Chapter 7 Chapter Seven Simon.Ford's experience

When the old wooden clock in the room struck twelve noon, James.Starr and his two companions left the cottage. The light coming in from the ventilation shaft dimly illuminated the glade.The lamp in Harry's hand was useless then, but it would soon be, for it was to the very edge of the Dochart coal bunker that the old foreman was going to take the engineer. After two miles down the main lane, the three explorers will see that this will involve a survey to a narrow tunnel mouth.It resembled a sort of side nave, with its vaults covered with a whitish moss on a tunnel trestle.It followed the course of the upper course of the Worth River almost fifteen hundred feet above it.

James.Starr is not as familiar with the labyrinth of Dochart's coal bunker as he used to be, Simon.Ford compared the layout of the master plan with the geographic lines of the ground to evoke his memory. Therefore James.Starr and Simon.Ford walked and chatted. Harry was leading the way ahead.He suddenly shone a strong light into the dark recess, trying to detect some suspicious shadow. Shall we go this far, old Simon?asked the engineer. Half a mile to go, Mr. James!We used to go this way in mine carts, on trams pulled by tractors!But those days are far away! So are we going to the very edge of the last vein?James.Starr asked.

Yes!I think you are quite familiar with mine. Hi!Simon, replied the engineer, if I remember correctly, the road will be difficult if we go forward? That's right, Mr. James.Right there, our pickaxe dug out the last coal in the deposit!When I think of this scene, it's like going back to that time again!It was I who dug this last pick, and the sound of that pick was stronger in my heart than in the rock!There was only sandstone or slate left around us then, and I looked at it as the dump truck drove up to the well with mixed emotions, like watching a poor man's funeral procession!I think it is the soul of this mine that is taken away by it!

The seriousness with which the old foreman said these words moved the engineer so strongly that he almost felt it too.This is what a seaman feels when he abandons a ship he cannot steer after a wreck, and this is what a landowner feels when he sees his ancestors' house crumbling! James.Starr had already held Simon.Ford's hand.But the latter also stepped forward to grab the engineer's hand and held it tightly: We were all deceived that day, and he said, no!The old coal mine is not dead!It wasn't a corpse the miners were about to give up then, I'm sure, Mr. James, its heart was still beating!

Go on, Simon!You found a new vein?cried the engineer, your letter cannot mean anything else!There's an intel for me, and it's about the Dochart Coal Bunker!Could any other discovery interest me than the discovery of carbonaceous deposits? Mr. James, Simon.replied Ford, I don't want to tell you anything but your Well done Simon!But tell me how, by what probes, did you confirm that? Listen to me, Mr. James, Simon.Ford replied, what I found was not a vein what is that? That is just the material proof of the existence of this vein. What about this proof? Can you accept the fact that gas is leaking from the depths of the earth and there is no coal there to make it?

No, never, replied the engineer, no coal, no gas!no result for no reason Like no smoke without fire! Have you verified the presence of native hydrocarbons again? An old miner won't be fooled on this, Simon.replied Ford, There I recognized our old enemy, Gas! But if it was another gas!James.According to Starr, the gas has almost no smell, and it is colorless!Only an explosion can really reveal its existence! Mr. James, Simon.Ford replied, Will you allow me to tell you what I did and how I did it in my way, and pardon my rambling? James.Starr knew the old foreman, and knew that the best course of action was for him to speak.

Mr. James, Simon.Ford went on to say that there was not a day in ten years when Harry and I didn't think about restoring the mines to their former prosperity. Yes, not a day!If any seam still exists, we must discover it.In what way?drilling?It's not possible for us, but we have a miner's instinct, and often, people reach their goals more directly through instinct than through reason. At least, I think so I have no objection to that, replied the engineer. However, Harry had observed it once or twice during his long treks west of the coal mines.Some fires, several times emerging through the slate or fill at the end of the seam, were suddenly extinguished.How did those fires burn?I couldn't then, and I can't now.But in any case, these fires are obviously due to the presence of gas, and to me, gas, this is the vein of coal.

