
with the expectoration of a large quantity of matter of a deep
black colour, this kind of expectoration continuing long after
they have, from choice or illness, abandoned their subterranean
employment; and the lungs of such persons are found, on
examination after death, to be most deeply impregnated with black
matter. This black deposition may occur to a very considerable
extent in the lungs of workers in coal-mines, without being
accompanied with any black expectoration, or any other phenomena
of active disease, and may come to light only after death has
been occasioned by causes of a different nature, as by external
injuries.'—_Franks_, Appendix A, No. 1; App. pt. i. p. 409.

"Dr. S. Scott Alison: 'Spurious melanosis, or "black spit" of
colliers, is a disease of pretty frequent occurrence among the
older colliers, and among those men who have been employed
in cutting and blasting stone dykes in the collieries. The
symptoms are emaciation of the whole body, constant shortness
and quickness of breath, occasional stitches in the sides, quick
pulse, usually upward of one hundred in the minute, hacking cough
day and night, attended by a copious expectoration, for the most
part perfectly black, and very much the same as thick blacking in
colour and consistence, but occasionally yellowish and mucous,
or white and frothy; respiration is cavernous in some parts,
and dull in others; a wheezing noise is heard in the bronchial
passages, from the presence of an inordinate quantity of fluid;
the muscles of respiration become very prominent, the neck is
shortened, the chest being drawn up, the nostrils are dilated,
and the countenance is of an anxious aspect. The strength
gradually wasting, the collier, who has hitherto continued at his
employment, finds that he is unable to work six days in the week,
and goes under ground perhaps only two or three days in that
time; in the course of time, he finds an occasional half-day's
employment as much as he can manage, and when only a few weeks'
or months' journey from the grave, ultimately takes a final leave
of his labour. This disease is never cured, and if the unhappy
victim of an unwholesome occupation is not hurried off by some
more acute disease, or by violence, it invariably ends in the
death of the sufferer. Several colliers have died of this disease
under my care.'—Ibid. Appendix A, No. 2; App. pt. i. p. 415, 416.

"Dr. Makellar, Pencaitland, East Lothian: 'The most serious and
fatal disease which I have been called to treat, connected with
colliers, is a carbonaceous infiltration into the substance of
the lungs. It is a disease which has long been overlooked, on
account of the unwillingness which formerly existed among that
class of people to allow examination of the body after death; but
of late such a prejudice has in a great measure been removed.
From the nature of Pencaitland coal-works, the seams of coal
being thin when compared with other coal-pits, mining operations
are carried on with difficulty, and, in such a situation, there
is a deficiency in the supply of atmospheric gas, thereby causing
difficulty in breathing, and, consequently, the inhalation of
the carbon which the lungs in exhalation throw off, and also
any carbonaceous substance floating in this impure atmosphere.
I consider the pulmonary diseases of coal-miners to be excited
chiefly by two causes, viz. first, by running stone-mines with
the use of gunpowder; and, secondly, coal-mining in an atmosphere
charged with lamp-smoke and the carbon exhaled from the lungs.
All who are engaged at coal-pits here, are either employed
as coal or stone miners; and the peculiar disease to which
both parties are liable varies considerably according to the
employment.'—Ibid. Appendix A, No. 3, p. 422. See also witnesses
Nos. 7, 44, 112, 144, 146. For a full account of this disease,
see reports of Drs. Alison, Makellar, and Reid, in the Appendix
to the sub-commissioner's report for the East of Scotland."

Dr. Makellar gives the following remarkable evidence as to the efficacy of ventilation in obviating the production of this disease:—

"The only effectual remedy for this disease is a free admission
of pure air, and to be so applied as to remove the confined
smoke, both as to stone-mining and coal-mining, and also the
introduction of some other mode of lighting such pits than by
oil. I know many coal-pits where there is no _black-spit_, nor
was it ever known, and, on examination, I find that there is and
ever has been in them a free circulation of air. For example, the
Penstone coal-works, which join Pencaitland, has ever been free
of this disease; but many of the Penstone colliers, on coming
to work at Pencaitland pit, have been seized with, and died of,
this disease. Penstone has always good air, while it is quite the
contrary at Pencaitland.'—Ibid. Appendix A, No. 3; App. pt. i.
p. 422."

Other diseases, produced by employment in coal-mines, less fatal, but scarcely less painful, are rheumatism and inflammation of the joints.

