Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-14

tom carefully and be sure to take out
all the shattered rock, for it is difficult
to drill ground that is shattered.
Machine holes should not be deeper
than feet for cut holes and and IL
feet for back and center holes. VI
course local conditions will sometimes
vary this and judgment must be exer-
cised accordingly, but the above should
be the maximum depth. There is no
necessity of blasting out timbers II
man knows his business. Miners like to
use large quantities of dynamite be-
cause it breaks the rock finer and makes
easier shoveling. When timbers are
blasted out, caution the men and let
them know it will not be tolerated; If it
continues it is time to get a new crew
of men.
The wall and end plates should be
protected against blasting by mailing on
the under sides 3-inch plank and leaving
it there until you are ready to timber
again. Do not allow the timbers to get
too far from the bottom-in fact as soon
as there is room for set, put it in. To
avoid injury the guides wnen blasting
have two sets of false ones, one pair
long enough to reach between two sets
and the other pair long enough to reach
three sets. 1t is necessary that at least
one man on shift should be good
timberman.
Do not have too many men in the
shaft, especially when timbering. One
man in each compartment is sufficient.
If you have a machine crew of four
men, when it comes to timbering send
one of them to the surface to help the
top man send down the set. He will be
more useful there than in the shaft. l
have made it point to timber on the
night shift, so as to have the timber
Trainer have everything in readiness
during the day. Have the top man place
everything necessary close to the shaft
so that there may be no delay in get
ting the set down; have the hangers in
good shape; have the staging ready at
hand, and it should go down first of all;
then the tools, axes, hammers, plumb
hobs, saw, nails, two picks and few
wedges; then the wall plates; be care
full to send them down in pairs so that
it will not be necessary to send them to
the surface again; then the end plates,
posts and centers, now bucket of as
sorted blocks (and plenty of them) and
3-inch wedges.
All this should be sent down without
any delay, as the men in the shaft have
nothing to do until the set is down,
when they get ready to hang it. The
set should be blocked in three hours at
most, and then the tagging should be
sent down. From the time the staging
goes down until it is back at the sur
face again with the set complete, should
not take over six hours. Yet how often
is this done?
Do not allow every man in the shaft
to ring the bell for the cage or bucket.
Have one man on shift do it and have
him educated to do it properly. Do not
give your machine men starter and a
6-foot drill and expect them to do good
work. Have plenty of steel and do not
have three or four different sizes, for
they will not follow in the holes and be-
sides will cause vexatious delays.
If you are sinking by hand have each
shift drill, blast, and send up their own
rock, so that in case of missed holes
will know exactly where to look for
them. Have tally board at the top
and tally the amount of rock sent up
by each shift. This creates rivalry
and brings good results, but do not ex-
pect the shift that has to take out the
cut to send up as much rock as the shift
that comes after. Keep powder and fuse
for your shaft men at the surface. and
have the top man cut and cap the fuse
during his spare moments.
If the ground is wet, fuse should be
creased for two or three feet back from
the cap so as to avoid getting the cap
wet. These few suggestions have been
tried and proven in actual work, and to
some one lacking in experience their
application may mean the difference be-
tween an assessment and dividend. l.
BY A. R. Mcdonald, in the Mining and
Scientific Press.
- Democratic County Convention.