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

placed in small barred boxes attacha-
bic at q moments notice TO the belt
Of q helmet. man" entering a mine.
Thus the cage, while under ready OBJ
servatiOn, viii not interfere in the
least with the physieaii activities Of
the person bearing II.
Birds on Rescue Cars.
The bureau Of mines maintains sew
eral rescue cars" on the railroads.
be rushed to the scene IN case OF a
mine disaster-and each one Of these
Is provided, as part Of Its life-saving
equipment with at-least- half s dozen
birds. But under whatever circum-
stances they may be used, a "resusci-
tating box always accompanies the
cage in which they are carried, to re-
vive them when they have become par
tally asphiXiated.
Mice have been tried for the same
purpose instead OF birds. In the coal
mines Of Germany white mice are en-
plOyed By preference, for the reason
that they are more readily observed in
the darkness underground In this
country ordinary gray mice have been
used eXperimentally by the bureau Of
mines But the little rodents are less
serviceable than sparrows or canaries
because when confined IN cages, they
are liable to sulk, and it is not always
possible to know whether their be-
havior is attributable to this cause or
to gas distress.
On the other hand, a sparrow or
canary is all the time hopping about
or preening itself cheerfully under or
binary circumstances, and, If affected
by gas suffocation, II makes the fact
1mm e0iately manifest Hence a work
man venturing into a mine tunnel sus-
pected to be dangerous by reason Of
gas can insure his own safety by car
ryfng a bird with him. It will be
overcome and drop from his perch in
plenty Of time to give him warning tc
get Out-the feathered creature, as
already explained, being far more
sensitive than any human being to the
effects Of gas.
Helmet Men With Birds Go First.
When an explosion occurs in
mine, 1t is usually impossible to get
enough helmet men" down in time to
rescue those in peril underground.
Volunteers in numbers. unprotected
by oxygen apparatus, are needed to
help. Under the new system helmet
men 60 down first carrying birds. II
the latter show no signs Of distress.
the volunteers can venture Having
reached the bottom Of the shaft, the
helmet men, with their birds proceed
to explore the tunnels; and the volun-
teers follow, picking up any partly
asphyXiated miners they may come
across and bearing them to safety.
This makes It possible for the men
with the oxygen apparatus 20 devote
themselves mainly to the business OF
exploration, while the volunteers with
out helmets accomplish the rescues-
But the moment a bird flutters and
falls from It's perch, the volunteers are
ordered to retreat The helmet men
then go forward, while the auxiliaries
wait in the safe part of the mine 10
helm in the work as half-suffocated
miners are brought out By this
means, with the help Of canaries. five
men were saved at the Briceviue dis
aster (Which cost $50 lives) who 9TH
erwise would have persisted
The importance of the matter here
discussed may be judged from the fact
that hitherto some hundreds Of res
cuers have lost their lives every year
incidentally to mine disasters in this
country. At Hanna, WyO-. not long