679

March 27, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.



MIDLAND INSTITUTE OF MINING, CIVIL AND
MECHANICAL ENGINEERS.

Emergency Breathing Apparatus.

A genera] meeting of members of the Midland Insti-
tute of Mining, Civil and Mechanical Engineers was
held at the University of Leeds on Tuesday, March 24,
when the subject of emergency breathing apparatus was
discussed. The President (Mr. Walter Hargreaves)
occupied the chair, and there was a large attendance.

The following new members were elected:—Members :
Mr. Samuel Crawshaw, Tavoy, Lower Burma, India,
proposed by Mr. G. Blake Walker, seconded by Prof.
L. T. O’Shea; Mr. Thomas William Dobinson, Criggle-
stone Collieries Limited, near Wakefield, proposed by
Mr. J. J. Eley, seconded by Mr. L. Dobinson; Mr.
William Hay, Thorncliffe Collieries, near Sheffield, pro-
posed by Mr. D. Russell, seconded by Prof. L. T. O'Shea.
Associate : Mr. Arthur Yeadon, Bentley Colliery, Don-
caster, proposed by Mr. Robert Olive, seconded by Mr.
G-. A. Lodge. Student: Mr. Erank Harwood Boardall,
North View, Altofts, Normanton, proposed by Sir
William Garforth, seconded by Mr. W. D. Lloyd.

With regard to Mr. Hay, the Secretary explained
that that gentleman, who had come to reside in the
district of the institute, desired to remain a member of
the Midland Counties’ Institute, of which he was past
president, as well as to join the Midland Institute.

Papers were then read on “ Types of Light Emer-
gency Breathing Apparatus, intended for the use of
miners, and to be kept in the workings in case of fires
or explosions.” (See page 675).

During the reading of the papers, several questions
were asked.

Mr. T. Beach said he noticed that in Mr. Jacobson’s
apparatus there was only one pipe from the mouthpiece.
He asked if both the exhaled and the inhaled air passed
through the same pipe.

Mr. Jacobson said that was so. First, the exhaled
air went through the pipe, through the cartridge, into
the bag. When it arrived in the bag, the carbon dioxide
was already absorbed, and it took up new oxygen and
then went back through the same pipe. Before doing
so it had again to pass the cartridge, and there again the
absorbing process went on, so that when it arrived the
second time for inhalation, the air was pure. They did
not require two pipes.

In answer to Mr. C. Snow, Mr. Jacobson said the
cost of renewing the charges in the apparatus was about
2s. 3d. Replying to other questions, he said the appliance
was not constructed for work, but simply for men
walking without undue strain. He did not think it
would be safe for the wearer to run out of the workings.
He should go as slowly as possible, and take long breaths.

The Demonstrator said he breathed fast once or
twice, and the air went in and out quickly.

Mr. Jacobson : That is so, but it is better to take
long breaths.

Mr. R. C. Snow : Is not the atmosphere in the bag a
constantly varying one, from a high oxygen content
down to an insufficient one finally ?

Mr. Jacobson . No, I do not think so. It is all oxygen
in the bag, when it is put in. Asked how long the
apparatus would last in a mine atmosphere, without
deterioration, he said it could be sealed up in an airtight
tin, if kept below ground, and the tin could be ripped
open when the apparatus had to be used.

Mr. J. R. Wilkinson said that evidently a small
portion of the exhaled air did not come into actual
contact with the cartridge. He asked what percentage
this was.

Mr. Jacobson said their experiments had shown that
the worst case was about 1 per cent, of CO2.

In answer to Mr. W. D. Lloyd, he said the oxygen
content was about two cubic feet.

Mr. Wilkinson asked Mr. Jenkins, with reference
to the Meco half-hour apparatus, whether the same
standard of atmosphere was maintained up to the end
of the half-hour.

Mr. Jenkins said that, of course, there was a certain
increase in CO2 in all apparatus; that could not be
obviated, but a sufficiently pure atmosphere was main-
tained to enable a man to do ordinary work, such as
fast walking.

Replying to Mr. C. Snow, Mr. Jenkins said the
apparatus could be kept stored in such a form that it
would last for years without deterioration. It was
air-tight. They guaranteed that when in use it would
last from 30 to 40 minutes. The cost of renewals would
depend upon the price of oxygen—whether they got it
at the station or had to buy it elsewhere—but it would
be from 2s. to 2s. 6d.

Sergeant-Major Huskisson, in introducing his paper,
said it was no use a rescue party going into a mine with
a large apparatus unless they had some small appliances

with which to fetch men out alive. Each man of a
team would carry one of his small appliances.

