Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1902-02-06
MINING LrGN1TE.

The workings of the Ignite coal fields
:. { North Dakota has developed the use
" the most up-to-date mining methods.
A little over a year ago the Bismarck.
Washburn & Great Falls railroad was
built. with its temporary terminus at
Wilton, q point some twenty seven
miles north of Bisr arck. Several rath-
er primitive coal fields were in opera
tion in the vicinity. and farmers who
had bored for wells reported Ignite
vein of great thickness at a depth Of
about fifty feet. This led the railroad
company to investigate. 1t was found
that nearly the whole prairie in the
country surrounding Wilton covered
thick and rather black deposit of Ignite
coal.
Arrangements were at once made to
open up a mine near the town. This
first season saw the mining of coal in
North Dakota revolutionlzed. The Sec
ond winter sees still further improve
ments, and plant that can raise near
ly 1000 tons Of coal per day is in opera
ton. The system of mining and rails
ing coal, as applied at the Wilton mine.
is novel in that part of the world. and
possesses certain features which are in
use nowhere else.
The mine is entered by means of
slope or drift, some 400 feet in length,
which taps the vein of coal at a depth
Of about sixty-five feet. The deepest
portion Of the vein is selected for the
opening, in order that the water from
the workings may all drain to the foot
the foot of the incline is a yard where
all the tracks from the different work.
ings converge. The main entries run
east and west for about a quarter of a
mile.
Rooms are cut every twenty or thirty
feet. These run perpendicular to the
entries. Thus the whole mine is sys-
tenn of rooms and galleries, separated
from each other by walls of coal. These
walls will themselves be removed event.
ually, thus taking, absolutely, all the
coal in the vein. The cars are hauled
by mules to the main yard, where each
Is weighed, and then hauled up the in
cline by hosting engine, and is auto
matically tipped into chute which
leads into the freight cars.
A new shaft has been sunk, and in
the near future the coal will be raised
by means of an endless chain, which
will carry the coal from a hopper in the
mine to a bin some thirty, or forty feet
above the level of the ground, where it
will be shot into the freight cars on the
track beneath.
The actual operation of mining is car
ried on by electricity. A machine run
by electricity revolves great horizont.
al sprocket' chain bearing sawlike
teeth. This chain is pressed against
the coal, and ours large slot ten feet
wide by seven feet deep in about fifteen
minutes. A similar cut is made down
the side. Holes are drilled in the tor
with an electric augur, blast of giant
powder is inserted and ignited by cleo
tricity. The result is that a great
chunk of coal weighing from three tt
five tons is blown down. This the min
ers break up and load into cars, which
the mules haul away. The entries anc
rooms are all lighted by incandescen,
electric lights.
| With all these modern improvements
. coal can be mined and put into freight
cars for about 40 cents Per ton.
) At the present time Ignite is used al
: most exclusively in Bismarck, and very
largely in Fargo and other Dakota
towns
In locomotives it was found that the
Ignite, on account of the rapidly witt
which it burned, gave off vast quaint
ties of sparks. Indeed, the pieces would
disintegrate so rapidly III the furnace
that when an engine with heavy loa6
struck grade. the strong draft would
literally lift the fire off the CRATES anc
blow clouds of smoke out of the smoke
stacks, frequently setting the prairie
grasses or grains on fire. The Wash
burn road has experimental with thu
coal in it's locomotives for over year
and has finally succeeded in getting al
engine which, it is believed, will burr
the fuel without the accompanying
evils. The Baldwin Locomotive works
at Philadelphia, designed and built thi
locomotive which, if it proves success
full, will revolutioniZe the type of engine
now in use on the Dakota roads.