Coal age : devoted to the operating, technical and business problems of the coal-mining industry, Vol. 29, No. 2

?aCm m h'mÄ 0” 1P r e « Ä D e v o te d t0 th e O p i a t i n g , T ech n ica l and B u s in e s s R Dawsonhall E . J. Mehren, V ice-P resident P ro b lem s o f th e C o a l-M in in g In d u str y E n g in eerin g E d ito r

Volume Z9 N E W YORK, JA N U A R Y 14, 1926 N um ber 2

Signs F avorable to th e Coal In d u stry

D

ance th at oil is goin g to make fu rther inroads on the sea and, in places, for transportation by land, one can, nevertheless, see sig n s ahead th at are reassuring for the coal industry. These sig n s include the activity o f the public u tilities, and the ousting of oil by coal in large steam -boiler and locomotive-boiler practice.

Pow er companies, also, are organized for expansion, and are reaching out for new power uses, such as for better illum ination.

The sa fety of highw ays, both fo r passengers and for vehicles, w ill be increased by b etter ligh tin g, a develop­

m ent which is rapidly tak in g place. Furtherm ore, illum ination is proving a great aid to m erchandising.

S tores which in earlier days were dimly lighted are now ablaze w ith high-candlepower lamps, and new elec­

tric sig n s add constantly to th e demand for power.

In factories, also, the value o f illum ination to sa fe oper­

ation and a b etter product is causing rapid increase of the demand for electric energy.

In modern dwelling houses, besides better lights, all kinds o f equipment are b eing installed, to reduce the drudgery o f housekeeping. E lectric w ashers, sweepers, m angles and irons are being introduced; and even elec­

trically cooled refrigerators and radiators. Farm s are b eing equipped w ith electric feed cutters, separators, churns and m ilking devices. E lectrically operated pumps are providing w ater under pressure, for domestic purposes; and perhaps w e may look fo r the extensive use of electricity for th e sprinkling o f crops and for irrig a tio n in tim es of drought; extending the practice already long in use in southern California and other sem i-arid agricultural regions.

“ E v en tu a lly — W hy N o t N o w ? ”

U

th racite deadlock give an exposition more rem ark­

able fo r its p ertin acity than its wisdom . The public th a t pays the final bill is plainly out of patience w ith th e position o f th e m ine workers aed as plainly in sym pathy w ith th e stand o f th e operators. W hen we remember th e century-old epidem ic o f “anthracite- phobia” and the easy appeal to passion s and prejudices w hich th e advocates o f labor have tim e and again so su ccessfu lly invoked a g a in st capital, th e sw in g in the public attitu d e has a significance which should im press even th e irreconciliables among th e executives o f the U nited M ine W orkers o f A m erica.

Mr. L ew is, leading a forlorn hope w ith all the vigor o f a victorious commander, speaks fe elin g ly o f th e un­

w illin g n ess o f the m iners to perm it a third person to fix “th eir w ages and decide w hat kind o f food th ey shall eat, the clothes th ey shall w ear” and other liv in g con­

ditions. It is an understandable u nw illingness. But, i f the mine workers are to escape th is dictation, th ey m ust do one o f two th ings. They m ust eith er surrender their conception o f an inherent righ t to the jobs th ey have deserted, and make no protest a ga in st th e em ploy­

m ent of others in the places th ey have vacated, or offer an acceptable substitute for arbitration— a su b stitu te which w ill protect the public’s rig h t to an uninterrupted supply of fuel. No one at th is tim e seriou sly su g g ests the first surrender. The union, on th e other hand, offers no peaceful su bstitute for arbitration.

U ntil Mr. L ew is and h is associates prove w iser than the wisdom o f ages and come forw ard w ith such a workable alternative, the public is going to believe th at arbitration is the ideal solution. The public is goin g to be cold to demands for sym pathetic consideration o f claims which the union has declined to press before an impartial tribunal. The public is goin g to be suspicious of the m erits of contentions which can be established only through inconvenience, discom fort, exhaustion and suffering. I f union leaders p ersist in th eir determ ina­

tion to war on peace, the public m ay acquire a bel­

ligerency of its own.

Sooner or later— lacking th at superwisdom — the union will have to reaccept th e principle o f arbitration. It has acknowledged as much in its adherence to th e one­

sided third party judgm ent incorporated in th e d is­

credited Pinchot plan. It has adm itted it again in its Sunday attem pt to fo ist th e Governor’s plan upon the country cloaked as a “revision” of the Markle plan.

To prolong its opposition to bona fide, unrestricted ar­

bitration in the desperate hope th a t som ething m ay happen to rescue the organization from its p ligh t shows consideration neither for the public nor for its own loyal members who face w ant and privation.

B igger R eco v ery by S h ea rin g

D

tion which it deserves. It should be a m aterial a s s is t­

ance in increasing the percentage of lump coal as it provides an additional free face for each sh earin g cut.

Though th is advantage obviously is partly or en tirely lost by the -increase in the quantity o f bugdust yet two advantages rem ain th at have no countervailing disadvantages.

One o f th ese is th at sh earin g prevents th e undue sh attering o f th e roof in shooting. N ot only can the holes be more lig h tly loaded but the pressure created by the explosive acts horizontally as well as vertically and thereby dam ages both roof and coal less severely.

Though by th is m eans the roof is not protected as w ell as by the top cut o f the tu rret m achine th e advantage is nevertheless appreciable, a fa ct w hich does n ot seem to be w idely realized.

The last and probably th e m ost im portant advantage o f the shearing m achine, is also not appreciated by m any m ine owners. It enables a more com plete re­

3& C O A L A G E _Vol. 29, No. 2 covery o f coal from m ined-out areas by fa c ilita tin g the

liftin g o f th a t coal w hich lies below th e k erf form ed by an u nd ercu ttin g m achine. T h is it does by channeling to th e bottom o f th e seam , th rou gh th e bench o f coal w h ich is le ft by th e undercutter. A ny man who has been a m in er appreciates the difficulty w ith w hich many bottom s are lifted by pick and m ay even w ink at the practice w hich is so prevalent, o f abandoning the bottom coal w hen not forced by m anagem ent to remove it.

