The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-19

 scientists and mining experts; its practi- cal signfieance-if any-to say, the Bir- n1ingham dlstrict-all these questions are
 being asked right and left
 The matter does not concern mine oper- ators and miners alone--it is of moment to every citizen of Birmingham--and, in- deed, of Albama-to every citizen-man and woman--who feels that the lives, safety and welfare of coal mines is any business of his.
 For instance, the statistics just com- piled by the government bureau of mines show that, during the last 10 years 5000 miners have been killed in the coal mines of the United States; 7e,00o have been in-. l iured; eco widows have been made, and se.00o children left fatheress. They show furthermore that the death rate per 1000 | in this community Is about four, and in Europe about two. Injuries are about in the same proportion. The state of Penn l sylvania alone loses an entire regiment of able bodied men In it's coal mines every yearl
 There are the facts and the figures.
 Now what Is being done about 1t? First aid to tho injured, mine rescue work, medical treatment-all the Red Cross principles-well and good, after the so- called accident has happened But, to prevent the accident-thats S the thing. To | determine precisely Wnat causes explo-
 sicns In coal mines, beyond the will of Providence" and to show ways and means to eradicate that cause, to give prac- tical demonstration of the evils of using on-permissible powder in coal mine; to present the idea of safety installations -al1 that Is what counts. s
 Put in Nutshell
 And that is the sum and substance Of tho Pittsburgh meet. Back of nearly eevry
 feature of the mine rescue business as 1t is now being taught is the idea of ac- cident prevention. (which all the world has been looking .Ui, with such profound interest, have sprung from the impetus of the cold facts and figures of miners killed and maimed in
 America.
 Voices of the dead arc calling from the
 s.lleghanies to the Sierras. And-at last
 the living answer
 And something has been done.
 1 What?
 To begin with the first question. the main object and purpose of the Pitts
 burg demonstration which was to solve
 tho problems of mine accidents, to pre- sent means of their prevention and to
 demonstrate ways and means of rescue
 work and first aid-all this has been
 satisfactorily accomplished.
 For instance that question which for
 years has been mooted point, even
 among experienced coal miners, whether
 or not coal dust will explode in mine
 that is now settled once and for all.
 Coal dust explodes if 0 mine, gaseous
 or non gaseous. Is not kept well moist ened, that mine is liable to explode and
 explode in just as terrific and deadly a
 manner as will badly ventilated gaseous
 mine where the gas Is not dispersed by
 continuous fresh air current. The simple
 and comparatively inexpensive process Of
 installing sprinklers and having the l rooms and the entries Watered with Q
 hose at regular intervals is the means ot | prevention.
 .j "The one way to prove beyond the cavi , of doubt that coal dust will explode, said as Birmingham operator present al - the Pittsburg meet, was simply to SC g ahead and show it--blow up mine and s prove 1t. They did it. Every doubting | Thomas. in the mining business knows , now that coal dust explodes--knows it f because he has seen 1t. The argument
 is clinched forever. If the demonstration
 at Pittsburg did nothing else but that-it
 was worth while" ,. A Warning Note
 This note of warning then has been sounded at Pittsburg to the coal mines Of the world. This Is the first tangible, 3 material result of the Pittsburgh meet: !, Coal dust explodes. f As for the other practical results, the
 most efficacious surgical and medical
 treatment of burns was exhibited lacera tions, simple and compound : fractures, dislocations, broken backs the. common sorts and kinds of injuries :, received in mines and mills Then va rious styles of breathing apparatus were shown and tests of mine gases , given. The whole business, from first to last. was scientific. Plain facts were. dealt with and every problem in telligently met and solved. That's the wonder of the thing. The problems were actually solved.
 As for Its bearing upon the problems iof the Birmingham district, the inn portance and meaning upon investiga- 5 tion no one questions. Z
 f Il It Is, however all such new thing In the mining business absolutely the . newest thing. being the first exhibit and demonstration ever held in the history s of the world.
 Presented under the auspices of the federal bureau of mines, the American [ National Red Cross society and the . Pittsburg Coal Operators association 1t g became national event. There were l issued, all told. 10000 tickets. Dele gates from many quarters of the world r were there.
 ) The local First Aid team, Pratt di- l vision No. of the Tennessee Coal Iron 3 and Railroad company was but one of
 10 carefully trained corps representing
 28 mining companies from all sections
 of the United States. Pennsylvania,
 Illinois and West Virginia were largely
 represented.
 "A number of the teams were uni z formed in khaki," said a Birmingham } man who was an interested spectator, l"others wore white or simply blue ! overalls-as our men did They went , through the demonstration in sections facing the steel grandstands at Forbes , Field"
 Notables Present President Taft spent the entire morn- ing of October 31 watching these first aid demonstrations. Surrounding the President were Secretary of the In .erior Walter l.. Fisher, Gov. John K
 Tener of Pennsylvania, Gov. w. L. Cilasscock of West Virginia, Dr. Joseph A. Holmes, director of the United States bureau of mines; Miss Mabel Boardmau of the American National Red Cross, Congressman Nicholas Long, worth and Mrs. Alice Roosevelt Long worth, United States Senator George T. Oliver Congressman John Dalzell A. J. Barchfeld, James Francis Burke and Stephen e. Porter and others, in- cluding as members of the Pittsburg lreceiving committee Mayor William A. Magee and members of his cabinet President F. R. Babcock of the Cham bor of Commerce and William H. Ste- venson, president of the Historical so- lciety of Western Pennsylvania, Morris Knowles, D.. O. Boltlng of Seattle, Wa sh. state inapocfpr of rnipoc of th