The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1911-07-08
DEFECTIVE MACH|N-
cry Menace TO LIFE

snort time ago. Inc brake on the hoist
failed to work, wherefor they dropped
him 300 feet down the shaft and he
did not survive the shock. Why did
the brake fail?
A, year or so ago a couple Of miners
were sinking a shaft in nearby camp.
They were down some 200 feet They
had finished their holes, loaded them,
signalled the hoist man, got the buck
ct spit their fuse, given the bells indi-
eating conditions and calling for
prompt work on top. The bucket
started, ascended some Is feet-and
stuck. Something went wrong with
the hoist and before the badly rat
tied hoist st-tender could get it fixed the
round went off and those miners came
up in dismembered fragments. I hap
pened to be across the gulch when this
happened and saw it. Why did the
hoist go wrong?
few years ago a crew of miners
working in one of the most extensive
ly developed mines in one of the prin-
cipal camps of the state were coming
off shift. AS is usual under these cir
cumstances the cage was crowded to
the limit. 1t came up all right, reached
the collar of the shaft and then, in
stead of stopping as it should have
done, Something went wrong with
the hoist The cage was jerked cless
up into the sheave wheel, turned over
and it's load of men dumped backk in
to the shaft; and it is deep shaft.
! Again, why?
These incidents can be multiplied in
definitely.
In mining, as in all other hazardous
occupations, familiarity with condi-
tions breeds contempt for danger. But
it should not be so; it should not be al
lowed to be so. Almost any man will
obey orders if tenure of his job de-
pends upon his doing so, and it is my
experience that the majority of mine
superintendents are altogether too lax
about giving, and enforcing, orders
making for the safety of their men.
! am perfectly well aware of the
fact that many accidents in mine work
are apparently unavoidable, but / do
contend that there are a great many
things which can be done to lessen the
risks daily taken by men who go, tenn
porialily, underground
On of the worst features connected
with the development of metal mines
is the usual arrangement of ladders in
the manways. On the basis that the
shortest distance between two points is
a straight line, mine workings are usu-
ally made vertical, or as nearly so as
conditions warrant, and these workings
are connected by ladders hung so
"straight up that they lean back. =
To go either up or down vertical lad
der is an enormous tax upon the
physique of any man, even at sea
! level; and in the high attitudes, where
are located practically all of our metal
mines, where you "have to breathe
twice to get one full BREATH the
work of going up and down these per-
pendicuular ladders is especially try
ing, and ability to maintain any great
speed in so doing is beyond the strong
est man, even though he is being chas-
ed up by the menace of round OF
loaded holec a rush of water, or any
of the other dangers incident to this
sort of work
Aside from the matter of safety, the
factor of efficiency is also to be con-
sidered in this connection. Every
man who has been obliged to 'pack
a set of steel, hammers. powder, sacks
of samples, transit and tape, or even
a light (aside from simply candle)
up and down the vertical ladders of
the average miner knows and fully ap-
preciates the difficulty of using one of
his hands for his burden and the 9th
er in maintaining his hold on the lad
der. Even though he packs his load
in sack around his neck, or on his
back, these vertical ladders are a
clumsy and unsafe means of communi-
cation between the different levels and
of access to the bottom of the shaft,
besides being prodigal of time and
energy that could be otherwise en-
ployed in effective work. The diff
ference in cost of installation between
vertical ladders and ladders placed at
at an angle, with landings arranged at
comparable intervals, is very little
and the gain in safety and efficiency
much more than compensate for this
Aside from the question of installa-
tno of ladderways, the matter of
maintenance should not be overlooked
The acid waters in the majority of our
mines have an Unsuitable appetite for
iron, and the nails in ladders (partieu
larly the exposed heads of such nails)
are readily consumed, and when sub.
iected to the strain of man s weight
are prone to break off. Where the lad
der is set at an angle so that the thrust
is against the sides instead of away
from them, as it must necessarily be
in the case of vertical ladders, this is
not a matter of so great menace, es
pecially where the ladder is properly
made and the rungs let into bitches
cut in the sides; but in a straight lad
der, with the rungs simply spiked to
the uprights, as in too often the case
danger of bad falls is great and con
stant.
Another thing that is &C ntinually
happening to ladders in mine work
ings, more particularly those near the
bottom of a shaft or adjacent to fresh
~ started levels, is the breaking OF
the rungs by flying rock from blasts
Naturally this cannot be always avoid
ed, but such breaks should be watched
: for and promptly repaired.