Underground Mining with Children

Underground Mining with Children. . , "In 1886 an explosion killed 2 boys, the territorial legislature took steps to ban children from working in coal mines. The coal mine safety law prohibited boys under the age of 14 and "women and girls of any age" from being employed "in or about any coal mine." Even though children were prohibited from working in the mines by law, there were still instances where boys performed a variety of tasks. Moreover, teenagers did not fall under this law. Since Wyoming's attempts to minimize child labor did not prevent boys under sixteen years of age from entering the mines, a large number of teenagers remained in the mines after 1886." , "All too frequently teenagers were killed. In those cases where a teenager was killed while working underground, it was not uncommon for the father to be blamed for the incident. A coal company in 19th century Wyoming would never assume responsibility for a mine incident." , "One incident that took place 11 years after the territory passed its first safety laws illustrates these circumstances surrounding a teenage death and the way the death was investigated. On last Friday about noon Geo. Dubensky, the fourteen year old son of Mr. and Mrs. John Dubensky was killed in [Union Pacific] No. 9 mine by falling coal." , "Thomas Gregory testified: "At 12:30 o'clock, Friday, April 30, 1897, I heard a cry for help from John Dubensky. Ed McCourt and I ran to his room and we found the boy, George, dead. He was lying in a pile of slack. We notified the mine foremen right away and took the boy outside immediately. I should judge two or three hundred pounds of coal that fell on him, which in my opinion caused his death… We, the jury, duly impaneled and sworn according to the law… to investigate the death of George Dubensky, define that he came to a death by fall of coal… According to the evidence given by the boy’s father, John Dubensky, we find he is responsible for the same (Robert A. King. (2003) Trails to Rails: A History of Wyoming's Railroads. Endeavor Books)." , [photo caption] , Although Wyoming passed a child labor law in an attempt to keep children out of coal mines, the effort was only marginally successful. Children and teenagers continued to work in the mines. As shown by this R. W. Stone photograph of a small wagon mine, children were an important part of this family business.