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HE CLAYTON TRIBUNE. CLAYTON, GEORGIA.
HE recent loss of life In the Seng-
henydd colliery, Wales, affords an
other example of the explosive na
ture of coal dust. The public has
heard a good deal about the dan
gers oi firedamp and of Its dread
ed aftermath, chok'edamp, which
speedily overcomes its confused
victims. I^ess haB been said of the
dangers of coal dust, but they are
becoming better appreciated and
measures to protect miners from them are being
devised.
The bureau of mines at Washington has lately
been doing good work in its studies of the ex-
plosibility of coal dust and in allied experiments
seeking to find practical ways to lessen casualties
from this cause. What American officials have
done in this direction has been an amplification of
similar efforts abroad. A surprising feature of
tho whole subject is that the danger lurking in
this dust wan so long unsuspected.
In fact, for many years people actually refused
to recognize any menace in this material. It was
not until convincing evidence was adduced by
the scenlific investigator that the stubbornness
of generations gave way. Then unbelief sur
rendered before the indisputable proof of the dan
gers of coal dust when floating in the air.
According to the recent report of a British
government committee, "it may now be consid
ered established beyond all doubt that coal dust
suspended in the air is capable of being ignited
without the presence of any inflammable gas and
of spreading an explosion throughout the dusty
galleries of mines.” The first requirement is that
the dust shall be stirred up by some means and
mixed with the air In cloud-like form. When
ignited in this state it is capable of producing just
such destructive effects as are so often observed
after a colliery disaster.
Why is this stuff dangerous? Briefly, the
chemists say that it is because there is more
surface for the oxygen to attack, and this action
induces heat. According to the British research
commission, "the degree of inflammability of any
combustible material can be defined as the rela
tive ease with which its oxidation can be effected
so as to produce flame.’’ In other words, the
finer the dust from any particular kind of coal
the greater its Inflammability.
The best evidence of this lies in the fact that a
sample of coal which ordinarily would not ignite
until it had been exposed to a temperature of
3,0G5 degrees centigrade would, when in the form
of dust, explode at a temperature of 5G0 degrees
centigrade, flunpewder explodes at a tempera
ture of aao degrees centigrade, so you can see
how closely coal dust is allied to gunpowder.
We have been burning coal for hundreds of
years and yet there is a lot about it wo do not
know. In fact, the true chemical nature of this
fuel remains largely a mystery. Investigators
have shown that coal is not the simple sub
stance it was once thought to be. In fact, it is
a compound of vegetable cellulose, which forms
its base, cemented by the changed resins and
gums of the primordial plants. The latter bodies
are readily decomposed at comparatively low
temperatures and it is from this part of the coal
that the first of the explosive gases come. When
coal is in the form of a dust it is in the condi
tion to respond quickest to the action of heat.
You have Been the cloud of dust advancing
along a country road ahead of a coming storm.
Well, an explosion in a mine virtually duplicates
this occurrence. The explosion sets up disturbing
air currents and these stir up the coal dust in the
outlying galleries. What follows? That initial
blast heats the dust to the point of ignition and
the fine particles mixed with tho air become an
explosive.
It flashes up at once and transmits kindred
■waves throughout the whole range of the dust
cloud, and' in this fashion generates a series of
explosions which are successively fed by the
whirling dust that they disturb. It is substantially
a chain of explosions which lengthens to the
furthest limits of the available fuel upon which it
feeds.
The heedlessly bared flame of a miner's lamp
may start the ball rolling, either by igniting a
s small volume of firedamp or by setting oft a
cloud of coal dust which has been created by a
miner’s blast. Undoubtedly many of the worst
colliery disasters have been more directly due to
coal dust than to any other cause, and yet fire
damp was until quite recently held responsible
for most of these catastrophies. It did not occur
to the miners or to their employers that the gath
ering particles of coal were a source of danger.
The operatives were too busy getting out mer
chantable coal to give any heed to the accumulat
ing dust. And yet., as we have seen, the mine gal
leries were slowly but surely becoming little less
perilous than magazines of powder.
Once the hazard was realized the mining world
cast about for preventive agencies. Naturally the
first remedy seemed to be water, and mine road
ways were liberally saturated to lay the dust and
thus prevent its rising so as to form an explosive
mixture with the atmosphere.
