Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-04-16
MINERS WELFARE
CAUSE OF taft
Bureau Of Mines Marks Great
Step Forward.
SAVES HUNDREDS OF LIVES.
Discovery Of Danger of Coal Dust I'm.
portant = Handling of Explosives
Made Safer = Governments Expert
mental Coal Mine.


Made Safer = Governments Exper
mental Coal Mine.
The saving of many lives annually
the lives Of miners throughout th
United States will he one Of the spler
did results that will follow the estal
lishrIent of lnp bureau Of mines. on
Of the great achievements in the intel
est Of alto a. hr Il ADMINISTRATION O
President Iift
The exec :ir,. al.d unnecessary los
of life in ne iulipS of this countr,
was one Of the primary causes for tn
creation Of this Ijnreau. For year.
hundreds OF miners were killed in min,
disasters, and practically nothing wal
done to check the terrible loss Of life.
Spurred on by President Taft. al
act creating the bureau of mines was
passed by congress and became effec
tive on July |. 1910. John A. Holmes
of the United States geological survey
was appointed as the first director
Mr.. Holmes was reputed and certified
to be the best trained man for the
place obtainable In the United States.
The chief experimental station was es-
tablished at Pittsburgh. where the in
vestigations of the problems intrusted
to the bureau have been prosecuted so
successfully for nearly two years.
In the year 1907, the most disastrous
of all years in the American coal mines,
1926 miners lost their lives. This rep
resented 1876 of men killed for every
1000 emploTed. In coal mines in Eu-
rope less than two miners are killed
out Of every 1000 employed. AS n re-
suit Of the work conducted by the br-
reau of mines and the wise use of an
appropriation of $1J0,O00 made by con-
gress, the death rate has been already
reduced to practically one-half what it
was in 1907.
One of the notable achievements of
the bureau of mines was the demon
stratlon Of the fact that coal dust in
bituminous mine Is more dangerous
and deadly than gas, 1t had been the
belief heretofore that gas or fire damp
was the greatest menace to the min
ers, and little attention was given to
the accumulation of coal dust The
bureau of mines proved to the salts
faction of the miners as well as opera
tors that coal dust would explode and.
unlike fire damp, carried no warning
with it. The keeping of dusty, mines
wet, as recommended by the bureau
of mines. was found to reduce ma
terially the chances OF explosion of coal
dust.
The number of deaths in the mines |
has been greatly reduced as a result
of the testing Of explosives under the 1
direction of the bureau of mines. In
the year 1908 the coal mines In the Cnit- |
ed States used 100000 pounds of |
short flame explosives, and at present |
nearly seven times that quantity is be-
ing used with greater safety. due to
the cooperation Of the coal operators
and the bureau of mines.
The establishment OF an experiment
tai coal mine at Brucetown. Pa,
twelve miles from Pittsburgh. is still
another notable achievement of the
bureau of mines. 1t places the United
States In advance Of ether nations with
respect 10 this research and expert
mental work in mines. Numerous tests
ire made at this experimental mine.
rom which many excellent results are
obtained
Still another important work which
S conducted under the auspices of the
bureau of mines is the rescue OF en-
ombed miners. Since the creation of
he bureau many hundreds of lives
AVE been saved. At the big mining
disaster in Ohio one Of the rescue corps
f the bureau of mines arrived at the
Gene thirty-two hours after the disas- ,
er. Three men were rescued who had
'een given up as dead and allowed to
emain In the mine. At another time
ne man was found alive among 100 ,
cad, and today he is the sole survivor
( that terrible catastrophe due to the :
plendid work of the rescue corps. ,
Before the bureau of miEes was
lade possible by the interest Of Pres. I
lent Taft. which was followed by the a
ecesSary legislation for its establish n
lent, there was no organized effort IL
lving the lives of entombed miners
line and again men have sacrificed
leir lives in vain attempts to rescue E
leir companions. This unnecessary ii
icrihce Of life has been stopped by 5,
le cooperation Of the state authori- s
= with the federal rescuerS attached q
the bureau Of mines An lnvestiga- \
on Of the fuel Resources Of the Unit O
States IS also being made with 2
eW OF checking the waste and in c
easing the efficiency with which fuel e,
used. This latter phase OF rhe work sa
a part OF the practical conservation s.
'licy Of the Taft administration