PRECAUTION AGAINST MINING ACCIDENTS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 302, 8 November 1873, Page 3

PRECAUTION AGAINST MINING ACCIDENTS.

Tho "European Mail " says, The Royal Inspector of Mines in Breslau has issued a stringent order in reference to the use of powerful explosives. - We abstract some of its provisions : — Tho use of ptiro nitroglycerine for mining purposes is entirely prohibited. No one is allowed to purchase dynamite, or any other compound of uitro-glycerine, except the proprietors of mines, or their agents or represents ye; and they are only alloAved to purchase of tho manufacturers or from depots licensed and guarded by the police. The place where these explosives are stored for more than a day must be at least 500 i'eefc distant from any dwelling, and Avhen stored for less than a day must be 166 feet from the nearest road, tramway, or shaft. It must not bo exposed to a greater cold than 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Whenf rozen, hard or solid bodies or tools must not be given out or employed for blasting until thaAved out. They must be thawed out in vessels surrounded with lukewarm Avater, so that they do not come in direct contact Avith the Avater. To prevent the cartridges freezing after they are given out, the labourers are directed to place them under their clothing next to the body. Nitroglycerine prepai'ations that have begun to undergo spontaneous decomposition, which is dotected by the smell, or by red fumes being given off froni them, are not to be employed in blasting, but must be burned in an open fire under the direction o£ a mining officer or overseer. Percussion caps are to be kept locked up, and must not be kept in tho same room with the explosive. In transporting these compounds, they must bo put in locked Avooden boxes surrounded Avith sawdust, hay, straw, or the like material. The vessels in Avluch it has been transported must be burned in an opon firo as soon as they are emptied.