The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-04-23
psnIIs or coAI Mrxrxo.
Deveurise fires. and w.tcr Forever rre---
tpr 20 Flood the PIT.

ing 20 Flood the PIT.
Tho announced intention Of the Reading
Coal and Iron Company to quench q FIRE that
has burned in an abandoned mine for fortJ
years Is received with skepticism BY old min
ing operators resident in this city. When a
mine fire originates from a.trihing accident no,
attended by loss OF life or damage to the inter
Tor structure OF the mine. It is usually an easy
matter to puench the fire BY neRlectinR the
pumps and permitting water to gather In the
mine, When. however. q IRE results from IN
explosion with loss OF life or the entombment
ofliring miners. the first thing to be done 10 to
Get out the buried men. alive or dead. This way
requires some days. or even weeks. and mean
while tho fire gains such headway that 1t lie
not easily drowned out. It happens now and
then that a FIRE shoulders for months. or even
years. in q mine without being discovered.
When at length IL shows itself 1t may have got
beyond control.
The culm banks OF the anthracite region
often catch fire. and. according to local belief.
these fires never start ut the surface OF tho
bank. The culm banks are often intensely hot
beneath tho surface for months. or perhaps
for years. before flames or live Goals appear.
The process OF combustion is n slow one. SO Is
the burning of coal deep down In q mine.
a Year: The coal Veins pi5s' n that Sa'p part Of Penn.
s Mi, FRI iit ys.y ot ,GiSs; end IN Ia they som t Sast, 9 d sse
fires shoulder and burrow for years. In such
a case the only wal. to put out q nre is to cut
shaft. and then to let the lire exhaust itseifo IN
the mass of coal between the cuts In the re-
costly operation. The two shafts would prob
ably have to be filled with water to aid in stop:
S Ss se tss iSrt9 70 ls s.1sr sssS Of ths i'eS; the Il T r,ssi
where ihs. shafts shspiiaa BE- sunk, ana ihs
conl should be consumed.
Mine fires are not nearly So common. as thev
ter at XsonaaIs. Pa e.' in ma Nay. ! when Il ITO
men were smothered In q mine after an ex-
place where the len lay dead was reached. 1t
r TSs was asD one o" q . !%sh h i,eas It" thas Il Il
stirred the coal regions from end to end. The
Instantly killed made a desperate fight for
lie. Some wero found where they had en-
Der Of good air by getting benesth overturned
mine cars and scraping earth about the edges:
Others were shown in various attitudes OF
so greatly improved that comparatively iew
esfsIessnes 81 OF sn isn sors osse IF m aiHs tsf' Tes u une
skilled men Imported into the anthracite re-
dsnts Fl IN lf tSi. sv way. hh ~. U ssoat O dsnssr IN IN nSIil.
thracite region the charts OWL where
bodies OF water lie in abandoned shafts has
been lost or are ENTHUSIASTICALLY. SO that there
4. constant fear lest II boring may strike one
OF these subterraneRn lakes and let In q flood
to drown every man. mule. and mouse within
reach; To guard against this minors have
twspty.f1ye or thirty feet deep; Should the
mem nre, s Would " be ob as t to es alssanef b%o, eas
tho water could have, worn tho oriace
after this Instrument came into use tho
miners ia one OF tho anthracite mines came to
believe that they were very near q large body
OF water. The mine owners. however. Insisted
that from the records tho workings Of the
water in the nelghborhood.. Soon after that
the miners returned to work one morning to
Ind run their workings 100 feet or more par |
allel to tho trsaGherous body of water with
gallery, In which they. werc mining. During
the night the water had eaten its way through
the earth that filed chipks in the coal and |
broken down the thin shell that for days had |
stood between the minors and instant death.