Coal Age : devoted to the operating, technical and business problems of the coal-mining industry, Vol. 25, No. 4

S esAh:moG»a^“ 2 DeVOted t0 the O p^ating, Teehnical and Business R Dawson ^

E. J. M e h r e n , Vice-President Problems o f the Coal-Mining Industry Engineering E ditor

Volume 25 N EW YORK, JA N U A R Y 24, 1924 Number 4

Rid M ines o f C onvict Labor

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Nowhere is the employee less under observation and control than in a coal mine, y et nowhere, every miner will admit, is discipline more needed for the sa fety of the individual h im self and for the security of every- one else in the mine.

The job of coal m iner is one calling for loyalty and w illingness to labor. True some m iners have neither ąuality btft there is always a fa ir admixture in any aggregation o f men. W ith prison labor, loyalty and industry are notably absent, though probably even in prison mines, th ey are not invariably lacking. Un- fortunately, convicts usually come into th eir regrettable condition by reason of the fact that they have neither of those qualities and are at war w ith the rest of humanity. They often are as insufferable in th eir own homes as they are to th eir neighbors.

It is useless to cali on the coal industry to rid itself of prison labor. The coal industry is not to blame.

Only those who enter into such contracts and such states as perm it it are responsible. The appeal m ust be to the public in states which harbor such institutions.

M ining is not so dangerous inherently as to make the employment o f convicts a crim e. It is at best an act of folly, but th is it certainly is and fo r that reason it should be condemned.

Is T his W hat W as M eant?

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We are not elear th at th e inspectors w ere in any w ay amiss in dem anding th at w orkings in coal likely to be covered by such treacherous overburden be provided with unusual safeguards. T hat th ey should be drilled and th at th e areas o f sand and its depth should be determined is a reasonable su ggestion followed by one com pan y' at least. T hat the inspectors should be in- formed as to its presence is not a sta rtlin g proposal.

Faults also m ay have to be taken into consideration as possible causes of sudden roof collapse.

However, so much granted, one cannot understand the ad visab ility o f com pulsory te stin g o f the roof by boreholes in areas w here loose sands and gravels are never found or w hen found are covered w ith thick- n esses of firm deposits amply adeąuate to protect the w orkings.

The greater part of the coal in the State o f Pennsyl- vania, including practically the whole of the bitum inous coal field, is free of glacial d rift. Only in the first basin are faults found except a few unim portant ones near the coal crop. No safety is to be gained by drilling such measures. We can only assum e that the inspectors in m aking th eir report referred to areas such as that on which th ey were reporting and not to the m any areas where loose sands and gravels, true fa u lts and extensive fractures are entirely unknown.

K eep M oving

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W ith a good roof and some cribbing or heavy posting, a trip can be loaded at a longwall or a pillar face, but cribbing and heavy p osting is expensive to m aintain and remove and may be inadeąuate in the control of the roof, as it interferes w ith its prompt collapse and therefore w ith the relief of pressure conseąuent thereon.

T his consideration reduces th e length of the trip, and w ith a short strin g o f cars the efficiency o f th e m achinę loader is greatly reduced. A conveyor leading to th e roadway is a solution, but w ith m any rooms eąuipped w ith many conveyors, congestion in the heading is inevitable. A heading conveyor can be placed on th e roadway, as is advocated by the author of the article

“Modernize,” printed in th is issue. Such a conveyor w ill meet th is difficulty.

I f there is more than one heading delivering to a single main entry, however, and th ese h ead in gs are close by one another there w ill be congestion on the entry and more trouble. Another conveyor, one on the entry, is the solution. T his conveyor m ay profitably be extended so as to elim inate th e use of cars altogether, except for supplies. Conseąuently the author o f th e article, recognizing th is fact, m akes conveyors serve fo r the transportation o f the coal from th e face to the tipple. Who shall say th a t he is not justified?

The face m u st be cut and shot, however, and m ean- w hile the room is not w orking. B y m oving th e ’ m achinę loader and its men to another room th is difficulty is m et at least in part. The loaders and cu tters do not have fa r to go, and only th e room conveyor is idle w hile the face is cut and shot and w h ile cutter and loading m achinę are m aneuvered into place. A m achinę th a t cu ts as it

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loads would enable operations to be continuous, espe- cially if the coal does not have to be shot down.

Large changes are coming. Mines will become smaller and the work in them more concentrated and the ex- penditure per acre under operation w ill be increased.

At the same tim e the Capital outlay per ton of daily output will be lowered.

N arcotism

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Among these new operations are many so inadeąuately equipped that they cannot face the pressure of competi- tion when the shortage of coal ceases. The fly-by- nights, or snow-bird, m ines promptly close down when the flurry in coal comes to an end.

Ali new mines, however, are not of th is class.

Others there are eąuipped up to the m inutę and well able to drive the older m ines to the wali. Some of these old operations w ith all th eir new eąuipm ent are so in- herently out o f date as fa r as layout is concerned that they cannot be operated in com petition w ith m ines designed w ith all the advantages of modern engineering.

N ot oąly are their roadways and airw ays badly planned and impossible to improve but they are unduly long.

The new mines have all the advantage, and the last state is worse than the first. A fter the flurry conditions are more unbearable than before the strike or car shortage.

In fact the strike is like an opiate. When the drug’s effects are expended, nothing but a second shot o f the hypodermic will ameliorate the p a tie n fs condition.

Narcotism is not popular among medical men because it leaves the patient weaker than before the application.

