Coal Age : devoted to the operating, technical and business problems of the coal-mining industry, Vol. 26, No. 10

M c G r a w - H i l l C o m p a n y , I n c . D e v o te d to th e O p e r a tin g , T e c h n ica l a n d B u s in e s s

J a m e s H . M c G k a w , President ^. R . D a w s o n H a l l

E . J . M e h r e n , Vice-President P ro b le m s o f th e C o a l- M im n g In d u s t r y Engineering Editor

Yolum e 26 N E W Y O R K , S E P T E M B E R 4, 1924 N um ber 10

JNot B e in g S u r e , B e C a r e f u l

S

B e t t e r M in e s, th e O n ly H o p e

W

of $15,000,000 in securities, and w ith the v isit of George S. Rice to the m ines of the company, the public is assured th a t the B ritis h E m p ire Steel Corporation does not intend to have its subsidiary meet the present Iow prices w ith inaction. Some companies have done this. One cannot commend th e ir action. Most of them are up and doing, realizing th a t coal m in in g is not go- in g to continue in the old ru t b u t is going to have a renaissance.

W e are u n w illin g to ad m it th a t coal m in in g is an un- progressive industry. I t has made w onderful progress in recent years, b u t the next decade is going to see an accelerated movement, and those th a t lag behind soon w ill have to drop out of the race. The w alk is going to change to a dog tro t and the dog tro t to a ru n in the next few years. The railroad ind ustry is merely be- com ing more efficient, b ut the coal operator is not only h an d lin g recent eąuipm ent more efFectively b u t is reaching out fo r new methods. Some are sending men to E uropę to see w hat the m ines of th a t continent m ay afford.

C a n a d ia n C o m p e t it io n

D

— excluding in th is reference those of Nova Scotia and perhaps V ancouver Islan d— the nearness of the seams to the surface, the op po rtu n ity to select w hich bed to w ork and w hich to reject, the price of coal a t the m ine is not Iow in Canada. A lbe rta coal, w hich M r. Geddes in a recent issue deplored was not d riv in g o ut coal fro m the U nited States, sold at the m ine in 1922 and 1923 fo r an average price of $4.07 and $4.12, respectively. I t w ould seem th a t the A lbertans w ith th e ir exceptional coal beds m ig h t blame themselves

rather than the railroads for any failu re to drive out competing coals.

The Nova Scotia field is old and has extremely diffi- cult circumstances to overcome, and th a t m ay explain why in 1922 and again in 1923 it realized an average of $4.42 for its coal. New B'runsw’ ck received $3.75 and $3.90, respectively. A nother section w ith great difficulties is B ritis h Colum bia, its average price being

$5 and $4.98. The Y ukon price in 1922 was $10 fo r its smali production. Only Saskatchewan, w ith its lig n ite field, has Iow prices. I t realized $2.10 in 1922, and $2.09 in 1923. The prices in the U nite d States fo r bitum inous coal in these years were $3.02 and $2.85.

They have dropped sińce th a t tim e to $2, as Coal A ge price index shows.

The hope fo r A lb erta and the other provinces of Canada is in more m achinery, larger tonnage per plan t and per day, and sim plification of operation. N e ith er in politics, polemics nor in feverish recrim inations b u t in industrial efficiency lies the real fu tu rę of Canada.

O n e M e a n in g f o r E v e r y W o r d

E

The result is not wholly fortun ate . The words are exact b u t there are no synonym ns, w ith the result th a t good electrical lite rature is som ewhat bald, and repeti- tions of the same word are inevitable. Moreover, it does not improve w ith tim e. W e still use such aw kw ard expressions as “alte rn a tin g curre n t” where we m ig h t use some abbreviated form w ith o u t descending to th?

use of in itials.

F urtherm ore, electrical engineers in generał use aw kw ard verbs. A m otor “burns up” ^or “ out” ^rather th an “burns.” W h y it should “b u rn up” ^or “ out” ^{no one} knows. There is n o th in g p a rtic u la rly upw ard or out- w ard in the b u rn in g . I t m ay b u rn down ^or in, b u t the engineer insists on the m otor b u r n in g the other way w hether or no.

Nevertheless the sta n da rd iza tio n of the words the electrician uses is of great help tow ard a comprehension of his m eaning, and it would be well i f the m in in g in d ustry were to attem pt a s im ila r standard, d ra w in g from its w ealth of words liberally so as to use them all, sim ply lim itin g th e ir m eaning. Then we w ould have synonym ns th a t would m ake the language flexible. W e could draw from all our m in in g regions, fro m all those of E n g lan d , Scotland and W ales, perhaps also from those of France, G erm any and Mexico, and get a well- rounded nom enclature th a t could be w ritte n fluently.

317

I f need be a few words could be invented to su it m odern needs.

O ur glossaries are of little use. They tell us all the corrupt usages of m in in g terms and do not indicate any preference in favor o f one or the other usage. W e need au th o rity back of our technical dictionary— arbi- tra ry au th o rity if necessary. Then we would know ju s t w hat is considered the best usage and cease to use the words fo r other purposes. Thus “ gob” is used to express a place where the coal has been extracted and filled w ith refuse or a place w hich m ig h t be so filled w ith o u t detrim ent, i f room were needed fo r such refuse, b u t we use it also to express a place where the coal, wholly or partly, has been removed so th a t the roof has fallen or m ay be expected or desired shortly to fali. I t does not include places where the coal has been extracted and in w hich it is desirable to keep rock from fa llin g or being stowed. To express the place where the roof has fallen or m ay be expected to fali the E n g lish use “goaf” and where it has fallen the words “the broken.” I t would seem well to adopt “goaf”

and to d istin g uish it from “gob,” b ut there are other definitions th at should be determined th a t are even more im p ortant th an these. W e only h a lf know a science the definitions of w hich are contradictory and uncertain.

