THE SUNDAY OREG0XIAN. PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 22, 1907.
f
Trying to Dlmtaish tlie Flaey Horrors of Mln
UNCLE SAM WILL ESTABLISH AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION TO TEACH DANGER OF EXPLOSIVES AND RESCUE OF LIFE
10
BT JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS.
THE experiment station for the less
ening of horrors of coal mine ex
plosions to be at once erected near
Pittsburg by the United States Geolog
ical Survey, will be a unique education
al institution, so far as the Western Con
tinent is concerned. Coal mine explosions,
like railroad accidents, are increasing in
this country from year 4 to year. Last
year in Pennsylvania alone 250 human
lives were lost In such catastrophes while
In West Virginia 88 deaths were due to
the same cause. In the latter state 103
such deaths have occurred since last New
Year day. Years ago England and Bel
glum reduced these horrors by establishing
such stations as that now to be erected
here. The Belgian mines are notorious
for the deadly fire damp, but now en
Joy a wonderful Immunity from explo
sions. Our states have been negligent In
the matter of making laws limiting the
kinds of explosives to be used by the coal
miner. Many mining states have no
laws of the kind whatever. While the
Federal Government cannot compel the
adoption of such laws It can educate the
miner and mine operator, and this it pro
poses to do forthwith.
Will Explode Artificial Mine.
An artificial mine while filled with gas
or coal dust will receive a charge of each
of the explosives commonly employed In
the coal mines of the United States. Op
erators and miners will view the effect
through the thick glass portals of a forti
fied observation house near by. Another
artificial mine will be filled with such
smoke as hovers after an explosion and
men wearing novel rescue apparatus not
hitherto seen In this country will per
form rescue drills within the stifling cav
erns. The various lamps used by Ameri
can coal miners will have currents of ex
plosive gas blown at them from all direc
tions, and the miner will see what sorts
of lamps endanger his life and which are
safe. There will be also a laboratory for
the testing of the powers of all sorts of
explosives and here will be demonstrated
that some which are safe in gas -and coal
dust are sone the less lacking in effect
upon the coal to be mined.
To Watch Explosions.
Like a giant cannon, the "explosive
gallery," In which the effects of different
dynamites and powders upon gas and dust
are to be noted, will stretch out horizon
tally and with open mouth.. It will be a
tube of boiler-plate 100 feet long and six in
diameter. It will be filled with fire-damp
and air or coal dust and air, previously
mixed by large electric fans. In the
closed end of the big tube there will be a
mortar backed by a base of concrete 13
feet square, and in this the various ex
plosives will be set oft by an electric cur
rent controlled from an observation house
near by. Along the top of the tube there
will be a row of safety valves, which will
open on their hinges and allow the escape
of gas following the explosion. Before the
fans fill the tube with the fire-damp or
coal dust mixed with air, a sort of drum
head of stout paper will be stretched'
across the open end, and this will readily
blow out when the explosion takes place,
thus reducing the shock and preventing
destruction of the plant a provision
somewhat important. That those witness
ing the experiments may see the flash of.
the explosion a series of port-holes, cov
ered with half-inch plates of glass, will be
arranged along the side of the big tube.
These will be on a level with a row of
horixontal silts, covered with heavy plate
glass, in the fortified observation house 60
feet to the side of the tube. Through
these slits the flash of the explosion will
tie watched as It flashes down the line of
port-holes or blazes from them all simul
taneously. In order that operators and
miners at the peep-holes may clearly note
the time of explosion the lid of one of
the safety valves will be opened and
across the mouth will be stretched a dia
phragm of oiled paper, which, when the
explosion occurs, will blow out and allow
a piece of gun cotton, suspended upon a
bracket above, to ignite.
