The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-01-31
NUMBER 9.

evolve gas, and they are kept lighted i
some mines 10 illuminate the mine.
q Wherever this gas is allowed to accumu
late 10 the point Of unexplosive mixture
a naked light cannot be used in it's pres
ence, and many ingenious methods have
been devised TO light the underground
workings, without producing an explosion
Of iredamp. The first method Of carrying
: forward an unexplosive with the gas-light,
+ was by using the reflection of the sun !
4 rays from a mirror An by this means
, only those places immediately surrounding
Q the pit bottom could be lighted. recourse
l was had t. other methods. The Steel
mill, invented by Mr. James Speeding, Of
Whitehaven, England, was next invented.
This machine yielded miserable glimmer
of light from the flying sparks of the mill,
7 which consisted Of small frame Of iron
mounted on wheel and pinion, which was
made to revolve by means Of the wheel and
handle, whilst 3 sharp flint threw success
Sion Of sparks. One man was required to
work the mill togive light to a single miner,
and sometimes explosions Of the infam-
able air occurred. As no other means Of
lighting the mine could be employed this
machine was very extensively used before
the discovery Of the safety lamps by
Davy. BY its use the wastes could be
traversed, and the existence Of the gas
ascertained by the shades of light which it
threw.
In the year 1912, in consequence Of a
dreadful explosion Of fredamp which
occurred ut the Telling colliery, in England,
BY which ninety-two human beings were
burned or sutfOcated to death, society
of gentlemen was organized for the pur-
pose OF instituting enquiries into the causes
OF coal mine accidents. The meritorious
exertions Of this association attracted the
attention Of the celebrated Sir Humphrey
Davy, who discovered after an elaborate
series of Investigations that flames will
not pass through small tubes of wire
gauEe, containing twenty eight holes for
each inch In length OF 7S4 apertures to the
square inch. He ipclosed small oil lamp
In cage Of gauze, and presented the lamp
as gitt to the miners, which is known in !
every mining region in the world where |
hredamp is gwen off az the ''Davy lamp. :"
By the use Of the Davy lamp the miner |
was enabled to walk unscathed into the |
midst o. IN explosive element whose deadly |
power would dash him to pieces if brought /
IN contact with the naked light.
Before the discovery Of the safety lamp, |
the existence of 6redamp in mines was
ascertained BY the miner creeping forward /
cautiously along the galleries Of the mine
holding a candle or lamp in his LETT hand
and screening the flame with the two fore
fingers of the other, and keeping his eye
fixed intently on the top Of the light As
he reaches the explosive mixture the top
of the flame begins to elongate and to as
sumo color Of greyish blue. He stops at
-. L IL D
toward the roof where the fredamp floats.
The flame enlongates into a sharp spire,
the tap changing from the blueish grey to
pure fine blue and giving off minute,
luminous points. This is the extreme point
of safety, sudden movement Of the body
or Of quickly lowering the lamp will cause
an explosion. The workman now lowers
his light with great caution, and retreats
back slowly, having extinguished the light
with his hand
vast number Of notifications Of
Davys lamp have been brought forward,
among them one by George Stephens.
(called the GeOrdy, the celebrated engineer,
but the original lamp of Sir Humphrey
has proved in practice to be the safest
mining lamp yet invented. The lamp Of
Davy is not, however, a perfect safety
ing the recurrence of explosions Of FIRE
damp in coal mines. On the contrary ex-
plOsions since its invention have been more
frequent than ever, and human life and
safety been made less secure Instead Of /
proving a safety lamp to the miners it has
proved a dangerous lamp. Scarcely a
month rolls around but we read Of whole /
hetacomb Of miners sacrificed in mines |
where Davy's lamp is in use In the 4
coroners inquests that followed ia the .
inspectors reports and in the reports If |
Parliamentary Committees the blame is /
always laid to the carelessness Of the work |
men, while the fact is no explosion were |
ever caused by the fault of the workmen, |
for if there were plenty Of fresh air in the |
mines and that well distributed through |
their various ramifcations, there could not /
be an explosion. Tbs blame is due to the |
responsible managers of mines, OF to the |
colllery owners or to government, for if a
sufficient ventilating current cannot be |
moved to dilute the gas and render it !
harmless, q statement which is open to
grave objections, then the government
should close up the mine forever, OF till
some means are discovered Of lighting the
workings without setting the inhamable
II
thousands OF men to death or blowing them
To pieces.
An explosion Of a large volume Of fire.
damp Is one OF the most fearful catastro-
phles which ever happened in the world
A coal mine may be at work, 1000 feet
below the surface Of the earth. Its var
lous rooms and galleries extend for miles
There are three or four hundred men and
boys and fourty to sixty horses at work
A vast quantity of the inhamable air has
accumulated to the point Of an explosive
mixture. Some wOrkmen have carried a
naked light into the gas. In moment an
explosion aecurs with . voice louder than
the bolts of heaven. The vast volume Of
burning air rolls like tornado along the
galleries of the mine, scorching to death
every living creature in it's path. The
sections Of the mine beyond the reach Of
the explosions, are affected by the force Of
the hurricane, men are dashed to the
ground, lights are extinguished. They are
mile from the pit bottom. All the stop
pings are dashed down, the doors are
smashed TO atoms, thu machinery Of the
mine-caps for hosting, the pully wheels,
on which the ropes roll-are thrown high
in the air Some Of the workmen within
, the direct reach Of the blast are carried to
the bottom Of the pit and thrown up the
shaft two or three hundred feet into the
air and fall down into dozen pieces, here
I an arm, there leg. yonder trunk, etc
, A second explosion occurs more terrible
than the first The work Of destruction is
now complete. The products Of the ex-
Plosion, the afterdamp, extends Il ugh
the mine, those who have escaped from the