Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1902-10-29

ANh
ore intended. In some instances
shovel is fitted with bucket which
will not hold more than one OF two
tons, but as rule the capacity is such
that from four to eight tons of mater
ial are lifted at every scoop Of the tre-
mendous metal arm.
Steam shovels, in order that they
may be moved quickly and economical
ly from place to place, are mounted up
on extra heavy trucks that are of
standard gauge, and. in the main, very
similar to those which supportthe larg-
est freight cars. 1t is thus equipped to
travel as the railroad cars in the load
ing and unloading of which it may be
engaged, or if it is desired TO transfer
the shovel from one place to another 1T
may be hauled as an ordinary freight
car.
One of the remarkable attributes OF
the modern steam shovel is the ability
of the great, ungainly machine to lift
masses OF material above its head, so
to speak, Almost any of the steam
shovels now in use will dump ma
terial 16 or II feet above the
level of the rails on which the shovel
stands, end some of them, which have
exceptionally long arms, will lift the
huge dippers 20 feet or more above
the track. AS might be expected, 1t IS
,lo,, lnti n fr q machine
which is to perform such work as this
tc provide every possible safeguard
against the constant wrenching and
twisting which are inevitable, particu-
larly when the dipper is operated rap
idly. To minimize the strains it is the
custom to place cushions Of wood be-
tween the steel parts of the machine.
Probably the most interesting steam
shovels in the world are to be found
on the "Mesaba Range" one of the five
districts which so to make the Lake
Superior mining region. Here they rem
der possible in its present scale OF mag
nitude the so-callcd "open-pit mining,
the shovelling of iron ore directly from
its natural resting place in the earth
to the railroad cars which are to carry
it to market. An "open-pit" mine is
nothing more or. less than an immense
hole in the ground, perhaps half mile
square. Into this railroad sidings are
run, as they might be into vast
quarry, and in some of these mines,
where fully million tons of ore is
taken out each year, there Is in opera
ton simultaneously anywhere from
half O. dozen to a dozen of the large
shovels.
The type of shovel most extensively
used in mining operations is 40 feet
| in length and nearly 10 feet in width.
The boiler is nearly feet in diameter.
and the boom or arm OF the shovel
ranges in length anywhere from 20 TO
| 20 feet. Such shovel weighs more
than many locomotive. and costs
from 81 900 to $4,000. 1t is in the iron
regions. previously mentioned. that
the most remarkable records of rapid
loading by means of steam shovels
have attained AS rule five trips of
the dipper are required to fill an
ordinary freight car, but so rapidly is
the long arm raised and lowered that
it is accounted slow work if more
than five minutes be consumed in
loading car, and not frequently cars
are fully loaded and pushed out of
the way of the shovel at the rate of
one every two minutes. From eigS
TO a dozen men are required u
operate shovel of fair capacity. and
by steady work they can place fully
1000 tons of ore aboard tho cars in a
single working dav. IN CIDER to
nj Pc such record rs this. howeye:
it IS necessary that the men have an
opportunity to work on the side OF :