El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-02-03

~ = no could have supposed even
NJ IN these days Of waste prod
net utilization, that the much
aespised English sparrow would ever
be turned 10 valuable account And
Tor the preservation OF human lives
~ that2
This very thing, however. has come
20 pass. II has been found expedient
for reasons presently to be explained,
70 substitute sparrows for canaries in
nine rescue work, and e few birds are
already being trained for the purpose
~ the experimental station OF the
government bureau OF mines near Pitts
When. not long ago. Mr. Taft wit
messed az Pittsburg an exhibition OF
such rescue Work-=performed by men
IN oxygen supplied helmets, with the
help Of an enormous iron clad cylin-
der Composed to represent g mine),
IN which terrific explosions OF coal
dust, etc. took place-he was especial
u interested IN the canary tests. In
one experiment made in his presence.
q man spent eight minutes In a tight
glass box, the air OF which contained
one fourth Of one percent OF the deadly
carbon monOxide gas. Though pro-
tected by no oxygen or other appa-
ratus. the man endured the situation
while two sets Of birds successfully
succumbed leach set being partly as
UnWLLEre0 ln TWO minutes D ana LlEn
remained in the box four minutes
longer. whereupOn the president or
dered him out
The object Of the trial was to show
that birds are much more sensitive TO
deadly gases than human beings
whence their usefulness to give warn
ing Of the presence Of such gases In
the recent mine disaster at Briceville,
Tenn, their employment in this way
undoubtedly saved a number Of lives.
Birds Are Not Harmed.
After canary is thus used II is not
killed or even seriously injured II
simply drops off its perch. and there
upon Is taken from its cage and gently
thrust into a box made for the pur-
pose with which a small receiver con-
falning oxygen is connected A twist Of
e button turns On the oxygen. and in
few minutes the bird is as well and as
lively as ever
Nothing could be more humane. But
there are great many people in this
country who are so strongly opposed
10 anything suggestive of cruelty TO
animals that they are likely to con-
denim such employment OF canartes
with vehemence and public agitation,
no matter how many lives OF poor min
ers might be saved through their use.
Whence the new idea-tO utilize spar
rows instead Comparatively little
sentiment attaches to sparrOWs, and
attack from certain Well-intentiOned
and hyper-emotiona quarters will be
discounted by the substitution.
The experts IN charge at Pittsburg
have already made formal report that
EparroWs are less available for the
purpose than csnaries, for the reason
that they do not lend themselves
easily 10 captivity" To which reply
has been made by Prof. Joseph A
Holmes, chief OF the bureau Of mines,
70 the effect that the way out Of the
difficulty is 20 catch them young"
IN other words, the sparrow, for the
first tine in the history Of its species.
So 10 be rduced to dOmesticatiOn in
order that il may be Of practical ser
vice to man
Another idea Of Prof. Holmes is that,
instead Of carrying the birds in Ordi-
nary cages By hand, as has been done
hitherto with canaries, they shall be