| Show M I 1 ki SAM is 1 going to stand spon sor this autumn tor for one of the most novel and most interesting com petit peti lve tive contests ever conducted so far as known no other govern ment in the world has ever conduct ed such a tour tournament namen t and itis bound to attract attention far and wide More moreover oNer this unique event Is all the more interesting and all the more commendable from the tact fact that its purpose is not merely the exploiting of athletic prowess after the fashion of the average neld field day on the contrary its aim and object is the saving of human life and the relief of suffering it is be cause of its high purpose combined with tl ti e fact that it is government auspices that pres ident taft the secretary of the inter interior for and other high officials and prominent men will be present this innovation which promises to win a per manent place on our calendar of public events has a rather long name it is designated officially as a national first aid to the injured field meet and it is to concern itself primarily with first aid work and relief work as conducted in coal mines where as every reader knos knovs there is most ur gent need for such humanitarian measures owing to the frightful disasters which occur all too fre ire quentin in our coal mines due to explosions fires and cave ins of rock and earth the field meet will be held at a place known as arsenal park near pittsburg pa chis site has been chosen because it will be convenient of access tor for the miners and mine rescue workers who wl I 1 corn com pete in the contests contests and because furthermore the united states government has at this place an experimental station with all the facility es and equipment at hand tor for giving exhibitions and con cou 41 ap eim 1 J et asp L sf ducting contests in mine rescue work under approximately the same condl eions that would prevail after an act ual mine disaster this inaugural tournament Is to be conducted by the TT U S bureau of abines the newest branch of our na lional government and an institution which congress recently established under the interior department espe dally for the purpose of studying and finding remedies for the mine dis lisas as which have been giving the unit ed states a bad name all over the world for these many years past how ever the bureau of mines is going 1 ar p 17 99 conduct of its first oat national ional field meet for one thing the american ked red cross Is going to cooperate now the red cross has been colled on very frequently of late years to lend a hand after some great mine disaster and it Is today inspru mental in supporting and educating many chil dren whose fathers were killed in the di asters of the past few years thus the fed pd cross boffl ceals have had brought home to them the need of doing everything possible to save lives in mines and to reduce the number and seriousness of mine accidents and anyway the red cross has become deeply interested of late years in first aid to the injured work of all kinds so much so that it is now distributing first aid cabinets all over the country and has on the road all the while a special car with instructors who travel from town to town enrolling workmen as volun teer red cross gross workers and instructing them in first aid work so that in view of all this it is but natural that the red cross should want ant to have a hand in the first field meet to stimulate interest in the cause and finally the coal opera tors who have much at stake have through their general organization volunteered to help make the tournament a success it is expected that from 20 to 30 miners will attend the field neld day near pittsburg on sep 16 A number of them will come merely as spectator spectators or because they have been urged to come and profit by the object le legons sops that will be enacted before their eyes but a very very large proportion will be entered as contestants in the various events it would surprise the average reader no doubt to learn how many men are eligible to entry in such contests considering that organized rescue work on its present scale was taken up in the mines mined of this country only a few years ago some of the most skillful firt fir t aid workers de vote their entire time to this occupation these are the employed emp loyes stationed on one or another of the U S governments mine aline rescue cars the mine rescue cars it need scarcely be explained are pullman cars which uncle sam purchased a year or two ago turned over to the newly created bureau of mines and had transformed into corn com bin atlon school rooms and hospital hospit alq on wheels each car has a crew of several experts who eat and sleep ablard like firemen evi i ready to respond to an alarm they and their car have dual functions when a mine disaster occurs the cars in that district are hurried to th thi scene and the men on board take the lead in the rescue work at other times when no such emergencies demand their attention the cars arso regular routes visiting one mining town after another just as a traveling circus might do and tarrying for two or three days at each camp while the ex by means of demonstrations and night school lectures in the car give instructions to me ene community as