No. 87. — Michael Higham. May 20.

Aged about 8. Is now keeping a door in Percy Pit. Has been down 6 months. Gets up at 3 o'clock and goes down the pit about 4 o'clock. Goes down in a corf; six of them at a time. His door is almost at the side of the bottom of the shaft. Comes up the pit at 4 o'clock. Worked in the night-shift when the Percy Pit was working double shift a short time ago. Is on single shift now. Eats his baits at about 10 a.m., and 12 mid-day at different times. Knows his letters only. Goes to Sunday-school and chapel.

No. 88. — Thomas Smith.

Aged 10. Has been down a year and 6 months keeping a door and driving a horse now. Has been lamed twice; once by the full rolleys and once by the empty ones and was off a day each time. Worked in the night-shift when Howden Pit was working. Worked a year in the night-shift every other fortnight. Knows his letters only. Goes to Sunday-school and chapel.

No. 89. — Richard Keers.

Aged about 9. Has been about a year down the Flatworth Pit and 2 or 3 months down Percy Pit, where he is now and keeps a door. Goes down at 4 o'clock and comes up at 4 p.m. Goes in a long way by, very nigh a mile and a half. When the machine was broken at the New (or Flatworth) Pit he was off work, lamed by the rolleys running over him. Was off a fortnight. Was lamed a short time ago, and was off a day, by falling off the limmers. Worked on a night-shift. Knows his letters only. Goes to Sunday-school.

No. 90. — George Anderson.

Going to 11. Keeps a door in the Percy Pit. Has been down about a year. Goes down at about 4 o'clock and rides up at half-past 4 or so. Gets 10d. a-day. Has worked in the night-shift, every other fortnight. almost all the year. In the night-shift, went down at 4 (getting up) p.m. and came up at about half-past 4 in the morning. Was often sleepy. Got his hammers twice (was beaten twice) by being asleep. The putters beat him with their soam-sticks (handles) and hurt him and made him cry because he did not open the door for them. Goes about 2½ miles in by to his door now. The pit looses at half-past 3 and he is nigh an hour getting out, although he runs a vast. Can read easy words (fairly). Goes to Sunday-school and chapel regularly. Is an orphan, and gives his money to his sister. Once when he was driving a had galloway and could not make it go on, George Hall, a foal, put some clots or lumps of stuff in his eyes and blinded him for a time and he had to lay idle all that day, or work half-work. [This witness is not entered in the returns.]

No. 91. — Luke Gray.

Aged 42 Is a hewer, and has been for 22 years. His 3 boys down the pit one of 17 and he is putting for a headsman; of 14, and he is putting for a foal in Percy Pit; of 8 and he is keeping a door down Percy Pit. This last boy has been down a fortnight. Has only a daughter of 10 or 11 years of age besides. The average earnings of witness himself arc 18s. a week. Is now making a pound or 13s. a-week. At dead times of the year he earns about 16s. or 17s. a-week. In winter he works less than in summer for want of shipping but chiefly according to the market for coals. The expenses of a pitman for his own eating an clothing are more by 1s. a-day than those of a labourer in general. The earnings of his (witness) boys may be, at an average, the headsman, 13s. a-week, the foal, 9s. a-week, the trapper, 3s. 6d. a-week. There are over many boys at times as trappers. The doors increase and decrease according to the workings, so that trappers work is very uncertain. All the wages earned by the witness and his boys are not more than enough at the best of times and not enough at some times. His boys have not had good schooling. The trapper has been a year at school but is not much better of it. Could not have afforded to keep him at school. This is the reason that boys are not more at school. His boys are all 14 hours out of the house and 12 hours down the pit. Children are healthier away from the pit than in it. Witness's eyesight is not affected but the eyesight of most pitmen is affected by the coal getting into their eyes. The keeping boys away from the light does not hurt them at all. The labour is too hard for the foal. Many times the skin is off his back by the corves rubbing it off Last fortnight his back was skinned almost all the way down by the corf cowping (falling) upon him, by getting off the tramway. He was off 3 days from this. He wears a back-skin of leather. All the foals do here. The headsman is behind, putting his head against the roof and against the side. In heavy banks they drag all four wheels of the tram. The boys change. places by putting in cavils once a fortnight. Thinks where he is hewing the rise of the seam is 4 inches to the yard, about, rising to the east. Very little boys, of 12 or 13 years of age, put as foals. Foals suffer more than other boys. They are too young and the work too heavy for them at that age. Men have to leave the colliery sometimes because their boys are put too young to this work. These boys are wanted and must get. They have great need for boys. The extremity of labour is greatest for foals of any if boys work 6 hours they are allowed half an hour for their victuals but often they must get their food when they can. Men and boys brought up in low seams are able to work, sit and bending low, as well as those who are used to high seams. The low-seam boys can travel bent very nearly double. They go nearly bent double in walking in general. Pitmen in general are healthy men; hot when they work in stythe places they never get clear of the headache. Has seen boys crying in this office because they were bound to be foals. These pits are tolerably dry and well ventilated.

