Year: 1876

government and all social progress is
founded on the will and happiness Of
all the people, true statesmanship
consists in discovering the sources Of
discomfort, when discomfort arises. and
then of removing them by necessary
legislation. .x.5. a.. et.f.


The very existence Of the republic
is associated with the freedom and
happiness of the great army Of labor
ing men. The sources of discomfort
among miners lie not in my: Judgment
SO much in the evil nature Of the men
as in the evil genius of the mines, and
not conspiracy laws are needed to
compel miners to be law-abiding citi-
zens, but better ventilation is needed
to expel the demons of the mines
the source of much unnatural trouble.
The no1ious and poisonous gases Of
coal mines are 6re-damp Qight car
buretted hydrogen gaO black damp,
(carbonic acid gas) white damp, Gear
bonic oxide gas) and sulphuretted hy-
drogen gas, also called white damp
by the miners. The more fatal and
dangerous of these gases, mainly for
the reason that they are given off or
produced in greater quantities than
the others, are the fire damp and the
black damp. The former is the e1-
plosive gas, that dreaded scourge Of
many English coal mines. 1t is found
in greatest abundance in mines vary
ing from 900 to 1000 feet in perpen-
dicular depth. Shallow mines seldom
produce it in alarming quantities, and
most of such mines are entirely free
from its presence. Black damp is
found in every mine, being produced
from causes which are in constant op-
eration-by human respiration, the
excrementitious deposits of men and
animals, decaying timber, the decom-
position of small coal and shale, the
combustion Of gunpowder, and the
workmen's lamps and it is constantly
e1uding from the coal strata. -


This gas is heavier than atmosphsr-
ic air in the relation of three to two,
and when found in pure state it oc-
cupies the floor of the mines in solid
stratum. 1t, however, readily diffuses
through the air, obeying well known
law of the diffusion of gases, and in
this diffused state it is generally found
in the working places Of coal mines.
When three per cent. of it is mixed
with the air of mines, the miners
lamps burn with dull heavy fame,
and go out unless moved with caution.
They are, therefore, hung on posts or
on the pillars sides. This is the con-
dition Of many working places in
mines in which no FIRE damp is made.


The air is best in the morning, be-
cause the circulation is partially if not
wholly renewed in the night during
the absence of the miners, but in the
afternoon and towards quitting time
it becomes very foul, and miners fire.
quently leave work because their
lights will no longer burn. or because
they are so oppressed With languor
and headache that they can no longer
stay in the mine. SAL ...ss "a


The black damp, however, is more
insidious than direct in it's operations,
gradually undermining the constitu-
ton and killing the men by inches.
By reason of constant habit, miners
are able to stay several hours in a
mine after = light goes out for want
of fresh air, whore q stranger unused
to such scenes would fall insensible
and if not speedily restored would die.


Mines are frequently in a very de-
fective state at the wall faces where
the people are at work, while good
current of air is flowing along the
main galleries of the mine. Indeed
there may be many times the quanti-
ty of air required to ventilate a mine
well entering by the intake and re-
turning by the outcast compartment
and there be bad air prevailing at the
working faces. One part of a mine
may also be well ventilated while an
other part, particularly the inmost
working have bad air. Those results
are caused by the air courses being
too far behind, or by the air breaking
through faulty stoppings and badly
hung doors.


We have little FIRE damp in the coal
mines of the United States, and to
this circumstance. fortunate in one