Mr. William Hartell Baylis states that working in the cold and wet often brings on rheumatism. "More suffer from this than from any other complaint."[3] Asthma and rheumatism, which are so prevalent in other districts, are very rare in Warwickshire and Leicestershire.[4] But, in Derbyshire, "rheumatism is very general. I believe you will scarcely meet a collier, and ask him what he thinks of the weather, but he will in reply say, 'Why, his back or shoulders have or have not pained him as much as usual.'"[5]

George Tweddell, surgeon, Houghton-le-Spring, South Durham, says, in answer to the question—Are miners much subject to rheumatism?—"Not particularly so. Our mines are dry; but there is one mine which is wet, where the men often complain of rheumatism."[6]

Similar evidence is given by the medical and other witnesses in all other districts. Wherever the mines are not properly drained, and are, therefore, wet and cold, the work-people are invariably afflicted with rheumatism, and with painful diseases of the glands.

The sub-commissioner for the Forest of Dean gives the following account of a painful disease of the joints common in that district:—

"'The men employed in cutting down the coal are subject to
inflammation of the _bursæ_, both in the knees and elbows, from
the constant pressure and friction on these joints in their
working postures. When the seams are several feet thick, they
begin by kneeling and cutting away the exterior portion of the
base. They proceed undermining till they are obliged to lie down
on their sides, in order to work beneath the mass as far as the
arm can urge the pick, for the purpose of bringing down a good
head of coal. In this last posture the elbow forms a pivot,
resting on the ground, on which the arm of the workman oscillates
as he plies his sharp pick. It is easy to comprehend how this
action, combined with the pressure, should affect the delicate
cellular membrane of this joint, and bring on the disease
indicated. The thin seams of coal are necessarily altogether
worked in a horizontal posture.'—_Waring, Report_, s. 63-66;
App. pt. ii. p. 5, 6.

"Twenty boys at the Walker Colliery: 'The twenty witnesses,
when examined collectively, say, that the way is so very
dirty, and the pit so warm, that the lads often get tired very
soon.'—_Leifchild, Evidence_, No. 291; App. pt. i. p. 627, 1.
661.

"Nineteen boys examined together, of various ages, of whom the
spokesman was William Holt, seventeen years old, putter: 'The
bad air when they were whiles working in the broken, makes them
sick. Has felt weak like in his legs at those times. Was weary
like. Has gone on working, but very slowly. Many a one has had to
come home before having a fair start, from bad air and hard work.
Hours are too long. Would sooner work less hours and get less
money.'—Ibid. No. 300; p. 629, 1. 1.

"Twenty-three witnesses assembled state: 'That their work is
too hard for them, and they feel sore tired; that some of them
constantly throw up their meat from their stomachs; that their
heads often work, (ache;) the back sometimes; and the legs feel
weak.'—Ibid. No. 354; p. 639, 1. 18.

"John Wilkinson, aged thirteen, Piercy Main Colliery: 'Was in for
a double shift about five weeks ago, and fell asleep about one
o'clock P.M., as he was going to lift the limmers off to join
the rolleys together, and got himself lamed by the horse turning
about and jamming one of his fingers. Split his finger. Was off
a week from this accident. Sometimes feels sick down in the pit;
felt so once or twice last fortnight. Whiles his head works,
(aches,) and he has pains in his legs, as if they were weak.
Feels pains in his knees. Thinks the work is hard for foals, more
so than for others.'—Ibid. No. 60; p. 579, 1. 22.

"John Middlemas: 'Sometimes, but very rarely, they work double
shift; that is, they go down at four o'clock A.M. and do not
come up until four o'clock P.M. in the day after that, thus
stopping down thirty-six hours, without coming up, sometimes; and
sometimes they come up for half an hour, and then go down again.
Another worked for twenty-four hours last week, and never came up
at all. Another has stopped down thirty-six hours, without coming
up at all, twice during the last year. When working this double
shift they go to bed directly they come home.'—Ibid. No. 98; p.
588, 1. 42.

"Michael Turner, helper-up, aged fourteen and a half, Gosforth
Colliery: 'Mostly he puts up hill the full corves. Many times
the skin is rubbed off his back and off his feet. His head works
(aches) very often, almost every week. His legs work so sometimes
that he can hardly trail them. Is at hard work now, shoving
rolleys and hoisting the crane; the former is the hardest work.
His back works very often, so that he has sometimes to sit down
for half a minute or so.'—Ibid. No. 145; p. 598, 1. 58.

