OAL
D e v o t e d to the Operating, Technical and Business P roblem s o f the Coal M in i n g I n d u str y
¡SEW YO RK, OCTOBER, 1928
V o l u m e 33 . . . N u m u h b 10
Alabama Coal
And the NEW Industrial South
A L A B A M A ’S C O A L I N D U S T R Y typifies the spirit o f the N e w In d u strial South— the South w h ere w h irr o f spindle, hum o f lo o m and hiss o f m olten m etal join in announcing th at the day w hen agricultural pursuits alon e w ere the basis o f m aterial w ealth and p ro sp erity in the states b elow the M a so n and D ix o n line has vanished. C otto n grow n in the uplands o f the M ississippi V a lley is now b eing fab ricated close to the fields w h ere it b lossom s— in m any cases with m achinery w rou gh t out o f th e ores from Red M ou n ta in . D iversification in industrial activity is g ro w in g ap ace; in th e B irm ingham district alon e the num ber o f d istin ct products m anufactured has jum ped from 4 7 5 in 19 0 0 to over 2 ,0 0 0 la st year.
T H E F O U N D A T I O N o f this expanding m aterial w ea lth and diversification rests upon the opulence o f N a tu r e in p lacing coal, iron ore and lim eston e on the very d oorstep o f B irm ing
ham. W e fe e l a justifiable pride in a stew ard ship th at has n eith er w asted nor buried the talents intrusted to our care. Ju st as the early d evelop m en t o f th ese resources tested the stamina o f th e reconstruction d ay p ioneers whose fa ith and courage established credit fo r struggling industry w hen cold-eyed doubters hesitated to advance cash, so th e econom ic recovery and th e efficient u tiliz a tio n o f th ese same resources h av e been a ch allen ge to the engineering skill o f th ose w ho fo llo w e d . A la
bam a’s record o f p ion eerin g in coal prep aration and clean in g is w o rth y to stan d beside i,ts record o f p io n eerin g in d evelop m en t.
I N T E R E S T in th e b road er phases o f p ro m o t
ing th e in d u strializa tion o f the N e w South, h ow ever, has n ot d iv erted A lab a m a coal op era tors fro m th eir respon sibilities to th e men em ployed at their m ines. O p erators w ith vision h ave a keen rea liza tio n o f the n ecessity o f m ak
ing the m ines sa fe r places in which to w ork and th e m ining cam ps b etter com m unities in which to liv e. A la b am a shares w ith M on tan a the d istinction o f b eing the first to fou n d a chap
ter o f th e H o lm e s S a fety A sso cia tio n . T h e o p e ia to r s h a ve anticipated law s in the ad option o f sa fe ty m easures. A ccid en t p reven tion is a m ajor con sideration .
B E T T E R houses, b etter san itation, m odern ligh tin g, p rop er and adequate recreation fa c ili
ties are p art and parcel o f the program o f the A lab am a coal industry. N o effort is b eing spared to raise the standards o f livin g so that m aterial w e lfa re m ay en cou rage intellectual expansion and spiritual gro w th . T h ro u g h d irect contributions m any op erators are m aking p ossib le educational a d van tag es to the children o f m iners which ap propriations fro m state funds do n ot p rov id e. T h e result o f th ese efforts is seen in contented lab or and happy m in
ing com m unities.
586
Where Alabama Coal, Iron and Limestone Meet
City Furnace, B irm ingham , A t N ig h t
A labam a Coal and the NEW Industrial South
The Coal Field That Underwrote Birmingham’s Industrial
Activity
By R . Dawson H a ll
Engineering Editor, Coal A ge
I
N T H E northern part of the Appalachian coal, field, which stretches from Pennsylvania to Alabama paralleling the Atlantic Coast, the productive coal measures cover an area that is 185 miles wide, but as one proceeds southward they decrease in width until at the no rth ern boundary of Tennessee the area is barely 60 miles across. W hen the measures reach the northern line of the State of Alabama they contain little workable coal and are scarcely 40 miles in width. H ere the coal does not lie in as deep a trough as in the northern field and so is cut up by numerous streams. As a result, the coal field has become so unim portant that the inhabitants o f Chattanooga and neighboring points are almost oblivious of the coal field in which they dwell.On entering Alabama the coal field widens, but it does so to little advantage. The Plateau coal field is almost without value—-at least, at present. In the “ Geological Survey of Alabama” it is stated that “ In the Plateau field at least one bed in Blount M ountain and one in Lookout Mountain are of workable thickness, and in Sand M ountain and the resi
dual knobs of Sequatchie Valley one bed, at least, is locally workable.” As a clean coal 30 in. thick is regarded as
“workable” by the authors, the record of the Plateau field is not inviting.
A hundred miles of relative sterility greets one as one travels from Chattanooga toward Birming
ham ; for this distance the coal field is neither wide nor operable. Cumber
land M ountain, Sand M ountain, Raccoon M ountain and Lookout Mountain have coal measures but hardly any merchantable coal. The seams are full of pockets, irregular and uncertain. W hen furnaces were October, 1928— C O A L A G E
built to the north and east of B ir
mingham in the expectation of de
riving sufficient and suitable fuel supplies the results were disap
pointing.
Ju st as the Appalachian field seems destined to come to an inglori
ous end comes a sudden widening of
C u m b e rla n d M in :^
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| Good bituminous coat Good L ig n ite Doubtful coat o Coking coat
Alabam a's Coal Fields Doubtful Lignite
coat Semi-bituminous
the field. From 50 miles in width it becomes perhaps nearly 100 miles.
The measures even appear to extend over the state line into Mississippi.
