The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-01-06

Il admit that the discrepancy Is be
4 yond my powers To- point out tn
applicant for the position will say. :
will carry out your orders he liassi
/ good reason, he probably needs TN
job. The president Of the company
as the agent OF the directors, mus
make showing, the directors mus
declare dividends, while the stock
holders will tell .,on that they haven
got their money! in this thing for fur
and are firm believers in 5eonserya
tlcn If 1t .doesn;tS cost them any money
Cotnfng bscKsaow to the aDplican
who now has his job as superintend
ant ana we find that a time will com;
when he is informed that the Goa
market is up and he must get OH; al
the coal he can while the good pros
4 poets last He is, sorely tempted and
usually falls. a convenient pillar car
stand another slab from its side, Z
room can be driven just little farth
er into the barrier pillar, and room
necks acn be pulled just a little clos
er together. The pit.boss, or the
engineer, may protest, but only once
that the pillars are too small thai
There is likelihood OF a squeeze, o!
that they are too small to recover
But this superintendent hopes thai
this venture may prove better thar
his judgment or may Justify his ac
ton with the thought that II Is a
large mine and the chances are that
he will be dead and gone when those
pillars are drawn and will let thu
other fellow worry abcrt 1t.
In this recital there has not be-.
put forth an exaggerated case, in facr
it is quite common and there ar;
many here vino. ! am sure. have had
similar cases pass before their obser
walton. On the other hand, | have
known cases where the mine foreman
inspired either by instinct or princi
pie, have removed pillar stumps at Il
cost of twice the value OF the coal
while accomplishing the spirit OF con,
servatlon the stockholders have paid
the bill. will anyone say that the
mine foreman was justified in recov
ering these stumps with its chances
OF losing life and actual loss il
money? .
The general geology of this State
has been thoroughly worked Out
through the efforts of the State Geolo
gist, to whom great credit is due fo'
the amount OF work accomplished with
such limited means. In the more i'm
portant mining centerS the detail
geology has been worked out com
/ plete, so that the mining man has no
excuse in not being thoroughly famil.
lar with this important part OF his
work ar
From these reports we fluid that
many localities have coal seams over.
lying each other. In fact some have
several. These seams are at various
intervals apart and of various thick.
nesses. The conservationist will
promptly say that the upper seams
should be worked first in order not to
disturb the lower sedms. Stern neces.
sity, on the other hand, demands that
the seam furnishing the best quality
Of coal, or the one that Is most cheap.
ly mined should be worked first. This
rule is not invarlable but It is COM
mon practice, and considerable de-:
struction Of coal in the ground can
be charged 10 this fact. However, IL
cannot be assumed that by mining a
lower seam first it means complete
destruction OF the seams above. This
is governed largely by the thicknessi
of the lower seam, the manner in
which it is worked and the interval
between the two seams. / have in
mind now case where Il nine-fOot
seam was completely extracted and a
seam 12O feet above it was later open
ed and successfully mined, at an in.
creased expense it is true. but it still
proves that It. is a possibility.
Still another instance which can be
cited. which may be OF Interest here.
A snv1n-Ioot seam Of superior quality
Of coal was opened up. II was foun1
that another seam Of coal, four feet
thick OF inferior quality existed about
| forty feet above the seven.ioot. With
spirit OF conservation, reinforced by
a greater desire to prolong the life oil
the field. the upper seam was opened
developed with rooms and pillars and
the pillars finally drawn. Tho de
velopmcnt of the lower. Of seven-foot
seam was then driven forward in The
usual manner with pillars which were
4 considered Of ample size. No din
| i 4 II 4