G la m o r f r o m th e P a s t

O

H. H.

som ething has been done, b u t meagerly, fo r Io w a ; a little is vouchsafed about the Georges Creek field, M uhlenberg County in western Kentucky, the H ocking Valley and one or more other d istricts; b u t a complete history of A m erican coal m in in g has yet to be w ritten.

The anthracite region has been unusually fortunate.

I t contains some companies so old th a t they reach back to the early days. These companies have kept the story before the public, and, strange to say, those who would analyze the anthracite in d ustry to its disadvantage usually have prefaced th e ir rem arks w ith a history of its development. In other sections no such close con- nection exists between the present and the past, and the work, if done, has been le ft to a n tią u a ria n societies.

S trange to say, no better way exists of reaching the public th an th ro ug h history. The public reveres its Lares and Penates, however ąuestionable, and, tru th to say, the orig inal m ine owners were respectable and respected. They were pioneers and builders. They were the “forty-niners” of the regions they developed.

A round them can be weaved a romance; from them m ay be evolved a trad ition .

A m ericans never speak ill of th e ir forefathers.

E nough o f m ystery surrounds the past th at the names th at survive are like the heroes of Greek mythology

— supermen. Hence if we would have the public pay the in d ustry the respect due to its im portance and value, recall not so m uch our present-day leaders in m in in g as those th at, being shrouded in an tiq uity , can be glossed w ith all the glories of the im agination. Back in past years were men whose ways were dubious.

There are railroad men whose actions were ąuestion­

able, more th an ąuestionable— in fine they were rascals

— b u t the hand o f tim e has dealt kindly w ith them. We

note now only th eir courage, th e ir fore sigh t, th eir energy and resourcefulness. The rest is ąu ite generally forgiven, forgotten.

W ith these exemplars the coal in dustry does ill to pass over its pioneers. T hrough them, though they may not have been better than the generał r u n of th e ir enter- p risin g neighbors in other industries, m ay be found a way to the hearts of the public. They are not less noble than those of our ancestors th a t burned what they chose to cali “witches,” th a t ducked the scolds and persecuted those who disagreed w ith them. Those who tracę their o rig in from these o rig in a ls regard th at fact as a m erit. Surely the story o f the pioneers of our industry m ig h t be recited to give the public a sense th at the m in in g of coal is “an ancient and honor- able” industry, in the development of w hich the public m ig h t take a kindly and not an antago nistic interest.

Then also should we keep the history o f the mechan- ical developments in coal m in in g . Ju s t a t present it is customary to speak o f them w ith disrespect, b u t surely the story o f m in in g is a record of achievement, no m atter w hat is said. A fte r all, in our transportation methods we are not so remiss. Cars go tw ice and thrice, even fo u r or more tim es, to the w o rk in g face every w orking day, under conditions of exceptional difficulty. The railroads would find it difficult to prove eąual efficiency, even considering the greater distances to be traversed.

The past, of course, w ill not save the in d u stry from censure. O u r contemporaries are too wise to be hood- winked, but w ith a goodly present and the glam or of the past we m ay a tta in the good w ord of the public, despite the fact th a t no one is k in d ly disposed toward any essential industry. The credit of an historie past cannot save us fro m the conseąuences o f our faults- but m ay spare us unjustifiable persecution.

A lg e b r a F ir s t

H

M any an attem pt to give a m an the results of experience has been sidetracked by the pedagogs who can see nothing but algebra, geom etry and the relation between these studies and pneum atics, chem istry, hydraulics and what not. In d u s tria l education has d rifte d so fa r in the wrong direction th a t the p u p il has been discouraged or has been led finally to believe th a t according to his m athem atical a b ility w ill his fitness fo r a position be judged.

In our m ine forem en’s exam inations, unfortunately, we have put geometry, rath e r th a n safety, first. Our calculating fiends have p u t cube and sąuare root where accident prevention should r ig h tly be. The rigorous tests as to a knowledge of safe shooting, safe haulage and safety from gas have taken a back seat. “Let no one enter who is un acąuainte d w ith algebra” is our dictum instead of “S afe ty first.” W e need m athem atical ability in engineers and a knowledge o f p lain figu rin g and simple m en suration in m in e forem en, b u t so m uch geometry and so little safety in our e x am ination ques- tions for m ine forem en has m ade these tests a farce.

Looking at these ąuestions w ould you believe th a t the mine forem an was about to undertake a responsibility in w hich m en’s very lives h u n g in the balance?

There are tw o kin d s of coal m iners today : Non- w orking un ion and non-union w o rking.

September 4, 1924 C O A L A G E 319

"The Hartshorns” Open Big Illinois Strip Pit

C a r e f u l P r o s p e c t in g a n d L o n g S t r ip p in g E x p e r ie n c e U til- iz e d in P i t L a y o u t — E x c e p t fo r O n e S h o v e l a n d S ix L o c o m o t iv e s , P i t W ill b e E le c t r ic a lly O p e r a te d T h r o u g h o u t

By E . W . Da v i d s o n

Assistant Editor, Coal Age Chicago, 111.