In lieu of this the next precaution was in the
form of tlustless zones, the powdery particles be
ing scrupulously removed for a considerable dis
tance. The idea was to establish in this manner
a sort of void through which expdosive waves
could not he propagated. Theoretically this is
all right, but again the ventilating air currents
carry with them a measure of coal dust and make
it impracticable to maintain the defensive zones.
Just how some one stumbled on the idea of di
luting coal dust with a non-explosive dust is not
a matter of history, but somebody did conceive
the plan, and tho vaiue of this remedy is daily
growing in favor because of its effectiveness. In
general terms the German mino authorities
touched upon this method as far back as 1884,
but the subject was not brought forward scien
tifically until after the explosion in the Altofts
colliery, England, two years later.
W. E. Garforth was the mine manager. While
traveling through the underground Workings after
an explosion of coal dust he noticed that although
great damage had been done in some places
there were at others no perciptible destructive ef
fects. Curiously, Just at these apparently im
mune places fine stone dust had been whirled into
the air with great violence and then settled upon
the roadways like a thick carpet. Mr. Garforth
noticed this peculiarity on other occasions and
came to the conclusion that stone dust, might be
useful to dilute coal dust and so render the latter
harmless, just in the same fashion as air is used
to dilute firedamp.
A fine example of how well rock dust may be
distributed by natural means is to be seen in
tho northern Illinois long wall field, where the
bits of shale that fall from the roof and the pack
walls keep the coal dust covered up. Explosions
have never happened in this district, though min
ing has been going on there for over 40 years.
It took the British some years before they
reached the point of action, but in July, 1908, ex
periments on a large scale with stone dust were
commenced on the completion of the Altofs re
search gallery, Mr. Garforth being placed in
charge. This gallery consisted of a tube 000 feet
in length, having a diameter of seven and a half
feet and being built of the shells of disused boil
ers, and for more than two years investigations
were carried out with the most painstaking care.
It was proved conclusively that the admixture
of an incombustible dust with the coal dust ren
dered the initiation of an explosion correspond
ingly difficult to effect. At the Woolwich testing
gallery, the ordnance center of the British gov
ernment, it was found that coal dust containing
a large proportion of shale was insensitive to
ignition by means of a charge of gunpowder. In
these latter experiments sensitive coal dust was
rendered inert by an admixture with 85 per cent,
of shale dust. But this seemed to call for too
much protective stone dust to make the method
practicable.
The Belgian authorities have set the pace in
this matter. They did it by placing boards in the
mine galleries just under the roof in the form of
shelves and upon these they laid heaps of incom
bustible dust, not fine enough to be disturbed by
the normal air currents. They allowed something
like nine bushels per square yard of working.
There was left sufficient space above the top of
the dust heap for the blast of an explosion to
sweep over the pile and thus to blow It broadcast
in a cloud. Thus the same destructive blast that
would otherwise have stirred up the coal dust and
ignited, it was made to set in motion an antidote
which smothered the inflammable particle of coal.
European experiments have shown that a 40
jirr centjLaditixture of stone dust with coal dust
was sufficient to prevent an explosion. Of course
this depends upon the chemical nature of the
coal, and tho results so far obtained are the re
ward of the first efforts to lessen this hazard. It
is quite probable that some kindred but less bulky
medium will be discovered that will answer bet
ter. In fact a 2 per cent, mixture of sodium bi
carbonate has a very remarkable smothering or
checking effect.
VIgW SHOWING AggJLGK cm mg SgTYG'/igTIYDD Fteg Wlg/f SAHDBSGS AND TUICJ'
A SCHOOL FOR BRIDES
New York East Side Innovation Which Has
Proved a Wonderful Success.
Could anything bo more practical than a little
three-room flat outfitted as a model home, tho
whole affair being use as a school for brides? St.
George's church—picturesque old landmark of
Stuyvesant square—has opened such a school,
with two sessions a day, says the New York Mail.
And maybe it isn't a success! Also, maybe it Is.
Mrs. Herbert Satterlee, daughter of the late J.
P. Morgan, presented the school to St. George's
Memorial house through the city mission commit
tee of the church, which is jomposed of women as
kind as they are wealthy.
It was intended for “children more than twelve
years old," for it is the children of congested East
side neighborhoods who are the teachers of their
parents ' when It comes to matters of modern
household art.
Older girls heard of it, however, and clamored
for admission to the classes. New little brides
heard of it and, longing to start their married
life aright, alBO clamored. Now, Miss Jessio M<j-
Cutcheon says, the school threatens to outgrow its
allotted space and spread all over the neighbor
hood.
