J o a l A g e
McGr a w- Hi l l
Pu b l i s h i n g Co m p a n y, In c. Ta m e s H . McGr a w, P resident E. J. Me h r e n, V ice-P resident
D e v o t e d to the O p e r a tin g , Technical and Business P r o b le m s o f the
C oal M i n i n g I n d u s tr y
Jo h n M. Ca r m o d yE d ito r
Volume 3 3 Ne w Yo r k, M a y, 1 9 2 8
N u m b e r 5
Blind Selling
T H E g r a v e s t p ro b le m c o n fr o n tin g busi
ness a t th e p r e s e n t time, accord ing to D r. Julius Klein, d ire c to r, B u re a u of Foreign a n d D o m e s tic C om m erce, is to b rin g to distrib utio n t h a t efficiency which h a s m ade Am erican p r o d u c tio n m e th o d s th e w o n d e r o f the in dustria l w o rld . A c o nserv ativ e esti
m ate o f th e losses now c h a rg e a b le to ineffi
cient, slipshod, w a s te fu l a n d unscientific m erchandising pu ts the bill a t $ 8 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 per annum — a sum 50 p e r cent g r e a t e r th a n the n a ti o n ’s m uch discussed e x p o rt tra d e . Blind selling, a tt e m p t s to n a tio n a liz e d istr i
bution a t the expense o f profits a n d lack o f contact w ith the u ltim a te consum er a r e the m ajor items in this bill o f w aste.
W H I L E D r . K lein ’s criticism is d irected chiefly t o w a r d th e d istrib u tio n of m a n u fa ctu red p ro d u cts, his s trictu res apply with equal force to th e d istrib u tio n set-up o f raw m ate ria ls . A n d n ow h e re , p e rh a p s , is there m o re p res s in g need f o r a scientific study of distribution m e th o d s t h a n in bitum inous coal. T h e lu re o f “ a n a tio n a l d istrib u tio n ” has no t been s tr o n g because t r a n s p o r t a ti o n charges a n d coal q u ality h a v e been b a rr ie r s which few ha v e been able to hu rd le .
B U T blind selling a n d lack o f r e a l u n d e r s ta n d in g o f co nsu m er req u irem e n ts have been as effective allies o f w a ste in coal d istri
bution as in m a n u f a c t u r e d p ro d u c ts . T h e coal companies which h a v e m a d e detailed analyses o f th e buying p o w e r o f specific m a r kets a n d o f th e co m petitive f a c to rs e n te rin g into those m a r k e ts h a v e been conspicuous be
cause th e ir n u m b e r h a s been so small. T h e s e
com panies h a v e been able to allocate sales costs to individ ual m a r k e ts a n d salesmen w ith the sam e efficiency a n d d etail t h a t they h a v e ap p lie d to th e d e te r m in a tio n o f p ro d u c tion costs f o r individual mines a n d analyses o f in dividual jobs. W h a t th e y ha v e done o th e r s can d o— if th e o th e r s ha v e th e will.
A S a necessary p re lim in a r y to such studies, l \ how ev er, it m u st be r ec o g n ize d t h a t the in d u stry needs m o re d a t a u p o n th e d istrib u tion o f its p r o d u c t th a n now a r e c u rre n tly available. Some d istric t a n d s ta te associa
tions o f o p e r a t o r s a n d ce rtain r a i l r o a d g r o u p s h a v e done excellent w o r k in t h a t direction. B u t m o re rem ain s to be d o ne to fill o ut th e pictu re w ith o u t w hich intelligent analysis is difficult a n d selling b a s e d u p o n guess in ste a d o f k n o w ledge is enco u rag ed . W I T H O U T a resolute, g e n e ra l a tta c k
u p o n this p ro b le m m uch o f th e accom
plishm ents in b e t t e r p ro d u c tio n m e th o d s to w hich m o d e r n in d u stry is definitely com m itte d is w a s te d . T h i s a tt a c k m u st o rig in a te w ith th e to p executives. W i t h o u t scientific selling o f coal itself, coal-mine m a n a g e m e n t w a n to n ly robs th e im p ro v e d m echanical p r o c esses o f the m a j o r p a r t o f th e i r effective
ness. F o r w h a t shall it p rofit a n o p e r a t o r to lo w e r p ro d u c tio n costs th r o u g h m o d e r n iz a tio n if th e sales b a c k g ro u n d is so w e a k t h a t th e im p r o v e d processes c a n n o t keep him o u t o f th e h a n d s o f th e re c e iv e r? T h e in
d u s try is en titled to capitalize u p o n th e engi
n e e rin g a n d m echanical skill it has developed,
b u t it can do so only t h r o u g h pro fitab le
selling.
TheGrouchingLion
Is Mechanical Mine a Dream?
One Cutter and One Loader Average 450 Tons a Day
By Thomas F. JFhalen
General Superintendent Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Coal Co.
M IN IN G M E N everywhere seem convinced th at the idea of mechanical m ining can be sold to employees only by a slow educational process. T his conviction no doubt has deterred m any from making efforts to mechanize their mines.
My experience, in so fa r as it has extended, has shown th at employees will be as responsive as the equipm ent they are operating to the oppor
tunities that are afforded them ; con
sequently, if the equipm ent is posi
tive, powerful and rapid and the duties of employees and the m ethod of mining well defined, the whole operation becomes simple and su r
prisingly agreeable to m anagem ent and employees alike.
Coal mines can be ju st as readily mechanized as other fields of en
deavor, but it would seem th a t owing k the operations being conducted underground in dark and cavernous passages more or less of m ystery be
clouds the situation. F o r this reason
"’o do not have a co-ordinated view
°f the problem of m echanization but suffer from w hat may be term ed a Mystery complex. T h is attitude of mmd has cost the industry immense sums of money and yet has resulted in Many mechanization failures.
Starting out w ith such an adm itted handicap, the w riter spent much time and travel in an endeavor to develop an unclouded view of the application 0I' equipment to mechanical mining, and a portrayal of the results of that
Fate frequently plays strange pranks with men’s careers. Although he left school at 13 years of age to work in a coal mine in Ohio Mr. Whalen contin
ued to study. H is father, also a miner, excelled as a penman. The boy sought to excel him.
