1900 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

No. 11. THIRD ANTHRACITE DISTRICT. 73
burn from three to four minutes before the powder iu the squib
becomes ignited. The miner being in a hurry or knowing that he
can get to a place of safety, either cuts the match or untwists it to
cause it to burn faster, and in doing so, the powder in the squib
runs down on the match and when the light comes in
it,
if
contact with
the explosion takes place and the miner is very fortunate indeed
he escapes with his life.
in one instance in investigating a fatal accident from a premature
bias; and on inquiring of the laborer who worked with the
man is he saw him cut the squib, he, in a positive manner, said
he did not cut it. as he seen him put the squib in the needle hole
before he left. I was at a loss to understand how the match
burned so quickly and I seemed the box that the squibs were kept
in and discovered that all the matches had been saturated with kerosene.
Is there any wonder that he failed to get from in front of the
blast when he ignited the squib?