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I COAL AND TIMBER
Vl - - • - . • . .• I n •
Vol 1, No. 3 PITTSBURG, MARCH, 1905. $1.00 Per Year
MACHINE MINING.
NOTE—With this number of "Coal and Timber"
begins a series of articles on "Coal Mining Equipment,"
which is intended to embrace a dtscriptou of all the
various mechanical devices- their construction, operation
and utility—that are now recognized as being
adjuncts to economical coal mining operations.—Editor.
Every coal mine owner and operator is
interested in machine mining. This is
proven by the rapidity with which machinery
is supplanting hand labor in the
mines of this country. Last year probably
more than one-third of all the bituminous
coal produced in the United States was machine
mined.
Economy arid effectiveness of operation
are causing mining machines to be placed
in general use and.they soon demonstrate
the superiority over the old time hand
pick. Although of comparatively recent
invention mining machines have reached
such a degree of perfection that the work
of each machine can be calculated exactly
and the operator knows tliMit it will work
successfully under almost all conditions.
There are a number of different styles
and makes of mining machines all of which
perform the work for which they are designed
in a satisfactory manner, but of
course there is, and probably will be, an
honest difference of opinion as to the merits
of economy and effectiveness of the different
makes.
With mining machines as with machinery
and labor saving devices in all industrial
lines the attitude of the working class was
antagonistic. Naturally the workingman
looked upon the innovation as a supplanter
of labor and a reducer of wages, but it
is a fact that in the Pennsylvania bituminous
fields, where the most machines are
in use, the supply of labor is not equal
to the demand at the present time. Mining
machines have made the work easier,
having eliminated the most laborious and
dangerous part, and since their introduction,
wages have materially increased, while
for the operator the output is greatly increased,
the cost of production minimized
and the conviction is general among owners
today that mining machinery is essential
to success.
As an illustration of the efficiency of machine
mining it may be stated that in mines
where the average production per miner
by pick is about five tons per day, the machine
mining will average from 12 to IS
per man per day, run of mine, and in good
mines frequently nearly 20 tons per day.
The mining machines are operated by
either compressed air or electricity and
there is a strenuous rivalry between the exponents
of the two kinds of power. .Both
the air machines and the electric machines
produce good results, so the kind of power
to be used often depends chiefly on the
character of the mine in which the machines
are to be used.
While machines are valuable in all mines,
whether they are fully developed or in course
of development, they are peculiarly valuable
in the opening of mines when rapid
work is required. Entries can be driven
with about three times the usual speed, and
where entries are so Wtt that it is difficult
to do the work by hand the machines will
do the work four times more rapidly than
hand labor. If the cars be loaded out the
machines will cut an entry 9 feet wide and
5 to 6 feet deep in from one-half to threequarters
of an hour.
The whole question of "machine or hand
mining" comes down to the item, "expense."
As the only way to provide for the payment
of labor to operate the power drill or
machine is by deducting an amount from the
loader which would properly represent the
amount of time consumed by him in drilling
by hand, the value of the drill or machine
to the mine owner is limited and its
saving power determined entirely by the
amount of coal which can be mined in a
given time and the cost of repairs.
The
value to the miner also depends on
the
amount of work which he can do, as well
as the amount of repairs required, which
will determine the amount of time during
which the man can operate the drill
or machine. The miner cannot afford to
work at a less price than he is able to obtain
by performing other work about the
mine and the mine owner cannot afford to
invest his money in machinery unless it
would make a reasonable earning for him.
The amount which can be deducted from
the loader in having his drilling done by
power has been determined and agreed upon
in the various mining districts and is established.
These fixed rates show that for the
form of drill or machine which requires the
JEFFREY 17-A ELECTRIC MACHINE MADE BY JEFFREY MFG. CO., COLUMBUS, 0.
entire time and attention of a man and a
boy, there is very little left for the mine
owner and that when the cost of repairs
is taken into consideration the reduction
in the cost of coal is practically nothing.
A description of a standard pick machine
or coal cutter which is illustrated here
will serve to give an idea of these machines
in general. It is mounted on wheels
16 to 20 inches in diameter, according to the
requirements, weighs from 500 to 900
pounds and is easily moved from one place
to another, the average length of time required
to move from one room to another
being about 10 minutes,including loading and
unloading. In operation the machine is
placed on a platform made of 2-inch planks