The fire-damp will be fed to the big
clyinder through a tube and gas meter,
which latter will measure the amount ad
mitted. The fire-damp will fall to the bot
tom of the tube until thoroughly mixed
with air. This will be effected by the
electric fans, which will suck both air
How the Swindler Works the
Noted Labor Leader Warns
BY JOHN MITCHELL.,
PRESIDENT UNITED MINE WORK
ERS OF AMERICA.
CONSPICUOUS among the enemies
constantly preying upon the wage
earner while he is fighting the
battle of organized labor, is the in
vestment swindler. He has all the
craft of a wolf, his purpose seeming
to be to attack the workingman from
the rear while his attention is absorbed
v, "by the forces facing him. And these
promoters of the , small investment
swindling game have grown so in
numbers, in boldness and in cunning
that their attacks must - receive at
tention before their depredations
amount to quite as much as the losses
which might come from unfair wage
scales or unjust restrictions upon labor.
When a workingrman engages in a
struggle to advance the cause of or
ganized labor, he feels that he is do
ing something substantial for himself,
for his family, and for his fellows. And
so he is; but if he turns over to the
fake investment sharpers all the con
crete results of the advantage thus
gained, how far ahead is he? How
much more of comfort can he give
himself or his family as a net result
of the transaction?
It Is time for the wage-earners of
America to awaken to- the fact that
they are being systematically swin
dled by the small investment brokers,
and swindled out of millons of hard
earned dollars every year. Unless they
arouse themselves and protect their
savings they might about as well go
back to the old labor conditions, since
there is not much practical choice be
tween giving the fruits of honest toll
to an over-reaching and unjust em
ployer and handing them over gratis
to a systematized project for swind
ling. Going After the Family Stocking.
In my opinion there is no class of
people so fit to drink the dregs of hu
man contempt as are those who glut
themselves upon the small savings
which the wageworkers have slowly
and patiently put away in the family
stocking. And if I could know that
this word of warning would be the
means of deterring worklngmen who
v rF v -riL!: gj
and gas out of one end of the cylinder,
and'' which, after energetically churning
them up, will force the mixture back into
the other end, this circulation being re
peated until the gas is thoroughly dis
tributed. This entire "explosive gallery"
will be modeled after and a slight im
provement upon that of the Belgium ad
ministration of mines at Framerles. Clar
ence Hall, the geological survey's explo
sive expert, who lately returned from a
tour of inspection of such stations abroad
has placed at the writer's disposal the
accompanying picture of the Belgian
plant. It gives some idea of how our
own will appear.
Dynamite, black powder and the various
"safety explosives" including the ammo
nia nitrate class will be exploded In this
great tube. Of course, any of those if
used in sufficient quantities will ignite
fire-damp or coal dust. But the tests will
determine the maximum charges which
can be used In mines without causing fire
damp or coal dust explosions. These will
be listed by the Government as "per
missible explosives," and adoption of such
standards will be urged upon mineowners.
As a result of such experiments in Eng
land, Mr. Hall noted a number of "per
missible explosives." which. and no
others, must, by law, be used by the
miners In blasting coal. England also
prescribes a "limit charge," which must
not be exceeded on pain of severe penalty.
The Rescue-Room.
A "rescue-room," resembling the In
terior of a mine, will be another adjunct
of our new station. There will be appa
ratus for filling this, with smoke and a
course of instruction in the art of rescu
ing miners will be given. The efficiency
of all sorts of inventions for sustaining
life after mine explosions, will here be
tested. After serious explosions in our
mines hundreds of lives could be saved,
as they are abroad, were it possible for
the rescue parties to penetrate the smoke
or gas immediately after the accidents.
Under present conditions .in this country
the deadly fire damp often holds the res
cuers back for hours, while their com
His Fellow Men to Beware How
read it from investing their savings
without first making a thorough in
vestigation of the proposition offered,
I should feel that I had rendered a
servico to the wage-earners that I
could look back upon always with sat
isfaction. If there is one sacred duty
resting more heavily than another
upon the shoulders of the workingman,
it is that of conserving Instead of
scattering the small surplus which be
longs to his family. It is a most seri
ous responsibility and any man who
is sensible of its weight will proceed
cautiously, will sift the situation down
to a hard and cold business basis, be
fore he surrenders, those savings to
any one, particularly to an unknown
promoter of an investment "sure to
bring large returns within a brief
period."