These fires did not cause any explosions?the engineer asked urgently. Yes, some small local explosions, Simon.Ford replied, I have personally induced such an explosion, when I want to verify the existence of this gas.Do you remember, in our kind genius Humphrey.What did David think of to prevent explosions in mines before he invented his safety light? Remember, James.Stahl replied, You mean the ascetic?But I've never seen him perform his duties. Indeed, Mr. James, though you are fifty-five, you are still too young to see this.but I.I am ten years older than you, and I have seen the last ascetic in the coal mines in action.The reason why he is called so is because he wears a wide Taoist robe.His real name is firefighter, the one who puts out the fire.In those days one had no other way of destroying the dangerous gases than breaking them up into small explosions before they were light enough to accumulate in great numbers at the top of the alley.That's why the ascetic monk, with a mask on his face and a thick hood with only two holes showing his eyes, is tucked into a brown duffel robe and crawls on the ground.He breathed in the lower seams, where the air was clean, and with his right hand he moved a torch held high above his head.When the gas is dispersed in the air to form a detonation mixture, the explosion occurs without casualties, and by repeating this operation frequently, disasters can be prevented.Occasionally, ascetic monks died from gas explosions during labor.Another one takes over.And so on until all the coal mines adopted the lamp of David.But I know this method, and I used this method to confirm the existence of gas, so there is a new carbon-bearing ore layer in the Dochart coal bunker.

Everything the old foreman said about the ascetic was absolutely true.In former coal mines, this was done to clean the air in the alleys. Gas, another name is primary hydrocarbon or biogas, which has no color, almost no smell, and weak lighting ability, so it is definitely not suitable for inhalation into the human body.A miner cannot live in a place full of this harmful gas any more than a person can live in a gas tank full of lighting gas.Moreover, as the latter comes from ethylene, the gas forms a detonation mixture once the air gets into it to eight percent or even just five percent.This mixture can be ignited by any cause, and an explosion is almost always followed by a terrible fire.

David's apparatus was designed to avoid this danger, by isolating the flame of the lamp in a tube of metal gauze, in which the gas was burned, and never allowed to spread outside.This safelight has been improved in twenty ways.If the lamp is broken, the lamp goes out.The lights also go out if miners try to turn it on despite a formal ban.Why did the explosion happen?This is because there is nothing to prevent a workman from still inadvertently lighting his pipe, or from sparks caused by the collision of tools. Not all coal mines are contaminated by gas.In coal mines that do not produce gas, ordinary lamps are permitted.Among them, this is the case of the Thiers coal bunker in the Angzan Mine.However, when the coal of the mined deposit is fat coal, it will have a certain amount of volatile substances, and the gas may escape in large quantities.Only safety lights can prevent the more terrible explosions and prevent miners who have not been directly attacked by the gas from being exposed to the danger of instant suffocation in drifts full of toxic gases formed after combustion, that is, filled with carbon dioxide.

