The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-04-06
CoALm1nEtXr,ns1nns.

Saturdays cable dispatches contained
the following item:
LONDON, April 2.-Another explosion
! ut Arlcy Colliery In LRncasterShire to.
day killed twenty-eight persons, and
badly injured many others.
Perhaps not one reader in thousand
fully realized IN reading this brief par
nGraph the awful nature of the cAtn4-
tropho therein recorded. Every few
months these terrific explosions take
place i'll English coal mines and We
read about them with but slight inter
est. And yet there Is scarcely any nat
urel phenomena known to man, above
the earth on the earth or below it,cqual
to them i'll nwfu!E"ssnnd destructive
power.
The gas which collects i'll mines and
explOues with such fearful consequent
cea is II combination of hydrogen and
carbon, very similar TO ordinary illu-
minatinS gas. Another gas, tho car
bunic acid, is nearly always present.
1t being heavier than common air, falls
to tho ground and occupies the lower
stratum. The car0uretted hydrogen or
"fre- damp being lighter than common
air occupies the upper levels. When
VIC consider that many of these great
mines havo streets and WAYS miles i'll
extent, radiating in all directions from
.he shaft and intersecting each other
like the streets of IL city, and reflect
| that this dangerous gas, more fluid
than water, whenever present finds its
way into them all and rests against the
roof of the mine just - Il sheet OF water
would upon the floor, We can begin to
realize tho effects of the ignition of this
gas which sends sheet of flame i'll
stantly into every corner of the mine,
with an explosive power that is almost
uncomfortable.
| The second number OF 1dPpLctOM'S
Journal contains an illustrated supple
ment treating of life in the coal mines
OF England and Belgium, which with
its striking illustrations and lucid
narrative gives n vivid conception of
the many perils (ror ''iire-damp" ex-
plosions are but one of them) to which
the toilers underground are exposed.
We copy few paragraphs deScrip-
tive of explosions:
| No meteor, however tefTihiS ItS I'LL
agined splendor can be compared TO an
| explosion of ire-dnmp. IIst one OF
those scourges OF Heaven I've Imagined,
| which appear sometimes As II designed
for the punishment of human beings
a thunderbOlt, a hurricane, cyclone,
or Notwithstanding, overthrow
| ing. destroying everything III their
course, and the effects produced by
them will still be inferior to those
| caused by an explosion OF mtne-ghS.
| a discharge of cannon loaded with can
| lister. shot, and fired pOint-blank into
| crowd; a powder magazine taking fire
| in the midst OLA body of workmen;
gasOmeter exploding IN factory-can
| scarcely give an idea of an explosion
OF fire. damp suddenly Overtaking the
mine.
Tho moment the mixed gas comes in
contact with tho flame OF a lamp, IA tre-
mendous explosion takes place. result
| ing from tho combination OF the COM
| u Onenls of the fire. damp, hydrogen and
carbon, with the oxygen of the air.
The two former separate to combine
| with the oxygen, with which they have
| the greatest affinity. The doablo phc-
nOmenon only takes place al high
teInpcrnture without flame it would
| not arise. The reaction produces an
effect like the most brilliant lightning,
and makes itself heard by clap of
| thunder. The explosion spreads in
stantly into all tho galleries of the
| mine: Il roaring WhirlWind of flaming
mir destroys every thing it encounters,
| overthrOwS trans, DarrICAdes, and trap
| doors, mounts into the shaft, and lifts
| from their foundations the staging
which covers its mouth, through which
! it discharges thick clouds ofcoal, stone,
and timber.
The mon are blinded, thrown down,
scorched, and sometimes burnt to
cinder; often their clothes take fire, and
L. 1NaEF hNP Tod 10
meath the ruins of tho fallen roofs.
When m attempt is made TO fly 10 their
assistance, there is not time TO rescue
item; there are only corpses left which
are scarcely recognizable. The calaml-
ty spares nobody, even though as many
as one or two hundred miners may be
at work death extends over the whole
OF the mine where the explosive gas
was present.
Tho air-doors are thrown down, the
ventilation of the mine is reversed, the
underground atmosphere is vitiated by
tho combustion OF the fire damp, and
the stalls are filled with steam and
carbonic acid. Sometimes the tempe
nature rises so much that the coal is
converted into coke at the sides of the
galleries, and the commotion is so great
that the dams have to Withstand Doth
fire and water, and the wGllings, raised
for the purpose of resisting the thrust
OF the measures, are themselves over
thrown. Then to a scene OF already
indescribable desolation are added the
horrors of inundation, falls of the
ground, and fire, where the explosion
has already made only too many vic
Tins.
To take at random an example of
these heart-rendering accidents, we will
notice that of the mine of Moons, near
Saint Etienne. The over Imam and
three other men went down into the
mine, where they found the stable-men
looking after the horses, and the car
penters at their work. Suddenly
frightful report was heard. The
masonry surrounding the mouth OF the
shaft, made of large. dressed stones, the
framework supporting the pulleys,
were all blown to a distance of even
more than a hundred yards from the
opening. The very tubs and the ropes
were lifted from the bottom of the mine
by the devastating hurricane, and hurl-
: ed into space. The superintendent mr.
rived, filled with alarm. lie thought a
boiler had burst, but 1t was an explo-
sion OF 6re.damp. An attempt at rescue
: was promptly organized, but the lamps
were eXtinguished, and the galleries OF
the mine being filled with smoke and
i bad air, the rescuers fell sutfocated, and
. Il