The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-05-13
THE scoFiHLD EXPLOSION

Salt Lake City. Utah. May 5. 1900
Editor Salt Lake Herald:
As al who have heard of the terrible ex-
plosion at Winter Quarters unite IN sym
patty with those who are sufferers from
one Of the worst calamiUles that ever be-
Lel the west, so ali desire, il possible. to
discover the cause.
It probably will never be known vyhat
the immediate cause was for none that
were In the mine at the time OF the ex-
plosion lived 10 tell; their charred and
dence.
In No. the bodies showed no signs OF
having experienced an explosion of any
kind. They were evidently aspyViated
caused undoubtedly by gas which was
generated by the burning OF large guam
Uty OF the air OF the whole mine. This
shows that the quantity Of carbon cons
sumed II No. must have been consider
able, for II is known that the ventilation
or the mine was fairly good, and in No,
4 and adjacent rooms there were many
acres mined out, so to have exhausted the
millions Of cubic feet of oxygen 1t would
nave required the consumption OF many
tons Of carbon.
plosion originated, the bodies were burned
and charred beyond recognition, showing
that the explosion was OF gas and not 81
powder, either giant or black. Had it been
either OF these the bodies would have
shown entirely different conditions. They
OF burned
I think It is certain that there was M
accumulation OF gas in the mine. for none
had ever been discovered in any of the
mines IN that part OF Utah, and in that
particular mine where expert miners havi;
worked Tor years, no trace has ever beeH
found This being the case. there is hut
one way to account for this terrible ac-
cldent That II was the burning of tha
slightest doubt The question now is,
how was IL ignited? Any finely divided
carbon mixed with oxygen is an explosive
Wnen brought in contact with a flame,
but is not explosive when at rest and not
. surrounded by oxygen. Each particle
must be surrounded by oxygen before IL
} can be ignited readily. But when each
parIlcle IS SO surrounded and in contact
with fame it is Immediately converted into
gas, and joining with its fellows rushes on
its mission Of destruction and death.
ANY one who desires can demonstrate
this TACT Let them take a small quantity
OF coal dust and scatter il in g stove or
any flame, and notice the result. Instant
~ there viii be an explosion. Then let
him take a liberal quantity and lay It
gently in the flame, there viii be no evil
dence OF an explosion. but il will be c0n-
Sumed slowly and quietly from the SUR
face, proving that in itself, coal dust Is
not explosive, but only when each particle
/ is surrounded by oxygen
/ Now If this is so, which think no one
VIII dispute, how could the accumulated
/ dust of years in No. 4 be exploded lying
/ quietly on the track, timbers and sides
/ of entries?
In that condition it is shown that the
/ dust was harmless. There must have
: been some agent to carry it from its rest
{ ing place and suspend il in the air, where
/ il became explosive.
/ Could it have been an explosion at the
/ point where the Firms were at work? I
/ think not. For had hundreds of pounds OF
/ powder been exploded at this point 1t
could not have penetrated so far into the
/ interior, and the force Of the explosion
ord ord
! nels mouth, and not toward the interior
OF the mine.
4 Then too. the bodies which were at or
/ near this point, had such an explosion
/ oceurfes there, would not have been
found, as nothing would have been left Of
( them under such circumstances.
/ On the contrary, the bodies at this
/ point showed that they had been burned
and charred with flame Neither would
! it have been possible to have consumed
/ all the oxygen in No. and No. by such
( an explosion, for il would necessarily
/ have created a vacuum which would have
/ been filed through No. /. and the car
bonic gas would not have passed down
I No. I, where it did its deadly work.
! I think that the theory OF an explosion
at that point must be abandoned. 1t
I could not have happened in that way.
, Ny solution OF the problem Is this;
| Some one who was working in the in
/ terror of the mine was using explosives.
\ They must have had two or more holes
/ loaded. They lighted the fuses Of all.
/ Some went of, leaving others TO follow,
/ The first powdered a large quantity OF
! coal and the dust was suspended in the
! air, the last shots went of, igniting the
! dust so formed and thus started the fiery
I aValance of death.
! The accumulated dust so forced from its
/ resting places became ignited as the
/ flames reached il and added its force to
/ the original
| dust exhausted the air in the mine and
4 left In its place the deadly carbonIc gas.
/ The ventilation was thus destroyed by the
| explosion of the dust, and the air pres
/ sure near the mouth OF No. 4 forced in
\ wardly this gas, which had It's only out
/ let through No. l.
! / said there must have been two OF more
shots to cause the ignition or the dust.
! My experience has been that one shot can
! not explode carbon dust without it having
! been previously suspended in the air
/ GilsOnite being, l believe the most e1-
/ plOsive Of carbOns in the dust form,
/ have often fired single shots IN II ana
never knew a dust explosion under such
circumstances, but where two or more
shots were fired in quick succession there
was invariably an explosion or burning
OF dust
/ on one occasion the explosion had such
force that jute sacks were burned 100
| feet from the mouth of the tunnel.
Again, IN Horse canyon, IN a coal mine,
I had two shots fired, the nrst without
I causing a dust explosion, but Wnen the
second shot went or there was neaYy
( explosion, which threw all the movable
objects in the tunnel over the dump. The
tunnel was but 16S feet deep, but the
+ carbonic gas was so dense that II was an
hour before we could get into the mine.
Yet we could see no trace OF smoke. as IS
usually seen after the burning Of powder.
I am therefore compelled to believe that
no amount of powder exploded at any
given point in the mine could have ignited
the dust lying at rest the tendency Of an
explosion being to force every movable
object, especially light particles, outside
{ Al, r-Fl
TO IN the vacuum after the heat had
been reduced below the point of ignition.
Therefore, I claim that some one was
in working. using explosives IN the coal
which fgnited the dust with such terrible
effecf S H. gibson.