At the hearing of the caae, aeveral affldavita were preaented on the part of the de-
fendants, some of which set forth, tn^er cUicLf that the defendanta had not madOt nor
were they making, a new mine ^'either practically, theoreticaUy or aotuallv ;" but
that, on the contrary, the mining was carried on in the aame vein, in oonttnuation
aim ply of the prior working, and by '*the ordinary method of mining praotioed in
thia region, aa well aa eiaewnere ;" and Airther, that **there are two and more outleta
in communication with the aaid vein and all ita worklnsa."

However much we may admire the adroit and general terms In which these affida*
vits are couched, atill, we are obliged to note that they do not aet up any denial of the
ruling allegation contained in the p]aintiff*a bill of oomplaint. They make no aver-
ment that the aeam or straium of coal penetrated by thia continued alope ia In com-
munication with *'at least two shafta, or alopea, or outleta, Moraled bjf nalurol strata,
of not leas than one hundred and Af^y/eel in breadth^ by which ahafla, uopeaor outleta,
diatinct means of inffress and egress are always available to the persona employed in
the coal mine or colliery." Indeed, it waa not ahown by. the d^fta, nor claimed in
the argument, that these "two and more outleta" were anything else than mere pas-
sage wi^a or air-waya, running along, near to and parallel with the continued alope
Furthermore, the only outleta which pass out to the surfiice, and which were shown
to be in communication with this particular aeam or stratum of coal, are those oom-
niunicating with the **old workinga" thereof^ where it ia denominated aa the *'HiU-
man vein," and they have been herein pr6vioud|v referred to at length.
