Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-06-21

| wires within easy reach, we were
started off up the mountain, pulled and
pushed by two ponderous motors. On
the way we passed great power house
that furnishes the electricity for the
| entire mines, and further along the
machine shops at which all the re-
| pairing is done.
Some Were Scared.
Many Of the ladies and not few Of
the men thought they were pretty
brave to have come this far; but when
we reached point half way up the
] mountain, at least a thousand feet
above the starting point and another
thousand above us, we were advised Of
the real nature of the venture. Here
at the head of a ravine Is the main en-
trance to the mine. Mr.. Roam eXplain-
ed and his sons passed 1t along, that
we were now to go into one Of the gal
leries or tunnels from which the coal
had been taken; that the roof was only
about foot above the top Of the cars;
that there were frequent cross wires
that everybody must keep their hands
down. Get off the seats and keep your
heads below that front board" he
said. Some of the ladies screamed a
little, the men grumbled, but every
body tried to obey orders. 1t took
some minutes to ascertain that every
thing was safe and then into the tun-
mel we were rushed. Mr.. Roam and his
assistants wore miners caps with
lamps and these had also been distri-
buted among the members Of the par
ty, including the ladies, and this was
all the light that was available. But
few Of the visitors thought Of lights.
They were too much interested In
keeping their heads below the slate
roof. And thus we rolled for more
than a mile before we came out into
daylight in another ravine. Many
members Of the party were scared half
to death, and when they saw the troll
ley track leading into another tunnel
straight ahead, they rebelled. One
dear lady said she would not go anoth-
er foot for the whole business, and beg
ged Mr.. Roam to go back. But Mr..
Roam had no idea Of such a thing.
He answered the lady that she would
be taken care Of right there, and an
nounced that If there was anybody
else who was doubtful to get out there
or forever after hold their peace, for 1t
4l. l.. Io1 1fr dauQrQl
men got out. Then our guides told US
to down with our heads. down lower
than they were before. Some sat on
the bottom of the car and some coiled
up like kittens. They were never so
good. The cars started again and took
us through two more workings and
then on into another, when at last we
came to the place where the actual
digging was going on.
Worked Entirely BY Electricity.
Here Mr.. Roam explained to us that
this is the only mine in the world that
is worked entirely by electricity. 1t
uses no horses, no mules or other work
animals and very little powder. The
railroad track is kept built up to the
end Of the tunnel, and q big machine
cuts a great groove through the coal
at height Of about foot above the
slate floor. The coal seam Is about five
feet thick After the groove has been
cut at the bottom, pneumatic drills are
run parallel to the slate roof at the
top over next to the corner, powder Is
inserted and the explosion breaks the
coal loose a full car load at a time.
The shake down is loaded on the cars,
the remaining portion from underneath
is cleaned off the slate floor and the
rails of the trolley line are laid for
ward, preparatory to another cutting.
The work proceeds with wonderful
rapidity, and almost as systematically
as the clock.
Tho clinehfieId Coal FieId.
To give q clear comprehension OF
what this coal field is like to one who
has not seen it. Is a pretty difficult
matter. At least I do not think II
could have been satisfactorily explained
to me without the help Of some draw
ings, and I am afraid I cannot ex-
plain the conditions with mere words.
But when the Clinchfield people say
they have 100000 acres Of coal fields
thew mean that their coal laden noun
tains cover that area. The coal oc-
ours in strata like the layers OF Jel-
ly cake, and with as much evenness'
There are four layers or seams OF coal
in these mountains covering the entire
field. Two Of them are above the
workings we have described, and the
other is two thousand feet below. THIS
last one has not been touched except
with a diamond drill and probably Will
not be worked for hundreds OF years TO
come. Tunneling into one mountain
and following the seam through TO an
outlet into a ravine, the miners Kho"
that they will strike the same seam In
the adjoining mountain at exactly the
same height. The long tunnel Of eight
miles or more through four or nVe
different caves, just described, was
made for development purposes. Gal
leries are shot off from the main tun-
mel at will, whenever desired, ana
eventually an entire layer Of coal will
be taken out of the mountain, after
which the slate roof settles down 10
the slate floor and leaves things as
solid as they were before. Mr.. Roam
explained that a seam Of coal one foot
thick W uld yield about 1000 tons 10
the acre, and told us to figure out now
much the Clinchfield people had IN
three seams aggregating twelve feet
in thickness and covering an area or
100000 acres,
On the way back from the further-
most workings, we stopped in a cave
at the head of a ravine and examined
tremendous electric fan that is used
to drive the bad air out Of the mines
by driving good air in. In this cave
Also there developed general reali-
cation of quite a sad tragedy that had
been taking place since the start.
Some of the young ladies Of the party
hot thara wa