The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1908-01-04
GOAL NINE HORRORS
Most Accidents Due to Careless
ness, Says Joseph A. Holmes.
PROPER LEGISLATION NEEDED
L1,lstL( 20 EcJLJLBA re
Biological Expert Thinks tho Use Of
High Explosives Should De Regu.
Z lated by lLaw--Favors cosrulsory
Use Of Safety Lamps.

That the large number of coal mine
accidents, three OF Which, have hap
pened In West Virginia. recently. are
due TO lack of care and could be pre-
vented by proper lcgislationr' is the
opinion Of Joseph A. Holmes. whc
came to New York from Washington
/ the other day and is In charge Of the
archaeological branch OF ,h,t United
States geological survey, s&.ys the New
York Tiwes, aa--'-s.-.s..-.l -,-.-.,'i,-..-.
MIR. Holmes has recently completed
a thorough investigation into the sub.
ject, and he has come to the conclu-
sion from having the bare facts staring
him IN the face that the great in
crease In the production Of coal during
the last decade and the related increase
in the number Of men employed in the
work do not account for the large
increase in the number of deaths.
"In oil countries except the United
States the use of high explosives In ex-
cessive charges is prohibited by law"
said Mr.. Holmes in discussing the sub
Ject s''Abroad definite limits are set
to the amount OF any explosive that
may be used
| Although these, regulations were
framed with the object Of preventing
gas explosions, It Is believed that they
have been Of marked effect in prevent
ing accidents from falls Of roofs and
Of coal, as the very great disturbing
| oVA Aor ~ uk<l kxy In
amounts Of explosives In q mine Is be
lieved to be one OF the most importan,
causes Of the falls Of roofs. :, s0 yi lsi
THE actual fall Of the rock or the
coal may not occur ut the time Of the
firing Of the charge, but the heavy
shots weaken the wall or, the roof and
start cracks that impair the supper,
Of the rock, so that months after the
blast without warning the roof falls.
"In no country in the world are the
natural conditions SO favorable for the
extraction Of, coal as in the, United
States, but In spite of this fact thu
number Of lives lost per 1000 is large
than In any other country. = Unless
means are taken to counteract this tn,
death rate will grow larger.
Now for some of the ppreventivel
Of accidents that would largely de
crease the death rate. There shout,
be the compulsory use Of safety lamps
. There should he provisions for the OK
animation of safety lamps, at regula
intervals by some competent person t
see that they are kept in safe condl
ton, and, there should be regulation
for preventing the person not authoriz
ed to do SO from opening the lock o.
q any safety lamp. This is a law, Il
= foreign countries and should be mad
SO here IKE Ip fhin""i' % '''
1.-THE use of explosives should
, thoroughly regulated by law, In a
European coal producing countrle
laws have been made iforbiddingr tn
use of the more dangerous explosive
in all mines in which FIRE damp is lif
4 bic to be found and the use IN sue
mines Of explosives that have bee
proved to be reasonably free from th
danger Of iguiting explosive gas mi,
lures.
"RegulatiOns enforced In Great Bri
ain provide that in all mines In whic
infiammable gas is present or has bee
found in dangerous quantities with
the previous three months all charge
OF explosives shall be, fired by a con
u petent person, termed a shot frer.
HI "By this method the charges al
fred at time when but few men NJ
I In the mine, and accordingly If a fl
damp explosion occurs fewer lives al
lost than II the miner fired the sho
at time when other miners were
the workings. SEAMAN gu,wollol od
"Still another factor Of greater II
portance is that the shot firer. throul
constant experiences soon becom
used to the proper use Of oexplosiy'
and also learns to charge the hol
and fire them in the safest way posi-
BILE, f...., ,,...,. ..,,,..4., ..ni,of,.I ...I
i "At the present time several ele
trical shot firing devices are bell
tested, with some promise of effectil
a considerable saving of life. II
main principle OF these devices Is Z
firing of the charges one after anoth
at proper time intervals. .,,.,
"rhe watering Of the sides and 70
of .roal mine passageways has be-
found to be of material benefit IN pl
venting local ignitlons Of coal du