COAL - Clpdigital.org

34 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
if it continues in the future to steadily improve
upon what it has done in the past, we should wel­
come it as a bow of promise that spreads itself
across the industrial firmament and illumines it
with hope.
Take home to-night and think on it, gentlemen,
the precious assurances that however severely we
may condemn the materialistic age in which we
live—the so-called dominant spirit of commercialism—the
tendency in the labor world at least is
nevertheless away from the teachings and practices
of Nero and Caligula, and in favor of what
Christ said and of what Christ did—and if we
would make this more and more widely, more em­
phatically and more noticeably true—let us the
oftener say to each other what the ancient prophet
said: "Come now, let us reason together."
NEW SOUTHERN COAL CO.
READY FOR ORGANIZATION.
Final details of the new coal conipany, which
has been purchasing the coal mines and lands
along the line of the Southern railroad from East
St. Louis, 111., to Centralia, 111., were completed
in the past fortnight, when the money for the pur­
chase of the properties was paid in Belleville, 111..
to the attorney who has had the formation of the
company in charge, R. W. Ropiequet. Articles of
incorporation have been applied for. The company
will be known as the Southern Coal Co.. and
will be capitalized at $1,100,000. The incorporators
are A. B. Daab, R. W. Ropiequet and L. N.
Muren. all of St. Clair county, 111. Others interested
are ex-Mayor M. M. Stephens and H. D.
Sexton of East St. Louis. 111., J. C. Muren of the
Muren Coal & Ice Co. of St. Louis, and other St.
Louis capitalists. W. J. Kavanaugh. president of
the Wiggins Ferry Co., will be president of the
new conipany, and the organization will be completed
after the incorporation papers have been
issued. Fourteen mines along the Southern railroad
have been purchased outright and the right
to all coal along the road has been bought. The
company contemplates cheaper production of coal
and less danger of underselling. The properties
include some of the finest mines in southern Illinois,
among them being the Royal coal mine, north
of Belleville. The output of the coal controlled
will be 3.000,000 tons the year.
The United States government engineers have
decided that bituminous coal best suits the needs
of the navy.
COAL UNLOADING AT HAMBURG.
In Zeitschrift des Vereins Deutscher Ingenieure
(1905, No. 30. p. 1221) there is a description of
two coal unloaders of interesting construction.
These were erected 230 feet apart on the dock of
the Hamburg-American line at Hamburg. These
unloaders serve to discharge coal, straight from
the railway car down a chute into barges and
lighters below, and are adapted for work both at
low and at high tide, the difference between the
water level at these two periods, respectively.
being 13 feet 9 inches. Accordingly, the mechan­
ism is made capable of two different movements.
It consists of an inner unit, which is operated
automatically by the weight of the load, and is
used at low water; and an outer unit, worked by
electric power, and used at high tide.
The platform, upon which the car is run, is com­
mon to both units. When the inner is used, the
platform swings on two pivots resting on the
frame-work of the outer unit. When the outer
is used, the platform is bolted fast to that frame­
work. A toothed-wheel segment (concentric with
the pivots mentioned) engages with a gear, the
axle of which runs in bearings forming part of
the outer frame-work. This gear is controlled by
a band-brake worked by hand. The car is run
forward on the platform until its front axle is
gripped automatically by a catch-hook; the rear
coupling hook of the car is secured to an adjust­
able hook at the land-end of the platform; the
front board of the car is lowered, and the brake
released. Since the center of gravity of the system
lies in front of the axis of suspension, the
platform, together with the car upon it, tilts for­
ward. By setting the brake, it is held at a suitable
angle (anywhere up to 45°), until all the contents
are unloaded. Finally, on again releasing
the brake (the center of gravity being now behind
the axis of support I, the platform swings to its
fiirst position.
By means of this inner unit, cars having a
length of wheel of 8 to 13 feet, and carrying a
load of 10 to 20 metric tons, can be dumped automatically.
The hooks holding the car are adjustable,
so that the latter, according to its length,
can be placed in the position giving the best working
movement.
When the outer dumper, which is worked by
electric power, is to be used, the platform is
coupled with the outer frame-work by means of a
bolt operated by a hand-wheel. This frame-work
is pivoted at the end nearest the water, while at
the land-end it rests upon wooden ties. The whole
of the dumper is surmounted by an iron framework
which supports a platform for the engine
room above. In the latter are located the wind-