The sh earin g m achine is particularly beneficial in th is respect in rolling seam s. Under th is condition th e bar»

o f th e u ndercutting m achine cannot be so nicely regu­

lated as to stay on th e bottom , w ith th e result th a t some, and often m uch, coal is le ft under th e cut. A n alm ost im perceptible rise o f the floor o f th e cut, or dip of th e bottom , m ay cause a considerable th ick ness o f un­

m ined coal to be le ft on the floor of th e m ine. One of th e largest producers in th e country estim ates a loss of coal in its m ines of about one ton in th irty through the in ab ility of th e undercutting m achine to cut on the bottom, and th e failu re of th e efforts o f th e m anage­

m ent to compel m iners to lif t coal w hich the m achine over-rides. The sh earin g m achine should stop th is unprofitable w aste of bottom coal, and at th e same tim e improve roof conditions and perhaps increase th e per­

centage of large sizes.

T h e B u rea u o f M ines D irecto r In S p itzb erg en

A

A. Lyon, assum es responsibility in a note accom panying the publication, indicating th at it is in the sp irit of good-will on h is part th at the en tertain in g document is sent out. Indeed, th e document is not, strictly speak­

ing, addressed to the public, but is specifically sent to the far-flung em ployees o f the Bureau. The bulletin describes the picturesque m ining adventure o f Scott Turner as general m anager for th e Spitzbergen m ines o f th e L ongyear interests.

I f there is an yth in g in the theory th at N atu re tries to provide for the w ants of hum anity, then there would seem to be sense in placing abundant coal at Spitzber­

gen,— not very fa r from the N orth Pole, betw een la ti­

tudes 76 deg. and 82 deg. And to ju d ge from the obstacles she has interposed to m in ing and shipping the coal, she seem s to be doing her best to keep it there till A rctic inhabitants m ay need it.

The enterprise o f J. M. L ongyear, of M arquette, Mich., and Frederick Ayer, o f Boston, in coal m ining in Spitzbergen began in 1905. Due to th e inclem ent situ ation o f th is considerable group of A rctic Islands, no nation has established unqualified sovereignty, so th a t th e keeping of order w as en tirely a function of the operating company. Installation of equipment, m in ing, and th e development o f m arkets continued to 1911, at w hich tim e Mr. Turner becam e general m an­

ager, replacing the general m anager who w as resign in g.

W hy he resigned becom es increasin gly easy to im agine as th e n arrative proceeds. A t th at tim e (in 1911) the production w as 26,000 tons.

The problems w ith which Mr. Turner grappled cour­

ageously and, on the whole, su ccessfully are in terest­

ingly detailed. These included A rctic clim ate, poor and unw illing labor, no governm ent, inadequate shipping fa cilities, and the determ ination of m arkets. There is plenty of coal in Spitzbergen, it is clear: the problem is to g et it out economically. A single seam investigated thoroughly showed bitum inous coal am ounting to 11

,-

The national sovereignty o f the Islands is not yet determined, a conference o f the powers in 1914 to decide th is having broken up w ith ou t com ing to an agreem ent. The b eginn in g o f th e w ar distracted atten ­ tion from th is question; and also changed all plans re­

garding th e operation o f the m ines. In 1916 the rig h ts of th e Am erican company (A y er and L ongyear) w ere sold to a N orw egian syndicate, and Mr. Turner ceased to have any part in the enterprise.

N o Facts W ith h e ld

O

It has issued orders th a t if, ow ing to some untoward circum stance, it has an explosion in its m ines and reporters throng around the plant th ey are to be received w ith all th e courtesy possible under th e cir­

cum stances and to be given a statem en t every th ree hours or often er i f need be. M any a wild story, m any an unfortunate m isrepresentation would be avoided i f th is practice, quite common in th e railroad service, w ere followed. Of course, the com pany has undertaken w ith th e utm ost diligence to make its m ines safe. It has w orkings which are models o f s a fe ty in every w ay and a system of inspection th a t m akes the prospect o f a large loss of life unlikely, but should the u nfore­

seen happen there w ill be fu ll disclosure o f th e fa c ts.

Im p r o v in g T rite A d v ice

i i ' T ' A K E an in terest in your w ork,” “Love your J. work” or som ething to th is effect usually is included am ong th e “five,” “ten ,” or “fo u rteen ” points o f advice given to th e young man g oin g into th e coal industry or any other field o f a ctiv ity. B u t does not th is point o f adm onition have a rather hollow sound?

The very words “love” and “in tere st” have to do w ith th e inner feelin g s o f an individual and are not volun­

tarily controlled.

Would it not be much b etter to tell th e beginner th a t i f he is not interested in h is work, he should attem pt to find out w h y ; and remem ber th a t w ith increased knowledge and proficiency com es greater interest. T his m ay offer to him a solution instead o f discouragem ent.

M ine V e n tila tio n

T

January 14, 1926 C O A L A G E 3?

"Cooling w ith Coal”

W idens M arket

T h eaters Lead in T h is N ew L ow -C ost U se of F uel for R efrigeration — H om es and O ther B u ild in gs to F ollow

B y R . D a w so n H all

E n g i n e e r i n g E d i t o r o f C o a l A g e

E

gical econom ies are still progressin g and have not been universally adopted. More industries every year close down th eir inefficient power plants and turn to pur­

chased power producing energy w ith economical equip­

ment, and dom estic consum ers are tryin g out new com position roofing and sh eath ing boards th at prevent leakage of air and loss o f heat. The anxiety of the gas m anufacturers to g et into th e h eatin g business is caus­

ing them to advocate houses alm ost herm etically sealed because a leaky house takes so much h eat th at to warm it w ith gas would bankrupt th e householder.

Operators m ust face the inevitable restriction in m ar­

ket due to economy. It cannot be stemmed. He would be exceedingly ill-advised and unpopular who would attem pt it.

