The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-05-03

CastIegate Country, and of His
Telling the State Mine Inspector
About the Dangerous Conditions
There.
According to Captain Benjamin lib
hey, State Mine Inspector Conner Thorn
as was cognizant that conditions of the
mines in the Castle Gate district for
some time past were precarious. Cap
tain Tibbey warned the state inspector
that unless better ventilating conditions
were inaugurated in the mines and the
dust frequently sprinkled down, that it
would only be a matter Of time before
the country would be startled by the
news of a terrible mining catastrophe.
Three weeks ago that gentleman told
his old companions, with whom he used
to work in days gone by in the mines
among the green hills of Wales, unless
they agitated for better ventilation in
the Winter Quarters mine, that they
daily carried their lives in their hands.
When seen last night, Captain Tib-
hey stated that he did not care to talk
with regard to the matter Finally,
however. he admitted that such was the
case. He said: Il happened to be down
in that district just a few days after
that man and woman were arrested on
suspicion of being concerned in the
| Penney murder. While at Seofield 1
met several old miners. with whom 1
was acquainted when I was a boy
/ working in the colIeIies Of Wales. After
while we began to talk, naturally.
about the mine in which they were
working, and they stated that there
was considerable dust to be encoun-
! tered there, although it was practically
4 free from noxious gases.
According to their account, the ven
! tilation was nothing to boast of. After
talking upon the subject, I told them
that they were running a great risk
every time that they entered the mine.
/ They sal dthey knew they did, but you
know how miners are they evidently
did not worry much about the mat
/ ter"
Warned Inspector Thomas.
In regard to the purported warnin=
to State Mine Inspector Thomas, Cap
tain Tibbey admitted that he had met
him at Pleasant Grove on the day prior
to the explosion there recently, on
which occasion, happily, there was no
/ loss of life.
4 told him at BE time" he said,
that there would be a big explosion
there if they continued to fire from $50
to 500 shots at the same time by means
of a battery, as the conclusion from
/ this number of simultaneous shots
would Of necessity raise a big cloud of
dust. which. at any moment, was liable
to ignite with disastrous effects. Sure
enough, only a few hours later what
predicted happened. only. fortunately,
owing to the rule. all the miners had
left the mine previous to turning on the
current"
Captain Tibbey is a man of eXper-
fence, having been connected with the
coal mining industry man and boy,
since the early sixties. in Wales Iowa,
Pennsylvania, Montana and Utah. He
knows something about cause and effect
in regard to explosions, ;aving passed
through no less than twenty-one ex-
pIosions, with the loss of a finger OF
each hand; also several scalp wounds,
In comparing mining operations or
both sides of the Atlantic, he said that
in the majority of cases coal mining
az operated in western America, was
carried on in very haphazard fash
ion.
"Over in England" he said, 1.-THE
laws governing scientific mining are
compiled by men of experience ant
education, COR the protection of the
man that works in the bowels of the
earth. The majority of men who gair
a livelihood in this country by minins
coal do net seem to think it worth
their while to study the subject. Take
for instance, out here, where it is tru,
that every mine is furnished with
barometer to record the weight of tn,
air. and a thermometer to test tn,
heat, hydrometer is very seldom seer
around a cOlliery. Most miners ar,
aware of the fact that a change o
weather affects the mine, but the!
can't tell you why"
Captain Tibbey Calculates.
Here Captain Tibbey produced a pen
ell and proceeded TO indulge in mathe
NAUTICAL calculations.
Every school boy knows" he con
tinued, the pressure of the air i
fifteen pounds to the square inch. MuI
tiply that by IA, and you get the tota
to be 2.160 pounds to the square foot
Supposing the mercury drops an incl
in the mine. That means that there
2, 100 pounds less atmospheric pressur
in drift Of thirty feet, which mean
a great deal. as anyone can see, to tn
CONTINUED on Page g. In.