to bow how to prevent accidents ard aa fa lal I 1 I 1 aw I 1 As 4 IX 3 V ak 11 g ro 04 61 J 0 p evsy A how to carry on rescue cind and relief work if a alaster dl aster does occur the result of this plan of uncle sam for s having these mission arles of the first aid crus de constantly travel traveling ln r up and dov doy n the mining regions r e g 1 ons showing the once agnor ant miners what hat to do in an emergency and how to do it has u been chaa considerable pro portion of the under ground workers are coming to have some knowledge of what to do to relieve the suf fering of one another in time of accident when doctors and nur ses are not at hand hotter better still a rl feat ire of the plan and the bed red doss loss plan to organize at each mine a volunteer corps of first aid workers these volun agree to devote to gain more than a superficial knowledge such as Is acquired by the rank and file of the miners uncle sam s experts devote any necessary amount of time to instructing these volunteers and the ped cross and the mine operators have shown a disposition to provide them with all the necessary equipment expensive though it be the result of this development of a an militia in the coal mines has been that we now find at man macj a mine a volunteer corps of first aid workers who are thoroughly qualified tor for their work and who can do just as much for their entombed fel ow workmen or for miners overcome by poisonous gases as could the experts I 1 n any of the government mine rescue cars and who are on hand to act without waiting tor for the arrival of a government car it Is these volunteers who are expected to give zest to the competitions in rescue work at the big gathering in western pennsylvania teams made up of volunteer workers worker at venous verious mines have been in training for months for the event working to be able to do each stunt in the shortest possible space of time for in these contests as in hook book and ladder races and hose bose laying contests a see ond or two may mark the difference between victory and defeat the first aid tournament Is going to have some very realistic features for one thing there will be provi provided Jed a make believe coal mine open at one ide to the view of the spectators and in this will occur on signal an explosion just like that which occurs in a real mine except that there will be no actual loss of life however men will be apparently injured by the shock and overcome by the fumes and will fall in supposedly perilous positions from aich they will be res cued by first aid men working in double quick time just as they would do under the stress of a genuine disaster these rescue workers will be called upon to improvise stretchers from their jackets and line nine drills to hurriedly bring to the scene mine hospital cars and do the other othe r things they would do in time of serious trouble of course all their operations will have to bo be carried on by means of what illumination can be gained from the new pattern of electric safety lamps tor for it is out of the question to carry into a mine filled with explosive gases any ordinary lantern or lamp with an exposed flame of any kind easily one of the moot moal interesting phases of the contests will be the competitions involving the use of the oxygen helmets so called A helmet of this kind which may cost as much as may be described as an airtight armor like cov ering for the head and sho shoulders shoji alders ders which enable enables a rescue worker to penetrate into mines filled with noxious fumes just as a drivers suit enables its wearer to live and work under water the airtight helmet not only excludes the deadly gas es of the mine but it supplies its wearer with saly flow of life giving oxygen drawn as needed from metal cylinders of compressed oxy gen worn on the back like a knapsack the corn com petitions at pittsburg will include tests as to bow long a 0 utin an can an work effectually in kiich a suit of armor and tests as to the ability of the lesi teil eo so tle tire wearers of the helmets to detach empty oxy gen cylinders from their backs and replace them with fresh cylinders this Is highly important because in mine rescue work it may happen that there Is no second rescue worker at band to as in changing cylinders and unless a first aid man can do this for himself be he must leave leme bis wok and hurry back to the mouth of tho the mine for fresh air another form of apparatus and it is a new one which will be demonstrated is the Pul moter the Pul moter is a german invention and tor for all that it would almost fit into an ordinary suit case it Is so delicate and remarkable in its mechanism that it costs the Pul moter is in effect an automatic breathing machine it will compel an unconscious man to breath whether he wants to or not and it mechanically draws drans poisonous gases out of the lungs with one operation and forces in the life giving oxygen with the other that it la Is capable of well nigh performing miracles may be appreciated when it is explained that with this agent tor for mechanical resuscitation the experts of the U S government have brought back to life miners who had remained unconscious in mines for 26 hours and who bad had been abandoned as dead kf jp I 1 |