One day when the weighmaster at the mine failed to report for duty young Whalen was called out of the mine to record the weights. The legibility of the weigh sheets and their accuracy at the end of the day impressed the superin
tendent. In a short time he was trans
ferred to the mine office. From miner to mine clerk, auditor, superintendent and general superintendent represent definite steps in his progress, inspired frequently by a growing family for zvhom he sought educational opportuni
ties beyond those he had enjoyed.
N ever satisfied with anything less than first-class accomplishment for himself or his associates, he has consistently striven for better methods of mining.
This has led to an intensive study of mechanisation and several years of ex
perimental work. "Such success as I have had with mechanical loading,” says Mr. Whalen, “is due to the encourage
ment and patience of G. B. Taylor, president of our company, and a firm conviction that we were on the right track with the equipment we are using.”
endeavor is the object of this story.
A s a result of observation and prelim inary study the conviction was early gained th a t a flexible coal-cutting m achine was one of the first essen
tials to a successful m echanical-m in
ing installation. T h e O ldroyd U n i
versal coal-cutting m achine therefore was chosen to supply this essential.
Fig. 1 shows this m achine in a bot
tom c u ttin g ; Fig. 2 in shearing posi
tion ; Fig. 3 in top-cutting position.
T h is m achine will cut at any loca
tion in the coal seam from the floor to the roof of the m ine and will shear in any location in the seam within 5 ft. in either direction from the cen
ter of the track. E xperience has taug ht th a t a flexible coal-cutting ma
chine of this kind is an incalculable aid to a coal-loading m achine in th at the coal can be prepared w ith a m ini
mum of breakage and in a m ass which m aterially reduces the effort, and greatly increases the capacity, of a coal-loading machine.
T h e next and all-im portant essen
tial to successful mechanical mining, as was discovered in attem pting mechanical loading w ith one of several coal loaders available at the time, is th a t a coal-loading m a
chine to be successful and profitable in operation m ust be flexible, pow er
ful, rapid and durable, no m atter w hat its w eight m ay have to be to provide these qualities. W ith this conviction firm ly fixed a canvass was m ade of loading machines th en to be had embodying these essentials, w ith
May, 1928 — C O A L A G E
267
the result th at the O ldroyd machine was installed, the first machine of this particular type constructed. In fact, the order fo r this machine was given because it was seen from a. small model th at the principle advanced was correct.
Fig. 1 shows this machine as it is today w ith the exception th at it has been strengthened here and there.
T he whole principle, however, re mains the same. I t is loading on an average approxim ately 450 tons per day fo r 25 days per m onth w ith 70 per cent of its operation in entry or development work.
T H E kind of m ining m ethod used is as im portant as the kind of coal- cutting and coal-loading machine.
E xperience has taugh t also th at the room -and-pillar plan insures the m axim um production over a given period and also that w ith it the hazard is less than w ith longwall of any kind in seams 5£ ft. thick and over.
T h e mine in which this equipm ent is being operated is known as Sum ner N o. 3. I t is owned by the P itts burgh & E rie Coal Co. and is located near Brownsville, Pa. It was opened up but recently and is being devel
oped on a three-entry system includ
ing m ain butts and faces, of which there are now three of the form er and six of the latter.
T h e butt entries are turned off on 500-ft. centers which provide rooms 500 ft. deep. T he rooms are driven 20 ft. wide on 40-ft. centers, leaving a room rib 20 ft. wide. These ribs will be brought back retreating with the loading machine immediately a fte r the room is driven up, the usual roof break line being maintained. Cross
cuts in both entries and rooms are driven at distances of 100 ft., in accordance w ith the Pennsylvania m ining laws. W ith butt entries on 500-ft. centers less than one cut per day out of butt entries will keep
development fo r one loading machine open.
T he equipm ent operates on 30-lb.
rails. In the room turnouts No. 2 \ fro g is used, which gives a curve of 32-ft. radius on which the loading
In spite of what is commonly said about the efficiency of large units in industry, there is ample evi
dence that size is not by any means the most important factor. In this issue of "Coal Age” may be found examples of small mines as far apart as Illinois, Arkansas and Pennsylvania that have taken time by the forelock and gone in strongly for mechanization. No two of them use exactly the same equipment; no two use precisely the same methods.
I f every institution is the shadozv of a man, it may be said with equal truth that each outstanding accom
plishment in mechanization repre
sents years of persistent effort on the part of some man connected with the company whose personality spells "stick-to-it.” Neither dis
couragement nor temporary defeat turns such men from their purpose.
Genuine progress is measured best by the achievements of leaders.
On this basis there is much food for thought in the several splendid articles on mechanization found throughout these pages.
machine may be operated w ith fair rapidity. T he rails for room s and tem porary tracks are cut to 84-ft.
lengths and punched for splice bars, which are cut in half, and only two
Figs. 1 and 2— C utter L ow ered fo r B o tto mCut and T u rn ed fo r Shearing
Fig. 3— S am e C utter R aised to Cut N ea r R o o f
bolts per rail joint are used. The rail and splice bars as above described are furnished in these lengths by the mill from which they are purchased, there
fore none of this w ork is done at the mine. W ooden mine ties are used m easuring 3x5x5^ in. On an even floor or bottom, steel ties may be used.
Such a track has been found well suited to the operation of the equip
m ent even though the loading machine weighs approxim ately 22 tons; its weight, it will be noted, is distributed over eight wheels, w ith the result that it does not overload the track nor is it subject to derailment.
O perations are being conducted in the P ittsbu rg h seam, which has an average thickness of 7 ft. and a char
acteristic draw slate which is approxi
m ately 12 in. thick. T his falls of its own weight or m ust be taken down fo r safety. Its disposal always is a m atter of concern. A t this mine it is taken to the surface and dumped, but as the space fo r w asting or dumping slate at the m outh o f the mine is quite limited every effort has been made from the beginning of opera
tions to get through the hill to a more spacious dum ping ground. Under these circum stances m ore develop
ment w ork has been done than usu
ally would be necessary. This has adversely affected production, for the loading machine has had to make as m any as sixteen moves per day, long and short, fo r an average of 450 tons and 100 ft. of development of narrow w ork per day. W h ere the mining and loading w ere confined to rooms the m axim um production in the regu
lation eight hours was 565 tons. This was loaded and transp orted in 151 mine cars.
