first shaft had sixty feet of sand and water, and the second had only ten, and that the coal could not be mined, in either case, under any system now adopted in this State, and if this theory had been adhered to by some of our mine superintendents, the companies they represent would have been thousands of dollars better off. And for

this reason land should be thoroughly prospected, before sinking any shafts or buying any machinery, so as to ascertain the thickness of the coal, the quality of the coal, and the nature of the roof, as we have considerable coal in this State that can never be mined on account of the difficulty above described.

The people of the State are imposed upon by men who claim to be practical men. There are some in the State, who are prospecting, that all they know about the business is to keep the drill going, but know nothing about the measures that the drill is passing through, and it is economy to sink prospecting shafts rather than employ such men to prospect with drills. Prospecting should be done by competent men, men who would be responsible for what they represent at all the holes they put down, and if they had to be responsible there would be fewer men in the business.

After the hoisting shaft is located it is economy to get the hoisting machinery in place as soon as possible, for by having the machinery in place the shaft can be sunk sooner and for less money, as the dirt can be hoisted sconer and the sinkers will not be compelled to wait on the machinery to take the dirt out of their way.

The timbers for securing the shaft should all be on the ground before the sinking commences, and some competent person should cut all the timbers, so they would be uniform, and the timbers should be placed in the shaft as soon as the sinking has advanced far enough to admit of their being put in without interfering with the sinkers; and the shaft should be sunk in such manner that the timbers would be perfectly tight when in place. Opening out from the bottom of the shaft is a matter of considerable importance; the object should be to drive the entries a sufficient distance from the bottom of the shaft before cross-entries are started, to give plenty of room on each side of the shaft for all the double track necessary. Many good miners have been compelled to work under disadvantages for years, when it could have been remedied without any great expense at the first opening of the mine. I am often asked the question, "what plan is best to adopt?" and I always answer it in this way:

Employ a practical mine boss, and then let him run the mine. There is no set rule to operate a mine in this State, as there are no two mines exactly the same, and there is often a great difference in different portions of the same mine; and for this reason it requires a practical man to detect these changes, and shape his works accordingly. And I might say that on this one item of the management of the underground operations, more than any other one thing, rests the financial success or failure of every mine. And for this reason coal companies should be careful in selecting a foreman that thoroughly understands his work, and then furnish him men and material sufficient to do the work as soon as it is necessary.

The system of double entry is now generally adopted, but I think a majority of our mine foremen make a mistake in driving their crossentries too far apart. They are generally driven one hundred and fifty yards, and some as far as two hundred yards apart. They do this thinking it is economy, as it makes less entry driving. But in my opinion it is a mistake, for when two entries are driven one hundred and fifty yards apart, then the rooms have to be driven seventyfive yards, which is too far for good results. Before the rooms can be driven seventy-five yards, where several rooms are being driven abreast, there will be a weight on the pillars, and when they are attacked by the miner he often finds that he cannot recover enough of the pillar coal to make it profitable for him to work. And very often the first fall that occurs (after the pillar is attacked) the whole room falls in, covering perhaps thousands of tons of coal, that the company have bought at the rate of hundreds of dollars per acre, and have paid for having the entries and all narrow work, and are entitled to, and should have, more coal than they have received.

I am confident if the mine foremen would make their calculations on having the rooms driven fifty yards, or less, and draw the pillars as soon as the room is driven to the boundary, they would secure more coal from the territory mined over, and more coal for the amount of narrow work driven. It is certainly mistaken economy to adopt a system of laying out the works so as to lose a large portion of the coal in the territory mined over, in order to save a few yards of entry driving.

COMPLAINTS.