N either is a strike to be advocated as a means o f renew- ing the vigor of the coal industry. S afe and sane business is based on full-tim e operation, not on spasms of activity followed by months of ąuiescent slumber.

A s the doctor fears the seąuelae of a drug, so should the coal industry view w ith apprehension the prospect of becoming victim to the unfortunate evils which follow in the train o f an activity artificially created. I f any- one would judge the effect of such temporary stim ulants, let him view the course of the copper and machinery industries sińce the war.

“P l e a s e b o il i t d o w n t o o n e p a g e ,” begs a Congress- man of a coal operator who has a plan for rem edying some of coal’s ills. N ot many Congressm en would take the trouble to ask even that. They are ju st about like the coal operator— whose name is legion— who does not read the Coal Comm ission’s report; they sim ply will not d ig through reams of verbiage to get people’s ideas. The w astebasket and the dusty sh elf are ever ready for long-winds. Tell your Congressman what, if anything, you think ought to be done about coal; but beware of verbosity and the w astebasket.

P assin g o f th e Hantl S h o v el

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„ grants is assured i f the H ouse Im m igration Com- m ittee’s ąuota bill is enacted into law. The number of im m igrants, already reduced, w ill be fu rth er dim inished by almost one-half, and the particular sources o f labor that have replenished the coal fields w ill be decreased in even larger proportion, fo r the number o f men o f the type that enters the coal m ines w ill be more largely decreased in all probability than the figures o f th e new and old ąuota would indicate.

The United States is determ ined th a t A m erica shall continue America. The people o f th is Republic are determined that the country shall no longer be sur- feited with unassim ilated labor. The im m igration ąuota being based on 1890 instead o f 1910, a large percentage of northern Europeans w ill be adm itted and a smali percentage of Southern Europeans. The form er do not take any more kindly than A m ericans to arduous labor.

Few m iners will come here and those who do w ill be unable to understand why they should produce as large a tonnage as has been the custom o f A m erican miners.

They thoroughly approve of European standards of production and forget th at American conditions o f seam and system ju stify larger tonnages.

Conseąuently we may before long cease to find the coal fields populated beyond the labor demand, as they have been too generally in the past. Incidentally it may be remarked that w e shall find it difficult to open new fields. Old fields w ill draw on the present surplus and perhaps for a w hile obtain men from other industries surrounding the coal fields, but new region s w ill have recourse only to transported native labor and to the sparse populations already occupying the neighborhood of the new mines.

Some tim e back when th e loader w as still new and portable conveyors fed by hand labor seem ed likely to hołd for a w hile the m in ing field, a superintendent was asked what he thought o f th ese new -fangled devices.

He replied that he preferred th e “Franz J o sef shovel,”

m eaning the hand shovel in the hands o f th e subjects o f the Emperor Francis Joseph. Many w ere then arriving, and splendid workers m ost o f them proved to be.

Today the “Franz J osef shovel” is decreasingly present. We have to find a su b stitu te, and th e m echani- cal loader prom ises to serve the purpose. It inevitably m ust come, fo r th e modern laborer takes but unkindly to arduous toil. The power loader is th e only w ay to meet the problem.

Many an operator does not w an t to have to employ any more men. They take too m any houses. N o longer are any single men available or men h avin g w iv es and children in Europę. Bunk houses accordingly w ill no longer aid in filling th e needs o f th e operator. Good homes m ust be built, and w ith rents w h at th ey are—

and they do not prom ise to be increased— th e building o f houses is unprofitable. T he stores no longer pay an exorbitant profit. So th e ery is “More coal w ithout more m en” or “w ith less m en,” fo r th e sin g le men are becom ing m arried or b rin gin g over th eir fa m ilies and demanding suitable housing.

For th is reason th e pow er loader is becom ing essen- tial, and th e m ines m u st be worked more and more by machines. The pressure is econom ic and it cannot fail to be m et. Only loading by m achinę and by face and room conveyors w ill m eet it.

January 24, 1924 C O A L A G E 127

Coal-Strip Enterprises Grow in Western Kentucky

Sunlight M ining Co., o f M adisonville Led Field with First Plant Opened A bout Three Years Ago— Tw elve P its N ow R unning and Three M ore About to Open — Operator? Face M any Problems

By A. W. Willia m s L o u is v ille , K y .

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Although the first stripping operation is only three years old there are now no less than tw elve strip p its operating, three more are actively preparing to run and other com panies are interestedly scanning the field for a chance to g et into the game. D uring the m onth o f November a total o f 1,800 cars of strip coal were moved out of the field. T his represents at least 10 per cent of the production of the w estern Kentucky field and is th erefore already an im portant factor.

“And the best th in g of all th at can be said about strip p in g,” says a strip operator who has heard much comment from sh aft-m in in g in terests about th e doubt- ful fu tu rę of strip p in g, “is th at out of 340 underground m ines in w estern Kentucky, including potholes and all, during early December only 150 were active and m ost of th ese got only part tim e, w hereas every stripper that is ready to run w as running. Coal can be m ined more cheaply by the strip method, and naturally strip m ines w ere underselling deep m in es.”

Developm ent of strip operations in the field during 1923 w as especially rapid. It w as so rapid, in fact, th a t prospective operating com panies made m istakes.