I n t h e h e a d p i e c e i s s h o w n t h e i n t e r i o r o f t h e C h ic a g o T h e a t e r . T h is g r e a t m o v i n g - p i c t u r e h o u s e s e a t i n g a b o u t 5 ,0 0 0 is c o o le d to 74 d e g \ in s u m m e r h y a 3 0 0 - to n p l a n t , t h e d a i l y o p e r a t i n g c h a r g e o f w h i c h i s a b o u t l c . p e r s e a t . T h i s c o s t is a p p r o x i m a t e l y h a l f a c e n t l o w e r t h a n t h a t e s t i m a t e d f o r t h e a v e r a g e t h e a t e r b u t e v e n t h e a v e r a g e is lo w e n o u g h t o h a v e p r o v e d t h e “ c o o l - w i t h - c o a l " i d e a a p r o f i t a b l e o n e . I n c r e a s e d t h e a t e r p a t r o n a g e i n h o t w e a t h e r r e p a y s n o t o n l y t h e o p e r a t i n g c o s t b u t a ls o , w i t h i n tw o o r t h r e e y e a r s , t h e o r i g i n a l i n v e s t m e n t c h a r g e .

However, there are alw ays new uses for coal. One of these which has been alm ost unknown until today, but which has large p ossib ilities for th e future, is the cooling of the air in theaters, offices, factories, stores, restaurants, hotels, hospitals and hom es by refrig era ­ tion plants the electric power for which is generated w ith coal. Sufficient advance has been made in the refrigeration o f m oving-picture houses to prove the case. There, summer patronage has been increased enough to more than offset th e original plant in v est­

m ent and the daily operating cost w hich averages only 1.5c. per seat.

Am ong the other new uses for coal is the m anufac­

ture o f w hat have been hitherto regarded as mere byproducts of its d istillation, but at present it is ques­

tionable w hether th ese can be sold at a price ju stify in g such treatm ent. W here the coal is distilled, th e gain is in th e b etter fu el rather than in th e byproducts.

There are p o ssib ilities in coal distillation and gasifica­

tion but even i f pushed to present lim its and even som e­

w hat beyond them , th ey would add but little to the coal consum ption. Hope from th is course seem s som e­

w hat remote.

So the m ain solution is by the use of more coal for dom estic h eatin g and in developm ents in th e use of power. There is quite a p ossib ility th a t th e average farm er and country laboring man m igh t be induced by ad vertisin g to h eat h is house more com pletely and to use wood less in so doing. T h is advance would be in the direction o f th e use o f coal o f th e larger sizes

40 C O A L A G E Vol. 29, No. 2

and th e m arket would be likely to be badly unbalanced b y th a t additional demand, fo r some farm ers like to buy th e ir coal w hen th ey can haul it in sleds and so are d is­

posed to leave th e work of h auling and th erefore th eir b u yin g till th e w in ter.

A t b est, it is not a large use, and th e operator, if he is g o in g to use h is stren gth to develop h is market, m u st la y h is str ess on those opportunities which are la rg est. The b ig g e st are those w here the producer helps th e consum er to get more business, thereby aiding th e form er to increase h is sales. These opportunities are in th e increased sale o f electrical power.

H ith erto the public u tility has not been a generous purchaser of coal. It has largely bought th e smaller sizes of the product at cost below th at of production, but th a t w as because th e quantity of coal desired was usually such that, unless he w as buying the unsized low- volatile, there w as plenty of slack available as the out­

come of preparing screened sizes.

T he econom ies of the public u tility have enabled it to make th is advantageous bargain. Had its demands been larger it would have had to crush some run of m ine all the tim e, and it does part of the tim e even today. The u tility, if it needs more coal, w ill have to p ay a b igger price for all of it or w ill have to produce enough coal for th e supply of its own needs. It can­

not continue to steal a ride behind th e dom estic consumer. In consequence it would be w ise for the operator to see if it is not possible to find w ays in w hich more power would be used.

Here, some will say, “Surely the electric com panies, having th is as a direct interest, w ill have been lying awake n ig h ts figuring on m eans of sellin g more power and w hat can th e operator who knows th e gam e less well do to aid th em ?” T hat is an old m anner o f argu ­ ing and usually not a sa fe one. N o one uses it as regards th e coal industry which every one feels th ey could steer to b etter advantage than its present cap­

tains.

Or g a n i z a t i o n s Pr o m o t e Pr o g r e s s

The public u tilities have form ed a Society o f E lec­

trical Developm ent w ith which operators should be acquainted and w ith which th ey m igh t advantageously co-operate. T his society has been quite active in devel­

oping small uses of power in the home. It is w orking on electrical refrigeration by w hich it understands the keeping of an “ice box” cool. T his is an admirable project and in a w ay im portant to th e backers o f the S ociety as th e current used for th is refrigera tion is sold a t a h igh figure to small users. It helps to bear the heavy burden entailed in the dom estic installations o f electricity. A s an aggregate it prom ises little to the coal operator, w hatever it m ay m ean to th e public u tilities. The Commercial D epartm ent of the N ational E lectric L igh t A ssociation is another in terest th a t is seeking new outlets for the sale of electric power. P rog ­ ress in the use o f refrig eration can be advanced through th a t association also.

The cooling of air in public buildings and homes, however, prom ises to be a leading use of electric power.

The public has desired to obtain the benefits of th is developm ent fo r centuries and would have had it years ago had it realized th a t it would not be too costly.

E nough has been done to show th a t when applied to large num bers o f people assem bled togeth er it is well w ith in th e com pass of any pocket book.

