Jam es h . M cG raw |
President.
devoted to the Operating, Technical and BusinessE. J. M e h r en , Vice-President Problems of the Coal-Mining Industry R. Dawson Hall Engineering Editor
Volume 27 NEW YORK,
A nd N ow A n o th er D ia g n o sis
M
ANY a MAN has died from the calling in of too m any doctors and the ad m in istratio n of too many alleged cures. F in d in g the coal “in d u stry adm ittedly sick and sick alm ost to death,” E th elb ert S te w art in the Labor R eview seeks fo r it an o th er diagnosis, the p u rpose of which is to show how sick the in d u stry really is.
Doped w ith “cures” the in d u stry is indeed sick, b u t we fe a r m ore m edicine will only increase the malady. W ith H a rry L. Gandy, the sec retary of the N ational Coal Association, we believe th e cure is to leave th e in d u stry alone to correct its condition by the stre n g th of its own constitution.
All the researches of the F act-F in d in g Commission Mr. S te w art finds inadequate and m isleading. H e w ants someone to asc ertain how m any hours are worked a t the face. W as th is one of the facts the responsible
“m anag ers of th e industry have not seen th e ir way clear to fu r n is h ? ” If so, it was because the m iner objects to any such inquiry. He does not w a n t to punch a clock. I f the m iner would do it, the operator m ight be able to tell how long and how often his men work.
The final a r b itra to r in th e a n th ra c ite region has decided th a t th e requirem ent th a t the mine w orker punch a clock is a violation of the union agreem ent, except w here a new mine is sta rte d and even in such cases th e m ine w orker objects to surveillance of th is kind. T his inform ation, therefore, cannot be m ade available till the union is satisfied to allow the practice to be introduced. The expense of having every man ca rry a check and having the tim e recorded a t which every m an is checked in and checked out and having the records tab ulated and totaled would be considerable.
Would th is reduce the cost of coal? Would th is change in the rules be in accord w ith the union contract? We deny the first and question the latter.
Be it noted th a t we confess th a t the num ber of days the tipple w orks is not a tru e te st of w orking tim e.
M any m en w ork when the tipple is idle; m any, when the men a t th e tipple work, lay off fo r sickness, pleasure and farm in g , m any day men and m iners w ork m ore hours th a n the tipple hands and still m ore fo r less hours, b u t on the whole th e num ber of days the tipple operates m easures, as well as any o th er figure, th e opportunity fo r work, w heth er the m iner embraces th a t opportunity or neglects it. As fo r the day w orkers th ey have a much b e tte r ru n n in g tim e th a n the tipple record would show.
The figures collected by the commission in th is case are tr u e r th an those obtained from th e tipple run. And those figures have been used.
As a m a tte r of fa c t unless the tim e spent and the income obtained in o th er w ork th an m ining were com
puted no one would know how much th e m ine w orkers earn. In ce rtain sections the m ines actually are closed down in th e fa rm in g season, the men finding work on th e ir fa rm s m ore profitable th an mining. On m any fa rm s th e actual w orking days of the fa rm er are sh o rt and extrem ely profitable. The fa rm er, of course, does
MAY 28- 1925 _________________________ Number 22
not g et rich a t his occupation, b u t h is income in the sh o rt tim e th a t he spends in sowing and reaping g reatly exceeds th a t in m ost industries. I f it did not he would not be able to continue in th a t ind ustry, so exceptionally seasonal is it. I t is f a r m ore irre g u la r th an m ining, though no one has been found to deplore th a t fact.
Mr. S tew art is not a safe guide to sta tistic ia n s or he would not talk of the extending of en tries and “drive
ways as a capital outlay and not a c u rre n t production cost. H as he never learned th a t m ining is a w astin g industry, and does he not know th a t en tries have to be extended m erely to m ain tain production? W hen a m ine leaches the end of its activities only the coal ad jacent to the roadw ays and su pp ortin g them is left, and the road
ways are of value only by reason of th is small q u an tity of coal. By the tim e the m ine reaches its boundaries m any of th e roadw ays have long ago had these pillars removed, destroying th e ir en tire value. Then when the m ine is finished, even th e pillars rem aining have been diaw n, and the capital value of every roadw ay has been entirely lost.
We are su rp rised, also, th a t M r. S tew art objects to figures of accidents based on tons produced. Surely th e ir value cannot be disputed. We w ant to know, and are entitled to know, w ith w hat cost in lives and in accidents o ur coal is produced, even though the mine w orker is m ainly in terested in th e fa ta lity and accident ra te per man.
We would be glad if th e lives lost p er million tons of ou tpu t could be decreased. Surely Mr. S tew art would be also. Mr. S tew art, let us assume, p u ts tw enty tons in his cellar yearly. Is he not in terested in knowing th a t those tw enty tons have caused a m inim um of d istress? He w ants th a t tonnage, and he desires to g et it by adding as little as possible to the sum of hum an m isery.
B ut the m ine w orker looks a t th e problem from a different angle and fo r him quite a proper one. He w ants the ra te of accident and fa ta lity p er thousand men employed g re atly lowered. He w ants th e chance of saving his life raised. So th e B ureau of M ines figures both ways and is even figuring a s f a r as it can on the basis of m an days which is a good statistical figure but one which does n o t really re p resen t th e chance of living and escaping in ju ry of th e m an who en ters the industry.
These last figures, though quite incomplete, are al- lead y available, though th ey have not been issued as bulletins sim ply because they are incomplete. A wise s ta tistic ia n would see th a t all th re e m ethods of calcula
tion have th e ir value in answ ering the problem s o f the industry.
The little use m ade of the Coal Commissions report, the fa c t th a t it has not been published and will not be till it is ancient history, and th a t few who have it have cared to digest it su g g est th a t any m ore sta tis tic s would be a w aste of money. The public does n o t care to study these rep o rts and cannot g et th e ir tru e significance
781
7 8 2 C O A L A G E VOL. 2 7 , NO. 2 2 w ithout an exhaustive study which it does not care to
m ake, and th e coal men who spent m illions on them do no t w ant to collect them again, especially as they have not as yet led to any really constructive result. In vestigations and inqu iries which lead to no useful end and th e re su lts of which th e governm ent shows no keen desire even to p rin t a re so fru itle ss th a t they are sheer w aste of money. They have added much to th a t high cost of governm ent w hich everyone, including .the ad
m in istra tio n , is deploring.