It is alw ays easy to figurę on paper th a t th ere is a given tonnage of coal underlying a certain acreage, that th e cover is o f a certain depth and th at the cost of rem oving it w ill be exactly such and such; but strip-

C l e a n i n g is o n e o f t h e s e r i o u s p r o b l e m s o f t h e s t r i p p e r . T h e h e a d p i e c e s h o w s t h e p i c k i n g t a b i e o f t h e S u n l i g h t M i n i n g C o., n e a r M a d is o n v ille , K y . N o l e s s t h a n f o u r t e e n m e n a r e o n d u t y a t o n e t i m e t a k i n g o u t t h e r e f u s e . W a s h e r s a l s o a r e e m p lo y e d a t s o m e o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s .

ping often is fraugh t w ith many surprises and much heartbreak.

Companies h astily opening strip p in g land have found that the overburden was not uniform , th at it w as spot- ted w ith hard form ations expensive to move, th a t the coal seam varied aston ishin gly in thickness and often turned out to be shot fu li of “ru st” in spots th a t low- ered the uniform ąuality of the deposit, th a t drainage became difficult and expensive when the coal didn’t lie right, that breakdowns of the few b ig expensive m a­

chinę units upon w hich the p it depended w ere vexin g and expensive, ałl of which doubled or trebled th e paper cost o f stripping coal. And finally, m arket fluctuations upset the roseate prelim inary calculations. Some w e st­

ern Kentucky operators struck all o f th ese difficulties.

S p e n t $25,000 Y e t D id N o t B u y C o a l L a n d Some m ighty careful studies w ere made by certain of the prospective strip p in g com panies before any ma- chinery w as bought. One concern is reported to have spent $25,000 in a thorough d rillin g of every p art o f a 450-acre tract and then to have declined th e lease.

It w as a costly venture in prospecting, but th e cost w as nothing compared to w hat m igh t have been w asted had the first few drill cores been accepted as adeąuate b asis for going ahead. It is an expensive th in g to erect a tipple w ith all the coal-cleaning and sizin g eąuipm ent necessary to prepare strip coal for the m arket, and then to buy and assem ble a b ig steam shovel and spend a few m onths encountering the unforeseen.

The industry being new in w estern K entucky, the development com panies have a lot to learn. K entucky’s first im portant strip p in g plant w as opened only about

R I P P I N G T H E O V E R B U R D E N F R O M W E S T E R N K E N T U C K Y C O A L W I T H A M A M M O T H S H O V E L M o s t o f th e b ig - s h o v e ls in t h e r a p i d l y s p r e a d i r g s t r i p p i n g m o v e m e n t o f t h a t s e c tio n o f K e n t u c k y a r e s t e a m - o p e r a t e d .

C e n t r a l - s t a t i o n e le c tr ic s e r v ic e is n o n e to o g e n e r a ł y e t. T h e c o v e r o n t h i s c o a l v a n e s a t m o s t s t r i p p l a n t s b e tw e e n 25 a n d 35 f t., b u t in s p o t s r u n s u p a s h i g h a s 50 ft. W e s t K e n t u c k y

a s a s t r i p p i n g fie ld w a s o n ly la te ly d is c o v e re d .

three years ago by the Sunlight M ining Co., of Madi- sonville. The W estern Collieries Co. and the M agie Collieries Co., at Usley, followed closely. Subsidiary organizations of underground m ining companies began to appear along w ith outright stripper outfits. The number of them steadily inereased through 1923. Dur- ing November two new strip p its were opened by the Morrison Coal Co., and the Curshaw Coal Co., both of Centertown. It is reported Birm ingham (A la .), in- terests are behind the Morrison company.

W ithin the three years fifteen developments started, including three which have not yet produced coal. These companies are now in the active class: Sunlight Min­

ing Co., of M adisonville; W estern Collieries Co., w ith two plants at Ilsley and Crabtree; Magie Collieries Co., of Ilsley; Hawley M clsaacs Co., of Carbondale; D. B.

Gore & Co., of Providence; H arris Coal Co., o f Island;

Kentucky Washed Coal Co., of N onell; M idstate Coal Co., of Morton’s Gap; Dem pster Construction Co., of the same place; Morrison Coal Co., of Centertown, and Curshaw Coal Co., also of Centertown. Strip p its are now being started by the Hawley M clsaacs Co. (No. 2 m ine) at Lewisport, by the Dawson D aylight Coal Co., at Dawson Springs, and by Boddie & Powell, of Earl- ington.

It is known th at at least two strip operations are located on properties belonging to the St. Bernard Coal M ining Co., of Earlington, shaft-m ine operators.

The new Dawson D aylight Coal Co. is controlled by K. U. Meguire, of Louisville, Ky., and associates. For years they have been active in the eastern Kentucky field, but only recently started thefr first w estern Ken­

tucky development. This strip-m ine plant is to have a capacity of 5,000 tons daily, w ith complete washer, crusher and five-track steel tipple w ith picking tables and loading boom. It is planned as the largest coal- loading plant in the state. It has been delayed through failu re of the Illinois Central R.R. to reach the plant w ith the new branch line that is now under construction

The plant of the Sunlight M ining Co., the oldest and one of the best stripping plants in the state, is three m iles southeast of Madisonville, on the L ouisville

& N ashville R.R. This location is 160 m iles southw est o f Louisville, Ky., and 108 m iles northw est of Nashville, Tenn. The company has 500 acres of land and has stripped fifty o f these. Its coal lies in two beds on a

1-per cent grade, which m akes it easy to drain the pit.

