| Show IN Scofield Explosion Surpasses AllDis asters The explosion a 1 Iti said to be by fan j the most disastrous as regards the loon Ions of ot human life that hag ever been Known west of the Mis Missouri noun river There have boon been only three other large explosions which resulted in a serious loss loon of lift lIe within the last years One of these thea was the explosion at the Almy No 2 mine in Wyoming when miners lost t their lives At an explosion m No 4 Union mine thirteen men were wre killed This Thin was a terrific explosion but happening aa at It did at 11 at ab night when there were we only eleven men in the mine It did not have very many victims The eleven ten in the mine were ware of course killed In the summer of 15 an explosion in iii Southern mine No 5 resulted in the death of men The explosion happened shortly alter after the mat had quit work for the day Sev Several eral etal of bf thole who were killed by the explosion had left the mine but had hadnot hadnot not crt nt far enouch away avay to escape the S shock Among theta them was the master mechanic of the mine The workings of a coal mine its j I many passages rooms pillars air pea pas passages sages sae etc ste tire are almost a sealed book to the average layman As a a rule I cei mines are much alike and are worked on the same general plan Starting front from the entrance to the coal ceal coalmine mine a wide passage or tunnel runs town down into the ground at a greater or orless orlee less lee slope Branching off from this on oil each aide are various passages or entries as they theT are called In old mines there may gisy te front from twenty to thirty of these entries on either side of the tunnel Off these thene entries are the rooms in which two men work at a ft time Theta These are aro worked in the form of a passage toward tOwar the entrance of the mine 0 As Ai the miners proceed they in the form of a fan The Thess rooms art arG run into the solid wall of coal say about feet The next entry will lie feet dawn thus leev lag what is called a pillar of af say 15 fet f t As each nsw new room is and th the wall RH between It and the next room is made thinner an air passage to Is made between it and the room near nearer er at the mouth month of the entry The ides idea te to to work out the coal as methodically as along alone these lines Tile The sir air Is forced through the miss mine by an immense fan on something ater the following plan At the outer euge elige of the passage or entry is a gate This is i ajr tight and is opener opened and closed for forthe forthe the passage of coal oars esra or boxes boxe fus ps the rs call them by a boy This id hi the sole duty of the boy He lie does nothing else alt all day long and makes es a ab a rule a dollar and a half thereby Air Cut Through The air passage Js Is cut through from fromI I the tunnel on the outside of this door doot or nearer the entrance to the mine and through It the air fr enters the room Prom From this it niters through the theair air presage passage that has been bored through the solid wall wail of coal into the next room and so on till it gets to the theand end and of the rooms running off the en net entry try Then it comes back along the entry toward the tunnel but here it i imet met mt by another closed door and con consequently passes through another dir air passage cut through the wall or pillar on the lower side of the entry to the next series of rooms Through these it in the same fashion till it arrives at the tha last set or orthe orthe the and ei of the tunneL Here Is an another another other air tight door and the air passes around the back or lower end of it and begins its upward passage in the sams way as it was forced down till tillit it arrives arrived at the tha fan at the outward end of the passage This huge fan is sucking the air out of the mine at a tremendous pressure and as it passes out of course more and fresh air must come in to nil 1111 up the partial vacuum created Whan the mine has been worked in inthis Inthis this way on the down grade to the end of the calm Halm or as far as it is consid considered considered ered profitable the aim Is to work back to the entrance mining out the pillars The pressure of the earth front from above squeezes out the coal so that no blasting has to be done on the back backward backward ward working This is the theory of the working of a mine to get all the coal out of it but not one in a hun hint hundred tired dred is in worked successfully to a finish |
