1873 - Old Forge Coal Mines

68 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
ing flame, and a general explosion would be the result to the miner who,
through ignorance or delay, places or finds himself in such circumstances.
In a current of air whose velocity exceeds 7 feet per second, should the
air be charged with fire-damp or explosive gas But test '( is too much for
safety ; the safety lamp may be in a situation where the air current does
not exceed 4 feet per second, and in the hands of a practical miner, who is
certain of his safety under any circumstance. Now to show that he is not
safe at all times in this case, we will suppose a blast is fired in an adjoining
heading, breast, or tunnel, the shock from which would instantly propel
the current and force the explosive gas through the gauze, or a large fall
of the upper strata occurred, or the lamp by an accident fell from its position,
all of which would increase the velocity of the current, or a windgate
got displaced ; any of those conditions would be likely to increase
danger, so that in vigilance alone lies safety.
There are numerous patterns of safety lamps in public use. The improvements
claimed for them is of little consequence, except for the use of
common laborers and miners. The Davy lamp, for the detection of explosive
gases, is the most sensitive of all the others, and may be carried
in air currents having a velocity of 30 feet per second, which if an explosion
took place under such condition the result would be fearful ; and,
strange as it may appear to the outside world, we have found these lamps
in the hands of the most ignorant green hand when working in these terrible
elements of destruction with as much apparent coolness as if in a
ha}^ field ;
but safety does not always follow in the wake of ignorance and
carelessness as is evidently seen by our death roll in this report, for tne
laborer of to-day may become a miner to-morrow in localities that makes
the cultivated practical man shudder. We have often entered into these
caverns of death to find men working there who could not explain any
thing of gas, or its destructive quality, but complaining of all sorts of
sickness and weaknesses and felt very loth to vacate the place when forced
to do so.
The lamp patterns now in market are the Davy, the Stephenson, the
Clanny, the Bolton, the New Castle, the British, and the Fireman's lamp.
The 6-inch wire gauze, \\ inches in diameter, with gauze hood, and the oil
stock to be only 1^ inch deep, with lock and key. The gauze webs are
different patterns ;
some 676 meshes to the square inch, while others have
720, 784, 1,024 and as high as 1,156. This branch of manufactory has its
adulterated articles as well as other marketable wares ; the preference i.s
conceded to the 728 mesh web.
Cleanliness in lamps is an essential requisite ;
such as a clean wick, good
oil and a well brushed gauze, and the lamp kept securely locked while in use.
Its examination should be frequent ; the thumb to be pressed tightly on the
hood to ascertain if the web was burned or rotten ; to press the cylinder
between the thumb and finger to carefully scrutinize the meshes and to see
that none were broken ; to examine its wick, the oil, stock and lock and its
general features ; never to swing it about carelessly while in use, and none
but practical persons to use them. The different colors exhibited by the
light indicates the different sort of gases that prevails, such as orange, blue,
white, red and green, as will be seen by a reference to the subject upon gas
above.
Anemometer, or Air Meter.—The Cassela and Biriam are the most common
in use, they are of different diameters, from 2 to 12 inches, with a dial
plate, having from 2 to 6 indexes, the readings are units, tens, hundreds,
thousands, tens of thousands and millions. The number of vanes are greater
on the large instruments ; from 8 on the email to 16 on the large ones.