"George Short, aged nearly sixteen: 'Hoists a crane. His head
works very often, and he feels sickish sometimes, and drowsy
sometimes, especially if he sits down. Has always been drowsy
since he went there. Twice he has worked three shifts following,
of twelve hours each shift; never came up at all during the
thirty-six hours; was sleepy, but had no time to sleep. Has many
times worked double shift of nineteen hours, and he does this now
nearly every pay Friday night. A vast of boys work in this shift,
ten or eleven, or sometimes more. The boys are very tired and
sleepy.'—Ibid. No. 191; p. 606, 1. 41.

"John Maffin, sixteen years old, putter, Gosforth Colliery: 'Was
strong before he went down pits, but is not so now, from being
overhard wrought, and among bad air.'—Ibid. No. 141; p. 598, 1.
2.

"Robert Hall, seventeen years old, half marrow, Felling Colliery:
'The work of putting makes his arms weak, and his legs work
all the day; makes his back work. Is putting to the dip now
in a heavy place. Each one takes his turn to use the "soams,"
(the drawing-straps;) one pulls with them, and the other shoves
behind. Both are equally hard. If it is a very heavy place there
are helpers-up, but not so many as they want. Has known one sore
strained by putting.'

"John Peel, aged thirteen: 'Is now off from this. Is healthy in
general, but is now and then off from this work.'—Ibid. No. 325;
p. 634, 1. 11.

"Michael Richardson, fifteen years old, putter, St. Lawrence Main
Colliery: 'About three quarters of a year since he wrought double
shift every other night; or, rather, he worked three times in
eleven days for thirty-six hours at a time, without coming up the
pit. About six months ago he worked three shifts following, of
twelve hours each shift, and never stopped work more than a few
minutes now and then, or came up the pit till he was done. There
was now and then some night-work to do, and the overman asked
him to stop, and he could not say no, or else he (the overman)
would have frowned on him, and stopped him, perhaps, of some
helpers-up. Thinks the hours for lads ought to be shortened, and
does not know whether it would not be better even if their wages
were less.'—Ibid. No. 270; p. 623, 1. 32.

"James Glass, eighteen years old, putter, Walbottle: 'Puts a tram
by himself. Has no helper-up, and no assistance. Mostly puts a
full tram up. Is putting from a distance now. Mostly the trams
are put up by one person. Was off work the week before last three
days, by being sick. Was then putting in the night shift, and had
to go home and give over. Could not work. His head works nearly
every day. He is always hitting his head against stone roofs. His
arms work very often. Has to stoop a good deal. The weight of his
body lies upon his arms when he is putting. The skin is rubbed
off his back very often.'—Ibid. No. 244; p. 619, 1. 27.

"Mr. James Anderson, a Home Missionary, residing in Easington
Lane, Hetton-le-Hole, in reply to queries proposed, handed in the
following written evidence: 'The boys go too soon to work: I have
seen boys at work not six years of age, and though their work
is not hard, still they have long hours, so that when they come
home they are quite spent. I have often seen them lying on the
floor, fast asleep. Then they often fall asleep in the pit, and
have been killed. Not long ago a boy fell asleep, lay down on the
way, and the wagons killed him. Another boy was killed; it was
supposed he had fallen asleep when driving his wagon, and fallen
off, and was killed.'—Ibid. No. 446; p. 655, 1. 62."

The children employed in the mines and collieries are distinguished by a remarkable muscular development, which, however, is unhealthy, as it is premature, obtained at the expense of other parts of the body, and of but short duration. The muscles of the arms and the back become very large and full.