S e ein g and K n o w in g
O
N T H E S ID E L IN E S of the N ational R etail Coal M erchants’ Association, a re ta ile r rem arked th a t he had received a shipm ent of pea coal on which he looked w ith considerable suspicion. I t didn’t seem good enough to ju s tify him in p u ttin g it on th e m arket.I f it w asn’t up to stan d ard he would be liable to lose out to his com petitors. B ut in th e end he sold the coal, and every consum er was satisfied. Some expressed them selves as extrem ely well pleased. The trouble was th a t the re ta ile r gave th is coal only a visual inspection.
H ad he p u t it to a specific-gravity te s t he would have known ju s t w hat so rt of coal he had received.
Coal as th e B asis o f a N ew C h em ical In d u stry
O
F COAL the in d u stry has learned th a t it is capable of being used in m any w ays and each tim e it heard about such new developments it visualized a new in d u stry a t th e coal mines, b u t in nearly every instance th e installations w ent elsew here and w ere controlled by oth er in terests. Gas w as m ade from coal b u t th e expense of piping it and using the gas only p a r t of the y ear made it difficult to finance profitably th e m aking of gas at m ines, especially in view of leakage and th e possible breakage of long lines of pipe tra v e rsin g regions over hill and down dale, across stream s and railroads.Coke could be m ade in byproduct ovens, b u t w hat could be done w ith th e g as? I t was not needed a t th e m ines, and it could no t be piped a t a profit. Besides, th e coke com panies desired to m ix coals and so it paid best to take them to a common and suitable m anufac
tu rin g p oint and to m ix them ' there. As fo r elec
tric ity , th e w aste in extrem ely d ista n t tran sm issio n and th e lack of condensation w a te r a t the m ines tended to m ake th e g eneration of electrical energy a t the m ines fo r general consum ption undesirable in some cases.
B u t now comes a new suggestion. Coal can be m ade into w a te r gas which consists in the m ain of carbon monoxide and hydrogen; the gas can be scrubbed and th e t a r removed. Then the cleaned gases can be sub
jected to a high tem p eratu re and p re ssu re in th e p re s
ence of a catalyst. The pi-oduct form ed can be arrang ed to be largely m ethanol or m ethyl alcohol. This is a product corresponding in th e m ain to wood alcohol and capable of doing th e sam e w ork as th a t liquid. Wood alcohol is poisonous; it is not known w h eth er synthetic m ethanol is or is not. In any event i t is odorless, w hereas wood alcohol has a pung en t odor. The first can be m ade fo r from 15 to 16c. a gallon, w hereas wood alcohol costs 68 to 73c. By th e tim e m ethanol is b ro u g h t from Germ any, it costs 40c. a gallon, b u t even a t th a t price i t is m aking th e m an u fa ctu rers of wood alcohol m ore th a n apprehensive and th e im portations a re increasing rapidly.
I t sefems clear th a t the coal in d u stry is going to displace th a t of lum ber as source of alcohol, and th e re is no reason why th e m ethanol should no t be m ade a t th e mines. T he p aten ts are held by the Chemical F o un dation, Inc., a company which has been organized to take charge of th e G erm an p aten ts seized d u rin g th e w ar. I t issues licenses and uses th e money to cancel the charges a g a in st th e G erm ans fo r dam ages inflicted d u rin g the w ar. This method of m an u fa ctu rin g m ethyl alcohol w as invented and patented before w e en tered th e conflict, b u t th e p atented process has only recently been actively operated in Germ any. The oppo rtu nity is excellent fo r introducing th e process into A m erica and some one of our m any operators should get in touch w ith a chemical corporation and endeavor to have a plan t erected a t some mine, fo r the products are all of a ch a rac te r th a t they can readily be tran sp o rted . T here are no such cum bersome m aterials as coke and no gases to be handled or used. O ther hydrocarbons can be m ade by th is process such as th e aldehydes, ketones and acids. M otor s p irit m ig h t well be one of th e ultim ate products of th e syn th etic m ethanol process.
T h at P e r p le x in g G erm an P r o b le m
T
HOSE WHO D EM A N D ED th a t Germ any should pay, fo rg o t th a t th e paym ent m u st be taken in services, and no one ap parently w ants to accept such m in istra tio n s leaving th e ir own labor idle m eanwhile.G erm any is largely a m a n u fa ctu rin g country, and its products compete w ith those of th e Allies. G reat B ritain , in p artic u la r, is idle today because of th e larg e service th e lowly paid and well-equipped G erm an is able to render.
Now comes a proposal which, perhaps, is not new, bu t fo r th e first tim e well staged. I t would provide th a t the G erm ans shall fu rn is h the Allies w ith new po rts and new railro ad s th a t will open up larg e areas in A frica, let us say, and p u t th e products of th e m ine, the soil and the fo rest on th e m arket.
T his pro g ram has an appealing sound b u t if it is coal th a t is to be m ined and th e coal is good enough to ship, G reat B rita in will be adversely affected, and if it is copper o r iron we shall be unfavorably disposed tow ards its addition to our p re sen t glu t of production.
More w heat lands und er cultivation also will in ju re the fa rm e rs everywhere.
F ortu n ately , th e nation which p erm its itself to accept such Germ an assistance is its own jud ge of w h a t kind of com petition it fe a rs and w h at assistance it desires.
I t can select such a p o rt and such a railro ad as will not build up an undesirable com petition w ith its own nationals. So some arran g e m e n ts m ay be made, always rem em bering th a t th e co ntractors and m anu
fa c tu re rs of th a t co un try will be w ondering w hy they are excluded fro m b idding fo r co ntracts o r why the G erm ans are given p reference over natio nals in the aw arding of bids. F u rth erm o re , employees out of w ork will m ake a sim ilar clam or fo r a share in th e construc
tion of p lan t and equipm ent.
The suggestion th a t th e G erm ans be afforded th e opportunity of co n stru ctin g p o rts an d railro ad s, how
ever, has its m e rits provided th e p ro ject is d eftly chosen in the general in te re st of th e n atio nals of an y p a rtic u la r cou ntry and provided th e ir psychology will enable them to see it as an in d u stria l u n d erta k in g th a t otherw ise would n o t have been attem pted and as fu rn ish in g an op po rtun ity to increase th e natio nal w ealth and add an o th er safety valve fo r an excessive population.
