Chief Mining Engineer, George S. Rice, Chief of Rescue Division, J. W. Paul, and Assistant Engineer, F. F. Morris, learned of the disaster through the daily press, at their homes in Pittsburg, on Sunday. They left immediately with four sets of rescue apparatus, reaching Cherry on Monday morning. Meantime, Messrs. Williams and Webb, equipped with oxygen helmets, had made two trips into the shaft, but were driven out by the heat. Both shafts were shortly resealed with a view to combating the fire, which had now made considerable headway.
The direction of the operations at Cherry, was, by right of jurisdiction, in charge of the State Mine Inspectors of Illinois, at whose solicitation the Government engineers were brought into conference as to the proper means to follow in an effort to get into the mine. The disaster was not due to an explosion of coal or gas, but was the result of a fire ignited in hay, in the stable within the mine. The flame had come through the top of the air-shaft, and had disabled the ventilating fans. A rescue corps of twelve men, unprotected by artificial breathing apparatus, had entered the mine, and all had been killed. When the shafts were resealed on Monday evening, the 15th, a small hole was left for the insertion of a water-pipe or hose. During the afternoon and evening, a sprinkler was rigged up, and, by Tuesday morning, was in successful operation, the temperature in the shaft at that time being 109° Fahr. After the temperature had been reduced to about 100°, the Federal engineers volunteered to descend into the shaft and make an exploration. The rescue party, consisting of Messrs. Rice, Paul, and Williams, equipped with artificial breathing apparatus, made an exploration near the bottom of the air-shaft and located the first body. After they had returned to the surface, three of the Illinois State Inspectors, who had previously received training by the Government engineers in the use of the rescue apparatus, including Inspectors Moses and Taylor, descended, made
tests of the air, and found that with the fan running slowly, it was possible to work in the shaft. The rescue corps then took hose down the main shaft, having first attached it to a fire engine belonging to the Chicago Fire Department. Water was directed on the fire at the bottom of the shaft, greatly diminishing its force, and it was soon subdued sufficiently to permit the firemen to enter the mine without the protection of breathing apparatus.
Unfortunately, these operations could be pursued only under the most disadvantageous circumstances and surrounded by the greatest possible precautions, due to the frequent heavy falls of roof—a result of the heating by the mine fire—and the presence of large quantities of black-damp. All movements of unprotected rescuers had to be preceded by exploration by the trained rescue corps, who analyzed the gases, as the fire still continued to burn, and watched closely for falls, possible explosions, or a revival of the fire. While the heavy work of shoring up, and removing bodies, was being carried on by the unprotected rescue force, the helmet-men explored the more distant parts of the mine, and on Saturday afternoon, November 20th, one week after the disaster, a room was discovered in which a number of miners, with great presence of mind, had walled themselves in in order to keep out the smoke and heat. From this room 20 living men were taken, of whom 12 were recovered in a helpless condition, by the helmet-men.
This is not the first time this Government mining corps has performed valiant services. Directly and indirectly the members have saved from fifteen to twenty lives in the short time they have been organized. At the Marianna, Pa., disaster, the corps found one man still alive among 150 bodies, and he was brought to the surface. He recovered entirely after a month in the hospital.
At the Leiter mine, at Zeigler, Ill., two employees, who had been trained in the use of the oxygen helmets by members of the Government’s corps, went down into the mine, following an explosion, and brought one man to the surface, where they resuscitated him.
Equally good service, either in actual rescue operations, or in explorations after mine disasters, or in fire-fighting, has been rendered by this force at the Darr, Star Junction, Hazel, Clarinda, Sewickley, Berwind-White No. 37, and Wehrum, Pa., mine disasters; at Monongah and Lick Branch, W. Va.; at Deering, Sunnyside, and Shelburn, Ind., Jobs, Ohio, and at Roslyn, Wash.
Explosives Laboratory.—The rooms grouped at the south end of Building No. 21, at Pittsburg, are occupied as a laboratory for the chemical examination and analysis of explosives, and are in charge of Mr. W. O. Snelling.
Samples of all explosives used in the testing gallery, ballistic pendulum, pressure gauge, and other testing apparatus, are here subjected to chemical analysis in order to determine the component materials and their exact percentages. Tests are also made to determine the stability of the explosive, or its liability to decompose at various temperatures, and other properties which are of importance in showing the factors which will control the safety of the explosive during transportation and storage.
In the investigation of all explosives, the first procedure is a qualitative examination to determine what constituents are present. Owing to the large number of organic and inorganic compounds which enter into the composition of explosive mixtures, this examination must be thorough. Several hundred chemical bodies have been used in explosives at different times, and some of these materials can be separated from others with which they are mixed only by the most careful and exact methods of chemical analysis.