Along the way, Simon.Ford told the engineer what he did to achieve his purpose, how he confirmed that there was a gas leak at the end of the drift west of the coal bunker, and how he detonated several local explosions on the lamellar outcrop of the schist. The explosion, or rather the initiation of some combustion, made the nature of the gas certain, though the escape of the gas was insignificant.But the ejaculation continued. An hour after leaving the cottage, James.Starr and his two companions had walked four miles.The engineer, full of longing and hope, did not feel that the journey was long at all.He thought about everything the old miner had said to him.He thought silently of the arguments which the latter had presented to him in support of his assertion.He shared his belief that this continued release of primary hydrocarbons definitely indicated the presence of a new carbon-bearing deposit.If it was just some kind of pocket full of gas, as he had seen several times between the laminae, the pocket would soon be empty, and the combustion would cease to occur.But not at all.According to Simon.According to Ford, the continuous escape of hydrogen gas can be concluded that some important vein exists.According to this, the wealth of Dochart's coal bunker has not yet been exhausted.But does this concern a certain less productive seam, or a deposit with a large coal bed?This is a really big problem. Harry, who was walking ahead of his father and the engineer, stopped. Here we are!exclaimed the old miner, thank God, Mr. James, you are here at last, and we shall know The old foreman's voice was so firm that it trembled slightly. My good Simon, said the engineer, calm down!I'm as excited as you are, but no time should be wasted! In this place, the coal bunker's alley ended in a dark cavern formed by an enlarged opening.No mine shaft has ever been drilled into this part of the rocks, and this passage, cut deep underground, has no direct line of communication with the surface of Stirlingshire. Very interested James.Stahl inspected the place he was in with a solemn expression. On the rock wall at the end of the cave you can still see the last excavation marks of the pickaxe, and even several holes for blasting barrels used to blast the rock at the end of mining.The material of this kind of slate is extremely hard, and there is no need to fill the sunken ground, and the project had to be stopped at the bottom of the sunken place.Indeed, the carbonaceous veins were exhausted there, between the slate and the sandstone.Here, on this very spot, the last fuel from Dochart's coal bunkers was mined. Right here, Mr. James, Simon.Ford raised the pickaxe in his hand and said, we will launch an attack on the fracture of the vein [Note] here, because at a certain depth behind this rock wall, there must be a new vein of mine that I assert. 【Note】The vein fracture is the part of the rock group with insufficient veins, generally composed of slate or sandstone. Is it on the face of these rocks, James.Starr asked, have you verified the existence of gas? That's right there, Mr. James, Simon.Ford replied, I just held the lamp close to the lamellar outcrop and lit it.Harry did the same. at what height?James.Starr asked. Ten feet off the ground, Harry replied. James.Starr sat down on a rock, and after sniffing the air in the cave, he looked at the two miners, as if he suddenly doubted their words.He said it with such certainty. That's because virgin hydrocarbons are not, in fact, completely odorless, which surprised engineers in the first place.His nose was good, but he didn't smell any explosive gas.Anyway, if this gas is mixed in the surrounding air, it's only in small amounts.So, with no explosions to worry about, it's safe to turn on the safety lights and try it out as old miners used to do. James.What Starr was worried about at this time was not that there was too much gas mixed in the air, but that there was not enough gas or even no gas. Can they get it wrong?He whispered, no!They are experts!But! He therefore waited with some anxiety for Simon.The singularity that Ford pointed out materialized before him.But at this moment, what he observed just now, that is, there is no special smell of gas, seemed to be noticed by Harry, because his tone changed, and he said: Father, it seems the gas no longer leaks through the laminae of the slate! No more leaks!exclaimed the old miner. Simon.Ford bit his lip hard and took a few deep breaths through his nose. Then, suddenly, he made a rough gesture: Give me your lamp, Harry!He said. Simon.Ford restlessly held the lamp in one hand.He removed the wire gauze covering the wick, and the flame burned in the circulating air. As they expected, there wasn't any explosion, but what's more, there wasn't even a slight pop that would indicate the presence of traces of gas. Simon.Ford took the stick that Harry was holding, and fastening the lamp to the top of the stick, he lifted the lamp into the upper layers of the air, where, by the light nature of the gas, it should be more concentrated in such a small quantity. The lamp flame, vertical and white, did not show any trace of native hydrocarbons. Put it on the rock wall!said the engineer. yes!Simon.Ford replied, setting the lamp on that part of the rock wall from which he and his son had verified the day before that gas was leaking. The old miner's arms were trembling, and he was still trying to move the lamp here and there in the cracks in the lamellar grain of the slate. Come replace me, Harry.He said. Holding the stick, Harry placed the lamp in succession at different holes in the rock wall where the laminae seemed to be split in half, but he shook his head because the slight crackling sound characteristic of leaking gas did not reach in his ears. Did not burn.So apparently no gas molecules seeped out through the rock wall. nothing!Simon.exclaimed Ford, clenching his fists, giving the impression of frustration rather than anger. Then Harry let out a cry. What happened to you?James.Starr asked anxiously. Someone plugged the cracks in the slate! What you say is true?cried the old miner. Look, father! Harry was not mistaken.The cracks can be clearly seen plugged under the light.A freshly plugged lime-fill had left a long white streak on the rock face, poorly concealed by a layer of soot. It's him!cried Harry, it could only be him! he!James.Starr repeated. Yes!The young man replied, this mysterious person often comes to our place, it is him, I have watched him many times but failed to catch up with him, Mr. Stahl, for a certain time, he just wanted to prevent you from coming to my father's appointment The author of that letter, at last, was he who threw that rock at us in the Yale mine shaft!ah!There is no need to have any more doubts!It all came from someone's hand! Harry spoke so forcefully that the engineer was immediately convinced.As for the old foreman, there was no longer any need for persuasion.Moreover, they were faced with the irrefutable fact that the cracks were blocked, from which the gas had flowed unhindered the day before. Take your pick, Harry, Simon.cried Ford. Stand on my shoulders, boy!My body is still strong enough to bear you! Harry got it.His father leaned against the rock wall.Harry stood up on his shoulders, allowing his pick to hit the obvious imprint of the sealant.Then he began to pound the pick at the part of the slate that was blocked by the sealant. Immediately, there was a soft crackle, like that of champagne spilled from a bottle. In English coal mines, this sound is known from the onomatopoeia puff. At this moment, Harry grabbed his lamp and brought it close to the crack There was a slight explosion, and a small red flame with a touch of blue at the edge flew up and down the rock face like a will-o'-the-wisp from St. Elm. Harry jumped to the ground at once, and the old foreman, full of joy, seized the engineer's hand and exclaimed; Ulla!Ulla!Ulla!Mr. James!The gas is burning!So, the vein is there!