In general th e principle is as follow s: A suitable

W eather-M aking Machine for Theater Cooling

T h is p l a n t u s e s " d i e l i n e ” o r, m o r e s c i e n t if i c a l l y , " d i c h l o r o e t h y - l e n e ” a s t h e r e f r i g e r a t i n g flu id . T h is li q u i d is h e a v i e r t h a n w a t e r , b o ils a t a t m o s p h e r i c p r e s s u r e a t a t e m p e r a t u r e a b o u t 120 d e g . F . I t is f l a m m a b le b u t o n ly w i t h r e l a t i v e d if f ic u lty . T h is 75 t o 9 0 - to n p l a n t is a m o d e l o f c o m p a c t n e s s .

gas is com pressed by a m otor-driven com pressor. In so doing its tem perature is raised. B y m eans of a condenser the g as is brought back to norm al tem pera­

ture. It is then allowed to expand and in doing so becomes chilled. The cold g as is passed through pipes under water, thus cooling th e w ater, and th is water is sprayed on th e air which is b eing adm itted to the building, the air of w hich is to be conditioned. Som e­

tim es the air to be used is purified in an ordinary air w asher and then passed am ong th e r e frig er a tin g coils, sufficient w ater b eing sprayed on th e coils from flush­

ing pipes or spray troughs to increase the efficiency of the cooling surface and to prevent th e form ation of ice on th e su rfaces o f the coils.

D u rin g th e adm inistration of P resid en t T a ft efforts w ere made to keep the P resid en tial offices in th e W hite H ouse cool by the use o f ice but the q uan tity needed, several tons daily, soon convinced the D epartm ent of Public B uild in gs th at the work w as excessively costly.

A s fa r back as 1907, Kuhn, Loeb & Co. arranged w ith A. M. Feldman, an architect of N ew York City, fo r the cooling o f its bank on W illiam and P in e S treets, N ew York City, th e cooling being provided by the use of ammonia refrigeration. Mr. Feldm an is an advocate of conservatism in cooling. H e believes th a t “dw ellings should never be cooled more than eig h t or ten degrees below outdoor tem perature in th e h o ttest w eather nor below 73 deg. F . It appears th at th e hum an body has the faculty to ad ju st its e lf to atm ospheric conditions and obtains com forts w ith only slig h t differences of tem perature, especially if some o f th e excess absolute hum idity has been removed from th e a ir.”

Mr. Feldman declares th at Kuhn, Loeb & Co. w as (veil satisfied when th e outdoor tem perature w a s 91 deg. F. and the outdoor relative h um id ity 53 per cent if the tem perature adm itted to the banking office w as 71 deg. F., the average tem perature in the office b eing 81 deg. F. and the relative hum idity 63 per cent.

C eitain it is th at Kuhn, Loeb & Co. m u st have been satisfied, for four years ago th e sam e architect u sin g the same system reconstructed th e plant to tak e care of three floors in th e sam e bank. It w ill be observed th at the air a fter b ein g freed by m echanical methods

January 14, 1926 C O A L A G E ⁴¹

of the water it carries at about 71 deg. F. is intro­

duced into the banking room where it becomes heated to 81 deg. F. In th is process it gains a capacity to take up more m oisture, so th at its saturation falls to 63 per cent. T his is w hat makes the air refreshing.

If it were saturated it would not be comfortable because it would not assist in the removal of m oisture from the surface of the body.

The general disposition of refrigeratin g engineers is to cool the air still more. It is not quite clear that th is is necessary. It may well be that the people who are adopting refrigeration for the popularizing of their places of resort desire to advertise the fact that their buildings are cooled and so prefer to refrigerate them excessively in order to prove their claims. They may later choose to cool th eir buildings as little as will produce com fort, thus saving money and avoiding the risk of th eir patrons gettin g pneumonia or colds.

It has been stated th at some patrons of cooled motion- picture houses have le ft th eir seats and returned to the outside air rather than subject them selves to the possibility of contracting colds. A t present, however, the tendency is in favor of greater refrigeration despite the increased cost.

In s t a l l a t i o n i n 1907 St i l l Wo r k in g

An early installation w as th at made in 1907 for the Pompeian Room of the Congress H otel in Chicago.

T his room is still cooled by th is installation and since then the French and Gold Rooms have been sim ilarly cooled. A nother early installation w as the Café of the Ritz-Carlton in N ew York City which has a machine capable of freezin g 75 tons of ice daily.

In Chicago the follow ing theatei's have been re frig ­ erated: the Chicago, State-Lake, McVickers, Pantheon, Tower, Senate, H arding, Madison Street, Diversey, U nited Masonic Temple, Uptown, Woods, Riviera, Palace Music, A nnette, Central Park, Trianon, Laur­

ence, Tivoli and Capitol. Chicago has led in the work o f refrigeratin g buildings though there are many cities where the need for cooling is greater. The Woods Theater is the only one which houses the legitim ate

drama. The play which ran in th is theater last sum ­ mer had left N ew York where it had played to crowded houses and had come to Chicago to take advantage o f the cooled air of the Woods Theater. It played to full houses, the seats being taken six weeks in advance.

Today it is back in N ew York, the tem perature in the city no longer needing improvement by refrig era tin g processes.

Op p o r t u n i t y i n Ne w Yo r k Cit y

In N ew York the Capitol Theater and the Rivoli have refrigeration. So fa r little has been done in th at city of many first-class theaters to keep such places cool.

In P ittsburgh two theaters have recently been cooled by refrigerated air, the Davis and the Grand. In P h ila­

delphia, the Fox is thus cooled and in Buffalo, Shea’s Theater.

The South is plentifully supplied. Thus at St. Louis, Mo., is Loew’s, the Grand Opera House, Delmonte and the M asonic; in N ew Orleans, La., is the Orpheum and Loew’s S tate Theater, in Kansas City, Mo., is th e Orpheum, Main S treet and Newman th eaters; in Dal­

las Tex., is the Palace, the Melba and the M ajestic;

in Houston, Tex., the Texan and the M ajestic; in F ort Worth, Tex., the .M ajestic; in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Okla., tw o Orpheum theaters. In San Antonio, Tex., also th e M ajestic Theater is refrigerated. The Palace Theater at Peoria, 111., th e Capitol theaters at Des Moines, la., and Cincinnati, Ohio, respectively, are other examples.

Other theaters w here refrigeration is being installed are the Belmont, Ascher, Marks, Howard, H ighland, Grove and Wasson in Chicago, the Hammond at Ham ­ mond, Ind., the N ew State at D etroit (209 to n s ), th e Rialto at Joliet, 111., the Lyric at Indianapolis, Ind., the Keith, at A tlanta, Ga., and the Miami at M iami, Fla. K eith’s theater in W ashington is to have an installation. These are only a few o f th e projected plants. The work of preparing for th e com ing summer is exceeding th e capacity o f the architects and manu­

facturers to fill the demand.

