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34 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
TEMPERATURE AND MINE EXPLOSIONS.
Regarding the influence of weather on mine ex­
plosions the report of the commission appointed
to examine into mine explosions in Kansas says,
in part:
"It is noticeable tnat all the explosions since
1903 have occurred in the months of January,
February and April. The one on the latter month
happening in the only wet mine under discussion.
Five of the major explosions and three minor explosions
occurred between January 18. 1905, and
February 9, 1905, during one of the coldest periods
in the history of this coal field. It is the belief
of tne commission that cold weather may affect
the dust in two ways: first, by lowering the temperature
to such an extent that the very fine particles
of dust which, during warmer weather would
be readily oxidized and destroyed, remain unclestroyed
and accumulate. This will then be in
condition to be readily ignited when a shot throws
fire; second, in the summer the warm air is more
moist than the air in the cooler parts of the mine
and gives up its moisture to the cooler parts of
the mine; while in the winter the cold, dry air
from outside contains less moisture than the
warmer air of the mine and absorbs the moisture
from the mine, leaving it dry and tending to increase
the amount of dust. As an illustration of
the variation in temperature we learned that at
the time of the explosion in the Devlin and Miller
mine No. 1, on February 9, the temperature was
as low as zero at the head of the main West entry.
and was even lower in the air passages before
reaching the head of the entry."
On the source of dust the report says:
"The source of dust may be the dust which collects
in the handling of the coal, in the breaking
down of the coal by excessive shots, from the
dust made by the drill, and by the blowing out
of shots tamped with drillings. We have suggested
the elimination, as far as possible, of these
various kinds of dust."
The following recommendations were made by
the commission:
First. That operators of dry mines should
keep them thoroughly wet.
Second. That great care should be used in the
placing of shots.
Third. That no combustible matter be allowed
in the tamping of shots.
Fourth. That squibs should be used instead of
fuse in firing shots.
Fifth. That in the future the fan should be at
least 15 feet from the mouth of the shaft.
Prospectors at Ramsey, 111., found an S'^-foot
vein of coal at a depth of 674 feet.
PRESIDENT BAER'S VIEWS
OF COAL TRADE PROBLEMS.
President George F. Baer, of the Philadelphia &
Reading Coal & Iron Co.. delivered at Pottsville.
on April 8, the last of the series of lectures on
practical mining topics provided during the winter
for the employes of the Reading conipany. Mr.
Baer took for his subject "Some Problems of the
Coal Industry." He said in part:
The public wants cheap fuel; the miners and
workers want high wages, the owners want a reasonable
profit on their investment. This simple
statement at once discloses an irrepressible conflict.
I regret to say that the coal company manager's
lot is not a happy one. It is not materially
improved by giving him the barren title of
"Coal Baron."
..The public has a high appreciation either of our
incompetency or of the difficulties besetting us,
because it is forever advising us how to manage
our business. They are our friends, who, to
meet public expectation, are compelled to be at all
times oracles of wisdom as to the many things
they know nothing about. They are expected to
know all about mining and selling coal, and to be
always amazed at the stupidity of our management.
Then, there is the disinterested altruistic "walking
delegate," who, though "he toils not. neither
does he spin," is delighted to exercise a benevolent
supervision over both capital and labor. We
receive little praise but much censure from the
big and little statesmen and politicians, who give
no employment and pay no wages, but exchange
sympathetic talk and promises for votes. There
is still another class of men willing to aid us,
the emotional reformers and idealists, each one
of whom believes himself competent to make a
better world than He who in the beginning created
it and pronounced it good.
If we could eliminate all these we could probably
find a remnant of people of good common
sense to judge our acts with righteous judgment.
Because coal is a necessity of our modern life
the owners of coal are under some kind of obligation
to do all within their power to supply coal
to the public in reasonable quantities and at a
fair price. The suggestion that coal being a
natural product in some mysterious way this
public obligation is higher than the duty involved
in the supply of any other necessity of life,
food, for example, is utterly untenable.
Some one will say that these natural products,
like oil and coal, should belong to the state. Has
it ever occurred to you that if the state owned the
coal mines the work incident to mining the coal
and marketing it would still have to be done in
exactly the same way as we are doing it and at
a greater cost. How much more per ton would