The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-01-06

| WOrK on MOnudy ny the JOHllSOH Codi
company at Priceburg. The breaker.
| or, rather, two breakers in one struc-
| ture with common tower and en-
| trance for rough coal will prepare the
| product of the No. mine, the shaft of
which is situated between the main
railroad tracks and wagon road through
| Priceburg and the No. mine. whose
main slope is q half mile from the No.
1 shaft, and Is situated on the hill In
a northwesterly direction.
The new breaker will take the place
of the old No. 1. which was burned
down, and the old No. g which was
partly demolished to permit building
the new structure, the framework of
part of the old portion having been
used in the new breaker. The breaker
| is situated at the head of No. 2 slope.
Building operations began with the
tearing down of the No. breaker on
| Sept. 1 last year. About 100000 feet
| of timber were used, which, together
| with the cost of the engine, boiler,
| breaking and screening machinery,
| represents an outlay which the
| mine officials decline to give an
opinion upon, but which cannot be
far from 100000 The breaker was
built by the contractor who designed
it, S. d. Kingsley, of Blakely. It's con-
struction was under the direction of
the company's superintendent, c. d.
Kingsley. The outside foreman is John
]. Aitken and the inside foreman, of
both mines, is J. X. Berkheiser.
CAPACITY OF BREAKER.
The breaker is now equipped to pre-
pare $500 tons of coal per day, though
it is not likely that enough will be
mined to reach that capacity. If the
quantity of coal warranted it, the
breaker could be equipped to handle
many hundreds of tons more. But
with it's great capacity the breaker is
not large-not large, comparatively
speaking-though few breakers in the
valley exceed it in size or in the
amount of timber used in construction.
1t was designed to overcome what has
been a source of great annoyance and
loss to mining companies, and that is,
breaker facilities not at all commen-
surate with the capacity of the mines.
The old No. 1 breaker could prepare
800 and the No. 2 1900 tons per day
The new order of things will make II
possible to handle 1900 tons additional
| and at less proportionate cost. One
means of economy will be the modern
machinery with which the breaker is
equipped, it's system of rolls, screens
and "telegraphs," or chutes which are
Of the most modern and expense-savins
kind and obviate the employment OF
any large breaker force.
One feature which strikes a prac-
tical mine man is the absence of heighth
and space in structure of such ca
pacity. To prepare $500 tons of Goa
daily nothing less than a plant i'm.
mense in heighth and area is usually
conceived, but in the Johnson breaker
the machinery does away with boti
space and the usual army of men and
boys. 1t contains four sets of rolls
; and fourteen screens. The six wins
, screens are "a feet by in diameter
the four counter screens 81 feet lone
by and in diameter and the foui
center screens IL feet long by il
diameter.
, The hosting engines are two in mum.
| Der of the "direct" type with cylinders
22 by As inches and have drums fee
IN diameter. The two engines which
run the machinery have cylinders Il
by S6 inches. For the slope hosting
the two old engines with cylinders q
by 4S inches are used.
FANS AND PUMPS.
At the No. shaft the fans anC
| pump engines are located for botl
mines, which are connected bencatl
the surface. Here is located a new
t 30-foot Guibal fan with a 10-foot fac
: driven direct by a 22 by As Dickson
{ engine. The No. l boiler plant is o
4 600 horsepower and that at tn
breaker is of 450 horsepower.
< An ingenious gravity arrangement a
! the foot of the breaker tower doe
away with power for shifting excep
that necessary to operate two endless
chain planes each only about a rod il
length. Coal from No. l mine is draw
by locomotive to the foot of q plan,
and hoisted by cable to the breaker
: From the head of the plane, as from
the head of No. 2 slope, the cars ruI
= by gravity into the breaker to tn,
D tower. After being hoisted, empticC
and lowered they run by gravity 4
= the foot of the two short interior chalI
0 planes and run by gravity back to tn,
I head of No. l plane and No. 2 slope
: There is no shifting engine attached
to this part of the breaker.
At the top of the tower are three set
: Of coal bars. After passing the frs
two the coarser coal goes by "tele
graph" to the lower half of the breake
[ and the finer to the upper half. BY al
f arrangement of the plates at the top
I the coal is very nearly cleared O
I the coarser slate and rock before
gets into the rolls and is broken down
Here, too, is an arrangement whereof,
in case the lower or upper part O
the breaker gets overloaded-the Goa
after passing the first two sets of Goa
: bars can have it's course shifted I
either part of the breaker. Here ais
? is a small set of rollers TO break u
the long and irregular pieces.
The culm fuel for the boilers is takel
direct from the breaker by a steel con
y veyor thus doing away with the ex
\ pense, annoyance and occupied spac
K that would follow the use of mules
cars, boys and tracks.
Every screen Is encased and all tn
hoppers are easily accessible. TIL
2 sorting equipment is of Thomas pick
D ers and angle bars.
Z HEATING THE BREAKER.
< The breaker is thoroughly heated b
x exhaust steam. For radiators old boil
x ers of considerable length and com
Y paratively small diameter will be used
y Beneath the breaker are two cuIr
D tracks and two railroad tracks. On
o OF the two latter is for the large an
X the other for the small sizes of Goa
x These tracks lead through a doubl
K weigh office and over two weigh scales
x For several weeks, ever since the bi
Y structure and its equipment began I
y approach completion scores of min
N a la ARAUa