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THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. 4:;
MINE FOREMAN'S POSITION NOT A HAPPY ONE"
As to the duties of a mine foreman there is
an equal amount of misapprehension and a growing
tendency, on the part of the misinformed, to
think that he and the fire-boss occupy the same
position to the miner as a child's nurse does to a
toddling baby; that is. he must first point out
the danger, and then keep in constant attendance
upon the workers to see that they are safe.
Some interpret the sole function of the mine
foreman to be to look after the safety of the miners.
While this is an important duty, and one
that has increased in importance of late years
with the increase in unskilled labor in the mines,
it must not be forgotten that mining is a business,
and the foreman is the "Johnny on the spot"
upon whose shoulders usually rest, to a great
degree, the success or failure of the mine as a
business enterprise.
A mine that is producing no coal is perfectly
safe to the miners who are at home; but it furnishes
neither bread for the miner's family nor
dividends for the owners. There are undoubtedly
cases where the matter of output is allowed to
be pre-eminent to the exclusion of safety measures,
and where the foreman and his assistants, in
order to hold their positions, give undue attention
to this portion of the work. The point I
want to make, however, is that the foreman has
other duties than that of simply looking after the
safety of the men, and he cannot be expected to
devote all of his time to this duty.
If a mine is kept in safe condition and the men
are properly warned of dangers, they, and they
alone, are to blame for personal injury or death
due to recklessness.
The foreman must not only be the caretaker of
the men, but must look after the interest of the
company as well. His position is in many cases
an unenviable one, and too often he is ground
between the lower millstone, the men, and tlie
upper millstone, the mine owners.
It is not too much to say that tbe conditions
under which the miner pursues his arduous toil
have been almost completely revolutionized in recent
years relative to mine laws and improved
equipment of collieries, which have, no doubt,
revolutionized mining and naturally improved the
miner's lot in trying to minimize the risk incidental
to his calling; and yet, despite all that
human foresight and ingenuity can do to prevent
accidents, accidents involving peril to life and
limb are of daily occurrence.
There is a disposition on the part of the coal
•Paper read before the Mining Institute Meeting, at Vivian.
West Virginia. January. 1911.
By Edward Nicholson. Inspector Eleventh District of W. Va.
digger to think that when he has complied wilh
the letter of the rules he has done all that is
necessary. This is not sufficient. The rules,
however stringent, cannot cover every case of roof
timbering. It is necessary that the men make
doubly sure that adequate safeguards are provided.
If they all did this there would be fewer accidents;
for with the best methods in the world, and the
exercise of the utmost care, falls of roof will
continue to happen. The future safety of mining
must largely depend upon the miners themselves.
While laws and carefully devised rules
may do a great deal towards the preservation of
life and limb, they are only aids to, and not substitutes
for, safe working.
Mine managers seem oblivious to the well
known fact that men are unable to accomplish good
work in bad air. Mines generally contain explosive
gases; therefore death from gas explosions
and mine fires arouse public opinion to such
an extent as to demand legislation on mine ventilation.
At some coal mines, under certain conditions,
the management has to furnish a bountiful
supply of air; otherwise the mine could not be
worked. I would like to here say that the mines
in this field are gaseous, and in using black powder,
which we all know will ignite the gases in
some cases where men happen to be in a tight
place, or allow the canvas to get back, which
sometimes happens, a fire is liable to occur in
such a place after the shot-firer has visited the
place after quitting time. There could be a small
jet of gas burning behind a shot of coal that the
shot firer did not see, so I would advise having
some chemical mine fire engine; for it is almost
impossible to have a water pipe system in all parts
of a large mine.
The renewing of pipe lines would be very costly,
while the first cost of a chemical engine would
be the only cost, and they are so constructed on
mine car trucks that they can be taken to any
part of a mine in a few minutes, which might be
the saving of both life and limb and property.
The chemical engine of to-day is so constructed
that any ordinary workman can be instructed to
operate it in a few minutes.
Iu respiration, healthy working men inhale 32
cubic inches per breath, or 20 cubic feet per hour.
As pure air does not contain more than .04 per
cent, of carbon dioxide, and inhaled air contains
4.38 per cent., it will require 100 cubic feet of
pure air to dilute one cubic foot of bad air per
hour per man. In some mines the miners are
given as little air as possible, with the result that