1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

xiv ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc.In ing, but I think that all coimeeted and concerned will be amplyrepaid hj the future benefits.Inever had any doubts as to the superiority of the "withdrawing"system, but the difficulty in the past has been to find anyone willingto furnish money and have the patience and sand necessai'y forsvicli an undertaking, and the Oliver Coke and Furnace Company,now the Oliver and vSnyder Steel Company, owners of the mines,should have the credit for it.As a principle, I have never yet found a man of good judgment andexperience that was not in favor of it—it was the time and money involvedthat stood in the way.The wastefulness of the advancing system is so well known thatI will not here take up the space for going over it, but will at onceSI ate what I think is to be gained by working as shown by the plans,viz:First. The recovery of much more coal per acre.Second. Less trouble from falls in working places, which we foundto be very great under the old system of working.Third. Less timber required, as none of it will have to stand verylong, and not so much needed to begin with.Fourth. More direct hauling roads with better grades, as the lay01 the coal is fully known.Fifth. Less pumping, as the local dips can be located and the^^ater handled to the best advantage.Sixth. Yevy much better ventilation, as the air goes (in our caseit will as soon as projected workings are ready), direct to the faceand by the shortest route, and aii-ing can be done bj' regulators veryoften instead of doors and overcasts.a.-?Seventh. Better results from haulers, as the men are not scatteredunder the old sytem.Eighth. More i>(^i"ffct surveillance of iho men, as they will bemore concentrated.Ninth.All the gases will b(^ left behind, instead of passing throughthem, as in the present ju-aclice—and after we cross the trough, thewater will also be left Ix'hind.It will be noticed that our ])rojected workings/ ai'e all laid out ont1ie bu1t room scheme, instead of Ihe faco woi-kings, as in hauls on theflats; in the face system the trip haul is on the grades.itsThird. It makes stronger room ])illars, because a butt j)illar haslength ])erj)endicular to the strike of the basin, instead of being