An employment often pursued under circumstances which bring with them so many and such formidable diseases, must prematurely exhaust the strength of ordinary constitutions; and the evidence collected in almost all the districts proves that too often the collier is a disabled man, with the marks of old age upon him, while other men have scarcely passed beyond their prime.
The evidence shows that in South Staffordshire and Shropshire, many colliers are incapable of following their occupation after they are forty years of age; others continue their work up to fifty, which is stated by several witnesses to be about the general average. Mr. Marcy, clerk to the Wellington Union, Salop, states, that "at about forty the greater part of the colliers may be considered as disabled, and regular old men—as much as some are at eighty." [39]
Even in Warwickshire and Leicestershire, in which their physical condition is better than in any other districts, Mr. Michael Parker, ground bailiff of the Smithson collieries, states that "some of the men are knocked up at forty-five and fifty, and that fifty may be the average; which early exhaustion of the physical strength he attributes to the severe labour and bad air." [40] Mr. Dalby, surgeon of the Union of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, says—"The work in the pit is very laborious, and some are unable for it as early as fifty, others at forty-five, and some at sixty; I should say the greater part at forty-five." [41] And Mr. Davenport, clerk of the Union of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, gives a higher average, and says that "a collier may wear from sixty-five to seventy, while an agricultural labourer may wear from seventy to seventy-five." [42]
Of Derbyshire the sub-commissioner reports—"I have not perceived that look of premature old age so general amongst colliers, until they are forty years of age, excepting in the loaders, who evidently appear so at twenty-eight or thirty, and this I think must arise from the hardness of their labour, in having such great weights to lift, and breathing a worse atmosphere than any other in the pit." [43] Phoebe Gilbert states—"The loaders are, as the saying is, 'old men before they are young ones.'" [44] Dr. Blake says—"He has also noticed that when a collier has worked from a child, and becomes forty, he looks much older than those of the same age above ground." [45]
In Yorkshire "the collier of fifty is usually an aged man; he looks overstrained and stiffened by labour."[46] "But whilst both the child and the adult miner appear to enjoy excellent health, and to be remarkably free from disease, it nevertheless appears that their labour, at least that of the adult miner, is, in its general result, and in the extent to which it is pursued, of a character more severe than the constitution is properly able to bear. It is rare that a collier is able to follow his calling beyond the age of from forty to fifty, and then, unless he be fortunate enough to obtain some easier occupation, he sinks into a state of helpless dependence. Better habits with regard to temperance might diminish, but would not remove, this evil; and the existence of this fact, in despite of the general healthiness of the collier population, gives rise to the question whether, apart from all considerations of mental and moral improvement, a fatal mistake is not committed in employing children of tender years to the extent that their strength will bear, instead of giving opportunity, by short hours of labour, for the fuller and more perfect physical development which would better fit them to go through the severe labour of their after-life." [47]
In the coal-fields of North Durham and Northumberland, Dr. Elliott states "that premature old age in appearance is common; men of thirty-five or forty years may often be taken for ten years older than they really are." [48] Mr. Thomas Greenhow, surgeon, Walker Colliery, North Durham, says "they have an aged aspect somewhat early in life." [49] Of the effect of employment in the coal-mines of the East of Scotland, in producing an early and irreparable deterioration of the physical condition, the sub-commissioner thus reports: "In a state of society such as has been described, the condition of the children may be easily imagined, and its baneful influence on the health cannot well be exaggerated; and I am informed by very competent authorities, that six months labour in the mines is sufficient to effect a very visible change in the physical condition of the children; and indeed it is scarcely possible to conceive of circumstances more calculated to sow the seeds of future disease, and, to borrow the language of the Instructions, to prevent the organs from being fully developed, to enfeeble and disorder their functions, and to subject the whole system to injury which cannot be repaired at any subsequent stage of life." [50] In the West of Scotland, Dr. Thompson, Ayr, says—"A collier at fifty generally has the appearance of a man ten years older than he is." [51]
The sub-committee for North Wales reports—"They fail in health and strength early in life. At thirty a miner begins to look wan and emaciated, and so does a collier at forty; while the farming labourer continues robust and hearty." [52] John Jones, relieving officer for the Holywell district, states—"Though the children and young persons employed in these works are healthy, still it is observable that they soon get to look old, and they often become asthmatic before they are forty."[53]
In the Forest of Dean, Mr. Thomas Marsh, surgeon, states that "colliers usually become old men at fifty to fifty-five years of age." [54] In North Somersetshire, William Brice, clerk and manager, says "there are very few at work who are above fifty years of age."[55]
Early death is the natural consequence of the premature decrepitude thus described to those whom ever-imminent casualities have not brought to the grave during the years of their vigour. The medical evidence shows that even in South Staffordshire and Shropshire, comparatively few miners attain their fifty-first year. In Warwickshire and Leicestershire it is not uncommon for the men to follow their occupation ten years longer; but all classes of witnesses in the other districts uniformly state that it is rare to see an old collier.
In Derbyshire, William Wardle "does not think colliers live as long as those above ground; very few live to be sixty." [56]