Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1922-08-24
VISIT TO COAL NINE.
How 1uel for American Homes Is
Dug 0out Of Earth.

ing coal In these piping times of
summer, but because of the strike
and fears that his favorite winter
indoor sport will be interefered
with when the snow flies, coal
has for some time been uppermost
in his thoughts, none the less.
A bulletin from the National
Geographic society presents a
little-known aspect of the coal
industry to stay-on-the-surface
uses Of this modern necessity
the working Of big anthracite
mine when operating full blast.
Describing visit to a mine in
which there are S5 miles of nm
derground railway, the bulletin
says:
lone thing above ground we
will be even more vitality interest
ed in when we GO below is the
ventilAting fan, for without it we
would be in danger Of being
gassed' in times of peace. The
fans in this mine fly around with
rim speed of mile minute.
Evey mine has two shafts--the
hoisting shaft and the air shaft.
To keep the mine free enough
from gas to permit work in safe
| ty. enormous quantities of fresh
air must be sent down the ono
opening and corresponding guam
titles. of gas-laden air drawn out
the other.
"To start. on our downward
journey we step on the 'cag4' OF
elevator, the mine superintendent
gives signal, and the floor
drops Down, down, down we
whiz past stratum after statum of
rock.
Arriving at the bottom. we
soon find that coal mine is plan
ned like city. There is one
main street, or entry, AMI it has
been laid out with the nicely of "a
grand boulevard. Parallel with
this are other entries, and across
these entries run other streets, at
, right angles, usually, which are
called headings. Lining all these
headings as houses line the
streets are chambers, or rooms, in
which the miners work.
"When we stop at the bottom
We find ourselves in small sized
hurricane. 1t is the air rushing
down the shaft and starting
through the mine on it's mission
Of purification. .....
"We walk and walk uutil we
begin to feel as though We might
be coming out over in. China or
France, and then we come TO the
rooms or cbambers-for all the
coal in the neighborhood of the
hosting shaft has gone up in
heat or smoke long before now
and this mine is far flung.
These chambers NIGH be
monks cells in some catacombs
for the living. Here the miner
bores and blasts and digs away
the coal and loads it into the
mine cars. If he has helper he
! does not need to do the loading
himself. The car holds about
5000 pounds of run-of-the mine
coal, and q miner is supposed to
fill two of them a day.
When the car is loaded the
miner puts his number on it and
presently, with much ado there
comes up the heading and into
the passageway leading into the
chamber string Of mules walk
ing tandem, or single file, and
dragging an empty car behind.
They pull out the loaded car, set
the empty one where the miner
wants it and go back the way
they came with the load of coal.
There are other strings of
mules, also, and they distribute
the empties and mobilize the load
ed ears from and at given points.
Then the compressed air engine
comes along and makes up a
trs:n of loaded ears after drop
ping one Of empties ready for.
distribution. The coal trains are
pulled down to the hosting shaft
and one by one the ears go to the
surface, an empty coming down
as a loaded one goes up.