tar and lime, containing 92 per cent. of coal, was held not to be liable to duty, as coal (q).

The production of an entry of a contract, purporting to be signed by the buyer and factor, is not evidence of the sale in an action brought for the price of the coals, unless the buyer be proved aliunde to have signed the contract (r).

In an action of debt, qui tam, for selling coals contrary to law, it was held, that the contract upon which the penalty arises must be truly stated, and any variance is fatal, and, therefore, that a contract stated to be with two persons, when it was with two and another, was a fatal variance, though the declaration stated the exact quantity which the two were to have (s).

If an agent employed to sell coals make a bargain in his own name with a tradesman to furnish him with coals on credit, for which, in return, he is to receive goods, on credit, and both the coals and goods are delivered, the real seller of the coals may recover the price from the tradesman, if his name be in the ticket sent with the coals as seller, because the tradesman after that is bound to inquire into the nature of the agent's situation, and should not continue to treat him as a principal (t). If several persons in a club join to buy a quantity of coals, and afterwards subdivide their shares, and the coals are delivered to each short of measure, each person cannot maintain an action for the penalty against the seller, for the contract of sale is joint (u). Coals sent from Newcastle to London are liable to a port duty according to the Newcastle chaldron (x).

A local act directed to be paid to commissioners any rate or duty they should think fit to order, not exceeding the sum of three shillings, for every chaldron of coals brought into a town. It was held, that a duty was payable in re

(9) Mayor and Corporation of London . Parkinson, 10 C. B. 228; 4 New Mag. Ca. 153.

(r) Brown v. Capel, M. & M. 374. (s) Parish v. Barwood, 5 Esp. 33.

(t) Pratt v. Willey, 2 Car. & P.

350.

(u) Everett v. Tindal, 5 Esp. 169. (x) Linskill v. Read, Peake's Add. Ca. 68.

spect of each quantity of coals amounting to a chaldron, although brought at different times and in several parcels, each containing a less quantity than a chaldron (y).

An advertisement stated that certain coals were of a suitable quality for steam vessels, and were adapted for all closed furnace or stove fires, with other properties. The vendor of these coals gave to the purchasers a printed copy of this statement before the sale. The invoice described the coals as "steam coals." The coals proved to be unfit for steam purposes, and the purchasers brought an action for a breach of the conditions contained in the printed statement. But they failed at the trial in proving the statement to be part of the contract. The Court afterwards amended the declaration by substituting, instead of the contract declared on, a statement that the coals were of fit quality for working steam-engines, and generating steam for steamengines (z).

A railway company contracted by deed with another railway company for the transit of coals along the latter railway, for twenty-one years, in consideration of payments which varied according to the quantity of coals carried, and the amount of dividend of the latter company for the time being. It was held, that the payments were "tolls," within the meaning of railway acts, and, therefore, that the deed was valid (a).

The measuring of coals in the counties of Northumberland and Durham is regulated by a royal commission, dated 30th August, 1830, addressed to the chief coal owners, viewers and custom officers of the district, in which are contained several specific directions as to the registry of keels, boats, waggons and carriages, their owners, their

(y) Mills v. Funnell, 2 Barn. & C. 899.

(z) The Pacific Steam Navigation Company v. Lewis, 16 M. & W. 783; 16 L. J., N. S., Exch., 212.

(a) The Great Northern Railway Company . The South Yorkshire Railway Company, 9 Exch. 642; 23 L. J., N. S., Exch., 186.

contents, and the place of their employment; the measuring and marking of them, their alteration according to the principle of keeping a regular proportion to the legal chaldron of fifty-three hundred-weight, and the prevention of frauds; subject also to the further directions of the Board of Treasury or the Board of Customs.

The duties on coals sent to London, payable to the corporation, are now settled by 4 & 5 Will. 4, c. 89. These duties are also regulated by the acts of all the railway and canal companies connected with London. They are now all undergoing alteration.

Provisions with respect to duties are also contained in several acts relating to the ports of the kingdom.

The coal whippers of the port of London are now regulated by an Act passed in 1856.

