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•50 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
Y. M. C. A. WORK IN PENN­
SYLVANIA BITUMINOUS FIELDS.
The Bituminous Association News, published at
Greensburg, Pa., by the bituminous region com­
mittee of the State Young Men's Christian Asso­
ciation, in its September number reports:
"New organizations have been effected at Freeport,
Rossiter and Vintondale. Freeport raised
al^out $500 for equipment before opening the
rooms. They have about as fine quarters as are
to be found anywhere. The ministers of all the
different churches took a great interest and helped
secure funds for equipment. Rev. F. A. Richards
was elected president and he has guided the work
with masterly skill. Quarters are furnished at
Vintondale by the coal conipany and everything
bids fair for a healthy organization. Rossiter
has petitioned the coal conipany for a building.
About 200 names were secured upon the petition.
Enthusiasm runs high, and the men are elated
over the prospects of a building. Names of many
foreign-speaking men are on the petition."
Among the coal companies interested in the
movement are the following: The Huron Coal
Co.. Atlantic Crushed Coke Co.. the Hecla Coke Co.,
the Beech Creek Coal & Coke Co.. Morrisdale Coal
Co., Bessemer Coke Co., Lilly Coal Co., Clearfield
Bituminous Coal Corporation, Northwestern Mining
& Exchange Co., Blossburg Coal Co., Vinton
Colliery Co., Clearfield & Jefferson Coal & Iron Co..
Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Co., Pittsburgh & Baltimore
Coal Co., Keystone Coal & Coke Co.. Ber
wind-White Coal Mining Co.. the Jamison Coal &
Coke Co., Madeira Hill Coal Mining Co., Saxman
Coal Cos., Penn Gas Coal Co., the Westmoreland
Coal Co.. Manor Gas Coal Co., South Fork Coal
Co., the Stineman Coal Mining Co., the Stineman
Coal & Coke Co., Oliver-Snyder Steel Co. (coal interests),
the Somerset Coal Co., W. B. Skelly Coal
Co.
THE MATTER OF HAULAGE.
The item of haulage is one of the most important
components of the cost of coal mining and
will run from 10 to 20 per cent, of the total cost
of coal f. o. b. the railroad cars, averaging probably
15 per cent, in the coal mines of Alabama
and Tennessee, writes Charles E. Bowron, mining
engineer, in Mines and Minerals. We may classify
mine haulage under two heads: (1) animal
haulage and (2) mechanical haulage, including
wire rope, steam, air and electric locomotives, and
we may further classify it in many instances as
I A) primary haulage or haulage on the main
entries or haulways of the mine, these being permanent
during the life of the mine, and IB)
secondary haulage on the room or working entries,
including the distribution of empty cars to,
and the collection of loaded cars from, the individual
working places.
Practically all the coal mines of Alabama and
Tennessee are either slope or drift mines. In the
case of slopes, hoisting engines are, of course,
employed from the outset of operations to hoist
on the main slope while mules are used for the
secondary haulage on the working entries, which
are usually driven off at nearly right angles with
the slopes. It is evident that until the working
or room entries, or headings, as they are promiscuously
called in this case, become of some length,
that mule haulage is the most economical for
gathering trips to the main rope. The general
course of these slopes is to gradually flatten out
in a distance varying from one-fourth to one-half
a mile, sometimes a little more, when the basin is
reached and the coal is found to be practically flat,
of course with numerous local swags and knuckles
in it. The drift mines naturally employ mule
haulage from the outset.
When the territory to be worked is of sufficient
extent to justify the expenditure called for, there
conies a time, in the life of every coal mine employing
animals for either primary or secondary
haulage, when the substitution of some form of
mechanical haulage for either the primary or
secondary haulage, or perhaps both, will likely
prove to be a profitable move: it will sometimes
become even imperative in order to increase the
output, or sometimes, even to maintain the past
rate of output, all of which becomes increasingly
difficult with the advance of the mine.
The Ingersoll-Rand Co., 11 Broadway, New York,
announces the establishment of a branch office at
Houghton, Mich., under the management of Mr.
T. F. Lynch, who has for several years past represented
the Ingersoll-Sergeant Drill Co. in the
copper and iron districts of the north. At the
new office a complete stock of repair and duplicate
parts for all Ingersoll-Rand machinery will be
carried, assuring the most ready service to patrons
of the company in the territory covered.
The Southeastern Retail Coal Merchants' Association
was organized at Atlanta, Ga., October 18
by retail coal dealers of Georgia, North and South
Carolina, Florida and Alabama. The following
officers were elected: Robert Graves, Rome, Ga.,
vice-president; A. G. Cower, Greenville, S. C, first
vice-president; T. M. Weaver, Asheville, N. C,
second vice-president; W. F. Vandiver, Montgomery,
Ala., third vice-president; W. F. Plane, Atlanta,
secretary-treasurer.