Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-09-23
Interior of the AyOndale Mine.

stTuCh. IUty resumed WORK on lnQrSUay
last. The mine is entered by shaft on
the hillside This is the only entrance.
Wooden buildings, 100 feet high ON 200
feet long, covered the mouth of the shaft.
The mine was filled with narrow passages,
from four to ten feet high, which occasion.
ally opened into immense pockets or
caves. A railroad track was laid on the
bottom of each of these passages The
cars were TILED with coal, three-quarters
of mile from the shaft, by the miners at
WORK. The coal cars were then run
through the various oden-supported
passages TO the shaft They were then
run upon platform, which was raised to
the top of the shaft, the same rs com
mon elevator or u vertical railway. When
the cars reached the earth's surface they
were run out over II trestle railway
through the wooden buildings and
dumped, The coal would fall in huge
screens, where, in some cases, il was
properly assorted, and then dumped into
the cars of the Bloomsbury & I.acka-
wanna Railroad, by which means ii was
taken TO market
A person wishing to enter the mine
would get into an empty coal car, which
N'' 'iiNH iAi uil'll VIZ WV ttti ,iJ lllt lOD
of the shaft, At given signal the empty
car would drop, and at the same time a
/ loaded car would ascend the double shaft.
As the bottom was struck, the empty car
would glide off into dark passage, and u
loaded car would take its place. In an in
slant mule would be hitched to the
empty car, which would be drawn at a
( rapid rate to the foot of an inclined plane
I Here a train of light ears would be
formed, which were then drawn up the
/ plane by the simultaneous descent OF a
4 train OF loaded cars
/ The various veins of coal in the Avon
dale mine are some nine feet thick, and
have gentle upward slope, A passage
way is cut along each vein The tunnels
are tearlully dark, Their only light is
that from the miners lamps. These safety
lamps are worn on the miners hats.
The breasts in which the mining is
carried on sometimes resemble huge halls
and rooms. One vein in the Ayondae
mine is thirty feet thick, and the gallery
along this vein is correspondingly large
/ The mine is simply a vast network of
black labyrinths, expanding occasionally in
to immense pockets or breasts" where
larger blasts than usual are made The
coal iscracked by these blasts, and loosencd
by the pick and shovel, after which the
cars are filled. The miners work in these
dark galleries in groups of from five to a
dozen men, The cars hold about two tons
apiece In brisk times the mines will turn
ont 500 tons per day, The miners proper
work by the carload, and easily make SIS
per day. The mule boys generally get SIS
per week. The men who handle the ears
and attend to the hosting are also paid by
the week.
AS there was but one main shaft to the
/ Avondale mine its ventilation was difficult
1t had not been worked for some time, and
much foul air had collected in the damp
places. Besides the bad air generated ~
the men and horses, and by the burning of
lamps and gunpowder, inllammable gasses
issue from crevices in the coal These
gases mingle with the foul air of the
mine, and will explode on the approach of
a lighted candle This gas is the fre-damp
so much dreaded by the miners. TO
breathe it thirty seconds is sure death
The fire-damp is composed Of carburet.
ted hydrogen, and the choke.dalnp of ear.
bonic. When blasting for coal il will FIRE.
quently issue in jets called blowers. At
times, when the cavities are broken into
the coal by picks or crowbars, these blow.
crs will burst out, creating a singing noise
by the force current. The great danger is
/ from opening pentup reservoirs holding,
under great pressure, immense bodies Of
gas disseminated through large areas of
coal or collected in abandoned workings.
When such bodies are inflamcd, the
whole atmosphere Of that portion Of the
mine explodes, and the coal dust floating
through the passages is ignited. The nine
is like the interior of u fiery furnace, The
flames rush through the long corridors,
causing repeated explosions, In some
cases they spring up the shafts as ifssuing
from the crater If the volcano. The sub
terrancan walls are frequently shaken as
if by an earthquake. The miners in the
workings, their lights blown out by the
force Of the explosion, hasten through the
dark passages, stumbling over heaps Of
rubbish
1t is possible that the accident at the
Ayondale mine was caused by one Of these
explosions. Persons entering the mine
complain of the sulphurous fumes choking
up the corridors The mine was vcntilat-
ed by furnace at the bottom Of the shaft,
BY this furnace the air was made to circu-
late through the complicated passages Of
the mine. The air for feeding the furnace
was OF course drawn from the lower part
Of the mine.
AvondaIc mine has but one shaft That
was divided by an alright partition into
an upcast and downcast Partitions
across the passages below caused the air
to pass to any and all desired points be
fore it reached the passage leading to the
furnace Ingenious cXpcdicnts were
adopted TO regulate the currents of air
and to cause only the air which had passed
through the purcr portions Of the mine to
feed the tire, lest the more impure eur.
rents should become nflamcd, and the ex-
plosions follow back into the most remote
workings. The partitions across the great
gangways along which the coal was run
to the slmft was furnished with doors
which were opened and shut as The coal