The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1903-10-15
Mandanns Suit Of Kingwood Coal Company Against
West virginia Northern Railroad Company and
Others Decided in Favor of the Plaintiff, According
to Facts Presented to the Court.

Among the matters TO be investigated are
the following: The working places, the
number Of mine cars and their capacity,
the switch and tipple efficiency, the mum,
Der and character of the mining ma
chimes in use, the hauling system and
the power used, the number of miners
and other employees, the mine openings
and the miners houses. No one of these
various and essential elements can safely
be said to be absolutely controlling,
though likely the most important of
them all are the real working places, the
available points at which coal can ba
probably mined AT each true working
place certain quantity Of coal, to be
determined by the thickness of the seam
and conditions peculiar to the different
coal fields, can be excavated and removed
during stated periods of time, and so it
follows that if other essentials are ade.
quate the daily output of mine can DO
computed by the number of its available
working places. If the working places
in mine can provide larger quantity
of coal than the mine cars can haul. or
the tipples can load, or the machines used
and the miners employed can remove
then at that mine during the time that
such conditions exist, the daily output
should be gaugcd by careful investiga-
tion Of the elements so tending to rc.
strict its production. But even in in
stances of this character it is cssentia!
that n comprehensive study of the true
status of the mine be made. otherwise
unjust discrimination will ensuc, with the
inevitable result of ireparablc injury to
the mine so treated. II, for instance, it
should appear during the inspection that
the tipplc had suffered an injury, ol
had been entirely destroyed. the pre-.
sumption would be that it would be rc
paired or replaced Immediately, and for
the purpose Of car distribution the mine
should be rated as if the tippIe were in.
tact, though during the temporary dis
ability its quota Of cars would neither
be needed nor furnished.
Again, if the inspection should dis
close. the fact that the working place.
would produce and the tippIc4 could load
more coal than the mine cars could haul,
still if the number Of such cars were suf.
iicicnt to move the coal required 10 load
the limitcI number Of railroad cars as.
signed such mine. then the capacity Of
the mine for output should be ascertain
ed from the number and character of the
working placca-thcrc being no other dc
tccncy than mine cars-for no minr
should be required 10 keep on hand
greater number OF mine cars than nre
necessary to move the coal required to
utilize the tonnage allotted to it. Il, the
supply Of mine cars can be without de.
lay increased should such tonnage be en-.
largcd. Indeed, the entire supply Of
mine cars might either be disabled or
destroyed, and still the mine itself, in all
other respects, remain in perfect rondi.
tion-a temporary suspension Of ship
ping capacity cxisting-but its real al
lotmcnt for transportation purposes re.
naming the same. If the tipple capac.
ity Of the mine is found to exceed the
maximum power of its working
places, it would certainly be i'm.
proper to rate that mine by such capac-
ity, even if its mine cars and switch
facilities relatively worked with its tip.
pie, And if the mine car supply We're
in excess of the requirements ofits work.
ing places, or of the ability of its tipplc,
or of its allotment of railroad cars, il
would be an injustice to other mines
where such conditions did not exist, if
such excess of mine cars were calculated
to their limit in the rating for distribu-
tion Of railroad cars.
'When mines have been working for
some time, not to the limit of their ca
pacity, but on an output based on n re.
strictcd allotment OF railroad cars, and a
new inspection is taken from which 10
make the distribution of railroad cars
for future use because of changed condi.
tions, then such previous facts and the
results naturally following therefrom,
should be noted with dscerment, before
the maximum capacity of such mine for
future output is announced. If this is
not done, the mine is apt to be discrim-
mated against, even though such was
not intended, and mines where such con
ditions did not exist will under the new
allotment, develop themselves much fast
er than the mine which has heretofore