190


Beside?  edectin?  a  redaction  of  the  fonner  cost  of  3d.  a
ton  for  the  owner,  this  system  promises  to  confer  a  benefit
on  the  men,  which  cannot  be  measured  hy  a  money  standaid,
bat  in  j^o  far  as  it  improves  the  actual  work  is  estimated  by
them  variously  at  worth  from  one  to  two  shillings  a  week-^
say  from  4  to  8  per  cent,  on  an  average  weekly  wage  of  25^
Appearances  of  safety,  supported  by  the  foregoing  oonsider^^
tions,  induced  the  management — in  deference  to  the  wish^^
of  the  men — to  permit  a  continuance  of  the  use  of  o]
lights  after  the  general  substitution  of  lamps  in  the  nei)
bourhood.
Only  the  pitmen  amongst  us  who  have  used  both  can  duli
appreciate  the  great  store  set  on  their  candles  by  pitmen  a'
their  work.
These  will  admit  that  lamps  worsen  the  work  in  mos*^-**
mines,  increase  the  danger  in  all  thick  ones,  and  tola
inert fiiHuiir  as  that  thickness  increases.
W]wrf:  lamps  have  always  been  regarded  as  the  propel
Hri}>stitute  for  plenty  of  air,  the  objection  by  the  men
th';ir  exclusive  use  where  the  air  is  plentiful,  and  the
coriditioiis  on  which  that  plentj'  depends  are  both  unlikely
to  vary,  and  are  incidental  to  the  system  pursued,  is  not
tinnffiHTjnaWe,  and  to  those  who  perceive  force  in  the  claim
to  safety  of  a  system  not  dependent  on  lamps,  it  may  not
HWjin  unrea.<4onable  in  a  manager  to  share  the  men's  objec-
tions.
It  is  ncitlier  good  engineering  nor  good  political  economy
to  Khackle  industries.
