Coal Age : devoted to the operating, technical and business problems of the coal-mining industry, Vol. 26, No. 12

E . J . M e h r e n , Vice-President P roblem s O l th e Coal-M inm g In d u s try E ngineering E ditor

Volume 26 NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 18, 1924 Number 12

R a i l r o a d s M ig h t S t im u la t e A ll- th e - Y e a r - R o u n d B u y in g

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I t should be easy to convey to the consumer the story th a t coal shortages cause prices of coal to rise as they also raise the prices of grain, and it should be easy to show h im th a t both coal and tran sp ortation m ust be excessively costly when both m ine and railroad have to be kept competent to do in a few m onths w hat could ju s t as well be spread the year through.

F urtherm ore, it could be urged th a t a little more fo re sigh t on the p a rt o f the consum er would keep the m in e r and railroad employee steadily at w ork and would m a in ta in a m arket fo r the m an ufac ture r and tradesm an th ro u g h o u t the year. The railroads, in fact, should advertise the value o f steadying m arkets as h e lp ful to everybody. The idea has not been sold. H ow could it have been, seeing th a t it has not been advertised?

J o h n a n d W a r r e n W r a n g le

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A n y union m ine official w ill tell you so.

B u t th is labor union, the Brotherhood, has been learn- in g som ething about com petitive business d u rin g the last few years. I t has been r u n n in g a bank fo r one th in g . O f course, th a t m ay not have been as com petitive as some enterprises, p a rtly because a large volum e of depositors and investors was guaranteed before the ban k even opened its doors. B u t it was sufficiently com petitive so th a t W arre n and his fellow engineer bankers d id n ’t invest m uch of the m oney in pure altru ism .

W hen Jo h n asked fo r a b ig m in ers’ strike loan in 1922, fo r instance, secured only by Jo h n ’s nam e in bold black ink, W arren said, No. He w anted to m ake the loan on a business basis or not at all. He was in the b a n k in g business and the bank had to w ork fo r w h at it got.

This made Jo h n m ad. Also it made Jo h n p retty m ad to th in k the decently-paid engineers w ould not q u it work and tie up the railroads to help the m iners w in th e ir strike; b u t th a t is only incidental to the present hot tim e between Jo h n and W arre n — oh, purely in ­ cidental !

A nd then W arre n and the boys who puli the country ’s throttles bought the Coal R iver properties. They p aid the union scalę and trie d th e ir best to m ake the t h in g go. They probably did everything h u m a n ly possible to make it a success on a union-scale basis. B u t they were in business, and they found th a t economic forces sometimes cannot be m et w ith thunderous phrases about

“no backward step” and the like.

Maybe Jo h n can get by th a t sort of th in g , as his income is all collected fo r h im fro m his own ra n k and file by the coal operators, no m atter w hether the rank and file th in ks it is a good investm ent to m ake or a punk one. B u t W a rre n had to get his m oney in a business. So he told his union m iners the j ig was up.

E ith e r they worked fo r enough less to m ake it possible for h im to stay in business or down w ent the m ines and nobody worked. So the m ines were closed down.

W arren at least w ouldn’t reopen non-union. Jo h n ought to give h im credit fo r th at.

B u t Jo h n doesn’t credit h im w ith a n y th in g m uch, except w ith “jo in in g other coal operators o f W e st V irg in ia in an atte m p t to starve the employees into acceptance of a wage reduction.” T his is “an intolerable position fo r a coal com pany whose stock is larg e ly owned and whose affairs are directed by union m e n ."

However intolerable it m ay be, the locomotive engineers still have the $3,000,000 they invested in the Coal R iv e r Collieries and are probably in position to earn some­

th in g on th a t investm ent i f they ever get a chance to run th e ir m ine on a business basis. B u t the fact th a t they recognize the economic law o f supply and dem and certainly riles Jo h n .

S u m m e r C o a l

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B u t w hile we w onder a t E u ro p ę fre e zin g in the w inter, have we not reason to m arvel a t the w ay in

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390 C O A L A G E Vol. 26, No. 12 w hich A m erica swelters in sum m er? The captain of

in dustry finds his home and his office unbearably hot.

He discovers th a t he m ust take a long vacation to the m ountains, at the shore or in his yacht. I f he stays in the city, he gets nine kinds of stiff neck fro m the fitfu l breezes of his office fan, which disturbs his papers and delivers to his desk the dust-laden a ir o f the city street.

W e have borne w ith this nuisance so long, however, th a t it never seems to occur to us th a t we could have rooms regulated by a therm ostat to any degree of heat.

W e could cool, clean and move the a ir so th a t it would give us com fort and allow us to retain all those habili- m ents th a t go w ith d ig n ity — coats, vests, collars and cuffs. W hy should not com fort in the sum m er be as im p ortan t as in the w in te r? The E n g lish m an w ith his draug h ty house and bucketful of glow ing embers is not more sad th an your A m erican w ith w ilted collar, perspiring forehead and stiff neck. Some day we shall rise to a superiority over the rises of the therm om eter as we have over its downward plunges.

W h a t tem perature shall we endeavor to a tta in ? T hat is a m atter for determ ination. Perhaps ten or fifteen degrees below th a t of the outside a ir — a tem perature h ig h enough not to chill us on leaving the street but cool enough to keep us active and capable of p e rfo rm in g a good day’s work, despite the heat. A t n ig h t we shall sleep and gain strength fo r the m orrow ’s toil instead o f fitfully tossing and w atching the passing hours.

The problem o f conditioning a ir is not a new one.

In a deep m etal mine, the St. Jo h n del Rey, the m iners are being supplied w ith artificially cooled air. In m any hot A m erican metal m ines large volumes of a ir are being circulated fo r the purpose of reducing the tem perature.

