The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-11-24

AR. II. d l4ahue, OF tine Department
tof Mines Of West Virginia, and in
spector for the First district OF The
State, mas written very sensible ar
ticle en- "Dust Explosions in Coal
Mines. Their Causes and How Il
Prevent Them" Mr.. LaRue has stud
led this question more perhaps thar
!any other man in the State and hi;
theory for preventing dust explosions
looks tie best that has yet been of
fered He eliminates the cause ac
cord!ng to natural laws sometime
that has escaped tne notice OF b,mt
and foreign mining experts. Mr.. La
Rue's article follows:
"Dust Explosions In Coal Mines, Theh
Causes and How to Prevent
Them"
! Owing to the great number OF dis
astrous dust explosions in coal mines
I during the last few years the Minine
World is anxious to knew how to pre-
vent, them. In order to understand
how TO prevent these explosions. lie,
usT first examine from practica.
standpoint the causes that produce
them. Since the introduction Of elec
,'tricity and modern machinery and the
erection of large ventilating fans al
! our mines conditions in the mines
have greatly changed and explosions
from coal dust have rapidly Increased
in number. One OF the causes Of
these great disasters is the use ai
open lights in the mines. owing to
j inferior grades of oil used in the
mines, at the present time, for illum.
mating purposes, and the vast amount
OF smoke produced by these lights.
consider 1t very unhealthy to men EN-.
pIoyed in the mines, and very danger.
Gus from an explosive standpoint. The
SCOT from these hundreds Of open
flights, adheres to the roofs and walls
of tae mines and to this SCOT the coal
dust and other c9mbustlons adhere
thus forming very dangerous explo
siSe. These deposits are continually
going on while the mines are in opera
tion, and when the mines become dry
the slightest jar brings this light and
highly explosive in suspension and
the mine is threatened with immedt
ate obstruction and may be destroyed
at any time, When our forefathers
lliYed in log cabins with dirt floors
they used pineknots, faggots, and
grease cups to produce light but who
would think Of introducing such sys
| tenn in our homes of to-day? and yet
We are as far behind the times in re
gard to a proper system Of lights IN
our mines as our f5refathers were al
that time. The use OF these inferlnl
grades Of oils in coal mines Is of late
origin and great many Of our best
practical mine men have 80 far over
looked the great danger these oils are
continually producing in the mines
Tp remedy this danger / w1uld recon
mend LIST, the taking out Of all oper
/ lights in the mines. The sooner thi:
is done the better. I'd. We are vio
lating natural laws by forcing large
volumes Of air through the mines By
mechanical processes. In summer
when the temperature outside of tht
mines IS holgher than the temperature
inside of the mines, these large vol
umes Of air produce a great moistari
in the mines and does away with al
dangers of dust explosion. Blu
when the temperature outside ofs8tit
mines becomes lower than the TEN
literature inside OF the mines, the con
denslng process stops at once. and tn.
roofs and walls OF the mines become
very dry no matter how much wateI
Inay be on the floors Of the mines a
this time. as long as the air entering
The mines is cooler than the natura
Temperature Of tiie mine, there vii
be no deposits of moisture in tht
mine. This is in accordance with mai
qral Jaw and there Is no variation
] from it, Thus 1t can be readily seer
how quickly large and highly ven
tilated mine can become very danger
tSus by forcing a large volume of coll
| Air through 1t. Under such condition
10 moisture can be deposited IN tn,
4 mines by the atmosphere passing
through them. but tae mines are raf
\ tdly robbed Of any moisture that nigh
\ pc in them at the fine the cold al
\ enters them Some operators are 81
Il aeayorins 10 overcome this las / men
u