Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1874-07-27
coMsroCK VENTILATION.

coMsroCK vENrILAxlDN.
Owing to the present ssnnsr boat q
no weather. the heat Id the nfhss Of
he Comstock is corrsspondinsly in
rsassd. Is 1t always Is and always viii
70 at this ra.on Of The year. The ven
Of the mining depths 10 depend
mt entirely upon hs air currents Undue
ID from the surface. aud which replace
he heated air ascending from below.
Thus nj sh.l u Winter the Aes-rr
ZONES rushins up out Of the shafts,
a. IL pours abovs the surface
and looking on frosty morning Lie
hugo columns Of steam. Tbs cold,
wintry air vhieh rushes down Il rsplsce
1t cools OF the atmosphere Of the hot
drifts, breasts and chambers much more
effectually than does tho heated air oil
Summer, and thus IL In that the mines
are 90 much cooler in Winter than in
Summer. Any practical miner. o
ssnsible man understand this.
The leading editorial grinder OF
sutro's organ at Virginia City. however,
Is incapable Of oomprshending 1t. he
has learned through the Esinpnss and
Nrws that the temperature OF the lower
leveis II very great.owins TO this natural
heat Of the earth. which remains the
same the year round, yet his natural OBJ
tussness Win mot allow him to eompre-
bend tAaAthscold air Of winter circulating
down from the surface would cool the
mining depths any more than the heat
ed. sultry air Of Summer. We have no
doubt that he would in all seriousness
argue that sutro's tunnel would allow
OF an influx Of fresh air that would cool
the mines at the present time to q very
salubrious and comfortable degree. Dmi
The grand object in mine ventilation
along the Comstock range il to send
down from ths surface the coolest and
purest air possible, either by blowing
machinery. or still better by air son.
nsctions and drafts artihcally produced
and thus the pure mountain air OF
this elevated region passes down
through shafts and wines and the
hot. steamy. unwholesoms air OF the
deep drifts and chambers, displaced by 1t,
hnds egress through other shafts and
wines, thus securing the best possible
ventilation whenever air connections arc
made. This surface air is hardly ever
above ninety degrees in Temperature,
sven In the hottest part Of the year,
while tho temperature OF the mining
depths is as high as one hundred and
ten degrees. Now. suppose sutro'spro
posed tunnel was completed, with
branches from II r~amifying in all direc-
tons throughout The Comstoek Lode,
how much would 1t vsntilats and cool of
the mines The mouth Of that tunnel
10 below the general NOW line in Winter.
therefore the air from that source would
not be any too cool even then. During
the past week or two the weather at the
mouth OF the tunnel has been Excess
hot and sultry, the thermom-
eter standing at one hundred and ten
degrees in the shade-twenty degrees
higher than in Gold Hill and Virginia,
II is therefore simply folly to suppose
that the supsrhsated atmosphere from
the arid. sandy. aIkali wastes Of that
portion Of Carson river valley would be
as beneficial in the way Of ventilation as
the pure mountain air Of this locality.
We have heard Il argued that were the
tunnel completed. the air draft instead
OF coming in through 1t might set the
other way-passins out instead. In
that case II would be Of advantage to the
tunnsl; Jet. assuming that the air draft
did come in through 1t. and allowing
that the temperature at the mouth OF
the tunnel were the same ~ on the
aide OF Mount Davidson, would 1t
not become pretty well heated by the
natural heat Of the earth in passing
through that long tunnel-7a distance Of
nom four to six milesf Bem in mind that
the workmen inthe header Of that tunnel
find the natural heat very great. and that
even now Shaft No. . in full Of hot
water and had 10 be abandoned on that
account. Tho air from the surface, in
passing only a quarter Of . mile down
the shafts into the mines, gets heated
and vitiated enough; yet IL certainly Is
preferable 10 still hotter air from the
alkali fats Of Carson River. made .
thousand times worse by passing
through Ave or siI miles Of hot tunnel
and decaying timbers. vfry vlffv
Il IT.