The work of the m iners is greatly increased by the change, so m uch so th a t the companies recognize ventila- tio n as a source of extremely valuable economies. In the textile factories the a ir is regulated b u t rather as to its m oisture th an as to its tem perature. I f such provisions are made in in d ustry why should they not be provided fo r com fort?

A fte r a w hile the electric companies w ill be b uy in g coal to provide fo r the demand fo r sum m er ventila- tio n and fo r the operation o f air-cooling water sprays.

W here am m onia is used, the householder w ill be using coal to operate his private refrigerator p lan t and we m ay find ourselves ąuestioning one another: “ Have

you bought your sum m er coal?” Coal men w ill miss an opportunity i f they fa il to awaken the public to the advantage o f conditioned air.

M a n u f a c t u r e d F u e l s F ill in g N e e d f o r S m o k e le s s C o a l

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T his is the production of smokeless fuel. Heretofore the really smokeless coals, so fa r as the ordinary house­

holder is concerned, have practically all come from the an th racite region of Pennsylvania. The lim its of this field have been established w ith a fa ir degree of accu- racy; both the q u an tity of coal m ined and th a t yet le ft in the ground have been computed closely. I t m ay be stated w ith a reasonable degree of certainty th at the an th racite deposits of Pennsylvania w ill be exhausted w ith in the course of approxim ately the next

century. Long before th a t tim e has arrived the coun­

try m ust have developed a satisfactory su bstitute fuel.

Though there is doubtless room fo r im provem ent in existing anthracite substitutes, nevertheless several such fuels have already reached a f a ir degree o f per- fection. The most common of these is probably coke, either byproduct, beehive or gas-house. T his fuel being bulkier and more porous th a n coal m u st be treated in the ordinary house furnace somewhat differently from anthracite. As it b urn s w ith an in- tense local heat it is liable to w arp the firepot of a house furnace unless this is surrounded w ith water.

Its use is most successful in steam and hot-water furnaces.

O f the various other substitutes only tw o as yet have become im portant— gas and b riąuets. Gas possesses the advantage not only of b ein g smokeless, b ut also of being ever-ready and re q u irin g no k in d lin g for its ign ition . I t is probably the m ost convenient fuel known and makes a fire th a t m ay be readily con- trolled throughout its entire rangę of heat-generating possibilities.

Briąuets were at first regarded by the average house­

holder w ith more or less suspicion. A lth o u g h those first made in th is country were of somewhat doubtful ąuality, the later product has been m uch improved.

Today it is entirely possible, thro ugh a proper heat treatm ent of the briquet afte r pressing, to ob tain a fuel that is at least as smokeless as an thracite, even though the coal from w hich it is m ade is rich in bitum en and consąuently decidedly sm oky when burned raw in an ordinary furnace.

In m aking a smokeless domestic fuel fro m a high- volatile coal it is quite possible to recover certain byproducts which in some degree at least tend to pay for the m an ufac turin g process. W h ile it is a com- paratively easy m atter to enforce local smoke ordi- nances against the b ig in d u s trial plant, i t is an entirely different proposition to enforce the same regulations against the smali householder, whose nam e is Legion.

It would seem therefore, th a t our cities w ill no t be devoid of smoke u n til a smokeless fuel is n o t only available to the ordinary householder b u t u n til it has become economically advantageous fo r h im to b u m such fuel in competition w ith raw coal.

Briquets m eeting w ith the m ost ready sale today are those either m anufactured fro m fine an th racite or fio m bitum inous coal w hich has been so heat-treated as to drive off practically its entire content of volatile matter. In tre atin g the h ig hly b itu m in o u s coals, w ith which naturę has so richly endowed N o rth A m erica, in such m anner as to render them smokeless, in additio n to various byproducts, two excellent fuels, both of which readily burn to carbon dioxide and w ater vapor are produced. Thus w hile raw soft coal can be burned smokelessly only w ith difficulty gas and coke or heat- treated briquets m ay be burned to invisible vapor with- out appreciable hindrance.

This country’s supply of b itum in o u s coal is alm ost nni ess, its storę of n atu ra lly smokeless coal m ust S001^i ui6 ex^ aust ed. A lready several processes are avai a e whereby excellent smokeless fuels m ay be made from in fe rio r n a tu ra l products. The use o f these ue s mu.st n aturally increase fro m year to year.

ortunately, smokeless m an ufactured fuels— coke and 3 U ł ST e f P erior to the n atu ra l product in heat content. Furtherm ore as a rule they contain less ash.

Is Mud Equal to Rock Dust For Mine Protection?

U t a h S u p e r in t e n d e n t w ith P le n t y o f A ir - S la c k e d S h a le a t H a n d S a v e s G r in d in g C o s t s b y M ix in g D i r t w ith W a t e r a n d S p r a y in g I t T h r o u g h R o o m s a n d E n t r i e s fr o m H o m e - M a d e P u m p in g M a c h in ę

Mud Sprayer in Action M ud-Sprayed H eading

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one-fourth the cost and w ith greater ease, then why not do it? M any a coal-m ining m an in the Rocky

M o u n ta in regions has been asking him self these ques- tions sińce the idea of

“ m u d iz in g ” was conceived by W . J . Reid, superintend­

ent o f the L io n Coal Co.’s m ine a t W a ttis, U tah. I f air-slacked shale, adobe or other easily friab le clays can be m ixed w ith water and effectively sprayed on coal-mine roofs, ribs and roadways, is there any good reason w hy a m in in g com pany w ith such m ate­

ria ł available should go to the trouble and expense of pulve rizing h ard rocks or shales fo r the purpose?

A s yet nobody knows positively th a t the new m ud process is as effica- cious as the better known fine, dry rock dust. Even M r. Reid, w ho is better in- form ed th a n anybody else,

being the only m an who has done the th in g extensively, cannot be positive; his m udized territories have never m et the test o f a spreading m ine explosion. A lth o u g h p re tty well convinced and unable to see any good reason w hy the scheme should fa il, he is tr y in g his best to prove or disprove the theory. R ig h t now he is r u n n in g a series of tests in a 50-ft. length of corrugated iron pipę such as is used fo r storm culverts under highw ays.

