The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-11-20
Effects of Great Heat i'm Mines.

| - VA AiieSi oSoiiiS5 paper lCdu stt lilO
Plttsburg meeting of the American In
stitute of Mining Engineers, Mr.. John
A. Church reviewed at considerable
length the accidents in the Comstock
mines and their relation to deep mining
During the % months preceding May,
1879, there were 101 accidents, killing
outright 53 persons and wounding 20
others. The accidents were classifiable
under the eight following heads: 1.
Falls ofrock, timber, etc. !; 2. Tramming !;
3. Effects of heat; 4. Falls of men; 5.
Explosions; 6. Hosting apparatus; T..
Overwinding; 8. Miscellaneous Most
.of these causes of danger and loss of life
are common to all mining operations !;
the third class includes accidents pecu-
liar to tho Comstock mines.
In several instances miners have been
fatally scalded by falling into stheF hot
mine waters, which exhibit tempera-
lures rising to 1852 Fab The most re-
markable casualties, however, are due
to the killing effect of labor in the hot
and steaming atmosphere The pro-
portion of fatal casualties is larger in
this class than in any other. being IS
percent. land from thd peculiar mental
effects of the heat it is highly probable
that it may be the real cause of many
mishaps, which under other circum-
stances would be ascribed to culpable
laundering. u5nE .4HH jieiV 4
On the 1900 level of the Gould &
Curry mine drift was run along and
quite near the black dixie, one of the hot
spots. Of the, mine. At a spot where the
therllp pnleter marked at times 1889 Fab,
Thomas Brown tainted while at work.
When taken to the surface and revived he
was found to have completely lost his
memory. He could not tell his
name yzerA where he lived, and
had to be dressed and taken
home by his friends. The newspaper
which recorded the occurrence said that
such sudden loss Of memory from oyer
heating was quite common ifitke mines
and suggested that the fact might fur
nish an explanation Of the walking off
into fatal WINES and chutes by expert
enced miners, seemingly with deliberate
intention. " 7i25c
| A frequent accident in these mines is
fainting in. the shaft while, the cage is
rising to the suffaeea tThes fainthess is
always felt Immediately upon reaching
and and si fifty Yest fFo% a f1e surface, % Where
there is usually side draught through
some adit. This happens 50 often that
a man who has been working in u hot
drift is never allowed to 90 up alone.
Long habitude to the heat is no safe
guard against this danger, and serious
accidents have occurred in this way!
Among minor casualties, Mr.. Church
mentions one which. happened to Mr..
FSutro, in the Sutro Tunnel, before it
made connection with the Savage
mine. After spending some time in an
air temperature of 40 deg. Fab, Mr..
Sutro went to the air pipe to cool off.
He STAYED SO long that the min
ers told oo HIM to get % way frons
the pipe and qletY them have air.
He did not move, and when they tried
to stir him up with the handles of their
shovels the found him unable to move.
He had lost all volition, and had to be
taken out on car rli4ia &ttf''l41 fa1 it
tlsfFhe graver results of goperheating in
clude insanity and death. The deathof
q .carman on the ], 400 level of the Gale
donia mine, Gold Hill, March IL, 1873,
is case in. point. a Hes had5 been idle
for six months, and that morning he
was working his first shift. At an early
hour he. rushed into the station of the
400 level and reported that the wheels
of his car were mashed. The sta
ton master returned with him to
his car and found it all right. There
was evidently something wrong with the
man, and he was. taken to "a cooling
place. Here decided mental alteration
was discovered, and the man, firmly
lashed to the cage, was hoisted to the
surface, where he tainted at-once~ and
died in few minutes I'm this case the
heat was only about sc. deg. Fab.
In anotherI case "a 4miner died from
cramps, attributed to heat, but which
may, have been due to drinking ice
water; and another death is charged to
cold taken while cooling off after De-
ing partially overcome with heat.
Though contrary to the. rules of outside
hygiene, the miners resort to copious
draughts sof ice-water or to exposure to-
strong cold-air currents for recovery
from overheating, and usually with inn
punity. The c0ld-air cooling is consid-
cred the safer method; but to gain time
Mr.; Church commonly chose the ice-.
water, and never felt any i'll effects from
it. With several thousand cases a day
of rapid cooling off by one orsthe other
of these methods tits surprising that
fatal consequences have been SO ihffEI
quent.,. .s,lseis
4 The next case illustrates the violent
effects which excessive beat may have