The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-12-05
TO PROLONG LIFE
Of MINE PROPS
Enormous Saving in Cost Of
Coal Mining Easily Ef
fected.
THIS BY THE USE or
PRESERTATIVE TREATMENT
All Materials Thus Far Used in
Treating Props Prove
Efficient.

One Of the biggest expenses CON
nected with coal mining is found in
the mine timbers used 10 support the
various gangways. Their destruction
by decay and breaking costs many
hundreds of thousands Of dollars an
nuaIly and IN, some cases the loss of
human life, Mine operators are fully
familiar with these losses. They
know, also. that the seasoning and
the preservative treatment of timber
add TO its life in service in the nine,
But 1t has only recently been cstab-
hshed by experiment that effective
seasoning and treating with crcosote,
carbolinium, and zine chlorid ms wood
preservatires can be secured Mt
cost so slight in proportion 10 the
greatly increased life of the props
as TO effect a material saving. The
experiment carried on during the past
few months by the Philadelphia aud
Reading Coal and Iron company. at its
colieries near Pottsville, Pa. under the
service has resulted in an economy
which demonstrates that the preserva-
tion of mine props can be put on
firm commercial basis.
In the loss of mine timbers Mt least
60 per cent arc DESTROYED by decay.
and the remainder by crush The per-
centsge charged Ia decay should be
even hlPner, pecauSc many on lnc llm-
bers which break have ALREADY been
weakened by decay Decay is prob
ably the cause of - per cent of all
failures in minc timbcrs.
ood-Destroying Fungi.
Decay in props is principally caused
by Notwithstanding fungi. Warm,
moist air, together with certain gases
always found in mines, greatly favors
the development of these fungi. Venti-
latlon Is an enormous factor Tim
Der in the vicinity of shafts and
slopes. whore there is an abundance of
fresh air, lasts longer than that
moisture and temperature within
mines is so wide that timbers may de.
cay in eight months or may last sew
eral years. Timbers that are constant
ly dry last longer than those subjected
to an alteration Of these conditions
Insects play very considerable part
IN the destruction Of mine timbers.
Many forms are found. including bark
borers, ants and timber worms. Their
presence may be due 10 allowing logs
to lie unpeeled for a considerable time
after telling. sect-infested timber is
frequently overlooked by inspectors
and allowed TO go inside the mines
Ants and cerambycid horers may at
tack props after they 90 in the mine
J l4'j' u''dN HITttVS TdD1plN. ana t0e
destructive work of the insects appears
to he in no way affected by the
lack Of light or by the presence Of
gases. Creosote and carbolinium are
effective insecticides. and stop the
work of the wood -borer.
a mine prop is composed Of three
parts, which together form set -
two uprights, called legs across the
TOP Of which is a crosspiece. called
collar After a prop is decayed sufi-
icently 70 necessitate its removal. it
is replaced At times. when only one
leg is decayed. that leg alone is re.
moved and replaced by a new one
however. the whole set is
replaced. and this involves the de-
struction Of all the logs by saving
them in two TO remove them
Various materials and methods for
preventative treatment have been
tried, and up to the present time all
have proved efficient. Only time will
show which are the most satisfac-
tory from the practical point of
view. Applied with a brush, creo-
sote and carboGnIum give an ex-
:ellent penetration in solid wood,
TO one-half an inch. The amount of
oil that. seasoned loblolly pine takes
from a brush application is surprising.
especially in the end grain Little
difference in penetration has as vet
been noted between creosotc and car.
bolinium, though the latter seems
better on absolutely green timber
All brush treatments were applied hot
and IN two coats. The second coat
absorbed practically as much oil as The
first.
Open-tank treatment has succeeded
beyond all expectations. This consists
Of an immersion of the timbers for
several hours in preservative and then
allowing them to cool to atmospheric
While the feasibility of
the open-tank treatment has been
demonstra ted. there is much yet to be
Learned: The cost may he reduced by
the immersion. and TINS
consuming less fluid a very heavy
treatment is not necessary. The best
preservatives approximately double tho