He is m u d iz in g sections of the in te rio r of th is pipę to see w hether coal-dust explosions w ill ju m p the pro- tected areas. A lso he is fig u rin g up every other kin d o f tr ia l he can th in k of, short of a m ine explosion, to determ ine ju s t w h at effect the m ud w ill have under all circumstances.

H is m u d iz in g idea is a ttra c tin g widespread atten- tion , as is his patented m ud-spraying m achinę fo r m ine use, w hich is still in the development stage. The m ine inspectors o f U tah have not yet p u t th e ir stam p of ap- proval on m u d iz in g , b u t they are w a tch in g it closely.

Since rock d u s tin g is reąuired in U ta h under the new state m ine safety code, it is difficult to say w hether m u d iz in g can be interpreted to m ean rock d u s tin g ; b u t nobody is p u ttin g a n y th in g in the w ay of p ro v in g out

the idea and eventually it m ay be accepted as standard rock-dusting practice.

M r. R eid says the m u d iz in g idea daw ned upon h im while he was w a tchin g a m achinę shoot cement onto outside wooden construction to render it fireproof. I f cement at so m uch a hundred pounds was a protection

against fire, why w ouldn’t ord inary air-slacked U ta h shale, m ixed w ith w ater, do ju s t as good a jo b at next to n o th in g a h un d red ? The hills all around the W a ttis m ine are fu li of the rig h t sort of d irt. I n fact, at one p oint close to the tipple, a t the bottom of the long tram w ay th a t b rin g s the coal 1,000 ft. down the m ountainside f r o m the m ine, a bank of th is d ir t located in a sm ali cut con- stantly sloughs off and slides down over the track.

I t has to be shoveled away and is a constant harrass- m ent. W h y no t see i f it could be p u t to use?

A little o f th is d ir t was shoveled th ro ug h a screen to remove broken rock and the coarsest of the m ateriał. Then it was m ixed w ith w ater and p u t th ro u g h the g u n n in g m achinę. I t stuck to the woodwork splendidly. B u t did it really fireproof the wood ? To find th is out, M r. R eid picked up some broken pieces th a t were th orough ly covered and carried them home. In to the cookstove they w ent w hile a hot fire was b u rn in g . He let them lie there fo r several m inutes and then lifte d the lids, w ondering w hether he w ould see wood ashes to m ark a fa ilu re of his idea.

Mu d iz e d W o o d Ne a r l y Ex t i n g u i s h e s Co a l Fi r e

The sticks of m udized wood not only lay there un- burned; they h ad alm ost p u t out the coal fire itself.

So in th is way, a t least, the m ethod was effective.

The next day a scheme fo r m u d iz in g the whole wooden weighhouse and tipple w ent into effect. A shortage of w ater in the region at the tim e m ade it advisable to render the tipple as fireproof as possible an d it was done w ith ju s t p la in m ud fro m the m oun tain side . To­

day th a t wooden tipple is plastered w ith it, an d the L io n Coal Co. expects no loss by fire.

Thence the idea spread to the m ine. I f m u d w orked well in the tip ple it oug ht to be good protection ag a in s t

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M UD VERSUS ROCK DUST

Not any too much is known yet about “mud­

izing” mines; but from present knowledge it seems that such mining companies as have available a supply of the right kind of dry, loose clay or air-slacked shale certainly can shovel it through a screen into a tank fuli of water and spray the resultant mud through rooms and entries much cheaper than they could rock dust the same areas. The mud has other advantages that rock dust ha3n’t, a i explained in this article.

But there is one big main ąuestion yet to be answered: Will this mud stop an explosion that has been initiated elsewhere? It is evident that the mud, when it has thoroughly dried on roof ribs and floor, pre^ents a slightly dusty .urface.

But it remains to be proved whether this is dusty enough. In any event, many mining men are watching Superintendent W. J. Reid’s work with interest.

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C O A L A G E Vol. 26, No. 12 the in flam m ab ility of coal dust. So Superintendent

R eid w ent to work on the problem of m u d izin g the mine.

H e devised a crude m achinę m ounted on a mine-car truck, in w hich d irt and w ater could be mixed and pum ped by a ce n trifu g a l pum p th ro u g h a peculiar flat nozzle th a t produced a well-divided spray. W ith this device m ud was plastered th ro ugh considerable lengths o f entry. M any changes have been m ade in the m achinę fro m tim e to tim e and m uch experim enting has been done to learn ju s t w h at the paces of the device are. Thus

fa r the L ion Coal Co. is em inently satisfied w ith its performances, and the W a ttis m ine w ill soon be mud- ized fro m portal to rooms.

The m ud is first shoveled fro m the thoroughly slacked face of a shale bank near the tipple. I t goes thro ugh a twenty-mesh sand screen directly into a p it car and is then ready to be hauled up the tram w ay to the mine.

The cost of th is “p rep aratio n ” probably is not over 50c.

per ton. T his is fa r less th a n the total cost of pro- d u cin g and g r in d in g ord inary m ine shale.

A b o u t a ton of the m ateriał is loaded fro m the p it car in to the ta n k of the m u d iz in g m achinę w ith w ater in the proportion of about three to one by volume. The m ix tu re is kept constantly stirred by the m achinę and is discharged by the pum p th ro ug h the nozzle as the m achinę runs slowly th ro ug h the m ine under its own power.

The average application varies in thickness from A to A in. The liq u id seems to penetrate perfectly in to cracks and crevices and to effect complete coverage of all exposed surfaces on roof and ribs. T hough the angle o f deflection fro m the fan-shaped nozzle is such th a t the m ud does not strike directly upon any m ine surface lower th an a line 30 in. or so fro m the floor, the rib s below th a t line are well splattered and the roadw ay is heavily encrusted.

