New-York tribune. [volume], February 04, 1912, Page 4, Image 18

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Sparrows To Be Used to Save Lives
of Miners in Rescue Work Underground
Their Susceptibility to Deadly Gases Serves as a
Warning to the Miner?the Lives of Many
Men Have Been Saved by the Use
of Birds for This Purpose.
WHO could ha\" supposed, eVCS ?:
these days of wast?' product utili?
zation, that the much-despised
English sparrow would ever t>o turne', tc
valuahl* sccount? And for the preserva?
tion of humHtl lives :*t that!
This ver" thing, however, ha? rom? tc
pass. It has been found expedient. *oi
raasona presently to be explained. *o ahh
stltut?' sparrows for canaries in mine r?s?
ous work. an?l S few birds are a!rea?'\
I iraiii"?l for the purpose al the ex?
periment station of the government llti
rsau of Mines near I'ittsburgh.
When, not long ago Mr. Taft 'vitness.--.'
at Pittsburgh an exhibition of such re?rit?
WOO h PCI foi mod by men In oxvgen sup?
plied belmeta with the help of an eaor
mous lion cyUnder (supposed to :, ore
sent a mine), in which terrific explosions
of coal dust, etc , took place he was eyp,..
dally interested In the canary test- In
?me experiment, made in his presence, a
man spent eight minutes In a tisht glis:'
box, the air of which contained one-fourth
of 1 per cent of the deadly carlion .no*
oxide gas. Though protected by r.o oxygen
or other apparatus, the man endure 1 the
situation awhile two sets of Hints suc?
cessively succumbed ica?li set being partlv
asphyxiate*! in two minutes), and then re?
mained In the box four minutes loigor.
whereupon the President ordered him out.
BIRDS QUICKLY OVERCOME.
The object of the trial was to r-hOW that
the birds are much more sensitive to
degfliy gasses than human belniir?avhenc ?
their usefulness to give warning o? the
presence? of such gases. In the recant mine
?llsaster at Prlce*/111e, Tenn.. the'r employ?
ment In this way undoubtedly saved a
number of lives.
?valiere a canary Is thus used it is not
killed, or even seriously Injured. It sim
rly drops off its perch, and thereupon Is
taken from Its cage and gently thrust into
a box, made for the purpose, with which a
small receiver containing oxygen is con?
nected. A twist of a button turns on ihe
oxygen, and in a few minutes the b\rr\ Is ns
well and as lively as ever.
Nothing could be mote humane. Put
there are a great many people in this coun?
try who are so strongly opposed to any?
thing suggestive of cruelty to an'mals thit
they are likely to condemn such employ
merit of canarlea with vehemence and pub?
lic agitation, no matter how many lives of
poor miners might be ?rived through their
use. Whence the new Idea?te utilize spar?
rows Instead. Comparatively li;tle senti?
ment attach?e to sparrows, and attack
from certain well-intentioned and hyper?
emotional quarters will be discounted by
the substitution..
The experts in charge at Pittsburgh have
already made formal report that sparrows
are less available for th>- purpose than
canaries, for the reason that they "do not
lend thcm?>ei\-f\s easily to captivity." To
which reply has been made by Professor
_ .Joseph A. Holmes, chief of the Bureau of
1 Mines, to the effect that the way out of
y the difficulty is t?> "catch tiiem young." In
Other words, lhe sparrow, for the first time
in the history of Its Is to be re?
duced to domestication in order that it may
I ? of practical service to n:an.
BIRDS ATTACHED TO BELTS.
Another idea of Profess, r Holmes is that.
lust?,, '.vine the birds in ordinary
by hand, as has been done hitherto
with canaries, they shall he placed In small
barred box?*a attachable at a moment's no
tier t<i the belt of a "helmet man" entering
a mine. Thus the cay", while* under ready
ration, will not Interfere In the least
with the physical activities of the person
bearing it.
Th" Bureau of Mines maintains several
"rescue <-ars" on the railroads?to be rushed
to the scene in cas. ?if s mine disaster -
and each one of these la provided a- part
of Its Ufosavlng equipment With at least
half a dosen birds. But, under whatever
circumstances they may be used, a "re- ,
suscitante box" always accompanies the I
cage ?n Which they are carri.-.l, to revive
them when they have I.<>iiie partially
asphyxiated.
Iftoe have been tried for the same pur-1
, far more sensitive than any human being
to the effects Of gas.
