Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1908-02-04
ANDREW ROY. FIRST MINE IN
SPECTOR OHIO EVER HAD, IN
CITY AND TALKS ON NINE EN-
BLOSSOMS.

first and second chief mine inspect
ors the state of Ohio ever had. r
b. Bancroft has been in the city for
several weeks and last night An
drew Roy arrived here The latter
is the first chief inspector OF mines
ever appointed in the Buckeye state
Back in 1872 he was appointed a
commissioner and two years later
was appointed chief inspector. which
position he held for ten years until
1884, when he was succeeded by Mr.
Bancroft
IL Will be remembered that Mr.
Roy came TO West Virginia just
year ago when the legislature was
in session and when the legislative
investigating committee went TO the
Stuart mine in Fayette county. he
accompanied them. He has been en-
gagged IN mining all his life until
late years. and knows almost every
cold field in the United States.
Mr.. Roy now lives at Glen Roy.
Ohio, a little hamlet in the Jackson
county coal fields. bearing his name.
He has recently issued booklet. en-
titled Explosions in Coal Mines
Their Causes and Remedy" in
which he discusses at length the
problem of how to reduce to a mini
mum the dangers of mining. In this
booklet, Mr.. Roy says in part:
II propose in this paper to dis
cuss the causes OF the recent terri
Bile explosions which have occurred
in the coal mines in the United
States and TO suggest remedy to
lessen their frequency. 1t can scarce
be expected that these heart-rending
catastrophes will ever be wholly
eliminated, for it is human to err.
but with better enforcement of the
laws for the preservation OF human
life now on the statute books and
the addition of some needed legisla-
tion they can be reduced to a min
imum.
The first explosion which oc-
CURED in our coal mines took place
on the gath Of January, 1884. at the
Crested Butte mine in Colorado.
There were 67 men in the mine
when the accident occurred and only
eight Of them were recovered alive.
Before this time there had been
number Of mine explosions at one
mine and another, but the number
Of fatalities were few and they ex-
cited only local attention
Less than a month after the oc-
currence of the Crested Butte dis
aster an explosion occurred at the
Pocahontas mine I'm Virginia. by
which the whole population OF the
mine was destroyed, a hundred and
seventy-nine in number. The mine
was comparatively new. less than
twenty acres of coal having been
mined out. The superintendent and
manager insisted that fredamp had
never been met in the workings. and
the president of the coal company
requested the American Institute OF
Mining Engineers to send a commit
tee of expert members to examine
the mine to determine the cause of
the explosion.
The committee reported that
they found no fredamp in the mine
and were not certain whether the
workings made fredamp or not and
concluded that the explosion was
due either to coal dust alone or to
dust quickened by an admixture Of
fredamp, too slight TO be detected
by ordinary means.
This was the first time that the
question Of a coal-dust explosion had
been raised in the United states
But as early as 1915. Messrs. Lyell
and Faraday, two eminent British
chemists, who were sent by the
government to investigate the cause
OF several recent mine explosions
called attention to the fact that fire
damp was not the only force FIN col
liery explosions, where dry and fine
coal dust existed i'm large quantities
The mine superintendent and miniu,
engineer ridiculed the idea that coal
dust was capable Of either causing
or extending explosions But tho
practical men were wrong and the
scientific men were right. as has
been demonstrated beyond cavn or
dispute by dearly bought expert
enco.
Mr. Roy I'm his booklet tells Of
the appointment Of commissions ir
foreign countries for The pu pose Of
making tests of the physical mater
ials Of the mine and the results OF
their investigation lie continues.
I'm the spring of 1885 7 collected
samples OF fine coal dust from ever,
mining district in the state. and also
sample of dust from the Pocston-
tas mine fin Virginia. where the
great explosion occurred the year
before and took them to- Prof n
w Lord the talented chemist fin
Ohio state university and was pres
d.