The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-03-12
Ramsay Mine Run Sampler
 Reduces Coal Refuse to Minimum
USE OF INVENTION
 <; FREE TO OPERATORS !: DURING THE WAR
Experts Give Device High Praise-Invention Proves Superiority Over the
 Old Methods
By CHARLES H. MANDY

For number of years past it has been .the custom to refer to men who have Accomplished great things in the indus .trlai world as Captains of Industry" sThe title has been applied to such na- .tional figures as Andrew Carnegie. II. sC. Prick, w.. H. Hartman, Charles .Schwab, and others whose names are synonomous with great industrial achieve tment and the organization of great in .dustrial. systems.
 In local industrial circles there are ,many men whom the title of Captain of sIndustry" would justly apply, largely .from the fact that the continual suc- .cessful operation of the great industries sof the district. and the utilization of the wonderful natural resources vita which it is so 4bounteously and richly en- .dowed ! CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY
 Of course, among these captains there sare some whose achievements stand cut .more pre-eminent than others, and if sthe idea of military titles wera carried sout It would not be out of place to .refer to them by the highest of the m;li- .tary titles-that of field marshals
 Viewed in this light, it would seem seminently fitting to bestow the title of field marshal to Erskine Ramsay, vice president and chief engineer of the Pratt Consolidated Coal company, for, not only shas he contributed largely to the indus strial development of the great district, sbut by his inventive genius and me- schanical skill he has contributed score .and a half or more of mechanical de- svices that have proved of inestimable fn nd I1Str al xUo Tar IIlar " Jas applied to the mining of coal Any sone of these inventions would earn for s'E R. as he is known among his as- ssociates, name in the industrial hall sof fame, but, when multiplied by the ,score, the title of field marshal of indus try is not inappropriate.
 SIMPLE DEVICES
 . While MT. Ramsay feels natural per- .sonal pride in all of his many inventions, it is one of the simplest of his many de- Vices that arouses his greatest enthus- iasm. It IS recent invention and in view of the wonderful record made by this simple contrivance, his enthusiasm is perfectly justifiable.
 It is known as the Ramsay mine run Sampler, a mechanical device that it possible to test and inspect for slate sand dirt the coal cars coming from the lnines without the necessity of unloading
  may not seem so remarkable, but when it is considered that the device has cut down the refuse at the mines from 20 to S per cent and less, the value of the Ramsay sampler can well be understood. To make the value of the invention rnore plain 1t is estimated that during these abnormal times the refuse of coal .lnined runs from 12 to IS per cent as sagainst to per cent in normal times. Mot only has this been noticeable by the large consumers of coal but the govern Inent has taken the matter up for this great excessive of refuse is a serious mat ter in the coaling of war vessels and freight ships. In this connection some startling figures have been compiled by the United States bureau of mines.
 ESTIMATED OUTPUT
 The estimated output of coal in the limited States for 1918 is 650,000,000 tons. Easing the amount of refuse at 5 per cent more than in previous years, there is no less than 32, 100000 tons of refuse flo be loaded in the coal cars this year Nor which, if loaded separately, would take at least 6O0,000 cars. The result of this extra burden is obvious.
 It is not contended that the Ramsey ssampIer will entirely remove the unneces- .sary burden, but it is an actual fact that at the Banner mines of the Pratt Consolidated Coal company, where the sampler is in operation, the percentage Inf refuse has been cut down from 70 to S per cent and the number of slate pick aers reduced by hail.
 It should also be borne in mind that .the coal mining companies are not