Miner’s Code of Signals

In order to haul men and ore up and down the mineshafts safely, the hoister, or man in charge of raising and lowering the buckets and cages, had to be able to communicate with the miners below. For that purpose, a signal code using bells was adopted in each mine. Because the signal system was one of the many mining practices that came to the States from Cornwall, the codes used by the different mines were basically the same. To ensure uniformity, however, each state eventually adopted a Code of Signals in its mining regulations. The Code of Signals shown here is for the state of Colorado.