The Appeal., 1911-08-12

space or tlme,-for in these contests as In hook
and ladder races and hose laying contests. a sec.
ond or two may mark the difference between VIC
tory and defeat. ~ r. :,
The first aid' tournament is going to have
some very realistic features. For cne thing thara
will be provided make believe" coal mine.
open at one side to the view Of the spectators.
and in this will occur on signal an explosion lust
IKE that which occurs in real mine except that
there will be actual loss OF life. However.
men Will be apparently injured by the shock and
overcome by the fumes and will fall in supposedly
per1lous positions from which they will be res
cued by first aid" men working in double quick
ume just as they would do under the stress Of
genuine disaster. These rescue workers will
De called upon to improvise stretchers from their
Jackets and nine drills: to hurriedly bring to the
scene mine hospital cars; and do the other things
they would do in time of serious trouble. OF
course all their operations will have to be carried
i On by means oflWhat ilunai be gained
from the new pattern of electric safety lamps for
IL IS out OF the question to carry into a mine
A1eu Win explosive gases any ordinary lantern
or lamp with an exposed flame of any kind.
Easily one of the most interesting phases of tho
contests Will be the competitions involving the
use of the oxygen helmets so called helmet
OF this kind, which may cost as much as 5000
may be described as an ar-tight, armorlike Gov
er1ng Tor the head and shoulders which enables
rescue worker to penetrate into mines filled
with noxious fumes just as a drivers suit enables
its Wearer to live and work under water The
alright helmet not only excludes the deadly gas
es OF the mine but it supplies it's wearer with
necessary flow Of life-giving oxygen, drawn as
needed from metal cylinders of compressed oxy-
gen worn on the back, like knapsack. The CON-
petitions at Pittsburg will as to how
long man can work effectually in such suit
OF armor and tests to the ability OF tho tespeo.
tive wearers of the helmets to detach empty oxv-
gen cylinders from their backs and replace them
with fresh cylinders. This is highly important
because in mine rescue work it may happen that
there Is no second rescue worker at hand to as
sist in changing cylinders and unless first aid"
man can do this for himself he must leave his
work and hurry back to the mouth of the mine
for fresh air.
Another form of apparatus, and it is new one
which will be demonstrated is the Pumoter The
Pulmoter Is German invention and for all that
it would almost fit into an ordinary suit case
1t is SO delicate and remarkable in it's mechanism
that it costs $500. The Pumoter is, in effect an
automatic breathing machine. 1t will compel an
unconscious man to breath whether he wants to
or not and it mechanically draws poisonous gases
out OF the lungs with one operation and forces in
the life-giving oxygen with the other. That it is
capable Of well nigh performing miracles may be
appreciated when it is explained that with this
agent for mechanical resuscitation the experts
of the U. S. Government have brought back to
llfe miners who had remained unconscious in
mines for &c hours who a been abandoned
as dead.