Arizona republican., 1903-03-16
IRON MINING
 OF THE COUNTRY
A Great Revolution in Methods
 Has Come About
The Same Work Bsing Accomplished for One Tenth as Much as It Would Have Cost Few Years Ago.

Washington, March 15.-The wonders accomplished in the mining and handl- ing of iron ore in the United States by the appiica ton Of modern machinery are outlined in a special report to the British government made by the acting British consul at Chicago, Mir. T. Frs kline, a copy of which has been received by the treasury bureau of statistics. The report is entitled Report on the Iron Ore Industry of the United States" but gives especial attention to the modern methods of mining and handling ore, by which hand labor has been greatly reduced. In mining ore in certain parts of the Lake Superior region he says that the top covering of ground rock is scraped off over the whole property before mining begins. Railroad tracks are then laid direct to the ore bed, and the ore is looseaed by blasting. Steam shovels are then brought into use and they load the ore directly upon the cars, one of these machines having loaded 170,000 tons in 26 days, or at the rate of over 6,500 tons per day. These loading machines which daily handle more than 6,000 tons, are
  bor cost for mining and loading aver ages but about Is cents per ton, and in the case Of one mine which dug and loaded 29G,e51 tons in 174 days, the la Dor cost was only cents per ton.
 In the transfer of ore from mine to vessel on the lakes the absence of hand labor is also noticea ble. The ore trains are run on to long docks ex- tending high above the water and hay ing large pockets or apartments into which the ore is discharged from the cars through an opening in the bottom of the car. from which the orc runs by gravity into the pockets beneath the tracks. From these pockets the ore is loaded into the vessel, also by gravity, and passed down long chutes into the hold of the vessel so that ro hand abor is required in transferring the ore from the cars to the vessel. The ore pockets or apartments, which form Q part Of the deck, hold about 160 tons each, and numbc:' from 90 to 3S4. according to the legnth Of the dock
 -'es In unloading the ore from the vessel the saving of labor through the use of machinery is even more notable and important in it's economies and results A series of steel bridges, so adjusted as to be easily moved along the locks, is supplied with a hinged arm, which can be lowered to the hatch Of the ves- sel. Along this arm and across the bridge runs a trolly train to which are attached automatic grabs" similar to double scoop, which are so construct ed that the Srap or scoop digs down. ward into the ore as it closes. The grab or scoop holds about five tons of ore and is described as digging ma chine" as when it begins to draw to- Sethe;' it digs into the ore and does not depend on it's weight to get hold of the ore. There are fifteen unloading ma chimes in q battery, and the grabs run down the long arms which are lowered over each of the fourteen hatches that are in the deck of most lake vessels carrying ore. These matches run nearly the whole way across the decks. The grabs can thus remove over half the cargo without any assistance and the remaining half is brought directly un- der the hatch by the use of. a scraper also operated by similar machinery and managed by a man in the hold through the use of long cords. This scraper brings the ore from between the hatches so that it can be raised by the grab. These grabs are controlled by the engineer who can drop them at any point over the hold that he may wish and after it seizes it's load of ore it is raised Gt full speed. carried rapid ly along the trolly to such given point as desirable, where the ore is deposited into railroad trucks or stock piles, or in some cases into concrete troughs through which it slides to the furnaces where 1t is to be transferred into pig iron. This grab, which thus lifts five tons of ore from the vessel carrying it to such point as is desired within a limited space has a hoistinG speed of 100 feet a minute, and can run along the bridge at the rate of 1000 feet d minute. The operator travels with the grab and can unload it at any given point desired. The bridges to which these arms with their grabs are attach ed can swing in any direction, so that ore, limestone, or coke can be deposited or picked up anywhere in the yard, and are worked by electricity. Twenty-six men will perform, under this system, the work for which 800 were required under the old system.
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