26S C O A L A G E — Vol.33, Hoi
The single mechanical un it at this mine consists of an O ldroyd coal- loading machine, an O ldroyd coal- cutting machine, tw o Iro n to n E ngine Co. storage-battery locomotives and 38 Sanford-Day 3 f-to n drop-bottom mine cars of which only 20, however, are used with this unit. N o necessity has been felt for auxiliary equipm ent to take the coal aw ay from the load
ing machine and will not be, fo r any loader which can load a 3 f-to n mine car in one minute and often less com
pensates in full for loss in hauling time.
In drilling the face tw o Chicago Pneumatic Co. electric drills are used. In the entry two holes are drilled, one on each side of the shear cut about a foot from the rib. In
signed fo r 1,500 to 2,000 tons per day gains in efficiency by the addi
tion of units. M any of the men can- hot be kept continuously employed when only one unit is in operation, though, of course, they have to be paid fo r full time.
T he loading m achine has tw o oper
atives, but it is necessary, of course, to have a locomotive pushing the car back and fo rth as it is being loaded.
Consequently each m achine has two m otorm en serving the loader. T he cutting machine is ru n by two men.
O ne cutting m achine will suffice fo r one loader, though th ere are actually two at the mine. Should the cutter be required to drill the boreholes the cutting m achine would be unable to m eet the capacity of the loader. O n A pril 23 the m achine filled 166 mine cars containing an aggregate of 619 tons, obtaining the coal in seventeen separate places. T h ere are 30 m en in all below ground.
the rooms four holes are drilled, one near each rib and one m idw ay be
tween each rib and the shear cut.
These latter are snubbing shots to cause the coal to roll over when the rib shots are fired. Pellet powder is used to bring down the coal, sticks being used in the rib and one stick on the interm ediate shots. Both
Fig. 5— Saine Loader S h o w in g G athering E lem ent
whole force, is 15 tons per day w ith a corresponding reduction in cost.
W hen two additional units of this equipm ent have been installed the production per m an employed will be fu rth e r increased because a plant de
the shearing and the undercut are 9 ft. deep. The holes are only 8 ft.
6 in. long.
The production per m an employed inside and outside, which includes the
Fig. 4— Side V iew o f M achine Loader on Sh a rp Curve
Fig. 6— S u m n e r N o . 3 M in e H a s N o th in g but N a rro w W o r k
lIay,1928- C O A L A G E 269
B y JV. H . N aylor and A . F. Brosky
V ice-President, D a vis Coal & Coke Co. A ssociate E d ito r, Coal A g e
A P R O C E S S of cleaning coal by air which embodies a num ber - of features not hitherto pu t to practical use is being utilized at a plant recently installed by the Davis Coal & Coke Co. This, the first plant based on this process, at the O renda mine of the company, Bos
well, Som erset County, Pa., has been in successful operation fo r a period of nine months. It has a capacity of 250 tons per hour and reduces the ash 3 per cent and sulphur 1^- per cent.
T he process w as developed b y 'H e y l
& P atterson, Inc., of P ittsburgh, Pa.
Believing the pneum atic process is best for the cleaning of small coal, the company chose this system in p re fer
ence to any of those requiring the use of w ater. A nother deciding factor was that the coal as mined is quite dry, in which state it is m ost amenable to treatm ent by air. Block and egg, which are the larger sizes produced, may be picked economically by hand.
As shown above, the cleaning plant is located directly on the. line of the railroad tracks serving the tipple.
T his arrangem ent was m ade to allow the direct loading into railroad cars of individual cleaned sizes, or com
binations thereof, sim ultaneously w ith the loading of the larger sizes from the tipple. Any or all of the cleaned product may be carried back to the tipple and combined w ith the hand- picked coal.
It will be noted, furtherm ore, that the distance from the tipple is quite great. In m aking this arrangem ent it was decided to use belt conveyors for transporting coal from one structure to the other, at the same time avoid
ing interference of railroad cars being loaded under the tipple w ith those being loaded under the cleaning plant.
T he cleaning plant is of dupli
cate or twin construction, the equip
m ent in one-half of the building being sim ilar to that in the other half
except for such m inor differences as are required by reason of the inequality of the products as to quantity treated. T h e plant consists of three floors: O n the uppermost floor are the screen s; on the middle floor are the tables and qn the lower floor are the blower and exhaust fans and supplem entary equipment,
A 24-in. belt conveyor carries all m inus 2-in. coal from the shaker screens in the tipple and elevates ¡t vertically approxim ately 100 ft. above the tracks under the cleaning plant- F ro m the discharge en d of this incom
ing conveyor the coal moves con
tinuously dow nw ard in its passage through the cleaning plant. Tne advantage of height is gained at the outset and the coal is now lowere only to be raised again by bucket ele
vators fo r each succeeding step in the cleaning cycle. T he only departure from this general design relates to the lifting of middlings directly back to
A ir
A ir Coal-Cleaning Plant at Boswell
C l e a n i n g P l a n t
Embodies Son
the tables through the agency of small bucket elevators. T his is the only instance in which belt conveyors or gravity are not utilized as the tra n s
porting media.
From the incoming conveyor the coal is discharged into a 25-ton hop
per from which it is equally divided by two feeders between two duplicate banks of “Jouncer” single - decked screens—pictured below. E ach bank comprises six screens, each indepen
dently mounted but al driven as a unit.
The screen m ountings or supports are single-leaf springs set at an angle with respect to either the floor or the screen itself and firmly fastened to each. They are thus arranged in a manner similar to th at of the P a rrish drive used in anthracite screening except that they act as supports rather than as suspensions. S ix of these springs are used fo r each screen, one at each end and one in the middle of each side. T hey are m ade of automobile-spring steel and tra n s
mit the drive m otion to the screen without vibration to the building.
