MINE SAFETY DEVICES — MANNING. 535 



some serious defects were pointed out and these have been remedied 

 by the manufacturers. A new and improved type of apparatus, sub- 

 sequently described, has been developed by the bureau. 



In their training work the bureau's field men observe many in- 

 stances of safe and unsafe practice, and the Imowledge thus gained 

 they utilize through their district in conferences with the miners and 

 the operators. When it is felt that one or more of the bureau's 

 publications will be helpful to a particular miner or operator, the 

 publications are forwarded. When the bureau's field men find 

 gaseous or dusty conditions in mines and these conditions are dan- 

 gerous or not well understood, they take samples of the air or dust 

 and forward these to the bureau's laboratory for analysis. The infor- 

 mation obtained is then available for the operator concerned. 



The operators of mines in which adequate consideration is given 

 to safety features are being given reduced rates for workmen's com- 

 pensation insurance. The benefits to the miners are even greater in 

 that accidental deaths and injuries are being materially reduced. 



USE OF MOTION PICTURES IN MINE SAFETT WORK. 



In its general mine safety work the Bureau of Mines makes effec- 

 tive use of motion pictures to illustrate (1) safe and unsafe methods 

 and practices and (2) Bureau of Mines standard methods of mine 

 rescue and first aid. 



Most of these films are taken by bureau photographers in coopera- 

 tion with various mining companies; some are purchased, and others 

 are presented to the bureau. They are shown to the mining public 

 by bureau representatives on every possible occasion, largely in con- 

 nection with mine-rescue and first-aid training. A chronolosfical loan 

 record is kept of past, present, and prospective loans of films. It is 

 estimated that during the past fiscal year films were shown to 160,000 

 mining people, not including the thousands of visitors to the Govern- 

 ment safety-first train. 



As these films are for a specific vital educational purpose — to in- 

 struct mine workers, many of whom know little of the English lan- 

 guage or the work in which they are engaged — ^the scenarios are, so 

 far as possible, criticized by expert engineers and surgeons. 



Stationary photographs, taken with the same educational object, 

 are used to illustrate bureau reports and for lantern slides. That 

 they may be intelligible to non-English-speaking miners, the titles 

 to many of these slides are in four languages. 



When the interest of the miners in rescue, first-aid, and general 

 safety work can not otherwise be aroused, a lecture by bureau engi- 

 neers, with motion pictures or lantern slides of safe practices as con- 

 trasted with dangerous practices, enables the lecturer to organize first- 



