The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1907-03-14

n. Soui hTllclcS IN the
iost regarding the recent mine
disasters in West Virginia, and
particularly ut Stuart, in Fayette
county. Your action in cxpSsinr
the lawless manner in which tho
mines of West Virginia, and partic.
ularly in the New River coal field
Is, to say the least, commendable
l am miner, and know the con.
dltlons here better than any i'm.
vestigator could possibly find ont
In many months of actual OK.
perience.
First of all, / want to tell your
readers just exactly how the mines
are inspected. The inspector mott.
lies the superintendent that he will
be on hand at a certain date. The
mine foreman is notified and n cor
isprovided, with suitable seats or
straw, for the Inspector to ride i'm.
Tho mine foreman hauls him
around, taking him where the best
conditions prevail, and brings him
out, and MIR. Inspector knows lust
as much concerning the WORKING
conditions of that mine as Il farmer
In Georgia There is not n mine in
the New River field, whether case.
GUS or not, but what has from
uoZens TO hundreds of places that
are from 40 to 300 feet ahead of
air, and i'll gaseour mine, if n
room or heading is OH rise, gus
enough to explode and DESTROY
every living thing in the mine will
accumulate i'll very short time If
air Is not forced to the face OF the
coal. Nobody ever knew or hoard
OF place exploding where air was
properly circulating7 If a place is
being driven up grade the gas will
accumulate in the heading. 1t
seeks its level from above, exactly
the opposite to water. The cause
of most explosions comes about bv
the miners walking into headinp
with an open lamp, thereby setting
fire to the gas that has accumuIat,
ed during his absence.
"AnOthcr and one of the worst
dangers that confronts the miner is
passing moving cars. The hall
way is usually so narrow that the
miner has little chance to get out
OF the way, especially if he meets a
train of cars on down grade.
Chief Mine Inspector Paul saws
mine cars kill a great many men i'm
the course of Il year. He saws n
miner secs car coming and steps
of the track to let it pass. On
one side of the track he has five or
1npt i.l,
safe passage. On the other side
IS less than Il foot. The miner, uu.
ohservant, steps OFT OH the narrow
side and Is caught by the car. Ills
life is literally rolled out Of him.
Now, L would like to ask Mr. Paul.
through the columns o: the Post
just TO name one mine in the New
River field, where the miner has
i've or SIX feet of room Oh either
side of the track to pass IL car. L
nave never seen a side entry i'll nv
life that would clear by eighteen
inches on either side. This evil
could easily be remcdied. but no
attention is paid to it.
Senator johnson, in speech be-
fore the legislature on the Stuart
disaster, made the following state
ment: .-There have been some
silly stories circulated about the
Stuart disaster; that the mine was
as hot as hades and that the men
were kept in while coal was
brought to the top. These are
false.''
Now, johnson was misniformed.
The men were detained at the bot
tom of the shaft. Some forced
their way ont just before the ex-
piosion. The mine foreman pulled
one man off n car on the last trim
before the explosion. One man
came up on the last trip and bare.
ly escaped the falling debris. He
Is authority for the foregoing state
ment.
1t is known fact that the fan
had not been running for four and
Il quarter hours preceding the ex