I

As a result, successful coal strip p in g largely re- m ain s in the hands of m en who have learned the science of stripping, and, although m any new p its are opening up th is year— three huge ones in Illin o is alone — the m ost pro m isin g among them are operated by veterans who know th a t a strip mine, to be an earner, m ust contain the r ig h t k in d of coal and plenty of it, th a t its op erating conditions m ust be good and th a t its out- p u t m ust be clean, fo r the day of selling “any old th in g ” to the public is definitely passed.

Such a p it is the new m in e operated by the Black Servant Coal Co., at Elkville, 111., on the w e s t e r n e d g e of the

great Southern Illin o is field. The Black Servant Coal Co. really means “the H artshorns of D anville,” a fa m ily whose experience has contributed m aterially to the development of the s trip p in g a rt in th is country.

St r i p Pi t Pr o v i d e d w i t h Fi v e-Tr a c k Ti p p l e

The com pany has opened a 420-acre tract calculated to contain nearly five m illio n tons of No. 6 blueband coal v a ry in g in thickness fro m 5 to 8 ft. under 20 to 45 ft. of cover. I t also has an ad ditio na l 600 acres under 45 to 70 ft. of cover w ith coal r u n n in g U p to 9 f t. in thickness. A five-track tipple has been b u ilt to prepare and load a m ax im u m of 3,000 tons per day and produc- tio n is now up to 2,000 tons a day. T his p lan t bears m an y earm arks o f an ideał s trip p in g proposition. I t has been w o rk in g at least five days a week sińce last fa li w ith few unbilled loads ever held over n ig h t— and th is d u rin g a period w hen m ost of the deep m ines of Illin o is were either sh ut down or were g e ttin g two days a week of r u n n in g tim e under a burden of “ no bills.”

N obody knows better th a n the H a rtsh o rn s th a t there

is public prejudice against stripped coal. T his prejudice has been created d u rin g past years when strip p in g was little more th an a m atter of rip p in g off some cover, ru n n in g a strin g of railroad cars down into the p it and shoveling into them whatever coal was handy, along w ith any lum ps of clay and shale th a t d id n ’t get out o f the way. Real p re paration of strip coal— even w ash ing in some regions— is more recent. B u t the prejudice

still exists. , r So the B lack Servant Coal Co., follo w in g the tr a il th a t it and a h a n d fu l of other b ig , s trip p in g concerns have blazed, set out a t E lkville to over- come a little of th a t p re j­

udice by g iv in g its out- p u t as careful a prSpara- tion as any strip p it prod- uct ever got, short of w ashing— a process con- sidered unnecessary i n th is field.

A lth o u g h there is a v a ria tio n in the ą u a lity of the coal fro m section to section o f the tract, due in p a rt to the fa c t th a t a protecting s t r a t u m of lim estone overlies only 60 to 70 acres of it, still, the whole coal bed is covered by 4 to 20 ft. o f shale. As a result the su lp hu r impu- ritie s carried by gro und water have not raised the sulphur content of the coal to more th an 3 per cent in any of the samples th a t have been tested. A nalysis of fo u r samples show heat values ra n g in g from 11,500 to 12,233 B .t.u. per Ib. The mois- ture conten! runs fro m 6.30 to 9.71 per cent, ash fro m 7.09 to 10.18 per cent and fixed carbon fro m 47.38 to 49.58 per cent. O n such analyses as these, the coal is sold as a high-grade steam and good-quality domestic f ueL More th an tw enty years ago the farm ers of the region excavated a little of th is coal fo r th e ir own use at p o in ts near the outcrop of the measure. Geologie disturbances left the deposit so badly broken up, however, th a t th e re had never been any m in in g of conseąuence, in the bed nearer th an the s h a ft m ines at Dowell and Duquoin,.

two and eight m iles respectively to the northeast, a n d at H allidayboro, tw o m iles to the southeast of E Ik v ille . The H artshorns, w ith th e ir D an ville tracts exhausted, became interested in the region, however, and spent more th a n a year in prospecting it. Over 2,000 d rill holes were sunk before 1,000 acres in two separate tracts were purchased in the w in te r and sp rin g o f 1922-1923.

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<*•

M a in B o tto m a t th e B la c k S e r v a n t S t r ip P i t

Into this 50-ton hopper, feeding the hoist conveyor, ten-car trips from both sides of the mine deliver their loads. The track layout, when it is complete, w ill enable locomotives to dump their trips, three cars at a time, and proceed forward around a curve through a switch before they back their empties down into the works for reloading. Thus each side of the mine w ill have its own haulage operating unhampered by the other half of the mine.

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Few Strip Pits Have Such Tipples as This

Five tracks, four of them provided with loading booms, together

"with efficient screening and nicking arrangements, enable this tipple to furnish coal as carefully prepared as that coming from

■a shaft mine. Today the public is prejudiced against strip-pit

■coal. It is hoped that some of this aversion may be overcome by careful preparation.

