of
mine workings, amounting to 40.77 of the total. The loss of life from
explosions comes next, with a showing of 23.17 per cent. In the records
of fires in mines from all causes, it is shown that only a very small
percentage of men are actually burned to death, fully 90 per cent of
the deaths resulting from suffocation.
Contrary
to the popular impression, it has been shown by Dr. C. Le Neve Foster,
that the ore miner has nearly as dangerous an occupation as the coal
miner; and in Cornwall and some other metalliferous districts the
average losses from accidents were higher than in coal mines. Dr. Ogle
has pushed this comparison farther by his statistical demonstration
that, in spite of accidents, the death rate of coal miners is not high.
In comparative mortality these miners ranked only thirtieth in a list
of ninety-four occupations; but the mining in Cornwall, at the time of
this report, was exceptionally perilous, standing ninety-first on the
list. In other words, only three of the ninety-four occupations
exceeded the mining in this district in deadli-ness. This peculiarly
high mortality was ascribed to inadequate ventilation and excessive
climbing of ladders from deep mines.1 These conditions, of late years, have been bettered.
1 Supplement to Forty-fifth Annual Report of the Registrar General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Great Britain.
