The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1911-07-13
Many Lives Lost in Recent Years
From Accidents.
Installation of Comparatively mex
pensive Fighting Appliances,
Regulations and Drills Would
Help Materially.

New York.-Herbert M. Wilson.
chief engineer of the bureau of mines,
in an address delivered at the annual
meeting of the National Fire associa-
ton in this city the other day, said
that failure to appreciate the serious
ness of mine fires and lack of ade-
quate fire protection have resulted in
the loss of hundreds of lives and the
destruction of millions of dollars
worth of property in the last few
years. He declared that two of the
most serious disasters in coal mines
in the last two years, one at Cherry,
ILL.,, in which 262 lives were lost and
the other at the Fancoast mine, near
Scranton. Pa, in which IA lives were
lost, originated from trivial causes
and ought to have been quickly ex-
tinguished without the sacrifice of hui
man life.
1.-The contact of several bales of
hay with a blazing torch or an open
miners g lamp said Mr.. Wilson,
caused the Cherry mine disaster with
its great loss of life and total cost
of one million dollars, of which $4,000
a day was spent in direct fire fighting
for several days.
"The fire in the Pancoast mine
killed "a miners, left 45 widows and
1877 dependent orphans. This fire is
known to have started in an under
ground room, presumably from some
oil-soaked waste. The fire was not
thought serious until it had been burn
ing two hours. This delay was, in
large measure, responsible for the
great loss of life.
Besides the loss of life, fires have
cost much in money. AT Deadwood, s.
D., $1,000,000 has been spent in fight
ing fire in metal mine. Today fires
are raging in coal and metal mines in
various parts Of the country. Some
Of them have got beyond control, and
have been burning for many years, de-
vouring hundreds of thousands of tons
of coal and miles Of mine galleries.
One mine fire near Carbonate, Pa,
has burned out such vast area of an
thracite coal in the last ten years as
to result in a subsistence of the sur
face and destruction of surface prop
erty. Near Summit, Pa, fire which
has been burning 81 years is estima-
ted to have destroyed $25, 100000
worth of coal. Near Jobs, O., tract
of coal valued at several million dol
lars has been burning since 1884. In
some of the deeper metal mines at
Butte, Mont, fires have been burning
in the old timbers since 1889. In the
Comstock vein in Nevada thousands
of feet of tunnels which had been
opened and timbered at great expense
are being burned out
"The mining engineers Of the bu-
reau of mines have. made a careful
study Of fires in mines, and have
reached the conclusion that the intro
duction of comparatively inexpensive
fire fighting appliances, the adoption
Of proper regulations and the institu-
ton of reasonable. system Of fire
drills may minimize fires and confine
others to brief period of time with
little damage to life and property. The
engineers of this bureau have had
much success in combating mine fires
through the use Of the oxygen helmet.
This is an apparatus that entirely
protects the head, and through which
air is furnished arti1cially, thus en-
abling the wearer to explore the vi
cinity of fire under conditions of
smoke and gas that would render his
approach otherwise impossible. BY
the use Of such an apparatus num-
Der Of fires have been promptly extin-
guished which would doubtless have
spread and perhaps extended beyond
control.
Chemistry, through the quick an
alysis of gases at frequent intervals