The question was asked as to what was the biggest
percentage of CO2 that had been found in the breathing
bag in the Huskisson apparatus, and Mr. Jenkins, who
replied to the question, said he did not think they had
got more than about 3 per cent, up to the present, but,
of course, it depended entirely upon how the apparatus
was handled.

Mr. G. Blake Walker pointed out that the
pneumatogen apparatus was too big to be stored under-
ground.

Mr. J. T. Wilson, who read the paper for Mr. Cremer
in the latter’s absence, said it was not an emergency
apparatus, but one that would last two hours. They
had also a one-hour type.

Mr. Walker asked if the temperature of the cart-
ridge was not too hot to put the hand on. Mr. Wilson
said he thought not, in the new type.

Mr. Walker said he was afraid there had been a
misunderstanding. He suggested that a description of
the one-hour type should be added to the paper.

The President, in opening the general discussion,
expressed cordial thanks to the readers of the papers. It
must be recognised that there was a great deal of
difference between the little machines which had been
put before them in three instances and the more bulky
ones with which they had been familiar. He thought
present indications were distinctly on the lines on which
colliery people would like them to proceed. The arbitra-
tion before Lord Mersey a few weeks ago practically set
out that central rescue stations were to be the order of
the day, and that the collieries within a certain radius
might be served by those stations. A fixed number of
resident competent men would be kept at those stations,
and the collieries themselves would be relieved almost
entirely of the necessity of training brigades of their
own. In that case it would seem to him that the
central station would provide and maintain all the
large apparatus which was necessary for rescue work,
and that at the pits themselves it would simply be
necessary to keep small emergency appliances which
could be worn by entirely uninitiated workmen or persons
who happened to be in need of such aid. If that was the
case, it would seem that the gentlemen who had read
papers that day were distinctly pursuing the lines with
which legislation would ask them to fall in. Personally,
he had been struck with the adaptability of two or three
of the instruments that had been shown. He had the
pleasure two or three weeks ago of going into the North
of England on behalf of the West Yorkshire coalowners,
and had a full day with Mr. Blackett looking round the
North of England station. He came away very con-
siderably impressed with Mr. Blackett’s views on these
matters, and particularly with his views on the use of
the smoke helmet. In Yorkshire they did not seem to
know very much about the smoke helmet, but in the
North of England they knew a great deal and made
very practical use of it, and were able to make out a
very first-class case for its retention and for its use-
fulness in cases of emergency such as these small
appliances were brought out to meet. He felt sure that
increased interest would be taken in this matter now
that the smaller apparatus was being freed from many
complications which the less portable machines seemed
to have.

Mr. G. Blake Walker said the point about emer-
gency apparatus which appealed to him was the one
which had been been mentioned by Mr. Jacobson and
Mr. Jenkins, of having something which could be kept
in the workings. That was the point brought out at the
life-saving congress in Vienna. With regard to the
comparison with the smoke helmet—which he took it
would only be where there was a definite amount of
work to be done, whether to put out a fire or to get at
something within the reach of the tubes which supplied
the smoke helmet—he was not so much interested,
because the limitations of the smoke helmet were very
apparent. It was for the practical men to consider
whether any of these appliances were sufficiently prac-
tical, or could be made sufficiently practical, to be
kept in a box-hole in each district of the pit—say half-
a-dozen sets. Suppose an accident occurred and
that the district in question was not immediately affected
by foul gases. The men assembled at a given point and
found that their way out was barred by irrespirable
gases, although there was sufficient air for the majority
of the men to continue alive in their own district. In
such a case, if half-a-dozen men, headed by a deputy,
could put on these things and find their way out
and reach the bottom of the shaft and give infor-
mation to those who were considering the work
of rescue, the apparatus would prove very valuable.
It was just the same as the case of a fire—the first half-
hour was all-important. If it were possible, in the case
of an explosion, to afford the means of self-rescue, it
would be invaluable. The practicability and reliability
of the appliances, and the use of them, were practical
questions on which there might be very many differences
of opinion. It might be thought that they would hang
for months and years in a box-hole, and that when they
were wanted they would not be in working order.
With regard to that, he should say they ought to be
attended to and tested periodically. If it were true that
they were safe for three months, then at the end of three
months they should be brought out, re-charged, tested,
and sent back again as a matter of course, just as was
done with fire extincteurs. It seemed to him that the
instruments which had been exhibited gave a very good

primd facie case for practicability. He made no com-
parison between the appliances, but it was obvious that
the smaller and lighter and more inexpensive they were,
the better. He seconded the president’s thanks to the
readers of the papers.

