The Union. [volume] (St. George, Utah) 1882-1898, 1898-04-02
THE MINE MULE OUSTED.
Improved Machinery Supplants the
Little Animal.

sands OF dollars, and after many years
OF unsuccessful experimenting, an air
engine has been perfected, ;.1d AMI
economical method furnished OF trans
porting coal from the interior of mines
to the botto..l of the slope. The new
device was built by the Baldwin, loco
motive works, and will, it is expected,
be the means of saving millions of dol
lars per annum to the mineral mining
companies. While the locomotive has
been undergoing severe test in the
mine near Girardville for the past few
months, all have awaited the result
with much anxiety, and now that it is
declared q success, most of the prin-
cipal mining concerns are making hIr-
ried preparations to adopt it.
This state of affairs means a boon
to the locomotive builders of the WORD
1t also means that thousands of lnel
and boys employed i'll conveying Goa
from the breasts and gangways {
mines will have to seek ot!:or occur;
tons The leading coal companies nav
long been cndeavoring to obtain a 10
chanical substitute to replace the nj!
mule that would reduce the imment
cost entailed in getting the coal fro
the underground workings to the bot
toms Of the slope. They tried engines
propelled by steam, electricity, gas.
etc, but all proved complete failures.
The steam locomotive was abandoned
because the vapor had tendency to
loosen the top" or roof Of the gang
ways, and various chambers through
oft the mines. 1t also ratified the Pine
| timber used for legs" collars" and
laggings, and caused the top to cave in
frequently, entailing large losses.
cause either was liable to ignite the gas
in the underground workings.
| The new cir locomotive was built al
| most year ago and is the invention Of
| Philadelphia man. With the excep-
ton of o huge air boiler or tank, the
| construction Of the air locomotive is
similar in every respect to steam 10
connective, and it is propelled in the same
manner. The air tank is not unlike the
steam boiler Of an engine, and is car
''ied in the same position, thus doing
away with tender On account OF
rs pointed head it is better able to cut
is way through the heavy air of a mine
attaining a high rate of speed. The all
IS supplied by an air compressor 10
Gated on the surface.
The air is pumped through two five
inch pipes into the mine at pressure
Of 500 pounds per square inch. One o
these pipes runs to the bottom of thu
slope and the other to the end of thu
underground workings. These pipes
serve as q reservoir for the air. At thu
ends of the lines and along the rout
of the locomotive are stations where tn
air tank of the engine can be refillet
when exhausted. Exhaustion frequent
ly occurs, and without the station
pumps the engine would be useless.
The air tank on the locomotive has
! capacity of 1874 cubic feet, a sufIicien
amount of air to carry train, includ
! ing eight or ten heavily loaded min
cars. The speed is regulated accordin:
to the number of mine cars attache,
and to the track. On Il level and straigh
"oilway one of these engines can carr
'R'i 'Nii - VhS4NS ioiuSN hiit'C N"SOi
! { the rnte of % to 35 miles per hour
" the cid method the mine cars wer
Aadcd from chute which ran directl
~ to tho face of the breast" at
Itch Of from 40 to 90 degrees. From
here they were conveyed throug
small rargways by teams Of mules t
the main @argways where BIGGER team
picked them mp and carried them t
the bottom Of the slope. Here they wcr
hoistcd TO the ssrface in self-dumpin
car.