The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-05-03
RECORD TUNNEL DRIVE
MONTANA MAN REPORTS
THREE SHIFTS OF TWO MEN
EACH-SHiFT MUckS OUT
AND PUTS IN ROUND.

1t is always interesting to know how
the other fellow handles his work, and
an exchange of experience and ideas
generally results in mutual benefit,
Here Is a letter from j. A. Wiley,
superintendent of the Bachelor mine,
Stemple, Mont, published in the last
Press, from which it is evident that
in addition to having the work care
fully planned and systematized, he
found it profitable to pay bonus. His
| letter follows:
Il have been reading various arti-
cles of late in your paper referring to
what should constitute a shifts work,
that is, the footage man should drill
per day, the distance he should tram,
the distance a crew should drive in a
tunnel, and the bonus system as com
pared with contract.
How They Work.
| Il will give you an actual case COW
ering all these points. We are driving
cross-cut tunnel " by feet in the
clear The rock is hard slate and dry,
with only occasional seams or water
courses, which soon drain off after
cutting. During the month of March
we drove 367 feet. There are two men
on shift and they use a jack-ham-
mer without the bar rWater attach
ment They use muzzes only to pro-
tect them from dust We are working
three shifts of hours each. The two
men remove the dirt left from the
round of the previous shift and put in
their round of holes to a depth of AZ
/ feet, which is all the succeeding shift
can handle and get their ruond in
within their time. They average
holes per round, or about 80 feet. They
| lay their track up to the face place
the turn sheet on top of the track and
blast on top of it. Then the next
shift is ready to go to work.
Timbering.
Our ventilation is small jet of
compressed air turned into a 6-inch
thin galvanized iron pipe. The jet is
craried all the time as close up to the
/ face as possible without being blasted
out. The tramming distance of last
month was at the start 1920 feet and
at the end of the month 1887 feet. The
two men on shift change with each
other on each car trip. The car holds
&c cubic feet and they heap about
three cubic feet more on top Two
men follow up with the timber. They
cut and drag in their timber on the
snow a distance of about 300 feet and
put in on an average of about so sets
per month about one third of it lag
ged up on both sides as we'll as the
ftop A mechanic comes to the tunnel
ed ventilation pipe, moves the jet for
ward, and adds air line.
Explosives.
I'VE use about half box of dyn-
amite per shift. We had trouble with
mis- fires for a while, but as r. r. Ed
wards write in your issue of March
"a, there are only four reasons for
mis- fires. We investigated the four
reasons and found defective fuse and
caps. We also find that there is a
big economy in using strong caps. We
use the best fuse on the market and
an SIX cap with 40 per cent gelatine
powder and now have no trouble with
mis- fires or 'stinkers.' Our primers
are made and placed just as Mr.. Ed
wards advises.
Pay Bonus.
I'VE pay bonus to the six men of
50 per foot for all the footage they
make over 21O feet for the month The
bonus is divided among the six in
proportion to the days they put in
during each month. They are paid "a
per day for their hours work. AL
| though we are 40 miles from the near
est town, we have no difficulty in re-
placing a man on this tunnel work as
soon as anyone wants to lay off. We
think We have come pretty close to the
record for six men at that distance of
| tramming and under the conditions as
described. l must state also that dur
ing the month, for various reasons,
four shifts failed to get in their
rounds, which meant 367 feet in 81
shifts or APIS feet per shift"