The silver state news. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1907-1909, 1909-03-06
USE OF TIMBER In
. MINING

Few persons not directly interested
in mining realize the extent to which
timber is used in this very important
lnuustry, saIa a government expert
in preservation of mine timber who
has just returned to washington from
the west. 1.-The average man has only
a vague understanding of the import
ance OF the part that timber plays in
80 -..-A.s -@~astf. enu sSiuoni ln.nAs
of the enormous quantities required
each year to prevent the eaving of the
over hanging ground and keep clear the
main working passages of mines.
There are two general classes of
such timbers," he continued, "the first
IS used in bracing the Slopes a they
are called, where the ore is being taken
out. As the ore is mined, the surround
ing rock is held in place by bracing it
with heavy timbers, framed into
rectangular SETS When ore directly
~.s,v ,Ae Afsl sec As Ienioseu, "a seoonu
set is built in on top, and so on. The
service of these tlmbers ends when the
ore is exhausted and the active mining
transferred to another vein or ore
body.
AFTER q time those timbers decay,
to a point where the pressure of the
roek walls brushes them, and q cave
in occurs. This causes no damage if,
as / have said, the mining work has
been finished but it sometimes happens
that decay has weakened the timbers
to such An extent that the ~'cave-in' oc-
ours prematurely, and then lives are
sacrificed. In such cases the remaining
ore is also a loss, for when the ground
has once commenced TO nov or work, :
as the miners call it, it is almost i'm
possible to clean it out and hold back
rne rock SO tnat the remaining ore may
oe obtained.
but Of sim greater importance )
the second class of timbers used in the
main working openings, tunnels, shafts,
etc., which are to be maintained for as
long a time as possible. Timbers for
this service are chosen not only for
their strength and hrmness, but also
lur tneir aoIIity TO resist decay.
I'm nine cases out OF ten, when tim
bers are crushed, the indirect cause is
decay, produced by low forms of plant
life. The ~dwindling OF our timber sup
ply has driven consumers of wood all
over the country to study decay and
its prevention, and it is safe to say
that in the very near future We shall
see more mines putting in small plants
for the treatment of their timbers, AZ
ter the pattern of the plants that have
been designed and installed for this
purpose by the United States forestry
service. By treating the permanent
timbers with some one of the various
presentations, they may be made to re-
sist decay almost indefinitely. The ad-
ditional cost is slight.
mot only this, but since timber
when it is once treated retains its orr
sAAaa st.Snssa, maAy "a sac so-ca4aeu
inferior timbers' which have hitherto
been. considered almost valueless be-
cause they decay rapidly, viii find wide
use in many localities. Such species are
loblolly pine and, to a certain extent,
shortleaf pine, Engelmann spruce, ire
killed lodgepole pine, white FIR and
many other more local timbers-
The inst of the treating plants for
mine timbers was put up by an eastern
coal company, after extensive expert
ments in cooperation with the forest
service which demonstrated the prscti-
cal value of the treatments. Since