[No. 177.]

AN ACT to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the coal mines of Michigan, for the appointment, qualifications, duties and compensation of an inspector of mines, and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith, and to provide penalties for the violation thereof, and for the repeal of all acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

SECTION 1. For the purposes of this act, the terms and Terms and definitions contained herein shall be as follows:

definitions.

Mine. In this act the term "Mine" includes the shafts, Mine. slopes and drifts connected with excavations penetrating the coal stratum or strata, which excavations are ventilated by one general air current, or divisions thereof, and connected by one general system of mine railroads, over which coal may be delivered to one or more points outside the mine, when such is operated by one operator.

and workings.

Excavations and workings. The term "Excavations and Excavations Workings" includes all the excavated portions of a mine, those abandoned, as well as the places actually being worked; also all underground workings and shafts, slopes, tunnels and other openings, in the course of being sunk or driven, together with all roads, appliances, machinery and material connected with the same below the surface. Shaft. The term "Shaft" means a vertical opening through Shaft. the strata that is or may be used for the purpose of ventilation or drainage, or for hoisting men, coal or material, or both, in connection with the mining of coal.

Slope. The term "Slope" means an incline or opening used for the same purpose as a shaft.

Operator. The term "Operator" means any firm, corporation or individual operating any coal mine, or any part thereof.

Superintendent. The term "Superintendent" means the person who shall have, on behalf of the operator, immediate supervision of one or more mines.

Mine foreman. The term "Mine Foreman" means the person whom the operator or superintendent shall place in charge of the inside workings of the mine and of the persons employed therein.

Inspector. The term "Inspector" means the person commissioned by the Commissioner of Labor to have supervision of the mines as hereinafter prescribed.

Mine committee. The term "Mine Committee" means men employed to represent the miners.

Proviso.

Proviso.

Further proviso.

Appointment of Mine Inspector.

SEC. 2. An inspector of coal mines shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Labor, subject to the approval of the Governor of the State, who shall have had at least eight years' experience in the mine, three years of which he was employed in mining and loading coal, and he shall not, while in office, be interested as owner, operator, agent, director or otherwise interested in any coal mine, gas, oil or other mining interest, directly or indirectly, or in any way whatever be connected with a miners' organization during his term of office, and he must have been a resident of the State at least five years before his appointment to office, and shall receive as a salary for his services the sum of four dollars per day, and in addition thereto shall be allowed an amount not exceeding seven hundred fifty dollars for traveling expenses per year. The inspector shall present all bills for traveling expenses to the Commissioner of Labor, and the same shall be approved by him before being presented to the Board of State Auditors for allowance. The salary and expense of the inspector shall be paid semi-monthly from the general fund of the State upon warrants drawn by the Auditor General.

Police Powers of Inspector.

SEC. 3. The inspector of mines is hereby empowered to act as police officer with full power to arrest and detain any person found violating any provisions of this act, or engaged in any attempt to violate this law or any part thereof, or against whom there is found any evidence of a previous violation of this law: Provided, however, That no such person shall be detained for any period of time longer than twenty-four hours without warrant or the filing of a charge against him in a court of competent jurisdiction. Such inspector shall also have the power to immediately stop the operation of any coal mine, or part thereof, in which any dangerous or unlawful condition is found: Provided, however, That where conditions exist justifying him to do so, he may grant a reasonable length of time for making necessary repairs: And Provided further, That where any stop is enforced, such inspector shall have the power to subsequently allow such mine, or part of mine to be re-opened when the dangerous or unlawful conditions have been remedied or removed, so that they no longer exist.

Authority to Enter.

SEC. 4. It shall be lawful for the inspector of mines to enter, examine and inspect at any and all seasonable times, by day or by night, but so as not to unreasonably obstruct or hinder the working of such coal mine, and the operator

of every such coal mine is hereby required to allow free access for making such examination and inspection.

Posting Notices.

SEC. 5. The result of all coal mine inspections made by the inspector of the mines, showing all his conclusions as to the condition or safety of the mines and orders given in the inspection of any coal mine, shall be posted in writing at the entrance to such mine immediately upon the conclusion of each inspection, and he shall furnish a copy of such report to the mine office, and also to the mine committee. The inspector of mines shall make personal inspection of all coal mines in the State at least four times each year.

Inspector of Weights.

SEC. 6. The State coal mine inspector shall be ex officio inspector of weights, measures and scales used at coal mines, and he is hereby empowered and it shall be his duty to test all the scales, correctly measure the weight of such coal, and if defects or irregularities are found in such scales, which prevent correct weights and measurements, the inspector shall call the attention of the mine owner, agent or operator to such defects, and shall direct the same to be at once properly adjusted and corrected.

Test Weights.

