1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

No. 11. FIFTH ANTHRACITE DISTRICT. 143the rolls, and by tii(- laigv jig- caitacity, and in the mixing of thedry and wet. coal so as to Iia\t' the jigs working on the poor coalonly.There are elevator and conveyor lines and many a^jpliances forthe proper preparation of a large output.The auxiliary buildings erected during the year were a framewarehouse, two story brick oil house with cement floor and iron roof,frame carpenter, blacksmith and machine shop, frame office andloaded and empty car railroad scale house.A breaker i)uuip engine house attached 1o I he breaker enginehouse containing a 24^xir)XoG inch Thatcher pump with room foranother.A conveyor line 534 feet in length takes the fuel from the breakerto the boiler house.The gi-ading for 5,844 feet of railroad track was completed andconnection n.iade with tlu^ Lehigh Valley Railroad, M. & II. division.All buildings and scales are steam heated and efficient fire protectionis installed by having tire proof buildings whereever practicable,fire plugs, fire connections, fire buckets and hose carriage.The shaft hoisting engine house, now under construction, is ofbrick 52|x95^- feet, with iron truss roof covered with granite roofing.The only wood work will be the floor. It is large enough for two setsof engines, but one set only is now in place, as they are sufficientfor present requirements.These engines are 8()x4S iiu-h, first motion, fitted with steam andhand brake, two conical di'ums each 10 feet diameter small end, 14feet diameter large end, G feet 4 inch face, with 34 grooves to wind1,250 feet of one and three-quarter inch rope. One drum is keyedto shaft and the other is loose and operated by means of a clutch.The material is on the ground and w^ork will be started at onceon the construction of an iron and steel frame self dumping cage anddump chute at the head of the shaft.A 16-foot fan is the present means of ventilating the shaft, whichVA being kejit free from water.Inside. The work was started in November, 1897, by Jno. H.Thomas & Son, contractors, and continued until September, when theshaft had been sunk a total depth of 380 feet, or to a bottom elevationof 1.1 !)8 feet, which is 58 feet below the second level of the shaft,give sufficient sump room.Besides the shaft sinking, rock tunnel landings were nmde at thefirst and second levels, extending 104 feet north and 87 feet south ateach level.All the timbering in the shaft at the two landings, and for thekeei)s has been set and everything is ready for the new cages, exceptplacing the guides.21