The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-15
DANGERS IN COAL MINING.
FART ONE.

PART ONE.
Besides tho dangers incident to oths
mining, there are some peculiar to Goa
mining which are often unexpected ant
sometimes fsarfully disastrous. At time
all the workmen in IA coal mine meet witt
instant death without any warming or sns
picion Of danger. And these disasters ar
rendered doubly fearful by the fact tina
these EXPLOSIONS fill the mine with deadl.
cares and loosen overhanRing rocks, am
prepare mantraps that very often prey
fatal to the brave miners and franti'
friends who rush into the niinc to rescu'
their friends and fellow
These accidents peculiar to coal mines
are produced by certain gases and Goa
dust, which exist in greater or less quantl.
ties in all such mines. So far the Goa
miners of Montana have beon very forum,
ate, as but few accidents have been eauset
by these dangerous gases. These mines III
our state have not been worked to any CON
siderable depth, and ventilation has beef
comparatively easy and gases not abund
ant. But when the workings are extendee
to greater depths, where these gases are
confined in larger quantities and under
more supsrincumbent rocks. they will be-
come more troublesome and dangerous, for
whon a blast or fall opens n orevice, cavity
or blower at great depths the gas will rush
out with greater force and in larger quanti-
ties, SO as to meet the lamp of the miner
and produce an explosion before ITS deadiy
presence is suspected,
Hence coal mining in our state will be-
cons more and more dangerous as the
work progresses to greater depths ana
to greater distances from the open air, and
more care and increased knowledge and
skill will be- necessary to protect the lives
and health of our coal miners. For this
reason it is deemed expedisnt to give In
plain words such a description OF these
deadly gases that all may recognize them
and know WHOM they are present in danger
GUS quantities, the best modes of removing
them from the mines, and the most APP
proved methods of protecting the miners
from their injurious and fatal effects.
Three deadly gases are found IN all coal
mines in greater or less quantities. They
are light carburetted hydrogen, carbonio
acid and nitrogen, better known to miners
rs tre-damp, choke-dsmp II azote. No
animal can breathe pure fre-damp, pure
choke-damp or pure azote, ore mixture or
them all as they often occur III after-damp,
and live. All OF them are injurious even
when diluted with air.
Fire-damp, when mixed with air in any
couside. able quantities. produces very dis
agreeable symptoms and induces painful
and fatal diseases. The head becomes light
and ciady, and tho drums of the ears be-
come frightened and strained.
Choke-damp destroys life at once when
pure, and produces fatal diseases when
mixed with air in quantities greater than
~one-thousandth part. Azote, though it de-
stroys life when pure or nearly SO, forms
the air we breathe when mixed with twenty
one per cent. of oxygen. But tire-damp is
deemed by Tar the most dangerous of these
gases because it produces such fatal ex-
plosions.
How to detect the presence of ire-damp
in coal mines is a matter of the greatest
Importance. As this gas is liable to appear
at any time ana at all times and produce
disastrous explosions, every coal miner
should be able to detect its presence and
avoid its dangers, as he would the sweep of
q Cyclone. And besides, each coal mine
should be carefully examined for this dan
perous enemy, at stated intervals, proper
t~ionally frequent to the quantity of it
found in that particular mine. Old mines,
goaves, exhausted chambers. or my I'M
used portion of a mine, should not be en-
tered without a previous examination for
%fre-damp. An excess of this gas is most
likely to appear after a blast or q fall of
coal, as both of them are liable to open
new creyices, reservoirs, and blowers, for
its more rapid escape.
The careful observer will at once detect
the presence of fire-damp by its disagreed
BILE odor. Some liken it's odor to the smell
of garlic, But it will not be safe to rely
upon the odor to mako Known this invisible
and irsidious enemy.
The most reliable and the safest test of
the presence of %dre-damp is its effects upon
the flame of a safety lamp. A flame fed
with oil alone will show the presence of
this gas before it reaches two per cent, or
accommodates in quantities sufficient to pro-
duce explosions, unless dry coal dust be
mixed with it or is present in the mine.
But a lamp flame fed with a mixture of oil
and benzine will show the presence of fire.
damp when even less than one per cent,
and such a flame fed with alcohol will show
its presence when in quantities not over
one-fourth of one per cent.
Thu lamp to be used as a test or detective
should have a circular wick, be fed with
alcohol and have its flame protected by a
short conical glass chimney, and be SO
trimmed as to burn with 4 clear, steady
flame about as high as the chimney, 80 the
eye may have the aid of a guage to show
the prolongation of the flame. A lamp
thus prepared when carried into a mine
having fre-damp will show its presence
even when in quantities not over ons-fourth
of one per cent. The flame will be elon-
gated. A faint blush areola or cap will APP
pear over and around the top of the fame.
If any considerable %fre-damp be present a
dim flame will fill the gauge covering of the
lamp. When the flame fills the guage COW
ering of the lamp it becomes a danger sig
nal, and it is time for all to escape to some
place OF greater safety till the damp is re-
moved.
The safety lamp as improved by Herr
Pieler is said to be the best in use for de-
tectlng hre-damp in mines.
1t has not yet been fully determined just
What sr cant of %fire-damp will render the
air explosive; but it is safe to say there is
NO danger whore the safety lamp as above
prepared will not show it's presence. II
was formerly supposed it would take at
least seven per cent. of fre-damp to render
the air explosive, but later experiments
show that mixtures with as little as six per
cent. of ire-damp will render the mixture
explosive. The increase of the percentage
of hre-damp from six up to ten and a half
per cent, increases the explosive power of
the mixture, but increasing the percentage
Of the tire-damp from ten md q half to
twenty per cent. decreases the explosive
power of the mixture. So there is little
danger of explosions when the Gre-damp is
less than six per cent. or over twenty in the
mine, unless dry coal dust be present.
Blu when coal dust, so common in mines, is
present, a very small percentage of fire.
damp will render the mixture explosive and
extremely dangerous.
In my next, choke-damp, after-damp.
azote and coal dust as sources of danger
will be treated. u. c. SWALLOW.
BEAUTIES OF CAPE OWN.