In A pril, 1923, w ith the 420-acre tract thoroughly mapped, shovels started removing the cover. Tipple construction was begun at once. In November the first coal was loaded out, but w ithou t m uch preparation, for the tipple, designed and b u ilt by the Jeffrey M fg . Co., was not p ut into operation u n til this spring. I t was finally completed and accepted early in June. Only about two m onths more of development are required—

granted a steady m arket— to get the stripping, loading and haulage systems lined up in th eir perm anent form and the whole enterprise into fu li stride.

Th£ tract to be stripped is, roughly, a m ile and a ąuarter wide east and west, and h a lf a m ile deep north and south. A spur from the Illin o is Central railroad skirts the northern edge of the p it as fa r as the tipple which stands a little east of center. The coal measure dips to this point and the loaded trips in the p it w ill have the advantage of an average 2 per cent grade, run- n in g down to a 50-ton dum p in g hopper. F rom th at point a conveyor lifts the coal to the top of the tipple.

The w orking plan calls fo r strip p in g and loading on the advance through the property from north to south m a in ta in in g a cut in the form of a cross. L ittle or no coal w ill be lost. A thorough cut w ill be driven stra ig h t south from the m ain bottom, thus opening a perm anent haulageway. A strip ping and a loading shovel w ill work back and fo rth along each arm of the cross. The east and west w orkings thus are operated as independent units, each w ith its own haulage system. Three 20-ton steam locomotives are expected to operate in each unit.

Each locomotive w ill handle nine or ten 6-ton cars per trip , m oving the loads to the m ain center haulageway and thence northw ard to the dum p hopper.

Ca r s Wi l l Be Du m p e d Th r e e a t a Ti m e

The inner raił of each load track w ill be laid directly along the rim o f the receiving hopper, into w hich the side-dump cars w ill discharge by threes. A fte r dum p­

ing, the locomotive w ill push its tr ip of empties forw ard and around a curve laid close to the north bank of the pit. I t then backs down the empty track past the dum p hopper and onto the m ain line again for its run back to the loading shovel. Passing tracks at proper intervals w ill p erm it the steady operation of three such trips, for each h a lf of the mine. The only double track w i'l be th a t down the m ain center road so th at there can be no interference between the two lines of haulage.

The two strip p in g shovels th a t are now in the m ine w ill do m ost of the work of cover removal. They will be assisted, however, by a dragline w ith a 125-ft. boom

and a 3-yd. box. This m achinę w ill work ahead o f the shovels on the thorough cuts, so as to move the spoił farth e r back than the b ig shovels can reach. One of the shovels is a 300-ton and the other a 350-ton m achinę.

Each is fitted w ith an 8-yd. bucket and a 90-ft. boom.

O f the two loaders m entioned earlier one is steam- operated and the other driven electrically. B oth are mounted on Caterpillar trucks. Each is eąuipped w ith a 2-yd. dipper and ord inarily loads two tons at a dip.

These machines load strips of coal 20 to 25 ft. wide, and the stripping shovels work behind them on berms at least 40 ft. wide, m oving the spoił over in to the place from w hich the coal has been removed. I t is the effort, however, always to leave an open space in fr o n t o f the coal face, so as to enable the loading shovel to remove coal w ith as little clay and other foreign m a tte r mixed w ith it as possible.

The overburden is of such n atu rę th a t the only clean- ing of the coal bed necessary is done by two m en w ith shovels and wire brooms. These men also lay track for the stripping machines. In parts of the m ine already opened, the top of the coal is practically flat con tain in g few pockets and dips such as reąuire cleaning by hand.

Throughout most of the work thus fa r perform ed, the track for the big shovels has been laid directly on the coal. Only occasionally has it been necessary to tim b e r under the tracks. T his sim plifies track work to such a degree th at two men comprise the entire track-laying crew for each stripper.

Sh o o t i n g Ra i l s Fo r w a r d Un d e r Sh o v e l

One furth e r detail helps to sim p lify the work of the tracklayers. This is the u?e of two sections of roller conveyor as long as the shovel fram e and suspended under the machines close to the ground. On these the short, heavy sections of raił a t the rear of the shovel can be shot to the fro n t whenever the shovel is ready to travel. This saves the tim e and labor necessary to carry the rails around by hand.

In parts of the p it the w ork of the strip p in g shovels is heavy not only because the cover in places runs as deep as 70 ft., but because of the presence in certain localities of heavy lime rock above the coal. Shots are placed in this stratum of sufficient strength to break it up fairly well. C hurn drills w orking on the top of the bank, back from the cut, also p ut down holes on 20-ft. centers. These are used to shoot up the shale which rests im m ediately on the coal.

Where the proportion of rock in the spoił is great, one difficulty encountered in this strip ping is avoided, for this rock reduces the tendency of the spoił bank to slide. The soil of the overburden is extremely slippery when wet. Because of this fact, throughout the early work in this pit, slides were freąuent, covering up the coal face and causing trouble generally.

A fter several such occurrences the m ine operators struck upon a way to p u t this slipperiness of the spoił to good use. I f m oisture would make the fro n t of the spoił bank mobile, coasting d ir t down into the cut, why would it not coast d irt down the other side as well?

Accordingly a w ater line was ru n to the rear side of the bank on w hich each strip pe r was d um p ing spoił. A man was placed at th is p o in t w ith instructions to sluice down the rear slope so th a t each dip pe rful of d irt would skid to as d ista n t a sto pp in g place as possible. This expedient helped move back the w eight of each waste bank and prevented the loss of m uch tim e and obviated

September 4, 1924 C O A L A G E 321

m uch plain and fancy “cussing” down in the w orkings proper.

