The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1903-10-08
MINE EXPLOSIONS.
Many Of Them the Result of Care
lessneSs and ReckIesEness on
the Part of Miners.

I slAlOulll VI Sdlo BlNotlli III Nllt WI hA4AAe5o
except when this gas has accumulated
at some high point or in some cham
Der to such an extent as to be danger
GUS. Mines worked with naked lights.
and in which gas is generated only IN
/ small quantities. or it may be at if
regular intervals. are the most dan
/ gerous class of mines. 1t is in these
mines that the worst explosions have
taken place recently. resulting in the
/ loss of many lives. states Mines and
/ Minerals. Out of a total of % mine
/ explosions occurring in the bituminous
/ region of Pennsylvania from 1884 to
1901. and causing the death of 291
/ persons. but four of these occurred in
mines where safety lamps were used.
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.
III which 1874 lives were lost. The mine
/ up to the time of the disaster had
/ been considered entirely free from gas.
/ 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 If the workings.
At Johnstown Pa, the explosion in
the Rolling Mill mine July 10, 1902
cost 1l2 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-
/ ditiOn 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 81
1891 109 lives were lost Here also
the mine was practically free from
gas. oDen lights being used The mine
was affected by a 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 a fearful disaster. A
heaving Of the bottom had been no.
ticed for a few days previous to a
terrible explosion in No. , mine. al
1eisenring, Pa. February 20. 1884. Ac-
cording 10 the report no gas had been
noticed in the mine previous to this
explosion. and open lights We're used
in all parts Of the mine. In 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 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 ienited by the
open lights Of the men In this case
too much reliance was placed on the
fact that the ventilation was ample
for diluting 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 "a 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 It may seem, this is not fiction. but
a matter of record The safety lamp
to some men is a 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 a pick or Sledge
q h q