This widening, however, is not known to be of long duration. The whole Appalachian area measures 820 miles along its greatest dimen
sion north and south. O f this length the proved W a rrio r field o f A la
bama constitutes only about 45 miles.
Beyond it is a hidden coal territory the extent of which is not known.
In Alabama, therefore, the A ppa
lachian field both revives and disap
pears.
F u rth er tow ard the south is a lig
nite field th at runs across the state unaffected by the disturbances of the bituminous field to the north (reg ard ing which dislocations more later m ust be said). This lignite deposit is an outlier of the great Gulf P ro v
ince field which is found covering a large part of Texas, Louisiana, A r
kansas, Mississippi as well as small parts of Alabama, Tennessee, K en
tucky and even M issouri, the boun
daries of which are none too well known.
T
H IS lignite is not of Carboniferous Age but, according to M arius R. Campbell, is part of the uppermost Cretaceous and lower
most T ertiary rocks, which w ere laid down much later. T he earth move
m ents th at made the greater dimen
sion of the Appalachian region run northeast and southwest were no longer in operation when these lig
nite beds were laid down. .
To return to the Appalachian field, it may be said that the m ountain- form ing action in the. north, while extremely violent, folded the m eas
ures without fracturing them. In the Pennsylvania bituminous coal field there is only one little 70-ft. fault, in what is known as the F irst B itu
minous basin, but the folds caused by pressure extend in gradually diminishing intensity from the A ppa
lachian front to the Ohio line and beyond.
The result of the folding was heat, 587
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Ptnnsy/vani'an (Potisviih) Cambrian or
Ordovician Cambrian Before fa u ltin g
T
H E mind can hardly contemplate such a catalysm, if such it was.The dislocations, however, may have occurred by degrees in the course of centuries or millenniums. However, it m ust be remembered that the Or
dovician, Silurian and Devonian m easures were relatively thin at the site of the fault. Indeed it may have been th at their thinness had some
thing to do with its occurrence. On the other hand, the newer and less consolidated Parkw ood sandstones and Pottsville form ations were abnor
mally thick, as probably also were whatever measures lay above them at th at time, for they doubtless were overlaid by other Carboniferous de
posits.
The coal measures on the eastern side of the fault, of course, were lifted several thousand feet and in consequence w ere eroded away, as also were the beds under them. But the coal m easures that lay away from the fault to the east were not lifted nearly as much and so the coal seams tilted in that direction. Some of them probably w ere eroded, for the upper part of the Pottsville forma
tion is not now to be found in Ala
bama. M uch of the lower Pottsville escaped erosion and is there yet. It forms the Cahaba coal field. The strong dip of this field to the east is thus readily explained. The fault, in fact, seems to have been much like an anticline. On the west the meas
ures sometimes incline up toward it and on the east they do so everywhere.
and from heat came metamorphism.
The heat turned peat or perhaps lig
nite into bituminous coal. There was no escape found from the heavy pres
sures of the big N ittany mountains.
B ut in Alabama and Tennessee it seems that the measures gave way before the complete metamorphism occurred. Tremendous faults re
lieved the strain. F o r this reason the coal advanced only to the bituminous stage, except on Lookout M ountain in the Plateau field of Alabama and Georgia, where it became semi-bitu
minous.
In the northern end of the Appa
lachian region the measures rise in the southeastern direction till they leave the hill tops. They have been term inated by erosion. In the Ten-
Coo/ Fields N ea r B irm ingham ; H eavy L ines Shoiv Faults
RM •/fe d M ountain iron-ore fo rm a tio n
V s Do/omite L * Limestone Sh = S tia /c C * C h o rt S a = S a ndsto ne Sear le v e l
nessee fields they are cut off by a fault. T he beds of the W arrio r coal field in Alabama are similarly cut off, though in some places the fault lifted them and erosion followed.
This fault brings up the Conasauga formation in the U pper Cambrian to
Top, M easures A ft e r Faulting and Erosion.
B ottom , Sam e Before Faulting
the level of the coal. Thus all the Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian measures, in so far as present, with that p art of the Carboniferous meas
ures known as the Mississippian m ust have been lifted on the eastern edge of the fault to the level of the coal measures and then must have been eroded.
588 C O A L A G E — Vol.33, No.10
Alabama Coal and the NEW Industrial South
-R e d M o u n ta in ¡ro n ore
¿ S v M f / M M i i f í A n PoHsvil|e Ser-,e6
_ , . , . -Beekman town limestone
Cambnan d o lo m ite ^ / . C h icka m a u g a lim estone P a r k w o o d C h a t t a n o o g a Miss iss ippian» *. Pott a vi He. >,--- fh rktvo o d
r ;— :—i •-/ V '*•'* ~?,fp~- &iPothvitle
C o n a sa u g a Conasauga'
But another fa u lt occurred f u r ther to the east, w h ere th e Silurian is perhaps absent a n d the m easures of other ages are quite th in . T h is brought the R om e beds to light, a formation ju s t below th e C onasauga.
Again the m easures w ere tilte d and again a portion o f the P o ttsv ille fo r
mation—a large p o rtio n this tim e—
was left to fo rm th e Coosa coal field.
T
H IS Coosa d istric t w as folded badly b efo re it w as lifted , p ro b ably far m ore th a n a t th e tim e re p re sented by th e low er cross-section in the upper figure on page 588, though its back m ay have been broken w hen the fault occurred. H o w ev er, it developed an anticline, an d th a t u p ward flexure, since eroded, fo rm s a
Coal Seam Sections, A labama
C AH ABA FIELD
M e c a t Upper Hayiene low er Mayl en e Lovelady W oo ten L uke S te i n
¡Dogwood T h in co a l COOSAF1EU) A irs h a ft M ontevallo
WARRIOR Brookwood.