Use Common Sense.
There are several ways by which
one can tell whether or not an invest
ment offered him is sufficiently solid
to warrant his putting his savings
into it. In the first place, use all the
sober common sense you have, and
this with a realization of the fact that
as you cannot bargain advantageously
as an individual with the employer
who hires hundreds of men and is ex
perienced in the art of getting the
most for his money, neither can your
untrained common sense be a safe
guide when it comes to dealing with
men whose business is to dissemble.
Go to a man whom you know to be
an honest man conversant with money
and corporation matters and who can
detect an investment fraud at a
glance. Common sense the shrewd,
natural ability to form accurate Judg
ments is always at disadvantage
unless one has the best information
upon which to act, and about the most
it can do for a man under such cir
cumstances is to cause him to get the
real facts before forming a Judgment
and a decision. You would not think
of trying your own case in court if
you found yoursel'f Involved in litiga
tion. Yet the majority of small law
suits are simple in comparison with
the devices which the investment
sharpers have evolved. They know
that they can reap golden harvest if
their scheme is only presented properly
and that they can afford to employ the
' '
o sxvssv& . Ir5) ..i'..i.n.,.,.......,T.i.li .n.i,.i,-.i
Wage-Earner
They Invest Their Savings.
most expensive aids In the way of
crooked lawyers to defend them and to
advise investors and unscrupulous ad
vertising agents to prepare booklets,
prospectuses and "confidential" let
ters. When these baits are so skillfully
set that hard-headed and experienced
business men (who themselves know
some of the tricks of the trade), are
deceived by them, what chance do you
think a workingman whose financial
experience is confined, usually, to mak
ing the contents of his pay envelope
cover the household bills has to see
through the mysteries of the proposi
tion? Big Financial Semaphores.
There are a few of these financial
semaphores, however, whloh every
wageworker should know how to read
and can know. At first glance they
seem to show a clear right-of-way, to
give the signal to "come on" at full
speed, with your savings account in
your hand; but when you know' the
rules of the road, you can see a red
light a danger signal swinging from
every one of these semaphore arms.
Here are some of the danger signals
of this sort which are very deceptive
at first glance: ,
"This company Is going to be kept In
the hands of the common people and out
of the hands of the capitalists."
"The shares of this company have in
creased 60 per cent since our fiscal agents
put the first block of development stocks
on the market, 60 days ago; they will be
advanced 20 points oh the first day of
next month and you must act promptly
and -Mtnlt at once if you wish to take
advantage of this handsome advance."
"We need only a limited amount for im
mediate development work and in order to
secure the requisite sum without delay,
we are making the confidential offer of
a bonus of one share of preferred stock
for every ten shares of the common,
which you can secure at SO cents on the
par value if you respond at once. Just
as soon as our needs for development ex
penditures are met by subscriptions on
this liberal basis, it will be impossible for
you to secure the common, as it will be
withheld from the market except on offer
ings of 60 cents or better."
"You are taking no risk, for our guar
antee is behind every share of our stock.
The Silver and Gold Investment & Security
Company is back of our securities and the
Searchlight Investigation and Expert En
gineering Association has made a detailed
examination and analysis of our proper
ties and stands sponsor to the world for
them. In the first three months of opera
tion of our properties, we have been able
to pay our stockholders a dividend of
12 per cent, and the splendid ore bodies
now in sight warrant us in assuring our
stockholders that this dividend will be
substantially Increased in the next three
months, owing to the increased facilities
of production made possible by great ad
ditions to our working equipment."
All Spell Banco.
