The Washington times., 1919-11-01

Into one of these side streets, more
than mile from the mouth of the
pit, my guide and 1 turned. We met
a negro driver urging a mule along.
The mule was drawing a loaded car.
The cars from the side streets are
drawn to the opening on the main
line by mule power. Here they are
picked up by the electric motor car.
quarter of a mile walk down the
side street brought US to the face,
where two miners were engaged in
operating cutting machine.
The use of the cutting machine
has almost done away with pick min
ing, because production by the latter
process was too SLOW" my guide said.
A cutting machine weighs two to
three and a half tons. 1t is taken to
the face of the mine by q motor car
and there deposited on skids on which
1t is pushed by hand.
Cutting Machine IL
Operated Electrically.
The cutting machine bears an end
less chain on which are sharp steel
teeth. The chain operates on q sort
of tongue, which gets a hold under
the coal, right. at the floor or bottom
of the vein. Operated by electricity,
it eats its way under. thus undermin-
ing the mass.
The tongue cuts into the coal ORR
zontally a depth Of six feet and a
width of forty-two inches. The tongue
is 'then withdrawn, the machine is
moved and another cut is made, en-
larging the undermining another
forty-two inches. This operation IL
repeated until cut about twenty
four feet wide and six feet deep has
been made. In some cases, however,
the cut is thirty-six feet and In
others 1t will not run more than nf-
teen or eighteen feet.
The cutters choose their own hours
for working" my guide said. "A cut
is called room. II they have several
rooms cut ready for blasting and re-
moval by the leaders. they lay on for
a day or two"
Most of the Cutters
Are American Citisena.
The head cutter and his assistant
draw the same pay. which will aver
age 500 a month. Most of the cut
ters are Americans, because it il the
best paying job in the mine.
There are few cutters who are more
than forty-five years Of age. Older
men are unable to stand up under the
hard work that is involved. The cut
ters work ahead of ventilation and
are forced to breathe dead air. After
| a few years they develop what II
known as miners asthma Bronchial
and lung troubles are also common
among them.
The leaders follow the cutters. The
next step is for the leaders to blast
| the coal.
Holes are bored into the surface of
81 int hfev
brace and bit or auger is used. A
| curved frame Is fitted about the min
er's breast. Into, this he, throws his
| weight and with good strong arm
he turns the angle and bores into the
coal. The bit--the miner calls ii q
worm--digs a small round hole into
the coal to depth of six feet, the
depth of the cut. .
Explosives Furnished at
Per Cent Above Cost.
The holes are filled with an explos-
! i've, which is furnished by the COM
pany at 5 per cent above cost.
Decorators are fixed; the fuse, is light
ed and the room. is ready for shoot
| ing. sci. ...s-.,
The miner retreats some. distance
from the face and the explosion fol-
lows. The great lump of coal. six
feet deep, twenty-four feet long and
four to five feet thick, as the case
may be, is shattered and crumbled
! into thousands of pieces.
A room will yield from nine to
twenty tons, depending on the thick
ness of the vein, my guide told me.
The burning of the explosive leaves
a gas. Sometimes the leaders wait
until the artificial ventilation system
removes, but in most cases, they 90
right to work loading cars Free
Quently the gases remain for several
hours or all day.
Air Heavy with
Nause<ing Odor.
! I visited one room Of the mine that
had been shot on the previous day.
| The air was still heavy with the foul
gas. 1t was sickening and nauseat-
| ing. and there was no chance of get
| ting a breath Of fresh air under a
mile walk to the mouth of the pit
/ After a room is shot, the easiest job
ahead OF the loader is loading. The
hardest is cleaning the layers of
slate from the top and bottom OF the
coal vein. This work is heavy and
laborious, and takes about two hours
day. The loader is-paid nothing for
] this work.
4 IN eyes the coal anu STATE IOOh-
ed to be the same, but one of the load
J ers explained, or tried to explain, the
difference. They are both black. but
| the slate has grayish coloring A
small hand-pick is used to clean
, slate from the coal.
| The larger Jumps OF coal are placed
in the small cars by hand, while the
small sizes are scooped up in big
| shovels.
AS rapidly as the leaders remove
| a room of coal, they set in place
wooden timbers or supports to keep
| the wall from falling on them. Many
deaths in mines are due to careless
ness in this regard. A miner is liza
Bile at all times for his own safety.
| He is paid nothing for putting up the
supports to keep the roof secure.
Leaders Are Paid
Nothing For Extra Work.
Leaders are also required to lay the
! tracks for the coal cars as Rpidly
as they eat their way into the coal.
They are paid nothing for this ex-
ira work. In fact, leaders are paid
! only for loading.
| After the slate is cleaned from the
coal, the loader is required to pile il
on the sides of the tracks. The Stare
| is about twelve inches thick in west.