i STEAM COAL - Clpdigital.org

44 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
The Washington County Canal Association has inferior in quality and antiquated in construction
been organized at Marietta, O., to arouse sentiment and operation. It has been somewhat difficult in
in favor of completing the Ohio canal from Cleve­ the past for users of fuses to find up-to-date and
land to Dresden, thus forming a five-foot water­ dependable goods without making a costly series
way from the Great Lakes via the Muskingum of .experiments and tests, as the number of such
river to the coal regions in West Virginia.
goods represented to be first-class is very large.
Several recent events, however, have served to
About 20 of the leading coal operators of East­ show beyond doubt that the fuses made at the Star
ern Ohio met at Wheeling on December 15 and took Electric Fuse Works at Wilkesbarre, Pa., embody
preliminary action toward eliminating middle-men every principle of absolute safety, reliability and
from the coal trade in that district. A selling economy. The manufacturers received a silver
agency will probably be established at Wheeling. medal, the highest award on electric fuses given at
the St. Louis Exposition. A recent public test,
A mortgage has been filed at Charleston, W. Va., conducted before a large number of experts and
on the entire property of the Black Band Coal & persons interested in fuses demonstrated conclu­
Coke Co., and the Kanawha River Coal Railway sively the superiority of Star fuses, and they are
Co.. to secure six per cent, first mortgage twenty- being recommended everywhere by mine inspectyear
gold bonds, amounting to $750,000.
ors. The Star fuses are based on the "matchhead"
construction system and are prepared for
Twenty-six hundred children of the miners in every form of explosive and blasting work. Much
the employ of Coxe Bros. & Co. received Christmas valuable and interesting information on this head
presents at Hazleton, Pa., from Mrs. Sophie G. is provided in the company's recently issued book­
Coxe, widow of E. B. Coxe, who spent more than let on fuses. In the annual report of the Penn­
$5,000 for their gifts.
sylvania bureau of mines for 1902, Edward Reynolds,
inspector of mines in the Fourth Anthra­
George H. Knoll has been appointed receiver for cite district, made the following recommending
the American Coal & Coke Co., a new concern statement regarding Star electric fuses:
working on a lease from the Black Band Colliery * * * "Four were killed by premature blasts,
Co., in the Coal River district of West Virginia. due to shortening squibs or to some mistake in
handling them. The only method to do away
While drilling a well at Arapahoe, O. T., an eight- with this class of accidents is to remove the cause,
foot vein of coal was struck at a depth of 150 feet. for, if men are permitted to use squibs, the temp­
A company was at once formed to develop the find, tation is constantly presented to shorten or tam­
with G. B. McFarland as president.
per with them. If the miners were compelled to
Extensive fields of lignite coal have been dis­
fire all blasts by the use of a battery, there would
be no missed or hung shots. The difficulty in
covered in Lewis county, Wash. Sixteen veins the past has been to ignite black powder by a
have been uncovered thus far and the quality of battery without the use of an exploding cap, but
the coal is said to be very good.
this trouble has been removed, as the Electric
The Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad has made
Fuse Co. has introduced an electric fuse which
is the first known that will ignite black powder
a cut on the rate on steam coal to Oklahoma points without a cap. as the fuse itself is separate from
of 25 cents per ton, putting it into any town in the the cap, and only in case of blasting with dyna­
territory for $1.00 per ton.
mite the loose cap has to be pushed into the paper
tube of the powder fuse. The use of electric fuses
The Santa Fe railroad has finished a six-mile without the cap attached is much safer in all
branch from Rockvale to Radiant, Col., where a gaseous mines, where squibs are now used, be­
new coal mine is about to be opened which will cause no open flame like the burning of the paper
produce 2,000 tons per day.
of the squib can touch the gas. Furthermore, the
electric powder fuse has the advantage that all
ELECTRIC FUSES.
men can reach a safe place before the battery is
touched by the miner who has control of the key
for operating it. The fuses are cheaper than any
of those to which caps are attached and have given
satisfaction wherever they have been used."
It has been demonstrated beyond doubt that the
compulsory use of electricity in firing mine blasts
has gone farther toward reducing the number of
accidents from premature explosions than any
other contributing factor. That its effectiveness
has not been still greater is due to the fact that
many of the fuses and fuse systems in use are
The Merchants' Coal Co., of West Virginia, has
been authorized to increase its holdings of land
within that state from 10,000 acres to 15,000 acres.