The Elbert County tribune., 1919-10-31
Us BUREAU q b MIN Is
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uE1HNENbNNI inetallurgieal industries of the
uNtelN\UN country took part. The program
of three days arranged by
the bureau of mines In coopera-
tou with the Pittsburgh chamber OF commerce.
One of the biggest features these ceremonies
was the nationwide frst-aid and mne-rescue CON
test held during the last two days About lGO
teh'hr from the coal and metal mining companies
throughout the country entered the lists The last
nay mere was a holiday for the miners of the
fttsburgh district and thousands Witnessed the
awarding of the prizes to the winners.
IN addition to the usual prizes for these con
tests. the Joseph A. Holmes Safety association an
organization crened In 1916 In honor of the mem
ory OF the first director for the purpose of giving
recognition to persons who had performed meri-
foil"us and heroic deeds In the saving of hunlin
ne IN the mining and melalurgcal industry or
WI" hhu developed some safety appliance to fur
ther the saving of life In those Industries u;lle
lis first awards. DE- Van II. Manning president
oil the association announced the list of recipients
OF diplomas and medals and reced the deeds for
whch they were presented The committee on
awards had recommended that Il gold mednls he
awarded. all for heroic deeds performed by miners
III coal ana metal mines in efforts to the lives
of fellow worknen.
Speaking of the accident conditions generally in
the mining industries and of the outlook Dr. Van
H. Manning director of the bureau of mines. says:
Il ami often asked. What has the bureau of
mines accomplished in saving of human life In the
minesy 1t Is difficult to say MS there are so
1
ever that If you consider the prevailing average
death rate In the mines for period of yenrs be
fore the federal government took mp this work and
compare itwith the average fatality since he
b',renu was crented, you will find that 5000 less
niiiers have been killed. In other words. had the
Old fatality rate been maintained through the last
few years 5000 more men would hnve lost their
Ewes II must also he remembered that the sit,,a-
t'c'i was gradually becoming worse. and who
ku'Ns that there might not have been 1000 or
5000 lives lost; We also have to take into consld-
Grafton that thanks to the many improvements in
lift-saving methods and the grener understands
ines Of the causes of accidents. this saving OF
1000 human beings will be increased as the years
roll on until we can show several times 900 lives
saved
''It is indeed glorious record of human prog
ress. Five thousand lives saved Perhaps 1000
less widows AT least 5000 children who still
have fathers Take away all the other manifold
duties of the bureau of mines and this one accom-
piiShment is worthy of NIL Its costs the govern.
ment since Its establishment and for yeurs to
come
81 do not mean that the bureau of mines de-
serves all the credit 1t was. however the agency
that picked up the isolated sporadic efforts OF
Few weii-meanng men and companies and welded
them into great national movement for greater
safety in the mines 1t at once gained the 90
operation of the miners. the mine operators the
state mine inspectors and others. and without
these the bureau of mines would have been almost
helpless.
auspices great national frst-aId and mne-rescue
meet at Pittsburgh. which attended by % 600
miners The slogan of that meet was safety first
and that was the time that the slogan since infer
nationally famous, first became n national bottle
for this humanitarian movement Nor only
was safety first Immediately adopted by the
mining companies but 1t was also taken mn nv
the railroads and by Industrial plants of the
country. Snfety organizations appeared eyerv
where. Determined campaigns were fought to re-
duce the number of deaths and injuries In quite
number OF mills and factories and railroads
there was reduction in the fatalities of more
tfnn no per cent. Further Improvement was slow
er. hut the original gains were made and added TO
Just how many thousands of lives We're saved
may never be known. for there no statistics
thut adequately cover industrial accidents hut we
do know that the bureau of mines and its asso
ciated agencies started movement that not only
spread throughout the entire United Stnfes but
1t also reached the other countries of the world
with equally good effect. And 1t all started
with the modest mine safety meet held in Pitts
burgh In 1911.
'Since that time the bureau has gone its wav
improving its methods. interesting the miner in his
safety and that of his fellow man; doing
what IT could to point out to the owners of the
mines the dangerous places that could be avoided
and making recommendations the result of its
experiments looking toward still greater safety
To-day the bureau of mines maintains In every
mining field of the country mine rescue car. fully
equipped with modern lifesaving apparatus that
responds to disasters and assists In the rescue
work In the meanwhile 1t visits the mines in its
district and gives the miners training in both
ufinc rescue and drst aid the injured. AS n re-
slt there are Sc, eral thousand miners throughout
The country wllc are expert In the of the oxy