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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1006 



Mines to be located in Pittsburgh, Pa., have 

 been approved by the commission appointed 

 by congress for that purpose. The federal 

 government now owns the property upon 

 which will be erected a group of buildings, 

 especially designed and adapted for the carry- 

 ing on of the mine safety work and other in- 

 vestigations in which the Bureau of Mines is 

 interested. 



Congress a year ago, in the public buildings 

 bill, authorized a new home for the Bureau 

 of Mines to cost $500,000. It is now expected 

 that congress in its present session will make 

 a specific appropriation so that construction 

 work may begin. It is hoped that contracts 

 may be let by July 1. The director is hopeful 

 that the buildings may be completed in the 

 fall of 1915, when they will be dedicated with 

 suitable ceremony, including a second Na- 

 tional Mine Safety Demonstration, similar 

 to that held at Pittsburgh in 1911. 



The commission which has approved the 

 plans consists of J. A. Holmes, D. C. King- 

 man, chief of engineers of the United States 

 army and O. Wenderoth, supervising architect 

 of the treasury. The state of Pennsylvania 

 has appropriated $25,000 for cooperation in 

 establishing this experiment station and has 

 appointed a state commission consisting of 

 James E. Roderick, chief mine inspector, Dean 

 W. E. Crane, of the mining department, Penn- 

 sylvania State College, and "W. H. Caverly. 

 This latter commission has tentatively ap- 

 proved the plans. 



The buildings which will constitute the 

 experiment station of the bureau will form 

 a part of a most remarkable and unusual 

 group of monumental edifices devoted to edu- 

 cational purposes. On one side the bureau's 

 buildings will face the great group of struc- 

 tures of the Carnegie School of Technology. 

 On another side is the Carnegie Institute, in 

 which are the art gallery, museum and library. 

 Nearby is the imposing pile of buildings of 

 the University of Pittsburgh. Other nearby 

 buildings are the Memorial Hall, Pittsburgh 

 Athletic and University Club and the Hotel 

 Schenley. The site consists of nearly twelve 

 acres of land, part of it on the higher level 



of the city streets and part of it on the level 

 of the B. & 0. Railroad, which railroad will 

 furnish adequate facilities for passengers and 

 freight traffic. 



The group consists of three main buildings 

 facing Forbes Street and the several street-car 

 lines from the uptown district. The central 

 building of the group, the mining building, 

 will be three stories in height, flanked by two 

 main buildings, one the mechanical and the 

 other the chemical building. In the rear of 

 these and inclosing a court will be the service 

 building. Beyond the service building and 

 spanning what is known as Panther Hollow 

 and thus connecting the Bureau of Mines 

 buildings with the Carnegie Schools, will be 

 two buildings over the roofs of which will 

 pass the roadway from Forbes Street to the 

 Carnegie School buildings and Schenley Park. 



Between the main group and the power and 

 fuel group will be the entrance to a series of 

 mine shafts. One of these will be used as an 

 elevator to carry heavy material and passen- 

 gers from the lower level to the upper; an- 

 other will be for tests of hoisting ropes and 

 similar mining appliances; another wiU be an 

 entrance to tunnels extending under the 

 buildings and in which mining experiments, 

 such as fighting mine fires, will be conducted. 



The portion of Panther Hollow above the 

 power buildings will be arranged as a miners' 

 field, the slopes of the ravine being utilized aa 

 an ampitheater which will accommodate 20,000 

 spectators who may assemble here to witness 

 demonstrations and tests in mine rescue and 

 first-aid. 



The main or mining building will contain 

 the administrative offices, and those of the 

 mining force. In it will be an assembly and 

 lecture hall, a library and smoke and other 

 rooms for demonstrations and training in 

 mine rescue and first-aid. The mechanical 

 building will be for experiments and tests of 

 mining machinery and appliances and the 

 chemical building for investigation and analy- 

 ses of fuels, explosives and various mineral 

 substances. 



The buildings now used by the Bureau of 

 Mines as an experiment station at Pittsburgh 