The cost of these installations is considerable and

Cools Seats at a Cent Apiece

M a c h i n e r y o f t h e 300 - t o n c a r b o n i c a n h y d r i d e r e f r i g e r ­ a t i o n p l a n t w h ic b c o o ls t h e b i g 5 ,0 0 0 - s e a t C h ic a g o T h e a ­ t e r in t h e M id - W e s t m e t r o p o li s . I t h a s tw o d u p l i c a t e u n i t s e a c h o f 150 t o n s r e ­ f r i g e r a t i n g c a p a c ­ it y . T h e v a r i a t i o n in t h e t h e a t e r f r o m r o o f to o r c h e s t r a p i t h a s n e v e r e x ­ c e e d e d 2 d e g . in a n y p la c e s in c e t h e s y s t e m w a s p u t in . C o o lin g is a t t a i n e d b y d i r e c t e x p a n ­ s io n , t h e c o ils f o r t h i s p u r p o s e b e i n g p la c e d w i t h i n t h e a i r w a s h e r . E x ­ a m p l e s lik e t h i s s u g g e s t h o w m u c h c o a l w ill b e u s e d w h e n w e t e m p e r o u r a i r t o s u i t o u r b o d ily c o m f o r t .

42 C O A L A G E ^Vol. 29, No. 2

is m ade more difficult by th e fa c t th a t such plants require much room which is not alw ays available. W hat space has been found is already pre-em pted by the h eatin g equipm ent. One au th ority said th a t a 400-ton plant w hich would supply a house w ith about 6,000 sea ts would cost, including air w ashers, $100,000. W ith current at l i e . a kilow att-hour th e refrigeratio n plant could be run for $6 an hour. The v en tila tin g fan by w hich th e cooled air is circulated would cost another

$2 per hour fo r operating charges, but th a t u n it m ust h e kept running w hether th e air is cooled or drawn

d irect from th e street.

Co s t Fig u r e d a t l i e . p e r Pa t r o n

V entilation is necessary in any event so th e cost is on ly 0.1c. per seat per hour. Ju st how often the seats are filled is doubtful. Throughout th e industry per­

haps it m ay be only l i tim es per day. One authority, speaking of a N ew York th eater of m odest size, says th at “it is a safe estim ate to say th at the seats have never been filled less than l i tim es a day and the average is more nearly tw ice that. On some occa­

sions th e seats have been filled 8.9 tim es during th e day.” T his same authority said th at the rate of l i e . per kilowatt-hour w as unusually low and th a t th e cost of a 400-ton plant would be nearer $150,000. M aking the rate 3c. per kilowatt-hour the cost would be $30 per day per 1,000 seats for tw elve hours’ operation.

A ssu m ing the seats were filled tw ice a day as an aver­

age, the cost per patron would be l i e . T his, he assum ed, would be a fa ir average fo r the season.

It is easy to see th a t th is would not be a figure th a t would deter theater m anagers from m aking the in vest­

ment. Dr. E. Leonard Hill, a ven tilatin g engineer, said th a t th e M cVickers Theater in Chicago had spent

$69,000 in cooling equipment and found th a t the increased profit in show ing to large houses w as such that in tw o years they hoped to have th eir expenditures back in those increased profits alone.

Ch icag o Th e a t e r’s 3 0 0 -To n Pl a n t

At the Chicago Theater, a 300-ton re frig era tin g plant cools the outside air from 95 deg. to 74 deg. The theater which houses from 4,000 to 5,000 people is kept cool by a plant th at is said to be run for $50 a day or a cent a seat and for less than th a t th erefore per patron. The plant has two u nits so th a t one only can be used if full refrigeration is not needed.

R. A. Kroeschell said th at 15 deg. of a drop between outside and auditorium w as all th at should be attem pted. Dr. H ill said th at the air could be profit­

ably cooled to 50 deg. and then heated by radiators to reduce m oisture or it could be passed through ducts th at would add to th e tem perature or again it could be m ixed w ith bypassed air. H e advocated th at when the air w as 90 deg. outside it should be cooled so as to keep the tem perature of the auditorium 75 deg. w ith 60 per cent relative hum idity. Mr. W ittenm eier said that i f an yth in g 72 deg. w as too low and th at 75 deg. w as better. W ith the air p assin g along the floor th e women would complain th at th eir ankles w ere cold and would w rap them in newspapers to avoid th at discom fort and to allay th eir fea rs of catching cold. Mr. W ittenm eier th ou ght th at i f th e tem perature w as 90 deg. outside, it should be about 15 deg. lower inside the building fo r com fort.

It has been estim ated th at there are about 1,000 C lass A m otion-picture th eaters which could im m e­

diately afford modern cooling plants. Each of would require an average o f 400 hp. including ven i a tion. H ere is a total p otential sum m er demand of 400,000 hp. to which should be added th e deman s o f the legitim ate drama w hich, though not n e a ily so great, is neverth eless considerable.

In other articles I d esire to detail more developm ents in the art of cooling w hich show how rapidly it is spreading. S om ething also should be said o f th e v a ri­

ous system s in use.

I f all th e m otion-picture th eaters, large and small, w ere cooled th ey would use alm ost a m illion tons of coal a year fo r cooling. Suppose th ey used on an aver­

age tw o-thirds o f a m illion horsepow er fo r tw elve hours a day fo r s ix m onths and th a t each kilow att-hour required l i lb. o f coal, the “m ovie” in d u stry would absorb th e quantity o f coal stated . The cooling of m otion-picture houses is only a sm all p art o f th e whole program w hich w ill not be reached till home cooling is introduced. Thus th e im portance o f refrig era tio n as an outlet fo r more coal can readily be appreciated.