All six screens in a bank are driven from a single longitudinal
T
O C L E A N o r n o t to c le a n m e c h a n ic a lly is a p r o b l e m th a t e a c h c o a l o p e r a t o r m u s t fa c e f o r h im s e lf . T h e fin a l a n s w e r, o f c o u r s e , m u s t b e b a s e d o n n e t r e a l iz a t io n . A b e t t e r p r ic e , w id e r m a r k e ts f o r la r g e s iz e s a n d r e a d i e r s a le f o r fin es a ll in flu e n c e d e c is io n . T h e m e th o d , to o , m u s t b e s u ite d to th e sp e c ific c o n d itio n s , th e r e q u i r e m e n ts o f t h e o p e r a t o r a n d th e in flu e n c e o n th e s a le s d e p a r t m e n t .
T h e lifting and low ering of the coal bed w ith respect to the screen does not strictly conform w ith the fre quency of the strokes. T h e m otion is m ore the resultant of a num ber of strokes and is best described as being sim ilar to the bounding leap of a ra b bit. T his m otion agitates the coal so thoroughly th at “m assing” is im pos
sible and screening at every m om ent is uniform ly effective.
A ll screen fram es are of the same size, each being 4 ft. wide and 8 ft.
long. In each bank the area of 3^
screens is covered w ith -J-in. mesh, that of 2 screens w ith -J-in. mesh,
Unusual Features
shaft by a 20-hp. m otor. M otion is transmitted by bevel gears from the master shaft to cross shafts— one for each screen—one each of which is an eccentric. The screens are inclined at an angle of 10 deg. and m ake 350 strokes a minute.
that of 1 screen w ith £-in. mesh and that of \ screen w ith 1-in. mesh. T he screen openings are so arranged as to cause the removal of the smallest size first and the largest last. T h e pas
sage of the largest sizes over the smaller openings is said to eliminate
Like the Leap o f a Jack R abbit I s the M otion o f These ScreensMay, 1928-
■ C O A L A G Eany tendency of the sm aller openings to become blinded. T h e products of screening as to size in inches a re : M inus 2 to plus 1, m inus 1 to plus
if, m inus \ to 4> m inus \ to plus £ and m inus $ to 0.
These screens are at all tim es acces
sible fo r repairs and open to view as the necessity fo r hooding them has been avoided by the use of a suction dust-collecting system. So effective is this system th at one m ay discern all details in the darkest shadows of the room while the screens are in operation. A fain t haze over each screen is perceptible, but this does not extend high above or beyond the sides of the screens. T h e dust which tends to rise as a result of screening is draw n by suction into slot ducts, two of which are located on each side of each screen.
U N D E R each screen is a small receiving hopper into which falls the undersize coal. T hese are like
wise provided w ith suction ducts fo r the extraction of dust. T hese ducts are baffled so as to prevent the removal of coal of appreciable size w ith the dtist. A n individual dust- collecting system is provided fo r each battery of screens and the battery of tables under them. In addition to serving these prim ary purposes these suction units also rem ove du st from and above the collecting belt con
veyors u nd er the tables, these conveyors being hooded fo r the accom plishm ent of this purpose.
T h e exhaust fan fo r each suction unit is driven by a 100-hp. m otor and discharges into a cyclone collector.
These collectors are unusually large, the purpose being to allow a greater expansion of the incoming air than is custom ary and thereby to low er the pressure to th e point w here only the m ost im palpable dust is em itted from the stock. A ll of the du st blown into the atm osphere, of which the quantity is small, would pass - through a 300- mesh. A s the discharge of the stack is 160 ft. above the ground this extrem ely fine dust travels a long distance before settling and conse
quently is widely dissem inated.
F ro m the small collecting hoppers un der the screens the sized coal passes into storage bins of sufficient size to provide continuous feeding to the tables. A ltogether there are 10 tables
— 1 table handles the m inus 2 to 1;
1 table handles the m inus 1 to plus \ ; 1 table handles the m inus \ to plus \ ; 2 tables handle the m inus $ to plus and 5 tables handle the m inus to 0.
T h e tables, shown on page 272, are
271
These Tables H ave a W id e Range o f A d ju stm en t
of the single-unit type, which gives a wide angular adjustm ent in any plane. A feature in the operation of these tables is the arrangem ent by which the middlings are lifted directly from a hutch and redeposited upon the table from which they were rejected. T his continuous circuit of the m iddlings assists in m aintaining a uniform bed on each table and avoids needless burdening of the screens which occurs when the m iddlings are deposited o n the raw coal conveyor.
A nother feature is th at consider
ably m ore air is exhausted above the tables than is forced through them, w ith the result th a t an appreciable quantity of air is draw n from the room and the escape o f dust thus p re
vented. E ach table is supplied with air by an independent fan driven by a m otor of 10 to 30 hp. and also is independently driven by a S-hp. motor which at the same tim e drives the feeder and the middlings elevator.
E ach table is independently con
trolled by a push button conveniently located. A dual m aster-control sys
tem also is provided fo r the entire plant, one m aster control being located at each end of the room.
A n im portant feature in the design of this plant is the care exercised in sealing each floor from those below it.
T he floors are constructed tight of poured concrete. T h e stairw ays are outside the walls of the building. All chutes from one floor to another are solid and the joints electrically welded.
T he reason fo r this care obviously is to prevent the filtering of dust from one floor to another. P articularly is this im portant with regard to the floor on which the tables are located.
Should any appreciable quantity of dust trickle through this floor, it would be gathered up by the force
fans on the floor below and be impelled against the small openings in the table bed and thereby obstruct
the air passage through the tables.
T apered roller bearings are in
stalled for every purpose practicable in this plant. T h e belt conveyor pulleys ru n on th e m ; they are used on the screen and also the table drives.
T he operating crew consists of three m e n : an attendant on the table floor and the fan floor; one man handling cars under the cleaner and an electrician who looks after the m aintenance w ork. T his last man, however, divides his time between the cleaning plant and the tipple.