Operations started in A u gu st, 1920. The property was carefully prospected in advance. The average thickness of its upper seam, the N o. 12 bed, is about 5 ft. This seam is separated from th e low er seam, No. 11, by a solid lim estone stratum o f 3 to 5 ft. The lower, or No. 11 seam, is about 6 ft. thick. Coal from both seams is of good quality for steam or dom estic use, measured by w estern Kentucky standards.

The overburden, which averages from 25 to 35 ft.

in thickness but runs up to as much as 50 ft. because of the irregularity o f the land, con sists o f clay and shale. The clay is a little difficult to d ig w hen satu- rated, but for the m ost part it is easy to handle.

Work t h e Big Shovel Nig h t a n d Day

A big shovel w ith 85-ft. boom and 6 cu.yd. dipper started stripping in A ugust, 1920, and has been going steadily sińce th at tim e, operating w ith th ree s h ifts of eight hours, or tw enty-fou r hours per day part of the time, moving about 120,000 cu.yd. of earth each month.

It opened the northw est side o f th e property w ith a short cut, follow ing an outerop. O ther cuts w ere made parallel to th is in a gradually in ereasin g curve, so that eventually a complete circle w as made around th e prop­

erty to such a distance th at the haul from the p it to the tipple is now som ew hat more than a ąuarter o f a mile long, the cut being about a h a lf m ile long and 100 ft. wide.

Other equipment used includes two sm aller loading shovels, working one sh ift o f eigh t hours a day each, Coal is loaded in ten-car train s, all th e cars b ein g o f five-ton capacity and fitted for side dum ping. Four trains are operated, pulled by 18-ton locom otives. A standard gage locom otive also is used in sw itch in g standard railroad coal cars back and forth from tipple to main line. It is reported th a t the com pany has not found it necessary to use explosives in m ovin g over- burden, but some 40 per cent powder is used on th e coal parting. Six drills are kept in operation.

The tipple has a capacity o f 2,500 ton s daily. Coal from the workings is run over shaker screens, w hich sort out the 3x6-in. eg g and 6-in. błock fo r loading direct to cars, w hile 3-in. stu tf is handled by a belt conveyor to the w ash ing plant, w here it is w ashed and elevated to revolving screens and rescreened to 3x2-in.

January 24, 1924 C O A L A G E 129

L oadin g Out Strip Coal

S m a li s h o v e ls lik e t h i s a r e u s e d f o r m o s t o f t h i s w o r k . G e n e r a l l y t h e c o a l is lo o s e n e d b y l i g h t s h o t s b u t l n s o m e c a s e s i t i s l i f t e d b y t h e s h o v e l a lo n e . I n t h i s p a r t i c u l a i - p l a n t t h e o v e r - b u r d e n w a s r e - m o v e d in l o n g c u t s e a c h 100 f t . w id e , f o llo w in g a r o u n d th e e d g e o f t h e o u t - c ro p , t h e d e p t h o f th e c o a l b e lo w t h e s u r f a c e b e c o m in g p r o g r e s s l v e l y greater.

egg, 2xl^ -in . nut, l ł x 3 in. and I in. down. Each size passes under the spray and is loaded into railroad cars, the breakage and slack being flumed back to a settling tank or sump. A s m any as fourteen men are used at the picking tables, fo r strip coal m ust be clean to meet competition.

The com pany m aintains its own machinę shop, eąuipped w ith forge, w elding eąuipment, etc., to take care of breaks in eąuipm ent.

A nother featu re of the plant is a rock crusher w ith a capacity o f 1,000 cu.yd. a day, operated by the Sun- ligh t Crushed Stone Co., an affiliated concern. The lim estone blasted from between the two seam s of coal, and lifted by the two loading shovels, is prepared in the crusher fo r road building, concrete work and th e like.

Much interest has been m anifested in the Sunlight operations due to the fact that the company w as th e pioneer in w estern Kentucky, and it has had enough experience to be an authority, while its methods have been steadily improved upon.

One of the b ig in terests of th e stripper people today is to clean th eir coal so as to counteract the strong prejudice again st it. In several w estern Kentucky oper­

ations the top surface of the coal is carefully swept by hand after the overburden has been removed and before the coal is shot up. In at least one instance tractors are employed to drag heavy, four-wheeled ro- tary steel brushes over the coal. W ashing plants and well-manned picking tables also are playing th eir part, so th at w estern Kentucky strip coal can continue to hołd its market.

Find G ood Coal o n P eace R iver C anyon

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The coal field is situ ated at the junction o f th e 56th parallel w ith the 122nd m eridian, a few m iles w est of H udson’s Hope. Those who are not acąuainted w ith the location of th is field w ill be interested to know th a t it lies 125 m iles d istan t in a direct line northward from the Grand Trunk Pacific R.R. betw een Edm onton and Prince Rupert, and 324 m iles, as th e crow flies, from the nearest point on the Pacific Coast. It is about 475 m iles due north o f th e U n ited S tates boundary. Like the produc- tiv e coal fields on Vancouver Island and southeastern B ritish Columbia it is o f Cretaceous origin . The m eas- ures over th e area o f seven sąuare m iles w hich was exam ined m in utely have a th ick ness o f 1,250 ft . and contain fifty known coal seam s, ra n g in g from a fe w inches up to 4 ft. in th ick ness. E leven seam s are more than 2 i ft. thick, one is more than 3 ft. and three expand in places to more than 4 ft. Several of the sm aller sea m s are close enough to g eth er to be worked as one.

