The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-11-18

yer & Snyder Steel Company's three
plants at Oliver, has given orders to
put every oven in full operation on
December 1.
w. ii. u. Royce, superintendent Of
the Republic Iron and Steel Compa.
ny's plant at Republic, received or
ders to put the entire plant in full
operation Monday
o. w. Kennedy, general manager of
the Orient Coke and Coal Company,
said next Monday will see the 4S0
ovens OF that plant burning in full.
The fact that the independents are
preparing for resumption in full Is
regarded as evidence that the II. G..
Frick Coke Company will soon send
out notice of general resumption
The price of coke is advancing and
there are increasing inquiries for the
product.
The last statement OF George B..
Irwin, secretary of the Independent
Coke Producers Association, show
ed 81 per cent of the Independent
ovens In blast and 46 per cent of the
corporation ovens burning. II show
ed gain OF per cent over that of
last week. The shipments have
shown noticeable increase.
Few of the foreigners who left the
coke region year ago have return.
ed. Coal miners are hard to get and
Tor this reason many ovens must re
main Idle until the former workmen
come back
The Republic Iron and Steel Com
pany has sent out request for min
ers. The Orient Coal and Coke Com
pany Is similarly situated.
The coal and coke trade in the r.
win field has shown marked improve
ment since the election. 1t is esti.
mated that fully 100000 tons of slack
has been piled up during the past six
months on account of mills with pat
ent stokers having been idle. This
slack Is now going out.
The Jamison Coal & Coke Company
reports all its idle ovens have been
fired, except 150 which cannot be
operated on account of shortage of
water.
The Keystone Coal G. Coke Com.
pany reports orders that insure full
operations within few days.
The Penn Gas Coal Company has
been running full the last week, while
the Westmoreland Coal Company re-
ports the receipt of large orders in
the last few days.
The government experimental sta
tion for the testing of explosives used
In mining, the plant being located in
Arsenal Park, Pittsburg, will be for
mally opened December 4, while the
convention Of the American Mining
Congress is in session here. The
opening of the station will be attend
ed by several hundred OF the leading
scientists and eigineers OF the ooun-
try.
Members OF the national advisory
board on fuels and structural mater
ials appointed some time ago by Pres.
| ident Roosevelt to aid in the conser-
vation of the national resources OF
the country, will be the guests of hon.
or. The board includes such men as
| DR.. G. b. Dudley of Altoona. chief
| testing engineer of the Pennsylvania
railroad; Prof. w. +. NJ. Goss, dean
of the department of engineering,
University of Illinois; George Webs
ter, chief engineer of the Philadelphia
water works system. and James Knox
Taylor, the supervising archi ect of
the treasury.
The experimental station has al
ready been of much service in show
ing how dangers Of mining may be
eliminated. Discussing this Satur-
day, ]. F. Callbreath, Jr. secretary of
the mining congress, said:
"The fact thai a number of the
well-known and widely-used so-called
safety explosives have icnited the
fire damp in the explosives chamber
at the plant, when all these, if they
lived up TO their names, should not
have touched off the deadly gases, has
brought vividly to the mind of the un-
derground toiler the constant dangers
of his work.
THE fact also, that in practically
every instance, in the tests, the coal
dust has been exploded. has left a
deep impression upon the minds of
both the miner and the operator. One
of the strange things about mining is
that the practical men. the miners
and the owners, are the last to believe
that coal dust is as dangerous an ex-
plosive as fire damp. This has led
to much carelessness in watering of
mines.
Now that the government plant al
ready has shown several hundred
miners and owners that coal dust is
dangerous explosive, expect to see
much more care given to the sprink-
ling Of the mines. This will be of
great aid In lowering our disgraceful
death rate in the mines, which Is now
four times as great for every 1000
men employed as any country of Eu-
rope. learn from unofficial sources
that the number of deaths this year
in the coal mines will be about 1000
less than the year before. This is
partly due to the agitation at tho
time of the big explosions last De-
cember, but more particularly to the
moral effect cf the federal govern
ment taking up this question"
John Mitchell and President Thorn
is l.. Lewis, of the United Mine Work
ers, and several prominent coal oper-