A n average of 5 per cent of the coal input to the plant is rejected as refuse. T his fefuse analyzes 50 per cent ash and 15 per cent sulphur.
T reatm ent of coal in this plant, the Davis company believes, yields a uni
form product, thus enabling the com
pany to m ake certain guarantees which could not be made with con
fidence by producers lacking mechani
cal cleaning plants. A t the same time it is possible to meet the requirements of practically any plant consuming low-volatile coal. F o r instance, the fine coal— 0 to ^ in.— from this plant is well adapted fo r use in pulverized- coal units, obviating the time and expense of crushing besides being low in ash, high in B.t.u. and uniform in quality.
T he plant also is equipped to load 2x4-in. egg and 4-in. lump which is both shaker - and lip-screened and loaded in railroad cars over a loading boom of m edium size.
A n Individual B low er fo r Each Table
2 72 C O A L A G E — V o l3 3 .N o J
M a n P o w e r
Adjustments of the Individual W orker
M a n a g e m e n t , as distin
guished from' shrew dly seizing hold of natural competitive advantages, is prim arily a m atter of giving the closest attention to details.
In coal production there is no m ore important detail than the individual worker. If there is a m ajor, char
acteristic fault of the industry in the handling of the individual w orker it is not that this or that m odern system or theory of handling m en has not been adopted but that the whole m at
ter has been allowed to d rift, th a t the individual workers have been left so completely to make their own personal adjustments.
Probably this procedure was p er
fectly natural in the earlier stages of the industry. M ining began as a practical art in which one m an’s claim to mastery was as good as another’s ; everyone learned through experience.
Consequently, the m iner conceived a profound conviction of his superiority and supremacy in his own rather limited domain— the craving to be superior in some one relation of life is deep-rooted in all of us. In the oase of many m iners this sense of superiority was amply justified. T hey probably did know in m any cases as wuch as, or even m ore than, their foreman, and unquestionably more than superintendents, engineers, m an
agers and miners about their particu- ar s’de of the w ork. T here also was not the same urgent need in the Hjines as in factories fo r the indi
vidual to subordinate him self to authority.
P U T machine m ining makes a vast difference. Processes are chang- mg; new systems of development and working, new subdivisions of labor.
1 ming is becoming a m atter of team
"’°rk in which the individual m ust a aPt himself to the needs of an wganization. H e cannot mine when and how he likes. H e m ust produce against the capacity of the und er
cutting and loading machines or con- 'Cvors. These fundam ental changes, commg gradually and perhaps w ithout
B y H . S. Gilbertson
D irector o f Personnel L ehigh Coal & N avigation Co.
© L e w i s IV. H i n e
full appreciation of their meaning on the part of the men who are nearest to them, are destined to dem and either a new set of m iners or else a pretty thorough reconstruction of the habits and thoughts of the old timers, o r a little of both.
I t is easier to sketch the general situation than to point out the most feasible m ethods and technique of m eeting it. H ow ever, the whole m at
ter may be summed up by saying th at if the individual w orker is to be adjusted and reconciled to the indus
try ’s needs, we m ust help him to see him self in all of his relationships to the industry. H e m ust be technically adjusted to his specific work. H e m ust be capable of fitting into the particular organization of which he is a member. H e m ust be in harm ony with the general industrial situation.
A few simple illustrations will suggest some of the directions in which care and study seem to be called
for in fitting a m iner to his j o b : A contractor, driving rock tunnels in certain mines, had a way of hiring undersized waiters from a m etropoli
tan district, who had never seen a mine, to do “m ucking.” Some of them turned up for w ork in the sawed-off dinner coats of their pro fession. V ery few of them m ade good. Some serious accidents were occasioned by their presence in the
mines and their incapacity fo r taking care of themselves.
C ertain forem en of the w riter’s acquaintance have a rath er fixed rule th at gangw ay tim berm en m ust always be of the big and husky type, whereas another set of forem en assert th at they get the best results from smaller and m ore agile men. Surely both cannot be right, and the presum ption is that one or the other have m isin
terpreted their own experience or failed to recognize the possibilities of certain men.
A forem an m ade a requisition for a laborer, b u t when a certain w orker showed up on the job he refused to accept the applicant and discovered th at he needed nobody for the work.
T his same w orker, though slow in his motions, as the first forem an had complained, turned out to be most faithful, thorough and systematic, and accomplished m ore in a day than m ost of his superficially active fellows.
W H E R E expensive equipm ent is involved or there is necessity fo r the m ost careful precaution, as in the case of hoisting engineers, it seems to be the universal rule to select w ith the utm ost deliberation. A nd yet, in a lesser degree, every employee in the mines is a potential safety risk to him self or others.
H ow m any m ines require a medical exam ination as a requisite for employ
m ent? W here the practice is in vogue it has prevented many a misfit and avoided m any an injury.
. H ow m any m ines have a service record by m eans of which they may check up the applicant’s experience?
O r is it the practice to take his undocu
m ented w ord for it?
Is favoritism practiced in the selec
tion of men, or is this ju st som ething th a t disappointed m iners like to talk about ?
B ut the neglect does not stop at the original selection of men. Good hum an energy undoubtedly is going to waste in the industry for lack of proper instruction and training. In large parts of the bitum inous fields
^ay, 1928 — C O A L A G E
273
there is a perennial complaint of excess screenings and deficiency of lum p coal due to im proper placing of shots and im proper charging, and yet comparatively little seems to have been done to standardize m ethods in the use of explosives and to insist upon their use by the miners.
T here are difficulties in the way, no doubt, the chief of which is the m iner’s own attitude of self- sufficiency and reliance upon the authority of hand-me-down in fo r
mation. A nd yet large companies have made some rather exhaustive researches into the best m ethods of firing, which have resulted in increased earnings for the men, in
crease in the larger sizes and a decrease in production cost. T he problem is not of the technical one of finding the best firing m ethods—
the powder companies seem eager to render assistance— but of getting the m en to accept them.
