The Washington herald., 1910-06-05

Dy tram III q pis-ND HHeit tHtiS Is not
clearance for a man between track ana
wall He IS crushed against the wall.
Two Of the nine men in this group were
thus killed.
The law provides that IN all entries
where hauling is done by animal power
there must be WhiteWashed manholes
every thirty yards unless there is a space
four feet wide between wagon and wall
In entries where hauling is done by ma
chinery and where miners must walk to
their work. shelter holes must not be
more than fifteen yards apart. unless
there is a six-foot clearance. The law
also provides that miners shall not walk
to and from work over such hauling road
II there Is man entry available. Never
theless miners habituaHy travel back and
forth along hauling entries The man en-
tries are as rule low and dark; the way
is rough underfoot So the men prefer
the hauling entries. where there is an
occasional light. and where there IS a
! comparatively smooth place TO walk.
In yet another way the law fails to
provide complete protection. The wide
space required between track and wall
is sometimes on one side and sometimes
on the other. Owing 10 the frequent
curves, this shifting of the wide space
from side to side is probably unayoid-
able, but one can easily understand how,
in the darkness and with little con-
fusion, it might lead to a tragedy.
In modern mines there is another dan
Eov
from work, in the entry-the danger OF
electric shock. Transmission wires are
generally well protected, but trolley
wires present wherever hauling is done
by motor, must OF course be uncovered.
Since the entry is only five or six feet
high. the wire is seldom far from the
heads Of those who travel therein. This
is the reason why miners are careful 10
keep their caps dry. But one of the six
in our list was killed by contact with an
entry trolley wire. however. The others
were killed in various ways-two while
operating the cutting machine, one in a
little-traveled passage, where were many
charged wires; one was found dead be-
side a new electric door connected with a
live wire, and another from contact with
a trolley wire outside the mine.
During the year there were four deaths
due 10 the explosion Of powder in
miners home. three of those killed being
| miners. The miners are required 10
furnish their own blasting powder, as
well as oil for their lamps. 1. is Gus
tomary for them 20 keep the powder in
their homes. The miners say: I'VE have
to buy powder in small quantities 50 that
1t won't be spoiled by dampness before
we can use It. The company furnishes
no place TO store these small quantities,
so We keep if at home" The company
says: IF the men would buy their pow
der from US it would be all right. but
they want TO be free to buy 1t where
they choose. and in what quantities they
choose If we were TO store their powder
the magazine would necessarily be 10
Gated at a distance from the pit. The
miners could complain because of the
loss Of time this would entail. So we let
them keep it in their houses.
Apparently the storing of powder in
the miners home is practical In run
! ming a mine. AS 70 whether il Is ''prac-
/ teal In running a family is another
question. that IS pretty well answered by
| the fatal accidents cited above.
Were running trains 10 get out coal.
not to carry passengers" THE cage
isn't built for men. it's built for cars
These sentences declare the principle on
which most mines are operated They
/ contain a confession that the limit Of
safety has not been reached; they sug-
| gest a remote ideal. The time may come
when the lives Of the men who run the
! coal trains shall be as precious as though
they were passengers; when cages used
/ for men shall be built for men; when
the absolute safety of the men who work
and walk in them shall be a universal
measure for the height and width of en-
/ tries Practically all mining accidents,
such as those in the last three groups,
are humanity preventabie, The natural
risk from fall Of roof, however, Is great.
Belgium, France, Great Britain and
Germany deal with this risk far more
effectively than we do. In recent years
more men have been killed in the United
States per thousand employed and per
million tons Of coal produced than in
France. Belgium and Great Britain TO-
gether.
Moreover. while in Europe the death
rate from mining accidents is being re-
duced from year to year. in the United
States it is increasing. Yet it is stated
that "in no other country in the world
are the natural conditions so favorable
for the safe extraction Of coal as IN the
United States
The establishment of station for the
investigation Of mine explosions, opened
at Pittsburg in 1908 is a long stride in
| advance Other such stations are being
planned. Further the State department
has invited foreign experts on mining
disasters to come over and advise US.
While these efforts are aimed az the pre-
vention of explosions, there is no doubt
that the ultimate result of such activity
WIN be to reduce also the more common
place risks Of mining such as have been
described