304 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
the division of the mine allotted him by the mining boss. If gas is met 
in any working-place, the viewer takes off his coat and commences 
slashing among the fire-damp until it has become thoroughly diluted with 
the common air, and rendered harmless. In the rare cases in which the 
gas is too copious to be driven out in this manner, the place is marked 
by a danger signal placed at the mouth of the room, forbidding any 
person to enter until the gas has been driven out. This is done, either 
by taking forward brattice, or by driving a cross-wall to strike through 
at the face of the room. 
Having made the rounds of the mine the viewers meet at a pre- 
arranged station, and report to the boss. If everything is satisfactory, 
the examiners return to the bottom of the pit, and the signal is given 
for the miners to descend. The underground managers of this district 
are especially intelligent in dealing with fire-damp and the means of re- 
moving it. 
The system of carrying forward the workings is simply admir- 
able. Each working place advances as fast as another—all moving 
with mathematical exactitude. Every 3 months the miners ballot 
for places, and whoever is elected to any working-place, good or bad, 
is required to stay there until the next quarterly voting day arrives. 
By this arrangement no favoritism is shown, and everything works har- 
moniously. 
The coal of the mines in this region is too thin to admit of hauling 
mules entering the rooms, and miners are employed to push the loaded 
ears from the miner to the mule road on the entry, and bring back the 
empty cars. They are called putters, after the English name. Three 
putters are employed at each station of 15 rooms. The shaft mines of 
Steubenville are among the deepest in the State, Rush Run shaft being 
261 feet; Mingo shaft, 250 feet, and the Market Street shaft, 225 feet 
deep. 
In the Pomeroy region, on the Ohio River, the system of working 
with double entries was first introduced in drift mines in this State. 
The mines were opened in 1833, and laid out on the single entry system, 
and reliance was placed on the natural forces for creating ventilation. 
Owing to the presence of black damp, the air was never good, and an 
improved method of working and ventilating the mines became a para- 
mount necessity. 
When the double entry system was introduced, the rooms were 
ee he 
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