A C o r re ctio n

On page 771 of our issu e o f Dec. 10 it w as stated concerning th e Chance process o f coal preparation th a t:

“T hese tw o agen cies (paddles and w a ter je ts ) serve to counteract each other and resu lt in a tendency, toward whirlpools, eddies and b o ilin g .” W hirlpools, eddies and boiling are actions th a t would be detrim ental to the operation o f th is equipm ent and the apparatus w as specifically designed to avoid them . The passage quoted should have read: “T hese tw o agen cies serve to counteract each other and check any tendency toward whirlpools, eddies and b oilin g.”

J W l

U N IO N I

in Bituminous--- ► F I E L D

But If He Strikes— !

L e w i s : “ L e t lo o s e o f m y f e e t o r I ’ll s t r i k e w i t h t h i s s t i c k !”

. a P o l° f ie s t o S o n d a y s n i s s e - S t r i x , o f S to c k h o l m w h o s e T m n ' • n o t h a v e S'u e s s e d t h a t C . P . D a n i e l , o f K n o x v i l l e T e n n ., w o u l d r e i n t e r p r e t a n d r e t i t l e h i s w o r k . ) n o x ie,

January 14, 1926 C O A L A G E 43

Has Anthracite Mines but No Strike

B v J o h n A. H o lm e s

M a d r id , N . M.

P

cite th at is normally pro­

duced in America. There are a fe w other small hard- coal regions. N ew Mexico has one of these, a little field containing scarcely six square m iles, lying 50 m iles east of Albuquerque on the Santa F e railroad.

In th is territory both an­

th racite and bitum inous coal are mined from a single bed— th e W hite A sh— and there are soft-coal mines also in another seam— th e Cook and W hite.

The field has eigh t m ines all of which belong to the Albuquerque & Cerillos Coal Co. F iv e are now pro­

ducing coal. Three o f th e five— Nos. 4, 8 and 9— are anthracite operations all delivering th eir coal to a single breaker. Two o f th ese produce less than 100 tons a day. No. 4 is the m ain anthracite m ine of the field, yielding about 300 tons daily. In it the company has experim ented w ith various system s of m ining within the last several years but is now u sin g only standard methods.

Geologically th is small field is exceptionally in terest­

ing. Coal is found solely in the Mesa Verde form ation o f the Upper Cretaceous area. It occurs only on the M esita de Juan Lopez and a part o f the Ortiz mine grants. T his coal tract is surrounded by a vast m ineral- bearing region producing gold, silver, lead and copper.

T his peculiar condition is accounted fo r by th e fa ct th at on both north and south of th e coal area lie volcanic upheavals w hich have thrown out two major igneous sheets, each about 800 to 1,000 ft. thick. These intrusions of an desite porphyry, cut by m any dykes, have forced th eir w ay betw een the sedim entary fo r­

m ations.

The first bed o f coal to be developed years ago w as

T h e h e a d p i e c e a c c o m p a n y i n g t h i s a r t i c l e s h o w s , a t t h e le f t, th e s lo p e m o u t h a t N o . 4 m in e , t h e p r i n c i p a l a n t h r a c i t e p r o d u c e r o f t h e A l b u q u e r q u e & C e r i l l o s C o a l C o .’s s e v e r a l a n t h r a c i t e a n d b it u m i n o u s o p e r a t i o n s i n t h e M a d r i d ( N . M .) r e g i o n . I n t h e c e n t e r is a d i s t a n t v ie w o f t h e m i n e to w n , t h e p o w e r p l a n t a n d t h e c o m p a n y ’s b r e a k e r s e r v i n g a l l o f i t s a n t h r a c i t e m in e s , N o s . 4, 8 a n d 9. N o l e s s t h a n n i n e s i z e s o f c o a l a r e p r e p a r e d . A t t h e r i g h t a r e t h e a p p r o a c h t r a c k s t o t h e b r e a k e r . A t p r e s e n t a b o u t 400 t o n s a d a y f r o m t h r e e m i n e s n o r m a l l y is h a n d l e d t h r o u g h t h i s b r e a k e r .

the W hite Ash, the product from which soon gained prominence in the Southw est as a low-ash, non-coking fuel. This bed dipped to the southeast on a 15 per cent slope and averaged 6 ft. in thickness. A s th is m ine was developed southward, the coal gradually changed from a bitum inous to an anthracite, th e thickness sim ulta­

neously decreasing to 4 ft. and even less. L ater th is operation caught fire and had to be abandoned. Sev­

eral years afterw ard, however, a breaker w as built and work started on the development of th e anthracite.

The largest m ine so fa r developed is th e No. 4, whose main slope has been driven in more than a mile.

This passage w as projected on th e dip and entries turned off every 1,000 ft. on the strike. When these entries have advanced fa r enough, dips are turned parallel to the m ain slope, rooms are necked off on either side and driven on the strike. All cars are delivered to the room neck by a hoist, whence th ey are pushed to the face by the m iners. A s th e coal is only 2 to 3 ft. thick, rooms are driven w ide and double tracked, the brushings being gobbed in the middle of the room. As soon as th ese rooms have been driven in their full distance, the pillars are drawn on the retreat. So far, several acres o f coal have been re­

moved and there has been no break in th e igneous sheet which lies approxim ately 25 ft. above. E xp eri­

m ents have been made w ith longwall and the V -system of m ining, but because o f th e m any dykes and fau lts encountered, these methods have not proved practical.

Ef f i c i e n t Ve n t i l a t i o n Es s e n t i a l

T his m ine is ventilated by a high-speed reversible fan delivering 90,000 cu.ft. o f air per m inute, driven by a 50-hp., 2,300-volt synchronous motor. A s th e work­

in gs are gaseous, all b lastin g is done at n ig h t by a shotfirer. Canvas b rattice is carried to th e fa ce of all entries, but in sp ite of th is it frequently becom es necessary to employ a booster or blower fa n to clear the face especially i f th e passage is b eing driven to the rise. The m ain return norm ally carries about i per cent m ethane; air sam ples are collected and analyzed periodically.

The accom panying table show s th e p roxim ate an­

alysis of coal taken from various beds and at various places in th is coal field.

