Apologies
I am sorry that I have not been posting this week but I have been busy helping Joseph revise for his mocks - I probably won't be posting much this week either and then I expect the Xmas rush will begin. Dear daughter returns home on the 14th - perhaps she will show me how to put pictures on here.
Did anyone watch the Disappearing Britain program last Monday? It was about the coal miners and I thought it very good.
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Taken from "Coal A pictorial history of the British Coal Industry" by D. Anderson
Borrowed from Manchester Library.
Since 1850, when systematic records were first kept, over 100,000 men and boys and a small number of women have been killed a t British coal-mines. Falls of roof and sides accounted for, very approximately, half of these deaths. Seen beside a statistic, the term "fall of ground" conveys nothing at all of the terrible agony suffered by those who died from this cause. In some cases death was sudden, but in many others it was a slow excruciatingly painful death. Many of the deaths on the haulage roads and in shafts were just as terrible.
Only accidents in which there was great loss of life came to the attention of the public at large. The great majority of these were caused by explosions of methane and coal dust, the latter especially having devastating effects.
What set the miner apart from most other industrial workers was the risk to life and limb that he took in earning his daily bread.
Apart from accidents, the miner was prey to malignant diseases peculiar to his job. He could be striken with pneumoconiosis or nystagmus, beat knee, beat hand or other less virulent but crippling complaints. Pneumoconiosis is a deadly disease of the lungs caused by the constant inhalation of dust, especially silicious dust. It makes the victim prematurely old and brings about an early death.
Nystagmus, which was quite common until the 1930s, results in a rapid involuntary oscillation of the eyeballs; it is an extremely painful disease, causing temporary blindness, and is peculiar to men who work underground. It is caused through working with a feeble light in a cramped position, and constantly straining the eyes by trying to see the cleats in the black coal when striking with the pick.
Beat knee is similar to housemaid's knee and is caused by crawling about on all fours on low coal faces, and kneeling whilst getting or filling coal. Knee pads to protect the knees only came into general use in the early part of this entury, but the early home-made types were sometimes less than useless, in that sharp pieces of coal often got between the knee and the pad, and made crawling about on all fours rather painful.
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The older children of Joseph and Isabella all suffered from 'weak' chests, whilst the younger end suffered from varicous veins. I wonder how much poor housing and coal dust played a part.
Did anyone watch the Disappearing Britain program last Monday? It was about the coal miners and I thought it very good.
************************************************************************
Taken from "Coal A pictorial history of the British Coal Industry" by D. Anderson
Borrowed from Manchester Library.
Since 1850, when systematic records were first kept, over 100,000 men and boys and a small number of women have been killed a t British coal-mines. Falls of roof and sides accounted for, very approximately, half of these deaths. Seen beside a statistic, the term "fall of ground" conveys nothing at all of the terrible agony suffered by those who died from this cause. In some cases death was sudden, but in many others it was a slow excruciatingly painful death. Many of the deaths on the haulage roads and in shafts were just as terrible.
Only accidents in which there was great loss of life came to the attention of the public at large. The great majority of these were caused by explosions of methane and coal dust, the latter especially having devastating effects.
What set the miner apart from most other industrial workers was the risk to life and limb that he took in earning his daily bread.
Apart from accidents, the miner was prey to malignant diseases peculiar to his job. He could be striken with pneumoconiosis or nystagmus, beat knee, beat hand or other less virulent but crippling complaints. Pneumoconiosis is a deadly disease of the lungs caused by the constant inhalation of dust, especially silicious dust. It makes the victim prematurely old and brings about an early death.
Nystagmus, which was quite common until the 1930s, results in a rapid involuntary oscillation of the eyeballs; it is an extremely painful disease, causing temporary blindness, and is peculiar to men who work underground. It is caused through working with a feeble light in a cramped position, and constantly straining the eyes by trying to see the cleats in the black coal when striking with the pick.
Beat knee is similar to housemaid's knee and is caused by crawling about on all fours on low coal faces, and kneeling whilst getting or filling coal. Knee pads to protect the knees only came into general use in the early part of this entury, but the early home-made types were sometimes less than useless, in that sharp pieces of coal often got between the knee and the pad, and made crawling about on all fours rather painful.
********************************************************************
The older children of Joseph and Isabella all suffered from 'weak' chests, whilst the younger end suffered from varicous veins. I wonder how much poor housing and coal dust played a part.
posted by Steele-Golborne | 2:16 PM
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