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THE OMAnA' SUNDAY BEE: SEPTEMBER 10. 191 T.'
Move to Reduce the Fearful Death Roll of
King
Coal
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(Copyright, 1911, by Frank G. Carpenter.)
ASHINGTON. D. C. (Special Correspond
ence of The Bee.) This letter U de
voted to the men who work below
ground. It deals with one of the most
Important .movements of Uncle Sam, pa
triarch. It shows what is being done to
&ve the lives of the coal miners; to insure them ffotn
xploeioBB, from the caving in of the roofs and walls
tof the mines and from the terrible underground tires
hat, In blazing sheets, run from tunnel to tunnel.
It relates to the bureau of mines, which, although
testabliehed by congress only last year, has already
tared many lives.
King Coal's Death Roll.
,,' Old King Coal is a cruel old soul,
And a cruel old soul is he.
Indeed there is no more terrible monarch! He has
,(700,000 slaves, who are compelled to delve in the
UarkneBB, and during the last twenty year he has
sacrificed upou his subterranean altars the lives of
Snore than 30,000 men. He killed mow than 3,000 in
tlfl 07, and he is now murdering upward of 2,400 a
irear. In every coal camp of 1,000 miners four or
rive heads of families annually lose their lives, and
jthia to say nothing of the much larger number, who
are wounded and maimed. In 1907, in addition to the
killed, almost 8,000 were Injured, and Director Holmes
x fit the bureau of mines estimates that from 8,000 to
10,000 are wounded or killed by mine accidents every
year, and that this continues year in and year out,
ea the decades go on.
The worst of it is that our death rate and accident
rate are'far in excess of those of the coal regions of
Europe, where the mines are much deeper and the
workings far more dangerous. In Belgium, which is
voted for its deep mines, the average death rate per
1,000 from 1901 to 190s was only a little more than
bne, whereas we lost more than three miners out
bf each 1,000 employed during every one of those
years. The death rate in Belgium is now consider
ably less than one, and it has had a steady decline
Since 1860, when it was something like ours. Great
Britain now kills about one and three-tenths of a
man to its each 1,000 minors. Aussie one and eight
tenths and France least of all, or only about nlne
Jtentbs of one man per 1,000.
This is so notwithstanding our coal mining con
ditions are more favorable to the safety of the work
knen employed than those of any other part of the
world. The great loss of life comes from careless
ness ef mining, from the use of Improper explosives
and from a lack of the means for the prevention of
accidents It Is to remedy these thiugs that the bu
reau of mines was created.
The Big Pittsburgh Cylinder.
The bureau of mines is a branch of the Interior
department. It occupies a new building back of the
patent office here at Washington, but its chief ex
periment stations are scattered throughout the min
ing regions. The most lmportsnt of these is at Pitts
burgh, where there are all sorts of arrangements for
testing explosives and studying the rescue work, both
above and below ground. One of the most interesting
pieces of apparatus there is a great steel cylinder,
100 feet long and so thick that a man without stoop
ing can stand upright within it. This is to represent
a mine tunnel.
At one end of the cylinder Is a cannon embedded
la concrete, which closes the mouth of the cylinder,
and at the other end Is a paper diaphragm, which
belds in the gas, fire, damp or dust, which may be
Corced into it. When the cylinder is filled with na
tural gas It has practically the same conditions as
though it were full of fire damp. The natural gas ex
plodes the same way, and by watching its explosions
the effect of the various mediums can be seen. In
the top of the Cylinder, at six feet apart, are manholes
with lids which fly open at each explosion to let the
smoke and gss out.
Different kinds of powders are tested, the purpose
being to find which explosives may be safely used la
the mining of different coals. The result is thst we
already know that many of the explosives In common
taee are not safe, and that the miner, who lights a fuse
attached to them takea his life la hla hands when
does so. -
Wj
SI
One of the most Interesting results of these tests
has been to show that coal dust alone is even more
deadly than fire damp or dust mixed with fire damp.