Mu d Sp r a y Wa s h e s Du s t Do w n

The first effect of the spray is to w ash down all the coal dust th a t m ay have accum ulated on roof and ribs, leavin g the layer of pure shale. The value o f th is is ap p a re n t w hen it is remem bered th a t by th is process practically all inflam m able accum ulations in the entry are carried to the floor. A n d on the floor it is deposited as a th o ro u g h — and presum ably non-explosive— m ix ture

of coal and shale instead of in super-imposed layers of coal dust and rock dust.

O f course this caked layer of m ixed m a te riał on the roadway is partly broken up by travel, especially close to and between the rails, and it m ig h t be said th a t in this m anner the coal dust m ig h t be brought to the top in a dangerous film.

A careful exam ination of th is floor m ateriał, afte r it had dried thoroughly, indicated, however th a t in the pulverizing process the shale breaks down to the same talcum-powder fineness as the finest coal dust and th at therefore the shale on the roadways should always be ready to fly into suspension w ith the coal dust under the force of any rush of a ir such as th a t w hich pre- cedes an explosion.

Over p a rt of a roadway surface, where the floor is little disturbed, however, the m ud and the coal dust rem ain caked together in w h at is probably non-flam- mable form . A v irtu e of th is caking is th a t m ine sanitation is m uch improved. Such m anure, offal or other organie m atter as m ig h t be deposited th ro ugh o ut the m ine is effectively sealed over.

The plaster o f m ud on roof, tim bers and ribs in the W attis m ine has the lig h t color characteristic o f average m ine shale— even a little lighter, perhaps— and there­

fore possesses all the advantages of illu m in a tio n w hich are lent by shale dusting.

The appearance of creep in the roof or ribs is easily detected. N ew cracks probably w ill show up more plainly th an they would in entries th a t had been dusted w ith dry pulverized rock because of the sharper de- lineaticih of the edges of the crack. Thus the men in the W attis m ine feel th a t they can more readily detect a developing case of bad roof.

M r. Reid also th in ks th a t bottom heaves in clay are delayed or prevented by the lią u id spray. The stuff is applied in such th in lią u id fo rm th a t deep cracks are filled and a m ine bottom is so th oroughly sealed from the air th a t some causes of heaving are elim inated.

Mu d i z i n g Re d u c e s Du s t Ac c u m u l a t i o n s

N a tu rally the m a in interest in m u d iz in g centers in the question: W ill th is m ud stop the spread of an explosion? In order fo r it to do so it probably m ust present a dusty surface bearing enough finely divided shale dust, ready to be blown into suspension, so th a t the work of loose rock dust m ay be accomplished. The only answer to the ąuestion is th is : The m ud dries in about 36 hours, or 48 hours a t the most. W hen it is dry, the coating on roof and ribs offers a chalky surface from which dust can be rubbed in a th in film w ith the finger tips, b u t nobody knows definitely w hether there is enough of th is fine shale dust to stop an explosion.

I t is w orth n o tin g th a t the m ud, when it is first applied, fills even the finest cracks and the m ost m inutę nitches. W hile the larg er depressions and ledges in roof and ribs are not poured fuli, they at least fili out flatter and flatter w ith each succeeding application so th a t the tendency of the m u d iz in g process is to reduce the opportunity fo r fine coal dust to accumulate.

“ B u t only a tr iflin g accum ulation is necessary in or­

der to make a m ine dangerous,” say the num erous critics of m ud izing, when they first hear of it. “ No m ine can be prevented fro m spreading dust about on the a ir and th ro ugh spillage fro m cars. A n d w h at if this accum ulation is piled up between trip s of the spraying m achinę? Is your m ine safe, th e n ? ”

Close-up of the Mud Slinging Tank

T he m a c h in ę , w h ic h is self- p ro pe lling , b e ars a t a n k 10 ft. lo n g a n d 4 ft. w id e c a p a b le o f h o ld in g a to n o f s h a le d ir t in a one- to- tw o m ix tu r e o f w a te r. A 20-hp. m o to r, d r a w in g p o w e r fr o m th e tr o lle y lin e , d riv e s th e t r u c k a n d ru n s b o th th e s tir r in g p a d d le w h e e l w h ic h keeps th e m u d in s u s p e n s io n a n d th e c e n tr ifu g a l p u m p w h ic h s p ra y s th e l ią u id th r o u g h th e no zzle . T he m u d is d e liv e re d o n to a fa n - s h a p e d p la te a n d is deflected b y b la d e s set on th e fa c e o f th e p la te . I t costs b u t 50c. a to n to lo a d t h is m a ­ c h in ę fo r seryice a n d w it h i t one o p e ra tiv e c a n cover fr o m 2,500 ft. to 4,000 ft. o f e n try 20-ft. w id e in a d a y .

“W eil,” reply such defenders of the scheme as P. H.

K urnell, operating head of the L ion Coal Co., “ The th in g to do is keep your w o rking places m udized r ig h t up close, use lots of water at the actual face and make your cars tig h t. Then you w ill have reduced the danger o f dust accum ulations to the lowest point. N o th in g is perfect, b u t it seems to us th a t i f you do those th in gs you get pretty close to perfect m inę protection against dust.”

One other point is w orth discussing w ith regard to the possible action of m ud w ith a passing burst of flame. The caked layer of d irt, once thoroughly dried in the mine, is compact enough to adhere closely to roof and rib surfaces, b u t it w ill pulverize easily between the fingers— so easily, in fact, th at it seems probable th a t the heat and force of an explosion traveling th ro ug h an entry m ig h t easily reduce a p art of the layer to finest dust w hich would be blown into suspension and thus participate in subduing a coal-dust fire in the recoil i f not in the in itia l blast.