SEC. 7. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act, the State inspector shall be furnished by the State with a complete set of standard weights, suitable for testing the accuracy of track scales and of all smaller scales at mines. Such test weights shall remain in the custody of the inspector for use at any point within the State, and for any amounts expended by him for storage, transportation or handling of the same, he shall be fully reimbursed upon making entry of the proper items in his expense youcher.

Weighmen to Make Oath.

SEC. 8. All weighmen who shall perform the duty of weighing coal shall be sworn by some one competent to administer a legal oath, that they will perform their duty accurately and impartially as between employers and employes, and that they will honestly report and record all weights of coal with which they are entrusted. The coal mine employes shall have the right to name a competent and fair check weighman, who shall be paid by the employes and be sworn by one authorized to administer oaths.

Map of Mines. Copies Furnished Mine Inspector. Surveys Ordered. When.

SEC. 9. The owner, operator, lessee or person in charge of any coal mine, shall make or cause to be made an accurate map or plan of such mine, drawn to a scale of not more than two hundred feet to the inch, on which shall appear the name of the State, county and township in which the mine is located, the designation of the mine, the name of the company or owner, operator, lessee or person in charge, the certificate of the mining engineer or surveyor as to the accuracy and date of the survey, the north point and the scale to which the drawing is made. Every such map or plan shall correctly show the surface, boundary lines of the coal rights pertaining to each mine, and all sections or quarter section lines or corners within the same; the lines of town lots and streets; the tracks and sidetracks of all railroads, the location of all wagon roads, rivers, streams, ponds. For the underground workings said map shall show all shafts, slopes, tunnels, or other openings to the surface or to the workings of a contiguous mine, all excavations, entries, rooms and crosscuts; the location of the escape ways, and of the fan or other means of ventilation, and the direction of air currents and the location of permanent pumps, hauling engines, engine plans, abandoned work, fire walls and standing water. A separate and similar map drawn to the same scale in all cases, shall be made of each and every seam of coal operated in any mine in this State. A separate map shall also be made of the surface whenever the surface buildings, lines or objects are so numerous as to obscure the details of the mine workings, if drawn upon the same sheet with them, and in such case the surface map shall be drawn upon transparent cloth or paper, so that it can be laid upon the map of the underground workings and thus truly indicate the local relations. of lines and objects on the surface to the excavations of the mine, together with any other principal workings of the mine. The original or true copies of all such maps shall be kept at the office of the mine, and true copies thereof shall also be furnished the State inspector of coal mines within thirty days after the completion of the same. The maps so delivered to the inspector shall be the property of the State, and shall remain in the custody of the Commissioner of Labor during his term of office, and be delivered to his successor in office. They shall be kept at the office of the Commissioner of Labor, and be open to examination of all persons interested in the same, but such examination shall be made only in the presence of the inspector, Commissioner of Labor, or his office assistant; no copies of the same to be made without the written consent of the operator or owner of the property, except as herein otherwise provided. An accurate extension of the

last preceding survey of every mine in active operation shall be made in every twelve months prior to July first of every year, and the result of such survey, with the date thereof, shall be promptly and accurately entered upon the original map; and a true, correct and accurate copy of said extended map shall be forwarded to the inspector of coal mines so as to show all changes in plan of new work in the mine, and all extensions of old workings to the most advanced face or boundary of said workings which have been made since the last preceding survey; and the parts of the mine abandoned or worked out after the last preceding survey shall be clearly indicated and shown by colorings, which copy must be delivered to such inspector of coal mines within thirty days after the last survey is made. When any coal mine is worked out or is about to be abandoned, or indefinitely closed, the owner, operator, lessee or person in charge of the same shall make or cause to be made a complete and extended map of said mine, and the result of the same shall be duly extended on all maps of the mine and copies thereof so as to show all excavations and the most advanced workings of the mine and their exact relations to the boundary or section lines on the surface, and deliver to the inspector a copy of the completed map. The State coal mine inspector shall order a survey to be made of the workings of any mine and the result to be extended on the maps of the same, and the copies thereof, whenever in his judg ment the safety of the working men, or the safety of an adjoining mine requires it; and if not made by the owner, operator, lessee or person in charge when ordered by the inspector, it shall be made or caused to be made by the inspector and paid for by the State, and the amount collected from the owner, operator, lessee or person in charge, as other debts are collected.

SEC. 10.

Abandoned Mines.

When approaching abandoned workings and when within not less than sixty feet of the same, the excavations in approaching the said workings shall not exceed eight feet in width, and there shall be constantly kept one bore hole near the center not less than twenty feet in advance, and one flank bore hole on each side, of not less than fifteen feet in length.

Ventilation.

SEC. 11. For the purpose of ventilation the mines shall be furnished with not less than one hundred cubic feet of air per minute for each person employed in the mine, or three hundred cubic feet of air per minute for each machine, mule or other draught animal in the mine, the measurements to be made at any point of the intake airways. The amount