1236

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

December 17, 1915.

operations, the value of such a policy is even more
apparent. The two basic industries of our civilisation
are agriculture and mining. The farmer can harvest
his crop year after year and, by use of proper fertilisers
and cultivation, his farm remains a source of wealth
from generation to generation. But the crop of the
miner can be harvested but once in the history of the
race; there are no fertilisers for worked-out mines, and
what he leaves behind through lack of skill is for ever
lost. On the presumption that there is general agree-
ment on the enunciations made, it is evident that the
manager who has scientific training, experience, and
energy, will be able to earn for his employer many times
his salary, and benefit the nation as well.

The first objective in a scheme of training suitable
for a student who is to become a manager should be the
matriculation standard; and this could be attained by a
boy of ordinary ability who remains at school until he
is 17 or 18 years of age. After attaining this standard,
he should then work at the mine for a year, meanwhile
extending his education by attending evening classes in
mathematics and physics. On completing a year or
so of practical training, he should enter upon a three
years course at a technical college or university, and
obtain a diploma or degree. In order to blend the
theoretical and practical training, the student should
spend his vacations at the mine and, on completion of
the college course, he should work in the mine until he
has the necessary qualifications to sit for the Home
Office examination. As he would not yet be of age to
assume the duties of manager, he should spend a year
or so in the mechanical department of a colliery. The
course thus outlined would spread over a period of seven
years.

Consider now the case of the student who is com-
pelled by economic pressure to devote the greater part
of his time to earning a livelihood, and in his spare time
attends evening classes. It is obvious that, if he wishes
to attain the standard of education which we have been
considering, by evening classes alone, it would require
such serious effort, strain, and determination on his part
as would be beyond the enthusiasm of the ordinary
student. A five-years part-time evening course -is now
recognised as necessary for a student who intends to
occupy the position of under-manager—which seems
reasonable, and as much as one would expect a student
to do after a hard day’s work—and it must be admitted
that a manager requires a wider general education than
that which is necessary for an under-manager, just as the
latter requires a broader training than the miner.

According to this view, the proper course to follow, for
the student who intends becoming a manager, would be
to attend part-time evening classes for five years in
mathematics, physics, chemistry, English, etc., until
he had attained a standard equivalent to matriculation.
Then provision should be made for him to attend a
part-time or full-time college course, as by this means-
many of the difficulties and hardships of the continuance
of an evening course would be eliminated. It is
apparent that the operation of such a system of training
rests with the employers and managers, for a student
cannot attend such courses without their consent and
co-operation; and moreover, managers should be pre-
pared to allow a student the opportunity of acquiring
varied training at the colliery.

This system would only follow the lead of many
engineering firms who allow their apprentices certain
hours off during the day to attend day courses, and
allow them many other favours according to the stan-
dard attained in the classes.

A very essential feature of the organisation must be
the provision of a system of scholarships so as to enable
a brilliant student, who may be the son of humble
parents, to attain success and benefit the industry.

Turning our attention to Lancashire, we find that the
normal demand would be about seven managers every
year. Assuming that a three-years full-time course
were to be instituted, then there would be a total of 21
students between the first, second, and third year to
supply the demand, and if seven scholarships (z.e.,
one-third of the total number of students) of £60 each
were granted, the expense, when distributed on the
24 million tons output of Lancashire, would be 1/240th
of a penny per ton per annum, and for a colliery with
a 1,000 tons output per day, the cost would be about
£4 15s. a year, which is a very small sum for the results
which would be obtained by such a policy, and would
contribute largely to the success of the scheme from the
outset. An open door is necessary for those who have
the ability to climb from the lowest to highest rank in
the industry. By such encouragement will the status
of the colliery manager be enhanced.

A problem of the greatest importance in the develop-
ment of the would-be manager is to obtain a harmonious
balance between the practical and technical training,
and it is in this connection that the active co-operation of
the colliery manager is most required so as to establish
a bond of union between the colliery and the mining
school.

The practical training of the student should be varied
so as to enable him to have a working knowledge of the
different branches that will be under his control.

In the present state of affairs his whole experiences
may have been gained at the face, and he may be a
skilled collier, while his knowledge of the mine, as a
whole, may be very limited. Mining operations are
being performed more and more by mechanical means,
in preference to manual labour; this emphasises the
need of organised training.

In my opinion, this branch could render valuable
service if it would consider this question, and draft a
course of practical training, which would be of the
greatest assistance to the student in his future work.
In conclusion, it may be well to be reminded of the fact
that, after all has been said on the subject of training
of colliery managers, there still remains the most diffi-

cult of all the problems in our civilisation—the manage-
ment of men.

