Reports of the Inspectors of Mines of the anthracite and bituminous ...

No. 12.] ±'iFTH Bituminous District. 405
in the basiu, Ijut it was fouiul after the shaft was sunk that the coal
dipped away to the northeast and it is now probable that the basin is
1,000 feet north east of the present location. The head frame over the
shaft is of steel.
The coal bins are of wood and hold about 400 tons of coal. The equipment
for hoisting" coal and draining* the shaft working- of water consist
of a pair of 28 by 48 inches first motion eng-ines the drums of which
are conical running from 10 feet in diameter at small end to 12 feet at
larg-e end; four 5 by 16 i'eet 48.4 inches flue boilers and two duplex Hall
pumps of 250 g-allons per minute capacity each, tog-ether with customary
feed pumps, etc. A larg-e Hall compound pump of 500 g-allons per
minute capacity is now being- made for shaft No. 1, and will soon be
placed in the mine workings.
Three hundred coke ovens are being- built at No. 1 plant and 229 of
them are now fully completed. The ovens are charg-ed by means of a
locomotive and larrys. All the work done about No. 1 shaft is of the
most solid and substantial character and no attempt has been made to
sacrifice solidity for the sake of saving- expense in construction as is often
the case in work of this kind.
Oliver 3Iine No. 2 is located about 2,000 feet southwest of No. 1 shaft
and it is 384 feet deep, nothing- has been done at this mine yet beyond
the driving- of a heading- to meet the headings being driven from No. 1
shaft. No. 2 plant will be the largest one and it is expected to make it
a 500 oven plant and an effort will be made to equip it with the latest
improvements in mining machinery and labor saving devices, and while
it is generally conceded that No. 1 plant is one of the finest in the Connellsville
coke region it is the earnest endeavor of its owners to have No.
2 plant eclipse it.
The territory tributary to these shafts is quite extensive and the owners
of these plants control 1,386 acres of the Connellsville seam of coking
coal and have some expectations of increasing the acreage in the near
future.
A third shaft will be sunk as soon as the lowest point in the coal field
has been located and it will be used as a pumping shaft and for ventila-
tion. The intention is to place two fans at the top of this shaft, one fan
to be used continuously and the other to be held in readiness in case of
accident.
About six or seven thousand feet of heading has been driven at No, 1
shaft and the coal has been found to be very pure and regular and the
thickness averages over 9 feet. The roof and floor are good with the ex-
ception of one place and there the roof is crumbling, but it is evidently
but a fault of small extent and such as is encountered quite often in the
coke region. As might be expected in a mine so near the center of the
basin, the workings of No. 1 shaft give off large quantities of fire damp,