The breaker w hich prepares all th e an th racite pro­

duced is located about a m ile from th e n ea rest o f th e

44 C O A L A G E Vol. 29, No. 2

Peacock s e a m ,tV/,/Ye ash seam (A n th ra c ite a n d bitum inous)

Cook anc/ -

JW hiteseam -^

F ig . 1— Section Through Los Cerrillos Coal Field

m e a s !?r e s h e r e a p p e a r i n g lie b e t w e e n t h e ig n e o u s h a v e f o r c e d t h e i r w a y b e t w e e n t h e s e d i m e n t a r y t o r m a t i o n s . T h e c o a l b e d s t h u s h a v e n o t o n l y b e e n s u b j e c t e d to h e a t f r o r n t h e s e i g n e o u s m e a s u r e s b u t a r e b r o k e n b y n u m e r o u s d y k e s . ^ T h e s e l a t t e r h a v e p r e c l u d e d t h e a d o p t i o n o f l o n g w a l l a n d

v - m i n i n g m e t h o d s , t h o u g h t h e s e s y s t e m s h a v e b e e n t r ie d .

three m ines trib u tary to it, the cars being hauled over th is distance by a gasoline locomotive. F ir st the coal is dumped into a bin and thence fed to the large main crusher by a horizontal apron conveyor. From the crusher th e product passes to a shaking screen which rem oves th e No. 1 size, or th at p assin g over 4-in. cir­

cular p erforations. The coal th at drops through th is screen goes to another shaker w here the duff is re­

moved, th is p assin g direct to the duff bin. E verythin g com ing over th is A -in . screen goes to th e m ain sizin g shaker w here grades N os. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are separated; each o f th ese respective sizes goes to its own bin from which it is elevated to th e spirals. A fter the different sizes have been spiraled and respiraled, each grade is lowered to th e railroad loading bins by means o f spiral chutes. A s the coal is loaded into the railroad cars, it traverses a screen intended to remove any small pieces or degradation th at may have chipped or broken off the larger ones in handling. T hese undersizes are delivered by a screw conveyor to a bucket elevator th at feed s the m aterial back to the m ain sizin g screen.

The No. 1 size is hand picked a fter it has le ft the screen but before it reaches the spiral, and any pieces

Proxim ate A nalysis of Coals Produced

G rade of

Bed Coal

Cook & W hite B itum inous W hite Ash B itum inous W hite Ash A nthracite W hite Ash A nthracite

M ois- V olatile Fixed

tu r e , M a tte r, C a rb o n , Ash, H e a t S u lp h u r p e r p e r p e r p e r , C o n te n t, p er C e n t C e n t C e n t C e n t B .t.u . C e n t

0 .4 3 35.91 52.45 11.21 13,760 0 .82

1.36 37.39 53.18 8 .0 7 13,700 0 .82

1.78 14.14 78.58 5 .50 14,091 0 .7 3

2.8 4 7.73 81.24 8 .1 9 13,390 0 .55

1— o v e r a 4 -in . c i r c u l a r o p e n in g , _ _____

2— t h r o u g h a 4 -in . a n d o v e r a 3 i - i n . c i r c u l a r o p e n in g , 3— t h r o u g h a 3 1 -in . a n d o v e r a 2 £ -in . o p e n in g ,

4——t h r o u g h a 2 1 -in . a n d o v e r a l j - i n . o p e n in g , 5— t h r o u g h a l i - i n . a n d o v e r a 1 -in . o p e n in g , 6— t h r o u g h a 1 -in . a n d o v e r a 3 -in . o p e n in g . 7— t h r o u g h a J - in . a n d o v e r a | - i n . o p e n in g , 8— t h r o u g h a i - i n . a n d o v e r a A - i n . o p e n in g ,

to which slate adheres are thus separated from th e main body of the coal. These pieces are carried back to a small recrusher by a belt conveyor and a fte r being broken down are discharged onto the m ain screen.

The follow ing sizes are prepared:

N o . N o . N o.

N o . N o . N o . N o.

N o . o cm u u g n a. a-**», «.»lu. v '~ * — D u f f — t h r o u g h a A - i n . c i r c u l a r o p e n in g .

Sizes Nos. 4 and 5 are combined and sold as brooder No. 4. Sizes 5 and 6 are likew ise combined and sold as base burner. A t one tim e it w as extrem ely difficult to dispose of the duff, but at present th e Santa F e railroad is u sing it in its shops at Albuquerque.

Ge n e r a t e s It s Ow n Po w e r

A s no public u tility plant is near th is field, th e com­

pany generates its own power. It now has a power house equipped w ith two 221-hp., and one 418-hp. B ab­

cock & W ilcox boilers which are hand fired w ith duff and No. 8. A powdered fu el furnace under th e 418-hp.

boiler is contemplated fo r the near fu tu re. A s th is region is arid, tank cars are employed to haul all w ater for dom estic use. Enough w ater, however, accum ulates in the m ine to assure the power house o f an ample supply except in especially dry seasons when it becom es necessary to use city, th at is, tank-car w ater. All boiler feed is treated before use.

T his plant is also equipped w ith tw o 300-kw., and one 1,000-kw. condensing turbines, w hich are operated on a steam pressure of 150 lb. and exh au st to 21 in. o f vacuum. The larger m achine has been in operation only a short tim e, but a considerable reduction in w ater consum ption has been obtained by it.

All power is transm itted to 2,300 volts, a ltern atin g current. In the m ines, th is is stepped down to 440 volts. Each circuit, o f which there are eigh t, has its own individual feed er panel in th e power house, on which w att-hour m eters are mounted, g iv in g th e m an­

agem ent o f th is operation an excellent check on th e power distribution.

F I G . 2

Many Mines Work This Bed

T h e m a p s h o w s t h e g r e a t e r p a r t o f t h e c o a l r e g i o n n e a r M a d r i d , N . M ., w h e r e t h e W h i t e A s h b e d y i e l d s b o t h b i t u m i n o u s c o a l a n d a n t h r a c i t e . M i n e s o p e r a t i n g n o r t h o f t h e d i v i d ­ i n g lin e s h o w n o n t h e d r a w i n g a r e In t h e b i t u m i n o u s t e r ­ r i t o r y a n d t h o s e s o u t h o f i t p r o d u c e a n t h r a c i t e . A t p r e s ­ e n t t h e o n ly a n ­ t h r a c i t e o p e r a t i o n s w o r k i n g a r e N o s , 4, 8 a n d 9.

