The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-13
The State Mine Exan1inations
By ETHEL ARMIES, q Story of Coal and Iron in Alabamao

more, and Chief Mine Inspector C. H. Nesbitt, chairman ex-offieio Serving on the board during the January examination and during the past two or three years, have been P. J. Rogers, T. H. Tinncy, Erskine Ramsay. J. H. Hillhouse, former chief mine inspector, and George Bar bour.
 II can thus be seen that the Alabama board is now and has been made up of men who are both technical and practical This Is a great point. and one in which many other states are said to fall short. For instance, in Pennsyyania, the stare board of mine examiners is said to have always been formed of men who were solely technical And when it comes to the coal mining business theories, strange to say" as MT. H. E.. McCor- mack observesl don't always work out" From the point of view of making for general efficiency. practical, all-round equipment, and what to do in emergen-
 cies, the mine foreman sexamination of Alabama stands pretty well up by com lparison.
 Among the recent successful applicants | for the certificate of first-class mine fore
 man were eight mining engineers, repre- senting. Columbia university, Alabama | Polytechnic institute. and the Irterna-
 tional Correspondence Schools. The men
 who took first honors were Milton Fl. Fes
 n Birmingham (Golumbia), who secured
 the highest percentage ever yet given in
 any state examination. 9s 2-3 per cent; ". M Lacey of Doomite, Ala, Alabama Polytechnic institute), who came second,
 with 94 per cent. and George w. Postell of
 Ensley. who received 93.02 per cent.
 The honor men of former examinations l have been Jones G. Moore, manager of coal mines, Sloss- Sheffield Steel and Iron I, bia). chief mechanical engineer, Sloss-
 Sheffield Steel and Iron company. and Ed ward Flynn, mine inspector Tennessee | Coal, Iron and Railroad company. Small Percentage of Failures | Of the 40 applicants for first-cass r9ne foreman certificates, five only failed. Those who passed examinations for ootn | first and second-class mine foremen are | as follows;
 | First-class mine foreman: J. w. Curd,
 Morris, Ala, R. F. D. No. ?; Luther s.
 Melown, Pratt City; A. R. Houston, Pratt | City; c. A. Love, Maben; V. B. Mill wee,
 Pratt City; R. F. Dickinson, Ensley; w.
 A. Whatley, Short Creek; John Baltimore,
 Carbon Hill; Ca c. Whatley, Short Creek: Milton H. Fies, Birmingham; Earle Moore, Mulga; Henry Henderson, Mulga; John | W. Davis, Maben Tim Vandiver, Maben;
 w. M. Lacey, Dolomite; James I. Beaver,
 Dolomite; Robert S. Wildsmith. sBesse-
 mer; J. A. Delozier, Bessemer; James O.
 Vernon, Altoona; James P. Warnick, Piper; James F. Brown, Wylan; James
 P. Cooley. Margaret; John c. Laird, Lit
 teton; w. EP. Crane, Corona; George P.
 Piper Maben; James Holmes, Pratt City;
 W. J. Harrison, Helena. Reuben Tancher,
 Piper; John E. T.iddell, Belle Ellen; Aron- | CT J. Price, Blocton; James A. Isaacs,
 Ensley; Robert w. Postell, Ensley; Rob-
 ert Hays, Marvel; James A. Fox, Corona;
 Henry Watkins, Searles.
 | Second-cl,ss mine foreman: William J.
 Hing Brilliant: James A. Edmonds, Lynn;
 David A. Stocks, Praco: James T. Cooks,
 Corona; Lua A. Lightfoot, Drifton; Wal lace w. Deasen, Jasper; William B.
 Simms, Calumet.
 | Of the 5 men who stood examinations
 for fire boss only four failed. The high
 est percentage was gained by G. T. Main
 of Repuhlic, aud John t'arlhl of Pratt
 City. both of whom got g per cent. 1 William Doeherty and j. B. Garlin of
 Pratt City tied for second place. with Q percentage of 92.5 per cent Timothy Grif- filth of Ensley, M. F. Bell of Blocton and Jakes Fletcher of Abernant tied for third place with q percentage of 9z, A full list
 of the successful applicants for fire boss certificates is as follows:
 | Fire boss: Thomas Docherty Wylam; Valentine Bieletz, Pratt City; David ).
 Evans, Brighton; Edward Rose, Dolomite John l.. Bryson. Margaret; Eugene J
 Pitts, Margaret Alfred Lloyd, Margaret
 Tim Griffith, Ensley; John Carlin, Pratt City; Joseph T. Rhodes, Pratt City; James Kerr, Blossburg; Clyde C.. Scott, Ensley; W. H. Broadhead, Garnsey; Thomas Law renee, Marvel: Absalom B. Hull, Garnsey; Riley McF Barnett, Dora: Fred J. Riv- hrr mont; Robert H. Wood Blocton; William Lewis, Blocton: Jake Fletcher, Abernant;
 Harry l.. Lowering. Johns; John s. Kel- ley, Sumter; Hugh Guthrie. Wylam: Flames Waugh, Piper; Edward Reed. liar grove; Henry Gray, Acton Mine; George Cook, Sayreton; Thomas Cairnes, Little ton; William Docherty, Pratt City; James B. Carlin, Pratt City; George Templeton Main, Republic James Grant, Republic; Thomas Fancher, Piper; Robert B Harri- son, Blocton: Henry c. Wood. Bocton Robert Davson,. Blocton; James T. Cos hatt, Aldrich; Henry Ellis, Mulga; Thomas Clark, Mulga; Benjamin Mosh- |ner, Coeanor: Sumpter Allen, Coleaner; Alfred D. Crance, Coleanor; Patrick Campbell, Yolande; Andrew H. Reid Re-. public; Confucious Moore, Blocton: Percy Green, Blocton John J. Craig, Piper. "A Hard Job" ,... The examinations, both written and oral, over with then comes the bad quarter of an hour for the board of examiners. Every word in the voluminous papers to go over and every kind of writing and spelling under the shining sun.
 Hardest $4 per day ever I earned in my life," said Will Hillhouse, and the others felt the same.
 All over, at length, the grades are fixed, the men notified and the following certi- flcate is presented to the successful ones: State, of Alabama Mine Foreman First
 class Certificate of Competency.R
 By virtue of authority contained in an act of the general assembly of the state of Alabama, entitled An Act. to Create the Office of Inspector of Mines, and to prescribe the duties of said office, enacted by the general assembly of 1911, approved April 20, 1911, we hereby certify that ----(Name) --1Place), has passed satisfactory examination, and having given evidence of his practical ex- |perience in mining and of good character and sobriety we therefore grant to him a first-class certificate of competency.
 Given at Birmingham, Ala, this the - day of July. 1911." a,
 This is signed by the chief mine inspec- tor, the members of the board of exam iners and by ten representative citizens |closely acquainted with the applicant, us ually. his best friends and former or pres lent employers. i1 l
 Biographies of the Winners
 There was rather general qualification among the men over the high records