266 
MINUTES OE PKOCEEDINGS OE 
fact tliat this contact must be of some little duration to ensure the 
ignition of the fire-damp was applied by Stephenson in the construction 
of his safety-lamp ; and a very philosophical application of the property 
possessed by good conducting bodies, such as copper or iron, of cooling 
down a flame below the igniting point of the gas, and thus extin¬ 
guishing it, was made by Davy in the construction of his safety-lamp. 
All the efforts of eminent scientific and practical men, for the better 
part of a century past, to diminish the number of coal-mine explosions 
by improving the ventilation of the mines and providing the miner 
with comparatively safe means of illumination, appear to have had very 
little effect in reducing the number and disastrous nature of these 
accidents. Since the construction of safety miners 5 lamps by Davy, 
Stephenson, and Clanny, repeated and partially successful efforts have 
been made to reduce the loss of light consequent upon the necessary 
enclosure of the flame, and thus to lessen the temptation of the miner 
to employ a naked flame at his work in fiery mines. Yet investigations 
after mine explosions still frequently disclose instances of the employ¬ 
ment of candles where they are undoubtedly dangerous; and the 
regulations which have been made law with the view of preventing 
accidents through the use of naked lights by miners, where there 
appears any likelihood of fire-damp escaping and lodging, are in many 
cases either habitually neglected or very carelessly carried out. One 
practice which appears to have become very general in mines where 
fire-damp is known to exist—that of sealing fijjfaemen with safety-lamps 
to examine the mines, the men then proceeding to work with naked 
lights in all places marked as safe by those officials—is obviously a 
most dangerous one, the lives of many being made absolutely dependent 
upon the vigilance and trustworthiness of one or two; yet it appears to 
be one almost forced upon the managers of collieries by the men them¬ 
selves, who often absolutely refuse to go to work with safety-lamps. 
Of the three colliery accidents which occurred between December 23rd 
and January 7th last, by which twenty-eight men lost their lives, two 
afford sad illustrations of the fact that the overlookers and the miners 
themselves are chiefly to blame for the frequency of these accidents, 
and that the practice of employing firemen 55 just referred to is a 
highly perilous one. 
In the case of the explosion at Bignall Hill Colliery, North Stafford¬ 
shire, the Grovernment Inspector gave evidence to the effect that the 
explosion occurred in what was admitted to be the most fiery seam in the 
North 'Staffordshire coal-field , and in which no nalced light ought ever to be 
used. The overlooker stated that, having found gas in the heading on 
the morning of the explosion, he told the men not to go to work there 
with naked lights; that “ he had authority to order lamps, but he had 
not done so, because he had not seen any necessity for it. The explo¬ 
sion might have been avoided if the man whose light was believed to 
have fired the gas had done his duty and used a lamp. 55 Another 
witness “had found gas on the morning of the explosion, but not 
sufficient to lead him to suspect danger. He found gas in the place 
after the fireman said he had cleared it away;.the workings 
always were considered safe, and if he asked a man to use a lamp he 
would often be laughed at. 55 