With the great muscular development, there is commonly a proportionate diminution of stature. All classes of witnesses state that colliers, as a body—children, young persons, and adults—are stunted in growth. There are only two exceptions to this in Great Britain, namely, Warwickshire and Leicestershire. It is to be inferred from the statements of the sub-commissioner for Ireland, that that country forms a third exception for the United Kingdom. Of the uniformity of the statements as to the small stature and the stunted growth of the colliers in all other districts, the following may be regarded as examples:—

In Shropshire, the miners, as a body, are of small stature; this is abundantly obvious even to a casual observer, and there are many instances of men never exceeding the size of boys.[7] Andrew Blake, M. D., states of the colliers in Derbyshire, that he has observed that many of them are not so tall as their neighbours in other employments; this, in a degree, he considers is owing to their being worked so young.[8] In the West Riding of Yorkshire, also, there is in stature an "appreciable difference in colliers' children, manifest at all ages after they have been three years constantly in the pits; there is little malformation, but, as Mr. Eliss, a surgeon constantly attending them, admits, they are somewhat stunted in growth and expanded in width."[9]

"Mr. Henry Hemmingway, surgeon, Dewsbury: 'I am quite sure that
the rule is that the children in coal-pits are of a lower stature
than others.'—_Symons, Evidence_, No. 221; App. pt. i. p. 282,
1. 47.

"Mr. Thomas Rayner, surgeon, Bristall: 'I account for the
stunted growth from the stooping position, which makes them
grow laterally, and prevents the cartilaginous substances from
expanding.'—Ibid. No. 268, p. 292, 1. 52.

"Henry Moorhouse, surgeon, Huddersfield: 'I may state, from my
own personal examination of many of them, that they are much less
in stature, in proportion to their ages, than those working in
mills.'—Ibid. No. 273, p. 293, 1. 49.

"Mr. Jos. Ellison, Bristall: 'The employment of children
decidedly stunts their growth.'—Ibid. No. 249, p. 288, 1. 8."

Mr. Symons, in Appendix to p. 212 of his Report, has given in detail the names, ages, and measurement, both in stature and in girth of breast, of a great number of farm and of colliery children of both ages respectively. By taking the first ten collier boys, and the first ten farm boys, of ages between twelve and fourteen, we find that the former measured in the aggregate forty-four feet six inches in height, and two hundred and seventy-four and a half inches around the breast; while the farm boys measured forty-seven feet in height, and two hundred and seventy-two inches round the breast. By taking the ten first collier girls and farm girls, respectively between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, we find that the ten collier girls measured forty-six feet four inches in height, and two hundred and ninety-three and a half inches round the breast; while the ten farm girls measured fifty feet five inches in height, and two hundred and ninety-seven inches round the breast; so that in the girls there is a difference in the height of those employed on farms, compared with those employed in collieries, of eight and a half per cent. in favour of the former; while between the colliery and farm boys of a somewhat younger age, and before any long period had been spent in the collieries, the difference appears to be five and a half per cent. in favour of the farm children.

In like manner, of sixty children employed as hurriers in the neighbourhood of Halifax, at the average ages of ten years and nine months, Mr. Scriven states that the average measurement in height was three feet eleven inches and three-tenths, and, in circumference, three feet two inches; while of fifty-one children of the same age employed on farms, the measurement in height was four feet three inches, the circumference being the same in both, namely, two feet three inches. In like manner, of fifty young persons of the average of fourteen years and eleven months, the measurement in height was four feet five inches, and in circumference two feet three inches; while of forty-nine young persons employed on farms, of the average of fifteen years and six months, the measurement in height was four feet ten inches and eight-elevenths, and, in circumference, two feet three inches, being a difference of nearly six inches in height in favour of the agricultural labourers.

In the district of Bradford and Leeds, there is "in stature an appreciable difference, from about the age at which children begin to work, between children employed in mines and children of the same age and station in the neighbourhood not so employed; and this shortness of stature is generally, though to a less degree, visible in the adult."[10]

In Lancashire, the sub-commissioner reports that—"It appeared to him that the average of the colliers are considerably shorter in stature than the agricultural labourers."[11] The evidence collected by the other gentlemen in this district is to the same effect. Mr. Pearson, surgeon to the dispensary, Wigan, states, with regard to the physical condition of the children and young persons employed in coal-mining, as compared with that of children in other employments, that they are smaller and have a stunted appearance, which he attributes to their being employed too early in life.[12] And Mr. Richard Ashton, relieving-officer of the Blackburn district, describes the colliers as "a low race, and their appearance is rather decrepit."[13] Though some remarkable exceptions have been seen in the counties of Warwick and Leicester, the colliers, as a race of men, in some districts, and in Durham among the rest, are not of large stature.[14] George Canney, medical practitioner, Bishop Aukland, states, "that they are less in weight and bulk than the generality of men."[15]