MIsb McCutcheon, from Edinburgh, Scotland, is
the teacher. In a blue gingham house frock and
white cap that hides a mass of wonderous gold
hair, she puts her pupils through the daily duties
or a “three-room'' household and Incidentally
feeds them a jolly good meal.
Everything in the three rooms could be bought
for $100. Yet they are perfectly and sanitarily
furnished and illustrate a comfortable home for a
small family.
One bedroom has a double deck bed. Here four
tots can sleep comfortably, two by two, laid scru
pulously head to feet. There 1b a crib, too, for
there’s always a baby.
A chiffonier contains all the children's clothing
and they are taught to keep It there. In a corner
Is a homemade closet with gay chintz curtains
and a pine shelf a foot from the floor for shoes.
On top alt a row of pasteboard millinery boxes
resplendent In wall paper overcoats, and as orna
mental as you please.
Cleanliness is dinned into tho pupils and tho
joys of washstand and the toothbrush emphasized.
"There’s a place for everything," is the slogan,
and every student heeds it.
The living room contains a couch dressed in gay
chintz by day, but opening double at night by a
single twist of the wrist. Another curtained ward
robe Is in this room, for ma's and pa’s best clothes,
with the usual shoe shelf. The chairs are of
white pine of the common or 75-cent variety,
grandly stained with brown, which cost only 50
cents a can and was enough to stain chairs, table,
shelves and floor.
In the kitchen everything is scrubable. Fivo-
cent fruit jars serve as holders for cereals, sugar,
flour, dried peas, beans, etc. On the window sill
is a "cold weather refrigerator" made of a box
with an oilcloth curtain.
All windows of the flat are curtained In snowy
cross bar muslin, cheap, pretty, durable and easi
ly kept clean. At top of the windows is a plaited
frill of Bix-lnch blue checked gingham and it is
amazing how stylish it looks.
The wholo place is spick and span and as fas
cinating as a newly furnished doll house.
Each room is the basis of a lesson. Miss Mc
Cutcheon drills her classes first In tho making of
coffee and toast, and the preparation of a cereal,
for breakfast. Then comes the airing and tidying
up of tho “living room,” which i3 made completely
ready so that there will always be one spot where
company can be received, no matter how soon it
rw be after breakfast
,r ' v en the childrens bedroom is tackled. After
that tho scene of operations is In tho kitchen.
This Interests the pupils most of all.
Simple but nutritious dishes are prepared. Stew
Is a favorite; also potato soup, bread pudding,
custard, rice cakes, prunes and boiled apricots.
Plain, cheap fare, easy cooked and to digest, is
the order of the model kitchen, and little Scotch
Miss McCutcheon manages to put many a nug
get of useful philosophy into her household les
sons.
“Is it all appreciated?*’ she' exclaimed, in reply
to a query. “Well, I should say it was. It’s al
most pathetic to see how eager tho East aiders
are to learn good living. They fairly drink in the
lessons, and a trip through the neighborhood
would soon prove to you that they profit by every
word. I believe any bride who modeled her home
after this three-room flat would be assured of a
happy and prosperous married life!”
HOW NAPOLEON DIED
Additional Particulars Given by Grandson
of Medical Attendant.
Some interesting additions to the last chapter
in the life of Napoleon—the five and a half years
lie spent on the island of St. Helena—are made
by L. M. Shortt, the grandson of Dr. Thomas
Shortt, who was principal medical officer on the
island during the last months of Napoleon's life,
says London Tit-Bits.
Two mouths before the death of “tho little
Corsican,” which took place uhout ten minutes
before G o’clock on the evening of May 5, 1821,
Napoleon was told that a splendid mansion had
been completed for him on the Island, to which
he could move at any time. Napoleon, however,
regarded the building with horror, and would
never go into It. Dr. Shortt, and those obliged to
be on the spot, had beds In the mansion, being its
first inhabitants.
Napoleon developed many eccentricities before
Ills death. It was with the greatest difficulty that
he could he persuaded to take either food or medi
cine. Indeed. Dr. Shortt had to invent a plan to
make Napoleon take medicine without his know
ing it.
By this means the doctor managed to give him
ten grains of calomel, and he derived advantage
from the medicine, but his strength declined rap
idly and his existence soon terminated. Dr.
Shortt mentions, in the English Keview, that Na
poleon would allow no stranger to approach him,
and, although he continued in consultation until
Napoleon died, he did not see him until after his
death.