In the past both miners and mine operators have be
lieved that the dust would not ignite unless from a
tire damp explosion and that dust in a mine free
from gas could not explode. To test this a lot of
dust was put in the steel tube, which was then free
from gas. The cannon was loaded with black powder
tamped with clay and discharged. The result was a
terrible explosion, which threw open the manholes
and sent great volumes of smoke and flames into
the air.
Indeed, the danger from this source is so great that
Director Holmes has issued a circular instructing the
miners to keep the mines clean of dust, and ' suggest
ing that they sprinkle the dust' with water or cover
it with rock, clay or sand. Dr. Holmes says that dry
coal dust floating in the air will explode, whether
there is any inflammable gas present or not, and
that the finer the dust the greater the explosion. Some
of the dust in the Pittsburgh cylinder was so fine
that it passed through a sieve with a meeh of 200
openings to an inch. Tnis exploded when there wis
only a small proportion of it In the air. .
The bureau of mines advises that the coal dust
should be frequently washed from the timbers and
the mines be kept wet. They say that a dry mine ia
a dangerous mine and that the finer the dust the
more water required. Under no conditions should coal
dust be used for tamping the holes filled with other
explosives.
Dr. Holmes tells me thai many explosions of coal
dust have occurred in and about coal bins and that
similar explosions have happened in coal-crushing
rooms. There were some explosions of that kind last
year at St. Loots and there was one in a cement plant
in Colorado. In the latter case nine men were so
badly burned by the flaming dust that they died.
It must not be thought that coal dust Is the only
kind of dust that will explode without Inflammable
gas. The dusts of flour, starch and sugar, all of which
contain carbon, will do the same thing'. This Is well
known in the flour milling centers, many of the mills
having been blown to pieces by such explosions. One
such instance occurred at Minneapolis In 1878, aad
another at Granite City, in 1910. Other mineral
substances than coal have dusts that will explode.
This Is so of grahamite and gllsonite, both of which
contain carbon. Last December a violent explosion
which was due to dust occurred In one of the asphalt
mines of Oklahoma.
Permissible Explosive.
The business of making explosives Is an impor
tant one. We have 150 different plants engaged In it
and their output is something like 500,000,000 pounds
a year. They are of different grades and some so
dangerous that many people are killed by them. In
their transportation alone several million dollars
worth of property is annually destroyed. The pov
ernment is making tests of the various kinds, the
work being done by Prof. Charles E. Munroe of
the George Washington university, who is noted
as an expert in the science, and by Clarence Hall
of the bureau of. mines. These men have issued
"An Explosives Primer for Miners," and they have
tested s number of explosives in the great Pittsburgh
cylinder, which has been filed with gas and mix
tures of gas and dust and of coal dust alone for this
purpose. The gas and other mixtures are set off
by electric detonators. If the explosive passes the
test it is .marked permissible. The permissible ones
are now well known to the miners and mine oper
ators, and the latter are glad to use them to avoid
the blame and damages that might arise If other
unapproved explosives were used, to say nothing of
their desire for the good of the miner.
In the European Mines.
So far we have no laws requiring the use of ap
proved explosives only. It is different in Europe.
Germany, France, Belgium and Great Britain have
long had commissions studying and testing the va
rious explosives, and they have prohibited those known
to be dangeroua There are about fltfy different
kinds which are safe, and some of these have been
found Incapable or Igniting a mixture of fire damn
and alr4 even. .WJJ;h. a charge fortjr Jne as ea,t
as that of the old explosives, which invariably caused
an explosion. Belgium restricts the amounts of the
materials that may be used, and the safety powders
there are rapidly driving out the dangerous black
powders of the past. '
Belgium,. France and Germany require all mines
to furnish arrangements for speedy aid to the in
jured, and each must have rescue devios. There
are penalties for both operators and miners, and also
mine inspectors, who may close the mines by In
junction if the laws are not complied with. As a
result the accidents are few, averaging niuch less
per 1,000,000 tons of coal than with us. As it is
now we are killing six men for every 1,000, f00 tons
of coal we get out.
Mine Rescue Cars.
The bureau of mines has a number of Ktatlous
scattered through the chief mining centers, and, in
addition, it has recently put on six mine rescue cars.
