| Show black hawk coal mine at hiawatha the first impression a visitor to the black hawk coal mine receives is calculated to upset any preconceived ideas of mining as a dangerous occupation and the farther one goes oes into the workings gs the deeper grows b rows the conviction that in this mine at least forethought care and mcder mcderm appliances have reduced the dangers to a minimum tini aery step in the development of the mine mine has been taken with the welfare and comfort of the worker uppermost in the minds of the management the black hawk mine is located in the little town of hiawatha utah originally b opened by ogden operators ope in 1910 it was acquired two years later by the united states fuel company owners and operators of the king hiawatha and panther mines all of which have made notable progress under the able management of the companas comp anys general superintendent mr R M mcgraw upon assuming charge of the black hawk an extensive program of improvements and development was initiated and under mr air mcgraws mcgrawsr McG raws supervision the mine has been placed on a par with the other mines of the company which rank among the best in the country X 4 A rotary itolar dump in ill black billek bial tipple the coal mined is high grade bituminous it lie lies in in two well ivell defined seams which vary in thickness from five to thirty one feet mining methods and equipment the main entries approximately ten tell feet wide and ten feet t high are electrically lighted and the walls whitewashed thus facilitating and furnishing added safety for the passage of the coal trains the walls of the manway man way which ls 18 of adequate dimensions are also whitewashed the room and pillar method of mining minin 6 cr is i is used the rooms being 20 feet wide and from 14 to 25 feet hig ha h a n d the e pillars 52 feet wide the roof of the workings are arc de elised sed in a manner that renders timbering unnecessary ex dept pt in a very few instances the coal is loaded out by the miners into cars car s holding proximately approximately four tons each seventeen of which constitute a trip these are driven by electric locomotives to a tram 00 OO feet in length having a maximum grade of 20 de down which the cars are gravitated at the alie bottom i they are run over a trestle leading to the ua upper D er tart part of the tipple nipple which is one of the most complete in existence having been built in 1915 at a cost of approximately no expense was spared in equipping it with the most modern devices for dumping and sorting the coal the cars are uncoupled singly fron from the trip and each separate loaded car run by gravity down under the rotary dump which is approximately feet in diameter As the car approaches the dump it strikes a tripper to automatically release the dogs which clamp the four wheels of the car to the track in the dump As the loaded car enters the dump it strikes the car just emptied drives it out and up a short inclined track on the opposite side whence it is carried back to gravity to a return track and coupled on to the trip of amply empty cars X fre dump with the loaded car upon the release of 44 adver ver by the operator turns a complete revolution dumping the coal down on to the sorting screens the coal is sorted into four sizes slack pea nut and lump coal which pass on down through the hoppers for loading into freight cars one car being spotted under each hopper A most effective safety switch has been installed by mr mcgraw at the top of the tram just outside the entry which makes it impossible for a trip to get away and run wild down the tram before the cable is attached the necessity for such a device is apparent from the fact that in normal times about 2250 tons of coal per day are loaded out of the mine mine and taken down the tram to the tipple protective methods of shot firing etc the coal is all shot with permissible powder and electric detonators each miner loads and connects his holes at the end of the shift havin having received his powder at the distributing magazine before going on shift the detonators being brought around by the shot firer just before loading time after preparing and connecting up the round the miner upon leaving throws in the room switch which is enclosed in a safety firing box located at the enar entry y to the room the firing box is so constructed that the door cannot ot be closed while the switch is in when the miner comes come back on shift he pulls the switch closes and locks the door to the firing box and thus makes it impossible for the switch to be thrown in until the box is unlocked again at the end of the shift As an extra protective measure district switches are installed at each entry the keys to which are in ill charge of the shot after all the men are out of the mine the shot inspect all connections and upon coming out unlock and throw in the district switches after makin making g sure that all men are accounted for as being out of the mine the shot is pulled at the large control switch e enclosed in iii the safet safety y firing CI box in the check house by this method th there ere are three safety firing boxes protecting miners at work namely the room off the entries district switches and control switches the ventilation of the mine has been given careful thought and ana a large blower which delivers cubic feet of air per minute is kept cansian constantly aly in operation while the y men are working the installation of the various labor saving and safety dev devices ices throughout the property has resulted not only in the added welfare of employees and reduction of accidents but has very materially aided the company through the greater efficiency of the workers associated with mr mcgraw in the successful operation of the mine are mr C N orr mine superintendent mr john taylor mine foreman J L foerster Forr ster engineer I 1 and E E jones and A W dennison M mine in e inspectors spec tors from the january issue of the detonator published by the california cap co at oakland california |