C a r t e r G w in
C o bb P r a t t . A m erica - Gillespie ‘ Mary Lee v J a g g e r ■ lick Creek'
¡Black Creek' S a p p R osa T idm ore
FIELD , Milldalé'
Nickel P la te C u rry Newcastle Blue Creek Ream J e ffe rs o n -•
YeshicC?) H e le n a Thompson Thompson (Jower Gholson 'C l a r k
Youngblood Buck S tall P u m p
Fairview Big Bone
W ad sw o rth
H a rk n e s s
N u n n a lly g ro u p
= » !
Thin co a l
Goujd_grpup.
T hin co al
R o p e r
— .C am pbell
— I^ rock
-Dirty Dozen 'B re w e r
C oal City Broken Arrow Marion ,Blbby
B rown Dirty coal
un. coal 'Higginbotham
a p m a n L C hap m an
S tr a i g h t R idge
Wolf Ridge
Howard Nivens
Cunningham B ottom o f ‘ P o ttsv ille
i^Chickamauga hmesfoi y —C a m b ria n o r
\ Ordivician dolomite
" Red M ountain ¡ro n ore
Cross-Section at Location Shown in Map on P age 588
sterile streak up th e center of the Coosa coal field.
T h e coals o f A labam a are all in the Pottsville Series, w hich contains, as will be rem em bered, the L ykens coals o f the anthracite region, the M ercer, or A lton, and th e S haron, or M arsh b u rg , coals o f P ennsylvania and th at g rea t w ealth of coals, the K anaw ha, N ew R iv er and P o ca
hontas groups in W e st V irginia. T h e L ykens coals are unusually free from ash.
T h e K anaw ha, N ew R iv er and Pocahontas coals have a high re p u ta
tion, and the A labam a coals would stan d w ith the best w here thick if it w ere not fo r th e ir m any and big binders. T h ese can be rem oved from the p ro d u ct by w ashing.
T h e m ost extensive field in A la bam a and the m ost valuable in conse
quence is the W a rrio r. I t has been faulted locally. In one m ine is a fau lt w ith a th ro w w hich a t its g re a t
est p ro fu n d ity reaches 177 ft. T he field, how ever, has n o t been folded as m uch as those in o th e r areas. F o r this reason th e fuel ratio does not v ary m arkedly fro m end to end o f th e field, and it ap p aren tly is th e cus
tom in A labam a to ta lk o f th e vola
tile content of a given bed ra th e r th a n to speak, as in o th er states, of th e ruling volatile content of all the coals to be found in a certain locality (excluding, of course, in such cases all unusual coals such as cannel.)
In th e W a rrio r field th e low est com m ercial bed, geologically speak
ing, is the B lack Creek, w hich is so low in ash and in su lp h u r th a t it m akes an ideal coal fo r byproduct coke. I t is said th a t a t som e m ines thq coal can be w ashed to give a 3 p e r cent ash content and a sulphur content of 0.5 p er cent.
In one m ine o p eratin g the Black C reek seam n o t m ore th a n 30 p er cent o f th e coal area is thick enough to m ine, th ough the coal is ex tracted w herever the seam is 20 in. thick or over. T h e entries a re driven reg a rd less o f seam thickness,-and oftentim es th e coal is less than a fo o t thick. F o r tunately th e coal, as it is used fo r byproduct ovens, is ju s t as valuable
if it is b ro u g h t out as slack. T h is seam is said to attain in som e sec
tions a thickness of 42 in.
N
e g l e c t i n g th e seam s ofm inor im portance, th e n ex t above are th e B lue C reek seam , w hich w hile it has several binders in its 6 to 10 ft. o f thickness, is an excellent coal bed, and the M ary Lee, w hich usually is a thick seam w ith a larg e q uantity o f im p u rity , including a heavy and h ard “ m iddlem an” w hich m ay be 22 in. thick and m ay be fo u n d dw indled dow n, as a t th e P a rris h m ine of the R ailw ay F u el Co., to a m ere 3£ to 6 in. N o r is th is a l l ; th ere is a “ boy ro ck ”— som etim es m ore th an one. T h e “ boy” m ay grow to the healthy m atu rity o f 6 in. w here th e “m iddlem an” is thick, th u s divid
ing up the u pper bench o f coal.
Som etim es the bench u n d er the “m id
dlem an” is so thin th a t it is left. It m ay hardly p erm it of cutting. . In a seam like this a distinction is m ade betw een the coal thickness an d the
(T u rn to page 5 9 9 ) M ary Lee Sections
co tn 3)
Coat 72X
Hode 20%
October, 1928 — C O A L A G E 589
B
!
M unicipal Stadium
Public L ib rary
P hoto bÿ Photo Section, 1 0 6 th O b servatio n S q u a d ron, A l a b a m a N a tio n a l Guard
B irm ingham -S outhern College
P h illip s H i g h S c h o o l
I R M I N G H A M
The Beautiful
❖
T h e L ittle T h e a tre
B irm ingham C o un try Club
C O A L A G E — V o l.3 3 .N o .1 0
Alabama Coal and the NEW Industrial South
Alabama Achieves Stabilization
Despite Competitive Checks
A erial View of Coal Tipt>le at N ew State Docks, Mobile, Ala.
S
TEA D IN ESS has been the outstanding characteristic of Ala
bama coal-production levels in recent years. Throughout a period when the tonnage trends in other major bituminous fields east of the , Mississippi River have been incon
stant, the volume of annual output in Alabama has been stabilized to an unusual degree. The sharp gains made by Kentucky and West Virginia find no counterpart in the even course of Alabama production; the heavy losses in tonnage met with in some of the Northern fields likewise are not reflected in Alabama figures. The maximum variation in Alabama pro
duction between any two consecutive years since 1923 has been 6.49 per cent; the minimum, 4.48 per cent.