The grade of th e coal yąries, much o f it b ein g excel-

lent. The M illigan seam, from which the b est coal is obtained, averages 2 per cent m oisture, 22.5 per cent volatile com bustible m atter, 73 per cent fixed carbon, and 3.5 per cent ash. The Trojan seam averages about 1 per cent m oisture, 26 per cent volatile com bustible m atter, 63 per cent fixed carbon, and 10 per cent ash.

W hile adniitting th at as yet insufficient exploration has been done to enable geologists to make an accurate estim ate of th e coal content of th e field, Mr. McLearn says that sufficient evidence exists to su g g est the pres- ence o f a total reserve o f 84,000,000 tons w ith in an area o f seven sąuare m iles, and th at it is possible th a t the area and tonnage m ay be doubled by fu rth er exploration.

The field, therefore, is undoubtedly an im portant one, but cannot be exploited until some b etter form of trans- portation than now e x ists has been provided. A t pres- ent the nearest railw ay, th e term inus of th e Edm onton, D unvagen, & B ritish Columbia Ry., at S p irit River, is 125 m iles distant to th e east. T his line has been graded to the A lb erta-B ritish Columbia boundary, which is 75 m iles distant, and th e Canadian Pacific Ry. Co. is said to be considering the extension o f th e lin e to th e coal field and p ossibly to th e Pacific coast. A trial shipm ent of 42 tons w as recently sen t down the Peace R iver to Peace R iver C rossing, a distance of 300 m iles, w here its steam -raisin g ąu alities w ill be given a practical te st on

„the Canadian Pacific Ry. engines.

Unusuał H oisting Equipm ent at Huge German H eadfram e

G uides Independent o f M ain Structure and Can B e A djusted in C ase o f S ubsidence— P rotection

lAgainst D estru ction b y Overwinds By W. Benedict

D u is b u r g , G e r m a n y

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frame, the latter being the largest in Germany, and perhaps in the world, has been erected by the Orange Iron Works in Gelsenkirchen for sh a ft No. 9 of the Consolidation M ining Co. (B ergw erks Actien Gesell- schaft “Consolidation” ). It is arranged for h oisting in two compartments from a depth of 4,920 ft. (1,500 m .). The rope for h oisting from these profound depths has a calculated breaking strength of 380 tons.

The superstructure, 173 ft. 10 in. high, is built in gantry form, with two stays placed opposite each c-ther.

The guide fram e, standing between the stays, is so arranged at the top of the structure that it is adjust- able independently of the rest of the building. Conse- ąuently it is not influenced by the tension of the rope or any possible subsidence of the surface. This ar- rangem ent o f the guide frame, by which it serves only for the guiding of the cages and is independent of the

stays and the top of the structure, offers a fu rth er advantage in that the structure cannot be injured should the rope be broken by an overwind. Furtherm ore, It provides that dam ages to the guide fram e can be quickly repaired.

On the lower part of the guide fram e, im m ediately below the pit mouth, a runw ay is constructed, on which are two hand-operated overhead travelin g cranes, one behind and the o"her in fron t o f the structure, which provide for the attachm ent and detachm ent o f the cages. An ascending and descending platform , 13 ft.

above the collar, aids in th e quick transferen ce of work- men when changing sh ifts. In case of a fire and when work is being done over the sh a ft the opening can be closed by fire trapdoors, these being raised and lowered by means of bracket winches arranged laterally on the structure. A large platform is provided above the roof on which the ropes can be spliced togeth er when being renewed. Below the platform , as fa r down as the col­

lar of the shaft, the structure is closely covered with plates, so that snow and rain cannot be driven in from the sides. Only water which falls vertically can fali into the shaft.

On the upper part of the guide fram e, ju st beneath the bottom sheaves, a girder structure w ith platform is arranged, from which repairs can be made and the ropes put In place. The sheave parts can be hoisted up to the h eight of the sheave platform by a 10-ton crane which is placed above each pair of sheaves. By this means they can be rapidly brought to place in the superstructure. In consequence, interrup tion s o f work when placing ropes on the sheaves and h o istin g the latter into place, are reduced to a m inim um .

G iant H ead Fram e w ith T w o B a ck S ta y s

S t a n d i n g n e a r l y 175 f t. a b o v e t h e c o lla r , t h i s C o n s o lid a tio n M in in g C o .’s N o . 9 h e a d f r a m e p r o v id e s f o r h o i s t i n g f r o m a d e p t h o f n e a r l y 5,000 f t . N o v e l p r o v is io n s a r e m a d e f o r t h e r e m o v a l a n d r e p l a c e m e n t o f t h e r o p e a n d s h e a v e s a n d f o r t h e c a g i n g o f t h e m e n . T h e g u id e s a r e i n d e p e n d e n t o f t h e s t r u c t u r e , so t h a t in c a s e o f s u b s id e n c e t h e y c a n b e a d j u s t e d t o lin e w i t h t h e g u id e s in t h e s h a f t .

January 24, 1924 C O A L A G E 131

Modernize! — Some Reyolutionary Suggestions with Practical Possibilities in Actual Practice

System of M ining by Room-and-Pillar M ethod w ith Conveyor B elts from Coal Face to Tipple— Tracks Only for D elivery o f Supplies on Storage-B attery Trucks or Locom otives

By Walter M. Da k e*

N e w Y o r k C ity

I

Self-determ ination is the ideał.”