S trik e

N o.5 Mine JV ~ ^ ^"

A n th ra cite ^ / N o A Min(?

- V - .- , An t h r a c it e

No.8 Mine

A n t h r a c it e

i/— P o w e r House B re a k e r-

/No.3 M in e

\Anthracite^y W hite Ash M ine

Bitum inous /■

•ucas M in e No.l M in e

\ A n t h r a c it e / B it u m in o u s

iL T 7 \ X ' c ra nkie

r J “lian°M V I « C h a r le y ;

I W o rke d o u t

A c t i v e

S o - ft c o a l a r e a on t h is s/ate

^ H a re / c o a l

^ a r e a o n t h i s s id e -

U O y k e \of/ —

''T h e e x te n t o f th is dyke n ot know n

January 14, 1926 C O A L A G E 45

Union Succumbs with Violence in West Virginia And Quietly in Central Pennsylvania

B y S y d n ey A. H a le

S p e c ia l C o n t r i b u t o r , C o a l A g e , N e w Y o r k C ity

M

vania, covered in th is article, is colorless by comparison w ith the violent drama of the Panhandle state. There have been struggles equally intense, equally bitter, else­

where, but the picturesqueness of the W est V irgin ia background has been so well advertised in recent years th at that state is treated as the keystone in the arch o f anti-unionism . Few com mentators can resist the tem ptation to discuss the situation there in detail and to tin ge an already colorful picture w ith th eir own individual sym pathies and prejudices.

Undoubtedly the tem ptation is great. Armed marches w ith all the panoply o f a m iniature war, the lonely sniper in the wooded hills, riot and fatal gunplay in the village streets, an armored car dealing death as it careens through a beautiful valley, injunctions w ithout end, charges and counter-charges of the abuse and the denial of civil liberties, distru st of the protection of the courts, men accused o f treason against the state, plain and fancy slaughter carried to th e threshold of the tem ples of justice, feud alistic conceptions clashing w ith “mobocracy,” a whole commonwealth em bittered by the jib es of the outside world— th is is th e stuff of which the story of the U nited Mine W orkers in W est V irgin ia is fashioned.

An elaboration of the incidents m assed above would serve no good purpose in the present discussion. They are the byproducts of passions and prejudices to be w eighed in an exam ination o f the larger question of the public’s responsibility in enforcing constitutional guarantees and in upholding Am erican ideals in indus­

trial w arfare.

There is, however, another factor which gives W est V irgin ia its com manding position in the labor situation.

T his cannot be ignored in any recital of the h istory of the labor m ovem ent in coal. One out of every four tons of so ft coal m ined in the U nited S tates is produced in W est V irgin ia. Coal from th at state shares w ith Pennsylvania anthracite the distinction of having the w id est distribution. Moreover, little of the W est V irgin ia product is consumed w ith in the borders of th at state. The lurid trim m ings to the tale create a w idespread popular in terest in the situ ation, but the com petitive power of W est V irgin ia coal g ives it a com pelling influence in the coal set-up of every produc­

in g d istrict east of the M ississip p i River.

The idea o f organ izin g th e m ine workers o f the state is no recent development. There w ere union represen t­

a tiv es from W est V irgin ia at th e h istoric Columbus conference o f 1886 w hen th e m em bers o f th e N ational

S e v e n t h o f a s e r i e s o f a r t i c l e s d e s c r i b i n g t h e c h a n g e s In t h e l a b o r s t a t u s o f t h e d i f f e r e n t b i t u m i n o u s c o a l p r o d u c i n g .d i s t r i c t s o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s in r e c e n t y e a r s . P r e c e d i n g a r t i c l e s i n t h i s s e r i e s a p p e a r e d in C o a l A g e S e p t. 25, O c t. 1, 8, 29, N o v . 19. aEnd D e c . 31, 1 9 2 5 . T h e c o n c l u d i n g a r t i c l e w i l l b e p u b l i s h e d n e x t w e e k .

Federation of M iners and Mine Workers and the Cen­

tral Competitive Field operators signed the first joint interstate agreem ent in coal labor history. B ecause the operating interests of the state declined to attend, how­

ever, the m iner delegates w ere denied a vote in the conference. The same bar w as raised again st them tw elve years later when they sen t delegates to the Chicago m eeting which firmly established th e Central Com petitive Field as the controlling factor in w age n egotiation s between the U nited Mine W orkers and the operators. A s in 1886, the W est V irgin ia m iners

Some Coal Mining Country Is Idyllic

T h is c o a l ‘‘c a m p ,” o f a v a r i e t y t h a t w o u ld b r i n g g l a d n e s s a n d s o n g to t h e h e a r t o f a w r i t e r o f a d v e r t i s i n g f o r s u m m e r r e s o r t s , is o n t h e G u y a n d o t t e R i v e r c lo s e to t h e c i t y o f L o g a n , W . V a .

w ere excluded in 1898 because th eir em ployers scorned participation in the deliberations between th e union and th eir fellow producers.

D esp ite th is hostile attitu d e tow ard union recogni­

tion, organizers made considerable headw ay in estab ­ lish in g locals in W est V irg in ia and th e operators interposed no serious objection until 1902. In April of th a t year th ere w as a union m eetin g at H un tin gton which v o te d .* statew ide strike. O perators fe lt th a t that action w as t&keQ,vnot because of any real grievance, but to help th e strik in g anthracite m iners. A g a in st th is southern W est V irgin ia producers b itterly rebelled and, when th e strik e w as broken, th e union retained a strong foothold only in th e K anaw ha d istrict. Two years later there w as a sp lit betw een th e union and the Cabin Creek section o f th e K anawha field over the open-shop. The Cabin Creek producers accused the