This stabilization has been achieved neither at the expense of sales reali
zations nor as the result of particu
larly favorable competitive conditions.
While the state has not been able wholly to escape the effects of post
war readjustments in price levels, these effects have been minimized largely because the coal industry of Alabama has not sacrified all con
sideration of price for volume. In the past four years the average value of Alabama coal as reported by the U. S. Bureau of Mines has been
By Sydney A. Hale
M anaging E ditor, Coal Age
♦
higher in each year than the average for the country as a whole and higher also than the averages for all other states in the Appalachian Region.
Fluctuations in prices and tonnages in the Appalachian Region during the past five years are shown in de
tail in Tables I and II. Eastern Kentucky, for example, produced 41.86 per cent more coal last year than it did in 1923 but the average value declined 85c. W est Virginia’s output was 34.49 per cent greater but the average realization was 93c. less than in 1923. Pennsylvania, with declining production and the fillip of labor disturbances to create a livelier interest in prices last year, reported
a decrease of 70c. in average values.
Ohio, too, had both falling output and falling prices.
Comparing 1927 with 1923 in Ala
bama, production was off 3.38 per cent and the average value dropped only 27c.—or 42c. less than the de
cline in the national bituminous aver
age. Moreover, in view of the high percentage of captive tonnage mined in Alabama, it is more than probable that the averages reported for that state understate the actual realiza
tions on coal sold commercially. Cir
cular prices on the better-known do
mestic grades produced in Alabama are among the highest quoted on this class of bituminous business in the United States and are considerably above the average figures on such coal east of the Mississippi River.
The large volume of captive ton-
Table I—Production Fluctuations in Appalachian Region and E astern In terio r Basin: 1923-1927
1923 1924 1925 1926 1927
N e t T o n s N e t T o n s N e t T o n s N e t T o n s N e t T o n s A la b a m a ...
E a s t e r n K e n tu c k y . M a r y l a n d . ...
O h io ...
P e n n s y lv a n i a ... I T e n n e s s e e ...
V irg in ia ...
W e s t V irg in ia ...
Illin o is ...
I n d i a n a ...
W e s te r n K e n tu c k y U n ite d S t a t e s ...
October. 1928 — C O A L A G E 591
nage undoubtedly has contributed materially to the stabilization in pro
duction for the state as a whole. But there also has been stabilization on the commercial side of the market in the face of difficulties fully com
parable to any embarrassing other coal-producing districts in the eastern half of the United States. Com-
1927, of which 531,873 tons was made into coke at the ovens of the corporation. In the estimates of captive tonnage shown in Table III only that portion of the coal coked by the company is classified as non
commercial.
The coke so made is sold com
mercially, entering most of the states
petition from Kentucky and the V ir
ginias has checked expansion to the n o rth ; natural gas has curtailed mar
kets in the Southwest; fuel oil has taken its toll of bunker business at the Gulf ports. In markets nearer home hydro-electric power has de
prived Alabama mines of a large share of the benefits of the rapid in
dustrialization of the Southeast.
Captive tonnage makes up 44 to 50 per cent of the output of the state.
By far the greater part of this con
trolled tonnage is produced by the iron and steel interests operating ore mines and blast furnaces in the Bir- mingham district. This group in
cludes the Tennessee Coal, Iron &
Railroad Co., Sloss-Sheffield Steel &
Iron Co., Woodward Iron Co., Gulf States Steel Co., Republic Iron & Steel Co. and the Central Iron & Coal Co., operating 27 mines with a production last year of 7,406,221 tons. Little of this tonnage reaches the commercial m arket; one company sells between 30,000 and 40,000 tons monthly and some is sold to employees, but the total for the group probably does not exceed 500,000 tons per annum.
Outside the iron and steel group the more important captive tonnage interests are the Railway Fuel Co.,"a subsidiary of the Southern Ry. sys
tem, and the mine of the Southeastern Fuel Co., the output of which has been taken by the Alabama Power Co. for several years. The Alabama By-Products Corporation, with 13 mines, produced 2,124,459 tons in
The average N ew O rleans fam ily burns 1 to 1.5 tons o f coal a year—
but w ants coal when it w ants it'. The UcBardelebcn Coal Corporation meets
the w ant with its ozvn retail yards.
of the Union. It competes with foreign coke on the W est Coast and has displaced some anthracite in Cuba.
4 he fact that the ovens are not com
pelled to haul most of the raw coal several hundred miles enables the Alabama product to enter the Middle West in competition with ovens at Chicago, Detroit, Chattanooga and other large consuming points. The corporation has recently organized a subsidiary company to push the sale of coke for domestic fuel in the Birmingham district.
Competition from Kentucky, Ten
nessee and W est Virginia is an ef
fective barrier to the sale of steam coal in the Carolinas; eastern Ken
tucky, a small tonnage of which comes into retail yards in Birming
ham, is a factor limiting domestic sales. Eastern Kentucky also is an active bidder for domestic business at Montgomery. The area of dis
tribution for domestic grades of Ala
bama coal, however, is much wider than that of steam fuel.' To a large extent western Kentucky has not only eliminated southern Illinois as a com
petitor of Alabama in the- lower Mississippi Valley but north of Huntsville it also has driven Alabama from many of the private power plants.
Natural gas has taken away con-
siderable domestic business in the Southwest—particularly in the Texas belt beginning at San Antonio and including Beaumont, Dallas and Gal
veston. Not a coal stove was sold in the city of Beaumont last year.
