The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1903-10-02

Referring briefly to the bare facts
contained in the record of these dis
asters appalls one with the serious
ness of the conditions surrounding
mining work. Mines that have been
considered safe and free from gas sud-
denly become the scenes of fearful de-
struction both of life and property.
Such was the recent Fraterville mine
explosion in Tennessee, May 10, 1902,
in which 184, lives were lost. The mine
up to the time of the disaster had
The report of the disaster made after
a careful investigation states that gas
was liberated from the everything stra-
ia owing to a creep extending over a
portion of the workings
AT Johnstown, Pa, the explosion in
the Rolling Mill mine, July 10, 1902,
cost 112 lives; also in the disaster at
Fernio, B. c.. a month earlier, a large
number of lives were lost.
At Johnstown gas had been found
In certain dip workings in such guam
titles that the management had in
sisted on the use of safety lamps in
that portion of the mine; the report of
the explosion ascribes the cause to
the use of open lamps by some men
where safety lamps only were per-
mitted. These men, failing to realize
the near approach to an explosive con-
dftfon of the mine air at that point,
were using open lights After the ex-
plosion the safety lamps that should
have been used were found carefully
laid aside, while the naked lamps
that caused the trouble were found
where they were blown. In the great
explosion in the Mammoth shaft, of
Westmoreland county, Pa, January q,
1891, 100 lives were lost. Here also
the mine was practically free from
gas, open lights being used. The mine
was affected by q squeeze at the time,
which, according to the report, liber-
ated a large amount of gas suddenly
from the bottom, which, coming in
contact with the open lights of the
men, caused fearful disaster. A.
f1eavfng of the bottom had been no.
ticed for few days previous to
terrible explosion in No. 2 mine, at
Leisenring, Pa, February 20, 1884. Ac-
cording to the report, no gas had been
noticed in the mine, previous to this
explosion. and open lights were used
in all parts of the mine. In a slope at
Youngstown, Pa, October q of the
same year, an open door was the
cause of an explosion whereby Il min
ers were killed. The door was found
open, having been set open by a driver
few moments before, and was closed
again; the gas that had accumulated
In this short space of time was driven
down to the face and ignited by the
open lights of the men. In this case
too much reliance was placed on the
fact that the ventilation was ample
for d1lutlng and carrying away the
small amount of gas that was pres-
ent
One familiar with the habits and
disposition of the ordinary miner re-
allies how hard it is to get him to use
even an ordinary amount of care for
the sake of his own protection and
that of his fellows. He will enter an
abandoned place, fenced off and
marked with a danger signal, despite
regulations and restrictions enforced
In the pit With an open light on his
head and a safety lamp in his hand.
hanging low down at his side, he will
enter a rise heading looking for gas.
Which he sometimes finds to his own
discomfort and that of others. Strange
as 1t may seem, this is not fiction, but
matter of record. The safety lamp
to some men is mere tool or instru-
ment for telling how much gas is pres
ent, rather than affording a needed
protection. and the lamp is carried in
TO the mine much as pick or sledge
or a hammer or saw.