Ma y 2 8 , 1 9 2 5 C O A L A G E 7 8 3
O’T o o le M achine Is a C om bined Culter and Loader
R e m o v e s 4 2 -F t. S w a th o f C o a l in L o n g - F a c e M in in g a t R a te o f 2 In . per M in u te — B ig H y d r a u lic J a c k s C o n tr o l R o o f A lo n g F a c e s ; C ribs
P r o t e c t H e a d in g s
By F rank H. K neelan d
A s s o c i a t e E d i t o r o f C o a l A g e , N e w Y o r k C i t y
D e l i v e r y E n d o f M a c h i n e
T
H E EV O LU TIO N of underground mechanical coal loaders has progressed fa r enough to convince m any m ining men th a t any machine, to be m ost efficient, should no t duplicate th e movements of a m an w ith a shovel, as m ost of the early types did. Also, they feel th a t th e m ethod of m ining should be adapted to the m achine instead of conform ing th e m achine to the method. One of the latest developments in th is direction is an invention of Col. E dw ard O’Toole, general su p erin ten d en t of th e U nited S tates Coal & Coke Co. of Gary, W. Va. I t is a combined c u tte r and loader fo r long-face m ining. I t undercuts the full length of a 42-ft. face while a parallel conveyor on the floor bears th e falling coal to a haulagew ay loading point. The whole m achine is advanced ag a in st the face by power- driven screws. L ittle explosive is used except in devel
opm ent work.
The first m achine of th is kind— or w hat m ig h t be called th e experim ental machine— has been in operation fo r over a year. D uring th is time many of its weak
nesses, both in design and construction have been discovered. Some of these have been corrected in th e present m achine, but others can be rectified only by a new and im proved model.
This m achine is composed of five basic elem ents or parts, nam ely: (1) An electric m otor and gear box ac tu a tin g all p a rts of the m achine by m eans of gears, clutches and chains; (2) a sectional or segm ented c u tte r b a r th a t underm ines the coal face; th is is bu ilt into and fo rm s a p a r t of (3) a segm ented conveyor th a t receives th e coal from the face and tra n sp o rts it to the mine c a r; (4) a propelling mechanism th a t forces th e entire m achine to its work, and (5) hydraulic jacks of large capacity th a t control th e roof pressure. A t first blush it m ig h t be th o u g h t th a t movable jacks could hardly be considered as form ing p a rts of a m achine, bu t as will be' shown later, however, the loading mechanism could h ardly fu nction w ithout them .
The general dim ensions of th e p resent machine are as follow s:
O v e r - a l l l e n g t h ...49 f t . 9 in . L e n g t h o f f a c e c u t ... 42 i t . O v e r - a l l w i d t h o f c o n v e y o r ( f r o m r e a r o f s k i r t b o a r d to
p o i n t o f b i t s ) ... 4 f t . 2 in . H e i g h t o f c o n v e y o r a t d e l i v e r y , p o i n t ...4 f t . 10 3 in . T o t a l h e i g h t o f t o p o f c o n v e y o r ...6 f t . 21 in-
All th e various p a rts or elem ents enum erated work eith er in unison or separately as m ay be desired. A ll m ovements of th e m achine are pow er actuated. U nder favorable conditions the coal is undercut, bro u g h t down, carried to and loaded upon the m ine car w ith little labor, none of which is arduous.
The c u tte r chain employed on th is m achine is identical w ith th a t used on an o rd in ary sh ort- or long- wall un d ercu tter except th a t th e blocks carry bits a t about 5-ft. intervals instead of every block carry in g its bit. The advance of th e m achine un der th e face is so slow th a t the bits th u s spaced will do all the cu ttin g necessary. The chain travels in th e ordin ary m anner around a head sprocket a t the fo rw ard or heading end of the m achine and a ta il sprocket at th e re a r or rib end. Because of the com paratively slow advance of the m achine and the wide spacing of th e bits th e power required to drive th e chain is little, if any, m ore th an th a t consumed by an o rd inary u nd ercu tter.
Conveyor Be h in d Cutter Bar
Im m ediately in re a r of th e c u tte r b a r is placed the conveyor. This is of th e scraping ty p e and consists of two stran d s of roller sprocket chain w ith low flights extending between them . The w idth of th is conveyor on the p resen t type of m achine is 15 in. The re a r side of the conveyor pan is a 15-in. channel iron, and the forw ard side is open or b u t little h ig h er th a n the th ick ness of the c u tte r bar. Both conveyor and c u tte r b ar are built as a u n it b u t in sections each about 10 ft.
long. Small dips o r inequalities in the floor accordingly m ay be followed easily.
Propulsion is accomplished by m eans of power- operated jack screws or th read b ars each about 8 ft.
long. The square ends of these th re a d b a rs slip into square holes in worm wheels on th e re a r side of th e conveyor pan. These wheels a re driven by worm s c a r
ried on a segm ented s h a ft extending lengthw ise of the conveyor and actuated from th e m otor o r g e a r box by m eans of a clutch.
E ach th rea d b a r passes th ro u g h a heavy sp lit bronze nu t which bears a g a in st th e fo ot of a hydraulic jack, th e th read b a r passing on th ro u g h a hole in th e base.
The arran g em en t is such th a t th e th rea d b a r need not
Direction o f travel o f machine.
Rate o f travel“2*p er m inute
Standard^ cutter chain 7 / pitch sprocket, f teeth.
p.p.
^Propelling t
^fjack screw -3~5j2 Between pitch lines---
Conveyor chain pitch, /roller, ¡"width, side plates with integral lug for conw
rrh Q * f O n ’>
W ////////A
Ground^
line "
V'.'- .-V.y.j
Worm gear-' '\-Wefded Joint -2 -3 ÎCL to CL conveyor chains--
' b a se g / a te--- “ "
■ 5 -// "Over feed worrp housing-
fo / /// ? /// /// /// //s // /// // / ///////^ ^ ^ ^
Cutter \bar a n d con veyor________________________ 1 ^
Hydraulic jacks l 4 Ft cribs on 6 ft centers
— ; protecting ro o f over entry
Roof allowed to come down m this space relieving pressure on rib and face
C O A L A G E VOL. 2 7 , N o . 2 2
be in line w ith th e hole th ro u g h th e base of th e jack.
To accomplish th is end th e split n u t is m ade w ith a spherical head w hich fits into a sim ilarly shaped cup on th e base of th e jack. T his form s a kind of universal jo in t and g reatly fa cilitate s th e operation of the
m achine. ,
The hydraulic jacks employed w ith th is c u tte r and loader a re of special type, adapted to th is p a rtic u la r purpose. E ach consists of an o rd in ary h ydraulic jack of 100-tons ra te d capacity. T his is m ounted upon a wooden base to which it is securely fastened. On top of th e jack head is fitted a steel cap to which is welded a heavy steel pipe th e length of w hich will depend upon th e thickness of th e coal to be mined. The cup welded to th e lower end of th e pipe is held to th e plunger head of th e jack by m eans of setscrew s which extend into a groove in th e plunger head. The up per end of th e pipe is welded to a flange.