Thus far, drainage in th is strip p it has not been diffi- cult. Lines o f tile leading to the nearest p um pin g sump are laid under the advancing spoił banks. F rom the sumps the water is pum ped out over the rim of the p it and discharged in to convenient gulleys. Up to the pres- ent, nine com paratively smali centrifugal pum ps— one 8-in., fo u r 4-in. and fo u r 2-in.— have done all the work of d ra in in g the p it and have been used only periodically, thanks to the fact th a t the n atural contour of the prop- erty drains both ways from a Iow divide ru n n in g across the tract. A system of 4-ft. ditches encircling the entire p it also helps. Practically no surface water runs into the m ine. G round water and th a t w hich rains into the open w orkings is about all w ith which the pum ps have to contend. The p it has never had to stop w ork on ac- count of a flood— th a t bane of the average strip m ine.

The m ine is electrified throughout except fo r one of the smali loading shovels and the haulage locomotives.

Central-station power is delivered from a 33,000-volt line and is stepped down to 4,200 volts in the power com pany’s substation on the property. Thence it goes to the coal com pany’s com bination switch house and elec- trical repair shop which contains the m ain oil circuit breaker and the m etering eąuipm ent. One feeder line runs to a separate substation where the current fo r the tipple is stepped down to 440 volts and where oil-switch protection ag ainst overload helps to make the tipple power supply uninterrupted. A n underground cable ex- tends from the tipple substation to a central control

“p u lp it” from w hich all the motors in the b u ild in g are started and stopped.

O ther feeder lines ru n into the p it to serve the shovels, the pum ps and the compressors th at fu rn is h a ir to the coal drills. G reat care is exercised in tak in g this 4,200-volt power in to the pit. Two miles of 3-phase line is b u ilt around the rim of the w orkings th a t are now active. Those lines th a t run along the north edge and the east and west ends of the property are carried on poles and the construction is perm anent. The cross

line spanning the property on the south side of the w orkings w ill be moved southw ard from tim e to tim e to keep pace w ith the advancing face. I t is always to be m aintained at a considerable distance, at present 1,500 ft., back from the rim . Laterals tap p in g it at 1,000-ft, intervals extend northw ard tow ard the rim of the cut to supply the lines th a t actually run into the workings.

Two of these laterals are carried directly to the two b ig strip pin g shovels w hich reąuire the fu li 4,200-volt current. E v ery th in g else in the p it operates on a potential of 440-volts. Portable substations, brough t up close to the rim of the cut— but fo r safety’s sake, not down into the p it— supply the loading shovels, the pumps and the compressors w ith 440-volt “juice .”

A

safeguard against electrical accidents in the m ine is provided through the use of a m etallic neutral carried on all lines of consum ption. B'y all these precautions in line b u ild in g and protection the possibilities o f acci- dent are greatly reduced. Thus fa r no in ju r y from electrical shock has been suffered by any employee.

Co a l Pr o d u c e d Re c e i v e s Ex c e l l e n t Pr e p a r a t i o n

The five-track tipple is completely eąuipped to pre- pare and load m ine run, H -in. screenings, 2 x li- in . nut, 3 x 2-in. nut, 3 x 6-in. egg, and 6-in. lum p or any com bination of these sizes. A ll grades above H -in.

screenings can be delivered to a 400-ton-per-hour single- roll crusher. O f late m uch crush ing has been dóne.

The flexibility of the tipple eąuipm ent is notew orthy.

Coal is delivered from the b ig hopper on the m ain bottom of the p it to the tipple by means of a 48-in.

steel-pan conveyor operated by a 100-hp. slip-ring m otor ta k in g 440 volts alte rn a tin g current as do all th e other motors in the tipple. The extra-long shaker screens have two cranks driven by a 40-hp. induction motor.

The over-all length of the shaker screens is 72 ft., and th e ir w idth is 7 ft. There are 16 ft. of H -in., 14 ft. of 2-in., 12 ft. of 3-in. and 10 ft. of 6-in. perforations. In addition there are three more feet of lł- in . p e rfo ra ­ tions in a degradation screen set into the chute under

E a s t W i n g o f M in e At this particular point there is about 5.ft. of coal under 35 ft. of cover.

Development h a s not yet progressed sufficiently to fu r­

nish t h e normal

<>utput. Eventually t h e two working faces w i l l form p r a c t i c a l l y a straight l i n e ex- tending across the property from east to west. Haulage w ill be along either face a n d thence down t h e m a i n haulw ay northward to the tipple bottom.

Note the limesłone ledge which is over much of the coal and h a s to be blasted individually.

It has aided in keeping the c o a l below , ijfc in good condition.

W e s t W i n g o f P i t I s O n ly W e il S t a r t e d

This is a yiew looking west across the m ain bottom where a trip is being- dumped three cars at a time. The haulage locomo- tives and one shovel are the only machinę in the whole plant that are not operated electrically.

the 2-in. screen and a short 2-in. degradation screen under the 3-in. discharge, ,thus m a k in g separation of the sm ali sizes as complete as possible.

