The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-12-14

health and safety, and also to invest
igate methods of mining, treating, and
Utilizing mineral substances with a
dew 10 economic development and the
prevention OF waste.
For purposes of administration, the
Investigations conducted by the bur-
eau are grouped in five divisions; NIL
ming, fuels and mechanical equipment
mineral technology metallurgy and
petroleum, each in charge of chief
engineer.
Safety Investigations.
The early activities of the bureau
entered abe1t Investigations to de-
ermine the causes Of explosions in
coal mines, the methods by which such
explosions could be prevented or
checked, and the development of safer
and more healthful conditions. Con-
sequently, the most notable result of
the bureaus efforts during the past
six years has been the arouslng Of a
wider interest In greater safety and
more healthful conditions in mines
nd metallurgical plants, and the
gaining of the cooperation and active
aid of all possible agencies in the pro-
gress of Improvement.
The bureau of mines makes no claim
to having been the first agency to
call attention to the high death rate
among miners; nor does 1t claim 1t
was the first to urge the need of safer
methods. 1t has gladly welcomed the
aid of all agencies that have sought
to better conditions, and it freely con-
cedes the credit that is due them for
what they have done. The bureau
does claim, however, that its work has
served to stimulate a nation wide
movement for greater safety in all in
dustries and that the value of this
work has been great and can not be
measured in dollars.
Among the results of this increas-
ing safety and health are the saving
of life among miners who received
first aid treatment; the enactment of
state laws to increase safety, prevent
accidents and lessen waste: and the
tendency to demand more efficient in
spection in mining and other indus
trial establishments.
The bureau has been responsible for
revolutionary change in the use of
explosives in coal mines. 1t pointed
out the dangers attending the use of
black powder in mines that were gas
eous or filled with coal dust, and urg-
ed the substitution of what it termed
permissible explosives, those that had
successfully passed severe tests. In
the year 1908 only 100000 pounds of
these permissible explosives was used
in the coal mines of the United States
! In 1915 the amount of permissible ex-
plosives sold was 27,35O,O0O pounds, oil
nearly IA times as much as in 1908.
BY calling attention to the possible
lty in mines the bureau has led man
ufacturers to devise safer types OF
apparatus. especially electrical
switches and motors, that can be used
in gaseous atmospheres without dan
ger of causing explosions by sparks OF
flashes. Also. the bureaus activities
have led to the manufacture of APP
proved types of hand and cap lamps
for miners, by which mining is render
ed safer Several states have follow
ed recommendations for enacting
stricter laws regarding electrical
equipment in mines. Recently the
bureau has been investigating gaso-
line and storage battery locomotives
for mine haulage.
In cooperation with the public health
service the bureau has investigated
the health conditions in certain of the
metal mining districts where miners
consumption, caused by breathing OF
the death rate from this disease was
causing alarm. 1t has shown the OPP
orators and miners the injurious eff
fects of breathing this dust and how,
by the proper treatment of the rock
dust, deaths from this cause may be
greatly reduced, If not entirely stop
ped. The bureau has pointed out how
the homes of miners can be made more
comfortable and more sanitary, and
has already witnessed its recommen-
dations adopted by mining companies
and construction concerns.
Some direct results of the safety
movement and the workmens COM
pensation laws have been a saving of
thousands of men to their families. a
tremendous reduction in the amount of
suffering through lessened injuries.
and, where men have lost their lives
through the hazards OF industry, an
adequate compensation to sustain the
widow and the orphans.
The bureau sends out to the men in
the mines pamphlets called miners
circulars, which tell of the dangers in
the mines and the precautions a man
should take to avoid injury and dis
ease. The bureau is issuing a number
of these safety papers for the especial
benefit of foreign born miners, each
paper being printed in q foreign Ian
guage with the English translation on
the facing page, so that the miner Is
enabled TO learn English at the same
time that he learns the safety lessons