When an explosion occurs in a mine It is
! us.-ally Impossible to t et ? nouph 'helmet
men" down i?i time to reecue tha >? in peril
underground. Volunteers In numbers, un?
protected by oxygen nprnmtus, ire :
to help Under the ne? system "helmet
men" g? down first, carryini birds. If me
latter show no signs of distress the VOltin?
tea-is .-in venture. ila'ing reached the
bottom of the shaft, the "helmet men," with
their Mrdfl, procssd to explore the tunnels,
ai..I the volunteers follow, picking up mi/
partly aspluxiated miners the? may com?.
Serosa and bearing them to safety.
| This makes it possible for the men with
! the oxyg. n apparatus to dev te themselves
mainly to the business of exploration,
?while the Volunteers WlthOUl helmets a -
cotnpllsh the rescues. But toe moment s
Urd Mutters snd rails frcm ?s perch tht
volunteers are ordered 1" retreat. The"hel?
met men" tiien c forward, whlli I
larles wait In the safe part "f the mine
to help in th work as l.alf-suffocate 1 min?
ers are brought out By this means, with
the help of canaries, live men were saved
at the Brlcevtlle dlesster (which cost rme
hundred and fifty lives) who otherwise
would have perish?d.
The Importance of the matter here dl??
cussed may be Judged from She fact that
hitherto some hundreds of rescuer* have1
lost their live.? eVer? ?ear Incidentally to
mine <llsast??rs In this country. At llnnna,
Wvo. not long as?, fourteen men were Im?
prisoned in a coal mine as tin- result of
an explosion F.-rtv man went to their
rescue, an?! all perished. in the recent
catastrophe at Cherry, 111., twelve men
went down into the mine to attempt a
reecue No signal coming from them after
they reached the bottom of the shaft, tin
car thnt t?)ok them gown wee brought to
the surface, and all of them were found
in it. dead from suffocation by gas
This is the sort of thing which is to j
be prevented by the use of birds. At Brlce?
vtlle caparle, w.-re employed, end not ?
single reeCUer was overcome. With the
help of canaries or sparrows there should
bo no loss <f life worth mentioning In mln?
rescue work from thla IIm on, ahll u f; r
HELMET MEN WITH CANARY IN CAGE ENTERING EXPLOSION
CYLINDER.
pose instead ?if birds, in the COOl mines of
German v white mice are employed by
prefer? nee for the reason that they are
more eastiv seen and their actions more
readily observed In the darkness under?
ground, in this country ordinary gray
mice have been used experimentally by the
Bureau of Minea. But the little rodents
are les? servid ;< than sparrows or can?
aries, becau_e when confined in cages they
are liable to sulk, and It la not always pos?
sible to know whether their behavior Is at?
tributable to this cause or to gas distress.
On the other hand, a sparrow or a canary
is all the time hopping about or preening
Itself cheerfully under ordinary clrcum
Htaii"'H. and i eflfecUd by gaa suffocation
.it makes the fact immediately manifest.
Hence a workman venturing Into a mine
i impel suspected to be dangerous by reason
of gaa can Insure his own safety by carry?
ing a bird with him. II will be overcome
and drop from ?'s perch in plenty of time
t?? Kl\e him warning to get out -the feath
?sred cruuuit?, as alreudy explained, being
greater number of successful rescues of
Imprisoned men avili b< accc.mpllshed.
thanks to the oxygen apparatus and to
I the facility avlth which volunteers can be
utilized without danger to themselves.
The Bureau of Mines estimates that every
year more than 2,000 men an- killed in the
coal mines of the I'nlted States, and about
4,800 are Injured. The cost is one life for
every 190,000 tons of coal dug out of the
earth. For every two men killed one wom?
an Is made a widow and three children are
left fatherless.
Three and a half men are killed lu a year
for every 1,000 coal diggers The average
household in thla country burns five tons of
coal per annum. Thus It Is easy to reckon
that the fuel supply of every 10,030 families
costa one life every twelve months, it Is
one of the taxes on civilisation.
Disastrous mine explosions are usually
explosions of coal dust. And yet until very
recently It was denied, even by most ex
perls, 1hat coal dust could, under any cii
cumatuncca explode. The fact, however tas
WATCHING THE. JZCTI?ffS OIA CATfASr. I If
A HI?E TUHNZL
~?-?-?????? ' ' ?_?? ?- I .
'V: INDER REPRESENTING MINE TUNNEL. FO? EXPERIMENTAL "{XPL08IONS.
finally demonstrated ?. ? ?,,,. Burean oil
Mines), is tint coal duel when SStXOd with
air is as explosive as so much gunpowdrr,
and only ne?,Is in le set it off
This was one of th.? most Interesting ?.f
the demonstrations mud?- recently at i'itta-,
burgh lor ?du?allouai purposes in the
pr? BSQCe "f Mr. Taft and 20.OiiO miners gath
ered from all over the I'nlted Htaies. An
mormons cylinder of iron (representing for
experimental purposes a mine tunnel) was
Abaaarn with air, coal duat-unU notliiiig tl_c.