These are only a few of the most
glaring statements contained in the 'con
fidential" circulars and letters, displayed
in advertisements, and made by solicitors,
to draw money from the pockets of the
wage earners. There are scores of other
and more subtle and clever baits in every
mode of expression, but they all spell
one word, and that is B-U-N-C-O.
How do I know it? How do I dare
make so broad a statement? Because we
have had times of unprecedented pros
perity for so long that millions of dollars
belonging to capitalists are lying idle or
drawing only small interest. As a result,
the sound securities and the solid invest
ments are snapped up by men who under
stand values. These men command large
sums, and in order to secure all the
money required for a . solid and honest
enterprise, it is only necessary for men
having real Investment "opportunities" to
go to them and convince them of the
merit of their propositions. They will not
permit to slip past them any chance to
make 33 1-3 per cent, or even 10 per cent,
provided the risk involved is not too
great. Which is only another way of saying
that when a concern must go forth with
blare of trumpets to secure money from
the wage workers, the proposition it has
to offer is not only not worth consider
ation, but it should be left severely alone.
If it were sound to the core, idle capital
would be put into it before the "confiden
tial" letters to prospective wage-earner
investors could be printed.
A Sample Case.
And this feature of the matter stands
out In its true light when something of
the cost of selling stocks by an "appeal
to the common people" is understood.
Not long ago a Chicago concern which
had gone to the "people" for its support
went into the hands of a receiver. Wage
earners and people working for small
salaries had put 1100.000 into the enter
prise. When the receiver began his ex
amination of the affairs of the company
In order to determine how much those at
the head of it had diverted into their
own pockets, he was amazed to discover
that the entire 1100,000 had been spent in
"getting the great publicity campaign
started!" They had committed the error
of making some particularly flagrant mis
representations and this put a period to
their jlans by sending them ,to the peni
tentiary before they were quite ready 'to
do the actual looting.
There is just one thing for the sensible
workman suffering from an attack of the
Investment fever to do, and that is to
go to a solid man of financial experience,
a trustworthy man, and ask him to ascer
tain for him who are the men behind this
wonderful "opportunity" offered to him
find out what their records have been in
the past, and what they are putting his
money into, as well as what there Is and
who there is behind their "guarantees"
and "guarantors." When you have done
this you will find, in all probability, that
your fever to get rich quick has cooled to
the freezing point.
(Copyright, 1907 by J. B. Bowles).
Vacation la Over.
Exchange.
Vacation la ever. I'm back to the grind, .
The ten months before me I wish vert be
hind; i
My Summer Girl's vanished (that Is. she's
vamoosed);
The bath houMS empty, suits nunc ui to
roost.
My hat and myself are both down and both
broke.
My rag-out la not worth a pig in a poke:
Mr hands, arms and face are all blisters
and burns.
My friends are all doct'rln' my troubles by
turns.
Fm in debt for small loans that were need
ed to tide
Me over unforeseen demands for a ride
On merry-go-rounds, on chutes and the seas
(Somehow, on vacation, girls think kids
John D'.)
Yes, back to the office, the store and the
ahop.
And all the mean drudgery our rest bid us
stop:
back to the old den where our boarding
house Mlsa
Has pinned up fresh art views from "Black
Cat" and "Cla."
The office boy's chin and the porter's back
talk,
Chinese laundry bills, and the eating-house
chalk
And water, and oatmeal, at fifty per day.
With salary at sixty, and back scores to
pay.
In spite of all this, when the long Winter's
gone.
And old Summertime comes a-waltzing
along,
I'll be off 'though sworn 'bout the house to
lay round.
For vacation fever, but one cure's been
found.
The Alpine Soldiers of France
Drill in the Mountains Where Special Battallions Guard Frontier.
THE most picturesque group in the
French army is the Alpine chas
seur."who guard a section of "the
eastern frontier. Their service adds to
the ordinary hardships and perils of the
soldier's life the hazards of mountaineer
ing. There are several thousand of them,
recruited In the valleys at the foot of
Mont Blano and all along the Swiss bor
der. They are organized in groups of six
companies of 150 men each. There are
Infantry battalions and batteries of ar
tillery. Thousands of mules are used to
transport the guns, ammunition and camp
material.