E ach jack th u s consists of tw o p a rts, o rdin arily joined to g eth er b u t separable if necessary. These a r e : (1 ) The jack proper, w ith a plu nger trav el of about 6 in. m ounted on its heavy wooden base, and (2) th e extension pipe. In use, heavy wood blocking is placed on th e upper end of the extension pipe tra n s m ittin g th e th r u s t of th e piston to th e roof. T his blocking p erm its a slig h t bending of th e roof behind th e face, which un der favorable conditions is sufficient to b rin g th e coal down into th e conveyor w ithout re s o rt to explosives and w ith only a little hand picking.
Se t t in g Up for Operatio n
In operation th e m achine is s e t up w ith th e driving m echanism in a heading, beside th e m ine track , th a t is betw een th e tra c k and the heading rib . The combined c u tte r b a r and conveyor extends along a 42-ft. face a t rig h t angles to the heading. T his opening m u st be previously driven and m u st be about 12 ft. in w id th o r wide enough to accommodate th e conveyor and the propelling th re a d bars. F rom th is p o in t on th e m achine moves und er its own power, its advance into the face being a t a m axim um ra te of about 2 in. p e r m inute.
As th e m achine moves forw ard , jacks a re set behind it. T hree jacks a re provided fo r each 10 ft. of face length and a rran g e d in th ree row s. W hen th e r e a r m ost jacks become 12 ft. from th e face or 8 ft. from th e re a r of the conveyor th is row is moved fo rw ard until it is ju s t behind and close to th e conveyor. The operation of m oving a jack is quite sim ple and can be perform ed in a sh o rt tim e. The p re ssu re is relieved, th e jack collapsed and th e blocking removed.
Method ot ivxinmg rouuw eu
A d v a n c e i s f a i r l y s t e a d y a n d t h e o n l y t i m b e r u s e d i s t h a t n e c e s - s a r y f o r b u i l d i n g c r i b s . B e h i n d t h e j a c k s t h e r o o f i s a l l o w e d t o c o m e d o w n f r e e l y i n t o t h e g o b . W h e n t h e m a c h i n e h a s a d v a n c e d t o t h e e n d o f t h e h e a d i n g i t m a y b e t u r n e d a r o u n d s o a s t o r e t u r n e i t h e r t a k i n g a c u t f r o m t h e o p p o s i t e r i b o f t h e s a m e h e a d i n g o r f t c a n b e b r o u g h t b a c k i n t h e n e x t p a r a l l e l h e a d i n g t o t h e r i g h t .
T h ree m en are all th a t are requ ired to move a jack.
One of these steadies th e top of th e jack and^ th e other two move it forw ard. To fa c ilita te th e moving opera
tio n a heavy ra ilro a d spike is driven into th e base block on each side about 8 in. fro m its bottom . The heads of these spikes face downward. Two men, one upon eith er side and in r e a r of th e jack slip crow bars un der these spikes and to g eth er th ey readily heave th e jack to its new position, it being steadied m eanw hile by th e th ird man. The blocking is th en placed betw een th e jack and th e roof and th e p re ssu re pum ped up.
I f th e jack to be moved is one of tho se a g a in st which a th rea d -b ar n u t bears, th e operation is th e sam e except th a t th e keys a re first removed from th e n u t pins, th e pins w ithdraw n, th e n u t tak en a p a rt and moved forw ard . A fte r th e jack h as been placed in its new position th e sp lit n u t is replaced upon th e th re a d b ar w ith its head fitting into th e cup-shaped depression already re fe rre d to. The pins a re now replaced, and th e keys or cotters driven home. N atu rally th e m oving of jacks and sim ilar w ork is p erfo rm ed so f a r as pos
sible while trip s are b eing changed.
As soon as th e m achine has been moved fo rw ard 8 ft..
a 4-ft. crib is b u ilt behind it in line w ith th e rib of the entry. A fte r each succeeding 8-ft. advance an other sim ilar crib or cog is b u ilt. T his row o f cogs supports
Cross-Section o f Cutter Bar and Conveyor Showing Propelling Jack Screw
T h i s i s t h e i m p r o v e d c o n v e y o r n o w b e i n g b u i l t . T h e o n e o n t h e p r e s e n t m a c h i n e d i f f e r s f r o m i t s o m e w h a t i n d e t a i l . T i i e c h i e f d i f f e r e n c e , h o w e v e r , l i e s i n t h e f a c t t h a t t h e b a r h e r e s h o w n
i s t h i n e n o u g h t o e n t e r t h e k e r f c u t b y t h e c h a i n b i t s .
Ma y 2 8 , 1 9 2 5 C O A L A G E 7 8 5
Along the Convejyor
T h i s s h o w s t h e c o n v e y o r u n l o a d e d w i t h t h e b i t s o f t h e c u t t e r c h a i n j u s t w i t h i n t h e k e r f . A g o o d i d e a a l s o m a y b e h a d f r o m t h i s p i c t u r e o f t h e 1 0 0 - t o n h y d r a u l i c j a c k s u s e d t o c o n t r o l t h e r o o f a n d p r o p e l t h e m a c h i n e a n d h o w t h e y a r e a r r a n g e d a n d u s e d . N e a r t h e f a r t h e r e n d o f t h e p i c t u r e o n e o f t h e p r o p e l l i n g t h r e a d b a r s m a y b e s e e n e x t e n d i n g f r o m t h e r e a r o f t h e c o n v e y o r t h r o u g h t h e b a s e o f o n e o f t h e j a c k s . T h e s e g m e n t e d p r o p u l s i o n s h a f t m a y a l s o b e s e e n b e h i n d t h e c o n v e y o r .
one side of the e n try roof, th e o ther re stin g firmly on a rib of coal. Beyond o r inside the cribs no posts are set, and the roof is allowed to come down freely into th e gob, th u s relieving th e p ressu re on th e face and in n er rib.
Only seven men are required fo r th e operation of the p re sen t machine. This gan g com prises one forem an, one car sp o tter who also controls th e operation of th e m achine, one bug-dust shoveler who tra n s fe rs to the con
veyor th e bug dust scraped out of th e k e rf by th e bits, and fo u r face men. These la tte r pick down th e coal from the face into th e conveyor, a ss is t th e others in m oving th e jacks forw ard, build cribs and do other miscellaneous work. F o r a bigger or longer m achine the labor force would be th e same except th a t one additional m an would be required fo r each ex tra 10 ft. of face length.
