The Washington herald., 1910-06-12
BY WILLIAM ATHERToN DU PUY.


passed a bill authorizing it and the Pres
ident has signed it,
So has the government decided TO give
the second greatest industry within its
borders, an industry which furnishes %
per cent Of all it's freight, degree OF
recognition. So has the nations purpose
to inquire into the death OF 10000 miners
within the last decade taken form. So
has provision been made for putting on
a permanent basis a new lifesaving corps,
one which will go into the earth when
| flames and noxious gases run riot and
1 drag to life men who would otherwise
suffoeate by the hundred
Bureau Only "A Start.
Three or four hundred thousand dol
| lars will this year be appropriated for
the benefit of the industry which yields
the nation 5000. 100000 a year in wealth.
This amount is not proportionate 70 the
900 a year for agriculture. which
I Yields $1,000, 10000, nor with $4,000 for
! fisheries, which yields but $50 0oo.oOO year.
But il is a degree Of recognition and Is
probably the best spent money Congress
has ever appropriated.
| In creating this bureau the government
is buying the lives OF 1900 men year,
/ for OF the 5000 year now being killed
two-thirds might be saved. II IS paying
but 500 each for their liveg, If there were
no benefit aside from life saving
| The government proposes 10 investigate
the conditions under which so many men
90 unnecessarily TO their death. It pro-
| poses TO ind out why. in mining 5j0oOo,W0
/ tons of coal a year 250,000,000 tons are
wasted. 1t proposes to teach the con-
sumner how to get as much heat out or
one ton OF coal as he Is now getting out
of two II Droposes to find out why ~
per cent of the lead and zinc are lost IN
the milling. even In such well-organlZed
fields as those OF Missouri It proposes
to Investigate gold and silver mining with
the idea Of performing such feats as
that accomplished by the government IN
New Zealand. when il developed the COM
mereiaI use OF cyanide and revoluuonlzed
the processes Of the world. 1t proposes TO
find out why fourteen tons OF copper are
daily carried away in tailings at a single
1 mine IN Arizona.
Work of DIR. }. II. Holmes
All this has come about through the
efforts of DR.. Joseph A. Holmes, Of the
Geological Survey, just as every great
accomplishment is due to some one man
who is back OF It. Two or three years
ago he was appointed as expert in charge
/ OF the technologic branch of the survey
The duties OF the branch included inVes-
tigating mining conditions. along with
| testing coal for government purchase and
/ passing on building material such as
| concrete. The chief architect for the
| government states that the testing
| OK building material alone saves SZ,W0'Vo
a year. Coal is bought through these
tests not by the ton, but by the heat
units II contains. which is the right way.
All the material that is going into the
Panama Canal locks IS tested by this
/ branch Of the survey. All these duties
are transferred TO the Bureau Of Mines.
DR. Holmes has been performing these
routine duties but he has been going
further aheld. His Investigations into
mining have appalled, him The waste OF
life in this country, as compared with
| Europe, has been shown to be nothing
less than a national disgrace. The waste
of materials is a national folly so mon
| strous as 10 be beyond compensation.
The intelligent development of the min
ing business has been shown TO be sadly
in need of guidance, and he has urged
the pointing OF the way by the govern
ment. Congress has responded TO the
call in a surprisingly short time for so
cumbrous a body and one which of ne
cessity must await upon public opinion.
How Bureau VIII Work.
The bureau is TO be under the De-
partment of the Interior. It's immediate
purpose viii be to gather all the infor-
nation extant with relation TO mining.
and make It available for the American
operator. This will be supplemented by
independent investigation, carried on year
/ after year by the best scientists avail
able With American originality 1t is
anticipated that discoveries viii be made
that will set the pace for the nations Of
the world. A Hfe-saving brigade, with
many stations, Is expected as the logical
outgrowth Of work that has already
been done
The work that is being carried on by
the technologic branch of the Geological
Survey may be taken as measure OF
the performance Of the Bureau Of Mines
on a larger scale. Take for example. the
life-saying as now existing and which re-
spends when a disaster occurs within
reach of one Of its stations. mine
explodes, is on fire, is filled with death
dealing gases, such as may not be raced
by their fellows in attempts at rescue.
multiplied tragedy there has suddenly
been thrust the latest development OF
the man who saves life as a business.
While the multitude waits IN despair al
the mine mouth and the men under
ground cling desperately TO the thread OF
: life in the hope that aid Will reach them
before they die, the life-saver arrives. He
thrusts the helpless crowds aside, and
! as he nears the shaft OF the mine ne
, puts hoOd-like arrangement over his
, head which seems a cross between the
, nose guard of a football player and the
outfit Of a deep sea diver There are
, always two reseuers together, and they
, plunge into the fume-fllled mine with the
same unconcern that workman would
enter the mess hall at dinner time.
Supplies for Two Hours.
These mon are the wearers OF the new
oxygen helmets that will shut out all
else and furnish TO their wearers the
oxygen that will keep them alive and
! active for two hours regardless OF the
} atmosphere IN which they move.
These men go down the smoke-filled
shaft. The electric lights on their he'll
} NETS pierce the gloom, where the other
lamps have blinked out for lack OF air
They penetrate to the scene Of the ex-
, plosion and snuff out the smoldering
. fires. They reset the screens that direct
the currents Of air and signal for the
; fans 10 be started. The mine is started
toward flushing itself of it's impurities
But the prime object in coming into
the mine has been to bring immediate re-
/ lief TO the men who are in such danger
OF death. All the preparation so far
taken have looked to that end. They
may, however, personally save many who
! are at deaths door. for men are dying
by the score In the levels. There Is
mans work to be done and that quickly
] A miner already having lost his
intelligence and fast losing conscious
J ness. is found wandering aimlessly about
: and Is led to fresh air and renewed life
Lost men In the darkness are directed e