The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-01-10
Wntr-. i.r 'le WaE-I>euNN's ADVOCATE
The Origin Of Coal No. l6.
SHINING FoE ,oAJ


~ ANDREW Euv
I'm mining districts where the country il
broken up ~ deep surface orisions, coal
mines are opened in the TANKS Of the noun
-a,ns The search for coal in regions which
admit w drift mining Is a simple and in
expensive undertaking, as the various coal
seams. ID one place or another, come 70
the surface and expose themselves to the
naked eve The first discovery Of coal in
the Lehigh region, Pa, by Philip Ginter,
was of the since famous open quarry IF
anthracite coal, where the mammoth seam.
measuring nearly seventy feet Ia thick
ness. was exposed 70 full view. and from
which, in after years. perhaps 1000 600
tons VI coal We're quarried III open day.
extending over an area of forty acres #
land. In hill countries where the coal IL
covered by the alluvial cover Of the out
crop the presence ~ brd Is ascyrtained
~ cutting a trench two or three feet in
depth up the hillside until the outcroppiug
Is encountered.
In regions. however. where the measures
~ deep and tie country Il NIT very bro
ken. the aid Of the drller is called int
requisitiun. AZ well to ascertain the exist
euce Of the coal as the thickness and ma
ture of the working strata. the existence
ana direction ut faults, shipdIkes, etc.
and whether any ancient and abandoned
workings. " which az record has been
kept, may not he present. When the Dor
ings have been finished and the resolution
adopted to commence sinking, there is
called into actively the finest display u
courage ami endurance ON the part Of the
suker, and IF mechanical ability on the
part Of the superintendent that the world
has ever seen. Especially is this true of
districts where the measures are covered
by newer strata saturated with water. as
IN Belgium.
The size of coal shafts. il these latter
DAYS. where the main object is To get out
All the coal possible in the shortest time,
IS generally from sixteen to twenty feet
long bv eight 10 ten feet wide ln the
United States they are made of the shape
Of parallelogram. but In England they
are often circular, while in Belgium they
are frequently like a polygon. having ten
II twelve sides The loose cover Of the
drift formation has Il be securely tmbered,
and it is often a most difficult undertaking.
where beds of gravel and quicksand ato
encountered, to get down to solid material.
In most cases a horse and GIN are used to
10 raise the material until solid ground is
met then a steam engine temporarily cree
ted for the purpose is employed. Some
capitalists erect the hoisting machinery for
the first work, invariably the best method
When beas OF quicksand prevent the wall
ing Of the shaft by wooden material. re-
source is had to cast-iron cylinders, which
are lowered into the shaft and made to
sink down through the quicksand by enor-
nous pressure. In these cases it is found
very difficult to rest the iron casting On
solid material, SO as to dam back the ever
oozng sand and water, and 1t has some
times happened that a shaft, after protru
ding through quicksand into the slate Or
rock below, has sprung leak and been
retilled. requiring the renewal Of sinking
from the surface. Cases are not wanting
where. after an expenditure Of the great
est engineering skill and the most heroic
efforts Of the miners. the operations have
been abandoned in fruitless despair
Sometimes large fields Of water are met
with in the process Of sinking, which in
volve immense and rrunons OUTLAWS. In |
the deep mines Of England and those q |
the Continent Of Europe the watery beds |
are damned back by plank or iron tubing. |
At the Shereoaks coal NINE in England, |
or
were placed in the shaft as lining to dam |
back the water bearing strata Some Of /
the water-feeders Of this shaft eucom- |
tered in the process Of sinking yielded 800 |
gallons Of water per minute.
The most remarkable cases Of lining |
shafts under difficulties which would seem |
as insurmountable, are those Of the mines |
of the st. Avoid Company, in the North |
Of France These shafts two in number, |
one for hosting and the other an air shaft, |
were sunk by boring by Msssrs Chandren |
& Kind, as described in the preceding ar
ticle Not only was the sinking process
completed from the surface, but the lining |
was lowered in the same manner as the |
boring advanced. The bottom ring of the |
tubing was arranged with a sliding case, IN |
which there was placed quantity Of moss
or oakum, which, resting or the even sur
face Of the shaft bottom, as made by the
ponderous drills Of the boring tools,
formed water tight fitting. After the
water bearing strata had been cut through
the water Of the shaft inside the cast-irOn
apparatus was pumped out, when the work
men went down or up at pleasure. But
the boring process did not end with the
security K the shaft, but was continued
until the coal was reached.
This method Of sinking shafts, by Dor
ing them out from the surface, is entirely
practicable under all circumstances and
conditions, in fact is practicable when all
other methods fail, and it will doubtless
come into more general use before long
Sinking is the most dangerous and the
most exhausting work of mining. The
sinkers are wet through and through from
che moment they go down the shaft till
they return. they are often up to the |
knees in water and showeR Of water from |
the feeders above fall upon them contin- |
ually. Inblasting the rock they have to |
rise through the shaft in the dirt bucket,
while the shot threatens to explode below !
and send them all to pieces. All the ma
tsrial raised in the process Of sinking Is |
lifted and hd1sted, while their lives hang