To receive th e coal, em pties in trip s of about 10 cars each a re pushed under and p ast the discharge end of th e conveyor and the first car or th a t, next th e locomo
tive spotted in p roper position. When th e fo rw ard end of th is ca r has been loaded th e tr ip is moved slightly and th e o ther end filled. The conveyor is then stopped m om entarily while the next car is spotted under it. Each ca r of th e trip is th u s moved along in suc
cession until all are loaded. W hile th e trip is being changed, which takes about 5 min., jacks are moved forw ard, cribs built, the m achine oiled, th e tra c k cleaned or o th er necessary w ork done.
The m ain m otor on the p re sen t m achine adm ittedly is underpow ered to drive all th e m achinery. A second or au x iliary m otor of 10 hp., accordingly, has been added to actu ate the conveyor. In the new model now being constructed in th e company shops a t Gary, only one m otor will be employed. The conveyor will be widened to 24 in. and th e h eig h t of its fro n t edge will be m ade th e sam e as th e h eig h t of th e c u tte r bar. T his will p erm it th e conveyor to follow the c u tte r b a r into th e k e rf and un der th e face. A nother contem plated im provem ent is the addition of a rib -sh earing device a t
th e in n er end of th e conveyor which will not only m ake a stra ig h t even rib bu t will overcome all tendency of the coal to han g in th is tig h t corner.
Te n To n s pe r Hour for Over a Year
A lthough the p resen t m achine is experim ental in character, the record of its perform ance is interestin g . In 13 m onths of operation or from th e tim e when it was first s ta rte d on Dec. 1, 1923, up to and including Dec. 31, 1924, th is m achine m ined and loaded 76,583 ton s of coal in 7,968 hours of possible w orking tim e.
As th e m achine has been operated on trip le s h ift th is is an average of alm ost 10 to ns p er hour, day and nig ht, since i t was started . D u rin g much o f th is tim e, however, th e m achine was being operated in old w ork
ings or those previously developed fo r hand m ining.
These contained m any old crosscuts o r o th er passages th a t w ere filled w ith gob, and w ere th e cause o f m uch delay. A f a r h ig h er ra te of production w as o ften m ain
tained fo r m onths a t a tim e. A condensed sum m ary of operation showing th e various delays and th e ir causes is set fo rth in Table I.
T here appears to be no good reason why th e c u tte r b ar and conveyor of th is m achine cannot be lengthened to 100 or even 150 ft. if desired. T his would sim plify g re atly development of th e section or m ine w here th e m a
chine is to be used, as th e distance between development headings would be increased by tw ice th e added length of th e conveyor. W ith th e p re sen t m achine cu ttin g 42 ft. of face, th e distance betw een heading centers is 100 ft. W ith a 100-ft. c u tte r b a r and conveyor, th a t distance would be increased to 216 ft. In both cases th is would allow of a 2-ft. b a r rie r being le ft in th e center of th e panel or block to p reven t gob from a worked- out cu t ru n n in g into th e conveyor w hen ta k in g th e last cu t in th e panel. A p illa r one o r two fe e t th ick is sufficient to accomplish th is resu lt. T his will con stitute the only coal lost in m inin g by th is m ethod. All th e re s t Will be recovered. In consequence only about 1 p e r cent o f th e coal will be le ft in th e m ine.
C O A L A G E . Vo l. 27, N o . . 2 2
Plan and Side Elevation of the Machine
E v e r y 9 I t . i n t h i s m o d e l t h e r e i s a j o i n t b e t w e e n s e c t i o n s t h a t t h u s b e f o l l o w e d r e a d i l y a n d e x a c t h o r i z o n t a l a l i g n m e n t is u n - p e r m i t s a c e r t a i n a m o u n t o f b e n d i n g b o t h v e r t i c a l l y a n d h o r i - n e c e s s a r y . S o m e s u c h p r o v i s i o n i s n e c e s s a r y i n o r d e r t h a t t h e z o n t a l l y b e t w e e n s e g m e n t s . R o i l s o r i n e q u a l i t i e s i n t h e f l o o r m a y m a c h i n e m a y o p e r a t e s u c c e s s f u l l y i n m o s t m i n e s .
m achine and the small num ber of men employed, also because the. w orkings are concentrated and closely supervised, the liability to accident will be g reatly reduced.
(3) The num ber of necessary w orking places will be g reatly lessened. In a mine of the capacity above assum ed th a t is one producing 5,000 tons of m achine coal per day, aside fro m th e m ain headings common to all m ines, only five m achine places and ten develop
m ent headings would be necessary. E xperience has shown th a t a m achine heading 14 ft. wide can be driven by p resent m ethods a t ju s t about h alf the speed of the machine advance. This necessitates th e sim ultaneous development of tw ice as m any headings as th ere are m achines employed.
(4) The q u an tity of explosives used per ton of coal produced will be g reatly decreased. The reason fo r th is is evident and needs no comment.
(5) In regions w here th e roof is ten d er the coal can be overcut, th u s p ro tectin g the frag ile roof w ith top coal. The ov ercutter fo r th is purpose m ay be m ounted directly upon and be moved forw ard w ith th e con
veyor of th e O'Toole cu ttin g and loading machine.
(6) The use of th is m achine will decrease difficulties arisin g from labor troubles, because the num ber of men employed will be less and those necessary to the operation of th e m achine will be paid by th e day or hour. Day ra te s are m ore easily established th an piece rates and day men, as a rule, are m ore satisfied and contented th an piece w orkers.
(7) This m achine can be operated in beds too th in to be profitably worked by hand under p resen t labor rates.