No. 92. — Peter Dixon.

Aged 39. Is a shift-worker. Has 3 boys down these pits, respectively of 9, 12, and thirteen and a half years of age, the first a trapper and the others rolley drivers. Cannot say that the pits injured their health in general. They all went to pit-work at about 8 years of age. Can not afford to keep them from the pit. The witnesses 57 and 58 are the sons of this witness.

No. 93. — James Anderson.

Aged 49. Is a shift-worker, or wasteman. Has two boys down these pits, one a hewer and the other is a headsman putter. The eldest went down at 8 years and 4 months. The putter was 9 when he went down. The pit and the labour have not disagreed with them except that their labour is over hard for them, chiefly when they were foals. Two shifts trappers, each staying down 6 hours and getting half-wages, or 5d. a-day, would bring boys into constant employment and would be far better than the present uncertainty of work. Some men state that their boys, who are trappers, lie 3 or 4 days out of the fortnight idle. Has 7 girls and a boy of 2 years of age who are not working and who, of course, bring nothing. The girls sometimes go into the fields at harvest-time.

No. 94. — John Skipsey.

Aged 44. Is a hewer. Has 3 boys down the pit, of seven and a half, 9. and 12 years of age respectively. They are a trapper, a driver, and a foal respectively. The pit has not particularly hurt them. The foal started over young at the work. They would not bind him to anything else last binding. He gets about 1s. 6d. a day; sometimes more. Wished him to be a for another year. They are often badly off for boys for foals here. They want more foals here than at most collieries. A half-marrow goes at each end of the tram alternately, goes behind the tram when it is toom (empty) and before it when it is full. The half-marrow changes about with him in this way. The foal always goes before the tram, or empty.

No. 95. — May 26th. Mr. Oliver, the Under-viewer.

He observes:—

That at Shilbottle Colliery he has seen boys put coals under a height of 30 inches only. The little lads there, of 10, 12, 13, or 14. put the tubs by keeping their hands on the end of the tram and putting their heads against the tub. They roll up their hoggers (or footless stockings), put them in their caps and place these caps against the tubs and so make a soft place for leaning their heads against. When these lads get long in the legs they put them to other work, probably men's work, although they do not perform so much work of that kind as men. The lads wear backskins there to keep their backs from hitting against the roof. There will perhaps be 2(D lads doing this. The seam there is 30 inches thick, and they only cut away tops and bottoms for horses and ponies.

In all collieries where it is banky (hilly) the foals wear backskins to keep the skin from rubbing off their backs. The number of foals depends upon the nature of he putting. Dip-putting is putting the full corf up the bank and rise-putting is fetching the full corf down the bank. This rise-putting is certainly the easier of the two. They will never require boys to put without helpers-up if they have much difficulty in getting a way. Putters have time to get their baits-taking 20 minutes or half an hour to them.

The best method to make the putting easy for lads is to keep the cranes close up to the face of the workings, at least as far as can be done and to make the road for the putters as short as possible. In order to get at the distance a putter travels a-day, the overman's bill may be seen; from which it seems that 4 putters of about 19 or 20 years of age, with the help of a foal, go over about 8 miles of ground each in a day.