It also makes the further statem ent in exemplifica- tion of the fo regoin g: “N ot through governmental coercion but through the enlightened self-in terest of producers and consum ers the real remedy is to be sought. The coal industry can reform itse lf from within.”

This truism is the essence of the finał report and to it need only be added the obvious corollary th at the coal operator, w hile receiving a fa ir return on his invest- ment, should produce a clean product in sufficient quan- tity and sell it at a price, regulated by normal compe- tition, such as w ill give the consumer cheap fuel.

The coal industry is reaching the point where im- properly financed and poorly eąuipped properties oper- ating interm itten tly and at high cost w ill be succeeded by financially sound organizations m ining immense tonnages a t Iow cost, and th is will be accomplished only by the application of modern engineering methods.

Modern en gin eerin g has done much for the metal industry. Compare the methods of the early placer mines w ith those of today. In one the minerał was separated by hand panning or by the use of the cradle and sluice. In the other it is collected and concentrated by a powerful, h igh-tonnage dredge. Compare also the underground m ethods of earlier days w ith the more modern m ethods. In form er years narrow seam s of high-grade ore w ere drilled by hand, blasted and the product treated by stam p m ills and amalgam ation, only a smali percentage o f the gold content being recovered.

In present-day m ines the m ineralized rock is obtained by stopę m in in g and concentrated by large-tonnage cyanide m ills which make h igh recoveries at Iow cost.

In like manner the m ethods of producing copper, lead and zinc have been improved. Steam shovels, caving system s, fine grin din g, flotation and modern methods of sm elting and electrolytic refining have been devel- oped and put in operation, show ing conclusively the effect of en gin eerin g m anagem ent on m ining costs.

Nor is th is all; th e iron ranges have seen eąually startlin g im provem ents which have decreased the cost per ton mined and increased the daily tonnage. These changes, w ith all the subseąuent steps o f the steel- making process, are the direct result of concentrated engineering effort.

•Engineer associated w i t h S a n f o r d E . T h o m p s o n in m a k i n g r e ­ p o r t o n "Underground Management in Bituminous M in e s f o r U . S. Coal Commission.

Because an intensive com petition is to be anticipated in the coal industry, operators somewhat belatedly are realizing that better engineering is becom ing essential in the conduct of th eir operations. Increased tonnage has lowered the cost of product in industries allied to coal m ining and a like increase in output is possible in the production of coal through the extensive use of mechani- cal labor-saving devices in m ining and transportation.

Some such changes already have taken place in coal mines, of which the introduction of coal-loading ma- chinery is among the more recent. These loaders were the subject of an extensive study by th e engineering staff of the Coal Commission and observations of per­

formance have been tabulated which show an actual out­

put of 353 tons per eigh t hours w ith a loading tim e of 56 per cent, the rem aining 44 per cent being tim e lost in changing cars, m oving loader and incidental delay.

It is understood that one type of loader is being sold under a guarantee of one ton per m inutę, and th is prom- ise of performance is justified by the calculations made from loading records in the field.

Comparing machinę and hand loading, an increase of approxim ately 90 per cent in tons per man per day is noted. T his increase is shown w ith the approxim ate 44 per cent lost tim e of m achinę loading included. The details of these studies were released under the head- ing, “Underground M anagem ent in B itum inous M ines,”

under date of Oct. 31, 1923.

Taking th ese fa cts into consideration, th e n ext im- provement in modern coal production m ust include the loading machinę, and its effect on th e present system pf

A M I N E R U N W I T H O U T C A R S

L o c o m o ti v e s a r e u s e d s o le ly f o r t a k i n g i n t i m b e r a n d s u p p lie s , a n d s o m e ti m e s r u n n i n g t h e c o n v e y o r b a c k w a r d w ill t a k e t h e l i g h t e r m a t e r i a ł t o i t s d e s t i n a t i o n .

TABLE I—ESTIMATED COST OF INSIDE PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Cutting (tnnnn

2 Heading machines... $50,000

9 Chain shortwall machines... oacn 9 Air drills with steel... 2,350 ^{$ 8 6} 550

Loading . ?ftn

10 Loading machines...

Transportation

8.000 lineal feet room conveyor... $64,000 3.000 lineal feet auriliary conveyor... 45,000 2,120 lineal feet main-line conveyor... 42,400 30 Room drives... ... I 5,000

4 Auxiliary drives... 4,000 3 Main-line drives... 5,000 Control system... 12,000 ^ ^{1 3 7400}

Drainage . . . ¹ ? nnn

Pumps, motors and pipę lines... ... ¹ Auuu Ventilation

Fan, motor and house... ²,uuu Power distribution

Cables and term inals... $30,000

T ransform ers... ...^ $35 000

Communication

Telephonesinstalled... J00

Sm ali to o ls... '.500

Safety

Lighting ... $2,000

Spraylines... ... 7:°°- $9,000 Service

3 Storage-battery locomotives... $ 18,000

!2Supplycars... 3,600 Supplytrack... 15,000

I Repairfit... --- 7,500 $44,100 Development items

Preliminary grading... $4,000 Mineopenings... ---9,0005,000

Total... $434,150

m ining and underground transportation already is the subject of engineering thought and discussion.