Tbse are Pullmans, especially equipped to meet every
exigency of the mine rescue work. Each has its head
quarters in the chief city of an extensive mining dis
trict, and it is kept in such shape that it can leave
any hour of the day or night on telegraphic sum
mons to aid in a mine disaster.
Each car Is manned by a crew of miners trained
in rescue' work. It is officered by a mjnlng engi
neer as chief and a mine foreman or mine super
intendent, who has- been especially trained for the
purpose, as assistant chief. It has also a Red Cross
surgeon and other men.
These cars are hospitals on wheels and school rooms
on wheels as well. While not busy in mine disasters.
they are taken from towa to town in the mining
districts, and the mining engineers give lectures to
the whole body of miners, showing them how to avoid
danger and giving them advice as to what to do in
emergencies. In most places the miners sre per-
White Man Rules
HO has ever head of IbadanT Ibadan, tne
W
province, or Ibadan, the city? Not very
many probably, even among those who
pride themselves in their knowledge of
geography, says the Boston Transcript
And yet Ibadan, the city, has a population of 200,000.
But perhaps, we may be forgiven for our Ignorance,
for Ibadan is in southern Nigeria, the British pro
tectorate In Western Africa. But here Is the wonder
of it: This province, aa big as Massachusetts and
Connecticut combined, is ruled by a single white
man and his assistant, who hold absolute sway over
10,000,000 or 66 population.
Government comes cheap in Ibadan. The cost of
administration in 1910, outside of the expenses of the
military force in the territory, was less than $10,000.
Such government as is required is for the most part
native, and is conducted through the hereditary chiefs,
whose authority has been strengthened by the British
administration. So, In fact, the visible signs of domin
ion are native councils, at work for the good of the
people. But the Ibadan legal code Is not written, for
few of the native chiefs can even read; to say nothing
of using a pen.
Among the hundreds of thousands of natives there
are only a handful of Europeans, apart from officials,
merchants and occasional travelers, though Ibadan is
healthy enough, If the mosquito and polluted water
are guarded against. For recreation there is cricket,
shooting and polo, and races, which the chiefs and peo
ple attend in vast numbers. But the native is not
a born racing man. How anyone except the governor
Is allowed to win the "governor's eup,M still remains,
to most of them, a mystery. x
1&A6 t ftdmjjarajjga la such a Iaa .where
... T - -
suaded to organize rescue corps, and these are trained
by the men on the cars. It is expected that by the
close of this year 3,000 or. 4,000 men will belong to
such corps. The lecturers treat also of the use of
explosives, of electrical equipments and of fire pre
vention and sanitation.
Oxygen Helmets.
During my visit to the bureau of mines this after
noon I waa shown some of the oxygen helulets and
other machinery for use in these great mine disas
ters. Each car has eight of these helmets, a dozen
safety lamps, as well as 2,1)00 feet of telephone wire
and a- field telephone. The oxygen helmets are so
made that they can be applied to the face and ted
with oxygen from a tank which is carried on the
back. They are so fitted to the head that not a par
ticle of gas or other air outside this oxygen supply
can get into the lungs, and the arrangement is such
that a miner so equipped can remain, without In
jury, for two hours in a room filled with gas or fire
damp. In addition to the oxygen tank at the back
there Is another tank which contains certain chemi
cals through which the air emitted from the lungs
passes, and Is thereby relieved of its poisonous qual
ities. Another interesting feature is a telephone trans
mitter inside the helmet, while a receiver is attached
outside it to the ear of the wearer. A wire from this
extends to the surface, so that the rescue man in the
helmet, while down in the mine is in constant com
munication with the men at the surface. The tele-.
phone wire is marked In fifty-foot lengths, and from
the amount of wire used the men on top can tell Just
how far away the men below are.
These helmets cost about $200 apiece, but they
have proved to be invaluable, as was shown at the
Cherry mine disaster, where the rescuers were able
to get twenty men out alive after they had been
entombed seven days. It ia true that Joseph Evans
Millions of Blacks
there Is one white man to 10,000 natives, and where
the natives are steeped in superstition, is supendous
but the British ambassador has succeeded in ob
taining an annual revenue of about $7,500,000, cov
ering his expenses so well that not a penny is drawn
from the British taxpayer's pocket.
