The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-12-11

ZONE miners are co skiIful With tie light
af candle that thsy can almost tell the per
8sentage sf gas ia the air, by de appearance
VT the flame, and Of the luminous coat sur
3wuBdlAg and Gaping il. BY chemical
analysis Is the most accurate mode Of deter
IliminiNg the amOuRt Of gas in tbs air; but this
Tia. attended with some pains. and it is not
severy mining engineer even that is sk'lful
bat the chemical analysis Of gases. Then We
Rhsve Ansers ire damp indicator, which viii
{tell tie same tale to every one that can Rad
3tbe induces. BY these means the neceaaary
amount Of ventilAtiOn required in . coal
| mine may be determined. Such pains are
never taken in bebalfof TIM working miner
J and more than this, il is not thought proper
J to employ men as mining superintendent,
! who sufficiently understand the nature Of
4 gases-that is the chemistry Of gases-to be
able to manage them properly.
( In the Hutton seam Of the Newcastle
coal field. at some Of the collisries, Eve hun.
dred cubic feet of air are allowed to every
board that is working. In this country, q
single breast driven On the Mammoth vein
[ possesses a working face whose area il
{ twenty times that of board driven in the
h Hutton seam. I have known twelve
breasts at q cOlliery in this county to be sup
u piled with a current Of air amounting IN
I quantity to but three thousand cubic feel
per minute. This is allowing two huidred
and fifty cubic feet per minute to each
breast. Were the coal to yield as much ga
as does the Hutton seam gas coal, The
mines could not be worked BY the present
plans, for the quantity Of air that would b
required to ventilats each breast would b
about ten thousand feet per minute; il The
area Of the working face were to govern the
supply. and such would be the case, as gai
then would be exuding from all portions o.
the working coal faces and wall sides. Blu
little gas rs the anthracite coal yields, it
mines are very inadequately ventilated, and
the consequence is that the miners working
IN them are exposed to wRHscess0,y dGs
gers again on this aceount have me
with no one in this region. not excepting
the great government inspector Of mime
himself, wbo San tell me mach abOut th'
properly ventilating Of coal mines; they. ths
superintendents, and bosses, and Inspector
know nothing comparatively about it Thil
is saying much; bat not enough to Be con
tnRdScte& nee s> go
According to my experience in this 70
gion. and in the gas coal region Of the Weal
and Tyne, the area Of working face Of tn
Hutton seam receives nearly City times ri
much air to ventilate It. AZ does the same
area of working face driven on the Nam
moth vein. 1t j. no. ~onder that you have
explosive gases in your Gsthrocits coal
mines when We take sthe absSe statements
into due consideration, and for their vera.
city, overwhelming evidence can be pro-
daced. -.
10 THE MINER.
4 Oh could bot hold beacon over eli
the dangers that surrounded you. the work
Of constructing them would be one Of de
light Could | ave your wife from becom
ing widow, and your little ones. orphans
my lifetime should be devoted to your ser
vice. With Gods help my pen shall from
time to time construct little beacons, which
if they show but feeble light, may serve t.
warn you Of an impending danger yor
dream not Of. Like yourself, I have hac
my bairbreadth escapes 10 coal mines, and
believe me, the cautions l give are from
personal experience in the coal mines. The
dangers of the mine are more apparent tC
the scientific miner than to others; as much
more so as dangers to mans constitution
is more apparent to a physician than to
those who knOy nothing Of anatomy. | say
this in order to convince you of the necessity
of studying the scientific part of your bust
ness. Study the dangers Of the mine and
prevent accidents. II. III. w.
AsHLAHp Penns, lSania Novpm4er 1862.