The screenings fa li directly fro m the shaker into a hopper delivering to railro ad cars. B y the use o f a fly- gate all the screenings can be delrvered to a conveyor extending along one w ali of the tipple and parallel to the railro a d tracks. T his discharges to a flig h t con- veyor r u n n in g across the fro n t of the tipple ju s t above the fo rw ąrd ends of all the loading booms. T his is the assembly or m ix in g conveyor.

The lower ru n of th is m ix in g conveyor moves from the screenings side of the tipple to the lum p side. Thus the screenings car be delivered alone by a drop gate and chute in to any car on the five tracks or they can be m ixed w ith any other size being loaded. A n y of the other sizes can be cross-hauled by th is m ix in g conveyor by the sim ple expedient of lif tin g the end of any load­

in g boom so th a t it w ill deliver onto either the top or the lower ru n of the m ix in g conveyor, depending upon w hich direction the coal is to move. The upper ru n de- livers to the crusher.

L a r g e r C o a l S i z e s A r e T h o r o u g h l y P i c k e d Between the shaker screen and the loading booms are am ple pickin g tables, each 26 ft. long. I t is custom ary to employ 11 pickers. F o u r work on the lum p table, fo u r on egg, two on the 3 x 2-in. n u t and one on the

B la c k S e r v a n t B u ild in g s A r e P e r m a n e n t

In the foreground is the m ain Office and scale-house building while in the left background appears a portion of the wash house.

Both have been built w ith the idea that they should last througłi- out the life of the property. Strip-mine buildings are seldom made as permanent as these.

2-in. n ut. A refuse conveyor moves the pickings back tow ard the p it delivering them in to a hopper fro m w hich trips can be loaded so th a t th is m a te ria ł can be hauled back and dum ped in to areas fro m w h ich the coal has been removed.

R ailroad cars are moved by g ra v ity fro m the p o in t where they are delivered in the em pty yard over a 2 per cent hum p above the tipple u n til they have been lowered across an autom atic recording scalę in to the flat-grade load-storage yard below. A Caterpillar trac- tor has proved handy around the tipple fo r occasionally m oving cars against the grade and form s the coal com­

p a n y ^ nearest approach to a sw itch engine. I t was a h ig h ly useful piece of apparatus around the works dur- in g the early development stages. I t moved everything th a t needed m oving and did it w ith precision, neatness and dispatch.

The coal com pany has b u ilt a two-story brick office b u ild in g and w eigh house and a sm ali b a th house 150 yd. east of the tipple. Seldom are such su bstan tial b uildings seen around a strip pit.

The shop b u ild in g is a 50 x 90-ft. steel structure and houses a most complete set of mine-shop eąuipm ent and a crew of mechanics. These latter under the direction of C. W . N orm an, who is in charge of all top work, can do practically all the repairs th a t w ill o rd in a rily be necessary in the m ine. They can do heavy fo r g in g on steel such as is used on the shovels, they can manufac- ture all the switches, frogs and steel ties the com pany uses. In fact they are balked a t little or no th in g.

The eąuipm ent of the shop consists of a forge, a 500-lb. power ham m er, a 300-ton hy d rau lic press, a 24- in. shaper, 24-in. and 26-in. d rill presses, 13-in. and 54-in. lathes, two emery-wheel stands, a 6 x 9-in. high- speed, power hack saw, oxycetylene w elding and c u ttin g torches, an electric w elding outfit, a sm ali power-driven a ir compressor and an assortm ent of sm ali tools.

T raveling cranes aid in h a n d lin g heavy work. A p it has been sunk in the floor and eventually a track fro m the w orkings w ill be ru n directly in to the shop to facili- tate locomotive repairs.

The staff at th is m ine consists of W . B. Reid, generał su pe rin ten de nt; O tto U llom , field boss; F . S. B urns, electrical engineer; C. W . N orm a n, top boss; H e n ry Meyer, shovel boss, and E . H . Elder, chief engineer.

Accident Ra te at Coke Ovens Falls

Accidents in the coke-oven in d u s try o f the U n ite d States in the year 1923 killed 45 employees and in ju re d 2,593, according to statistics compiled by the B u re au o f Mines. Coke m an ufac ture rs employed d u r in g the year 23,729 men, a larger num b e r th a n was employed either in 1921 or 1922. The accident rate fo r the in d u s try was the lowest in 10 years, w ith the exception of the years 1915 and 1922. The reduction, however, was confined to accidents o f a n o n fatal character, as the fa ta lity rate increased slig h tly as compared w ith the two preceding years. The accident rate fo r the year, based on 1,000 full-time, or 300-day workers, was 102.94, of w hich 1.76 represented the fa ta litie s and 101.18 the n o n fatal in jurie s. The fa ta lity and in ju r y rates fo r the year 1912 were 1.59 an d 93.77, respectively, and those fo r the 5-year period 1916-1920 averaged 1.81 and 167.03.

C om p arin g the rates fo r 1923 w ith those fo r the 5-year period, the fa ta lity rate in 1923 represents a reduction o f 3 per cent and the in ju r y rate a reduction of 39 per cent.

September 4, 1924 C O A L A G E 323

i

Recovery Work After the Castlegate Mine Disaster What It Taught and Exemplified*

T y p ic a l E x a m p l e o f O r g a n iz a tio n a n d R e c o v e r y — T r e a t m e n t o f B o d ie s — E s t a b lis h m e n t o f V e n tila tio n — T e s t in g o f A p p a r a t u s B e f o r e U s e — I n s p e c tio n

o f M e n o n th e R e s c u e T e a m s

By A . L . Mu r r a y

Surgeon, Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa.

