Eastern Utah advocate. [volume] (Price, Utah) 1895-1915, 1912-10-24
PERNIOOUS HABIT
IS CONDEMNED
THAT OF SHOOTING OFF COAL
~ THE MINES.
Heavy Charges Ut Powder Produce
An Unnecessary Quantity OF Fine
Coal and Render the Lump 50
Friablc That u Disintcgratcs In
Handling and Transportation.

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prevalent In some OF the coal mining
states. OF shooting of the solid"
that r.. OF blasting down the coal
without having previously undercut
or sheared II. or making the pow
der do the work" According to
Edward w. Parker. the coal stalls
ucian OF the United states geologi-
cal survey, all authorities agree that
the practice Is reprehensiblo In the
highest degree. The heavy charges
OF powder produce an unnecessary
quantity Of fine coal and render
the lump coal 20 friable that n dis
inteErates In handling and transpor-
tatlon. Tho quantity and quality OF
the merchantable product are there
by materially reduced. These rca-
sons In themselves arc sufficient TO
call forth the condemnation OF the |
practice and the demand for its alb
clifton, but a far stronger reason IL
tho increased liability TO accident in
vocation that IL hazardous enough |
when all precautions possible are
taken to promote safety. Tho use /
OF inordlnate charges OF powder
weakens tho roof and supporting .
pillaru. and failure TO undercut or |
shear the coal increases the danger /
frequently tho cause OF dust explo- |
sions. Falls OF coal and roof In |
1911 caused almost one-half OF tho |
twenty-seyon hundred or 30 deaths
In the coal mines OF the United |
States. aud explosions caused "a por
cont Tho deaths from tho moro
prolific cause. however. usually hap
pen aingly and arc not reported out
side the localities where tho acci-
dents occur. whereas tho less fro
duont explosions involving tho
deaths Of tens or hundreds of men
are given prominence In the daily
and technical press.
Much improperly Mined.
In collecting tho statistics OF pro-
duction OF bituminous coal in 1911
tho United States geological surveys
schedules included inquiries aa TO
tho percentage OF the output mined
by hand. by the use OF machines and
BY shooting OF tho solid. Replica 10
theao inquiries were made by mines
representing moro than 30 per cont
Of tho total output. Tho quantity
OF coal prepared for shooting by bo-
ing mined either by hand or by ma
ehinos amounted 90 approximately
29s. $1,000 short tons or 7a.5 per
cent OF tho total production. The
quantity OF coal shot off the solid
amounted 20 nearly seventy million
tons or II per cent OF the total. The
practice OF shooting off tho solid
seems 10 have its strongest hold IN
tho Interior provinces. embracing
the states OF the Misaiaaippl Valley.
Michigan and Texas. although In tho
latter state, on account OF ita large
proportion OF Ignite. relatively
small percentage IO.3) A. shot
from tho solid. Tho principal Of
fender In this regard IL Arkansas.
30 per cent OF whose product In
1911 was shot down without having
been mined. Oklahoma reported
nearly 80 per cent OF Ms total pro-
duetion shot off tho solid, Kansas
77G per cont, Iowa 6s.4 per cent.
Missouri 90 per cent. and Indiana
and Illinois each Ss per cent. The
states OF the interior province or
Mississippi Valley region altogether.
with an aggregate production OF a
little over 20 per cent OF tho total
output OF tho United States. report
ed over go per cent OF the total
quantity OF coal shot off the solid
In the whole country. These states
produced 93.s5s.65i short tons. OF
which 42.672.OOO tons or 45.5 per
cent was shot off tho solid.
Appalachian States.
The states OF the Appalachian re-
gion are largely free from criticism
on this point. The highest on the
roll OF honor In 1911 was Maryland,
with only O.5 per cent OF It's total
production not properly mined.
West Virginia was second, with
per cent. Pennsylvania. with 35
per cent OF tho total production OF
bituminous coal. reported less than
per cent shot Off the solid. and
Ohio. SO per cent OF whose produc-
ton Is machine mined. also report
cd less than per cent shot Oft the
solid. Compared with these. Ala
bama. with "A per cent OF It's pro-
duetiOn shot from the solid, Ten
nessee, with ST. per cent. and Vir-
ginia, with $3.50 per cent. appear I'M
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