Statutes have now been passed for the inspection of coal mines (b). The inspectors are appointed by a secretary of state. The following general rules must be observed in all coal mines-1. An adequate amount of ventilation shall be constantly produced to dilute and render harmless the noxious gases to such an extent as that the working places shall, under ordinary circumstances, be in a fit state for working. 2. Every shaft or pit, out of use, or used only as an air pit, shall be securely fenced. 3. Every working and pumping pit or shaft shall be properly fenced, when not at work. 4. Every working and pumping pit or shaft, where the natural strata are not safe, shall be securely cased or lined. 5. Every working pit or shaft shall be provided with some proper means of signalling from the bottom of the shaft to the surface, and vice versa. 6. A proper indicator to show the position of the load in the pit or shaft, and also an adequate break, shall be attached to every machine, worked by steam or water power, used for lower

(b) 18 & 19 Vict. c. 100, repealing 13 & 14 Vict. c. 100.

ing or raising persons. 7. Every steam boiler shall be provided with a proper steam guage, water guage and safety

valve.

Besides these rules, every colliery shall have such special rules for the guidance of the managers, and the persons employed, as are best calculated to prevent dangerous accidents. These rules shall be framed by the owner, sent to the state office, and, if not there objected to within forty days, shall be established. If the secretary of state deems the rules insufficient, he may, within the forty days, propose alterations or additions, and if the owner shall not object to them within twenty days, the rules shall be established with them. If he should so object, he may, within seven days, nominate three or more mining engineers or other competent persons of experience in the district, of whom the secretary shall appoint one or more, to determine the difference, and to decide the special rules. If the owner shall not so nominate, or if the secretary shall not within one month from the nomination select from the number, each party shall appoint one; and the two arbitrators, before entering into the matters, shall appoint a third, as umpire in case of difference. The secretary may afterwards propose amendments in the rules, subject to the same process of approval as the original rules. The arbitrators are paid by moieties, one by the owner, and the other by the treasury.

The general and special rules shall be painted on a board or printed on paper pasted on it, in some conspicuous part of the colliery office.

Any inspector may enter into the mines and works at all times, but so as not to impede the working, and to examine the state of the mines, as to ventilation, the mode of lighting and using lights, and all matters relating to the safety of the miners, and the observance of the act. The owners are required to furnish the means of entry and inspection. If the inspector find any of the rules neglected or wilfully violated, he must give notice to the owner or agent, and if

he find any part to be dangerous or defective, so as to threaten bodily injury, he must summon before him, at the office, by notice in writing, the manager or principal agent; and in case of non-attendance, or of the continued dissatisfaction of the inspector, he must serve notice in writing of the particular grounds of his opinion on the owner or agent, and report them to the secretary of state. Any difference shall be determined by arbitration, as above described. A copy of the notice, or, in case of difference, of the decision, shall, if the danger or defect be not forthwith removed or remedied, and if the secretary shall so direct, be hung up or affixed on some conspicuous part of the office, and a copy supplied to every workman. The notice or decision may be removed by the certificate of the inspector. During the existence of notice and want of remedy, any person may discontinue his service in any part of the mine affected by the notice, without being liable to proceeding under 4 Geo. 4, c. 34. If the owner or agent does not within seven days signify his objections to the inspector, and at the same time nominate persons with a view to a decision in the above manner, the notice shall be good and valid.

The owner or agent must, on inspection, produce the plans of all the parts of the mine; and in case of nonproduction of the plans, or the withholding of any part, or of the concealment of any parts of the workings from inspection, or of imperfection or inaccuracy of the plans, the inspector may require an actual plan to be made within a reasonable time, at the costs of the owners, on a scale of not less than two chains to one inch, or on the actual working scale of the colliery, in which the workings shall be brought up to within six months of the time of inspection, and the owner or agent may be required to mark the progress of the workings up to that time. But the inspector is not authorized to make a copy of any plan.

In case of loss of life by accident, the owner or agent must, within twenty-four hours, send notice of it, under his hand, to the secretary of state, in England, and to the lord