The success of the lawyer or physician depends almost
entirely on his individual brains and technical skill, and
he can utilise them without the aid of others. But this
is not the case with the colliery manager. He cannot do
his work except through the confidence of his employer,
the loyalty and skill of his staff, and the friendly aid
of the workers; or, as Dr. Christy puts it : “ From the
inception of the original idea to its final completion, men
and money, brains and brawn, nature and human
nature, must work together without friction for a
common purpose.”

A young manager without natural ability is sure to
fail, no matter what knowledge he may have, whilst the
happy possessor of this quality, who may not have the
advantage of a college training, would succeed.

SHAFT SINKING WITH
JACKHAMMERS*

By L. A. Palmer.

At the Black Oak mine in the Soulsbyville granite,
near the Mother Lode, jackhammers have replaced
piston machines in shaft slinking, with a reduction of
costs, air consumption, etc. Delay-action exploders
have also been of assistance in sinking this shaft.

The shaft was carried to the 1,600 level with piston
machines; then it was decided to try jackhammers.
Inasmuch as a careful comparison of the work of the
piston machines in sinking from the 1,500 to the 1,600
with that of the jackhammers in sinking from the 1,600
to the 1,700 was in favour of the latter, the work was
continued with the lighter machines. The piston drill
was a standard type of 3-in. machine.

Four, men were used on a shift in each case—in the
one, on two piston machines, and in the other, each with
a jackhammer—and it was found that the daily progress
was increased approximately 25 per cent, by using the
jackhammers. No attempt has been made to formulate
a comparison of the air used, but it is known that the
four jackhammers consume less than the two piston
machines.

The shaft consists of two compartments and a man-
way, being 7 fit. by 18 ft. over-all, and 5 ft. by 15 ft. in
the clear. It is on a very steep incline, which averages
from 65 to 70 degs. An ideal round, drilled to break
4| ft., is shown in the illustration. It consists of 32
holes, two sets of cut holes, eight to a set, and two sets
of side rounds of the same number. The procedure is
to put in the inner cut holes, blast them, and muck out
before drilling the rest of the round. The outer cut

Plan and Section of Blast Holes in
Shaft Sinking.

■/8‘

holes and the side rounds are then put down and, if
there is time, another set of shallow cut holes is drilled
in the sump formed by shooting the first series of cuts.
This system of breaking the cut, then deepening the
cut and shooting with the remainder of the round, has
increased the progress of sinking about 6 in. per round.

Drilling and mucking of the inner cut holes is all
done on one shift by four men. The next two shifts
are given over to the muckers, who clean out the shaft
and get it ready for the drillers. The mucking shifts
consist of two muckers and an engineer for the donkey
hoist on each shift.

The placing of the holes is varied to suit conditions
as they are found in the shaft, and it sometimes happens
that as many as 25 holes are put down for the side
rounds; but the illustration shows a typical round. In
all of the holes 60 per cent, dynamite is used.

This arrangement of shifts has brought down the costs
from 35-56 dols. to 27 dols. per foot. These are
“ direct costs,” that is, cost directly chargeable to the
shaft. They include timbering and hoisting from the
1,900 to the 1,600, but tramming on the 1,600 is charged
to stope filling.

Several records have been kept of the progress in
drilling with these machines. Measurements taken in
a very hard rib of grano-diorite in the south end of the
shaft showed a drilling speed of from 1-09 to 2-13 in. per
minute on holes from 2| to 5 ft. in depth, and at all
angles from flat to nearly vertical; an average for four
holes was 1-64 in. per minute. Allowing 32 holes to a
round, which is to break 4|ft., it will be seen that with
four machines there is ample time for shooting the
centre cut, mucking out, drilling the side rounds and
shallow cut holes. The actual percentage of drilling
time is greater with a machine of this type than with a
heavier machine.

The efficiency of the jackhammer is not due to superior

* Compressed Air Magazine.

drilling speed, but to the ease with which it is handled.
Careful records have shown that the actual drilling time
in shaft sinking with piston machines was only 160
minutes per eight-hour shift. The men wasted no time,
but they spent two-thirds of the shift in getting ready
to drill, and then in getting ready to shoot. The greater
portion of this loss is chargeable to setting up, tearing
down, and shifting the machine from one set-up to
another, all of which is avoided with the jackhammer,
which weighs only 40 lb.; and when the shift 'is ready
to shoot, each man simply takes 'his machine into the
bucket with him and the whole is hoisted away.

The Black Oak has ‘also used the jackhammers to some
extent for drifting. They were mounted on the shell
of an old machine on a vertical bar. Two of them, with
one man to each, made better progress with less air than
two men with one 3-in. piston machine.

Delay Action Exploders.

