1900 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

No. 11. SIXTH BITUMINOUS DISTRICT. 523
hauling roads into the back airways, one of which is provided for
each heading. By this arrangement scarcely a drop of water is to be
seen on any road in the mine over which traveling is done. The
production of the eight mines was nearly 2,500,000 in 1900.
Portage Branch Mines.
Eleven mines, large and small, are operated on this branch.
Puritan Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are owned by the Puritan Coal Company.
The ventilation at Nos. 1 and 3 has been improved by putting in a
16-foot fan at No. 1 to replace a 12-foot one, which was taken out and
No. 2 is a drift mine,
put in at No. 3, where it is of ample capacity.
working a small slip of coal above No. 3. There is talk now, however,
of taking out through the latter the coal at present mined in
No. 2. The Excelsior is a small mine, but is well ventilated by a
12-foot Guibal fan. The Anchor is ventilated by furnace and is
kept in very fair condition. The Portage slope has a fan, but it is
inadequate for the work, and a larger one must be put in to keep the
mine in anything like healthful condition. In the Caldwell the drainage
is good, but the ventilation is deficient for lack of a fan. At Ivy
Ridge the drainage and ventilation, when examined last, were
in satisfactory condition. Of the Mareria mines there are Nos.
1, 2 and 3. The two latter, which are new workings, I can report
in very fair
condition as regards ventilation and drainage, but No.
1 will require special attention to bring it into a satisfactory state
of sanitation, as it is an old mine and has been operated by several
different parties, which does not often prove very beneficial to the
sanitary condition of a
mine.
Operations at Sonman.
These consist of Sonman shaft No. 2 and Sonman drift. The former
is a well-operated mine as regards ventilation, drainage and
general safety. Not a door is required in the mine, and an abundance
of air is driven through each split and conducted around the
face of all working places. Sonman Drift has not been worked for
several months.
Bens Creek Mines.
At Sonman shaft No. 1 located here, the sanitary condition is quite
satisfactory. There is not a great deal of new work in this colliery
at present, as nearly all the headings are up to the boundary lines.
There is also an old mine here, known simply as "Sonman No. 1,"
where most of the work now being done is on stumps and pillars,
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