The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-10

The report of Chief Mine Inspector E'
 Flynn and Assistant Inspector James Hill
 house on the Short Creek explosion ha
 been submitted in which the inspector
 point out the cause and make recon
 mendations for future prevention of disas
 ters They attribute the explosion to tht
 generation Of monoxide gas, which igniteC
 by the flame and played large part ir extending the effect of the shock. They recommend that water be provided for ust 1 in the headings. and that all blasting bC done by a special man after all the la. borers are out of the mine. Here is the ! report in full:
 ] Birmingham, Ala, February 6, 1909. Hon. B. B. Conner, Governor State Of Alabama, Montgomery, Ala. Dear Sir:-We, the undersigned mine | inspectors, herewith report to you the result of our Investigation of the explo- sion which occurred in the new slope of the Short Creek Mining company, To- cated at Short Crek, Ala, at Il a. m., l February ?, 1909, in which IS men lost their lives and one other badly burned, but will recover
 We were notified of the explosion by the officials of the Short Creek Mining company about 1;45 p. m., on the date of accident, and left immediately for the scene of disaster, going to Pratt City on street car, and from there to Short Creek in a buggy arriving there at 6:4o p. m.
 Upon our arrival we found that res cuing party headed by W. D. Brown had recovered all the bodies within three hours after the explosion, hence there was nothing we could do in the way of rendering assistance.
 We decided not to make an investiga- .s--I.4 A4 Flies, general superintendent of the mines, to make a thorough investigation the next morning, February 3. MT. Fies MT. Craynon and MT. W. R. Brown accom- panied us while making the investiga- tion.
 We found that the explosion occurred in what is known as the new slope, which is a distance of about 800 feet from the mouth of slope to face of main slope heading. One heading had been turned off of the left side of slope and has been driven on the right side of slope into No. mine, connecting the new slope and No. mine. The coal from No. ? mine is hauled out and dumped on the new slope tipple.
 We first went down the main slope to the face and found that no shots had been fired in this heading. We then went into the slope air course and found that no shots had been fired in it, but we found that some one had started to drill a hole in the bottom stratum of coal and had it drilled in about six inches. W. J. Hannigan was driving the slope and the slope air course; he had four men laboring for him. From the main slope We went into the first left heading where we found that three shots had been fired, one on each rib and one in the center. These holes were drilled in the bottom stratum of coal, they were about six feet in depth. We have no knowledge of how much dynamite the holes were charged with, as the men who charged and fired them were killed, but we could judge from the way the holes were placed, they being drilled straight in on the solid, that they were charged with four or five sticks of dynamite each. These shots were placed in such manner that they could not break the coal ex- cept by blowing out which they did, and was the mean or originating the explosion.
 The first left heading was in -yO feet from the slope, the air course connec- heading was 15O feet ahead of the air This heading was being driven by C. H. Lonnigan. He had five laborers em- ployed. MT. Lonnigan was not in the mine at the time of the explosion His laborersN were inexperienced miners. They prepared and fired the shots that caused the explosion.
 The workings of that part of tue mine where the explosion occurred was very dry and dusty.
 We are of the opinion that the fol- lowing was the cause of the explosions The distance the heading was ahead of the air, and the manner in which the shots were placed and the quantity of dynamite with which they were charged in going off generated large quantities of carbon monoxide gas which was ignited by the flame from the shot which also produced sufficient wind to cause the fine dust to become suspended in the air and was ignited by the flame; the same playing the greater part in extending the explosion which was very forcible; although the damage to the mine was very slight. This is accounted for from the fact that the explosion was confined to the dry and dusty part of the mine.
 Four brattices were blown out and six damaged on the main slope, two overcasts were slightly damaged, two sets of timbers that were supporting the roof at the mouth of the slope were blown out, this being the extent of the damage to the mine. The tipple was somewhat damaged by a the debris blown from the mine.
 J. P. Salter, the weighman, was killed by piece of rock which was blown from the slope through the weigh house, striking him in the chest caus- ing almost instantaneous death
 o. E. Harmon was killed by being struck by a piece of rock blown from the slope. He was standing on rail- road car under the tipple when struck and was killed instantly.
 The other sixteen men were in the mine at the time of the explosion. Some of them were badly burned and, death must have been almost instan- taneous, while others were not burned at all, but died from suffocation by in haling the after damp produced by the explosion.
 An explosion occurred in the No. 2 section of this mine on October 26 1908, in which six men were badly burned and died a few days later. Ed Flynn, who was assistant mine inspec-