A N O T H E R set of the individual -w orker's relations— that is, with his immediate fellow w orkers and supervisors— was dealt with to some degree in the previous article. A w ord remains to be said, however, of the m ethods to be employed in creat
ing that vague and m uch-longed-for quality of “co-operation,” which is m ore preached about than practiced.
T o begin with, it looks as if the first move in nearly all cases is up to the m anagem ent itself, and prob
ably the first, second and third moves.
I f individual w orkers are thinking beings, and if they are to keep on thinking straight, it is as im portant to keep them supplied w ith food for correct thinking as to keep them on the job by putting money in their pay envelops. Food for thought means vital facts about the business.
Take the m atter of m ining costs : No one who has not had occasion to analyze the m atter has any conception of the m ultitude of items which go to make the total. If, for instance, the veins in a mine are very irregular, a m iner who may be w orking in a p a r
ticularly favorable section is likely to com pare his re tu rn in wages w ith the m arket price and draw strange con
clusions as to the company’s profits.
H e takes no account of other sections which may be mined at a loss, of costly development work, of sections closed off on account of mine fires, of depletion or royalties, of local and federal taxation and of mine idleness.
W hy not tell him about these things, a little at a time, in simple
language, as favorable opportunities arise? I f you do not tell him, some
one else will, and the chances are all against th at someone telling the m at
ter straight, for the simple reason that such an inform er usually will not know w hat he is talking about.
Doubtless it is tru e th at publicity for some m atters, under some cir
cumstances, is unwise. B ut a con
sistent policy of secretiveness, by and large, is positively dangerous. This fo r the simple reason th at the w orker habitually resolves against the employer the doubts created by his reticence. Silence on profits, for instance, is more than likely to create a m istaken im pression of swollen profits, which any am ount of mere protestation will not dispel.
Again, the individual m iner is an inhabitant of the m ost turbulent quarter of the economic world. T h at this w orld is, as yet, so completely beyond his comprehension is amply dem onstrated by the facility with which he becomes a party to courses of action which redound to his own destruction. F o r instance, the m ajor difficulty with the bitum inous indus
try, by universal consent, is overde
velopment. F o r this condition a num ber of causes w ere contributory, but, in the language of the U nited States Coal C om m ission:
A m ong the m ore im portant causes of these facto rs contributory to overdevelop
ment prior to 1916, even beyond peak demand, w ere periodic strikes in the organized fields. T he m ost im portant and regular w ere those in the C entral Com
petitive Field. Beginning A p ril 1, every second year, these strikes came w ith such regularity th a t th eir effect w as anticipated.
Consumers, p articu larly the railroads, bought heavily in advance and stored coal to tide them over the strike. T h is m eant a season of very active dem and w hich en
couraged the development of new mines. In years w hen these strikes w ere of m ore than usual severity the non-union fields w ere called in to m eet added dem and fo r c o a l;
thus overdevelopm ent w as prom oted.
T hus has the m iner completely missed the significance of the law of supply and demand in his own economic relationships.
I t sometimes looks as if we w ere so accustomed to mass move
m ents in the industry th at we have forgotten th at it is composed of indi
viduals. In the periodical conferences between operators and the m iners’
representatives which determ ine the destinies of a large p art of the indus
try the “cards,” presumably, are “ laid on the table,” but are the facts relayed to the individual w orkers ? A rem ark of one of the outstanding leaders of the U nited M ine W ork ers organiza
tion m ay throw some light on what
actually has been known to happen:
“ I know th at the operators in the State of --- are up against it, but if I should tell th at to the workers they would think I had gone over to the other side.”
T he ways of the individual miner and of the m ass often seem past find
ing out. Like the rest of us, they do not go about revealing their inner
most selves. I t takes a vast amount of digging to discover the real man.
T H E trite old saying that “human nature is the same everywhere”
contains a lot of truth. I t is not to be expected or desired th at the miner should give up his hopes for a better life through a better pay envelop, but it is often tru e th at wage demands, w hether general, local or individual, have a much deeper root in him than a desire fo r “more money.” Probably even the w orker him self does not know it, but such dem ands often con
stitute that definite something which expresses a sense of injured dignity or a positive desire to move toward a superior place in the social scale.
This, w ithout doubt, was the case with a certain breaker employee who had been put on a very slightly decreased scale of wages due to a change in the num ber of machines he was obliged to tend. H e insisted on his case being discussed at length by the mine com
mittee, the superintendent and the managem ent, and upon a reyiew by the B oard of Conciliation and a writ
ten decision by the umpire. A favor
able settlem ent would have netted this w orker about $8 m ore pay in a year, but w hat really m attered was that it would have raised him above the com
mon labor rate.
Coal m ining is one of the dirtiest and one of the m ost hazardous occu
pations in the world. But these features do not repel men from enter
ing or rem aining in it, and when, for some tem porary reason, they leave for some other branch of industry, they usually d rift back. F o r mining hold»
certain satisfactions and fascinations!
if advantage is taken of them there does not appear to be any insur
mountable reason w hy it should not be an industry of permanent peace and contentment.
W h at all of us do not know
a b o u tpeople, including ourselves, and “"’by we behave like hum an beings” would fill the Congressional Library.
every addition to our knowledge, from w hatever source derived, wu help solve some of the m ajor pi"0“' lems of the industry.
274 C O A L A G E — VoU3,NoS
300 TONS DAILY
Loaded by Each Machine Crew
By J. H . Edwards
Associate Editor, Coal Age
D R. F Y K E is setting the pace fo r mechanical loading in Illinois,” was the com
ment of a prom inent Illinois operator when the mine at C entralia was m en
tioned. The pace to which he referred is an average output, fo r both room and entry work, of over 300 tons per loader per 8-hour sh ift using Joy loading machines.
Dr. E. E. Fyke, residing at Cen
tralia, is. president and m anager of the Marion County Coal Co. F o r some years he was a practicing physician, but a fte r acquiring a finan
cial interest in the coal industry he left the medical profession for the operation of mines and took a cor
respondence course in m ining engi
neering.