Mr. W. D. Lloyd quite agreed with Mr. Blake
Walker that the idea of having apparatus to enable
men to rescue themselves after an explosion was very
desirable if it was possible of attainment, and thought
they must look at the question from as sanguine a
point of view as possible. But at the same time they
had to consider that the difficulties were very large. He
had not had the opportunity of testing any of the
emergency appliances, but it seemed to him that they
were rather going in the wrong direction. He thought,
judging from the experience that they had had in the
last few months, that efforts should be concentrated on
improving the heavier type of apparatus, and rendering
that really efficient, before starting to run off on a side
issue on the smaller type. It seemed to him that a
great deal higher training was required than was the
case with the other apparatus. That remark applied
more especially to the Huskisson apparatus, which was
obviously designed as an auxiliary, to be used by trained
men, and not really as a self-rescue apparatus. In the
Draeger appliance the oxygen supply had to be regulated
by hand, as it used to be in the old pneumatophor, and
had to be regulated with a fairly coarse valve, so that a
great deal would depend on a man being trained to the
use of it. He asked if any one of the appliances that
they had there that afternoon was really a reliable
apparatus which an untrained man, or even a trained
man, could put on and travel, say, half a mile,
in normal conditions underground, at a slowish speed.
Obviously, they would not allow men to travel at any
great speed or up steep inclines—at least judging by the
experience of other apparatus—and of course the
tendency would be for a man to come out as quickly as
he could, and probably he would overdo it, and overrun
his oxygen supply, and the result would be that,
although he had got the apparatus, he would really be
no better off than he was before. The whole question
was such a wide one that one hardly knew where to
start. But first of all there was the difficulty of
storage. No rubber would stand storage for more than a
comparatively short length of time unless it was abso-
lutely sealed up in a tin, and he rather questioned
whether it would then, so they could take it that the
rubber parts would have to be renewed at comparatively
short intervals. There was no difficulty about keeping
the chemicals and the oxygen, if they were sealed up.
But where were they going to keep the appliances in the
pits ? And, when they had decided that at least it was
possible to plant them in different places so that they
really would be where they were wanted when the time
arrived, how were they going to discipline the men to use
them ? But he thought the way to look at it was this : that
until it was shown, or proved by experience, that these
appliances’ allowed an untrained man to walk half a mile
in normal conditions without any ill results, at a fairly
reasonable speed, it was not much use putting them
down the pit to be used at some distant date—used by
men under great excitement, which, of course, affected
the breathing, and used to come along roads that were
probably not in a normal condition. Another difficulty
he could see was that if the men had to travel through
an irrespirable atmosphere they would have to go
without light, unless they were in a pit that happened
to be equipped with electric lamps. He did not think
they ought to be downhearted. There was a possibility
for the apparatus as an auxiliary to the heavier types.
But he thought that before they got very far with the
lighter types attention should be concentrated on the
perfecting of the heavier types, because if a satisfactory
heavy type could not be evolved, he did not see much
chance for the lighter type.

Mr. G. L. Robinson, H.M. inspector of mines, said he
had seen smoke helmets used, and the men who used
them would place their limit of safety at about 30 yards.
That, of course, was no good after an explosion. It was
all right for damming up a fire or picking up a man who
was working at a fire, because they had fresh air fairly
close, but he did not think that smoke helmets would be
any use at all for rescue work after an explosion. He
agreed very largely with what Mr. Blake Walker had
said about the use of small emergency apparatus, but he
did not carry the matter quite as far as that gentleman.
He thought that all these appliances should have a
steady flow of air, and not be intermittent, as, if put on
a man who did not know how to use it, he would either
forget to turn it on, or else he would turn it on too
much. There ought to be some sort of valve which
would close the appliance at a given point, so that he
could not get so much air at once as would leave him
less than a quarter of an hour’s supply. He would
probably not want it so long. As to the use of the
apparatus, he pointed out that immediately after an
explosion, teams equipped with the larger apparatus
were sent in to explore. In several explosions that he
knew of, men had lived for some considerable time in
districts that had not been very much affected by after-
damp. If rescue parties could go in and find such men,
the small apparatus could then be brought into use and
the men could be brought out of the district, or the
district bratticed or shut off to prevent any outside
afterdamp from going in. His idea with regard
to the small apparatus was not to spread them
all over the pit—because he did not think for one
minute that they would be kept in decent order, and if
they were, probably the wrong men would get hold of
them—but to have them on the surface, ready, and let
the men, when they had explored with the proper
apparatus, take the small appliances in, so that if they
came across any men living they could bring them out