A post-mortem examination revealed the fact
that Napoleon's body was a perfect mass of disease
from cancer. His father died when younger than
himself of the same dinease, so that It was here
ditary and unconnected with climate or the mode
of life he led at St. Helena. There is little doubt
that he would have shared the same fate had he
been seated on the throne of Franco. It is said
that Napoleon’s sister, the Princess Borghese, sut
fered from the same disease, and Bonaparte was
anxious that his own symptoms should be fully
ascertained for the purpose of being useful to his
child, who might inherit from him the complaint
A Doctor’s First
Question Is ?
“How arc Your Bowelst” A Sim
ple Remedy that Guarantees
Good Bowel Action.
Trace the origin of the commoner
ills of life and almost invariably you
will find that constipation was the
cause. It Is not to be expected that a
mass of fermented food can remain in
tho system beyond its time without vi
tiating the blood and affecting the
nerves and muscles. It congests the
entire body.
The results are colds, fevers, piles,
headaches, and nervousness, with its
accompanying indigestion and sleep
lessness. There is only one thing to
do, and that is to remove the trouble;
and when nature seems unable to do
it, outside aid is necessary. You will
find the best of all outside aids a rem
edy that many thousands are now us
ing for this very purpose, called Dr.
Caldwell’s Syrup Pepsin. Many hun
dreds of letters are received by Dr.
Caldwell telling of the good results
obtained, and among the enthusiastic
, letters is one from Lieut. G. W.
Vaughan, of G23 W. North St., Decatur.
Ill. He is 72 and has had a bad liver
and stomach since he came out of the
army. He says he tried about every
thing, but never succeeded in getting
permanent relief until he took Dr.
Caldwell’s Syrup Pepsin. He is never
without a bottle in the house, and he
is never without good health.
It has untold advantages over pills,
salts and the various coarse cathartics
LIEUT. G. W. VAUGHAN
and purgatives, for while these do but
temporary good, Syrup Pepsin cures
permanently. The effect of its action
is to train the stomach and bowel
muscles to do their work naturally
again, and in a short time all forms of
medicine can be dispensed with. It
can be bought without inconvenience
at any nearby drug store for fifty
cents and one dollar a bottle, the latter
size bqing regularly bought by those
who already know its value. Results
are always guaranteed or money will
be refunded.
Families wishing to try a free sam
ple bottle can obtain it postpaid by ad
dressing Dr. W. B. Caldwell, 203 Wash
ington St., Mouticello, Ill. A postal
card with your name and address on
It will do.
Common Form of Insanity.
A party of Clevelanders entertained
some holiday visitors and having
showed them everything interesting in
Cleveland proper they had to take
them to Newburg for a view of the
asylum. The superintendent was in
a genial frame of mind and he con
ducted the bunch personally.
"Here is a queer case, ladies,” he
said, pausing at a particular cell.
"This man has the delusion that he
possesses the moti ve power that runs
the universe. He is perfectly harm
less, but he actually believes that
without him the world would not
move. Strange notion, isn’t it?”
"Why, not at all!” exclaimed one of
the women. “My husband has the
same idea and lie always has had it.
Is he crazy, too?"
SALTS IF BACKACHY OR
KIDNEYS TROUBLE YOU
Blame Located.
A crabbed old misogynist said to
Ethel Barrymore at a dinner in Bar
Harbor:
“Woman! Feminism! Suffrage!
Bah! Why, there isn't a woman alivf*
who wouldn’t rather be beautiful than
intelligent.”
"That's because,” said Miss Barry
more, calmly, "so many men are stu
pid while so few are blind.”
—
Eat Less Meat If Your Kidneys Aren’t
Acting Right or If Back Hurts or
Bladder Bothers You.
When you wake up with backache !
and dull misery in the kidney region
it generally means you have been eat-
ing_too much meat, says a well-known !
authority. Meat forms uric acid which
overworks the kidneys in their effort
to filter it from the blood and they be- I
come sort of paralyzed and loggy.
When your kidneys get sluggish and |
clog you must relieve them, like you
relieve your bowels; removing all the |
body’s urinous waste, else you have i
backache, sick headache, dizzy spells;
your stomach sours, tongue is coated, !
and when the weather is bad you have j
rheumatic twinges. The urine is
cloudy, full of sediment, channels oft
en get sore, water scalds and you are
obliged to seek relief two or three j
times during the night.
Either consult a good, reliable physi- j
cian at once or get from your pharma- i
cist about four ounces of Jad Salts;
take a tablespoonful in a glass of
water before breakfast for a few days
and your kidneys will then act fine.
