the main haulageway is being contaminated by air returning through old workings. 1. The quantity of air passing through the last open entry crosscut between 1 and 2 west south should be at least 6,000 cubic feet a minute. 2. The work of laying the main haulage track in 1 west south should be expedited so as to have all main haulage in intake air. 3. Not more than one crosscut should be left open between the faces of entries and the first outby stoppings. 4. The mine examiners should mark their initials and the date at or near the face of each place examined. 5. The section foremen should be provided with permissible flame safety lamps, and tests for gas should be made in every place visited by them during the shift. Repeated recommendations 1. The present fan, or a new fan of adequate size and capacity, should be installed on the surface in a fireproof structure. It should be offset at least 25 feet from the nearest side of the mine opening and installed so as to permit the reversal of the direction of the air flow. 2. A split ventilating system, utilizing air crossings, should be used. 3. The hoisting opening should be in intake air. 4. Room crosscuts should be closed where necessary to obtain a perceptible movement of air at the face. 5. Stoppings between the intake and return air of all main haulageways should be constructed of substantial incombustible material, and on branch haulageways, stoppings should be constructed of incombustible or fire-resistant material. 6. Doors that are used to control the air flow should be hung in pairs to form air locks; where the system of mining does not permit this, tight check curtains, well maintained, should be hung in connection with single doors. 7. Line brattices should be used to direct the air from the last open crosscuts to the working faces where necesary to remove smoke and dust. 8. All entries, rooms, panels, or sections that cannot be kept well ventilated throughout and inspected regularly, or that are not being used for coursing the air, travel, or haulage, should be sealed by substantial fireproof stoppings. every sealed area, one or more stoppings should be fitted with a pipe and valve to allow the air behind the seals to be sampled. In 9. Working places should not be ventilated by an air current that has passed through open, abandoned workings that cannot be, and are not, inspected regularly. 10. The mine should be operated in full compliance with Bureau of Mines recommendations for gassy mine. 11. The mine examiners should begin the examination of the mine not more than 3 hours before each shift enters the mine. 12. The preshift examination for the night shift should be made by certified officials. 13. The air in the working places and travelingways should be improved so that it contains at least 20 percent oxygen and not more than 0.5 percent carbon dioxide. 7. CONTROL OF COAL DUST No rock dusting has been done in this mine since the July 1945 inspection. The results of the analyses of dust samples collected from the ribs, roof, and road, as shown in table 2, indicate that the mine is in need of generalized rock dusting. Repeated recommendations 1. Coal dust should not be permitted to accumulate on the roadways, at the shuttle-car transfer stations, or in the gob areas in working places. 2. Water or a wetting solution should be used to allay the coal dust on the cutter bars of mining machines, on the coal pile before and during loading, on the haulage roads, and at the discharge ends of the shuttle cars while transferring coal into mine cars. 3. This mine should be rock-dusted thoroughly in all open, unsealed places to within 40 feet or less of the faces so that the incombustible content of the resultant dust will be at least 65 percent, plus 1 percent for each 0.1 percent of methane present in the ventalizing current. TABLE 2.-Dust analysis report collected March 1946, mine No. 5, The switch stands along the new haulage track in 1 west south are installed on the trolley-wire side. A number of the trip riders were observed riding on the front bumpers of the locomotives. 1. The switch stands along the new haulage track in 1 west south should be placed on the clearance side. 2. Trip riders and others should not be permitted to ride on the front bumpers of locomotives. Repeated recommendations C 1. The haulage roads should be kept free of coal spillage and debris. 2. All track switches on the surface and underground should be provided with throws. 3. There should be a continuous clearance on the side opposite the trolley wire, from the shaft bottom to all working faces, of at least 30 inches from the nearest obstruction to the farthest projection of moving equipment. 4. Shelter holes should be provided at 60-foot intervals on the clearance side of all haulageways. 5. Locomotives should be equipped with suitable rerailers, jacks, and other necessary tools for rerailing cars and locomotives, and the locomotives should be provided with warning devices. 6. Permissible electric trip lights should be used on the rear of all trips pulled and on the front end of all trips pushed. 7. Motormen or trip riders should not get on or off cars, trips, or locomotives in motion. 8. Back-poling should be allowed only at places where the trolley pole cannot be reversed, and then only at a very slow speed. 9. The practice of making flying switches is dangerous and should be prohibited. 10. Haulagemen and others should close ventilation doors as soon as equipment or trips have passed through them. 11. The pushing of cars should be eliminated insofar as possible; trips should not be pushed on main or intermediate haulageways except at partings or in an emergency. 