A t a recent session in a national congress o f min­

in g men the chief engineer of a large m ining eąuipment manufacturing concern placed him self on record as fol- lo w s: “The b iggest obstacle in the way of the loading machinę is the failure of operators to devise a scheme for gettin g cars to it fa st enough ”

This defect has been emphasized wherever the oper- ation o f loaders has been studied, and as an efficient system of handling the output of machines calls for drastic departures from recognized procedure and old methods, the operator has been loath to attem pt its solution. However, ju st as the cutting machinę, the air and electric drill, perm issible explosives, haulage loco- motives and rotary car dumps have been gradually adopted as the demand for tonnage has grown so will the loading machinę and revised methods of under­

ground haulage come out of an intensification of that demand.

The determining factor of their employment depends on the economic necessity for m eeting com petitors’ low- ered cost in the open market. Foreseeing the coming change in underground m ining and transportation methods and gathering ideas from both the metal and bitum inous fields, a system of m ining and transpor­

tation for coal production had been devised which in- deed embodies nothing new, except in the co-ordination of mechanism already proved effective. This system w ill increase the tonnage per employee, concentrate the working territory and lower costs to figures unobtain- able by present methods.*

Raymond A. Walter, of the W alter E ngineering Cor­

poration, has worked out the details of installation and made a primary estim ate of costs. The objects of the system may be listed as follow s: (1) To adapt a sy s­

tem of cutting, blasting, machinę loading and continu- ous transportation to the type of, coal-m ining method

C O N V E Y O R R U N N I N G S T E A D I L Y K E E P S M A C H I N Ę B U S Y T h e c o n v e y o r is s e t in t h e c e n t e r o f t h e r o o m so t h a t th e m a c h in ę c a n th e m o r e r e a d i l y d e l i v e r c o a l t o i t . N o t a m o m e n t is lo s t t i l l t h e l a s t p o u n d o f c o a l is lo a d e d f r o m t h e c u t.

now generally employed; (2 ) to effect the application and co-ordination of already proved eąuipm ent to con- tinuous, large tonnage production; (3 ) to provide auto- matic control of the continuous system ; (4 ) to provide suitable storage between m inę and preparation or load­

ing plant so as to elim inate the usual delays incident to tipple disability and temporary car sh ortage; (5 ) to devise eąuipment installation of sufficient flexib ility and durability and at a cost per ton of annual output 'which will compare favorably w ith present system s and m eth­

ods; (6) to effect a saving in cost per ton o f output.

In order to accomplish these results the follow ing are necessary in addition to the usual m in in g eąuip­

ment, buildings, housing fa cilities, etc.: H eading ma­

chines, undercutters, air or electric drills, loading ma­

chines, portable, extensible room conveyors w ith electric drives, standard conveyor installation, also electrically driven; modern storage bins w ith reclaim ing conveyors and standard tipple or loading eąuipment.

In order to visualize a continuous operation, the fol­

lowing plan of a mine, opened in a 4-ft. seam under heavy cover, is employed for illu str a tio n :

Main and back entries are driven into th e seam by heading machines, the product from w hich is loaded directly onto standard portable extensible conveyors until a sufficient distance has been opened to turn en­

tries to right or left. Portable extensible conveyors are then replaced by standard conveyor belts each mounted on a steel sectionalized base and o f sufficient size and speed to carry the desired ultim ate output o f th e mine.

The heading machinę then commences operation on the entry and opens sufficient territory to perm it seven or eight rooms to be turned on approxim ately 120-ft.

• A p p l i c a t i o n f o r p a t e n t w a s m a d e j o i n t l y b y t h e a u t h o r a n d R . A . W a l t e r , A u g . 16, 1923.

TABLE I I —E S T IM A T E D C O ST O F O U T S1D E M I N IN G P L A N T A N D E Q U IP M E N T

T ipple and Accessories

Storage bin with head an d ta ił conveyor ( p a rtia l) ... $50,000 l lpple (te m p o ra ry )... sn ftfln R ailroad yard ( p a rtia l) ... 125^000

ow itcn locom otive... 20 000

O ther B uildings $245,000

M achinę shop a n d to o le (te m p o ra ry )... $50 000 u o s t of supply-line tra n sfo rm e rs a n d o th e r p u rc h a se d ’

power eąuipm ent w ith pow er h o u s e ... 20 000 Supply houeę (te m p o ra ry )... . ; 5'ooo Umce and lab o rato ry ( te m p o ra ry )... 1? 000 Sup p l,e s ... 40:000

--- $127,000

January 24, 1924 C O A L A G E 133 centers. Portable extensible conveyors in the entry are

then replaced by a standard conveyor belt mounted on a steel sectionalized base of sufficient size and speed to carry the desired ultim ate output of the entry.

C utting m achines are then used to open rooms 40 f t wide on 120-ft. centers. These are followed by loading machines and standard portable extensible conveyors.

W ith the aid of th is eąuipm ent the rooms are driven to the desired length.

For illustration, the model mine is operated as fol- lows: C utting m achines are sumped into the coal and a cut is taken across the face. A fter th is cut has been completed, drills are used for placing the holes, which are loaded and shot. Machines mounted on tractors are then moved to the face of the broken coal, and loading commences. The output of the loading machinę is con- tinuously discharged onto a portable extensible room conveyor, which in turn delivers to the standard con- veyor located in th e entry. The entry conveyor in turn delivers the product to the main haulage conveyor, which carries the coal to a d istrib u tin g conveyor placed above a storage bin of sufficient capacity to receive the entire daily output of th e mine.

