Fact #12

I like the look of this lantern hanging in the mine at the Smith Ranch & Julian Gold Mining Railroad. I like it even better with the filter I applied that makes it looks as though the walls are covered in gold. 🙂 It’s obvious that without light miners can’t possibly work underground, but did you know that the open flame sources of light used by most miners until about the second decade of the 20th century were capable of igniting the methane gases often found in mines and that the resulting explosions were the leading cause of death for those miners? It’s no wonder that the adaptation of electric lighting for use in mines correlated with a significant and steady decrease in mining accidents.