OCR Text |
Show COUNT TUNNELS BY MILES Underground Workings of Anthracite Coal Mines a Constant Source of Expense to Owners. Anthracite coal mines In this country coun-try have over 7,000 miles of tunnels. Of these, 2,000 lire in the Schuylkill region, re-gion, which ships about 23 per cent of tho totul anthruclte production. In tho Lehigh and Wyoming regions, which furnish the remaning 72 per cent of output, thero must bo over 5,-000 5,-000 miles of tunnels. These underground ronds nro n great expense. All tho coal that can bo recovered re-covered from them Is constantly Increasing, In-creasing, nnd this ndds greutly to tho cost of the mines. Wnter that runs into these underground passages must be steadily pumped out to protect ud-Jacent ud-Jacent workings, and nlr must be forced in to prevent the formation of dangerous gases. To protect tho surface sur-face nnd mnko possible tho recovery of n little more conl, largo sums of money nro annually spent for pumping refuse buck Into tho workings by hydraulic process. A further problem of large cost Is tho timbering of tho mines. Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania timber has long been stripped from the hills nnd yellow pine from the South must bo brought in. Mine timbers nnd lumber cost tho operators 5,000,000 annually. - |