Ec o n o m y o f Sc h e m e Is Ou t s t a n d in g Fe a t u r e

A most attractive feature of m u d izin g as it is now practiced a t W a ttis is its economy. The dry d irt— a sort o f air-slacked shale— costs b u t 50c. a ton at the m ine portal, ready fo r the tan k of the spraying m a ­ chinę. Power is a smali item, fo r a 20-hp. m otor oper- ates the entire u n it, supplying power fo r travel, for a g ita tio n in the tank and fo r spraying. One m an oper- ates the outfit. The m achinę should travel about 100 ft.

per m in u tę when it is spraying and the experience of the L ion Coal Co. is th a t it can easily cover 2,500 ft.

of entry a day, allow ing fo r all sorts of delays short of actual breakdown. A n average day’s work m ig h t cover 4,000 ft. of entry.

M r. Reid cannot help com paring th is perform ance w ith th a t of men s p rin k lin g w ith water. In the W a ttis m ine a m an eąuipped w ith a length of hose, whose job it was to proceed fro m h y d ran t to hydrant, w ashing down the m ine, almost never covered more th an 1,000 ft.

in one entire day. Furtherm ore, it often was possible fo r h im to assert th a t he had sprinkled sections he had never entered. B u t w ith the m u d izin g m achinę the evidence is so p lain th a t no operative ever can allege more th an he actually has done. In other words he m ust do his fu li stin t or show good reason why. A nd the capacity of the m achinę is three tim es th a t of the o rd in ary sprinkler at one-third the labor cost. A tank- fu l of the m ix tu re w ill cover 800 ft. to 1,000 ft. of 20-ft. entry. O f course th is distance w ill vary w ith the size and condition of the roadway and should be greater th a n 1,000 ft. on repeat coatings.

A t intervals th ro ug h the m ine it is necessary to have a supply of the d ir t ready fo r the m achinę. As the m ate riał makes good stem m ing, piles of it are dumped in rooms. T his leaves it handy fo r the m achinę when it is w o rk in g in room entries and keeping up w ith the advancing faces. B u t the m a in supply is hauled into the m ine in p it cars and spotted along the route th a t the m achinę is scheduled to follow in each tour. The process of re charging the m achinę is sim ply one of shoveling d ir t into the tan k fro m a p it car on a p a rtin g an d o f fillin g up the ta n k w ith w ater fro m the lines, w hich are necessary in all m ines o f U ta h under the state code.

The self-propelling m achinę w h ich Superintendent R eid devised, b u t w hich is being replaced by an im-

proved type, consists of a tan k 10 ft. long, 4 ft. wide and 16 in. deep made of sheet steel and angle iron.

The entire top comprises three lids easily removed.

The bottom of the tan k pitches slightly from both ends to the middle, where an ag ita to r paddle wheel bearing eight spokes revolves constantly above a 2-in. outlet pipę which feeds the m ix ture by g ravity down to a centrigugal pum p under the tank. The pum p discharges the liquid through a pipę of li- in . diam eter to an outlet on the apex of a fan-shaped steel pan nozzle. T his

Canyon Down Which Lion Tramway Passes

T he tr a m w a y c a n be d is ce rn e d on the le f t side o f th e v a lle y . A t places along- th e r o a d w a y is fo u n d th e fine w e a th e re d s h a le th a t is tu rn e d in to m u d b y the r a in s a n d is u se d b y M r. R e id to m u d c o a t h is e ntrie s a n d re tu r n a ir w a y s . M r. R e id c le a n s h is tr a m r o a d o f fine d e tritu s a n d tu r n s it to good use b y c o v e rin g h is h e a d in g s w ith it,

fan-shaped plate, elevated at an angle of about 45 deg.

from horizontal, bears on its face an arrang em e nt of blades standing on edge, so curved and placed as to deflect the m ud spray correctly. The spray is fu rth e r aided by an up tu rn around the r im of the plate.

The motor, m ounted under one end of the ta n k and operated from the line th ro ugh a trolley pole, drives the truck, agitator and pum p. I t operates at 860 r.p.m . and transm its power to a m ain vertical sh aft th ro u g h a fom*-to-one bevel reduction gear. F u rth e r speed reduction in the transm ission of power fo r locomotion is accomplished by a steel w orm on the lower end of the m ain shaft engaging a bronze wormwheel on the drive shaft. A sprocket and chain connect the drive sh aft w ith one of the truck axles, afford in g the desired travel of 100 ft. per m in utę. A noth er set of sprockets and a chain on the opposite side of the truck m ake the drive four-wheel.

Ag it a t o r Ru n s Co n t i n u a l l y

The agitator in the ta n k is driven a t 107 r.p.m . thro ugh a gear reduction fro m the m a in sh aft. I t re- volves all the tim e the m otor runs, th o u g h the tru c k m ay be stopped or the p um p halted at any tim e by a s h iftin g of gears. T his constant a g ita tio n keeps the m ud in the ta n k from se ttling and choking the pipes and thereby elim inates any likelihood th a t the pum p, becoming clogged, w ill break. The p um p is driven at 1,720 r.p.m . th ro u g h a speed-increasing gear and s h a ft eąuipped w ith a flexible cou plin g to absorb shock.

The new type of R eid m achinę w ill have tw o agi- tors, one w h ir lin g on either side of the m a in feed pipę leading to the pum p. The single paddle wheel d id fa ir ly well b u t in the 10-ft. ta n k too m uch m ud was precipi- tated at the fa r ends.

