The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-31

the accident the fan was making 81, 00l
cubic feet of air per minute on two splits
and was running just as slowly as pos
sible. The smallest reading ever obtain
ed by an anneIhometer in the last open
crosseut was 5000 cubic feet per min
ute. Crosscuts were driven, in most In
stances 40 feet apart, the 30 feet sepa-
rated an occasional two. In addition to
the fan affording ventilation, air pipes
were carried to the face of all headings
even after electric machines were in
stalled Line brattices were used when
necessary
"A day and night fire boss made reports
In the usual way. No standing bodies OF
gas were permitted, nor were any sud
den gushes experienced. There were only
10 abandoned places, all rooms, which the
fire bosses examined once per week. The
chief engineer reported monthly to the
vice president the condition of the mine
In detail and defects as found were rem
edied. A one-ineh live steam line, not
an exhaust, played in the intake contin-
ually.
In spite of these extraordinary pre-
cautions an accident occurred, the re-
suits of which you well know.
Before entering upon the changes that
safety, it may be interesting to mine men
generally as to why the removal of safety
lamps from the mine is construed as a
precaution. If I thought that the ma
jority of this audience had had the mis-
fortune of trying TO operate a mine with
safety lamps in the hands of men mex
perienced in their use, this portion of my
paper might be omitted. but since Mulga
Is more or less of a pioneer in this field.
tt-s ha intaraattpey n XVI NJ Ubv 10
lamps were removed:
a. Mulga does not generate enough
methafie to render mining with open
lamps dangerous, provided the mine is
kept sufficiently wet. The real value
of a safety lamp begins only when the
ventilation is not efficient in the removal
of gas. l make these statements not
from hearsay, but from NY own ex-
perience, as l spent from IA to IS hours
per day in this mine for period of three
months, I experimental carefully with
the gas and made frequent trips with the
fire bosses on their early morning rounds.
can sight no more positive example than
this incident: The explosion at Mulga oc-
CURED at $40 p. m. The fan was operat-
Ing at II 35 D. M, though all the air was
short-circuiting from No. 2 to No l shaft,
400 feet apart. No fresh air was going
into the workings, as all brattices were
six and one-half hours after the ex-
ploson, the superintendent without a
helmet, accompanied by a man with a
helmet. was able to go 1000 feet from the
shaft, encountered no gas and would
have been able to proceed further had 1t
not been for the inexperience of the man
with the helmet. 1t must be remembered
that the seam at Mulga is fiat and the
dangers encountered from large volumes
n yoG In nit IN he
Cahaba field, are never experienced. In
Alabama last year, q men were injured
from gas, six fatally and 10 non-fatally.
None of the accidents occurred at Mulga.
%. A safety lamp in the hands of mex
perienced men or the general run of me-
groes. is not safety lamp. With
safety this type of man is generally
careless. with an open light he is nat
urally cautious.
%. In a mine using open lights gener-
ating a comparatively small amount of
marsh gas, the ventilation Is naturally
made efficients; with safety lamps it is
naturally not as good.
"a. In my opinion it is absolutely in
congruous TO work safety lamps in
mine and permit the use of electricity in
any form whatsoever. Electric haulage is
exclusively used at Mulga, and after open
| lights were introduced electric machines
this means the quality of the coal was
| improved and the amount of dust in the
| COB reduced.
IS. Men working with safety lamps are
seriously handicapped When two hands
| were required to do a piece of manual
labor, second man was always needed
| When trackmen moved rail- requiring
both hands of each man, a third man was
necessary to carry lamps Miners could
| M ell oh
hence the quality of the coal was i'm
paired. The distance between track and
rib was hard to gauge. and the danger
from passing. trips was increased
"8. That one-ffth of the time of
men was spent in going to the shaft
bottom is a conservative estimate and
have. known many trifler to purpose
ly injure their. lamps or the lighting
device SO as to have an excuse to
go to the shaft bottom where they
would slip out.
Precautions After the Explosions
THAT the mine was not sufficient
ly wet, the explosion Is, In the opin-
ion of many an evidence. Regardless
| of how the explosion originated or
where the point of inception was, dust
(much of which was very damp prop
agated It, That this is not impossible
was recently demonstrated at the Pitts
burg testing gallery, where fine dust
containing 20 per cent moisture was
exploded. The proposition then before
those interested in the safety of the
mine was, naturally, to increase its
humidity.
"The water lines were extended to
every face and the number of sprays
| increased to 35, some of which are
located in the air course. Four men
are employed, whose sole duty is to