Show DUST IN GOAL MINES WHAT THE ROYAL COMMISSIONS COMMIS-SIONS FINDINGS WERE Vhoro Dust is Present There is Always Al-ways More or Less Danger Care in Putting Off Shots Editor Tribune The question of coal dust explosions is one that has been the greatest problem In mining for the last thirtyfive years that In 18S5 a royal i ommlssion In Great Britain reported that a dust explosion without the presence pres-ence of gas could not be found by theme them-e > cn after the most careful research but they found evidence to substantiate the assertion that ono could occur I i F = wish to say that that commission wan appointed In 1891 and that it might be of Interest to those Interested In mining min-ing to see what they really did report They concluded as follows Fir tThe danger of explosion in amine a-mine In which gas exists een In very I small quantities Is greatly Increased I by the presence of coal dust I SecondA gas explosion In a fiery mine may bo intensified and carried on Indefinitely I by coal dust raised by the explosion itself i ThirdCoal dust alone without the I presence of gas may cause a dangerous danger-ous explosion If ignited by a blowout shot or other violent inflammation To produce ouch a result however the conditions must be exceptional and arc only likely to be produced on rare occasions oc-casions Fourth Different duals are inflammable inflam-mable and consequently dangerous In varying degrees but It cannot be said with absolute certainty that any dust Is entirely free from risk i Fifth There appears to be no probe prob-e ability that dangerous explosions of coal dust alone could ever be produced In a mine by a naked light or ordinary flame flauThe writer was foreman for fourteen years in a fiery and dusty mine and blasting was allowed but only under certain conditions and then only by an olllclal of the company The mines were worked with safety lamps and no naked I lIh twas allowed more than one hundred yards from the bottom of the shaft Every working place had to be examined and if In that place could be found the smallest trace of gns the shots could not be fired and in that case lime was used The company com-pany furnished the lime for the men to do the work causing no extra expense ex-pense to the miner but before any shot could be fired or lime used the coal had to be undermined not less than throe feet I wish to say that an explosion ex-plosion can occur in a dusty mine from a blownout shot even If gas has never been seen In the mine The management of the mines where I was foreman gave orders to clean all dust from inclines and main roads every week This will show that the managers had som dread of the dust that accumulated In the mines and I believe the managers of these mines I were second to nono In the country It Is certainly an expense to clean dust out of a mine but Is it not better to do this than run tho risk of hundreds of lives being blown 1 Into eternity And Is it not a fact that It costs thousands of dollars to put a mine in working order after an explosion Good management man-agement and good ventilation will work wonders in mining I W BURKINSHAW Sandy May 11 1900 |