The Alpine soldiers wear a special uni
form. For the artillerists the distinction
is in a short, tight-fitting Jacket; for the
infantry in a peajacket with turned-hack
collar and cuffs.
All wear cloth caps closely resembling
the Scotch Glengarry bonnet, hobnailed
shoes and leggings. The artillerists are
picked man of powerful frame; the infan
try soldiers are short, thickset fellows of
great endurance and hardihood.
The ordinary French private carries
a weight exceeding 66 pounds when on
the line of march. To this the Alpine
chasseur, though he hardly ever treads
a mile of level ground, adds an extra
blanket and a tent cloth, weighing to
gether nearly five pounds.
Carrying this weight, he climbs moun
tains at the rate of about 1000 feet an
hour. He goes downhill at double that
rate. An ordinary day's march will lead
a company or a group over a pass 6000
feet above the starting point to a final
halt 7500 feet down on the other side.
There is no place that the infantry go
that the artillery do not follow. The guns
are packed on muleback, so are the car
riages. Sometimes conditions are encountered
when even the mules are unfitted for the
task imposed on them. Then the men
unload their packs, the guns are put on
the carriages and the carriages on wheels.
Ropes are attached and the men do what
the mules could not.
During the Summer months the Alpine
troops are constantly in motion. Some
are doing scout duty, studying the coun
try for lines along which an invasion
might be made and for strong defensive
points. Others are engaged in mimic
warfare.
There is no elevation that they do not
rades are being slowly suffocated or
burned to death. The chief horror of such
catastrophes Is that it often requires
eight or ten hours for men slowly to die
following a severe explosion.
Llfesavliig Apparatus.
An apparatus which when worn by
members of a rescue party, enables them
to explore a mine filled with gas or smoke
was studied by Mr. Hall, while In Europe.
This will be used In the miniature mine
to be erected by the government. It is a
canvas jacket equipped with cylinders of
compressed oxygen, connected with the
wearer's mouth by a flexible, rubber-lined
metallic hose. The oxygen supply is va
ried by a pressure gauge and the breath
of the wearer passes out through lumps
of potassium hydroxide, which absorb all .
of the carbonic acid gas given oft by the
lnngs. The exhaled breath, after being
thus purified, is then refreshed with oxy
gen and breathed over again repeatedly.
Wearing such a Jacket a rescuer could
enter a mine immediately after an ex
plosion and undoubtedly save many lives.
If these tests prove as satisfactory here
as they have abroad, mine-owners will be
urged to keep a supply of the Jackets al
ways ready in the mines as well as at
convenient places above ground. Up to
date such apparatus does not appear to
have been adopted by any American
mine-owners. Smoke and fume helmets
are manufactured, however. In this coun
try and some of our coal mines are
equipped with ambulance cars, while In
many more the miners are drilled in first
aids to the injured in producing artificial
respiration, methods of carrying the dis
abled, bandaging wounds, etc
The miniature mine wherein these res
cue experiments are to be made will have
drifts, headings, rooms and ladders. Af
ter it has been filled with smoke miners
will be instructed to enter these compart
ments, as if searching for injured com
panions. Testing Miners' Safety Lamps.