In the experim ental w ork w ith the R e id m ach in ę all sorts of places in the m in e were m udized. I t was recog- nized th a t a m achinę on a tra ck cannot reach every opening in a m ine th a t needs rock d u s tin g and some

394 C O A L A G E Vol. 26, No. 12

Detail Drawing of Mud Sprayer

T he a g ita to r s p re v e n t th e p r e c ip ita tio n o f th e m u d , b e in g k e o t a t w o rk even w h e n the p u m p is n o t o p e r a tin g . A s th e d u s t w ith w h ic h th e w a te r is m ix e d is e x tre m e ly fine it is k e p t in suspen- sio n w ith a m in im u m o f a g it a t io n . B y u s in g tw o a g ita to r s the d ir t even a t th e c a r e nd s sho w s lit t le d is p o s itio n to settle.

attentio n had to be given to the trackless entries and aircourses w hich every m ine has to watch. D ry rock dust can be blown into intake a ir w ith good results but m ud can hardly be distributed in th a t m anner.

To meet this difficulty M r. R eid and his m en uśed hose between the m achinę and sp ray ing nozzle. A t first they tried only a 50 ft. length. The results were so good th a t they added more and more hose u n til finally they were using 300 ft. and were able to spray 50 ft.

beyond the end of the line. They believe they can use as m uch as 500 ft. of hose and still get sufficient pres- sure from the pum p to spray m ud successfully, although it m ay be necessary to th in down the m ixture.

Thus they are p erfecting the m u d iz in g idea at Wat- tis. They m ay not have it worked down to a fine point, b ut they feel th a t they are approaching th is stage. J t is possible th a t they have gone fa r enough already to reduce greatly the cost of dust protection in those mines w hich have available a supply of dust m ateriał of the proper ą u ality fo r th is work.

North Carolina Mines May Have Byproduct Ovens

By J . H . Ro s e

E r s k in e R a m s a y C o a l C o., C u m n o c k , N . C.

T

Y a d k in R .R . between R aleigh and Charlotte, and it is w ith in convenient reach of the Seaboard A irlin e Ry.

th a t passes through Sanford. A branch of the A tla n tic Coast L ine comes into S anfo rd and connects w ith the A tla n tic & Y ad k in at th a t point.

The strategie location o f this coal field in relation to a large su rroun d in g steam-coal m arket is unusually favor- able. I t lies 180 miles east of the great A ppalachian coal regions. The coal occurs in the Triassic or New Red Sandstone form ation, in the shape of a long syn- clinal trough, h av in g a northeasterly direction. T racing the coal seam from the outerop to the diam ond-drill holes shows the measures to be p itc h in g on an average o f 8 deg. A t the bottom of the F arm ville slope the measures are p itc h in g 3 deg. The m a in slopes driven off from the Cum nock s h a ft are now show ing the measure to be p itc h in g 10 deg. The two mines (about a mile a p a rt) and exposed surface measures overlying the coal indicate a large acreage o f com paratively fiat measures.

Fi e l d Ma y Co v e r 25 Sq u a r e Mi l e s

The rocks consist of sandstone, shales and fireclay, w ith some interbedded coal seams extending over a lim ite d section. A section of the coalbearing measures, as shown by the m ine operations at Cumnock and Farm- ville is set fo rth in Table I.

Records o f diam ond d rillin g s and m ine operations have proven approxim ately 4,250 acres of workable coal, definitely in the field. A strange geological freak w ill be developed should the exploration proposed fa il to prove up fro m 10,000 to 12,000 acres of workable coal in a d d itio n to the 4,250 acres ju s t m entioned.

The coal-bearing strata contain a num ber of coal seams o f v a ry in g thickness and ąuality . O nly one of

these seams is comm ercially workable— it being known as the “ F o u r foot” seam. I t occurs at the top of the coal-bearing strata. However, tests are now being con-

Table I— Coal-Bearing Measures, Deep River Field, North Carolina

S a n d sto n e c a p ro c k ... 10 to 14 in.

D r a w s la te ... 2 to 6 in.

C o a l ( " F o u r f t . ” s e a m ) ... 37 to 54 in.

B la c k b a n d ore ... 15 to 18 in.

L o w -grade co a l ... 20 to 30 in.

F ire c la y , slates, sha le s ... 25 to 35 ft.

B la c k b a n d ... 2 to 3 ft.

C o a l ... 24 to 32 in.

B la c k b a n d ...18 to 34 in.

ducted as to the possibility of u tiliz in g the low-grade coal for mechanically fired boilers fo r steam standby power plants operated by the larger power companies located in the state. A recent analysis, made by the state geologist, of the coal is given in Table I I .

Dependable records of coal cuttings m ade and diam ond drillings, indicate an average thickness of the “ F our foot” seam, of 42 in. exclusive of 24 in. of bone coal underlying the seam.

The large power com panies in the state are e x h ib itin g much interest in the possibility of locating a byproduct plant a t one of the mines and have engineers in the field

Table II— Analysis in Four-Foot Seam, Deep River Field

M o istu re ... 1 1 5

V o la tile M a tte r ... 24.89 A s h ... i ... 5.64 S u lp h u r ... ... 3 1 7

F ix e d C a rb o n ... ...57.03 B T U ... ... 14,230

w orking in conjunction w ith the coal companies. The coal yields large ąuan titie s of illu m in a tin g gas, ammo- n ia and coal tar.

Both mines are being rapidly developed and by the end of this year a production of 600 tons per day is anticipated for the field, the combined production of the mines at this tim e being 300 tons per day. The m arket for this coal fa r exceeds the production and a good price is realized for the coal d u rin g the entire year. N either m ine lost a day’s tim e d u rin g the past eighteen months on account o f no m ark«t for coal.

C e rrfrifu c ja / p u m p

Germany’s Return to Honest Money and Economy Marked by Speedy Recovery

By E. J. Meh r e n

N

She occupies the spotlight in Europę.

What is to be her futurę?— is the ques- tion that everyone in the old world is asking.

The answer to that ąuestion no one can tell. The problem is complicated.

