The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-25

While hundreds Of thousands Of men
are being slaughtered in the great
European war. and when the ingenuity
Of man in foreign countries Is taxed
to the utmost to devise yet more
frightful engines for killing men. it is
In striking contrast that the United
States government announces through
the Bureau of Mines that preparations
are being made to hold in San Fran
cisco a great national demonstration
in the saving of human life and in
alleviating the sufferings of those who
are injured in the pursuits OF peace
full industry.
The third national mine safety meet
in behalf of the army of more than
1000. 900 miners is to be held at the
Panama Pacific Exposition grounds on
September % and -, under the aus
pieces Of the Bureau of Mines, the
American Mine Safety Association. and
the California Metal Producers Asso-
citation. During that week the Amer
lean Institute Of Mining Engineers. an
organization of 5000 members, and the
American Mining Congress. a national
body of several thousand members, will
hold their annual meetings at the ex-
position and will join in the safety
demonstration. which promises to have
as spectators the largest number of
mining men ever assembled in the
United States.
Medals to Be Awarded.
II is expected that more than fifty
teams OF miners from all over the
United States, trained in rescue and
first-aid work. will be present to COM
pete in the several events. Gold med
ais are to be awarded by the Ameri-
Saf
terstate supremacy in rescue and first
aid work, and silver and bronze med
'als by the American Red Cross Society
to teams that make creditable show
ings. In addition, there will be spe-
cial medals and prizes to be competed
for by groups of States, such as the
Southwestern States. the Rocky Noun
tain States, the Pacific Coast States,
and the Southern States.
Already miners all over the country
are preparing for the great national
meet. Both rescue and first-aid teams
are in training in many mining COM
munities and certain States and groups
of States are holding elimination con-
tests so that they may be represented
at San Francisco by the strongest pos
sible teams. Six Southwestern States.
Texas. Arkansas, Oklahoma. Kansas.
Missouri. an Iowa, already have held
ing to hold an interstate meet in Kan
sas City this month. The Southwestern
Interstate Coal Operators Association
is managing this interstate meet and
expects to have 10000 persons present.
The winning team at Kansas City ia to
be given $1,000 as a prize to defray its
expenses to San Francisco and return.
Teams from Many States.
The annual meeting of the Ameri-
can Mine Safety Association will be
held at Birmingham, Ala, September 4.
and this will be the occasion OF the
Southern Interstate contest in hrst-aid
and mine rescue, the winning team to be
sent to San Francisco. One Of the big
coal-mining companies in Illinois and
another in the Pocahontas field of West
Virginia already have made arrange
ments to send teams to compete In the
events. The Homestake Mining Company
OF Lead. S. Oak. also will send an in
dividual team. II is further expected
that there will be three teams each from
the States OF Colorado. Montana. Wyo-
ming. Utah and New Mexico. five each
from the States of Arizona, Nevada and
Washington. and a dozen teams from
California. Where a State is represented
by more than one team. there will be
elimination contests on the first day of
the meet, September o. and the winners
of these contests will meet the Eastern
teams the next day for interstate su-
premacy.
That the miners have a problem on
their hands is seen in the death statistics
for the mines. In the year 1878 the last
year for which statistics are available
for all the mines and allied industries.
3,762 men were killed and 177,o0O injured.
This includes coal mines, metal mines,
C.uarries, ore-dressing plants and smelt-
ing plants.
Deaths in Ten Years, 10000.
In the last ten years. in the coal mines
alone. there have been 5000 deaths, a
fatality rate of three and three-quarters
men in every 1000 employed, and more
than a million men injured.
1t was to reduce the death rate and
lessen the number of injuries that the
Federal government early In 1905 took up
its work in behalf of the miners. The
first marked progress was In 1911. when
the first national mine safety demonstra.
ton was held in Pittsburgh, Pa. in the
presence Of the President of the United
States and 10000 miners. Since that time.
there has been a wonderful development
throughout the country in both rescue
and hrst-aid work. The Bureau Of
Mines now has in the various mining
fields eight mine-rescue cars fully equip
ped with rescue and first-aid apparatus
and manned by crews of thoroughly
trained miners. In addition 1t has six
rescue stations, at Pittsburgh. Pa. ur-
bana, Ill, Knoxville. Tenn, McAlester.
Okla, Seattle, Wash. and Birmingham.
Ala. and two mine-rescue auto trucks.
The men on the cars and at the stations
spend their time, when not actually at 4
disaster. in training the miners in the