Should differences arise between the natives and
the white people, a council of all the chiefs is called,
and these meetings are the safety-valves of all discon
tent and conspiracy. The great difference in the
classes of natives adds much to the difficulties of fair
administration. They range from a splendid aris
tocracy to canibals, who would eat one with relish.
The Gate of Tears
Far upon the farther side
Of the Gate of Tears
Lies a country calm and wide;
There is peace at eventide
Far upon the farther side
Of the Gate of Tears.
Never gale or tempest blows
Through the Gate of Tears;
That autumnal valley knows '
Neither nightingale nor rose;
All the hills are crowned with snows
Where the snowdrop peers.
There a broken heart may rest,
Free from, hopes or fears;
Un desiring, undlstresseed;
While the sunset in the west
Gilds the worst and grays the best.
Through the Gate of Tears.
lost his life while using one at the Pancoast disaster
at Throop, Pa.-, but that was bfiitise he-did not' cal
culate that a man working hard would consume much
more oxygen than while at rest.
- One end of each of the rescue cars Is fitted up
as a tight room to be used in training men in the
use of helmets. This room is filled with' noxious
fumes and gases, in which the miners . wearing the
helmets stay for two hours. The atmosphere Is such
that one would die without the helmets. Similar air
tight rooms have been put up at the various sta
tions, and some of these have been made to resemble
a miniature coal mine after It has been wrecked by
an explosion.
Will Make a Dead Man Breathe,
Another most Interesting spparatus with which these
cars are fitted is one which pumps oxygen into the
lungs of a man, making him breathe whether he be
conscious or not. Indeed, it is said it will make even
a corpse, breafthe, although it cannot, of course, re
store life. It forces the oxygen In and sucks it out,
making a contlnous breathing very much like nature.
I was shown this machine by John L. ' Coch
rane of the bureau of mines, who allowed me to
test it upon .myself. The apparatus was fitted closely
over my face, covering my chin and nostrils; then by
touching a button the oxygen was turned on and I
found my lungs pumped full and sucked empty in a
natural operation of breathing. I was first asked,
however, whether my heart was all right, althou''
Mr. Cochrane assured me that there was no great
danger, even though It were weak. He said, that the
machine should be in every hospital, and in every
equipment of flrst-ald-to-the-lnjured, and especially
at seaside resorts, where drownings are frequent.
In place of lifting the arms back and forth and
trying to pump air into the body, the machine does
the work better and with more regularity. On one
occasion four men, who bad been In a mine for
twenty-six hours after an explosion were left, for
dead by those who discovered them. Later it was ob
served that one of the bodies felt a little warm under
the arms. The others were as cold as the grave.
This machine was brought into action and It soon
( brought life back to the man eliphtly warm. It was
then tried upon the other three, with the result that
all four are alive today.
Miners, Mine Owners and Public.
Dr. Holmes believes that his bureau will do much
to bring about closer relations between the miners
and the owners. They are mutually interested in
these movements to prevent accidents and to. save
life, and are working together. He says that our
mines are operated at a comparatively small profit,
and that the European owners, owing to low "wages
and the high price they get for their coal, can af
ford to mine better and to give ther workmen better
conditions of safety. He estimates that we lose over
200,000,000 tons of coal every yeir by our wasteful
methods of mining, and says that this loss of life and
money could be greatly reduced by government in
spection and by the co-operation of the mine owners
and miners, and perhaps of the public as well,. He
tells me that of the $3 or $6 per ton that Is paid for
coal only $1, It is estimated, goes back to the mine,
to be divided between the miner, the operator and the
land owner, and that'$l pays for the equipment nd
development of the mine, all the labor and costs and
dangers of mining operators and the loading of the
coalSn the cars ready for shipment. The balance
which is from to-thlrds to five-sixths of the price
we psy for oar coal, goes to the railroads and the
middlemen, who handle It. This Is manifestly an un
fair division on the part of both the consumer and
the miner, and enough should be taken out to war
rant the latter the best of protection.
FRANK O, CARPENTER, j