Then the Pr?sident eras asked to touch it
off by pressing ?? button. vVhen hi did m
ta small ?niantlty of gunp?>w?lcr being used
for Hie purpose), there was an . \plosloii s?.
Iiemendoiis as to alaini OldSt ol IhO -I"'?
latora very griatly-nolvvitlis-landliig the
AE.Lttl.T tt??tf-* O?r Er O? I
THEN ?ABBYINCr OXYGEN 30* , j
TOA -REVIVJNtf ASPHYXIATED31??$
RESIDENT TAFT WATCHING THE
RIG EXPLOSION.
fad .ha? Hic < a linder was Mime hundreds
of yards distant.
Immediately thereupon, wiiiie vet the cy?
linder was tilled wtlh gBSSS Impossible to
breathe, men waring Indin?is and carry?
ing Oxygen tanks on their backs, walked
coolly Into and through lt-lhus illustiating
In the mor? striking way niuglnable the
usefulness "f sUSh SparatUI for mine rescue
werk, i?hni: HAi'lli:. ,
-.
Thrilling Exper?
iences in Tsitsihar
- -_ I
; aetlaaed traa third page.
"lighting****! and early In the morning you I
encounter ? lung string of Chinese feuitg
men, ohatterlng boys and stave, old mer-1
ohsn wending ' :; way up th? hin to thai
park, each man with his aemlclrcular
i Wicker birdcage and (ta trilling inmate. !
I Arrived, they hang their cages on low
| branch, s of the trees and louve them there
? un it is 11 m*- to g??.
W" packed our daps into a bUUOCh can
1 an?l got I" the station full curly. .\l| tho I
Japanese eOldnj "f Tsitsihar?about thirty
'nun and women-came lo ace off two or
CANARY ASPHYXIATION TEST BE?
FORE PRESIDENT TAFT AT
PITTSBURGH.
three Of their PC? . ? women were all
In their natlvs costume, but one girl stum
bled about In high-heeled brown shoes,
topped by purple stockings that she torn*
l?- had to be pulling up. One woman
carried on her booh ? Utile slant-eyed.
round topped, chattering bundle in a rich
red-tlowered kimono an salmeted Japaaeoo
?toll Th. mother lifted it down, and for
? montent left It to it? own gsilem
Promptly it erosssd t.. s lagged ch?nese
boy lolling sgatnat the gatepost of the sta?
tion lain, and gave him a deliberate, vin?
dictive kick with Ils Wooden sandal. It had
probably heHt.l sonic or Its father's remarkf
about the I'hlnese. The mother ran over
ami remonstrated with It. and the fatiVr,
all?-;- the RtOnnee of illogical fath.'s lit
every clime, bought it a pear, it took a bite.
Then, ?a-elng its patents engrosse?! In <*on*
rerantfon once more, the Japanese bab/
toddled off and solemnly presented the pear
to the aetoaiehed Chlnom ragnrAnMn. The
enti nte was aeeoknpHohod
Would that spam allow.,1 of minute de
BCriptlOn <>f th?' COStUmm of those Japanese
?the men?on Tsitslhar station that morn
n?K The?' each vvo . .. ? ?impost of Amer?
ican ,?n?i Jspaaeee stocking ami they were
a sight for the gola. Presently a wild clanB
|ng wa;- wafted dOWS on the breeze, Blld
i lie gnat governor ??enetal Jow appeared,
amid much cringing and bowing and eerap
tng, to bid farewell to the departing JaP**
BOM m? reliants. The Japanese see a power
In th? Ian?! sltu-e their clear-cut occupation
of I'orea and S??uth Manchuria, and the
big guns of CMOS ure prudently Ingratiat?
ing themselves.
While th?- crowd respectfully formed an
aisle the tall Governor Oenersl, resplendent
in gorgeous flowered silk and all the trin?
ket trappings of hia rank, strode up and
down, chatting with the awarthy little Jap?
anese merchant at hia aide.
This ergs what the Japanese trader wore:
A tight-titling check cloth cap, fashioned Iti
Boston In the 70's; a very duaty black
amotinan frock coat, with a native silk
vest ami a gaudy scarf of prismatic color?
around IBS waist; tight fichenei?tady cycling
knickers, military putle??a and a pair ?>f
elastic-sided hoots?the dreaa of the modern
Japanese smart act! Sic transit gloria
mundl!
MISUNDERSTANDING HIM.
"I've about decided t<? get me a talkintt
machin?-."
"You believe that iwo can live as CbSO*?/
us one, eh?"-Houaton Tost.