Many mine explosions are caused by
defects of miners' safety lamps. In" the
"Lamp Testing Gallery" of the new sta
tion all safety lamps now used In This
country will be tested, not only for tfceir
candle-power, but for their relative safety'
in the presence of fire damp. Some of
these lamps are safe in rapid currents of
air filled with gases, provided these cur
rents are horizontal, but are quite un
safe when such draughts are vertical or
oblique, in which latter cases they ex
plode the surrounding fire damp In a few"
secends. In the testing gallery various
lamps will be subjected to different veloci
ties of explosive mixtures of gas puffed
in different directions horizontal, vertical
and oblique. In Belgium Mr. Hall wit
nessed such a test In which the lamp used
mostly in the mines of the United Slates
behaved the worst and ignited the gas
each time. A self-Igniting lock-lamp
made In Germany made the most satis
factory showing. The gas used for the
tests at the Belgian station Is obtained
from an abandoned coal mine of the Com-
pagnie de Oharbonnages which owns
mines containing the highest percentage
of fire-damp to be found in the world.
Testing Power of Explosives.
The relative powers of different mine ex
plosives will be tested in the "explosives
laboratory," another interesting adjunct
of the new station. A standard quantity
of each explosive will be fired from a
mortar and against the face of a large
pendulum weighing several tons. The
distance of the pendulum's backward
swing caused by the force of the explosion
will be recorded by a scale. Each stand
ard sample of an explosive will next bet
placed in a cavity in the top of a cylinder
of lead eight Inches high and eight inches
In diameter. The explosive will be tamped
with sand and moist clay and exploded by
electricity, after which the resulting pear
shaped cavity produced in the lead will
be filled with distilled water kept at a
standard temperature and afterward mea
sured. The larger the cavity the greater
will be the volume of this orifice. There
will be delicate apparatus for measuring
also the pressure and heat generated by
each explosive and for analyzing the
products of each explosion.
Flashes from different explosives will bs
photographed at night just as are light
ning flashes, and this test will be for the
comparison of lengths of flames. The
camera will be posted at a standard dis
tance and the different explosives fired
into the air always from the same mortar
and the same angle. The duration of the
flame will at Jthe same time he measured
by an electrical apparatus. Thus it will
be seen to what fine points the science of
explosives has been brought. The experi
ments at the new station will be under
the direction of Dr. J. A. Holmes, chief of
the Technologic branch. Geological Sur
vey. Washington. D. C,
attempt. A company of the Twenty-second
Chasseurs of Albertvllle made a
march on Mont Blanc last year.
Almost every important expedition is
attended with a mishap of gome kind.
On December 22, 1903, 11 men under a
sergeant were caught- In an avalanche.
They were in three groups, united by a
rope. The two rear groups were caught
by the mass of snow and dragged the
others after them. A second fall com
pletely buried them, but five men dug
their way out. This was on the Col
d'Arrondez.
December 18, 1901, an entire company
of the Thirteenth Battalion was crossing
the glacier of Baounet, in the Valley of
Averole, under guidance of a mountain
eer. As they came upon a tract ofv re
cent snow the whole slope gave way
under them and they seemed on the point
of being hurled over a precipice, when a
hidden rock ridge stopped the moving
mass and men and snow and stones and
ice were heaped up in promiscuous con
fusion. Only one man was killed.
All through the season of field exer
cises the men sleep indifferently in tha
open or in the villages of the herdsmen
in the upper valleys. Rolled in their
blankets, they do not feel the cold too
much. The tent cloths are stretched over
light iron frames to keep out the damp
of the Alpine night. Once a week the
companies spend a day in some village
to rest, wash and repair their clothes and
furbish up their weapons.
Sham battles are carried on in all the
passes of the mountains which might
tempt an Invading force. Large groups
are brought together under general offi
cers, and attacking and defending forces
are organized.
During the Winter detachments of the
Alpine troops remain on guard in the
fastnesses of the mountains, despite the
rigors of the climate. There are out
posts at elevations ranging from 6500 to
8000 feet. The post at Sollieres is about
7800; that of Acles 7500 and there is a bat
tery at Vyries at about 8000 feet eleva
tion. When the weather conditions permit,
frequent supply trains visit the posts,
and a daily courier with letters and news
papers meets an orderly sent down the
mountain. When the weather is some-"
whit worse, dogs are employed to carry
dispatches, which are strapped to their
backs in portfolios.