Semi-weekly herald., 1910-05-16
ing holes.n Seven hundred long hnr.

vance OF the flame down TO the water
level. and were filed with mud. the
idea being to form u wall of wet clay
at the base of the thumb, between the
fire and the main part OF the hand.
Il was difficult and dangerous work
on account OF the heat. and exceeding.
ly expensive. Some of the holes were
so deep that 1t took 5000 tons of
clay to I'LL them; and all that labor and
skill were wasted. The heat baked
the clay until ii cracked and opened
a way for the flames.
Finally Mr.. Lathrop decided that
the only way to protect the rest of the
deposit was to build solid concrete
wall ahead of the flames: and the
work was commenced in December,
1908. 1t was recently finished at
cost of more than $25 900 900 being
si.050 feet long, twelve feet thick and
247 feet deep or high. as you may care
to put 1t.
On the north of the basin. where the
coal comes to the surface an open
IL
the vein sloping downward, a series of
shafts were sunk. the last in line to
the south being 220 feet deep. Later
II was found that not only would the
barrier have to cover the face of the
vein but that the space between the
first four shafts would have to be fill.
ed with clay. This makes the barrier
extend from the bottom of the vein to
the surface of the ground for a con.
siderable part of its length
AT the southern end It was not nee.
eessary to take out the everything rock
between the shafts, but simply the
coal. This was done by tunnel fol
lowing the vein and extending 500
feet on slope to water level. Two
concrete walls, sixty feet In height, are
being built to form the side of the
tunnel. There are windows" at short
intervals, so that the wet clay be.
sides filling the space inside. may seep
through on both sides and act as a
Reinforcement to the walls
Transverse concrete walls were
built, 30 inches thick at the bottom
and narrowing TO Is inches at the
! top. These walls, running across the
line OF shafts and parallel to the
course of the fire, have openings. 3
feet long by 6 feet wide, placed at in.
tervals of twelve feet. so that The clay
could run from one compartment to
the other Thus The pressure on the
walls was equalized.
Fifty thousand cubic yards OF clay
were needed to make the barrier and
5000 cubic yards of concrete Ten
miles of timbers were used in the
shafts and the open cut all brought
from North Carolina. In one of the
holes. bored as a protection to the
work, $4,000 tons of silt was poured
Elaborate ventilating apparatus had
to be installed at a great expense
Canvas fumes were let down into
the shafts. Being flexible. they could
be shifted so as to supply fresh air
most needed.
The Are was only 400 feet away
when the work started. which was too
close for safety, but the engineers had
no choice because If they had located
the wall any farther away It would not
protect the main body OF the coal ba
sin. and, therefore, would be useless
as a barrier. Therefore the risk from
the heat had to be borne. although
many devices were invented to reduce
and neutralize it. Notwithstanding all
the precautions the smoke and fumes
penetrated through the Intervening
earth to where the men were work
ing, and had to be carried off by
means of artificial ventilation. An
insidious gas came through the cracks
In the rocks. Lights would not burn
in II, and men who were subjected
to the fumes quickly collapsed. Presi-
dent Lathrop Immediately installed
powerful ventilating machinery and Il
field hospital equipped with the most
effective restoratiyes. Surgeons were
employed, wages increased, and Mr.
| SCI All tNdlDpIt Oh
courage and confidence by going down
into the mine daily and directing the
work.
Thirty minutes at a time was all
man could stand in the shaft, so that
the shifts were changed every half
hour, and, although there we're fire.
Iquent cases OF prostration. sometimes
Twenty day, no deaths have occurred
In halfhour shifts the men were re-
lquired only four hours a day each.
There were many anxious moments,
and at one time G. II. Starr. the en-
gineer In charge, did not take off his
clothes for ninety-six hours. Nearly
all that time he was down In the
shaft, directing the work.
The Job Is almost entirely finished,
and now, between the fire and the rest
of the coal. is a fireproof wall more
than 200 feet long and twelve feet
thick. running from the top of the
hill. where the coal outcrops. to the