Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/594

 576 MINE MINER blast or hydraulic bellows, a simple contri- vance by which a falling stream carries a draft of air with it into a receiver, where the air is disengaged from the water, and forced, under a pressure due to the water column, into the mine. Ventilating machines (exhausting or blowing machines) are used almost exclusive- ly in coal mines, where a great excess of air, to dilute injurious gases, is a vital necessity. These ventilators are either reciprocal (pumps) or rotary (fans). The latter are generally employed, and for extensive ventilation the exhausting fans are usually preferred to the blowers. One of the most effective fans, Guibal's, gives, with a diameter of 14*34 ft. and 8 arms revolving 134 times per minute, a current of 929 cubic feet of air per second. The distribution of the air currents through the mine, so as to bring fresh air to the work- men, and remove all foul gases to the upcast, is very important, and requires a system of air courses, doors, &c. Portable lights in mi- ning are torches, candles, and oil safety lamps. (See LAMP.) Stationary lights are also em- ployed (lanterns with oil or petroleum, gas light, and various electric lights) for illumina- ting permanent roadways, landings, &c. The drainage of mines is effected by natural means (through adits) or by means of pumps or buckets. These are sometimes operated by hand or horse power or wind, more frequently by hydraulic engines, and most frequently by steam. V. MINING LAWS AND SCHOOLS. The inalienable right of the sovereign to the met- als in the soil is an ancient doctrine, par- ticularly with regard to the precious metals, but is gradually passing away in civilized coun- tries, the governments of which are selling the "mineral rights" which they have hitherto farmed out or operated directly for the reve- nues of the state. A police supervision, in the interest of public safety and of political econ- omy, is usually maintained. The laws of Eu- ropean states regulate minutely the privileges granted to miners, and their relations to the government and to the proprietors of the soil. In England and the United States, the title to the minerals beneath the surface usually goes with the ownership of the land, but may be disposed of by sale or lease separately. Gold and silver mines were excepted in Great Britain up to the time of William and Mary, being obliged to pay a royalty to the crown. On the public lands of the United States, citi- zens are allowed to mine without royalty, ac- cording to the local regulations established by state and territorial legislation and by the citi- zens in each district, subject to the general mining laws passed by congress, which fix as the conditions of the possessory title or license a suitably recorded claim, and the performance of a certain amount of work annually. A com- plete title, covering a surface tract, and the right to the mineral veins having their out- crops or apexes within the vertical planes bounding the said tract, together with the right to follow such veins in depth, though they may extend under the surface of adjoining tracts, may be obtained after survey and advertise- ment, by purchase from the United States, at the rate of $5 per acre of surface patented. The mining law is administered, like the agri- cultural land laws, by the commissioner of the general land office at Washington. In most civilized countries statistics are compiled an- nually by the government, showing the pro- duction of mines and metallurgical works. In the United States this is done imperfectly in the decennial census, and has been done since 1866 for the states and territories west of the Rocky mountains, with particular reference to the gold and silver product, by a special com- missioner of the treasury department. (For statistics, see the articles on the different metals and countries.) Regulations to secure safety of miners, and to determine the rights of mining operators toward each other and to- ward land owners, are made by the individual states and territories. In European countries schools have long existed for training engi- neers and metallurgists for this industry. Among the most celebrated are the mining academies of Freiberg in Saxony, Clausthal in the Hartz, Schemnitz in Hungary, Leoben in Styria, the academy at Berlin, the ecole dea mines at Paris, and the royal school of mines in London. Much attention has of late been given to this subject in the United States, and the following institutions give special instruc- tion in these branches : the school of mines of Columbia college, New York ; the Rensselaer polytechnic institute, Troy, N. Y. ; the Par- dee scientific department of Lafayette college, Easton, Pa. ; the Sheffield scientific school of Yale college, New Haven, Conn. ; the Massa- chusetts institute of technology, Boston, Mass. ; the school of mining and practical geology of Harvard university, Cambridge, Mass. ; the Stevens institute of technology, Hoboken, N. J. ; the school of mining and metallurgy of Lehigh university, Bethlehem, Pa. ; the scien- tific department of the university of Pennsyl- vania, Philadelphia; the school of mines at Rolla, Mo. ; the polytechnic department of Washington university, St. Louis, Mo.; the school of mines at Golden City, Colorado ; and the university of California, Berkeley, Cal. MINER, a S. E. county of Dakota, recently formed, and not included in the census of 1870 ; area, 432 sq. m. It is intersected in the W. part by the Dakota river. The surface consists of gently undulating prairies. MINER, Alon/o Ames, an American clergyman, born in Lempster, N. H., Aug. 17, 1814. He was principal of the scientific and military academy of Unity, N. H., from 1835 to 1839, when he was ordained a minister of the Uni- versalist church, was settled at Methuen, Mass., and in 1842 took charge of the second Univer- salist church in Lowell. In 1848 he was asso- ciate pastor, and in 1852 pastor of the second Universalist church in Boston. He was presi-