284 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. February 7, 1913. Letters to the Editor. compare men who are members, and who scarcely ever handled a surveying instrument, against those who have done such splendid work in connection with our railways, waterworks, and building schemes, making surveys, levellings, plans, and estimates year in and year out, and who would have to think twice before The Editor is not responsible either for the statements made, or the opinionp expressed by correspondents. Ill communications must be authenticated by the name and address of the sender, whether for publication or not. No notice can be taken of anonymous communi- cations. A. s replies to questions are only given by way of published answers to correspondents, and not by letter, stamped addressed envelopes are not required to be sent. SURVEYORS AND MANAGERS’ CERTIFICATES. Sir,—May I through the columns of your paper congratulate the new board of mining on their very wise decision on refusing the qualification of a “ Would- be Colliery Manager” as a candidate for manager’s certificates. Is it fair to colliery surveyors who wish to take up their work seriously that their markets should be over- crowded, their status and scale of wages kept down, simply that such men as “ Would-be Colliery Manager” may make a temporary convenience of their profession to qualify for colliery managers. If he wishes to get his certificate let him take a position underground and get his practical experience, as in the surveying profession his room is better than his company. I hope other “ Would - be Colliery Managers ” will profit by his experience, and understand that it is now—hands off surveying. This decision of the mining board will do much to raise the status of mine surveyors, and I for one thank them for it. One Who Will Benefit. February 3, 1913. MINING SURVEYORS AND THE SURVEYORS9 INSTITUTE. Sir,—The correspondence upon this subject which has appeared in your columns tempts me to express my appreciation of the efforts of Messrs. Galletly and O’Donahue to widen the way for colliery surveyors into the Surveyors’ Institute. To my way of thinking, this is the most practicable proposal which has been put forward for the purpose in view. On the other hand, this view does not preclude surveyors from considering any better scheme which might be suggested. Meanwhile, those of us who are in agreement with Messrs. O’Donahue and Galletly would be well employed in providing evidence of the support we are prepared to give to the venture. If the council of the Surveyors’ Institute can be prevailed upon to make this departure, upon reason- able conditions, I dare say it will eventually effect a very desirable improvement in the efficiency and status of colliery surveyors. We would be well advised not to look for any great results at the outset, and in any case the emancipation of colliery surveyors mast be a matter of time. I cannot withhold comment upon Mr. Cooke’s criticisms. I think his contribution ill-timed—unless he is prepared to set in motion a better policy than the one he criticises. However, his suggestion of a meeting of surveyors in London is a commendable one. In any event such a meeting would not prejudice the proposals which have been made to the council of the Surveyors’ Institute, and, assuming Mr. Cooke convenes such a meeting, the consequences attendant thereupon would, incidentally, serve to educate him upon some of the difficulties attending the situation. I must admit Mr. Cooke has been more successful than myself in discovering that an organisation had taken root in South Wales. Repeated enquiries locally have failed to satisfy me that anything of the kind has happened. In this connection, perhaps, the gentlemen associated with this alleged organisation will produce their credentials and give us some particulars. Aberdare, February 1, 1913. W. Pugh. Sir,—I have been deeply interested in the corre- spondence which has appeared in the columns of this paper regarding the above, especially Mr. L. H. Cooke’s letter, every word of which I endorse. Mine surveyors should form an institute by themselves having rules and regulations made and observed by them alone. The qualifications required for admittance to the society might be the holding of a certificate; as that granted to surveyors under the Order of December, 1911, which is the hall-mark of our profession, so far as acting as a mine surveyor is concerned, it being the only one recognised by the Home Office. The gaining of any other diploma for surveying would only represent a sum of money expended in classes getting up formula only to be forgotten the week after the examination, except those we could translate into mnemonics of a more or less hideous nature, and above all this there would be the time wasted. Yes, wasted, because half of the subject matter we studied up would be of no practical use after the “ test,” and our time would be ' better spent reading the pages of mining and engineer- ing journals, training our minds along lines which will advance our knowledge of the science of mining, fitting us for positions of responsibility in later years, as I take it that the majority of surveyors really aim at being mine managers, or even higher up in officialdom. Finally, I would also protest against the claim of membership of the Surveyors’ Institute being the “hall-mark” of the surveying profession, when we they even remembered that there was such an establish- ment as the Surveyors’ Institute. Therefore, I say, surveyors, be you of the coal, stone, or metalliferous ! manipulate the apparatus as to show a very trifling and class, let us do something, let us combine together, as ; momentary negative pressure. The fact, however, still the managers have done, to form an association, and let; remains that with the “ Proto ” apparatus, an accident all this talk and writing be put into a more useful! caused b? inhaling poisonous gases from the outside has form. Let it appear at meetings, where we can compare ^er occurred, and this, notwithstanding the fact that notes, and form new ideas, to carry on our work from a high to a higher standard of perfection. February 4, 1913. Ll. B. RESCUE APPARATUS OF THE INJECTOR AND NON-INJECTOR TYPE. Sir,—So much has lately been written about the respective merits of the injector and non-injector types of rescue apparatus that a few words on the actual performances of the latter in our own country may be opportune. In passing, we should like to refer to a recent state- ment of Mr. G. Blake Walker, director of the “Meco” Company, that the non-injector type of apparatus puts additional work upon the lungs. It is quite evident that that gentleman has never used the “ Proto ” (Fleuss-Davis) rescue apparatus or he would know that the breathing effort is not a bit greater with this than with the injector patterns which he cites. “ The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” It cannot be denied that far more work has been done in this country under serious conditions with the “ Proto ” non-injector apparatus than with all other types com- bined, and whereas there have been four fatal accidents to men wearing the injector system during the past twelve months or so in England alone, to say nothing of fatalities in the United States, &c., not a single accident of any sort has occurred to users of the “Proto.” These latter number many hundreds. For instance, at the Howe Bridge (Lancashire) Rescue Station about 900 men have so far been trained in the use of the “ Proto,” and of these, 150 did splendid work at the Hulton Colliery, Mr. Gerrard, H.M. inspector of mines, in his report on that occasion, paying a fine tribute to the men for their splendid work, which was performed without a single accident. Three hundred and twenty-one men have been trained in the use of the “ Proto ” apparatus at the North Staffordshire Coalowners’ Rescue Station at Stoke-on-Trent, and here again magnificent work has been done. Fifteen of the men have worked in an irrespirable atmosphere recovering a pit after an explo- sion for a period extending over 100 consecutive days, two-hour shifts, at the hardest possible work. Seventy- two men from the same station have worked two-hour shifts for a period of a week recovering another pit, and other men have worked two-hour shifts for several days at two other collieries. All the work has been heavy, and there has not been the slightest hitch or mishap with any of the men or apparatus, nor has there been a single complaint. Our “ Bulletin ” gives particulars of numerous other cases; we shall be pleased to send a copy to any interested reader. At present 76 instructors are being trained in the “ Proto ” (selected by the Birmingham Committee after exhaustive tests with all types) at Birmingham University Mining Department, under the South Midland Coalowners’ Association’s rescue scheme. These instructors will in turn train rescue brigades in the various districts comprised in the scheme, which covers Warwickshire, South Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, so that in the near future there will be many hundreds more men using the “ Proto ” apparatus. Mr. Jacobson, the London agent for Messrs. Draegerwerk, of Lubeck, must have a very bad case when he has to resort to misstatements, as in his letter of the 21st ult. We are the originators of the flexible tube pressure gauge as adapted to rescue apparatus, and, of course, it is arranged to register continually. When we use the injector in our self-contained diving apparatus, it is because the conditions are altogether different from those obtaining in gases, and what might easily prove fatal in the case of the latter would be ' quite harmless in water, for reasons which we need not enter into here. Siebe, Gorman and Co. Limited. (R. H. Davis, Director.) 187, Westminster Bridge-road, London, S.E. February 4, 1913. Sir,—Mr. H. J. Morris seems to be throwing dust in the eyes of your readers and obscuring the admirable observations carried out by Prof. Cadman. In practice the pressure in the “ Proto ” apparatus is positive during both inspiration and expiration. But it would be possible for any self-interested person to so the apparatus has been used in far more serious cases and has been much more severely tested than all the injector types put together. In the latter type of apparatus, if there is no negative pressure, the injector is not doing its work. Mr. Blake Walker’s company (the “ Meco ”), I notice, still suggest the use of the helmet or face mask, but all the authorities who have made this subject their special study, and have carried out the most exhaustive experiments, are agreed that the mouthpiece alone is absolutely safe under serious conditions of work, and I emphatically endorse their verdict. 187, Westminster Bridge-road, Henry A. Fleuss. London, S.E. February 5, 1913. USE OF STONEDUST IN COLLIERIES. Sir,—Following the recent suggestions for neutralising the explosive effect of coaldust by means of stonedust, would this remedy not create a greater evil, viz., that of phthisis ? As one who has been on the Rand, and seen the terrible death roll from phthisis, which is contracted both above and below ground wherever there is stone- dust ; this remedy appears to me the greater evil. If stonedust were spread about it would certainly get into the air, and no doubt would have a very harmful effect on the health of those underground. February 4, 1913. Doubtful. [“ The Effect of Dust upon Health ” is dealt with in the First Report of the Explosions in Mines Committee (Wyman and Sons, Limited, Fetter Lane, London, E.C., Is. OJd. post free). This report contains a comparative study of the subject by Prof. Beattie.—Ed. C.G.~\ OXYGEN POISONING. Sir,—Dr. Harger appeals to me in regard to oxygen poisoning. It is true that continuous exposure to 1 atmosphere, and even 75 per cent, of an atmosphere of pure oxygen for a day or two will induce pneumonia in animals, but no danger results to man from the breathing of oxygen for several hours. Experience with the breathing apparatus has shown conclusively that men who breathe oxygen at 1 atmosphere pressure for four or five hours a day are quite unharmed, and are able to work better owing to there being more oxygen in the blood. During hard muscular work the circulation of the blood may not suffice, and this leads to the formation of acid waste products in the blood. These increase breathlessness and fatigue. The breath- ing of oxygen lessens the formation of these acid substances, and so improves the working power. Osborne House, Leonard Hill. Loughton, Essex. February 1, 1913. The Wath Main Colliery Company, after being engaged in sinking operations for a considerable time, have reached the well-known Parkgate seam of coal, which lies below the Barnsley bed. The Wath Main Colliery at present only work one seam, the famous Barnsley bed, for which there is yet a life of 30 years’ working, but some time ago they decided to extend the existing shaft and sink to the Parkgate seam. This has just been completed in one shaft, coal of a fine quality and thickness having been reached at a depth of 260 yards below the Barnsley bed, or 680 yards below the surface. At present the colliery employ 2,500 hands, having, in addition to the Barnsley bed, a new patent coke and by-product plant on the surface, and it is calculated that the new seam, when in full swing, will find labour for an additional 1,000 hands.