I often have complaints from mine bosses that the superintendent of the mine refuse to furnish the proper material for carrying on the work, and that he knows nothing about a coal mine. Now, this is sometimes the case with new coal companies. They elect some one of the stockholders as their general superintendent, and very often he does not know anything about coal works. But that is all right; a coal company have a perfect right to select whom they please to superintend their works; and it is none of your business so long as he does not meddle with your business, but if he persists, in meddling with your affairs to the detriment of the works under your charge, then it is your duty to resign your position. There are instances of this kind in the State, where the general superintendent knows nothing about the underground works, and refuses to get things that are necessary, and gets] things that are not suitable, and meddles with things underground that he knows nothing about; and the mine boss continues to work, doing things contrary to his better judgment, losing money for the company at every move, and at the same time injuring his reputation as an underground man. As every bad move under such circumstances will be charged to you, and the good ones you get no credit for, therefore the proper thing for you to do, under these circumstances, is to resign your position, take your pick and make your living until another opening presents itself, which will not be long if you are a competent man; and there is nothing that goes to prove a man's competency more than to see him refuse to run a mine under a false system. When our competent mine foremen show more independence, then will their services be more appreciated and sought after. A mine boss holds the most responsible position about the mine, financially speaking. He has to study the nature of the floor of his mine, and find out whether it is going to admit of the coal settling when the weight comes on; then the nature of the roof and coal has to be taken into consideration before he can determine how to start his works; he has to see that all the airways are kept open and properly timbered; the roads in good condition for handling coal; and look after the entries and rooms, to see that they are going the proper direction, and are being driven the proper width; and when it is taken into consideration that perhaps there are three or four hundred men working in the mine,

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the boss has his hands full; and no man, without considerable experience and executive ability, can make it a success. Besides, there obstacles encountered in mining that are not met with in any of the books, and it requires a careful, thinking, practical man to understand them.

NEW VENTILATING FANS.

Since making my last report, seventeen new ventilating fans have been erected in this State, at the following mines:

Cobb and Centerville mines, at Centerville, Appanoose county.

B shaft of the White Breast coal company, and Chariton shaft, at Cleveland, Lucas county.

No. and No. 2 mines, at Muchakinock.

B shaft at Excelsior.

Standard and Acme mines, of Oskaloosa, Mahaska county.

A shaft of the Starr coal company, of What Cheer, Keokuk county. Pioneer, Giant No. 2, and Eclipse mines, of Des Moines.

Climax mine, of Angus, Boone county.

Standard mine, of Greene county.

Van Meter mine, of Dallas county.

And including the seven that were in operation, makes twenty-four ventilating fans now in operation, which shows an encouraging increase for two years. Nine of these fans are force, and fifteen are exhaust fans. Some of the companies have taken out the furnace and put a fan in its place, and all are well satisfied, as the current of air produced by the different fans ranges from 13,000 to 50,000 cubic feet per minute. There are several other mines where they contemplate putting in a fan soon.

MINE VENTILATION

Has received considerable attention in the last two years. A majority of our coal companies now realize the fact that ventilation is one of the important objects to be looked after in the successful management of our mining enterprises, and are investigating the different systems, to ascertain which is the best plan for them to adopt. They have had the old stove that was placed at the bottom of the air-shaft quietly hoisted out of the mine, and taken away out of sight. The basket that I so often found, on my first year of inspection, hanging in the air shaft with about a hatfull of fire in it, has also gone to keep the old stove company, or has been sold to the dealer in old iron, or laid away as a relic of one mode of torture to the miner; and natural ventilation is not as well thought of as it was a few years ago; while the steam jet (like coffee in war times) is a luxury entirely too expensive for the benefit derived.

As our underground excavations become more extensive, the system of ventilation above referred to becomes wholly inadequate; and as the resistance of the current of air passing through the air-way of the mine has to be overcome by the atmospheric pressure at the downcast shaft, it is therefore necessary to employ some means to overcome as much as possible the atmospheric pressure on the air or upcast shaft, and a majority of our mine superintendents have turned their attention to the fan, or furnace, as the only practical method of accomplishing this object. The furnace has for years been the favorite method of producing ventilation in our mines; but in the last two years the fan has attracted considerable attention, and has always given good satisfaction. The first cost of a furnace is less than a fan; but as the expense of a furnace does not stop with its construction, I consider, for shallow shaft mines, such as we have in this State, that the an is both cheaper and more effective than a furnace.

I find there are a great variety of ideas in regard to the proper construction of a ventilating furnace, and, like all other debatable. questions, considerable argument can be produced by all; but there is one point on which all agree, and that is that the air, in passing through the furnace, should be made as hot as possible.

A thin, wide fire, with a thin column of air passing over it, will more effectually heat the current of air passing than one built with