As each room face is loaded out a cu ttin g machinę is moved forward im m ediately and the operation is car- ried forward in cycles of cu ttin g, shooting and loading, one cu ttin g m achinę and one loading machinę serving two faces. The conveyors are autom atically controlled, so that should th e m ain-line conveyor break down, all others delivering coal from th e faces and from the en- tries are shut down. In case of stoppage of an entry conveyor, only the room conveyors feed in g it will be stopped. The stoppage of a room conveyor w ill affect only that particular operation.

The continousness of the system is at once appar- ent, and w ith a storage bin of sufficient capacity be- tween the m ine and tipple there w ill be no interm it- tency of m ine operation due to delays in preparation and loading d isability.

The fe a sib ility o f the system can be judged from the performance of cu ttin g m achines and mechanical load-

T A B L E IV— P R O D U C T IO N A N D CO ST E S T IM A T E LO A D IN G M A C H IN Ę A N D C O N V EY O R M IN IN G

F o r a 4,000-ton d aily o u tp u t in 4-ft. coal 2 E n tries working, th re e shifts each

1 E n try advancing, th re e sh ifts each 2 H eading m achines

8 C h ain shortw all m achines 6-ft. c u tte r b ar

N um ber I W orking E n tr y N um ber 2 W orking E n try 4 C hain m achines cu ttin g 520 lin.ft. 4 C hain m achines, cu ttin g 520 lin.ft.

each. each.

4 Adyancing 40-ft. rooms @ 2 \ cuts p e r 4 A dvancing 40-ft. room s @ 2J cu ts p er sh iftfo r 3 shifts... . ... 1,252 to n s sh ift for 3 sh ifts ... 1,252 tons 3 R etreating 80-ft. pillars, @ I i cuts, 3 R e tre a tin g 80-ft. p illars, @ I ł cuta per shift for 3 sh ifts ... 886 tons p er shift for 3 sh ifts ... 886 tons 7 W orking fa c e s... 2,138 to n s 7 W orking fa c e s... 2,138 tona

2 H eading drivere, heading 12 ft. w idth @ 20-ft. advance per driver

p er machinę for 3 sh ifts... 278 tona 4,554 tona

TA B LE I I I —E S T IM A T E D C O ST O F T O W N A N D A C C ESSO R IES H ouses

100—3 Room s a n d b a t h ...

100— 4 Room s an d b a t h ... 220,000

§35—5 Room s a n d b a t h ... 98,000 10— 6 room s a n d b a t h ... 33,000

8— 7 Room s an d b a t h ... 36,800 I— 8 Room s a n d b a t h ... u ,u u u $549800

O ther Im provem ents

Stat>le,livestock, harness, w ag o n s... $ * jj.OOO P laning an d saw m ili...

Bank a n d po st office ( te m p o ra ry )... ...

H ospital ( p a rtia l) ... ‘ 0,000 C om m unity building (te m p o ra ry )...

S treet w ork ( p a rtia l) ... 10,000

park ... w

School houses (te m p o ra ry )...

Churohes (p a rtia l) ...

S torę an d stook ( te m p o ra ry ) ... ou.uuu R ailroad s ta tio n ... ?n nnn W ater su p p ly a n d sew erage ( p a rtia l)... ‘ “•“Jj”

L ig h tin g sy stem ( p a rtia l) ... . H otel ( p a r tia l) ...

T elephone system (te m p o ra ry )... i.uuu

L a u n d ry ... ... $259,000

T o ta l...

S U M M A R Y O F E S T IM A T E S 434 150

Inside p la n t a n d ... 372 000 O utside p ln n ta n d ... 808 800 To wn a n d a c c e ss o rie s... ... ...’

. $1,614,950

T o t a l . . . . ... ... , 29 Q45 A d d fo rc o n tin g e n c ie s ... ... ł

$1,743.995 C a rry in g charge u n tilo n o p e r a tin g b a s is a n d o p e ra tin g f u n d ... 250,000

$1.993,995

ers under the present method of delivering coal to mine cars.

The practicability o f continuous conveyor haulage can be estim ated from the perform ance of standard sec­

tionalized steel extensible trough conveyors, which have been in use for a number of years and can be purchased in any desired lengths w ith complete drive from manu- facturers of coal eąuipm ent. These conveyors w ill be used for all entry advance and retreat, for room and crosscut extension and for pillar work

An estim ate o f the perform ance of standard con- veyor belts may be obtained from the coal properties where installations are in use and from th e record of tonnages of a more abrasive m ateriał than coal being carried over great distances— in m etal m ines and mills.

The belts will be mounted on standard trou gh in g and return idlers attached to lig h t steel self-align in g foun- dation fram es which w ill perm it the replacing of tem ­ porary steel trough conveyors by th e addition of the necessary number o f foundation fram es and of an extra footage of b eltin g and by the m oving of th e taił pulley to the desired point in the main slope to reach newly opened righ t or le ft entries, or in en tries to perm it the discharge o f tonnage from newly opened rooms.

The retreat from destination crosscuts and from room- and chain-pillar operation is accomplished by th e reversal o f the advancing method o f in sta llin g con- veyors. All sem i-perm anent conveyors are suitably an-

C O N V E Y O R D I S C H A R G E S T O B I N A T S K I P

T h e s k ip , w o r k i n g s t e a d i l y , l i f t s t h e c o a l a l m o s t a s r a p i d l y a a it a r r i y e s . I t c o u ld b e a r r a n g e d so t h a t , s h o u l d i t s t o p , l t w o u ld d e - e n e r g i z e t h e c o n y e y o r s .