Scenes And Incidents From The Life Of A Practical Miner
With A Treatise On The Ventilation Of Coal Mines

21 Well, we had not got many attempts made, when in he came, saying the return drifts were as foul as a gun, and that they filled his lamp with flame. 1 propped the two doors open, and oft* I set as fast as I could. This was rather awkward, as we were making rapid progress in the workings; . was obliged to leave my work and run out beyond the inflammable gasm the return passages, which I found in a serious state. So situated we iac no time to lose. I came so far in and took the passage in detail, opening t ‘ie (loors convenient between the in-going and returning drifts, nie tins was being done, T sent the man about a quarter of a mile from the down-cast pit (leaving it still better than a mile off the up-cast pit an*, uinace), with the same instructions if he found any inflammable gas C-’ <• liU -° 8° to ^ie °ther men and stop the operations in the aistnct tor a time, while I was clearing the return drifts bit by bit, by means of the man hole doors, situated about 300 or 400 yards apart. J Laving succeeded in that, I again commenced to operate on the sheth of wards, and finding we had plenty of “law” in our hands, I ordered the men at the doors to change the process every five minutes. By this time the män whom J had out watching the state of the return (he is living yet) came in, and told me he had never seen any inflammable gas, “and as you ordered me, I have examined the return drifts at all the flaps or man door as I came m.” This account was good, and begot confidence. I took uni m with me to assist m cleaning the working boards and waste, making our preparations m the blank five minutes to be ready for the hurricane of ?nr tor such it was, when the whole atmospheric pressure was laid on this district alone. The process went on satisfactorily, and we continued our careful examinations so that no gas might be left lurking behind. It was now half-past twelve o’clock, and we had got up to the north board. Then with only five pillars and the east winning headways to clean down south, as you will see by the plan—we let the process continue a little longer, though conscious that all was right and clean as far as we had gone We now, however, discovered that the cause of this alarming accumulation of inflammable gas m such a short time, was a fall of blue stone up to the post m the noi-th board, which had exposed one of those extraordinary blowers or fissures whose sudden out-burst of hydrogen gas is far above the power of the ordinary current of air to dilute and render harmless. Here, you sec, might have been an explosion of a very serious description, if I had not known it was my duty to be the first to inspect and examine this north board, to ascertain the effect produced by the drawing out of the tim- ber, &c. Yet how far this system of ventilating a sheth of boards deviates i om the principle I prefer, and recommend to practice, will be seen by the p an. list, you will see that if the air had been taken direct up the westernmost and working headways, borne up with stoppings in the east •rT ( n< s ° ^ie noi'th board, and there passing through an aperture or i’ °1’ aS have described before), it would have been impossible oi ie iy< logen gas to escape through that regulator to west, consequently, tile men would not have been exposed to danger, nor .any one under the 1 H Ji °i an < XP as this inflammable gas would have been, compelled >y ie aws of nature to extend itself in the waste and return passages, w eie none can reach but the wastemen. This is, I hope, sufficiently clear.