But this even the casual visitor to Ger­

many can say: Germany has madę tremendous strid.es sińce the w ar; she is showing eztraordinary recuperative power—ag ain st trenmedous handicaps;

she h as worked a finaneial miracle sińce November of last y e a r; and, finally, no nation that shows Germany’s potential strength can be permanently kept down, can be crushed.

These observations, let me repeat, even the casual visitor must make. The signs are written everywhere: in a people again well nourished, in a pub- lic administrative ability (irrespeetive of party) that was able without new revolution to stabilize the currency, in a returning hope that Germany can again rise. There is not buoyancy of spirit, but there is a deep-founded con- fidenee that the nation is not going to pieces.

The situation is in sharp contrast to what one expects. In America we hear of the wrecking of the currency, of the sufferings of last winter, of the diffi- culties under which her industries labor in securing raw materiał s and finding markets. Upon these reports— which of course, are correct— we paint with our imaginations a country on the verge of despair, a disrupted industry, a tottering government. The surprise is a great one— and, if one is fair- minded, he must come away with deep admiration for what has been accom- plished.

Let us briefly paint the picture of Germany’s economic circumstances:

Under the Versai’les treaty or as a result of it she lost heavily of her iron and coal deposits— in Alsace-Lorraine, the Saar and Upper Silesia; she lost her colonies, her foreign investments, her shipping, her export organization and its connections; she has a large part of her territory under the control of her former enemies. In addition she has been through an exhausting war and political revolution.

These conditions are not new; they existed when I was in Germany just four years ago, in the summer of 1920.

The result was what might have been expected— an under-fed, discontended people, a disorganized industry, and an all-pervading discouragement, unre- lieved by any ray of hope.

Since then, sińce 1920, two other finaneial disasters have forced them- selves into the picture— the occupation of the great industrial district of the Ruhr, and the wrecking of the cur­

rency.

W ith these added calamities one should logically expect that conditions

Vice-President, M c G ra w - H ill Co., Inc.

would be worse instead of better, that the despair would be even blacker than before.

And yet conditions are as I have described—immeasurably better. Here is a nation on the up-grade, rather than the down. Here is a nation to be reekoned with economically, not to be ignored; here is a nation that is sura to be an important factor in the world’s industry.

This last is a bold statement. I realize what terrific handicaps the rest of the world can put upon Germany if it wishes. It can keep Germany im­

potent, but it is my belief that it will not do so. Sentiment, moreover, will play no part; commercial considerations alone will lead to trading with Ger­

many. Other nations will want to sell to the markets of a reviving Germany.

If they sell to Germany, they will buy from Germany, and if they buy from Germany, a prominent place in world affairs is assured her by the potential strength she is now so conspicuously displaying.

Let it be clearly understood that the path of recovery for Germany is not an easy or a quick one. She is not out of difficulty. The economic handicaps recited above are still upon her; some of them are being slowly removed—

such as the absence of shipping and foreign commercial connections; some of them— such as the lack of colonies—

may never be removed. But a nation that under present handicaps has re- covered as she has done will rise despite the obstacles that a commercially minded world is likely permanently to place upon her.

Th e Tu r n in g Po in t

The great German economic miracle was wrought in the closing months of 1923 and the early part of 1924. Early last autumn Germany truły, to use the words of Basil Miles, administrative commissioner for the United States in the International Chamber of Com- merce, was at the cross-roads. Directly ahead— on the road she was traveling, the road of unbalanced budgets, of state subsidy of the railroads, of cur­

rency debasement— was revolution, in­

dustrial suicide, destruction. To the right was a stormy path, extremely difficult, beset possibly by disorder, pos- sibly by revolution, but leading, if the difficulties could be mastered, to economic soundness. It was the road of a stabilized currency, with its ac- companiments of balanced budgets and governmental economy. Germany chose to go to the right, to take the difficult road, to bear the stress of finaneial re­

form and currency stabilization, She did it at a time, too, when the situa­

tion in the Ruhr was at its most critical stage, when strong forces were seeking to pry loose the Rhineland and erect it into an independent state, when the attitude of Bavaria toward the rest of Germany was much in doubt. But she

went on, nevertheless. The government declared that the mark should be stabilized at four trillion 200 billion to the dollar. There was a severe con- test with the mark speculators, but by severe measures the govemment won.

and sińce November, 1923, legally, and about Jan. 1, actually, the rentenmark has stood at 23.8c. to the dollar. There was no revolution.

Germany is beyond the cross-roads and has chosen rightly. The futurę is long and difficult, but there is health where there was disease, there is hope where there was despair.

The severest present industrial handi­

cap is lack of credit. The great credit reservoirs were nearly or entirely wiped out by the fali of the mark. Fur- ther, there was no incentive to save; in­

dustries and indmduals converted the tobogganing mark into goods as ąuickly as possible. Today the credit resources of the banks are estimated at one-tenth the pre-war amount. When credits are obtained the interest rate is 2ł per cent per month for the very best security.

Wages are at approximately pre-war level. Prices, as of July 15 (according to the F ran k fu rter Zeitung index, the highest index I could find and which takes in ninety-eight commodities) are 34 per cent above 1913. (The govern- ment’s index for Wholesale prices is 12 per cent above 1913.)

Efficiency of labor has inereased notab’y and is still inereasing.

I

heard no generał complaint ag a in st the working m an in Germ any a s I did in England.

Unemployment, while fairly large just now, is not as great as that of Great Britain, and does not present the all-engrossing problem in Germany that it does in the British Isles.

The works couneils, elected by the workers, are said by the employers to be a good influence. They help smooth out difficulties and, in generał, have not been radical.

Hours of work per day are inereas­

ing.

The coal supply, which by its short- age was expected to be for many years a serious handicap to German industry, is now more than ample, on account of the very large development of lignite deposits.