Half of the pitmen at this colliery have been at one time soldiers or sailors, mostly sailors. Many of them have been brought up pitmen have then gone to sea, and at last returned to the pit again. Has had men of nearly all trades in the pits here. They have been active men and wished to become pitmen. Some have made good viewers and have been promoted to the places of deputies, overmen, &c. Remembers one Robert Willis, when he was a footman and at last became an overman. William Hall was also a gentleman's servant and became a good pitman. Has known many children run away from school to get down the pits.

No. 95. — Parents of a little boy at Flatworth Pit. May 23rd.

I visited the house of the parents of a little boy whom I saw keeping a door down Flatworth Pit on the 20th of May. It was about 7 o'clock on the Sunday evening and the boy, Thomas Roker, was in bed asleep.

His mother said he was aged about 6 years and 7 months and that he had been down the pit about a month or 6 weeks. His father who is a coal-hewer in Flatworth Pit, took him down the pit one day and the boy cried till his father went to Mr. Oliver and got him sent down as a trapper. Besides, she thought his wages would be useful, as she bringing up a family. The boy was at school at 3 years old and his father wished to make him a better scholar before he went down, nor did he wish the boy to go down. Always puts him to bed early because he must get up every working morning at 3 o'clock, be often rubs his eyes when he is woke and says he has only just been to sleep. He gets at 3 a.m. and goes down the pit about 4 o'clock a.m.. He comes home about half-past 4 p.m. or a quarter to 5 p.m. He gets his dinner directly, and then he washes himself, and to bed between 6 and 7; so that he will never be up more than 2 hours from the pit, for eating, washing and playing. He always gets some tea before going to bed. The trappers their turns of lying idle and might be sent to school then, but seldom are sent. Some of the bigger boys, but not many, go to nigh-school after pit-work and stay there till 8 o'clock or longer. When his son gets a little more hardened to the pit, his father means to send him to night-school and stop an hour off his sleep. Thomas generally goes down the pit in a corf with a good few boys in it and sometimes he goes upon his father's knee. It is dusty but he never complains, though he tells many a queer story of the pit. His fancy when little was always to go to school and afterwards to go to the pit. The pit does not hurt him, makes him a little whiter and perhaps thinner. He was a very fat boy when he was 3 old. Johnny Fiddis was younger when he first went down. Thinks people send their earlier down the pit than they did. Never heard of the darkness hurting any pitman's eyesight or the boys'. When her husband joined the union he was sent away and went to Walker Colliery, where the foul air used to blind him sometimes. Little Pearson is a less boy but is about 9 years of age.

[This boy, Pearson, I saw keeping a door in Flatworth Pit, May 20, and he appeared exceedingly diminutive. Some pitmen afterwards informed me that he was about 9 years old. His father was lost at an accident at Collingwood Main Colliery and his mother was left with 5 or 6 children.]

No. 96. — Mr. G. W Huntley, Surgeon, &c. to the Colliery, April, 1841

Observes that:—

The physical condition of boys employed in this mine from the earliest period is not at all inferior to other children in the neighbourhood, whether following any employment or not. In external appearance they are not so healthy, the face being generally pale, yet the frame is robust, muscular and well formed; the want of colour may be not only attributed to their employment underground, but to the very large fires they are in the habit of keeping in their respective houses. There is no appreciable difference at any age between boys early and constantly employed coal-mines and other boys in the same neighbourhood, except the paleness of visage above alluded to. They live remarkably well, 4 meals a-day, and 2 of those of the most substantial kind, ham, beef; mutton, As to their clothing, the seasons are not much observed, but they are generally to be seen clean. There is not more sickness among the boys employed in this mine than among other boy's in the neighbourhood are, of course, subject to accident, such as fractures of the arm. limb, cranium, &c. but their occupation does not predispose them to any disease mentioned and it is a remarkable fact that coal-miners seldom or never die of consumption but usually attain a great age

G. W. Huntley, Surgeon.