Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-03-11
ALPINE Mine IS
IMMENSE PLANT
OTTUMWA ENTERPRISE WILL
SOON BE IN ACTIVE OPERA.
TloN EAST OF TOWN
NEAR THE CITY.
Large Force Of Men Working Day ano
Night to Complete New Coal
\ Company Mine; Only One
y Of Its Kind In State.

| The superior skill of the modern
workman and mechanic is being plain
ly evidenced at the new Alpine mine
about two and a half miles east Of
the city limits of Ottumwa, where a
wonderful piece of work is being sue.
cessfully carried on. Back in a deep
gulch about $50 yards from the Rock
Island tracks, between Ottumwa and
Cliffland, along the we'll known cliffs,
there are men working day and night
drilling and digging into the bowels of
! the earth making a hole large enough
| for team of horses to enter with
ease. The large sloping tunnel is be-
| ing made in cliff about which on
either side there is a wild, yet pic
turesque country. There are ravines
| and deep gulches, and bold faced
! cliffs, and here men are boring and
tunneling back into these Instructions
OF nature seeking to discover the
secrets she has hidden away. But the
search is drawing to an end, for the
miners have already reached a dis
lance ofN325 feet. Three hundred feet
of this was made through hard LAYER
of sand stone. The first face of coal
has already been reached and it ia
| estimated that within twenty DAYS tha
first face of marketable coal will haya
been tapped.
Work on Tunnel.
The entrance, which is technicalIv
called a slope entrance, starts in the
race OF a high sandstone cliff, making
IL unnecessary to use any timbers OF
any kind in the entrance. The tunnel.
which starts with width of ten feet
and height of seven feet, is kept
the same dimensions along it's entire
length. There have been three eight.
hour shifts of men working day and
night for the past forty-five days
me work is being done with drills
and by the use of dynamite, over three
tons of the explosive having been con-
sumed since the work was started.
When the tunnel had reached length
OF 200 feet the men We're SLIGHTLY
handicapped for short period when
they struck vein of water. They
were compelled to bail all of this
water out as it was impossible to get
room for pump at that point. A
pump was installed Thursday and this
keeps all of the water pumped out.
When the shots Of dynamite Ga shot
being about fifty pounds) are fired.
the gasoline engine at the entrance of
the, tunnel is started and it forces air
through canvas covered tube to the
fartherest resources of the mine. This
sends the smoke, caused by the en-
plosion Of the dynamite forward and
out through the entrance. 1t usually
requires twenty to thirty minutes for
the smoke to pass out
Big Enterprise.
The mine Is expected to be ready
for business by May 1, 1913. Mules
will be used far underground to draw
the small cars carrying ton Of coal
from the section where it is mined to
a parting, 200 feet from the entrance.
monster 300 horsepower transmits.
sion engine, capable Of drawing
twenty-five cars, will take the twenty.
five ton cargo from the parting to the
entrance of the mine. Each car will
make complete trip every fifteen
minutes. It is estimated that by next
fall the mine will be producing about
500 tons Of coal per day. It Is expected
that within short time thereafter the
mine will have an output of 1000 tons
per day. There will be four grades Of
the coal placed on the market.
ottumwa Interests.
When the mine has opened and is
running full blast there will be spe-
cial train leave here every morning to
accommodate the men who will be
employed at the mine and return
every evening with them There will
be five side tracks placed near the
mine entrance as all of the business
carried on by the mine will be over
the railroad. There will be no hauling
by wagons done at all. The mine tracks
and dumps will be less than 700 feet
from the mine entrance, making 1t one
Of the most modernly equipped and
having one Of the best locations Of any
mine in the state of Iowa.