Southwest Washington labor press. [volume] (Hoquiam, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1924-12-19
CONFERENCE TO PREVENT NINE
ACCIDENTS CALLED By PRESIDENT


/ Continued slaughter Of miners in
avoidable mine accidents has finally
aroused President Coolidge and other
Government executives to the neces-
sity Of taking action, and it is report
ed that the President has asked the
Bureau Of Mines to submit a program
for proposed conference of Cover
nors and representatives of the min
ing industry on the question of mine
safety. The conference will be held,
it is understood, as soon as the Presi-
dents duties permit him to give at
tention to it.
Big Need For Safety
That there is urgent need for a con-
ference that viii inaugurate an effec-
tive safety program is emphasized by
the annual report Of Director H. Fos-
ter Balm of the Bureau Of Mines. Mr..
Balm reports that accidents in the coal
mines of the United States, with their
consequent train OF deaths, injuries,
and tremendous property losses, con-
tinue at far too frequent rate des-
pite the results of modern research
which have demonstrated clearly the
principal causes and definite means
of minimizing such accidents.
For the Is years 1911 to 1928, in
elusive, the bureaus records show
1882 lives lost through all classes
of accidents at bituminous mines in
the United States. Explosion of gas
and coal dust caused 3,185 deaths, or
10 per cent Of the total Most of the
larger explosions were propagated
through the mine workings by coal
dust chiefly and therefore coal dust
was responsible for the greater part
of the loss of life. This extension of
an explosion throughout a mine can
be stopped even if all initial explos-
ions are not prevented.
Tested safety recommendation of
the Bureau of Mines have not been
adopted in the mines as rapidly as or
as broadly as is necessary if the loss
Of lives is to be stopped, the report
declares. Consequently, although
there has been real progress, as in the
decreased loss of life due to accidents
from explosives, the death rate from
gas and dust explosions is now as
great as ever.
Utah Embarks On Safety Program
One state, Utah, following a mine
disaster that killed III miners, has
adopted every practical tested method
of preventing or limiting gas and dust
explosions and is having these meth
DDS introduced in the mines as rapidly
as possible. An active campaign of
field demonstration is necessary to
bring home to those in other states
the danger that has become so famil-
lar as to be frequently overlooked and
to show that effective precautionary
methods are known and available,
the report declares.
The report says that the dominant
features of the bureaus efforts DUR
ing the year to increase mine safety
have been: The development of in
ternational cooperation with the
mines department of Great Britain
for research looking to the reduction
of mine accidents; intensive campaign
for the adoption of rock busting as
a preventive of disastrous explosions
in bituminous coal mines; and an ex-
tensive study relative to the safe use
of electricity in coal mines.
Rock busting Saves Lives
The Bureau of Mines considers
that, had the coal mines of the coun-
try in past years followed the prin-
ciple of rock busting the mines as a
means of preventing the spread of
explosions, many large mine disasters
would not have occurred and hun
dreds of lives could have been saved.
In view of the large number of deaths
from explosions since 1922 the bureau
urges that the practice of rock dust
ing be adopted as soon as practicable
in all bituminous mines in which dust
constitutes a hazard.
During the fiscal year, the report
states, the bureau studied the posi-
bilities of radio as a means Of estab-
Fishing communication between miners
trapped underground following mine
fire and explosions and rescue parties
on the surface. The results give
some promise of the possible develop
ment Of a satisfactory system of COM
munication through what is known as
line-radio, which utilities metal pip
ing, wiring, car tracks, and other per-
manent metal equipment as carriers
for the voice.
An energetic safety campaign in
the oil industry has been instituted
by the bureau, with the cooperation
of producing companies. The bureau
has also taken steps to secure better
ventilation Of metal mines, in which
miners frequently work under un-
healthful conditions that materially
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