R

gate, U tah, follow ing the explosion of M arch 8,

► form s an excellent example of the organization th a t m ust be perfected and the procedure th a t is usually followed in the recovery of any large m ine afte r a m a jo r disaster. A lth ough each such occurrence has its own peculiarities, in w hich respect the one at Castle­

gate was no exception, yet the operations conducted a fte r th a t explosion were

o f the type followed in re- covery work in generał.

The explosion in th is m ine occurred shortly afte r 8 o’clock on the m o rn in g of the date above mentioned.

The day force had been underground only a short tim e, and the smali n ig h t force had not yet le ft the operations. Every m an u n ­ derground at the tim e of the explosion — there were 171 in all— was killed.

O n the m o rn in g o f the

disaster, the U tah Fuel Co., w hich had tem porarily closed down its No. 1 operation replaced a num ber of the single m en previously employed in No. 2 m ine w ith older employees and m arried men from No. 1. This accounted in large measure fo r the large num ber of m arried men who lost th e ir lives.

Im m ediately follow ing the explosion, a cali fo r rescue crews was sent out from the m ine office to all coal- m in in g operations in the district. W ith in two hours teams fro m nearby camps were on the scene fitted w ith oxygen apparatus and ready to enter the mine.

B y afternoon more m en were present th a n could be utilized at th a t stage in the recovery work. In all twenty-one apparatus teams took p a rt in the w ork of exploration and recovery. They embraced six teams w ith the P aul and fifteen team s eąuipped w ith the G ibbs type apparatus. B oth types gave excellent satis- faction.

The fact th a t twenty-one mine-rescue crews, all com- posed of trained men and provided w ith apparatus more th an sufficient to equip them, could be assembled in less th an twenty-four hours is a credit to the coal- m in in g companies of Carbon and E m ery Counties, U tah.

I t also form s concrete evidence o f the value and effect- iveness of the tr a in in g given apparatus crews by the B ureau of Mines. As these rescue teams reported fo r work they were grouped into three sh ifts, each con- sistin g of seven apparatu s crews.

Inasm uch as the change house adjacent to the m a in ł Published by permission of the Director, Bureau of Mines, De­

partment of the Interior.

m ine portal was large, steam-heated and had an ade- ąuate supply of both hot and cold w ater it was selected as the apparatus base. Here all m achines were cared for, recharged w ith oxygen, supplied w ith fresh regener- ators and given a thorough test before being put to use underground. Suitable w ork benches were installed at one end of the change house, and experienced m en assigned to the work of testing and recharging the

apparatus. A n a d e ą u a t e supply of spare parts fur- nished from the surplus of the various companies which had teams present was kept on hand at all times.

F rom a p re lim in ary sur- vey of the conditions exist- in g a fte r the explosion, it was ascertained th a t roof falls and debris blocked the m ain portal of the m ine.

Accordingly, it was decided th a t an escapeway located about a ąu a rte r o f a m ile up the canyon offered the best means of ingress and egress fo r exploration and recovery work. T his opening was com paratively free fro m obstructions.

The generał w o rk in g schedule fo r the apparatus teams on each of the three 8-hr. sh ifts was as follow s:

Two teams were actively engaged in exploration and recovery work underground fo r a period of tw o hours, the actual tim e under oxygen v a ry in g fro m one h o u r to the fu li period. Two teams were held in support at the entrance o f the escapeway ready to relieve the m en underground at the end of th e ir tu r n and also prepared to respond in case of emergency. The team s in support were housed in heated tents. The re m a in in g three teams held in reserve rested a t the change house.

Mo v e Up Pa i r s o f Te a m s Ev e r y Tw o Ho u r s

As the active teams completed th e ir to u r o f duty underground, they returned to the change house to rest. Those in support took th e ir place in the m ine and two teams th a t had been re stin g at the change house moved up in support. T hus one team , the seventh on the sh ift, was available fo r any special exploration work or fo r replacements or as supernum aries in case any m em ber of the other team s became incapac- itated. A ll teams, together w ith th e ir apparatus, were transported fro m the change house to the escapeway and back by auto buses.

Each crew of apparatus m en was supported by fresh- a ir crews— m en who did not w ear a p paratu s and worked only in sections of the m in e where v e n tila tio n had been re-established. These m en tran sp orte d m ate rials and

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T heir h ands were carefully disinfected w hen th e y cam e off shift. T he disinfection o f a p p a ­ ratus m outhpieces w h ich were used b y different m en on different shifts was given m ost careful a tte n tio n . T he bodies o f an im als fo u n d dead in the m ines were tre ate d w ith q u ick lim e .

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supplies to the apparatus crews, and received the bodies b rought out by the rescue teams and carried them to the surface.

Each s h ift was under the direction and supervision of three experienced men selected from the m ine super- intendents, engineers and m ine forem en o f the various m ines in the district. One of these supervisors directed the w ork at the apparatus base, one th a t a t the m outh of the escapeway and one the operations underground.