(8) Use of th is m achine reduces narrow w orkings and tig h t ends. A large portion of the coal is brought down by roof p ressu re instead of w ith explosives. The quality of th e product is th u s appreciably bettered, the
T a b l e I — R e p o r t o f D e l a y s — D e c e m b e r 1 , 1 9 2 3 t o D e c e m b e r 3 1 , 1 9 2 4 , I n c l u s i v e
T o t a l c a r s l o a d e d ... 2 1 ,8 8 1 T o t a l s h i f t s m a c h i n e o p e r a t e d ... VS;*
T o t a l p o s s i b l e h o u r s o f o p e r a t i o n ... 7 ,9 6 8 T o t a l h o u r s a c t u a l l y o p e r a t e d ... 2 ,6 9 0 T o t a l h o u r s l o s t ( S e e b e l o w ) ... 5 ,2 7 8
D e l a y e d o n a c c o u n t o f :
M a i n m o t o r a n d a r m a t u r e ... -110
C o n v e y o r m o t o r ... 67
C h a i n a n d f r a m e ... 2 3 6 C l u t c h ... 8 0 S t a r t i n g b o x ... 9
S h a f t ... 24
S p r o c k e t ... 3
C u t t e r b a r a n d c h a i n ... 55
( ¡ h a n g i n g a n d s e t t i n g b i t s ... IS F e e d c l u t c h ... 89
C l e a r s ... 1 7 2 L e a d s a n d c a b l e ... 11
F e e d s h a f t ... 21
W o r m g e a r a n d s h a f t ... 32
B u i l d i n g c r i b s ... 2 2 4 S l a t e f r o m g o b s l i d i n g i n o n c o n v e y o r ... 2 0 0 F a l l s o f r o o f ... 7 5 L e v e l i n g m a c h i n e ... 1 8 9 M o v i n g j a c k s ... 7 3 1 T i m b e r i n g t o r e c o v e r a n d r e c o v e r i n g j a c k s ... 1 5 2 T i m b e r i n g ... 2 1 7 R o o f w o r k i n g , a n d w a i t i n g o n f a l l s ... 2 1 9 W a i t i n g f o r m i n e c a r s ... 2 5 7 P o w e r o f f ... 8 2 C l e a n i n g a n d w o r k i n g o n t r a c k ... 51 D i s a s s e m b l i n g , m o v i n g a n d a s s e m b l i n g m a c h i n e ... 7 8 1 O v e r h a u l i n g m a c h i n e g e n e r a l l y ... 5 5 2 S h o o t i n g c o a l ... 4 0 M i s c e l l a n e o u s ... 2 7 8
Many advantages are afforded by the use of th is m a
chine. Some of these are as follows:
(1) The num ber of men necessary to obtain a given output will be reduced. F rom experience w ith th e p res
ent m achine it is considered entirely possible w ith a c u tte r b a r and conveyor of suitable length to obtain an output of 1,000 tons per day per machine. Such a m achine would require about 13 men per s h ift fo r its operation. T his would m ean th a t a mine having an output of 5,000 tons of m achine-mined coal in 24 hr.
would require the services of only 195 men to operate the cu ttin g and loading machines.
(2) Because of the rapid and steady advance of the
Ma y 2 8 , 1 9 2 5 C O A L A G E 7 8 7
River May Rise and Fall 50 Ft. and Still They Load Coal
The Philadelphia & Cleveland Coal Co. built this unusual loading plant on the Ohio River at Hunting
ton, W. Va., last fall. The capacity is 5*000 tons per day of 10 hr. from railroad cars on the track a t the left of the long picture, through the tipple conveyors on shore and into barges by means of the section of river conveyor mounted on a float as shown in the smaller picture. The conveyor loading boom in the land part of the structure (the outer sheathing and roof had not been applied when the photographs were made) can be run in or out and raised or low
ered by electric hoists so as to empty into the barge hopper at any stage of the river.
Looking Toward the Delivery End
T h e b a c k o f t h e c o n v e y o r i s o n l y a b o u t 1 5 in . h i g h . T h e c o a l c o m e s d o w n f r o m t h e f a c e i n s l a b s a n d l u m p s t h a t f r e q u e n t l y r e q u i r e b r e a k i n g - d o w n w i t h p i c k s t o s u c h a s i z e t h a t t h e c o n v e y o r c a n m o v e t h e m a w a y . T h e l a r g e p e r c e n t a g e o f l u m p c o a l m a d e b y t h i s m a c h i n e is a t o n c e a p p a r e n t e v e n t o t h e c a s u a l o b s e r v e r .
proportion of prepared sizes or th a t which will pass over a plate w ith 2-in. circular p erfo ratio n s being much increased, w ith a corresponding decrease in the small sizes and fines.
(9) The cost of haulage will be reduced; no g a th e r
ing will be necessary as full m ain-line trip s only will be handled.
(10) The trackw ork necessary and its cost will be lessened'. All haulage will be “m ain line” and 110 room tracks, switches or tu rn o u ts will be required.
(11) The tim ber consumed in roof support will be much decreased, the use of tim ber being practically confined to th e cribs built along the headings as th e m achine advances.
(12) The cost of handling roof slate in rooms and headings will be nil because of the g re a t reduction in th e necessary length of headings and th e e n tire elimi
nation of rooms.
(13) The problem s of drainag e and ventilation will be much simplified, largely because of the lim ited area of active w orkings and the small num ber of men employed.
(14) Because of th e concentration of the w orkings and th e com paratively small size of the active area the expense entailed in mine inspection and general sup er
vision will be much reduced.
(15) Because of th e small num ber of men employed, the num ber of dwellings necessary fo r the housing of th e to tal m ine force will be much decreased.
Coal is m ined and loaded today in much th e same m ann er and by much the sam e m eans as w ere employed in its production a hundred or m ore years ago. Coal m ining is a t presen t an in d u stry which, because of some onus, real or im aginary, is u n attra ctiv e to young native-born A m ericans. The adoption of m achine m in
ing and loading will doubtless lift coal production into the class of callings th a t will be gladly followed by young native-born w hites. I t th u s will be unnecessary fo r the coal in d u stry to depend fo r its labor supply, as it m ust under p resen t conditions, upon the foreign im m ig ran t and the Southern negro.
7 8 8 C O A L A G E Vo l. 2 7 , N o . 2 2
M ine Inspectors’ In stitu te in A n n u al Meetin g D iscusses Safe P ractices
Safety Men from Many States Argue for and A gainst Solid Shooting, Black Powder, Sprinkling and Shearing—Problems of Inspectors Are Cleared Up—A ssociate Members Admitted
By J. H. Edwards
A s s o c i a t e E d i t o r , C o a l A g o
S
OME S A F E PRA CTICES in coal m ining w ere discussed and recommended a t the annual m eeting of the M ine Inspectors’ In stitu te of A m erica in Peoria, 111., May 19 and 20. P roposals a g a in st solid shooting and black pow der and in fav o r ..of sh earin g and snubbing coal in every m ine in the country roused some sharp, two-sided argu m ents however, so th a t the convention was no cut-and-dried affair in which anybody’s fan atical safety p rogram could be rushed through. In te re st am ong th e 100 men present was so keen th a t fu tu re activity by the In stitu te g re a te r th an th a t of any y e a r since the w ar was predicted. P ra c tically every s ta te was represented. The nex t annual m eeting will be a t P ittsb u rg h , Pa., May 11, 1926.
In co n tra st to the previous policy of the In stitu te , a more liberal plan was adopted fo r th e fu tu re . T his was made evident by the passing of a constitutional am endm ent providing fo r an associate grade of mem
bership. T his m akes i t possible fo r m any who are vitally in tere ste d in safety bu t not eligible to active m em bership, to atten d th e In stitu te m eetings.
