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

65 by the attractive power of the furnace, while the other is lying dormant, or issues forth from its secret beds of varied sources by slow degrees and in detached portions. Such is the ascendency atmospheric air possesses over hydrogen gas, that the latter cannot possibly exist in a current of air any length of time. The witness goes on to say, “there is an old board, and it is my opinion that a little gas escaped from the top of the stone, and got to .1 man’s candle. This was the most northern board. From tliis statement it is reasonable for me to infer that this old board is the one I have alluded to; and if so, there is a possibility of the state- ment being correct, by this board being connected with a pair of headways to the east. These headways might furnish the necessary apparatus for abstracting the hydrogen gas from the general volume of air, through the agency of caloric, when by that process these headways might be filled to north with inflammable gas: But even then, that board not being holed to west, nor having any connection with any other place but the west head- ways, would be filled with a fluid body, whose natural gravity would far outweigh that of hydrogen gas. Consequently, the contents of this board would operate equally with the barrier of coal against the advance of hydrogen gas at the east end of it. But admitting that these men work- ing with the candles did hole into this board at the west end of it, and that there was at the time 9,000 cubic feet of air borne up this western- most headways to the north board—and suppose this headway be 24 feet in area—such an immense volume of air would fill it from side to side, from sole to roof, moving at a rate of not less than six feet per second; and if so, who would presume to say they could collect a volume of hydrogen gas to staj the force and pressure of that current of air ? The man of science, fully acquainted with the specific gravity of the two bodies, would know that this was contrary to the law of nature; yet the natural channel of tliis current of air is by south to east. It would never go up these north headways without the aid of artificial means, such as doors and stoppings to bear it up; and even when borne up to the extreme north, it would make its course to south immediately it had the chance, omitting the north to the east of these workmen. This might really be the case in the present instance, if there was not an immediate provision made to force the air down this old boat d ; it would, of course, continue in its former passage to the south, and as it passed these headways to the east it would, undoubtedly, produce a counter current by the connection of these headways up this old board; and if so, the previous contents of these headways to the north of the current of air, with this old board, might, by a process of nature, become converted into a volume of inflam- mable gas, and, in process of time, be borne up to the west, and come in contact with the men’s naked lights. But before we conclude this it must be admitted that it was highly improper for the men to be permitted to work so situated with the candles. I am, however, of a different opinion as to how the inflammable gas was formed, how collected into a volume, and how ignited. The same witness admits they were making a goaf; but, notwithstanding some pillars of coal being taken off, the stone had not fallen except where it had left plenty of space for the air, and for men to travel through, over I