Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1902-10-29

point Of the deposit the coal below
is reached by inside shafts or inside
slopes. These shafts, which are some
times sunk to a depth of a thousand
feet, usually have several compart.
ments. one Tor the pumpway and lad.
der and two or more for hosting.
A common size OF the hosting com.
partments is 7xl2 feet. The coal is
brought to the bottom of the shaft
from the inside or blind shafts by
means OF small cars. and In some in.
stances sheet iron chutes. according
to the inclination of the shaft, accord
ing as the blind shaft slopes up or
down from the bottom of the shaft
from the surface.
Anthracite is mined with hand ro-
tary drills and by black blasting pow.
der, Dynamite or giant powder is MS.
ed for rack work. sometimes for driy.
ing gangways. and in some locations
for blasting the coal itseu where fire
damp necessitates a llaueless oXplos.
i've. The mines are ventilated by
rotary fans. The law provides that
each miner shall be- provided with at
least POO cubic feet Of air per minute.
Fire damp is prevalent in many of the
anthracite shafts necessitating the
use of safety lamps by the miners.
The cost of mining anthracite coal
is greater than the cost OF mining bi.
luminous coal. and this cost does not
end when the coal is landed at the
surface of the mine, Anthracite when
IL comes from the mine consists of
Jumps OF various sizes. and intermiX,
ed with these humps is a mixture of
rocks. These humps must be broken
and stored as TO size before the an
thracite is ready for the market. since
the economic use Oh anthracite re-.
qulres that the Jumps must be of as
nearly uniform size as is possible, and
as there is a greater demand for the
intermediate sizes the larger Jumps
must he broken down to smaller sizes.
This elaborate preparation greatly in.
creases the cost of the coal.
Anthracite is prepared for market
In what Is known as the coal breakers,
a large building. usually built Of tim.
Der. but sometimes OF steel and iron.
The coal Is broken up by machinery,
consisting Of tooth roofs, after which
II is screened in circular revolving
screens, The slate is picked out by
hand by boys and old men. who sit
along the chute through which the
coal passes. As far as possible the
work Of sorting sizes and picking out
impurities Is done by machinery,
The general plan Is to sort the coal
yer inclined bars. then to pass what
or shaking screens. while what goes
through goes directly to the loading
bins, or else Is broken up into smaller
sizes by rolls and then separated into
the various sizes by the e The
capacity of the average breaker Is
from two to three thousand tons ol
coal a day.
Many estimates are given as to the
cost of mining and marketing anthra.
cite. Here Is n from the American
Coal Operators association letter
which refers particularly TO the small
er sizes of anthracite: Mining and
preparation. sl.25 per ton: transpor
tation to New York. s1.35 per ton
making a total Of $3.50 per ton.
That there Is a unit TO the supply
OF anthracite in this country Is recog
nized by all authorities. The exten,
of the anthracite fields is about 3.30t
| square miles. II Is located in the
sfata of DonpoyIyanio and hrnod1,
speaking is bounded on the north by
the Susquehanna river. on the east by
the Delaware and Lehigh rivers. thes,
three rivers forming the drainage out
let for the region. The valleys con
tanning the deposits generally rui
from north to south. The creates
length Of any of these valleys Is 12i
miles. while the width is perhaps 81
miles. According to Lesley thes'
beds Of anthracite coal were Originally
bituminous in character. and were de
posted at the same time as the bi
luminous coal of western and centra
Pennsylvania. and were subsequent,
changed to their anthracite character
by some process of metamorphism
The original contents Of the anthra
cite coal deposits have been estimat
ed TO be 19,507, S72,325 tons. The an
nual capacity Of the mines is estimat
ed to be 1000. 900. while the marke'
VIII take less than $4,000. 800 tons. i
Is estimated that there are 100000.
900 invested In the anthracite indus
try. with an annual profit Of from
SS5, 100000 to 800. 600. 900. added Z,
by freight traffic net earnings OF $40,
900 900 a year.