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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th September 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 9, BRITAIN AND HER AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. It ...

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      Igbptembkk 11,1852. The Star Of Feeedom....

      IgBPTEMBKK 11 , 1852 . THE STAR OF FEEEDOM . 73

      ;1u ;Ui3-Publisher3 Of The " Star Of Fre...

      ; 1 U ; UI 3-PUBLISHER 3 OF THE " STAR OF FREEDOM . " SOIICE lO HEADERS AND THE TRADE . 'T ' The following Booksellers and News-agents undertake to luifnp ly the London Trade with copies of the Star of Freedom : \ ) yir . Tickers , Holy well-street , Strand . y \ lr . Purkiss , Compton-street , Soho . X Mr . Clements , Little Pulteney-street , Soho . \ Mr . Nye , Theobald s-road . j \{ Xt Truelove , John-street , Fitzroy-square . i Mr . Cox , Drury-laiie .

      } Mr . Parkinson , Vv ilsted-street , Somers' Toavu . 3 Mr Caffyn , Oxford-street , Mile End , Old Town . Mr . Mathias , 80 , Broad-street , RatclifT . 3 Mr . Fellowes , George ' s Circus , Blackfriars-road . 1 Mr . Harris , Blackfriars-road . ] Mr . Coidson , Playhouse-yard , Whiteeross-street , St . Luke ' s ] Mr . Baker , Providence-place , Kentish Town . ] Mr . Steele , Clerkenwell-green . ; Mr . Brown , Charlotte-place , Gootlge-street . ' . Mr . Cooper , Trafalgar-road , Greenwich .

      Uj.E Mm N Jxeeiinti

      Uj . e mm n Jxeeiinti

      Saturday, September 11, 1852. ~ Mines An...

      SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 11 , 1852 . ~ MINES AND MINERS . An established mode of shelving a troublesome question Ibkought before the Legislature is to make it the subject of iirinqiriry , by a parliamentary committee , or a royal commission . IThe investigation—the examination of witnesses , & c , is sure Mo occupy the term of one session , and may possibly be" prolonged over the existence of a three or four years parliament . TTlie usual result , is the production of a huge blue book containing " the evidence" which not one person out of fiftytfhoiisand will ever think of looking into ; with the addition of

      " a report" useful merely to the conductors of newspapers as subject-matter for " editorials . " It may be that some particular evil , or grievance , with its corresponding remedy arc by the investigation placed above the reach of cavil or denial ; nevertheless the chances are a thousand to one that , in spite of the committee ' s labours , the evil or grievance will remain untouched . The result of the committee ' s report is tantamount to that gained hy the firing of blank cartridge—considerable noise and nothing more !

      It is to be hoped that some better result will issue from the document alluded to in last week ' s Staii of Freedom—the Report of the Select Committee appointed ( by parliament ) to inquire into the causes of the frequency of explosions in coal mines . Similar inquiries preceded the one under notice . In 1835 , a committee appointed by the House of Commons , objected to the undue confidence placed in the Davy-lamp , and suggested that reliance for security against explosions should chiefly be placed on increased ventilation . Excepting by a

      few " proprietors" no attention was given to the committee a suggestion ; and the consequence has been a sacrifice of human life which might have been avoided had parliament compelled the " owner * " to take the course suggested by Science and demanded by Humanity , in 1819 , a beginning in the way of legislative interference was accomplished , the report of the Lords' Committee having been followed by the appointment of Government inspectors to examine , and from time to time report on the state of the mines .

      The result of the third parliamentary inquiry is now before the country . The committee of 1852 having well weighed the evidence tendered to former committees , and having heard similar and confirmatory evidence , have come to the following Conclusions " - 1 . That the sacrifice of life consequent upon colliery explosions , is yearly increasing , and that the number of lives now sacrificed amount to about 1000 per annum .

