Imperial Valley press., 1937-01-10

miners-give their lives for every million tons
of coal produced and since the annual produc-
tion of coal tonnage ranges up toward the third
of-a-billion mark the tragic toll is considerable.
The human loss has been brought down from
six for a million tons of coal to about four
men at the present time, with some large min
ing enterprises showing greater losses and 9TH
smaller The Bureau of Mines emphatically
declares that the mining industry can be
Quoted as safely as any other industry, though
with greater care and effort directed toward
safety requirements.
In Allegheny County near Pittsburgh, Pa,
the Bureau of Mines operates experimental
mine in which every mine problem is worked
out. All types of explosives and all types of
mine gases are tested and actually exploded
while instruments make records of effects
Men expose themselves to varying quantities
of gases and doctors study the effects of these
Even miners occupational disorders and phthi-
sis are studied
Bulkheads and concrete stoppings are blown
out to learn their relative values. Shock waves
and flame velocities studied with one great
result - the development of mine explosives
which create scarcely any fire as compared to
long sheets of flame in other explosives. These
explosives are utilizabe for tunneling of all
kinds whether in aqueducts mines
Flame velocites are determined through the
fusion of small strips of tinfoil set in recessed
blocks at 100-foot intervals.
Archeologists, biologists, engineers and all
concerned with the lore of the under-earth inter-
est themselves in this work.
When the ultimate in safety has been
achieved, then will be possessed of equip
ment and technique for penetrating anywhere
and everywhere in the underworld perhaps to
accomplish as much underground as he does
the surface.
Earthquakes and sinking lands present other
ri IIx,g gar;o,
derstood and guarded against, may bring tre-
mendous loss of life to millions living on the
earths surface.
One example is the fertile Santa Clara Valley
of California where orchards of prunes and
peaches now flourish as nowhere else in the
world. But the vast valley is sinking inches
every year-and if something is not done un-
fortunate results certain over a period of
time. Under the valley once notwithstanding
to geologists-a great body of water, which has
been gradually drained off until the surface
finds less and less support. From San Francisco
to San Jose this sinking process continues,
slowly but surely, and biologists are trying to
determine what be done about it. Fruit
orchards will not suddenly disappear into the
earth's crust, but steady drop of thousands
of acres does mean a geological change which
must be taken into consideration.
After the San Francisco earthquake of 1905
(politely referred to as "the fre") geologists
made a study of the area affected and discov-
cred that it covered at least $50 miles of Cali
forna coast line from Fresno to Humboldt
County-caused by the deep rift in underlying
strata. The main shock wrecked buildings and
broke water mains, which prevented control
of the fire that followed. Biologists can do moth
ing about faults" in the earth's crusts, but they
can frequently predict the time between great
shocks in certain areas, figuring the approx
mate stresses in relation to the years required
for another settling process"
Recent earthquakes which have taken toll
of lives respecter of countries, and in
clude: Persia Russia whole villages wiped out),
Chile, Alaska, New Zealand, Canada, Egypt,
Costa Rica and of course, Japan Forty-three
earthquakes occurring in four months was the
seismic record of 1881, some small and HARM
less, others dangerous and followed by fires,
destroying towns and cities. The greatest devas-
tation of modern times the quake in Japan
in September, 1928, where whole villages and
resorts were demolished.
Copyright. 1887
DAGE EINE.