No one has done more to insure safety in mines than Dr. Joseph Holmes, Father of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Under his leadership, the Bureau of Mines emerged as a most useful Government agency.
From 1881-1891, Dr. Holmes served as Professor of Geology at the University of North Carolina, where his interest in the geology of his home state resulted in the creation of the Geological Survey of the State, with Holmes being appointed State Geologist (1891-1905). In 1903-04, he organized and directed the Department of Mines and Metallurgy at the World’s Fair in St. Louis. He conducted his demonstrations with such skill, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him Chief of the U.S. Geological Survey’s laboratories for testing fuels and structural materials. In 1907 the Technological Branch of the U.S.G.S. was organized with Holmes as Chief. He extended the new branch’s duties to include conducting investigations into mine explosions, to increase safety in mining, and to reduce the waste of resources.
In 1910, Dr. Holmes was named first Director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. He focused on the disgracefully high mortality in U.S. mining and, under his guidance, enormous progress was made in perfecting life-saving methods in mine accidents and for lessening the dangers to which workers are exposed. He equipped an experimental mine for the purpose of developing methods of preventing explosions in coal mines and organized the first national mine safety demonstration there in 1911. One of Holmes’s most import discoveries was that bituminous coal dust by itself is a dangerous explosive, even without the presence of methane gas. This ended the dangerous and widespread practice of using coal dust to pack explosives in boreholes. He organized the Explosives and Electrical Sections of the Bureau to further improve safety in mines and equipped railroad cars as movable stations used to train miners in first aid and rescue work. Holmes coined the phrase, “Safety First,” making it the watchword of the Bureau of Mines.
Dr. Holmes is remembered as a dedicated, tireless fighter for safety in mining, whose incomparable contributions will continue to benefit the industry for countless years to come.
