1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

No. 11. THIRD BITUMINOUS DISTRICT. 347discipline is maintained among the men under his charge and thatall rooms and entries are being driven according to plan.All this,however, cannot be done by the mine foreman sitting outside of themine the greater part of the day, nor when he acts in the capacity ofa mule driver or a weighmaster or by sitting around working out hisplans on paper. Tlans to be of any value must be executed, notsometime in the future, but when necessary. Very much dependson the mine foreman wlu^thcr or not the mine is in a good, bad or indifferentcondition.Description of MinesMines Situaled along the Allegheny Valley Kailroad in Armstrongand Clarion Counties.There are eight mines along this railroad in active operation at thepresent time—three of which (Riverview, Pine Creek and Beale No.2), have experienced much broken time during the year while theother five (Glen, Monarch, Catfish Run, Eagle and Mineral Ridge)have been in operation nearly full time. The Hardscrabble, Mahoningand ( 'hurch Hill mines are not now in operation. The BealeNo. 2, Glen and Pine Creek mines are opened on what is known asthe Upper Freeport coal bed and the other five aic o])ened on theLower Kittanning seam. Roth coal seams range in height fromabout three feet to three feet six inches. They are also overlaid witlia very strong, compact strata, thereby insuring to the miners reasonablysafe ])laces in which to labor. The mining of coal in this regionis all done by pick except at the Monarch mine, where two Sullivanmining machines have been put in operation to do part of theundercutting of the coal. The system adopted in working out thecoal at these mines is that of single entry except at the Riverviewand INIonarch mines, where they are worked by the double entryplan. The furnace is the prevailing ventilating power in this portionof the district, excejjt at the Riverview mine where a sixteen footdiameter fan is used for the purpose. Excellent sanitary conditionscan be maintained in all of tliese mines at a very trifling cost per tonof coal ]ti()(luce(l. Nature has been lavish in her contributionstowards making it possible for sanitary conditions to jtrevail at alltimes in tliese mines, jaovided the officials having charge of the miningoperations have the necessary knowledge and will contributetheii' share to obtain this very desirable end by doing their duty.During my last visit to the mines in this region I found in all of tliema lawful suppl}' of air in ciiculat iou, with !lie distribution of it verygood. The drainage in nearly all of these mines was faultless. Duringthe sumnu'i- months at such mines it rcipiires extreme vigilanceon the part of the ollicials in cliarge to keep the sui)i>ly of air up tothe legal retjuirements owing in a large measure to the natural forces