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ON EXPLOSIVES USED IN MINING. BY JOSEPH MITCHELL, ESQ. 
1 intended to have read a paper upon the present extension 
of the Silkstone Coalfield, but I am prevented doing so because 
the explorations are in the hands of gentlemen who are anxious 
for the present to keep them private ; however I may mention that 
so far as the extension of the Silkstone Coalfield in South Yorkshire 
is concerned, that it is progressing, and that the coal which has been 
reached in the new workings in the Dearne Valley District is of even 
better quality than that on the rise side of the Main Worsbro' Fault. 
We may, therefore, look forward to the'developement of the various 
coal measures underlying the Barnsley Seam, and rest satisfied that 
the Coalfield of South Yorkshire will be extended for many years 
to come, and, I hope, will be a source of profit to everybody concerned. 
With regard to the Final Report on the Royal Commission on 
Accidents in Mines, I am pleased to see that it has completed its 
enquiries, and that practicaliy the conclusions to which the 
Commission has come in many instances are similar to what 
the Midland Institute and other Societies in connection with Mining 
in Great Britain found to be the proper methods to be adopted to 
ensure increased safety in the working of mines, and had been recom- 
mended by these Societies to the Royal Commission, although such 
recommendations do not appear to be properly acknowledged in the 
Report itself ; therefore we may consider that these various Societies 
have done something to enable the Royal Commission to come to a 
proper conclusion in their Report. 
The Report particularly deals with the Lighting of Mines. 
Various experiments had been conducted during the past year 
by several of the Societies and Mining Institutes, as well as the Royal 
Commission, and I am happy to say that the conclusion arrived at by 
the Institute which has its centre in Barnsley (The Midland Institute 
of Mining, Civil and Mechanical Engineers) was practically in accord- 
ance with that of the Royal Commission, which was that a good light 
