New-York tribune., 1868-08-12


souuds like The heating of mutled druh lou
stand still for minute two. uilIh Sou' o1'9 u
come accustomed 20 the nky backneS'' upon "IV"
vour little lamps hardly make an lnpreSslon' l"o
cappway is dug night out OF the Nelh "nich HAS d
ttcllesso Of from 1G to 80 feet unDroheh by lault
of any kind except single WeIIueuheu Su"-
tr, of slate about eight inches thick, and
the coal is beautifully nard and pure. The roof Is
LoId mn iv rongh-hewn timber supports two upngbts
ord A top-pecc at intervals about six feet apart,
with smaller beams laid across them lengthwise'
On either hand branch off from this central gang
way similar passages, called O. breasts" about ~
wards apart and the parallel breasts again are con
nected with each other by smaller passages starting
about breast high and leading up into chambers eIo
waited above the level of the gangway' Inc oreas'S
also terminate in chambers, and here ana tneIe tne
vorious passages enlarge into great rooms OF the
same kind where several miners can WOrk tOgether'
The workings are now carried on at the bot
tom Of the vein and when the present level Is ex-
bousted there will be from 10 to 20 feet of solid coal
still untouched above it. Once in a while in your
excursion through the mine, You come across little
square rooms followed out of the coal and Uttered
with hay; these are stables for the mules. From
the time the animals are first brought down here in
cars they never the light of day until they are
condemned or discarded but they appear to be IN
good condition, and thrive under their unnatural
mode of life. Again you may notice mere ana lneIo
ySterious looking cavities near the top of the gang
way. or breast these are air passages, and so per
feet is the system of ventilation, that even III lhe
most remote parts of the mine strong current Oh
fresh air is constantly blowing IN the Iaces Oh tlo
workmen. The doors of which have already spoken
are designed to regulate its direction Were IL not
Tor these, the current instead OF making cHCt W & pl
the mine would rush out by the shortest cut 10 lne
slope The friendly bosses were anxious 10 snow me
the effect Of some Of the nOXOus gas winch is the
terror and danger of so many MINES. Salety-lap III
we
we found any. At last we came to new chamber
where the tanning apparatus M was NoI Climb
upon that shelf OF coal Now does your lace Ioei
Yes, quite cold"
"D' We feel anything queer about your earsP
Yes feel "a sort of tingling sensation
well, that's the gas. IL we haul ielI our open t
lamps at the end Of the breast 1t would roast Us OUT
We held the safety lamp up TO the place, and, in
stantly the gauZe screen was filled with pale Due
flame To sweep ont this gas however with the con-
tryances now in use, would be the work OF only, n
few minutes At various places IN the depths OF the
mine small revolving fans satellites of the big one
at the slope like exaggerated coffee mills Win s0utS
Tr,Ui,,, mn 10 fine roof of the gangway are worked
by little boys tlaXen-hared chubby young backa-
uo0ys, who sit there IN the darkness and patiently
tun the crank.
md followed a passage way which leads off on the
east side Of the slope and this penetIates an0ther
vein called the Seven Foot" everything the Nam
moth, and separated from 1t here by three or iour
feet Of rock The Seven Foot vein IS really only
leader of the Mammoth often running lntolt though
sometimes lying as much rs 20 feet above. But IN
this as well as in the Mammoth vein itself the slate
streak is distinct that there very little dculty
in separating 1t from the true coal At the eXtrem-
itv of each breast and gallery or as they say the
mine, at each heading" we lind miner hard at
1ynrk driOinp or filling the drills with great car
trdges like enormous Bologna sausages, with which
the coal is blown ont of its place Each miner has the
assistance of two laborers who break up the largest
fragments with pick and load the cars.
Long life to your honorp shouts a begTimed
lrishman with lamp on his forehead and short
pipe between his teeth;' so you're coming to learn
"Oh. Yes, want TO learn all aboutit'
Faith you wouldn't take lesson without paying
OF course you would not Terms of compensation
are easily settled basis satisfactory to all parties
and you are led back to the and drawn up to the
light of day in manner like that of yOur descent.
Riding in coal car is not cleanly amusement The
black dust fills your and nOstrs and sticks to
your prespiring face; your hands are as grimy as
blacksmIths; and your first sensation when you
emerge into be sight of your friends on the surface
is one of being very much ashamed of Yourself Soap
and water, however are close at hand, and after
liberal use of them you are ready to inspect the
breaker where the coal is assorted for market.
The breaker" is large shed, always placed high
enough to permit the railroad 70 pass under and
to the mine is on the slope of hill, in this case,
the arrangement is very simple. As the wagons are
drawn up the slope they pass on to gently inclined
plane along which they roll by the force of gravity
to the mouth of the breaker Boys men run by the
side of them and block the wheels when they seem to
be going too fast. Reaching the breaker, the wagon
Is tipped forward, the coal falls into broad shute
and then the wagon, being switched off to side
track. is drawn up 10y steam-poWer TO the top OF
another plane, from which it runs back of its own
weight to the mouth of the NINE When the coal
falls into the shute part of it is caught by men
armed with long shovels and picks, and pushed into
another shue, whence it slides into bins Immediately
over the railway This is the large steamboat coaI
used in furnaces. The rest runs into kind of
hopper where two great iron cylinders studded with
teeth reyolye against each other and break 1t into
fragments about the size of your fist and smaller
These fragments have now TO be sorted. They drop
first into end of double cylinder of iron wire,
about twelve feet long, with an axis not quite hOTl-
zOntal but dipping little toward the further end.
IL is a dOube cylinder say that Is, ii consists of
two cylinders within the other, the wire-wOrk
meshes of the outer one being the smaller The coal
runs into the inner one and as the machine TevOves
the smaller fragments drop through the meshes. The
smallest sort of all what is known, believe, pea
cOal Sits through both cylinders and falls into
shute prepared for it. The next sze nut coal,
gets through the inner sieve, but not the outer
one, and rolls out at the lower end into
another shute. The larger pieces pass from the
interior of the cylinder 10 second revolving sieve OF
the same kind except that this second one is not
double but is divided into sections, the meshes in
each of which are OF different size. The axis OF
this one also is placed small angle with the hOri
zOn so that as the instrument TevOlyes the coal
slowly toward the lower end, and Is sorted as
it does so into all the various sizes known TO the
trade, such as stove range, furnace egg, &c There
you have it, running down the shutes, and rows of
little boys sitting on low benches astTde of 1t pick
ont the pieces of slate and other impurities which
Gre found with the coal. Short practice makes the
lads wonderfully quick OF eye and deXtTOus OF hand
In this important duty. The shutes terminate IN
bins right under which runs the railroad track, and
the doors of the bins beng opened the coal is dropped
from them directly into the cars.
To come away from this busy scene, and pass
through the miners villages again is good lesson in
the folly of strikes The faces which stare at you
from the cabins and grOg-shOps wear hungry look,
for the have about exhausted their little means,
and il is not easy to how their potato patches,
and the charity Of their comrades can support them