Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-26

Jr $50 men employed here, 325 of them be- ing. miners. The Galloway Coal com pany has four mines at work. Nos and 4 are located on the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham railroad, and Nos. and 6 are located at Carbon Hill. Ala. No. Is a shaft working on two levels, first level seventy feet below sur face. coal averages 4 feet inches thick. and is splendid domestic and steam coal. Second level is 240 feet below the surface, coal averages thirty inches of clean coal, and said to be of frst-class quality. The mine is equipped with air mining machines, capacity of No. 2 is 800 tons daily. No. Is a slope with capacity of 700 tons daily No. 5 is a shaft. coal feet six inches thick, shaft is about forty feet deep, capacity 400 tons daily. No. is a drift with capacity of 100 tons daily. About two-thirds of the miners here are white men, and about ten percent of them own their homes. The Galloway mines are well ventilated by fans
 Patton Mines located in the ssouth- west corner of Walker county, is owned by the Virginia and Alabama Coal com pany. The coal worked is mostly in drifts, which have been in operation for ten years. These drifts are ventilated by furnace. Coal Is mined here by elec- trical machines, eighteen of which are now in operation. The miners al this mine are paid day wages. About 200 men are employed. About 800 to 500 tons are mined here every day. This company operates another mine near Oakman, which is run on the same prin- ciple and which has an output of 400 to 800 tons per day. The vein at both of these mines is four feet in thickness. About nine-tenths of the miners here are negroes The church and school fa- cilities are good. No complaints were heard here as to ventilation.
 The Corona Mines, the property of the Corona Coal and Coke company, are To- cated in Walker county, about sixty miles west of Birmingham. The. com pany owns 1S,000 acres of the best coal lands in the county, most of it well-tim- bered. Several fine seams underlie the property. The seam now being worked is four feet thick. The coal is superior for coking purposes. There are ten drift openings. This is the only mine in the south that is operated by electricity, the lighting and the hauling being done by this power. The saw-chain, undercut machines are used here, and the men are paid by the day. The committee heard no complaints from any parties at this mine. MT l.. E. Musgrove, of Jasper, is the president of the company. These mines are appar- ently w:ll ventilated by furnaces.
 Blossburg mines, Jefferson County This mine Is operated by E. M. Tutwiler, lessee from the Sloss company. Two openings are operated. The seam hsre is 3R feet. The mines are ventilated by fan. In addition to the mine opera tiens, the company sustains 150 coke ovens and a big Ramsey- Robinson washer. About 60 per cent. of the miners here are white men, and about 30 per cent own their own homes. As far as the committee could learn the men are satisfied with their lot in life.
 The Slcss mines.-The Sloss Steel and Iron company, S. Haas, president, oper- ates some, of the finest mining properties in Jefferson county. It's big mines at Coalburg are operated by county con- victs. At Coalburg about 400 men are employed, about 275 of them being min- CTS. The output of this mine is about 800 tons.
 Brookslde and Brazil are two fine twin mines belonging to the Sloss company. Together they employ 600 men, 5OV or them being miners. The output Is about 2000 tons per day The Sloss company owns another fine neighboring mine, known as Cardiff, which is not now In operation. All of the Sloss companys mines are drift openings, and there are eighteen of them. The fan system of ventilation prevails at all of them, ex- cepting Brazil where furnaces are used. The Sloss company sustainS washers at many of its mines, and operates very large number of coke ovens. Practically no complaints were heard here
 Gamble mines Walker County.-Car- rington and Elliott are the operators here. They work only one well-venti- lated UTlIC opening anu Scl obt 1000 tons per month. All of the min CTS here are native Americans and very few own their homes. This company drills and blasts with machinery and pays its men by the day instead of by the ton or other measure. Between fifty and 100 men are regularly employed by this company. No complaints were made by any of the operatives to the committee.
 America mines-Operatedb by theAmer- HA1Y here is screened before it is weighed, as is done at Patton and Corona. The reason for this is that the slack from this coal is absolutely worthless, not being suitable for steam or coking purposes. The com pany argues that it pays It's miners as much for their work as any mine in the district, the rate being 70 cents per ton for lump coal and nothing Tor nut, me coal and slack. The company insists that the method adopted by them puts a premium on careful and scientific min ing and that an accomplished miner can earn more at their place than he can elsewhere, whereas a careless one who breaks his coal into small particles willnot do so well as at a mine where fine coal is available for use and where the coal is weighed before being dumpd or screened. The records of the company showed that the waste in fine coal on the day before the committee visited the American mine was 19 per cent. This IS practically a new mine It is well venti- lated by furnace. The men here ap- pear generally to be satisfied, although some complaint was made as to inc weighir of the coal after it was screened, they insisting that it should be weighed when 1t came from the mines, as was done at other places.
 About half of the miners here are white men, The school facilities and church facilities are good. The men live Tn nice new houses, the property of the com- pany, and make no complaints as to the rental and other charges.
 In concluding it's report, your commit tee would beg to add it's testimonial of the excellent work done for both the min CTS and for the operators by MT. James rfillhouse IT., the state inspector oe mines To his intelligence, honesty and practical knowledge of mining, Is attrib- utable in very large measure. the sat isfactory conditions that the committee has the honor to herewith report. He accompanied your committee in Its in- spection, and his intimate acquaintance with all of the details which presented themselves, was of great practical ser