Miners' Disease.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 83, 11 October 1912, Page 8

Miners' Disease.

South African Disclosures

By P. H. HICKEY

Having regaid to tbe position that has arisen hi New Zealand upon the question uf minim:, and the evil effects of underground work upon the life and health of the miners, more than passing interest oan be attached to the report of a commission which has recently concluded its label" in ,*-.'ui.Uh Al'm.-a. and has pie-muted its lopoii upon miners' phthisis.

La si •.fusion the; South .African <dov-►ruiin-iit appointed _ cuniiui-sion under tli..' pnnisiufis of the .Minora' Phthisis Allow Act, 1011. Its duty was to iiKjui'e iutu tlie prevalence at miners' eumplaihl: and pulmonary tuberculosis in miners in South Africa, with v view oi :\ .-.•i.t-'Uaiuim; the number uf men likely i-.< If affected ninuially and the probable life of any person after becoming su iiK.-LipLii'it'.ited. No invest i'.catioii was niucle inti) ihe prevalence of miners' disease ihe L'OD.OiH.) colored miners, but ailciition was devoted solely to the European miner.

The Commission medically examined 3130 underground men. In addition, SL'G oases were examined at the Simmer and Jack Mine Hospital. According to the report, just published, 31.0 per cent, of the men examined wen l suffering- from miners' complaint in some form, and in the opinion of the Commission 3GOO out of 11,00!) miners aro affected. In 190;} an investigation disclosed that 21 per cent, of European minors were probably affected. THE PERCENTAGE IS STEADILY AND RAPIDLY INCREASING.

Tlie existence of miners' complaint was found to be dependent on (1) the number of years spent in underground work in hard rock mines, and (2) the nature of the work upon which the miner was engaged.

It is further disclosed by the investigation that tlie order of risk in the principal occupations is as follows:—(1) Machine drillers, (2) trammers, (3) hammermen, (4) timbermou, (5) other occupations.

The South African Commission reported that amongst machine drillers tlie percentage of cases affected is 47.5 per cent., as against 20.9 per cent, for those who have never done machine drilling. The statistics show that tho average life of a machine driller on the Rand is something under nine years before becoming absolutely incapacitated. The average life of an underground worker who is not employed on machine drilling appears to be about 16J years before becoming similarly incapacitated for work. The committee record its deliberate opinion that in a stable population of 12,000 miners, where, say, 90 per cent, of miners ultimately contract miners' phthisis, 1000 to 1200 claims annually may be mado on any fund provided for their relief, and that the mean expectation of life of the claimants will only be from l£ to 2 years. The Commission, in its report, states that the complaint known as miners' phthisis or variously as silicosis and fibrosis of the lung, has for many years past caused much loss of life and disablement among miners, not alone in South Africa, but in Queensland, New Zealand and Western Australia. Last' session tho Government introduced a measure providing that sufferers from the disease should be compensated, the -necessary amount to be provided by the mine-owners and the Government. The mine-owners threatened and whimpered by turns, and were eventitally successful in defeating the measure or, rather, in causing its withdrawal. A measure was eventually carried providing that the Government should as an emergency measure contribute £25,000, to be supplemented by an equal amount from the owners, the sum so made to be administered by

a board of omilrol. Ihe amount of coni-|)eie-atii)l! nol io exceed ,_2 per v. eek. The members of the Commission presented lln iv different, reports. The mai.ii'il.v report recommended th-" advisability of urging upon the (Jovornmeut that a more .liWldve inspection of every mine 1, • carried out by the inspectors of the Minos Department, that a special ropori> of inspection be submitted to the Mini-. : "r dealing with the prevention of minds' phthisis underground, and that for this purpose additional inspectors of mines be appointed. in f-'nulb Africa there is in acltial operation thai system of mining which the K\ -in ; pew,a at l.fvl'ton and the indiisi rial lyranis at Waihi are endeavoring to enforce upon the New ZcaXoalaud miners. Tho results are briefly though eloquenllv told in the Soutli African report referred to in this article. It is to avoid similar ghastly and ghoulish results that the New Zealand miners ate fighting at the present time. Those who are lighting the men involved are prepared to industrially ■murder their fellow-men and to compel these men, when the pangs of hunger grip them and theirs, to drive them to a premature tomb.