Gas is piped in. Louisiana and lines also serve Vicksburg, Natchez and Meridian. The natural-gas interests also threaten to enter Birmingham it
self. A bond issue of $6,300,000 was floated last month to complete the construction of a pipe line from the Monroe field in Louisiana to Mem
phis to supply the gas requirements of Memphis and intervening territory in Arkansas and Mississippi.
Fuel-oil competition has been felt most at the Gulf ports, cutting the coal sold for bunkers from approxi
mately 1,000,000 tons some years ago to half that quantity. Only an oc
casional vessel of the U. S. Shipping Board takes coal but about 80 per cent of the United Fruit fleet and foreign bottoms calling at the Gulf ports still bunker with coal. The American Sugar Refinery plant at New Orleans continues on coal, as does the Mobile Light & Railway Co.
The Public Service Co. of Louisiana, heretofore an important coal con
sumer, is now said to be planning to use oil, gas and coal. On the whole the fuel-oil menace to the industrial market, while still present, appears less terrifying although recent low quotations on oil cause concern.
I t is in the activity of the hydro
electric public utilities, however, that the Alabama operators find the strongest challenge to the expansion of their markets for industrial coal.
Out of 1,867,079,000 kw.-hr. pro
duced by Alabama public-utility power plants last year, 82.1 per cent was hydro-electricaliy generated. In Georgia water power accounted for 86.8 per cent of an output of 709,- 664.000 k w .-h r. In th e Carolinas
50.83 p er cent o f a total o f 3,202- 399.000 kw.-hr. was produced hydro- electrically. The public-utility power plants in these four states consumed
1,552,372 tons of coal.
The situation is more favorable to coal in Florida, Louisiana and Mis
sissippi. These states reported a
Table I I —A verage Value per Ton, Bituminous Coal: 1923-1927*
1923 1924 1925 1926 1927
A la b a m a ... $ 2 .5 2 $ 2 .3 4 $ 2 .1 2 $ 2 .2 9 $2.25 E a s t e r n K e n tu c k y . 2 .6 6 1 .9 0 I 80 1.87 1.81 M a r y la n d 3 .0 2 2 .1 7 1 .9 7 2.21 2.07
O h io 2 .4 3 2 .0 3 1 .9 3 1.96 1.92
P e n n s y lv a n i a 2 .7 5 2 .2 6 2 .1 0 2 .1 3 2.05 T e n n e s s e e ... 2 .7 3 2 .1 3 1 .8 5 1.90 1.84
S ^ n i a 2 .7 6 2 .0 4 1 .8 4 1.92 1.80
W e s t V irg in ia 2 .6 5 1 .8 2 1.71 1.84 -72 U n ite d S t a t e s 2 .6 8 2 .2 0 2 .0 4 2 .0 6 I ■99
*U . S. B u r e a u of M in e s r e p o r ts .
592 C O A L A G E — Vol.33, No.10
Alabama Coal and the NEW Industrial South
public-utility power-plant production of 1,260,592,000 kw.-hr. last year.
No power was hydro-electrically gen
erated in Louisiana or Mississippi and only 1.8 per cent in Florida. The public-utility power plants in these states consumed 361,097 tons of coal.
Their combined kilowatt-hour output was only 21.81 per cent of that of the four states mentioned in the preced
ing paragraph. Texas, with a public- utility power plant output of 1,839,- 466.000 kw.-hr. and a coal consump
tion of 658,209 tons, draws but little upon Alabama for fuel of any kind.
Domination of the industrial mar
ket tributary to Alabama coal by the hydro-electric public-utility interests leaves the operators of the state to scramble for the business of the smaller low-pressure steam plants, the car-a-week buyer and those industries in which coal also is used in process
Table I I I —Captive and Commercial Output of A labam a*
C o m m e rc ia l C a p t i v e t T o ta l Year ( N e t T o n s ) ( N e t T o n s ) ( N e t T o n s)
192 3 12,340,626 8,578,677 20,919,303
192 4 10,912,814 8 ,7 0 3 ,1 17 19,615,931
192 5 10,944,236 9,464,420 20,408,656
192 6... 11,7 45,6 5 6 9,76 3,15 6 21,50 8,8 1 2 192 7... 1 1,226,107 8,964,819 20,190,926 A v erag e.... 11,433,888 9,094,838 20,528,726
♦Based onV A labam a s t a t e r e p o r ts .
flncludes to n n a g e c o k e d b y A la b a m a B y - P r o d u c ts Corporation a n d a ls o to n n a g e so ld co m m e rc ia lly b y captive m in es; th is l a t t e r q u a n t ity d o e s n o t exceed SOQ.OOO^tons p e r a n n u m , i t is e s tim a te d .
work, such as cotton-oil mills and cotton mills where coal is needed to heat the dyes. Optimisitc producers, however, believe that the day is not far distant when there will be a re
vival of interest in large private power plants in the South. In the meantime more interest is being dis
played in powdered-coal installations
—particularly in smaller plants.
From the standpoint of tonnage consumed the railroads rank second to the iron and steel interests in the Alabama coal - marketing picture.
Forty per cent or more of the out
put of the state is used by the last- named group. Railroad consumption, which has declined somewhat in the last year or so due to buying in other fields and greater use of fuel oils, absorbs between 25 and 30 per cent of the production of the state. With the exception of the Southern Ry., which takes approximately 30 per cent of its Alabama supply from the mine of the Railway Fuel Co. at Parrish, the tonnage used by the big lines traversing this section of the country is purchased in the commer
cial market. Railroad consumption of Alabama coal is now estimated at 5.225.000 tons per annum.
