The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-01-22

~. a. * 49,. X y - . ~ 4 ~ Is " II-I'|l .
j
Il
;Iesss ion iii stenee. Ter people ss,s
4 he not. directly connected With min
Ing realize HIT the operation sofs the
mines requires thousap of feet q
timber a ne form o. prom: cemen,
ana other natera have been tried
for this use III the mines, but no sat
.lisfactory sub sutute has been found.
The coal Industry brings more than
$lo.oOO.ooo a year, to the State Of Ken
lucky According TO the State 1nspec'
tor OF Mines; Kentucky produced In
1906, S,0as, FAC tons Of coal from her
larger mines, not counting those that
produce only for local use. In 1906
this had increased to 9,59s,5?9 tons.
while Inst year t1soD, 1o,4se.o61 tons
we're tatken out Of this same class Of
mines. X Z. tts a
| In the recent study OF the forest con.
ditlons OF Kentucky made by the For:
est Service In cooperation with the
State Board OF Agriculture, Forestry
and immigration. the report OF which
Is now being prepared in Washington.
al eiTor. was made to ascertain to
what extent the mining companies
we're dependent on timber. what was
their present and future available sup
r]y, and what steps. II any, might BE-
taken to insure the permnencc OF TINT
supply. f
Most OF the coal companies operat.
Ing In Kentucky own or control some
timberlani and draw at least part OF
their supply OF mining tintbers from
their own land. These eompanits
seldom keep any account Of the
amount or vaue Of the timber thus
cut. their only charge being the cost
OF cutting and delivering this timber
to the mines. Few companies scpar-
ate the cost OF sawn timber and split
or round props. and also keep the pur.
chase cost with the cost OF placing in
the mine under the one head Of tim.
berfng." It is plain what difficulty this
puts in the way Of obtaining reliable
data.
From the best figures obtainabte. II
has been calculated that in the eastern
and southeastern parts Of the State II
takes on an average siX.tenths OF 4 GU.
bic foot Of round Or split timber for
each ton Of coal removed. This In.
Guides props, caps, room ties and col.
lars. but does not include rails. brat.
tice. or other Sawn lumber. The
mines In this region are usually above
water line md are entered on the
level, while In the west, deep shafts
are mostly used. The roof is usually
slate In the east and so more props
are needed than In the west where a
limestone roof often makes the use OF
props unnecessary. IN this latter re.
zion m average Of about one.fourth
Of IL, cubic foot Of timber per ion Of
coal is needed. varying with the nature
of the roof.
The total output of 10.43G,OGl tons
o. coal for Kentucky In 1907 was taken
from something like 30 mines. Using
the above figures as basis. this eh
tailed the use OF something over 4.
100000 cubic feet of round mining tim.
Der. Or an equivalent of about $4,000.
900 feet, board measure, Of timber In
the year, which Is altdt 10000 feet
board measure to the average mine OF
$4,000 tons annual output, Though
this Is not all cut from merchantable
saw timber. much the greater part Of
it Is. The mines are usually supplied
by contract and us the larger timber
Is split up yields more props. and Is
consequently easier anil cheaper to
handle, It is generally taken In pref.
erencr 10 the smaller growth. Con
tractors are usually given free hand
and often the finest ash. poplar. and
white oak timber Is made up into
props in preference to the less valua.
Bile species. .".-.
Besides the split props, there is
something like one board foot Of sawn
timber per ton OF coal put into the
mines in the year for rails, and brat.
tice, eetc. II can not be determined
how much sawn timber IL used above
ground for tipples and other construc.
,ton, but one board feet per ton would
be very conservative estimate. AT
this rate the average mine would re.
qurc about 10000 feet Of sawn lun,.
Der, besides the split or round timber,
which would aamount to an equivalent
Of $4,000 board feet more.
At m average Of 800 feet OF tim.
A. 49,. ao.n IN, fo,net fap,t n, Kan