The daily progressive-miner., 1917-04-24
DEPARTMENT OF
 INTERIOR CARRYING
 FURTHER INQUIRIES

WASHINGTON, April 2S.-In res ponse to inquiries from the Army and Navy as to information concerning the best types of apparatus to be used in combating noXious gases, the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior,
 which had such an investigation under way in behalf of the miners of the country, has rushed it's report into print, with the result that experts are now busily engaged in designing an aparatus that promises to be superior to any now in use on the European battlefields.
 The experts of the bureau, Dr. Yan- dell Henderson, professor of physiology in the Yale School and a recognized authority on the physiology of respir- ation, and J. w. Paul, in charge of ihe rescue work of the Bureau of
 make the statement that the wearing of the present types of oxygen rescue apparatus involves grave danger, ow- ing to the fact that the makers have as yet failed to meet satisfactorily cer- tain mechanical and physiological needs in construction. They point out the dangers and defects of the ap- paratus and suggest ways in which these may be eliminated.
 While this report is primarily of
 interest to the mining industry and is meant as a measure for the improve ment in the oxygen apparatus used in Van H. Manning, Director of the Blu reau, 'it comes at such a time as to be of great value to the Army and Navy in their need of apparatus to protect the lives of their men in war fare. Rescue apparatus is being quite generally introduced. Some states ey- en require by law it's purchase by mine owners. A large number of coal and metal mines now have apparatus on hand for use after explosions and mine fires. This apparatus is also being sold in increasing amounts to the fire departments of cities, and crews have been trained to penetrate smoke-filled buildings for the saving of life and property. Around gas works and re- frigerating plants air helmets of simple type are sometimes very sue cessful. This apparatus also finds Q use in the Navy when the deeper and Unventilated compartments of avessel are to be entered. The recent intro duction of asphyXiating gases for Of fensive purposes has been met by means of simple masks provided with @ chemical absorbent. It is reported al- so that, on one side at least, the men setting off the gas are themselves pro- ] tected from asphyxiation by means of oxygen mine rescue apparatus of the i half-hour type.
 'In the apparatus now being used we have found a number of grave de- fleets. As an instance of one of these serious defects, the manufacturers of | such apparatus have directed that the ! oxygen supply should be set at a rate sufficient for only moderate exertion | upon the part of the wearer. Because of this rescue crews have been train- ed to walk slowly and to stop and rest at frequent intervals Moving slow ly might mean to be crushed and wig orous attempt to escape would result in collapse or even asphyxiation be- cause of an insufficient supply of oxy- gen.
 AS the most effective means of put i ting into concrete form and of testing the feasibility of the recommendations of this report, the bureau has attempt ed to develop an apparatus along the lines for which it calls. For some time w. E. Gibbs ,an exper. fenced mechanical engineer, has been at work for the bureau on theis prob- i lem"
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