12. Men riding in man-trip cars should ride on the side of the car opposite the trolley wire. 9. ELECTRICITY The trolley wire and power cable along the new 1 west south haulageway have been supported securely on insulated hangers. The trailing cables of the portable electric equipment in the 18 and 19 north section of the mine have been provided with taps equipped with fuses, but the fuse taps are not of a suitable type because they are not insulated and present shock hazards. The room housing the motorgenerator set at 20 north off 4 west south is not fireproofed fully. Telephones are not provided within about 4,000 feet of the working sections. 1. All cables for portable underground electric equipment should be provided with suitable insulated taps equipped with fuses. 2. The room housing the motor-generator set at 20 north off 4 west south should be fireproofed completely. 3. Telephone service should be provided from the surface to within several hundred feet of the working sections. Repeated recommendations 1. The frames of underground portable electric equipment should be provided with separate grounding circuits. 2. The insulators supporting the power wires along the 4 west south haulageway should be spaced not more than 30 feet apart, and the wires should be kept taut and not permitted to touch the roof, ribs, cross bars, or door frames. 3. The power wires along the 21 south haulageway should be installed on the same side as the trolley wire. 4. The ends of trolley or bare power wires should not be extended into rooms that are not ventilated properly. 5. The trolley and power wires should be guarded properly on each side of ventilation doors, and at all places where persons are required to work or pass under the wires. 6. Guards should be placed along the trolley wire at the man-trip stations, and provisions should be made to deenergize the wire while man-trips are being loaded and unloaded. 7. The mining machines and loading machines should be protected against excessive overload by fuses or equivalent protective devices of the correct type and capacity. 8. The telephone lines along the 4 west south haulageway should be installed on the opposite side from trolley or power wires. 9. The permanent pump installations should be in well-ventilated fireproof rooms. 10. Any replacement of electric equipment that is to be used in the face regions should be of permissible type. 11. Each machine man should be instructed in the use of and provided with a permissible flame safety lamp. Tests for gas should be made immediately before the nonpermissible mining machines and loading machines are taken into working places, and tests also should be made at intervals of 30 minutes or less while electric equipment is being used in the working faces. 10. ADDITIONAL SAFEGUARDS FOR MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT Repeated recommendations 1. The propelling chains of mining machines should be guarded adequately, the cutter chains should be equipped with adequate locking devices, and the exposed bits at the ends of the cutter bars should be removed or guarded before the machines are trammed. 2. All machinery drive belts and gears exposed to possible personal contact in the surface and underground shops, tipple, and steam plant should be guarded adequately. 11. UNDERGROUND FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL Accumulations of waste paper were noted at a number of places in the mine. 1. The accumulations of waste paper should be removed from the mine, as they constitute a fire hazard. Repeated recommendations 1. Bags of rock dust should be placed on the intake side of ventilation doors, and fire extinguishers approved for electrical fires should be provided on each locomotive, mining machine, and loading machine. 2. Underground storage places for lubricating oil and grease should be of fireproof construction, and lubricating oil and grease kept in face regions or other working locations should be in portable, closed, metal containers. Repeated recommendations 12. MISCELLANEOUS 1. The locations of telephones, power lines, and ventilation doors should be indicated on the mine map. 2. Direction signs should be posted conspicuously to indicate the designated escapeway. 3. The gate at the surface opening to the escapement shaft stairway should be kept locked to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the mine, but the gate should be locked in such a way as not to prevent the escape of employees in an emergency. 4. Only permissible electric cap lamps for illumination should be carried by all persons in the mine. 5. In addition to the present method of checking men into and out of the mine, a metal identification check should be fastened to the belt of each employee. 6. The practice of smoking underground should be prohibited and discontinued. Employees should be searched frequently enough to assure that smokers' materials and matches or other lighting devices are not carried into the mine. 7. Safety hats should be worn by all employees on the surface doing work where there is danger from falling objects, and safety-toe shoes should be worn by all employees, officials, and others while on duty in and around the mine. 8. Haulagemen and others who work around machinery should wear snugly fitting clothing and have trouser legs tucked inside socks or otherwise fastened. 9. Men should wear goggles or eye shields when exposed to hazards of flying particles. 13. GENERAL SAFETY CONDITIONS All of the underground officials except the mine examiner for the night shift now are certified. 