The M arion County mine was about 20 years old when D r. Fyke
New Steel Car H aving L o w E n d fo r Loader Boom. A t the R ight, H . W .
Parkinson, Top Foreman
decided to introduce mechanical load- lng- Since he m ade the change he has spent approximately $250,000 on u n derground equipment. In the face of die uncertainties of the last few years it took no little nerve to put this additional investm ent in an old mine. Yet results to date indicate the wisdom of his decision.
The mine is in No. 6 bed which
Superintendent Anszvers Questions as Indiana V isitors Leave
L e f t to r i g h t: J o h n S tedelin, S. Z eller, vice-p resid en t, K n o x C onso lid ated Coal Co. ; H . G. C o n rad , s u p e rin te n d en t, sa m e com p a n y ; O. A. G o ttsch alk , J o y M achine Co. : a n d H . A. Glover, v ice-p resid en t, K n o x com pany.
here runs from 6 to 7 ft. in thickness, lies nearly level and contains the characteristic “blue band” which is a parting of shale carrying pyrites. It occurs about 14 in. from the bottom.
Close above the coal is a 16- to 18-ft.
stratum of tough limestone. T his is so strong that only infrequent breaks can be obtained. Consequently, the draw ing of pillars is believed to be impracticable. Between the coal and the limestone is a layer of slate that ranges from 0 to 3 ft. and in some places a draw slate is found which comes down as the coal is shot. T his runs from 0 to 3 in.
In A pril, 1925, experim ents were made w ith mechanical loading. T he first installation consisted of p o rt
able m ine-car loading conveyors onto which the coal had to be shoveled by hand. In July, 1926, the first Joy loading machine was installed. T he loading equipm ent now consists of seven Joy improved type 5 B.U.
loaders.
Dr. Fyke states that he does not regret the installation of conveyor
loaders, for his experience w ith them led to immediate success w ith the Joy machines. In his own w o rd s : “ O u r early conclusions w ere th at the loader m ust be given every possible ad
vantage. T he coal m ust be shot down entirely free from the face. T o as
sure this, snubbing is necessary. T he track equipm ent and arrangem ent m ust be such as to cut the car- changing delays to a minimum. W e were convinced that the oft-quoted statem ent to the effect that m echani
cal loading is 90 per cent managem ent and 10 per cent equipm ent was fully justified. So we went at the job with that idea in m ind.”
T o prom ote rapid car changing,
Laying the Portable Side Track inan
May. 1928 — C O A L A G E
275
Joy Loader in 30-Ft. R oom
John W . Stedelin, superintendent, de
vised a portable turnout which can be inserted w ithout cutting the rails. T o date the company has purchased 41 of these complete portable passing side tracks of one-car capacity. They w ere m ade by the W est V irginia Rail Co. in accordance with M r. Stedelin’s suggestion. These portable side tracks and the snubbing of the coal have to
gether made it possible to average m ore than 300 tons per loader.
T h e panel system of m ining is not employed, fo r the mine generates no appreciable quantity of explosive gas.
T he rooms are driven 30 ft. wide and 300 ft. long bn 60-ft. centers. U ntil recently room entries w ere driven in pairs but, now that Joy loaders are used fo r entry driving, the three- entry system has been adopted.
T he territo ry fo r'each loading unit consists of six rooms on each side, the three entries and all crosscuts. By driving the entries every other day w ith the aid of the loading machine sufficient development is maintained.
T he operating cycle is as follo w s:
F ir s t the coal is undercut, then the bugdust is removed and loaded into a car by hand. T hen the face is drilled.
Im m ediately a fte r the close of the sh ift snubbing shots are fired. The night men rake out the coal thus brought down and clean off the blue- band refuse. T he coal raked out is left ju st in fro n t of the face. The upper shotholes are fired at the close of the night shift. F inally in the day shift the coal is loaded out by machine.
T he coal is shot exclusively with permissible powder. In rooms that are 30 ft. wide, eight shots are fired.
F o u r snubbing holes are drilled about 15 in. from the bottom, ju st above the blue band, and fo u r holes close to the top. T o drill the eight holes the elec
tric drill need be set only twice, in
each case at positions about 3 ft. from either rib. Because the drill is thus located, the holes tow ard the center of the room are necessarily drilled at an angle.
A bout sixteen sticks of explosive are used fo r each room. T h e snub
bing holes near the rib are loaded with two sticks each and the center snub
bing holes w ith one stick apiece.
T hree sticks are used in each of the upper holes near the rib and two in the top center holes.
T he coal is. undercut by Jeffrey 35 BB shortwall m ining machines having 7-^-ft. bars. T he depth of cut is ap
proxim ately 7 ft., and the coal loaded per fall in 30-ft. rooms averages 50 tons.
Seventeen men, including the face boss, constitute the norm al crew per loading unit. T h e organization is as follow s:
T w o men m ake up the Joy crew.
One operates the machine while the
other squares up the place and shovels the loose coal into piles so that on the clean-up the Joy m ust shift posi
tion but once instead of many times.
One m an is a car pusher. He moves the em pty from the nearest switch to the loading m achine a fte r the loaded car has been pulled into the clear.
Tw o mule drivers bring the empty cars from the m otor parting to the switch o r passing track near the load
ing machine and take the loaded cars one at a time from the machine to the m otor parting.
The clean-up crew averages 2\
m an-shifts. Tw o m en usually work together squaring up the face after the loader has left the place. They also lift the bottom ready for the next cut. T hey load by hand an average of one car, or 2.3 tons, per, place.
D uring the day two men working together undercut the coal and one m an w orking alone drills the face.
One of the crew shovels the slack from the undercut and loads about a car of such coal from each place.
Tim ber and track w ork together also average m an-shifts. Five men do the w ork on two sections—that is, fo r two loading units.
T he clean-up men and driller get their regular w ork done early enough to load and tam p the snubbing holes by the end of the day shift, and they shoot these holes a fte r the day crew has left the mine.
T w o snubbers complete the crew.
T hey are the only men who work at night. T heir job is pulling out the snubbing coal and cleaning off the parting. Also they load, tamp and shoot the top holes at the end of their shift.