      , 2 . That these explosions arc caused hy the accumulations of poisonous vapours and destructive gases , the consequence of inadequate ventilation . 3 . That the furnace system of ventilation already m extensive operation , is insufficient . 4 That the Davy lamp in a foul pit is eminently dangerous , and without sufficient ventilation a sure lure to destruction .

      n in , „ + 1 , ^ , „ .. nA « - « -i-. « -r . in ^ m-m-iP + pTif . tiptsous are employed 5 . That bovs and other incompetent persons are employed h mines to perform duties , neglect of , or inattention to which , often involves great loss of life . 6 . That inquests held after explosions are not properly conducted , and that the working colliers have good reason tor their dissatisfaction at the manner in which those inquiries are prosecuted .

      7 . That the state of education among tho miners , overlookers , managers , & c . is , as a general rule , not satisfactory . 8 . That the present system of inspection is totally inadequate ; each of the inspectors having about 400 mines 111 Ins district , the whole of which he would be unable to visit m less than four years . . . . .. So much for the evil . The conclusions of the committee as regards remedial measures may be summed up as follows : — -, 1 . Full and efficient ventilation is the great , if not the only ,

      means of guarding against explosions . _ 2 . The steam-jet system of ventilation having been property tested has heen proved to he the most powerful , and at me same time least expensive , method for ventilating of mines . 3 . All pits should be provided with a barometer to indicate flic state of the atmosphere , and self-registering anemometer Dy which the inspector would know at each visit the rate at which the current of air had heen passing through the mine in his absence . , ,, , Ur , 4 . —The Committee add a valuable suggestion hy Mr . Gqldswohtiiv Gurnet , to the effect that refuge stalls be established in places familiar to the miners , to which , upon an explosion taking place , they could at once . fly from the fatal effects of the after-damp . - • 5—Competent persons should take the p lace of boys in

      Saturday, September 11, 1852. ~ Mines An...

      mines , for the performance of responsible duties , neglect of which would involve serious loss of life . 6 . —it is advisable to appoint a special coroner , to preside over inquests , rendered necessary by accidents in mines . 7 . —The better education of the miners is desirable , and schools of mines should be established , without certificates from which no overman , underlooker , or manager , should be legally appointed . The committee add that the qualification of inspectors should be rigidly tested bv a competent Board .

      8 . —The number of inspectors should be increased , and two sub-inspectors to each inspector added . 9 . —There should be a central board , composed of scientific and practical men , to whom-the inspectors should report , and from whom they might receive official instructions . To this board should be given a power to enforce penalties under ordinary circumstances of neglect , and in cases of death a power to facilitate an enforcement of justice to the families of tho victims through the ordinary channels of law .

      ^ 10— -Where great danger evidently exists , and the owner of a ' mine refuses to resort to tho most approved system for increasing its security , the inspector should have the power to order its working to cease until its condition be improved . The above comprise the principal of the Committee ' s recommendations . Our object being to present the briefest and plainest analysis , rather than to indulge in rhetorical comment , wo shall limit our remarks to- tho fewest possible words .

      The Davy Lamp is now by universal consent considered worse than inefficient for protection ; being , in fact , a lure to danger . " Sir" Humphry Davy himself admitted the danger of his lamp in currents of explosive air . In the year 1 . 817 Dr . Classy received a gold medal from the Society of Arts , for the invention of a safety lamp which possesses the requirements needed in the Davy to insure perfect safety . We understand that it has- been tried , and with complete success , in a northern pit . in which it has been in use during

      many years past . But , as a general rule , it has been scouted by the proprietors , and continues unknown to the mass of the public . It is alleged that the opposition of the owners is to be attributed to the fact that the light of the Clanny lamp diminishes in a foul state of the atmosphere , and that to render it useful the pit should bo thoroughly ventilated . But this would occasion an outlay of cash , which unprincipled { i owners" strive to avoid , no matter at what cost of suffering and low of life .