The best data available indicate
Table IV —Production of Alabama Coal by Sises: 1923-1927
.--- 1923--- --- 1924 ---,9 2 5 _ ^ ,926~ P ¡ 7 I927~Per~' T o n s C e n t* T o n s C e n t* T o n s C e n t* T o n s C e n t* T o n s C e n t*
F a n c y l u m p . . . . M « . « « 5 .7 3 1.376,817 7 .0 2 I . W ” 5 .4 5 '.5 9 0 ,7 8 6 7 .3 9 <• , 0| ; 273 o'.5 3
noAluS?:::: i'II.’sil »:« »¡SiS 0.43 246,203 ...4 256,888 ..27
* f e w W « ?
m
1:8 B B S 1:8 B B 8 « 5■ f e w : : : : : 8 8 8 f t f 5:8 8 8 8
tB
4538 5:8 « 8 1 ? Í 8" f e w . 8 8 8 4 :8
M S lk»
»8538 4 : 8 * « 8 5 4 : 8 T t e : : : : : 435t » # : B «¡5355 8 : 8 S 585S 8 : 8 435S 8 8 : 8 « 8 8 5 8 : 8♦ P e r c e n t o f to t a l o u tp u t .
that between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 profitable to store coal at the mines tons of Alabama coal reaches the do- than to shut down or flood the mar- mestic consumer and the small steam ket with unwanted tonnage _
plants served by the retail dealers. Greater Birmingham winch con- Territorially this coal is able to pen- sumes approximately 212,OOU tons etrate markets from which competi- of domestic coal per annum, is a tion of one sort or another has market for which there is keen corn- driven the industrial grades, although petition. Street-car ads, newspapers the exploitation of natural-gas re- billboards and electric signs are used sources has seriously affected ship- by the producers to sell this market ments to Texas and threatens do- for their retail distributors. A check mestic sales in other states. Alabama on the response to this first type of domestic coal is sold in Memphis. It publicity by asking the street-car enters markets in Arkansas, Georgia, reader to telephone the producer has Louisiana, Mississippi and south- been very satisfactory These tele
western Missouri. Montevallo coal phone inquiries are referred by the is still a factor in the Carolinas de- producer to the retail dealer whose spite W est Virginia competition. yard is nearest the home of the pros- Producers specializing in the sale pective customer. Retail dealers are of domestic coal have perfected mer- furnished with copies of the street- chandising systems superior to those car ads for display so that the con- employed in many competing fields, sumer can identfy them with the Some of the smaller companies prob- cards he has read in the cars,
ably spend more per ton in pro- One company is using an extensive motional work than any other coal newspaper campaign throughout the
M ine S torage Is Growing in Favor with Alabama Domestic Coal Producers
group in the United States. That these expenditures pay is shown in the realizations received, the price stabilization under which leading brands are sold on a sliding scale and the fact that in dull seasons of the year some operators find it more
territory served by its retail dis
tributors. Originally considerable copy was placed in newspapers in the larger cities but this plan has been abandoned for the wider and more intensive coverage possible in the dailies and weeklies circulating in the smaller communities. At the present
(T u rn to page 601)
October,1928— C O A L A G E 593
P o w e r and M a i n t e n a n c e
Under Centralized Control
By A. F. Elliott
General M aster M echanic and Chief Electrician, Sloss-Sheffield S teel & Iro n Co.,
Birm ingham , Ala.
E
L E C T R IC A L and m echanical practices at coal m ines o f the Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iro n Co.have been influenced by the fact th a t the w o rk is supervised by a chief elec
trician an d m aster m echanic w ho also handles the consulting electrical w o rk and the construction and m aintenance at the fu rn ace p lan t, pow er stations and iro n -o re m ines.
T h u s the whole is unified so th at th ere is o p p o rtu n ity to plan the in
stallations and supervise the o p era
tions to the best advantage of the com pany’s pow er g eneration and d is
trib u tio n system as a whole.
O f the five o p eratin g coal m ines all bu t the S earles m ine are fed by an interconnected pow er system tied in w ith the A labam a P o w e r Co. T h is tie line is kept connected so th at pow er flows from one system to the o th er as conditions of load and g en eration dem and. T h e Searles mine, w hich is 40 m iles fro m the nearest of the g ro u p , is supplied exclusively by the A labam a P o w e r Co.
T h e fo u r m ines fo rm in g th e g ro u p are Blossburg, Bessie, F la t T o p and L ew isburg. T h e fact th a t all are gassy has influenced the design o f the pow er system . F if ty m iles o f 44,000- volt transm ission line and several sh o rt 6,600-volt an d 2,300-volt lines connect th e coal m ines, ore m ines, quarries, coke p la n t and fu rn ace plants. T h e longest line is 27 miles.
D ouble wood-pole construction is used fo r the 44,000-volt lines an d all poles, including low voltage lines, are creosoted. T h e conductors o f the 44,000-volt lines are alum inum w ith steel centers. T h e pole spacing is 450 to 1,400 ft., depending on the
topography o f the country.
F o u r Sloss-Sheffield plants have a g en era tin g capacity o f 16,100 kw.
594
T h e p lan t a t F la t T op m ine, w hich consists o f tw o 750-kw. tu rb o -g e n
erato rs, is held as a reserve unit.
A t the C ity F u rn a c e p lan t in B ir- m ingham , one 3,000-kw . tu rb o -g en er
a to r operates continously on ex h au st steam fro m the blow ing engines. A t the N o rth B irm ingham fu rn a ce plant tw o units, 2,000 and 600-kw . capac
ity operate u n d e r the sam e conditions.
