North Carolina standard., 1851-07-05

has been achieved in England by Mr.. Godworthy
Gurney, in the extinction of burning coliery about
seven miles from Sterling. The fire has been raging
for about thirty years oftwentysix acres.
This accident occurs frequently in the coal mines,
and is of course immensely destructive to property.
In the present instance value of nearly l O00, 900
was endangered, and two years since, 1900 was
lost by fire breaking in coal-pi in Ayrshire,
which has not yet been subdued, and extends over
fourteen acres, burning and destroying the wood
the surface. 1t is undergoing extinction by Mr.
Gurney's process.
In the present case a of $4,000 was spent in
surrounding the fire with pudde-wal to prevent its
extending 20 other works. This took five years in
building. and completed nineteen years ago. The
proprietor the Earl of Mansfield, has expended about
g20O year in keeping it up and supporting over
lockers. Men, learned in the matter, have agreed in
the utter impossibiIity of exnguishng the fire, un-
Ill Mr.. Quincy broached his theory of pouring in
choke damp. 1t was apparently impossible that
the idea only commended itself TO the scientific
Mr. Gurney, at the invitation of the Earl of Mans
field, went down and inspected the mine. The diff
Guilty to be apprehended in the treatment that the
vast magazine of heat would continue, and the
klndling of the mine upon the relntroduction of
the fresh air. But towards the end of March Mr..
Gurney commenced with two assistants. The ma
chinery for conducting the experiment consisted
hghp:essure steam boiler, about sixty feet of inch
gasppe, and small cone for the high-pressure steam
jet at the end of it, which jet placed at the prop
striking distance from cylinder of sheet iron one
foot in diameter, and about nine feet long. The cyl
inder was the passage between a coke furnace and
tne 0oWncaSt Snat thrOugh which the air was drlV-
en- by the force of the steam jet. and, by simple
contrivance they able to blow in either the air
passed through the furnace, fresh, pleasure.
There We're some obstacles in the shaft, and Mr..
Gurney's assistants descended, Mr. Gurney blowing
them in fresh air from above and there they cleared
away two old iron doors into the waste, and knocked
hole through old puddle-wall, and them hearing
good deal of rumbling and rushing, if the roof
falling, they thought it prudent to retreat,
they had effected their object of opening passage
! for the gases in the burning waste.
| The obstacles having been cleared away and free
passage obtained, the shaft covered with iron
plates and clayed over, to render it airtight,
and the choke damp was turned on. That eXtinguish
an intense coke fire in hrck furnace, which depriv-
ed it Of all lis oxygen rather the oxygen combin-
ed with the carbon of the COKE and formed carbonic
acid, which gas, in mixture with the ntrogren left
was forced through the furnace along the iron cylin-
der down the shaft and into the burning waste the
quantity of coke consumed being sufficiently accu-
rate of the quantity of air passed.
After blowing in about 100000 of cubic feet of
choke damp at the of about 1000 cubic feet per
minute,) which was calculated to be about the
tents of the waste (allowance having been made for
falls of the roof they found the upcast or high level
shaft drift full of to the mouth, flowed over,
and ran along the ground, extnguishng light If held
the surface of the earth at distance from
the spot. They found when they ceased blowing in
gas that after time the choke damp receded in the
upcast, and that whenever they blew into the down.
cast it poured of the upcast in volumes, being
thus perfect measure of the quantity of choke-damp
the mine, and living them proof that it had pass
ed completely through it.
After three weeks of this treatment, they blew in
choke-damP, at lower temperature, and by this pro-
cess gradually succeeded in cooling the atmosphere
of the mine, so that after months operations the
temperature was discovered to be about 80.
The expense of the operation is not estimated in
the letter in the Times, which has furnished US with
the facts. But II Is a very scientific triumph.