1. The mine examiner for the night shift should hold a certificate of competency issued by the Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals. Repeated recommendations 1. The section foremen should record in ink the results of their daily inspections in a book kept on the surface for that purpose; it should be dated and signed by the section foremen and countersigned by the mine foreman. 2. All entrances to abandoned places should be fenced properly, and suitable "Danger" signs should be posted on the fences to warn persons of possible hazards. 3. A safety engineer or safety director should be employed at this mine, and a safety organization of employees and officials should be established. 4. A safety committee including workmen and officials should make periodic inspections of the mine and submit recommendations for correcting hazards observed. 5. The employees should be included in the monthly safety meetings that are being held by the officials. 6. Additional first-aid training should be given to all employees annually. 7. The men at the mine who have been trained in mine rescue work should be given additional training monthly. 14. SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS The following recent safety improvements were observed during this inspection: 1. All of the flame safety lamps now in use in the mine are of permissible type, and they are kept in permissible condition. 2. Two efficient electric lights have been installed at the ground landing to the shaft so as to provide adequate illumination for men getting on and off the cages. 3. Four additional 21⁄2-gallon fire extinguishers have been provided for the surface buildings. 4. A safety rule has been established prohibiting shot firers from bringing explosives to or near a face while electric equipment is at the face. 5. About 500 feet of the main intake air course near the shaft bottom has been cleaned free of roof falls. 6. The mine examiners now carry permissible electric cap lamps in conjunction with their permissible flame safety lamps. 7. The work of welding angle irons around the openings of endgates of the mine cars has been completed, and the cars were maintained reasonably dusttight. 8. The low roof at the 4 west south passing track has been removed and the trolley wire has been raised and placed about 6 inches outside the rail so as to provide adequate clearance for haulage units. 9. The trolley wire and power cables along the 1 west south haulageway have been supported securely on insulated hangers. 10. The power cables in 22 south have been removed from under the falls of roof and have been supported securely on insulated hangers. 11. The ends of trolley or power wires were not extended beyond the last open crosscuts. 12. Well-constructed guards have been provided for cutting shears and drillpress drive belts in the shop on the surface. 13. The underground fire-fighting equipment has been supplemented with six additional 21⁄2-gallon soda-acid-type fire extinguishers. 14. Ninety-five percent of the underground employees now wear safety-toe shoes, an increase of 15 percent. 15. All of the section foremen now hold certificates of competency issued by the Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals. 16. The bulletin boards are cleaned frequently, and they were clean at the time of this inspection. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The cooperation of the State mine inspector, company officials, and employees during the inspection is gratefully acknowledged. The prevention of accidents requires cooperation between officials and employees, and such cooperation can only be attained when facts concerning hazards are known. It is hoped, therefore, that the facts in this report will help in preventing accidents at this mine. Respectfully submitted. FRANK PERZ, Coal-Mine Inspector. PRELIMINARY REPORT (U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines) Company: Centralia Coal Co. Mine: No. 5 mine. Location: Centralia, Marion County, Ill. Date of inspection: March 5-8, 1946. Inspector: Frank Perz. Originating office: Bureau of Mines, 201 Post Office Building, Vincennes, Ind.; The facts disclosed by the inspection of this mine, including both commendable conditions and those that should be corrected, will be embodied in a detailed report to be made available to the public in accordance with the Federal Coal Mine Inspection and Investigation Act of 1941, H. R. 2082. The purpose of this preliminary report is to point out good features as well as certain unsafe practices and conditions that should be corrected promptly. VENTILATION The mine is ventilated by means of a reversible-type fan located underground, and was delivering 58,880 cubic feet a minute. The air is directed to the working sections in one continuous current and is controlled by means of concrete, wooden, and fire-resistant stoppings. Two sets of air-lock doors are installed, but all other doors in the mine are erected singly. The rooms throughout the mine are driven 400 feet in depth, and the only room crosscuts that were closed were those between No. 1 and No. 2 rooms off 13 north; consequently, the faces of the rooms in the other working entries were not ventilated adequately. Four of the five crosscuts between the face of the 1 and 2 west south entries and the first outby permanent stopping were closed with poorly constructed check curtains. 1. The present fan, or a new fan of adequate size and capacity to ventilate the mine properly, should be installed on the surface in a fireproof housing, at |