T h e N o rth B irm ingham byproduct plant has three tu rb o -g en era to rs op
eratin g on 210-lb. and, 150-deg. su p er
heat. T w o are rated a t 2,000 kw.
each and the th ird a t 5,000 kw . In th is boiler p lan t coke breeze, coke-oven gas and pulverized coal are used.
O nly the gas over th a t supplied to the city of B irm ingham is available to the pow er plant. O f the six boil
ers, tw o are fired w ith coke-oven gas, two w ith coke breeze, one w ith coke breeze and coal, an d th ree w ith coke- oven gas and pow dered coal.
The turbines o p eratin g on ex h au st steam are run as base load m achines a t unity pow er factor, receiving w a tt
less c u rre n t fro m the g e n erato rs driven by steam m ade from solid fuel.
T h e pow er exchange contract w ith the A labam a P ow er Co. p roviding a n ight kilow att-hour ra te one-half th a t d u rin g the day justifies the Sloss C om pany in supplem enting the gas an d coke-breeze fuels w ith coal d u rin g the d ay but not a t night. T h is .c o n dition and the desirability of com pletely using the v ary in g surplus of gas and the v ary in g supply o f coke breeze requires carefu l operation of the pow er system in o rd er to obtain the best over-all economy.
In a typical m onth 6,846,000 kw .-hr.
w as generated, 2,639,000 kw .-hr. be
ing sold to cem ent plants, a p p ro x i
m ately 300,000 kw .-hr. to the A labam a
P o w er Co., an d 1,290,000 kw .-hr. used a t th e fo u r coal m ines. D istribution percentages fo r th e m onth a t Bessie m ine, w hich is typical o f the others, w ere as fo llo w s: haulage, 3 5 ; venti
lation, 17; drain ag e, 13; dwellings, 1;
com m issary, 1 ; m ining machines, 10; m iscellaneous lighting, 1, and w asher, 22.
T h e tra n s fo rm e r substation a t Bes
sie consists of one 1,500 kva. 44,000/
2.300-volt and one 600 kva. 44,000/
6,600-volt tra n sfo rm e r. T h e 1,500- kva. supplies th e 'main hoist fan, w asher, slate hoist, riv e r pum p sta
tion and the lighting. T h e 600-kva.
u n it supplies lines leading to substa
tion boreholes. T h is tra n sfo rm e r has 2.300-volt taps fo r an em ergency fan supply. T h e sam e arran g em en t is follow ed a t th e o th er m ines.
T h re e o f the m ines are connected by a 6,600-volt loop circuit fed by th e Bessie tra n sfo rm e rs, so that if one fails po w er m ay be draw n from the rem aining tw o. T w o o f the mines a re interconnected on the 2,300-volt side fo r the sam e reason.
D irect-cu rren t g en eratin g equip
m ent in the substations at the four m ines connected to the pow er com
pany system consists o f five syn
chronous converters and fo u r syn
chronous m o to r-g en erato r sets. The type o f u n it installed depends upon the availability o f an attendant.
T ra n s fo rm e rs are excluded from the inside of the m ines w hen practical so if an inside substation is necessary m o to r g en erato rs are used to simplify the attendance problem . Outside substation locations are preferred, how ever, especially if they are near a fan o r o th e r equipm ent, w ith an at-
C O A L A G E — Vol.33, No.10
Alabama Coal and the NEW Industrial South tendant who can mind the substation
also. Synchronous converters are used in the outside substation.
The few transformers that are in
stalled inside of the mines, are housed in fireproof concrete vaults or rooms with circulation to the return air.
Automatic reclosing circuit break
ers are used on the d.-c. feeders, but no full-automatic control equipment has been installed because all substa
tions are so located that no saving in attendance cost would result. Full- automatic control is being purchased for one substation where changed con
ditions will permit dispensing with an attendant.
Slip-ring induction motors are used on the slope hoists, the largest being 700-hp. Liquid rheostat control is preferred. Generally speaking, rope haulage rather than locomotive haul
age is used on main slopes averaging over 3 per cent grade.
All mine fans excepting the one near the Flat Top power plant, which is driven by an engine and motor to
gether, have electric drives. At Flat Top the engine serves as a standby unit, just enough steam being admitted to provide proper cushioning. Most of the fan motors below 100 hp. are squirrel-cage, and those above are slip- ring and equipped with automatic starters. The fan at Bessie mine is equipped with a synchronous motor.
This new and rather unusual installa
tion is described in another article.
New installations are carefully studied to improve the power factor of the system. A t one iron-ore mine the 1,500-hp. slip-ring motor driving the main hoist is interconnected through relays with a 1,000-hp. syn
W orthington Laidlaw Compressors
chronous motor driving a large air compressor so as to operate the un
loading device on the compressor dur
ing hoist acceleration. Peak load is reduced and the large synchronous motor runs at practically no load and with full field. Full voltage results and the power factor is above 80 per cent at that mine.
Mechanical connection between the motors and fans has not been stand
ardized. The two largest fans have silent chains equipped with oil pumps.
Others have long belts. Specific con
ditions govern the selection.
It is the practice to use 2,300 volts on all stationary motors of over 30 hp.
Sizes below this are wound for 220 or 240 volts. Most of the motors in tipples and washers are of the slip- ring type, although squirrel-cage motors are used to drive conveyor belts and centrifugal pumps.
A utom atic Reclosing Circuit B reakers
Mine locomotive equipment con
sists of haulage motors up to 15 tons and gathering motors equipped with cable reels. In addition Bessie mine uses three combination trolley and battery locomotives. Permissible cutting machines and permissible locomotives have not been installed to date.