In connection with this shaft it is well to mention the
use of delay-action exploders, which have facilitated the
fining of the shots. The “ Ideal ” delay-action exploder
consists of a detonator, a time fuse—whose length is
chosen to suit 'the position of the hole—and an electric
fuse spitter, to which is connected two copper wires.
The detonator is placed in the cartridge in the usual
manner, and the copper wires attached to the fuses are
connected in series, each end of the series being run
to a wooden plug in a shallow hole at one end of the
shaft. At these plugs, connections are made with the
two ends of an electric light line brought down the shaft
for this purpose. The exploder switch is in a locked
box on the 1,600 level, the key to the box being in the
possession of the shaft foreman. There are no openings
in the box for the wires leading down the shaft, so the
door must be unlocked and opened before the wires are
connected to their binding posts, and likewise they must
be disconnected before the door can be closed. As a
further precaution, the switch is so arranged that the
door cannot be closed unless the switch is open.

Thus the shaft men, after loading their holes and
making the connections to the light line through the
plugs, may leave the shaft leisurely. When the 1,600
level is reached, the shaft foreman goes to the switch
box, opens it, connects the light line wires to their
binding posts, and fires the round by closing the switch.
Before he can close the door he must open the switch
and disconnect the wires. Missed holes by this method
are extremely rare; and it is certainly an improvement
over spitting a round of -holes with a candle or acetylene
lamp, with the smoke so thick that one can hardly see,
and then scrambling hurriedly into the bucket or up the
ladder to reach a point of safety.

MINE MANAGERS’ EXAMINATIONS.

We have received from the Secretary of the Board of
Examinations copies of the questions set at the examina-
tions for certificates of competency as managers and
under-managers of mines, and for certificates of quali-
fication as surveyors of mines, which were held by the
Board on November 23 and 24 at Edinburgh, Newcastle,
Sheffield, Wigan, Cardiff, and Birmingham.

The text of the papers is given below. (Note.—The
figures in parentheses against each question indicate the .
maximum number of ‘marks obtainable.)

For First-Glass (Manager’s) Certificate of Competency.

■ Subject No. 1.— Winning and Working.

(Six questions only to be answered.. No. 3 is compulsory.)

1.	Set out in their correct order the principal geological
formations below the carboniferous formation. (40)

2.	Under what circumstances would the following modes
of sinking a shaft be most applicable ? (a) By freezing;
(6) by the drop shaft (i.e., pushing down a cylinder from the
surface); (c) by cementation; (d) by Kind Chaudron. (40)

3.	Compulsory Question.—On what system would you
work a seam dipping 1 in 5 with the following section :
sandstone 10ft., shale (suitable for ripping) 2 ft., coal 4 ft.,
holing dirt 1 ft. ? Give reasons for your choice. Assume the
shafts to be in the middle of the coal field. Lay out the
workings suitable for a get of 1,000 tons per day, and
indicate the main roads along which coal will be drawn, and
state the quantity of coal likely to come from each
district. (50)

4.	Describe and sketch the system of laying out the pit
bottom for hydraulic decking. Under what circumstances
would you adopt this system, and what are its disadvan-
tages ? (40)

5.	In case of a shortage of explosives and a consequent
further rise in price, what substitutes could be adopted for
the getting of coal? (40)

6.	Describe with sketches how you would lay out the
surface arrangements of a new colliery. Show the positions
of the principal buildings, also the screens, railway sidings,
etc. (40)

7.	In a large modern shaft 900 yds. deep, with cages
holding four tubs on each deck, show by plan how you would
arrange the wire rope guides and rubbing ropes, and make
a rough section of the kind of ropes you would use, and
state the material you would have them made of. (40)

Subject No.. 2.—Theory and Practice of Ventilation.

(Six questions only to be answered. No. 1 is compulsory.)

1.	Compulsory Question.—Indicate by means of the usual
symbols how you would ventilate the workings of the mine
shown on the accompanying plan (fig. 1), with six separate
splits of air. (50)

2.	Sketch in sectional side elevation a bonneted Mueseler
lamp. Show by means of arrow’s how the air enters, passes
through, and leaves its interior. State w-hat occurs when
it is placed in an inflammable mixture, and give the reason
why it occurs. Special importance wull be attached to the
correctness, or otherwise, of the answer to the last part
of this question. (30)

3.	What height of water-gauge is required to draw 200,000
cu. ft. of air per minute through a circular shaft 14 ft. in
diameter, 2,250 ft. deep—-assuming 0 00033 in. of water
column to represent the value of the coefficient of friction
per square foot of rubbing surface per thousand feet of
velocity per minute? (30)

4.	The air in an upcast shaft 2,000 ft. deep has a tempera-