Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-12-17
$40 10000 A DAY
| OSS IN MI { RAJ
RESOURCES OF j. s.

Washington, Dec. IA national losa
of mot Ioes tba, noooono - A.. g..
va '''' present waste
III large measure unnecessary, of the
mineral resources Of thu United States
Director John A Holmes Of tho hrroar
of mines declares In his animal -n-o.t
made ntblic to-day
AT the present Increasing ratio n,
which we are using and vaeting +, orr
one supply of a number Of thasa re-
sources will be either exhausted ar LARGO.
.v depletcd while the nation 10 got in
81 youth" saws Mr.. Holmes
"Of IN, several limos of n,.,or,, TN.
austry in which this vast. .aIrs so,. IN.
vcstigation. ONLY tvvo-or the ,uoet cenec,o,
urgency and i,nportanco-aro included tn
the urgent needs of the buroau Of ,,,ires
namely the waste and losses in coal
mining and in petroleum operations. But
the enactment of pending LEGISLATION in
Congress. providing for the establish
mont mainly in metal-minlng States, of
a number of mining experiment stations.
will render possible similar researches
looking to the lcssening or preventing Of
waste"
Probably the most notable ACCOMPLISH
ment OF the bureau of mines has he-n
the devclouing of the movement for
greater safety and b, tier health COR
ditions in the mining. mctallurgical and
other mineral industries # the country
and the gaining Of the corporation OF
ali possible agencies in behalf Of the
movement
-,
safety and efficiency i'm the mining in
dustries there has been adopted the fol
lowing general plan Of co-operatIon be-
tween tho national government and other
large agencies: % That the national
government conduct the necessary gen
cral inquiries and investigations and dis.
seminatc in such a manner as may prove
most effective the information obtained
and the conclusions cached; (2) tina,
each State enact needed legislation and
make ample provisions for the proper
inspection of mining operations within
its borders. 90 that the mine owners In
troduco improvements with n view to In
creasing safety and reducing waste OF
resources as ranidlv as The nracticah ilitv
Of such improvements is demonstrated
and. %, that the miners and mine man
ayers co-opcratr both in making and IN
enforcinr safety rules and regulations as
rapidlv as these are shown to be prac.
ticahle. The States. the miners and mine
owners and othcr agencies. such rs tn,
mining and enc!neorin. societies. arc
now showing n WILLINGNESS f. co-o1erat,
with the national government In thi.
work
During the vear hurcau of mines rescu,
crews were rosponsihlo for saving tn,
Ives of seven miners; G3 rescucs wer,
made hv miners and others not connecte,
With thc huroau The training of thes,
rescuers for the most part. was starte(
hy the bureau and continued by the opera
| tors or in some cases. by the miner
| themselves
Although there was slight increase il
the number of fatalities in coal mine
during the vear owing to two large disas
tiers. those at Dawson, y. NJ. where %
men were killed. and at Ecclos. w. Va.
where ISL We're killed. there was a reduc
ton in the number of disasters In bot,
metal mines and ouarrics substantial re-
| auctions i'm the number of fatalities wer
| shown
In the short time the bureaus mine res
che car and station crews were able t,
conduct active training. .69i miners Wis
tied the cars and stations. q. 900 attcnde,
| lectures and safety demonstrations. 30
.rc rivon mtno-rescua and $3.50 first aiC
| Instruction and training. md 81. ITO ccrt,ri
.ates were issued 70 those who had com
! rod -,.,iq,. .,t,r..s nr training as o5c
ecr,hed by, N. bIroau
| The huroau's investigations relating [
mineral waste have thus far been con
fined to certain general INQUIRIES and t
snecifc investigations dealing with sue
tonnes rs The waste from shelters an
other netallurcical plants. the waste il
the treatment of rare minerals and metal
and the waste IN the mining and utiilza
ton of coal.
A preliminary inquiry as to the collin
Of coal In beehive ovens has shown tina
the total value Of the byproducts an
nuallv lost in this country through tn
use of such ovens amounts to ST, 10000,
The annual waste of metals in brass
furnace practice amounts to more tha
81 zoo 600
Tho bureaus work looking to the pre-
vention of waste of natural gas, by a
expenditure of less than $4,000 during tn
irast IS months. has brought about saw
ing natural worth not less tina
Sl5,OOOOOo, a sum many times greater tina