The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-05-05
WORST IN HISTORY.
scofeld Explosion surpasses All Dis,
aSters.

The explosion at scofieId yesterday
ia said to be by far the most disastrous
I as regards the loss of human life, that
has ever been known west of the Mis-
souri, river.
There have been only three other
large explosions which resulted in a
! serious loss of life within the last
| twenty-five years. One of these was
! the explosion at the Almy No. mine in
! Wyoming. when thirtytwo miners lost
! their lives. At an explosion in No. 4
! Union Pacific mine thirteen men were
| killed. This was terrific explosion,
| but happening as it did at II o'clock
at night, when there were only eleven
men in the mine. it did not have very
many victims. The eleven men in the
mine were, of course, killed.
In the summer of 1895 an explosion in
Southern Pacific mine No. resulted
in the death of siXty-one men. The
explosion happened shortly after the
men had quit work for the day. Sew
eral of those who were killed by the
explosion had left the mine, but had
not got far enough away to escape the
shock. Among them was the master
mechanic of the mine.
The workings of a coal mine, its
many passages, rooms, pillars, air pas
sages, etc. are almost a sealed book
to the average layman. AS a rule,
coal mines are much alike, and are
worked on the same general plan.
Starting from the entrance to the coal
mine a wide passage or tunnel runs
down into the ground at a greater or
less slope Branching off from this
on each side are various passages or
entries as they are called. In old mines
there may be from twenty to thirty
Of these entries on either side of the
tunnel.
off these entries are the rooms in
which generally two men work at
time. These are worked in the form
of a passage toward the entrance of the
mine AS the miners proceed they
excavate in the form of a fan. These
rooms are run into the solid wall of
coal say, about $50 feet. The next
entry will be 400 feet down, thus leav-
ing what is called a pillar of, say, $50
feet AS each new room is developed
and the wall between it and the next
room is made thinner an air passage
is made between it and the room near
er the mouth of the entry.
The idea is to work out the coal as
methodically as possible along these
lines. The air is forced through the
mine by an immense fan on something
after the following plan: At the outer
edge of the first TRAVERSE passage or |
entry is a gate. This is practically |
air tight, and is opened and closed for |
the passage of coal cars or boxes as |
the miners call them, by a boy. This |
is the sole duty of the boy He does
nothing else all day long, and makes, !
as a rule, dollar and a half thereby.
The air passage is cut through from
the tunnel on the outside of this door,
or nearer the entrance to the mine,
and through it the air enters the 1rSt
room. From this it filters through the
air passage that has been bored
through the solid wall of coal into the
next room, and so on till it gets to the
end of the rooms running off the en-
try. Then it comes back along the
entry toward the tunnel, but here 1t is
met by another closed door, and con-
passes through another air
cut through the wall or pillar
On the lower side of the entry to the
next series of rooms,
Through these it passes in the same
fashion till it arrives at the last set or
he end of the tunnel. Here is an !