Enormous Death Roll among the Miners

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

With the recent tragic mining disaster fresh in the public mind, there comes the official announcement from Secretary Garfield of the Interior Department that the number of these accidents, caused directly or indirectly by mine explosions, has been steadily increasing. In speaking of the causes and prevention of these disasters, their increase is attributed in part to the lack of proper and enforcible mine regulations; to ignorance of the explosives and the proper conditions of their use in the presence of gas and dust; and to the fact that not only is the number of miners increasing, but the coal is being taken from greater depths or farther from the entrance, in locations where ventilation becomes increasingly difficult, and the liability to accumulations of explosive gas more pronounced. As usual in these investigations affecting the safety of life and limb, the fact is brought out that the loss of life is far greater in America than in Europe. There are killed annually in the coal mines of the United States three times as many men per thousand as there are in the coal mines of most European countries. During the last seventeen years, 22,840 men have lost their lives in our mines, and 11,000 of these deaths have occurred during the past six years. During the year 1906, no less than 6,861 men were killed or injured in the mines, 2,061 of these being killed outright, and the injured amounting to 4,800. The terrible significance of these figures is enhanced when we learn from this government report that while the number of deaths per thousand has undergone in European countries a decided decrease, in this country it is steadily increasing. The improved conditions abroad are due to judicious mining legislation for the safeguarding of the lives of the workmen, and this legislation has been the outcome of the work of government testing stations, established to study the problems involved in the use of high explosives, and to devise means for rendering mining in general less precarious.

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American