The first day of the convention was taken up by a business m eeting in which reports of th e various com
m ittees w ere read, and discussed and acted upon by the In stitu te . Conflicting, in tere sts and vary in g con
ditions in th e different states w ere responsible fo r sp irited discussions on recom m endations such as th a t m ade by the com m ittee on stand ardization of explo
sives to allow th e use of none but perm issible explo
sives.
T. P. Back, m ine inspector, Canton, 111., stated th a t no perm issible explosive is being used in th e coal m ines in th e n o rth ern counties of Illinois fo r the reason th a t com petition forces th e use of black powder in order to obtain th e necessary percentage of lumps.
Black pow der is used exclusively and d u rin g last y ear over 3,000,000 tons of coal w ere produced w ith only one fa ta l accident, and in th is year, which ends Ju ly 1, 1925, only one fa ta l accident has occurred. In th is n o rth ern Illinois d istric t the m ajo rity of th e operations are wagon m ines, th e re being only 32 shipping m ines out of 400 in the d istrict.
Favor Shooting from Solid
A proposal to p ro h ib it shooting from th e solid m et strenuo us objection. Jam es D alrymple, chief m ine in
spector of Colorado, stated th a t in Colorado it is im practicable to sh ea r or otherw ise cut o r m ine the coal before shooting.
The recom m endations as adopted by th e In s titu te in th is re g ard provided, in substan ce: The depth of the shot hole shall not be g re a te r th an th e sh ea rin g or m in in g ; when coal cannot be sheared or m ined th e m axi
mum depth of the hole shall no t be over 4 ft.
Dr. J. J. Rutledge, chief engineer, M aryland B ureau
of Mines, B altim ore, Md., chairm an of the com m ittee on stan dard ization of mine ventilation, took th e re p o rt of th e sectional com m ittee, stan d ard izatio n division of th e A m erican M ining Congress as a basis fo r recom
m endations to be adopted by the In stitu te . He highly complimented th e original re p o rt of the A m erican M in
ing Congress com m ittee. The re p o rt of its Jan . 16 m eeting was read and acted upon section by section.
J. W. Paul, of th e U. S. B ureau of Mines, ru n n in g tru e to his rep u tatio n fo r exactness, suggested several changes in the w ording. A fte r th ey w ere made, the m ajo r p a r t of th e re p o rt w as accepted.
Dr. Rutledge Disc u sse s Report
In discussing th e report, Dr. R utledge stated th a t in his opinion th e two m ost im p o rtan t recom m endations in th e revised re p o rt a re :
“No. 23, Clean A irw ays. T h a t all airw ays be kept clean and fre e from th e accum ulation of falls, mine cars and tim bers.
“No. 31, Cross-Cuts. T h at w here th e law perm its, the m ain en tries which m u st be m ain tained th ro u g h th e life of th e m ine be driven 200 ft. or m ore before a cross-cut is m ade and th a t the tem po rary ventilation of those en tries be accomplished by m eans of small au xiliary fa n s and the a ir c u rre n t carried to the face th ro u g h tu b in g or by b ra ttic e lines.
“This m ethod will insure an ample a i r supply a t the face a t all tim es, reduce th e cost of m aking num erous cuts and stoppings, p revent a v ast am ount of a ir leak
age and sh o rt circu iting , g re atly reduce th e volume of a ir the p erm anent fa n m u st handle w ith a correspond
ing decrease in pow er consum ption and m inim ize th e d anger of sh o rt circu itin g a portion of th e m ine by th e destruction of th e perm anent b ra ttic e .”
As to th e provision re g ard in g cross-cuts it was voted th a t no v ariatio n from the fo rm er recom m endations be allowed.
The la tte r p a r t of th e first day’s m eeting was taken up by a re p o rt from th e states as to th e accomplish
m ents d u rin g th e last y ea r in having th e provisions of the In s titu te ’s model m ine law w ritte n in to s ta te statu tes, and in prom oting other safety m easures.
Thom as Stockdale, m ine inspector, Bramwell, W. Va„
read a com prehensive re p o rt of p ro gress in th a t state.
Effective Ju ly 1, 1925, fo u r safety m en will be added to the sta te force m aking a total of five, and th ree 'm ore d istric t m ine inspectors will be employed, m aking a to tal of twenty-five. Over 10,000 perm issible electric s afety lam ps are now in use, 5,700 of th ese having been p u t into service d u rin g 1924. Twelve W est V irg in ia coal companies are now rock dusting.
T he notable prog ress in U tah of o btaining th e adop
tion of model m ining laws was reviewed. Open or naked-flame lam ps are now entirely banned in th a t state.
In several states new safety provisions failed by only a sm all m arg in or by e rro r to become laws. I t was the opinion of those re p o rtin g th a t favorable action be tak en in th e next legislative sessions.
The second day of th e convention w as given over to th e p re sen tatio n of p apers on ten subjects b earin g directly or indirectly on m ine safety. The first, by D r.
R utledge, “Tam ping w ith Rock D ust and Cushioning Shots,” a paper which will appear in a la te r issue of Coal A g e, proved to be one of m ore th a n o rdinary in te re st to th e In stitu te . Dr. Rutledge described in detail a num ber of te sts m ade w ith in th e la st year, all of these ind icatin g larg e increases in th e p er cent of lump coal produced and alm ost proportionally large decreases in th e q u an tity of explosive required. In every case w here black powder w as used in the cushioned or air-cham ber shooting, smoke w as eith er elim inated entirely or reduced about 50 p e r cent.
O bservations which w ere m ade a t close ran ge— a t no small risk to th e observers—failed to indicate any flame when e ith e r black pow der or perm issible w as used w ith the a ir cham ber.
In none of th e te s t shots was th e powdered lim estone tam ping m aterial blown fro m th e hole, b u t instead it was com pressed about 20 p e r cent. In th e discussion, Dr. R utledge was asked, how, in th e tests, th e qu antity of explosive which th e m iners would have used, w ith ou t a ir cushioning, was determ ined. He replied th a t the figures w ere sim ply averages of those qu an tities which w ere o rdin arily used, r a th e r th a n figures derived from a tria l by experts to determ ine th e m inim um am ount of explosive usable w ith th e re g u la r m ethod of shooting.
D r. R utledge stated th a t a coal company repo rted a
$20,000 saving in a y e a r by supplying its m iners w ith a definite percentage of dummy sticks so as to reduce th e qu an tity of explosive, unknown to th e m iner.
P ro g re ss tow ard m ore general adoption of air- cushioned shooting w as indicated by a re p o rt th a t a company in the Southw est has ordered 1,000 w a te r
proofed p aper spacing tubes such as w ere used in the te s ts described by D r. Rutledge.
