The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-02-15
MINERS NEWS.
waste Of Coal.

There are several systems Of getting coal,
which, for want II space, we are unable to
iarcribe. A comparison Of these with each
other would CLEARLY show that, while loss
takes plsse in all, they differ considerably as
10 The degree Of waste. In the "long walr'
system the whole Of seam IL extracted ct
ope getting, no ribs and pillars are left, and
the roof, with al the superintendent strata,
falls gradually as the work of extraction pro-
ceeds, filing ~ the space previously occu-
MED By the coal. Theoretically and practi-
cslly this system is the best bat in some
rol cries. where the roof is bad, il is abso-
lutelv necessary to leave a considerable layer
Of coal for the purpose of forming a secure
roof, and the hole OF that coal is irrecover-
ably lost. In The epiilar and stall'' system
the coal il extracted in two gettings. In the
first, Large ribs and pillars OF coal are left
to prop up the roof Of the pit, and these are
t-ken out ~ the second getting but in this
second process there Is always much loss,
owing 70 the crushing Of the ribs and pillars
by the ehormC as weight upon them, and the
consequent pr lduotion Of large quantity OF
fne, and, il the coal be non caking, worth
lees slack. OF all Che coal-seams of Great
Britain, The q eatest waste has occurred in
that known az the "ten yard" or "thick-
coal2 * Soutn Stafordshire. The seam
ranges in thick less from eight TO ten yards,
Gnd is composed Of series of distinct beds,
VARYING much in quality. II is now on the
eve 81 exhaustion. With very few excep-
tons, it has been gotten on the "pillar and
stall system" huge pillars about 10 or IL
feet square and enormous ribs, being left in
the fret working The residual coal was i'm
perfectly ex raeJei in a second working ;
sud some Of the d pits have been thus ri
Hed over several times in succession. This
cool Il wholly non-caking. and it may be
confidently asserted hat millions OF tons of
tits slack now lie buried IN the worked-out
cof'eries Of South Str .fordshire, It Is to be
feared without bvpe OF resurrection; yet
every Uon Of that slack has stored up in it as
tie same weight of solid coal The fine
Slack ~ this coal is particularly liable to
sr0rtaneous 1nItiln, which has o!.sh ooeur-
red n be 6r.t getting, and very frscuer.'y
in the second. Il is the curse Of the ''tb'"x
coal" ana has oc0asioned The destrl ctiOn Of
4 large AMOUNT Of property and e. e Pecu-
MARY loss. Ia some cases the " thick coar'
has been extracted on the ''long wall" sys-
tenn in two, or even three lettings, and with
y much larger yield per acre hut as this
seam is in many localities greatly disturbed
bv faults, il is probable hat the ''iong
wal,' system would not have been generally
qpplicabie. for reasons that will be imne-
diatelv appreciated BY colliery engineers,
though not by the general reader.
Iiaa fact e QUA 70 every wel-informed
coIliery engineer il the kingdom that the
p working Of this fine coal-seam, far exceed
ing in thickness any other in Great Britain,
bas, for the most part, been entrusted to un-
skilled and often INSCRIPTIONS persons. In
deed, at one time even the bare mention of
tue term colliery engineering in South Stat
yorkshire was regarded as a joke, and ex-
cited sceptical laughter: but 1t was no joke,
either to proprietors, lessees, or the nation.
Ii il scarcely possible to over estimate the
destruction Of coal which formerly resulted
froma combination or ignorance and roguery
All this is perfectly notorious both In South
StafordsAire and elsewhere. Ii is not pre-
tended that there have not always been hon.
'orsblo exceptions to this censure, or that IN
this county coiliery engineers do not now ex-
ist as well iEsn lcted m their art and as up.
right AZ can be found in any other part of
TIE kingdom. There are, happily, many
such, AM they are well known and sppreci-
ated.
The speci6c gravity Of the South Stafford
shire coal is stated 10 be about 3, SO that
= cubic yard should weigh 2, l90'24 pounds,
Ok nearly the gtatu' N Of 2, 240 pounds
Hence, inclusive oi thin layers, termed part
ings, an acre Of the "thiek," or ''ten yard'
coal should contain somewhat less than 49,
ADD tons, and al acre Of the same coal eight
Yards 10 thickness somewhat less than 49,
-, say Ga, 600 tons. Now, it is certain that
-'~ averc~s ~ t.r 9ne-tdird. or l2,O00
-rsmediablv lost