      The insufficiency of the furnace system of ventilation has been too fatally demonstrated by the oft-recurring and frightful catastrophes it is inadequate to prevent . The steam-jet , on the contrary , offers very superior advantages . The discovery or invention of Mr . Goldswokthy G-urney is calculated to send a current of air through a mine , at the rate of three miles an hour , and possesses the inestimable power not only of dissipating the explosive gas , but also the far more fatal " after-damp . " The steam-jet is not a mere theoretical and untried scheme . It has been tested chirms : the

      past four years in tho Seaton Dolavel mine , one of a very fiery and dangerous character . " Previous to the introduction of the steam-jet , tlie fire-damp was constantly seen playing around tlie tV . cc and edges of the goaves and other parts of the workings . " Now the mine is swept so clean it is never observed , " and ail danger of explosion seems removed . " . " The increase of ventilation is from 53 , 000 cubic feet per minute , under the furnace system , to 84 , 000 under the steamjet . " This quantity could be easily increased .

      The value of Mr . Gurnet ' s suggestion relative to the proposed refuge-stalls will ] be best appreciated by recalling a terrific feature of the Aberdare tragedy in May last . On the occasion of that explosion , the persons who went to the rescue of the survivors found a heap of dead bodies , the one piled upon the other . It is supposed that those who were not instantly struck down at the moment of the explosion , rushed towards the place of egress . Overtaken by the fatal "

      afterdamp , " one fell to rise no more ; the second fell upon the first , and so on in succession ; the half-dead being unable to remove those already death-stricken . The fall of half-adozen effectually blocked up the way , and the remainder imprisoned within the fatal influence of the noxious vapour , saw themselves death-doomed by the stiffened corpses of their unfortunate comrades . Fifty yards further on , a similar pile was found . The two together contained the bodies of sixty

      men and children . " A father and his two sons were found among one of the heaps of the dead . The poor man m his frantic eagerness and anxiety to save himself and his two sons , had clutched one under each arm , and thus he sought to escape ; but death seized them in the terrible entrance , and all three fell together , clasped in each others arms , among the ghastly dead . " Had the stalls of refuge suggested by Mr . Gurney been provided in the Aberdare mine , there is every probability that a considerable number of the victims would have escaped at least with their lives .

      The suggestions—5 , 6 , and 7 , ( as we have numbered them ) speak for themselves , and we trust will be fully carried out . The increase of inspectors , with the addition of sub-inspectors has been long demanded by the workers . The next suggestion— -the appointment of a central board , with power to enforce penalties , & c—is of great importance ; the want of some such authority having hitherto rendered the inspectors powerless to do more than observe evils they were unable to extirpate . The suggestion wc have marked ( No . 10 ) is of vital interest to tluMVorkers . The committee propose to arm the inspector with the power to shut up a mine evidently in a dangerous state , and the owner of which may refuse to secure

      the safety of the workers . It may be expected that this suggestion will call forth indignant protests against " arbitrary interference , & c . " The answer to these " cannot-I-do-what I-like-with-my-own ? " gentry , should be simply and sternly , " W ; you shall not do as you like with the lives of your fellow creatures . It is the duty of law and government to protect life before avarice ; and if your insatiable cupidity prevents you doing justice to your workers , the makers and executors of the law must and will take that work into their own hands . " We have already spoken of the Aberdare explosion . At thetime of that . tragical catastrophe it was industriously circulated that a very careful investigation of the

      Saturday, September 11, 1852. ~ Mines An...

      state of the mine had taken place a few hours previously . From this the public might have reasonably inferred that the manager , viewers , & c , were altogether blameless , and that the accident was owing to " recklessness" on the part of one or more of the workers . But , what say the committee ? " In another case ( that of the occurrence in the Aberdare Valley ) , Mr . Blackwell , the inspector , had directed certain precautions to be taken ; the advice was disregarded , and the explosion ensued . " Clearly those who had neglected to adopt the

      precautions advised by the inspector should have been held responsible for the lives so terribly sacrificed . This Aberdare mine appears to be one that , in the absence of extraordinary precautions , should be closed against working . The coal is literally saturated with poisonous and explosive gases ; cargoes of this coal , shipped at Cardiff , have frequently exploded and destroyed tho vessels . This mine is clearly one of those that should be placed under the strictest supervision , and in the event of the insecurity continuing , should be forthwith closed .