Speed i n Prosecution
The p ap e r by F . W. Cunningham , s ta te m ine inspec
to r, of Pennsylvania, on experiences in prosecuting violators of sta te m ining laws, indicated th e im portance of b rin g in g action only in those cases w here ample evidence was available to in su re reasonable liklihood of conviction, in order to win th e confidence and respect of th e court. The d esirability of b rin g in g cases before a ju stic e of th e peace was emphasized. T his produces speedy action which is of utm ost im portance.
D r. T. T. Reed, safety service director, B ureau of Mines, talked on relations between s ta te inspection departm ents and th e safety service of th e B ureau. He corrected th e w rong im pression th a t some inspectors had as to th e field of activity of th e B ureau. He m ade plain th a t th e B ureau does not desire to provide w hat is equivalent to s ta te inspection, pointing out th a t th e B ureau has notified th e S tate of U tah th a t i t m ust provide its own inspectors a f te r July 1, 1925. T here is, however, an agreem ent th a t th e s ta te will accept th e inspection rep o rts of th e B ureau covering m ines on public lands, in order to save th e expense of duplicate inspections.
“ Ten years of Service W ith Closed L igh ts,” a paper prepared and read by Geo. H. Deike, p resid en t of th e M ine S afety Appliances Co., of P ittsb u rg h , Pa., clearly
Ma y 2 8 , 1 9 2 5 C O A L A G E 789
Frank Hillman
S a f e t y I n s p e c t o r f o r t h e W o o d w a r d I r o n C o ., M u l g a , A l a . H e i s t h e n e w p r e s i d e n t o f t h e M i n e I n s p e c t o r s ’ I n s t i t u t e o f A m e r i c a .
described the development of th e closed lig h t to its p resen t s ta te of perfection, and com pared th e service given by a closed lig h t to th a t of an open-flame type.
He stated th a t th ere are now about 280,000 closed lights, of fo u r different m akes, in use.
A paper read by Thom as E nglish, s ta te m ine inspec
to r, Sringfield, 111., clearly set fo rth th e item s dem and
ing special atten tio n d u rin g th e exam ination of ho istin g and ven tilatin g ap paratu s. An in te re stin g fe a tu re was his description of th e m ethod used in several so uthern Illinois m ines of cleaning out th e p it or sump in th e bottom of th e h oisting sh aft. In stead of th e dan g er
ous and tim e-w asting m ethod of sending men down into the sump, th e p it is m ade sufficiently deep to perm it, a m ine ca r to ru n into it from a track . The car is spotted directly under th e cage in order to catch spillage.
In a sh o rt paper E. J. Hoey, a s ta te m ine inspector of Illinois, argued th a t any m ine which, in a long period of years, has shown no gas, m ay a t any tim e develop it and th ere fo re daily exam inations of every m ine by a certified fireboss are essential.
In th e absence of Jam es Sherwood, G. B. B utterfield, secretary of th e In stitu te , read th e paper on reducing accidents. A specific recom m endation in th e pap er was th a t all mine cars should have a clearance of 18 in.
between th e top of th e ca r and the roof.
The In stitu te looked fo rw ard w ith eagerness to the read in g of th e p ap er prepared by R. M. Lam bie, chief inspector, W est V irginia, describing th e rescue w ork a t Bethlehem M ine No. 41, m ine of the Bethlehem Mines Corp., a t Barrackville, W. Va. Mr. Lambie was unable to be presen t, so R obert Lilly, sta te m ine inspector, M t. Hope, W. Va., read it instead. Mr. Lilly worked w ith Mr. Lam bie d u rin g th e e n tire rescue. Mr. Lilly scouted th e re p o rt th a t a bomb had been dropped down th e m ine shaft.
The difficulties an d risk entailed in th is rescue work w ere increased by the m ine fire which followed th e explosion. The fa c t th a t no expense was spared a t th is m ine in applying w a te r as a prev entativ e of coal- du st explosion was cited to bear out the contention th a t
C O A L A G E VOL. 27, NO. 22
t** . . r n r . . . . . . « . . . . „ ©Underwood & I
Beauties of West Virginia Hills Are Not Always Destroyed by Coal Mining
T h i s i s t h e S e n g C r e e k . C o a l C o . ’s m i n e a t W h i t e s v i l l e , W . V a . , w h e r e 1 2 5 m e n n o r m a l l y a r e e m p l o y e d T h e c a p a c i t y o f t h i s m i n e , , w h o s e s l o p e m o u t h i s a t t h e t o p o f t h e h i l l , i s S 0 0 t o n s a d a y . A s e t o f s h a k e r s c r e e n s
i n t h e t i p p l e a t t h e b o t t o m o f t h e i n c l i n e p r e p a r e s t h e m i n e ’s o u t p u t .
such tre a tm e n t is not to be depended upon. F ra n k Hillman, safety inspector, W oodward Ii'on Co., Mulga, Ala., defended thorough sprinkling and washing-down as a preventative of d ust explosions.
The paper on rock dusting by Jo hn E. Jones, safety engineer, Old Ben Coal Corp., W est F ra n k fo rt, 111., con
sisted chiefly of a review of th e changes in state laws allowing or dem anding rock d usting instead of sprinkling.
Mr. Hillman read a short, convincing paper u rg in g the provision of sep arate trav elin g ways in m ines. He described an accident which m ight have been prevented if sep arate traveling ways had been provided. In th is case a p a r t of a loaded trip broke loose and wrecked, causing th e death of fo u r men and in ju ries to seven.
The closing paper of the annual m eeting was read by W. E. Kidd, d istric t m ine inspector of Illinois. He pu t fo rth argum ents in favor of continuing to issue second-
class certificates, his chief arg u m en t being th a t th e second-class certificate is needed as a stepping stone to the h ig h er positions.
A t the close of the m eeting th e following officers were elected and installed to serve d urin g the coming
y e a r :
F ra n k Hillman, safety engineer, W oodward Iron Co., Mulga, Ala., p resid en t; E. S. Hoey, d istric t mine inspec
tor, C hristopher, 111., first vice-president; William Boncer, m ine inspector B ureau of L abor and M inerals, Richmond, Va., second vice-president; W. H. Jones, s ta te m ine inspector, Lexington, Ky., th ird vice-presi
d en t; Jam es T. B eard, New York, N. Y., re tire d associate editor of Coal A ge, editor in chief; Dr. J. J. Rutledge, tre a s u re r ; G. B rhce B utterfield, general m anager, The Associated Companies, H a rtfo rd , Conn., secretary, and J. H. G riftn er, chief inspector, The A ssociated Com
panies, Cham paign, 111., secretary.
