1008

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

May 26, 1913.

and plans which are not attached to, the report at the
Home Office, and it is suggested that arrangements
should be made for their inspection by anyone desirous
of doing so.

The provision of facilities for taking baths and drying
clothes is compulsory in Westphalia, and recently the
mining laws, both in Belgium and France, have been
amended so as to require, either at once or within a
very short time, similar facilities at all mines in these
countries. Mr. Smillie, one of the members of the
Committee, at the latter part of last year visited the
United States of America, and when there was informed
that baths had been installed at a colliery in Illinois,
and that 50 per cent, of the workmen were taking
advantage of them.

Continental System.

In Westphalia the workmen undress and bath in view
of each other, with the exception of youths under the
age of 18 years, who are not allowed to undress and
bath along with the older miners, but are provided with
separate baths, divided from those used by the other
men by a partition, whereas in France and Belgium the
law requires that the facilities provided shall afford
reasonable privacy, and in every case the shower baths
in the form of cubicles have been adopted.

and take from them his shirt and trousers, and hang
them in the part of the cubicle provided for the purpose,
take off his pit clothes, bath, and put on his shirt and
trousers, then take his pit clothes, suspend them in the
roof, and finally complete his dressing in the building.
Some rule should also be made requiring the persons
using the baths and building to provide themselves
with clean underclothing, shirts, stockings, boots, and
working clothes at such times as the person in charge
of the facilities may think fit. The framing and
enforcing of this rule should devolve on the Committee
of Management.

There is no doubt the Westphalian system, being
devoid of partitions, lends itself to cleanliness. Parti-
tions, unless designed so as to be adequately ventilated,
and to have no square corners, would harbour dirt,
and soon become insanitary. Therefore, both in the
building and cabinets, no square corners should be
allowed, and the cabinets should not touch the sides or
floor of the building. If this were done the bath
attendant would be able to see from the outside of the
cabinets wk ether there is any accumulation of dirt of
any kind, and to take the necessary steps to remove it.
To obtain absolute cleanliness—without which the baths
and wash-houses soon become insanitary, it is important

Heating of the Building.

The interior of the building is kept as far as possible
at a temperature of about 70 degs. Fahr. The usual
means adopted for effecting this are by live steam at a
pressure of about two atmospheres, exhaust steam, or
air heated by being passed round hot pipes. The first
method appears to be the one in general use. In con-
nection with it the steam is passed through pipes, which
have either plain surfaces, or are fitted with rings com-
posed of thin sheet iron, about 3 in. apart, at right angles
to the pipes to cause more effective radiation. Occa-
sionally radiators are employed, but this method is more
costly, and, on this account, is one which is unlikely to
be employed at mines in the United Kingdom. The
pipes are run in line through the building at an average
height of 8 ft. to 10 ft. above the floor, and their number
is such as to keep the temperature fixed. Pipes, in
some instances, are also carried beneath the seats in
the centre of the building provided for the purpose of
the miners dressing, and in all cases where cupboards
are provided they are placed below the cupboards to
dry the clothes.

The fixed temperature in the building serves a double
purpose, viz., affords more comfort to the users of the
baths, and effectively dries the clothes; the hot air, in

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Fig. 2.—Wash-house and Shower Baths for Pit Heads.



The Committee were much impressed by the character
of the baths and buildings, the general organisation,
cleanliness, and supervision of the baths in Westphalia.
The houses and baths were excellent in all respects,
except that they did not afford any privacy to the
bather. The Committee think that bathing in view of
others would not be approved by the workmen of the
United Kingdom, at any rate, at the inception of
bathing at mines, and it therefore appears that the
cabinet or cubicle system as practised in Belgium and
France should be adopted here, but, in order to allow of
the cubicles being dispensed with, if it should be found
afterwards that the workmen desire to take baths in the
same way as is done in Westphalia, the Regulations
should provide for the inspector of mines of the division
having power, on a joint representation being made to
him by the owners and workmen, to modify the require-
ments of the Regulations in this respect.

The average time taken for a person to bath where
cubicles are provided is 10 minutes, and in computing
the number of cubicles and sprays required, one cubicle
should be provided for every six persons employed in
the larger shift. It will be necessary in order to enable
six men to bath in one cubicle in an hour that each man
on returning from work in the mine and entering the
building should lower his clothes suspended in the roof,

that there should be the strictest possible regulations
for the periodical cleansing, painting, colour washing,
&c., of the building and the fittings.

Storing and Drying of Clothes.

For the purpose of arriving at a decision on the
important question as to which is the best method to
adopt for storing and drying the clothes—both working
and ordinary—of the workmen, baths were visited where
this was done by suspending the clothes in the roof of
the building by a chain or string securely fastened at
the lower end to a device and locked. Each workman
is provided with one such string or chain, and if he so
desires, he can secure the end of it, which is within
reach, by a padlock, and take the key. The heat of the
building produced by the hot water pipes for the baths
causes a good ventilation in the roof, and satisfactorily
dries the clothes and prevents any disagreeable odour.
The Committee also visited several installations where
small lockers or cupboards were provided in which to
keep the clothes. Some consisted entirely of expanded
metal, and others of metal perforated with numerous
holes, but in every case there was a disagreeable odour,
and the lockers appeared soon to become dirty. The
Committee have no hesitancy in expressing their
preference for the former method as being the more
satisfactory from all points of view,

rising from the heating apparatus, passes through the
building and around the clothes suspended from the
roof. So far as could be ascertained, there have been
no complaints of clothes being damp the following day
or of anyone suffering from chills, such as could be
caused by the same.

Ventilation is usually obtained by means of ventilators
in the roof and windows in the sides of the building, or
by the use of a fan. The former method appeared to
be effective, and to allow of the escape of the air and
any moisture arising from hot water used in the baths.
Whichever method is adopted it is important that
particular attention should be given to the ventilation
being efficient, and adequate to dry the clothes.

Heating of the Water.

The temperature of the water supplied to the baths is
regulated by an attendant and not by individual users
of the baths, and is usually 100 degs. Fahr. The water
is heated by being mixed with live or exhaust steam.
The steam and water, in one of the systems adopted,
are brought together through the medium of a type of
injector, and in others the mixing is accomplished by
the steam and water being passed into a large tank or
reservoir placed in the roof of the building. By this
means the temperature of the water is raised to about
140 degs. to 160 degs. Fahr. The hot water is then