Canaries' Important Part In Protecting British Miners

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 30, 26 August 1949, Page 3

Canaries ' Important Part In Protecting British Miners

Last year was the safest in the history of British mining. Since 1940 the number of miners killed underground has been almost halved, but even so mining remains a dangerous calling, for official figures show that 4£3 miners were killed underground in 1948. The thirtyfive Mines Rescue Stations—the “Silent Service” —are always ready with all their resources to deal with any emergency, and among the most cheerful members of their staff are the canaries. They, too, are ready, for there is a carefullykept rota of daily duties. These birds have the very important job of helping to detect the presence of the dangerous carbon monoxide gas in the mines after an explosion has occurred or during underground fires. Carbon monoxide reacts immediately on . the warm blood of the birds, much more quickly than on human beings, and science has devised no better testers of gas than the canary. Bird lovers will wonder about the fate of the canary, but their fears on this account can be put at rest. The birds are carried in an oxygen cage which has perforations at one end and an oxygen cylinder at the top. When a bird shows signs of distress the cage is immediately sealed and made airtight*by the captain of the rescue team, the oxygen is turned on and the bird revives.

One station has not lost a bird for several years. One. bird was in several mining disasters, was gassed several times, but recovered and lived in happy retirement to a ripe old age.