Of the collier boys of Durham and Northumberland, the sub-commissioner reports that an inspection of more than a thousand of these boys convinced him that "as a class, (with many individual exceptions,) their stature must be considered as diminutive."[16] Mr. Nicholas Wood, viewer of Killingworth, &c., states "that there is a very general diminution of stature among pit-men."[17] Mr. Heath, of Newcastle, surgeon to Killingworth, Gosforth, and Coxlodge collieries, "thinks the confinement of children for twelve hours in a pit is not consistent with ordinary health; the stature is rather diminished, and there is an absence of colour; they are shortened in stature."[18] And J. Brown, M. D., Sunderland, states "that they are generally stunted in stature, thin and swarthy."[19]

Of the collier population in Cumberland, it is stated that "they are in appearance quite as stunted in growth, and present much the same physical phenomena as those of Yorkshire, comparing, of course, those following similar branches of the work."[20] Thomas Mitchell, surgeon, Whitehaven, says, "their stature is partly decreased."[21]

Of the deteriorated physical condition of the collier population in the East of Scotland, as shown, among other indications, by diminished stature, Dr. S. Scott Alison states that "many of the infants in a collier community are thin, skinny, and wasted, and indicate, by their contracted features and sickly, dirty-white or faint-yellowish aspect, their early participation in a deteriorated physical condition. From the age of infancy up to the seventh or eighth year, much sickliness and general imperfection of physical development is observable. The physical condition of the boys and girls engaged in the collieries is much inferior to that of children of the same age engaged in farming operations, in most other trades, or who remain at home unemployed. The children are, upon the whole, prejudicially affected to a material extent in their growth and development. Many of them are short for their years."[22]

In South Wales, "the testimony of medical gentlemen, and of managers and overseers of various works, in which large numbers of children as well as adults are employed, proves that the physical health and strength of children and young persons is deteriorated by their employment at the early ages and in the works before enumerated."[23] Mr. Jonathan Isaacs, agent of the Top Hill colliery:—"I have noticed that the children of miners, who are sent to work, do not grow as they ought to do; they get pale in their looks, are weak in their limbs, and any one can distinguish a collier's child from the children of other working people."[24] Mr. P. Kirkhouse, oversman to the Cyfarthfa collieries and ironstone mines, on this point observes—"The infantine ages at which children are employed cranks (stunts) their growth, and injures their constitution."[25] John Russell, surgeon to the Dowlais Iron Works:—"In stature, I believe a difference to exist in the male youth from twelve to sixteen, employed in the mines and collieries, compared with those engaged in other works, the former being somewhat stunted; and this difference (under some form or other) seems still perceptible in the adult miners and colliers."[26]

A crippled gait, often connected with positive deformity, is one of the frequent results of slaving in the mines.

In Derbyshire, the children who have worked in the collieries from a very early age are stated to be bow-legged.[27]

In the West Riding of Yorkshire, "after they are turned forty-five or fifty, they walk home from their work almost like cripples; stiffly stalking along, often leaning on sticks, bearing the visible evidences in their frame and gait of overstrained muscles and over-taxed strength. Where the lowness of the gates induces a very bent posture, I have observed an inward curvature of the spine; and chicken-breasted children are very common among those who work in low, thin coal-mines."[28] Mr. Uriah Bradbury, surgeon, Mirfield:—"Their knees never stand straight, like other people's."[29] Mr. Henry Hemmingway, surgeon, Dewsbury:—"May be distinguished among crowds of people, by the bending of the spinal column."[30] Mr. William Sharp, surgeon, Bradford:—"There are occasionally cases of deformity."[31]

In Lancashire district, John Bagley, about thirty-nine years of age, collier, Mrs. Lancaster's, Patricroft, states, that "the women drawing in the pits are generally crooked. Can tell any woman who has been in the pits. They are rarely, if ever, so straight as other women who stop above ground."[32] Mr. William Gaulter, surgeon, of Over Darwen, says—"Has practised as a surgeon twenty-four years in this neighbourhood. Those who work in collieries at an early age, when they arrive at maturity are not generally so robust as those who work elsewhere. They are frequently crooked, (not distorted,) bow-legged, and stooping."[33] Betty Duxberry, whose children work in the pits, asserts that "colliers are all crooked and short-legged, not like other men who work above ground; but they were always colliers, and always will be. This young boy turns his feet out and his knees together; drawing puts them out of shape."[34]

Evidence collected in Durham and Northumberland, shows that the underground labour produces similar effects in that district.