Maintenance of coal mine equip
ment is supervised by the local chief electricians, who report to the mine superintendents and whose work must be approved by the general master mechanic and chief electrician.
No central repair shop has been set up but the larger mines are completely equipped. Each plant has a combina
tion repairman and armature winder who winds all d.-c. armatures. A.-c.
motors are sent to a commercial shop.
Electrical construction is handled by a construction foreman reporting t,o the general master mechanic and chief electrician. Sufficient work warrants practically continuous em
ployment of such a foreman.
The power-house men report through the power engineer, who is responsible for all power stations and transmission lines up to and including the step-down transformers at the various operations. All switching, load dispatching, and so on is handled by the power engineer or the chief operator.
Transmission lines are regularly patrolled and inspected by the line foreman, who is furnished with a truck equipped for emergency service and a driver, lineman and helpers.
The local chief electrician at each mine is responsible for the mainte
nance and operation of the equipment from the 2,300-volt service only.
One man is in charge of both elec
trical and mechanical equipment at each operation, eliminating friction from overlapping authority and allow
ing operation with fewer men.
October. 1928 — C O A L A G E 595
Linking the Past To the Present
♦
A L A B A M A P IO N E E R S
P . B, Thomas
T
H E hardy industrial pioneers who laid the foundations for the rehabilitation of the South by developing the coal, iron and limestone resources of Alabama in the dark days following the Civil W ar are a vanishing race. Col.J. W. Sloss lives in the name of the company he started. A second and a third generation carry on the De- Bardeleben tradition. James Bowron was gathered unto his fathers late in the summer. One by one the pioneers have disappeared over the hill until now only two leaders remain who can speak from personal knowledge of the drama of awakening Alabama to its industrial possibilities.
One of this twain—Truman Hem- mway Aldrich—is still actively en
gaged in mining pursuits; the other
—Peter Beilis Thomas—has left the field to his sons while he devotes his immediate attention to real estate ventures. Mr. Aldrich, mining engi
neer, banker, coal operator, iron and steel entrepreneur and consulting en
gineer, was born in Palmyra, N. Y.
in 1848. Mr. Thomas, child of the anthracite region and first to intro
duce longwall mining into Alabama, was ushered into the world three years later at Easton, Pa.
In 1871 Mr. Aldrich, a graduate of the class of ’69 at Rensselaer Poly
technic Institute, went to Alabama, engaged ^ in banking- and soon found himself in the coal business with the Montevallo mine as his first opera
tion. The mine was leased on a royalty basis of 60c. per ton and coal was shipped out over a railroad own
ing three miles of track which con
sisted of strap rails fastened to 6x8 timbers. The operating season ran from Oct. 1 to March 1 until Mr.
596
Aldrich conceived the idea of work
ing all year, storing coal at the mine in the summer months. The workers agreed to wait for their wages until w inter sales had been made, the com
pany supplying them with foodstuffs in the meantime.
Mr. Aldrich s first big contract re- 3 *°SS on the sale of 1,200 tons to the Navy and for a time threatened to be a complete loss.
Freight of $3.25 per ton from the mine to Pensacola had to be paid piecemeal in advance to the railroads making up the route. A fter the coal had arrived Mr. Aldrich discovered that the naval vessels drew too much water to reach the dock so he had to charter a barge to complete delivery and hire men to break up the large lumps which were his pride in order to get the coal through the small holes leading to the bunkers. Not having received a formal order for the coafi Mr. Aldrich was finally compelled to appeal to Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson before the gov
ernment paid for the shipment.
During his operating career Mr.
Aldrich opened over 30 mines in the state. In association with Colonel Sloss and H . F. DeBardeleben he organized the P ratt Coal & Coke Co., producing the first furnace coke made in Alabama. A t one time he was president of the Sloss company and at another period vice-president and general manager of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co. Since 1913 Mr. Aldrich has devoted his time to consulting engineering.
While still in his teens Mr. Thomas started work in the mines at Mt.
Pleasant. His next job was with the Honeybrook Coal Co. Later he went to the Audrendried colliery of the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. At Audrendried he met Miss Mary A. Jones, who consented to change her name for another good Welsh
T. H . A ldrich
patronymic. From this union four sons were born—Howard J., now general superintendent of mines, Sloss-Sheffield Steel Co.; Darius A., president, Montevallo Mining Co.;
Truman A., named after Mr. Aldrich and now in the steel business, and Aldcn, who lost his life in a mine ac
cident fifteen years ago.
Mr. Thomas migrated to Helena.
Ala., in 1877, working first for the Eureka Co. and subsequently taking charge of the Helena mines of the P ratt Coal & Coke Co. In 1885 he was put in charge of the Blocton op
erations of the Cahaba Coal Mining Co. Fourteen years later he moved to. Thurber, Texas, to manage the mines of the Texas & Pacific Coal Co., returning to Blocton the next year to enlarged responsibilities end
ing with the general superintendency of the Cahaba company. He resigned from that connection in 1894 when the company was consolidated with the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co.
The next year, in association w:th Mr. Aldrich, he organized the Cahaba Southern Mining Co., developing the Hargrove property, which he sold out in 1903 to Daniel Pearson and as
sociates of New Jersey. Two years later he and Mr. Aldrich purchased the Aldrich mine, near Montevallo.
operating this property until its sa!e p to W- P- Lowell and H. L.
Ballin. This mine, which has been shipping coal since 1856. was later purchased by his son Darius. It was at Aldrich that Mr. Thomas intro
duced longwall mining. Since 1913 he has been engaged in the real estate business. Although spending a large part of his time in Florida, he still keeps in touch with the coal industry.
C O A L A G E — Vol.33, No.10
