If we turned the clock back a hundred and forty years or so, we would have found a man clad in sacking or old clothes soaked in water crawling around in the mine bearing a long stick with a lighted candle on the end. This he would thrust into any cavity which he thought might contain gas. The reason for this almost suicidal performance was to burn off any gas present before the miners started their shift. It is from this method of testing for gas that the 'Fireman' was so-called. It must be remembered that at this time, ventilation of mines was not always very effective, hence the build-up of gases, which had to be removed, and this was the best method they knew. It will probably never be known just how many men died in explosions caused by this procedure, so the reader must judge for himself.