and more recently in mine-accidents investigations and rescue work, are
eminently fitted to furnish advice and assistance on such occasions. The
mere fact that, within a year, some of these men have been present at,
and assisted in, rescue work or in opening up after disasters at nearly
twenty of such catastrophes, whereas the average mining engineer or
superintendent may be connected with but one in a lifetime, should make
their advice and assistance of supreme value on such occasions. They
cannot be held in any way responsible for tardiness, however, nor be
unduly credited with effective measures taken after a mine disaster,
because of their lack of responsible authority or charge, except in
occasional instances where such may be given them by the mine owners or
the State officials, from a reliance on their superior equipment for
such work.

Successful rescue operations may only be looked for when the time, now
believed to be not far distant, has been reached when the mine operators
throughout the various fields will have their own rescue stations, as is
the practice in Europe, and have available, at certain strategic mines,
the necessary artificial breathing apparatus, and have in their employ
skilled miners who have been trained in rescue work at the Government
stations. Then, on the occurrence of a disaster, the engineer in charge
of the Government station may advise by wire all those who have proper
equipment or training to assemble, and it may be possible to gather,
within an hour or two of a disaster, a sufficiently large corps of
helmet-men to enable them to recover such persons as have not been
killed before the fire--which usually is started by the explosion--has
gained sufficient headway to prevent entrance into the mine. Without
such apparatus, it is essential that the fans be started, and the mine
cleared of gas. The usual effect of this is to give life to any
incipient fire. With the apparatus, the more dense the gas, the safer