The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1875-09-04
Written for the woRKINoMEN's ADVOCATE
THE VENTILATING FURNACE.
BY ANDREW ROY.


Properly constructed furnaces, well
maintained and spacious air-passages, car
ried well forward will admit of an abund-
ant flow of air along the galleries of
mine. The furnace should be placed NJ
the bottom Of the up-cast shaft, and never
at the top as is sometimes done, no matter
how limited the requirements of the mine
may be. Deep shaft mines never have
more air than shallow ones with the same
furnace power, as a deep shaft gives rise
to a longer column of heated AIR. The
practical power Of the furnace is in proper
ton to.the depth Of the shaft, the power
being as the ratio of the depth. The best
place for the furnace is from lie to $50
feet from the bottom of the up-cast shaft,
as there the danger is avoided of setting
the wooden structures of the shaft on hre.
trophe has resulted from the furnace icing
placed III two close proximity to the wood
work Of the air shaft, of which the Avon
dale horror, was perhaps, the most terribly
destructive to human life The passage
from the furnace to the up-cast shaft
should be made to slant upwards. The
furnace should be of area proportional
to the area and extent Of the air pas
sages Of the NINE. For an air course of SO
feet of area, a furnace of six feet in width, 8
feet of height above the fire bars, and from 2
to 3 feet of depth under the bars would
be fair proportion. wide furnace is
better than high one, as it admits Of a
thin fire and thus more etfectually heats
the air in its passage through the furnace.
| The up-cast shaft should also be Of proper
structure. Too small shaft confines the
air in passing upward, and too large one
does not get sufficiently heated by the hot
Of So feet Of sectional area, and a six foot
furnace, the up-cast shaft should be about
30 feet. In former times it was the genera
practice to pass the whole Of the return
current Of air through the furnace. In
fiery mines frequent explosions occurred
from the in1smable air returning to the
furnace in an undiluted state. The ga
would flame backwards in the mine, like /
train of gunpowder, carrying death and de
called the water fall. had to be kept con
stantly on hand, to be thrown down thu
shaft to extinguish the fire. In the veal
of 1907, Mr. Buddle had his mind intently
occupied with this subject, and he devised
a remedy IN the dumb furnace. He spill
the air at the bottom of the down-cas
shaft, feeding the furnace with pure All
direct from the down cast, ard sending tn,
return foul current into the up-cast shat
by dumb drift cut in the roof above thu
coal The miners were at first very mucl
opposed to this plan, believing that tn,
current of air by being split would lose it
ventilating power. Since Mr.. Bubble
time an improved dumb furnace has beef
made by Mr. John Smith. an intelligen
mining captain, Of the North Of England
This furnace also fed with fresh air iron
the down cast shaft, has two brick archie
above the fire, for the passage of tn,
foul return current Of air into the up
cast shaft, and two air gates, one on eacl
side of the fire to cool down the tempe ra
ture between the brick work and the coal
1t is only in mines subject to discharge
of infiameable gas that these precaution
are necessary. Unfortunately they ar
not as generally adopted as that necessit,
would seem to warrant. The Lund Hill
explosion, which occurred in England
in 1886, by which 189 miners were de
stroyed, was believed to have been caused
by the iredamp exploding, in passin
through the furnace, and an explosion
from this cause occurred in a coal min
in Ohio, last year.