Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1909-11-27
PLAN TO PREVENT
MINE DISASTERS
Coal Operator Would lmpTlsOn
viOIdtOrs Of Mining Laws.
LAyITY IS TOO PREVALENT.
Colonel w. p. Rend Believes More
Drastic Laws Are the Only Remedy.
Favors Courts imposing Severe Pun

Colonel w. p. Rend, president of the
Rend Coal company and one Of the
largest coal operators in Illinois. re-
Gently declared In speaking Of the
catastrophe in the st. Paul coal mine
at Cherry. Ill.,. that In order to pre-
vent future disasters the courts should
he called upon to send to prison for
q long term of years any one who in
the slightest way neglects or violates
the coal mining laws.
! .Tt makes no difference whether 1t
/ is the operator. the mine boss or
miner" said Colonel Rend, IF he VIC
| lates the law in the least respect,
| thereby endangering the lives of other
men, he should be sent TO prison. AS
! things are now conducted. IL a mine
| boss or anybody else violates the law
he is taken before a justice Of the
peace and given small tine. This
must be done away with IL an in
spector finds the law being violated.
he should be able TO have the violator
! brought before the criminal court and
! EEuA W pttcob iot f0h6 nSAfVAs
I Pennsylvania has stringent laws of
| this character. which were brought
/ into being after the last big mine hor-
ror, and one man was sent TO prison"
In addition to advocating prison SEN
fences for violators Of the mining laws,
/ Colonel Rend declared that every mine
/ should be compelled TO equip its tup
4 - CHI
tains. so that In event of a fire they
could be quickly placed in corridor
and the fire held back until all of the
men had escaped.
mot only should they be compelled
10 have asbestos curtains" he said.
but the mines should be equipped
with sandbags and cement, with which
walls could be thrown up In the work
/ ings 10 stop the flames.
Prison For Lighting Pipe.
Another thing which should be In
sisted upon is that all powder and hay
should be lowered to the workings at
night and not in the daytime. Then
every miner should be compelled to
use safety lamps in place of the naked
ones now prevalent in Illinois. These
lamps should be carefully locked by
a foreman before the miner enters the
pit. and any man seen trying to ex-
pose his lamp or light pipe or cigar
/ while in the mine should be at once
arrested and sent to prison"
Colonel Rend also was emphatic in
saying that smokeless explosives only
should be used in the mines. and he
was more than emphatic in declaring
, that the miners must be forced to use
the explosives in such way that no
blowout shots can occur.
mine out of ten explosions are
caused by blowout Shots" he said.
Very few are caused by gas or pow
der, and blowout shots are simply the
result of shiftlessness and laziness.
How Explosions Occur.
Elm vein of coal eight feet high
the miner should undercut it before
| putting in the explosive and then put
| in three or four small shots to bring
down the coal. Well. he won't do il.
! He simply bores a hole in the solid
coal. puts in big charge of powder,
lamps il with coal dust instead of
clay, which is usually just under his
! feet, and lets it 60 The result is
that the charge is unable to break the
| coal, and IL blows out of the hole. And
| when il comes out II comes as fame
| The dame coming into contact with
| coal dust in suspension causes a ter
rife explosion. and there you are"
Fatal Mistake is Made.
! In speaking of the recent disaster at
| Cherry. H.. Colonel Rend said that il
seemed to him the fatal mistake was
made in reversing the fans after the
/ explosion had occurred.
"Now. it is evident" he said. that
| the fire was caused by some one in
some way igniting a bale of hay
which was being sent down into the
| pit. At the time the fans were forcing
| air down into the NINE and when they
were reversed they began to draw the
| air out of the mine, and naturally
drew the flames with the air down the
| elevating shaft. through the main cor
ridors and up the air shaft. Why the
fans were reversed is a mystery to me-
And speaking of the fans brings me
| TO another much mooted question.
which is simply this: Haven't we gone
too far in the matter of putting In
fans? We have always thought that
the more fans the better ventilation
but it is question whether all this air
we are sending into the mine doesn't
keep the coal dust suspended too much.
thus very highly increasing the dan
ger Of explosions. In all my mines
have installed sprinkling systems in
order to keep the dust settled, and thai
should be required by law in every dry
mine, don't mean these automatic
sprinkling systems; just a hose and q
couple of carts are all that is necessary.
The keeping of the dust on the ground
and not in the air is necessary in order
to minimize the danger of explosions
In conclusion Mr.. Rend said that
in all of his mines the shot frers had
explicit instructions not 10 fire any
shots which were not properly laid.