      Wc have exhausted our available space without having exhausted the subject . Some important points in the ' committee ' s report commanding our dissent and comment , wc have not yet touched upon , but we must defer our remarks to a future article . In the meantime wc again urge the working miners to " renewed and vigorous action . " Yv c observe that a few days ago a society was inaugurated at Newcastle , having for its twofold object : — " First , by a union or concentration of professional experience to endeavour , if possible , to devise measures which might avert or alleviate those dreadful

      calamities which had too often produced destruction to life and property , and which left such misery and distress among the mining population of the district ; and , secondly , toestablih a literary institution more particularly applicable to to theory , art , and practice of mining than the institutions in the locality or within the reach of the profession , " Such a society may , and wc trust will , lead to some beneficial rcsnl s . But in its ranks the working miners are not likely to fi n d

      place ; they must have their own organization . The mine r s , like all the rest of the wronged , may assure themselves th at if they would have public help they must commence by helping themselves . The time is propitious ; Science and Humanity are ranged on their side . Let them act noio , and they may succeed in organizing public opinion in behalf of thenrighteous claims , and in making that organization effective for the obtainment of Justice .

      Britain And Her Australian Colonies. It ...

      BRITAIN AND HER AUSTRALIAN COLONIES . It seems strange that our rulers , with the example of the American Revolution before their eves , should continue so infatuated as to turn a deaf ear to the representations of the colonists , treating them as contemptuously as if to drive them to armed rebellion and separation from the mother country , was the greatest good they could possibly accomplish . Our Australia ]! colonics have certainly been treated with as little consideration as were those of America in the last

      century , or any of our other neglected dependencies at the present day . This is as unwise as it is unjust . Australia is in every way calculated to become the home of a rich and powerful nation , and should therefore have been bound to us by the tics of love and gratitude , as it already is by those of language and kindred . Previous to the discovery of the gold regions wc saw and deplored the neglect , and even

      insult of the home government ; but there was then no such imminent danger of a rupture . It seemed that although such treatment would inevitably provoke the hostility of the colonists , it would be long before they became powerful enough to resent the tyranny to which they were subjected . The discovery of the much valued metal in the soil of Australia at once gave the settlers the power to set the mother country at defiance . We had hoped that before they would have been

      m a position to have done so , we should have had at home a people ' s government — the wise representative of an enlightened nation , whose care it would be to do justice to all the people , as well in the most distant provinces of the empire as at home . It was not destined to bo so . The gold fields were discovered , and Australia began with lightning rapidity to acquire riches and population , and all the elements of power .

      It was to be expected that the British Government would now have awakened to a sense of the danger to the integrity of the empire , run by persistence in the insultingly neglectful course hitherto pursued towards the colonists , and that they would now have sought to conciliate them that they might preserve to Britain such a valuable dependency . But no ; their pride and imbecility would suffer .-them to be warned as little by the fear of losing the colony as they had hitherto been by the complaints of the colonists , for the injustice done

      them . All the old sins were persisted in ; there was the same disregard for the rights and for the feelings of the colonists ; continued mismanagement of the " crown lands , " and no change in the disgraceful system of applying the revenue of the colonies to purposes altogether detrimental to the interests of the colonists themselves—to the payment of government-appointed officers , whose incapacity for the performance of the duties of the offices to which they were appointed was

      as patent to the public as was the unworthiness of their moral character . Moreover , the shuffling and faithless manner in which tho government acted in the question of transportation was such as could only revolt every rightly constituted mind . Accordingly , none can now be surprised to find that the uppermost thought in the minds of the Australian population , is immediate and complete separation from the mother country .

      On the 6 th of April last a public meeting was convened by the Anti-convict League , at Sydney , New South Wales , to sympathize' with the people of Van Dieman ' s Land , on receipt-. of . the intelligence , of the . determination of Earl Gre y , ; to ; continue to send convicts to the colony . ' If

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 11, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_11091852/page/9/