Local conditions such as adverse
A n E m p ty on the Portable Side Track and a Load at the Machine276 C O A L A G E — Vol.33,No*
grades, bad top, etc., at times require more men per crew. In some places,
for instance, two m en are needed to push the cars. O ne m an may be taken off his job tem porarily to help another. Thus the m an who loads slack sometimes helps the driller, who usually is working in the place at the same time.
Beginning about two years ago the old wooden cars, which had a capacity when loaded by the machine of but 3.600 lb., were replaced by new all- steel Timken-equipped cars which could hold when sim ilarly loaded 4.600 lb. F our hundred of the new cars have been purchased. T hey are 48 in. high, but the back end, to ac
commodate the Joy conveyor, is built only 40 in. above the rail.
As indicated by the sketch shown on this page, the rooms have only a single track with two rows of props on either side. B efore the places are cut the props are set 30 ft. from what will be the back of the cut. W ith bad top the distance is decreased to 20 ft. or less. W hen set w ithin 20 ft.
the props of the center rows have to be shifted as the loader w orks out the place, but those in the outer rows do not have to be moved. E xperim ents were made of the practicability of double-tracking the rooms, but the idea was abandoned because props had to be set between tracks. These props were in the way of the loader boom in swinging from one track to the other.
The cars are gathered by mules be
cause thereby the investm ent for motive-power equipm ent is kept at a minimum. F o r speedier car chang-
>ng, gathering locomotives and elec
tric hoists, the latter possibly a t
tached to the loading machines, are being considered. T he present method 13 to move the heading parting every 600 ft., but this is varied to suit local conditions such as grade and character
of top.
A n A cre o f Discarded W ooden Cars
T o average over 300 tons per m a
chine when loading but one cut per place per day and when shifting cars one at a time with mules every effort m ust be taken to keep the m a
chine in constant operation. Scrap
ping or taking up the coal left below the undercut assists m aterially in handling the loading machine, which is of the caterpillar type. W hen the coal, is lifted the machine has an even bottom to w ork upon. M r. Stede- lin regards the lifting of bottom as an absolute necessity if as large tonnage as he is getting is to be obtained with caterpillar loaders, provided, of course, conditions are like those at the w orkings described.
A nother way to increase production is to keep the loading head w orking during much of the tim e of the car change. By skillfully moving the boom conveyor very short distances the machine operator loads about a ton of coal onto the m achine ready to dum p into the car as soon as it a r
rives. A ny shift in position or clean
ing up is done during norm al car changes or during longer car delays.
As yet the portable passing side tracks are not installed in every w ork
Tim bering and Side Track in 30-Ft. Room
ing place. M r. Stedelin hopes to use these everywhere and to move them forw ard w ith every 50 ft. of advance.
O ne m an can easily dism antle, move the parts and re-install the side track in 6 hours.
W hen this side track is being in
stalled the rails of the straight track need not be disturbed. T h e fro g is in two pieces which are held together and in place by a metal wedge. T he top of the frog is flush w ith the top of the straight track rail, and the wheel rides over it on its flange. A guard alongside the opposite rail keeps the car on the track. T he switch points are angle-shaped, and when the switch is open they rest on the top of the main rails. T he switches are built w ith a 6-in. throw - so th at the Joy caterpillars can ride the straight track w ithout hitting the switch points.
T he mine is operated w ith union labor, w orking under a local agree
m ent which will continue in force till a perm anent agreem ent is signed in Illinois. M ost of the coal is sold fo r steam ing purposes. T h e tipple has five tracks — fo r lump, egg,- nut, screenings and crusher coal. W hen 2,000 tons was being mined by hand loading nine men were used on the picking tables. W ith mechanical load
ing twelve m en pick the 1,800-ton production.
U p to late in M arch, when data fo r this article w ere being assembled, the production per loading unit fo r January, F ebruary and M arch had averaged 290 to n s; fo r F ebruary alone the average was 300 tons.
W hen Dr. Fyke was asked to state how he obtained this production he replied w ithout h esitatio n : “ Only by the intelligent co-operation of the men under the direction of M r. Stedelin.”
May, 1928 — C O A L A G E
277
Brings New Life ti
I I E O L D Braidwood - Coal C ity -W ilm in g to n field, in the m ost northeasterly tip of the Illinois coal basin, long since regarded as an abandoned coal-producing dis
trict, is becoming the scene of re newed m ining activity through the introduction of strip m ining backed by the latest and best equipment adapted to this m ethod of recovery.
P roduction from this district, located only 60 miles southwest of the heart of Chicago and 30 to 50 years ago the principal source of coal supply for the Chicago area, gradually de
clined as the thicker seams in south
ern Illinois increased their tonnage.
H igher production costs, not exhaus
tion of the coal, forced the northern field out of business and dotted the countryside w ith scores of abandoned refuse piles.
T his district was the first coal-pro- during area in Illinois. T he first mines w ere opened from a q uarter to three-quarters of a mile back from the crop line. A s they w orked to w ard the crop up the pitch of th e seam, the roof gradually became poorer, so later mines w ere sunk fa r
th er from the crop line and west
along the crop. E x act knowledge of ju st w here the crop line lay was ob
scured, for in no place does the crop come to the surface, but it so hap
pened th at a strip of coal, roughly 14 miles in length and f mile in width, was left between the original sh aft mines and the buried crop line.
This strip is now owned and under development by the N o rth ern Illinois Coal Corporation. I t contains ap
proxim ately 30,000,000 tons of coal
T
H E fo rce o f econom icpressure is nowhere shown m ore clearly than in its effect on the developm ent o f stripping equipm ent. From a com paratively sim ple outfit o f steam sh ovel and narrow-gage track the industry has grow n to use giant electric sh o v els c o st
ing from $250,000 to $400,000 each, standard-gage track and 40- ton cars. From no preparation it has gone to m odern tipp les equipped w ith screens, conveyors and booms.
B y R . S. JVeimer
C hief E ngineer and Superintendent W ilm ington Plants N o rth e rn Illin o is Coal Corporation