This famous salts is made from the
acid of grapes and lemon juice, com
bined with lithia, and has been used
for generations to clean and stimulate
sluggish kidneys, also to neutralize
acids in the urine so it no longer irri
tates, thus ending bladder weakness.
Jad Salts is a life saver for regular
meat eaters. It is inexpensive, cannot
’injure and makes a delightful, effer
vescent lithin-water drink.—Adv.
TAKES OFF DANDRUFF
HAIR STOPS FALLING
Girls! Try This! Makes Hair Thick,
Glossy, Fluffy, Beautiful—No
More Itching Scalp.
Within ten minutes after an appli
cation of Danderine you canuot find a
qingle trace of dandruff or falling hair
and your scalp will not itch, but what
will please you most will be after a
few weeks’ use, when you see new
hair, fine and downy at first ^yes—but
really new hair—growing gll over the
scalp.
A little Danderine immediately dou
bles the beauty of your hair. No dif
ference how dull, faded, brittle and
scraggy, just moisten a cloth with
Danderine and carefully draw It
through your hair, taking one small
strand at a time. The effect is amaz
ing—your hair will bo light, fluffy and
wavy, and have an appearance of
abundance; an incomparable luster,
softness and luxuriance.
Get a 25 cent bottle of Knowlton’s
Danderine from any store, and prove
that your hair is as pretty and soft
as any—that it has been neglected or
injured by careless treatment—that’s
all—you surely can have beautiful hair
and lots of it if you will just try a lit
tle Danderine. Adv.
Deadly Work of Scorpion.
Some scorpion bites cause little
more than burning pain and numbness
in the part affected for a few days.
But the more poisonous varieties cause
death, and that especially, when
they sting young children or de
bilitated old people. The lower class
es of people in Mexico suffer more than
the weli-to-do, because of their custom
of going about half naked most of the
time.
Had the Proof.
Stonemmason (in box describing as
sault)—He walks into my yard and
rams me up agen one o' me own
stones.
Counsel—Did he hurt you?
Stonemason—Hurt me! Why, I've
got "sacred to the memory of" stamp
ed all down me back.—Tatler.
Putnam Fadeless Dyes will last un
til the goods wear out. Adv.
Fragile.
Little Elsie after being lectured')—
Mamma, the commandments break
awful easy, don’t they?
Actors imitate mankind; amateurs
imitate actors.
RUB-MY-TISM
Will cure your Rheumatism and all
kinds of aches and pains—Neuralgia,
Cramps, Colic, Sprains, Bruises, Cute,
Old Sores. Burns, etc. Antiseptic
Anodyne. Price 25c.—Adv.
Stinging.
“Er—ah, beg your pardon, miss, but
haven't you lost something?” began
the would-be flirt.
"No, 1 haven’t. But there goes a
lady with a dog chain. It's probably
her you’re looking for."
Astonishing Tolmcco Rrmetly — GnamnU'ed
u> mr.iuntly remove taste for clffurettus or tobacco
any form, or money cheerfully refunded. Head
“ medy by return mall.
The only exercise some people get
is throwing bouquets at themselveB.
That Weak Back
nccoixipunitrd by pain here vr there—extreme nervousness—
sleeplessness—may be faint & pel la—or spasms—all are signals of
distress for a woman. She may be growing from girlhood into
womanhood*—passing from womanhood to motherhood—or later
Buffering from that change into middle life which leaves so many *
wrecks of women. At any or all of these periods of a woman’s life "
ehe should take a tonic and nervine prescribed for just Buch cases
by a physician of vast experience in the disease# of women.
DR. PIERCE’S
Favorite Prescription
baa successfully treated more cases in past forty years than any other known remedy. 14
can now be bad in sugar-coated, tablet form ns well as in the liquid. Sold by medicina
dealers or trial box by mail on receipt of 50 cents in stamps.
Miss Elisabeth Lordahl of Berkeley, Cal., in a recent letter to Dr. Pierce said: “I was completely'
brokendowninheslth.Iwaiachlngand had painsallovermy body and was ao nervous that I could icresm
if anyone talked to me, but 1 had the (rood fortune to meet a nurae who had been cured by Dr Pferce'a
Prescription. I have never had an occasion to ccnault a physician einoe—am In excellent health.”
Brer and boweJn — aumir
)Ueta rental
-coated, tli
tiny (raanlee