The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-12-02
A Room for SOumau.

The Altoona Tribune Wednesday of says:
Within the next few weeks the Cambria
Mining and Manufacturing Company. with
| headq quarters at No. l19 South Fourth
| street. Philadelphia. will award contracts
| for the sinking of two shafts. the success
| full operation of which will. with some coke
| ovens now in contemplation. give employ
ment To 800 men.
1t is the intention of the company to sink
two shafts near Sonman station, Cambria
county, along the line of the Pennsylvania
railroad, about twenty miles west of this
city, and work three veins of coal iiom
| this operation, having an output of 1000
| tons pei day.
The main shaft will be put down about
$50 wards from Sonman station on the
| south side of the main line of the Penn
Sylvania railroad and will be 1lx22 feet in
the clear and about 300 feet deep. The in
side timberS will be 1OxlO-inch hemlock
set five feet from centre To centre. 1t will
| be divided into three compartments, Of
which two will be for cage ways, while the
remaining portion will be used as a means
OF ventilation for the mine.
The latest improved appliances for the
rapid handling of cars, pushing them on
and off the cages, will be employed, as the
time necessary for a round trip To be made
with the cages will be only thirty seconds.
| The hoSting plant will consist of the most
| modern and labor-Saving machinery, the
| motive power being a double engine of 30
| horse power. The machinery will be built
so that coal can be hOiSted from all three
| veins from the same shaft.
| The second shaft will be about ten feet
| square, sunk TO the same depth as the 9TH
| err II will be situated about $50 feet from
| the main shaft, aS required by law. and
| will be used as a means of ventilating the
mine. In addition a winding stairway
| will be built in this air course, the purpose
| of which is 10 furnish travelling way for
the men in case of an accident or an ex-
ploSion in which the main shaft would be
| rendered useless.
The Cambria Mining and Manufacturing
| Company, John Baird, No. ll9 South FoI X
| street, Philadelphia. president, owns the
large SOnman tract in Cambria county,
consisting of 5000 acres of the choicest
coal land in that region. OF this the com
pany will tap COO acres from the shaft at
Sonman, taking the coal from the whole
three veins-the ''E, - or Lemon: the %
| and the "B," or Miller seams. The ''B''
seam is believed to be about 300 feet under
i the surface at the point where the shaft
| will be sunk. In the Miller vein alone
| there are 5000 tons of coal TO the acre,
while the Others will average little less
| Taking the three seams a conservative av-
erage would be l., 900 tons per acre. There
| viii be GOO acres worked from this opening.
so there will be about 10000 tons of coal
taken out before the supply is exhausted
| Underlying the whole tract there must be
| G0.OOO,OOO tons of coal of good quality. both
for Steaming and making coke.
| The company has in view the building
of 100 coke OyenS near the shaft. The e
vein is of a superior quality Of coking Goa
and the industry would be profitable one
Other improvements are also in contempla-
tion by the company.
| As soon as possible work will be com
menced for laying out town at SonmaI
station, as this shaft will, with the coke,
oven addition, give employment to a Smal
army of men. There will be a store, prob
ably of brick, built by the company 1t i.
not at all improbable that within IA year
town of 1000 or 1000 inhabitants will b,
built up at SOnman.
1t is estimated that the cost of Sinkinl
the shaft. including 100 ovens and othel
improvements will reach sl.OOO.OOO. 1t /.
not the intention of the Cambria Minn.
and Manufacturing Company to operate
this shaft when completed. The compan,
will lease the whole thing to some opera
ting coal company and will receive "a gooC
royalty OF each ton of coal mined. The!
have other operations leased on the Son
man tract.
a branch two miles in length will bull
from the main line of the railroad at Son
man, thus enabling other parts of this i'm
menSe body Of coal to be worked and con
veyed to the market.
The entire work of sinking the shaft ant
making all other Improvements will be un
der the supervision of L. Mcdonald, o
this city, who occupies the responsible
position of mining engineer and genera
local manager for the Cambria Mining an,
Manufacturing Company. 1t is expecte,
that the work will be completed by June /
1898