Excerpt from Mine-Accident Prevention at Lake Superior Iron Mines The need for better systems for the protection of men from accidents is being increasingly recognized, and the economic loss from prevent able casualties is being appreciated by a continually growing pro portion of employers. The economic loss includes not only payments to the heirs of those killed and to the injured and their attorneys and agents, but also the time lost by workmen during recovery from injuries. Many employers in this country do not regard the loss of time of individual workmen with as much concern as some European employers do. However, the largest employers of labor in the iron mining districts of the Lake Superior region are fully awakening to the importance of both classes of loss. During the year 1911 one iron-ore mining company in the Lake Superior region paid an average of not far from a day in what may be termed casualty expenses - in settlement of claims, in outside hospital expenses, in relief, in the payment of judgments, and in the defense of cases brought against it. About 1 per cent of the accidents to employees of this company resulted fatally and 70 per cent of its accidents resulted in an individual loss of time Of 10 days or less. The prevention of accidents in mining can not yet be classed as a science. Those Operators in the Lake Superior region who have studied the subject have laid down certain fundamental principles upon which their methods of protection are based. A'few employers have formulated sets of rules that they have distributed for the guidance of certain classes of employees, but all of these sets are in complete and imperfect. To an important extent detailed statis tical information upon which methods of prevention can be based is yet lacking. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Fires in Lake Superior Iron Mines Few mines are free from all danger of fire. The danger to life and property may be reduced, but rarely eliminated, by fireproof construction in and about the shaft, as timber and other combustible material are requisite for the development of nearly all mines. In fact, in deep mines, such as some in the Lake Superior region, where the roof pressure is very great, it is not always possible to use rigid fireproof construction because of the gradual but irresistible movement of the rocks. Wherever fireproof construction is not possible in and about shafts, underground landings, and stables, other precautions, such as a good water-supply system consisting of pipe lines and hydrants, abundant hose, automatic sprinklers, and the organization of fire-fighting crews, are essential. Also treatment of the timber by zinc silicate or common salt solutions not only preserves the timber but makes it much less inflammable. Careful watch should be kept of such sources of ignition as the careless use of candles or other open lights or of material that might lead to spontaneous fires, such as oily waste or manure. Also to be avoided are careless electric installations or short circuits due to the crushing of timbers. A small quantity of combustible material, if ignited, may cause most serious consequences. A few years ago in a certain western mine, in the development of which all reasonable precautions had been observed, a small pile of loose timbers, inadvertently left at the bottom of a winze, was in some unknown way set on fire. It burned itself out in half a day without damage to the mine, yet many of the miners were killed by the gases produced. With such an example it is felt that hardly any mine is invulnerable to fire. The Bureau of Mines has therefore given much attention to the investigation of mine fires, and contemplates the issuance of a series of publications on this subject. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.