The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-19
THE GREAT. .PITTSBURG MEET.
By ETHEL ARMIES,
Author of of and AIabamav


 Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad com pany; E. H. Coxe, general superintend- ent of the coal mines of the Tennessee company; l.. M. McHugh. superintendent of Pratt division No. ? at Wylam; pr. W. S. Rountree, physician and instruc- toi, and in the field by A. H. Verchot, captain; Hugh Lynch, James F.. Brown, Francis Brawley, Will Flynn of the res cue corps; Sandy Reid and James Barr, subjects for demonstration, and A. R. Brown, manager of the Birmingham res cue station for the department of the bureau of mines. and formerly member of the Wylam First Aid corps. q.
 Viewpoint of Director Holmes
 Speaking of the general aims. and pur- poses of the great meet. Director Holmes said:
 "The great purpose of tlae national mine safety demonstration is to stimu- late and encourage the movement, for mine rescue and first aid work. M-I
 ".Of course. the aim of all this work should be the prevention Of mine acci dents. but every one who studies the sit uatlon realizes that this will have to come by degrees, and that there probably will be some accidents, as long as mining continues. In view of this fact, it is inn portant that everything possible be done looking to the rescue and prompt aid for miners that may be injured.
 One feature of tho demonstration that will greatly stimulate tho movement Is the bringing together from all parts of the country of the miners who are lead ing in this rescue and first aid work. There will take part in the great demon- stration at Pittsburg teams of miners coming from every important coal pro- ducing state, tsone of them from such far away coal fields as those in the state of Washington and New Mexico; and
 those coming will be the prize winners those who have already won the highest prizes as being the most sKillful miners Ill this work to be found in the regions from which they come.
 To Arouse Public Interest "One benefit to grow out of this great demonstration will+ be the awakening of l the public to a realization of the magni- | tude and growth of this movement; and | it will ls stimulate the public to aid this
 movement in every way possible. | Again, this great demonstration will stimulate the establishment of local res | cue and first aid stations at many of 1 the large colleries in different parts of l the country where either large individual operators or groups of operators will sup | ply the equipment and the young, pub | lie spirited miners will take the training and organize into first aid and rescue | teams.
 1 'AEaln, aSSemDIdSeS dilu tions of this kind will help to bring about
 the better cooperation between the mi- ners and the coal operators, the mine in- I spectors, the bureau of mines and the | Red Cross organizations. They also will
 stimulate inquiries and investigations and
 the development of better rules and reg 1 ulations looking to tho ultimate preven- l ton of mine accidents"
 Special Order of the Day The programme arranged by the fed eral bureau of mines flor tests and
 demonstrations incident to the protec- ton of miners and rescue work" cov-
 cred two days, October 30 and 3l. As to | the order of the days: s | On the 30th Instant the demonstration opened with tests in the physical and chemical laboratories at the bureau or mines buildings at the Alleghany ar senal and demonstrations and exhibits of explosives ard explosions, safety I lamps and fuel testing at the arsenal grounds.
 The Secretary of the Interior, Walter L. Fisher. gave the address of welcome
 on behalf of the executive branch of the government, and this was respond
 ed to in behalf of the legislative branch | of the government, by Congressman
 Martin B. Fox of Illinois. chairman of the House of Representatives committee ] on mines and mining.
 A series of explosions then followed; l a gas and dust explosion; ignition of coal dust with coal dust igniting appar-
 atus; gas and dust explosion with black powder, and 6 gas and air explosion.
 The experimental mine at Bruceton was
 visited in the afternoon and at 3:46 | 1t was blown up. On the second day the demonstration
 of first aid to the injured took place in
 Forbes Field, In the presence of Presi7 dent Taft and many thousand specta-
 tors Explosions, rescue and first aid
 treatment at the steel explosion gallery
 were followed by a test showing the
 use of birds in exploring mines after explosions. Explosions in the steel gal | Iery of black powder and coal dust and demonstrations In first aid by two
 fescue parties concIiidea the exhibit. | Preservation of tifs. trophies and sou | yeilfrs by. the President marked the
 next feature and the programme was closed with addresses by the governor of Pennsylvania, John K, Tener, by Secretary Fisher and Miss Mabel
 Boardman of the American Nationai | Red Cross.
 Demonstration in Detail | One of the most spectacular events of the morning of the 31st was the series of explosions of coal dust in a mammoth steel gallery especially | constructed for the test in Forbes field
 This tube. 1ss feet long and 6M feet | in diameter, was built in five sections, with 10 openings at the top. There is but one other in existence, the one | on the grounds of the United States bureau of mines in the .Alleghany ar senal. Both were built primarily to demonstrate to the mining fraternity | the danger of coal dust, how easily lt l is fgnited by powder and caused to cs. plode. The government has been ex- perimenting for the past few years pu
 at this Pittsburg meet the first wide public recognition of the facts was | gwen.
 President Taft touched the electric but 1 ton that set off the explosion in this tube. | The first demonstration was made by a permissible explosive. equal in disruptive l force to one-half pound of 10 per cent ntroglycerin stainped with one pound Of dry fire ciay. This vas fired into tho big | cylinder when the President touched q key from his box in the grandstand within the tube, which represented nm unde erground tunnel, eor part of q coal mine. were 153 pounds of coal dust from the pittsburgh seam. The result of the first shot was sharp report but no ex- plcsion. t.tIsfr A short time later came the pyrotech- meal feature of the entire programme. A charge of EFF black powder, equal in disruptive force to one-half pound of i0- per cent nitroglycerin was fired into the ga allery which contained the same num- Der of pounds of coal dust as in the first test and of the same quality.
 A Mt. Aetna Eruption }. From the mouth of the tube beched' a lur,d column of flame followed by