A lth ough this distrib u tio n of the work form ed the generał plan of direction, in m any instances the under­

ground supervision was augm ented by advisory mem- bers made up o f the generał m anager, generał superin- tendent and chief engineer of the U tah Fuel Co., the generał superintendent and chief engineer of the U nited States Fuel Co., the chief m ine inspector and the coal- m ine inspector o f U tah, and m in in g engineers from the

federal B ureau of Mines.

As soon as possible after the explosion, the ventilat- in g fa n was placed in oper- atio n exhausting. This m a­

chinę had not been dam- aged b ut the controlling doors fo r reversal o f the a ir current had been jam- med by the force of the explosion com ing out o f the aircourse. A generał plan fo r exploring and recover- in g the m ine thro ugh the escapeway w hich connected w ith the m ain slope by the

second left dip entry almost m idw ay of the operation was adopted.

By th is means, fresh a ir entering the escapeway could be carried forw ard by tem porary stoppings. The ap­

paratus crews kept in advance o f the fresh a ir m ak in g explorations and constructing new stoppings to w hich points the fresh a ir was successively carried. In this way, the recovery work was advanced in safe stages, down the dips on the left, back up the dips on the rig h t and then on up the raises u n til the entire m ine had been reclaimed.

On several occasions progress was appreciably delayed by fires. These had to be dealt w ith when m et and had to be completely extinguished before fu r th e r progress could be made. A s soon as any section of the m ine was cleared of gas, by h av in g fresh a ir turn e d in to it, a patrol of two men was established whose d uty it was d u rin g th e ir s h ift constantly to traverse the section w atching fo r evidence o f fires and te stin g the a ir fo r explosive m ixtures of gas. Each of these m en carried a safety lam p and a canary. These birds, w hich fo rm one of the most reliable means of te sting fo r carbon monoxide, were extensively used in th is work. A lth o u g h about seventy were available, fifty h av in g been shipped to the m ine the day follow ing the explosion, only about fo rty were actually used. O f the fo rty birds, the lives of about sixteen were sacrificed in order th a t the men m ig h t be am ply protected.

One lesson learned fro m the use o f canaries at Castle- gate is th a t carry ing cages should be provided w ith wooden bottoms. Several all-metal cages w ith bottom s unprotected were in use. In every instance the b irds occupying these cages developed an affection o f the legs resem bling rheum atism . T his probably resulted fro m the c h illin g of th e ir feet when the cages were exposed

to continuous currents of cold intake a ir. B ird s so affected would not use the perch, b u t would squat on the bottom of the cage. B ird s in wooden cages were not affected in this m anner.

A gain, at least one side, or better tw o adjace nt sides, of the cage should be closed to protect the birds. C a­

naries are h ig h ly sensitive to drafts, and cages w ith two solid sides w ill p e rm it exposure o f the bird s to m ine atmospheres yet afford some protection fro m currents of cold air, A t the Castlegate disaster there were more than enough birds fo r all te stin g purposes, b u t in cases of a sim ila r n aturę elsewhere the n um ber available m ig h t be lim ite d and the needless d is a b ility o f only a few birds m ig h t seriously h andicap exploration and recovery work and possibly endanger the lives of men entombed.

D u rin g the early stages of the recovery work, hope was entertained th a t some of the m ine rs m ig h t be found alive. As w ork pro- gressed, however, and evi- tfence of the extent and severity of the explosive blasts accum ulated, the chances o f fin d in g anybody or a n y th in g alive in the m ine became fa in te r and fa in te r. Nevertheless, hope and effort were ever spurred by such a possibility.

W h e n e v e r the rescue team s in exploration work discovered a body, it was placed on a stretcher an d carried to the nearest fresh-air base. Here it was turne d over to a fresh-air crew and b ro u g h t to the surface. M any such bodies had to be carried more th a n three-ąuarters o f a m ile. The first body o f the 171 m en w ho lost th e ir lives in th is disaster was taken fro m the m in e about 11:45 p.m. on the day of the disaster, and the last of the bodies were b ro u g h t out on T hursday, M arch 18, at 4 p.m. W o rk o f recovering bodies was pushed as rap id ly as was consistent w ith safety. B u t, as previ- ously m entioned, fires greatly delayed operations. These had to be controlled and extinguished before fu rth e r progress could be attem pted.

Medical org an izatio n under the direction o f D r.

M cD e rm it, the cam p surgeon, consisted o f one physi- cian a t the m orgue, one at the local hospital, tw o on 12-hr. sh ifts at the a p p a ra tu s base an d six on 8-hr.

sh ifts at the escapeway opening. The duties o f these men were as follow s: The phy sician at the m orgue was D r. M cD e rm it, who was acąu ain ted w ith m ost o f the m en at the m in e as well as w ith th e ir fam ilie s.

He completed id entification of bodies where doubt existed, saw to the issuance of death certificates and b u ria l or sh ip p in g perm its.

The physician a t the h ospital cared fo r p atien ts sent there and looked a fte r the generał m edical w elfare of the camp. Those stationed at the ap p a ratu s base ex- am ined m embers of the various team s before they w ent on sh ift, supervised the disin fe ction o f ap pa ratu s mouthpieces and th e ir covering w ith sterile gauze w hile a w a itin g use, the d isinfe ction of hands o f m em bers of team s as they came off s h ift and the c a rin g fo r and dressing o f cuts, bruises and abrasions so as to prevent p ossibility of infections.

The reason fo r exercising so m uch care on the disin-

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