The heayy taxes imposed on industry and individuals are beginning, under the stabilized rentenmark, to yield a good revenue. Recent figures show a surplus that has been used to retire obligations.

There is much more to be said and the details just given need elaboration.

But these few particulars will help to fili out the picture as I saw it—the picture of an industrial nation again on a sound basis, well organized, con- fident that somehow it will work out its difficulties and play a part in the world of industry and commerce.

Berlin, Aug. 13, 1924.

396 C O A L A G E Vol. 26, No. 12

Nation Is Using Less Coal as It Finds Price Too High

W it h Sam e C o a l R a ilro a d s G iv e E ig h ty per C e n t M o re Service— U tilitie s M a k e C o a l G o

Twice as F a r as in 1915 B y F. C. Ho n n o l d

Secretary, Illinois Coal Operators’ Association Chicago, 111.

W

J u s t such a situatio n has arisen w ith every coal- consum ing in dustry in the country as a result of the steadily advancing price of coal d u rin g and sińce the w ar. In 1915 the railroads of the country used, in round num bers, 106,000,000 tons of b itu m in o u s coal and d u rin g th a t year hauled approxim ately 275,000,000,000 ton-miles o f fre ig h t. W ith the m uch greater volume of business done in those years, the ą u a n tity of coal used by the railroads in 1917, 1918 and 1920 varied from 133.000.000 to 135,000,000 tons each year and w ith an average cost approxim ately twice th a t paid fo r engine fuel in 1913.

As a result, every device both in the way of change of equipm ent and more economical use of fuel by employees was introduced. The net result of these efforts is to be found in the published figures of the In te rstate Com- merce Com m ission fo r the calendar year 1923. In this year the railroads carried the heaviest tonnage they had ever handled in any previous year o f th e ir history, a m o u n tin g to the astonishing total of revenue and non- revenue fre ig h t of 457,000,000,000 ton-miles— alm ost twice the service rendered in the year 1914. Despite this show ing, th e ir use of coal am ounted to only 109.000.000 tons, barely 3,009,000 tons over th e ir use in the year ending Ju n e 30, 1915— an increase o f only sligh tly over 2 per cent in coal used as ag ainst 80 per cent increase in tonnage hauled. N or was th is accom- plished th ro u g h su b stitu tio n o f other fuel. The use of oil at the present tim e constitutes only about 8 per cent of the total fuel requirem ents of the railroads and has shown an increase of only about 2 per cent in the past three or fo u r years.

A s another illu stra tio n of the effect of increased cost of coal, we note the ra p id grow th of the so-called super- power plants— public U tilities p ro v id in g electric energy fo r sale th ro u g h a large te rrito ry and fo r a wide

yariety o f uses. ,

G o in g back to the period slightly before the w ar, say 1915 and 1916, a kilow att-hour of power was generated fro m the consum ption of about 5 to 6 lb. of coal, some specially inefficient plants usin g as m uch as 10 lb. By 1919 a kilow att-hour was being generated by 3.2 lb. of

No t e— From address delivered at meeting held b y L io n s Club

a t H errin, 111., Aug. 20, to ascertain causes and cure of present inactivity of Southern Illinois mines.

coal, and in 1923 the coal used per kilow att-hour had been reduced to 2.4 lb. A t some of the m ost recently completed power plants a kilow att-hour o f power is being made a t the astonish ingly Iow consum ption of only 1 lb. of coal.

This cheap provision of power fo r several years past has been and at the present tim e is to a rapid ly grow ing degree displacing the in d iv id u a l power p la n t a t w hich the use of coal was very m uch heavier. A s a result of th is change the increased use o f coal a t public-utility power plants th ro u g h o u t the U n ite d States fo r the five- year period fro m 1919 to 1923 has am ounted to less th an 3,000,000 tons, whereas the o u tp u t of these plants has increased 50 per cent.

In ad d itio n to the foregoing also, we have at the present tim e to reckon w ith fuel oil, w hich is m akin g itself fe lt in a com petitive way at a great m an y points.

Odd also as it m ay seem to some, the great improve- m ent in the tran sp o rtatio n service o f the country as a whole has greatly affected Southern Illin o is m ines. W ith more cars and more engine power E astern coal-carrying lines are in position to care regularly and fu lly fo r the grow ing m arkets of th e ir coal-mine operators in th is W estern territory.

In tim es past a notable lack of equipm ent and other facilities to some extent isolated these W estern m arkets from Eastern producing mines, especially d u rin g the late fa li and w in te r m onths, and d u rin g th a t portion of the year Southern Illin o is m ines have always enjoyed th e ir best r u n n in g tim e. A lready a large p a rt of th is advantage has been swept away.

Coal Company Raises Milk as a Sort Of Side Linę to Mining Coal

I

Now it is all changed. The dry arroyo still lies where water and the A lm ig h ty p u t it, b u t the rest of the ranch is different. A com fortable ranch house, F ig . 2, has been erected in the m id s t of a collection of good wooden sheds to house m achinery an d chickens, and a power and lig h t line has been b u ilt to the ranch to supply illu m in atio n in houses and barns and to ru n the elec- trical m achinery in clud in g m ilk in g devices. The ranch is irrig a te d w ith w ater b ro u g h t down fro m the com­

p a n y ^ watershed back in the m oun tains.

A set of m odern fa r m barns, F ig . 3, has been erected, a herd of m ilk cows has been purchased and the com­

pany has gone in to the d airy business, d is trib u tin g m ilk th ro ug h its m in in g tow n of H ia w a th a , U tah , and other com m unities w ith in reach. One object o f the enterprise was to guarantee the com pany’s employees an adequate supply of m ilk hauled in so s an itary a way th a t the health o f the com m unities w ould be safe- guarded. The model d a iry barn, F ig . 4, shown on the opposing page, is equipped w ith steel stanchions and feed carriers, and is otherw ise b u ilt to house contented cows.