Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-10-13

tureSQue valley or wyoming st PlyIn-
outh and is one of the greatest anthra-
cite mines In the world. where one
tract Is worked through a single hoist
Ing shaft, only one pair of engines and
one pair Of carriages being utilized. Ii
Is fairly representative of the eollieries
of the district and may he taken as
type of the others, though somewhat
better equipped in the matter of ma
chinery and appliances than most OF
them. The main opening of this col
Hery has an area of 1000 acres of coal
to feed its breaker from the famous
red ash vein, which is - feet thick
beneath nearly the whole Of the tract,
and there is the Ross seam, which has
seven feet Of almost pure anthracite.
which is also being mined. The red
ash vein is pierced at a depth of 800
feet below the surface. while the Ross
deposit is 25S feet deep. The shaft has
two hoisting compartments, each feet
inches wide by feet inches long,
while there are the air and pump sec
tons. The length Of hoisting from the
foot of the shaft in the red ash vein
TO the breaker loft is AGO feet. and the
breaker is one of the most complete in
the whole region. being about 100 by
70 feet in size.
There are over 81 miles of tunnels.
gapgways aud slopes in the under.
gound workings of the mine l visited.
which give some idea of the extent of
the subterranean caverns in which the
miners dig the coal and deposit 1t at
the foot of the shaft TO be sent up to
the breakers on the surface. The hoist
ing apparatus in this shaft consists OF
a pair of first motion engines con-
nected directly with the drum shaft,
the cylinders being % inches in diane
ter with q IS inch stroke, There are
two spiral cone drums, each 4 feet l
inch long and : feet in diameter at
the small end and 8 feet ut the large
end The cage, or hosting carriage,
weighs 1890 pounds, and an empty
mine car weighs ESQ pounds The
capacity of these cars is Sc cubic feet.
or about two and one-tenth tons per
car.
The coal when received from the
mine cars at the loft of the breaker Is
dumped automatically on the bars
leading to the roll shoots. and the car
is returned to the cage which next
descends. The coal passes ON the in
clined platform to the rolls, the smaller
sizes graduating themselves into their
proper receptacles through the aper-
lures in the bars, while the lump coal
is crushed by the set of rolls, which
are 4 feet long aud 30 inches in III
ameter, the sharp teeth diminishing
the size of the Jumps of coal so that it
is distributed through shoots to the
screens. The breaker has two cylin-
drical mud screens for the reception
of all sizes of coal feet and g inches
long, feet in diameter with an in
side diameter of feet and 2 inches,
there being double jacket. The an-
thracte passes through these large
screens and is then diverted by the
various meshes to the smaller screens,
of which there is one for the broken
and egg sizes 8 feet 3 inches long and
8 feet inches outside diameter, with
an inside diameter of 4 feet 9 inches.
The three counter screens for chestnut
and pea sizes are 13 feet inches long.
with an outside diameter of 5 feet 3
inches and interior diameter feet
inches. The two main screens for
the prepared sizes, sizing all of the
stove coal. are % feet s inches long,
with an outside diameter of 6 feet 8
inches and inside diameter of feet q
inches, and the buckwheat screens are
two of them 8 feet 3 inches long and
4 feet 6 inches in diameter, the other
two being IS feet long. with outside d.
ameter Z feet and inside diameter 4feet
inches This furnishes an immense
screening capacity for the large hoist,
and as the coal leaves one screen pass
ing through telegraphs, or shoots, to
the next screen it is carefully picked
of slate and bone by a large force OF
boys before il reaches the various
pockets over the cars being loaded for
shipment.
The work Of the anthracite miner,
who, with pick In hand and lamp on
cap, goes down into the dark, sultry,
almost sitting caverns to dig out the
black diamonds which form such a
great factor IN the worlds activities, is
no easy task and Is fraught with dan
gers, principal Of which are possibili-
ties of gas explosions and the flooding
of the mine. At most of the well equip
ped collieries these dangers are mini
mized, so far as it is possible, by the
arocfiop ~ prpnt xpnfiIaffn0 fans and
.sz $3.50