Los Angeles daily herald., 1875-07-07
A Hand Rock Boring Anger.

Mr.. A. J. Doolittle, of Liberty Hill,
Nevada, county, California. has been
for some time in this section, intro
ducing q new and useful machine for
blasting. 1t was patented by r. A.
Thomas, of Damascus, Placer county,
now of Ohio, of whom Mr.. Doolittle
has the right Of territory west Of the
Rocky mountains. 1t has been very
successfully used by the Mountain
Gate Tunnel Company, Of Damascus,
California, who certify that 1t saved
them $4,000, and years time In cut
ting the second tunnel, nearly mile
under the mountain, and raising there
from many air shafts over hundred
feet in helghth from the lower to the
upper tunnel. The Van Emmons
Brothers, Michigan Bluffs, certify to
Its superior merits for cutting sluice
shafts therefrom, and that it saves one
half. Five machines were used al
ternately on Raymond and Do0llttle's
ditch, for nine miles in slate and ser
pentine, where their capacity for cut
ting was nearly doubled. 1t was award
ed u diploma as the best drill ut the
State Fair of 1878, and is the correct
principle for penetrating any hard
material for the use of dynamics.
These augers, under q uniform pres
sure, carry their edges much longer
than drills struck with hammers or
other similar power, which chrystali-
zes the finest steel. Two machines
gave Mr. V. Wackenruder, G. E.,
great satisfaction in cutting the private
carriage road tunnels through the
musseI rocks, south of San Francisco.
1t is used with striking results on the
sulphur and cinnabar banks In Lake
county. Next on Temple street, Los
Angeles, in cemented gravel, where it
gave surprising results. Next on the
grade and approaches Of the Los An
geles and Independence r. r. at the
Cajon Pass tunnel, E. Y. Buchanan,
G.. E., says it is doing first rate in the
tunnel. Mr.. Chas. Crawford, Assist
ant, says 'it is doing fine" July 5th.
Mr.. Van B. Warner certif1es, it bored 8
holes five feet each, in four hours and
fifty-four minutes, in the tertiary of
the San Fernando tunnel, S. P. RI.
At Maj. II. Hancock's brea ranch, it
threw up large masses of hard asphalt
tum at each blast. 1t has given per-
feet satisfaction to economical propri-
etors, who see and think for them
selves. For advancing tunnels re-
quiring large long holes for extremely
powerful explosives, and the
hard labor of many operatives, who
soon exhaust the oxygen, these augers
are invaluable for the periodical blasts.
Where long lines Of resistance, or
the square Of the perpendicular, or
distance is desired, Of material directly
on the grade, without the expense and
delays incident to drilling and
"springng" with giant powder, these
machines are unsurpassed.
An auger set in q feed screw and
both made to revolve at the same mo-
ment by the vibration of two ratchet
levers or crank, by one or two men,
constitutes the motive power, which
moves forward by slide-arm as the
auger advances. The speed is accord
| ing to the number of threads In the
feed-screw for the different materials
to be cut and the skill and exertion
used by the operators. From three te
sixteen threads per inch and from five
to ten feet per hour have been bored
dry or wet. 1t is all metal, weighs
200 pounds and can be set to work in
tunnels by the aid of extension screws
outside by device in ten minutes, and
removed ready for blast in two min
utes. In slate, serpentine, sandstone
limestone, gypsum, tertiary or delta
| coal and brea formations, adobe, pipt
clay, the auriferous gravel of drift ant
hydraulic diggings, as we'll as The
seam dry diggings, where the use o
powder is cheaper than piping witt
water or picking, it is believed these
machines will come into general use
1t Is to be regretted that trusted, ye
prejudiced subordinates, who, being
blind to their own interests, do no
recognize the fact that labor Saving
machines are labor producing ma
chimes, when passing upon the merit
and dement's Of inventions, and tina
labor is not only elevated but the de
mand increased instead of diminishet
by machinery. 80
Persons interested are respectful.
referred to his Honor, Mayor P. Beau
dry, and the various contractors usinI