SUMMARY OF WORK DONE.

POLK COUNTY.

In the early part of January, before I had finished visiting all the mines of the State, and while the railroads were snow blockaded in several places, I thought to improve the time by visiting the underground works of the mines of Polk county, especially those in the immediate vicinity of the city of Des Moines.

The first mine visited was the Giant Mine No. 2. I was very much surprised when I found the mine in the condition it was in, as everything all through the mine had an abandoned appearance; they were working forty-one men and two mules, while the volume of air was only 1,800 cubic feet per minute; the doors and stoppings were out of repair all through the mine, and the air was allowed to take its own course.

The mine was ventilated by a ten-foot fan that had a record of 26,000 cubic feet per minute when there was over one hundred men employed, but at the time of this visit the air was allowed to pass almost direct from one shaft to the other without hindrance. I asked the mine foreman to explain why he had let the mine run down so badly; he said his instructions from the superintendent were not to put any more expense on the mine, as it was pretty nearly wrought out and the company intended soon to abandon it, but on talking with the superintendent afterward I think the mine boss had misunderstood his instructions. I applied for an injunction to the District Court, which granted my petition, and on January 19th the notice was served. The superintendent came to see me and asked what was the matter; I explained to him the situation underground in his mine and told him as soon as he got everything in good shape I would lift the injunction and let him go to work again with his full force; he immediately ordered all the men to be put to work making the necessary improvements that the law would allow him to work underground (which was ten men), and it was only a few days until I was requested to go and inspect the mine, which I did and found the ventilation restored so that at a point on the first visit where there

was no ventilation they now had over 7,600 cubic feet, and the full volume was 14,831 cubic feet per minute. I canceled the injunction, the company paying the costs.

Giant Mine, No. 1.-I found this mine in fair condition. The east side of the mine was working forty-five miners, four drivers and one roadman; the volume of air for that side of the mine was 6,457 cubic feet per minute, and was well-conducted to the working-place of the men. The west side of the mine had only lately been opened out, and as there was only a small amount of coal to be recovered the mine foreman thought it would be economy to open the works out with singly entry; there were only seventeen miners employed on that side of the mine; the rooms were only in a short distance from the entry; the ventilation was good; but I fear when the rooms are driven back well to the boundary the boss will find that he made a mistake in opening out that side of the mine with single entry. This mine is being operated in the lower vein and their territory runs out east from the shaft under the underground stream that has caused so much trouble at four other mines in the same neighborhood by flooding with water, but the boss concluded that a half loaf was better than no bread, so he only takes out part of the coal, leaving a portion of the vein up to support the roof, which is a great advantage, as the air has no effect on the coal that is left, while if all the coal was removed the action of the air passing along the entries and through the rooms would cause the roof to slack or crumble, and would soon give them trouble, as the slate is not very thick between the coal and sand and water over it; if one fall should occur in a room in a place where they could not timber it, the fall would soon extend up far enough to let down the water, which would give them a great deal of trouble if it did not flood the mine entirely.

Garver Mine.-The Garver Coal and Mining Company were working eighty-nine miners and seven mules, with a full volume of air of 5,568 cubic feet per minute; the doors and stoppings were in very poor condition all through the mine. They were working the second and third veins of coal and when 5,568 feet of air was distributed so as to give each seam its proper proportion of the volume of air, I found it was entirely too small.

I applied for an injunction on the mine which was granted by Judge McHenry of the District Court, but the coal company with their attorney went to the Judge and made such a fuss about how they were oppressed, and the great injustice they were made to suffer

at the hands of the Mine Inspector, that the Judge canceled the injunction and set a date for trial, giving the company two week's time and at the end of the two weeks the mine was still in poor condition and the company asked still further time which was granted, giving the company ten days more time; at the expiration of the ten days I visited the mine and found the volume of air increased from 5,568 cubic feet per minute to 20,265 feet. The volume of air for the lower vein was 7,750 cubic feet per minute, while the volume of air for the upper seam was 12,515 feet; while there was a large increase in the volume of air there were portions of the mine that were very poorly ventilated, but I had become convinced that it was no use trying to enforce the law in the District Court, so I relieved the company by them paying the costs and served another notice on them, intending if they had not complied with the law at the end of the twenty days to apply for an injunction through the Circuit Court and see if I could find a judge that would enjoin a corporation for not complying with the mining law. The company went to work, put in a new fan, took the obstructions out of the air ways, and before the end of the twenty days had the mine in good condition.

Standard Fuel Company.―This company were employing one hundred and thirty-one men and six mules. The full volume of air was 9,036 cubic feet per minute. The sanitary condition of the mine was very poor. The airways were too small to allow the volume of air to pass, to properly ventilate a mine working as many men as they were, other circumstances being taken into consideration, although they had provided overcasts and stopping where they thought they were needed; but in some instances they had done just the opposite to what should have been done, and from the above and other causes the sanitary condition of the mine was very poor, and in some places not fit for men to work. I applied for an injunction on the mine, restraining them from operating with more than ten men until made to conform to the provisions of the mining laws, which was granted by the judge of the district court, but the company asked the judge to release them, which he did, giving them the same time that he did the Garver Coal Company. The officers of the company then called on me, and were very much exercised at what they seemed to think was oppression, but the superintendent is a good underground man, and I made a special request of him to visit the underground works of his mine, which he said he had not done for a long time. He consented to go and make a thorough examination, and after he had made

the inspection he came to the conclusion that he was not being oppressed any more than his company were oppressing their workmen, by failing to furnish them with proper ventilation at their working places in the mine. He ordered the airways made larger, and fol lowed out other suggestions that I had made to him, and on January 29 I visited the mine again, and found the full volume of air had been increased from 9,036 cubic feet per minute to 37,973 feet. This volume of air was divided into five different currents, and the only trouble then existing was the divisions had not been properly made. For instance: one divide, where there were only eighteen men working, had 24,552 feet of air per minute. But all of those defects were remedied as we went through the mine, with the exception of the last east entry, running south on the east side of the mine. This entry was running up hill, and the boss thought it was necessary for him to put some obstruction on this entry, as it was running up hill, so as to force the air into an entry on the opposite side of the main entry, that was running to the dip, or down hill. He thought that cold air would naturally force itself into an entry running up hill, and as the weather was extremely cold, he thought the entry going to the dip would not get its proper amount of air unless aided in some way; but the reverse is the case, as cold air will naturally seek the lowest place in a mine, and unless the air is forced to travel in entries that are elevating they will not get their proper amount of air. I explained this to the boss, and demonstrated the fact by measuring the amount of air then traveling on the two entries. At the end of the entries going up the hill the current of air would not turn the wheel of the anemometer, while on the entry running to the dip there was almost two hundred feet of air to the man per minute. The boss readily saw his mistake, and promised to remedy it. The next day I therefore withdrew the suit pending, by the company paying the costs.

Pioneer Coal Company -This mine is in good condition. The full volume of air was 20,125 cubic feet per minute. The company had forty-five miners employed. There were several new doors in the mine, showing that the mine had lately been overhauled. This is the oldest mine now in operation in the county, and as the territory does

extend very far east or west from the shaft, they are confined to a narrow strip. They have taken all the coal out as they advanced, going south from the shaft, until at the present time it is about a mile from the shaft to where they mine their coal; and as the air shaft is situated about one hundred yards from the hoisting shaft, when it is

taken into consideration that both the entry and airway are closely timbered, it will be seen that the friction of the air in passing along these airways is very great. The mine is ventilated by a force fan, run at about two hundred and fifty revolutions per minute, and taking all the disadvantages that have to be overcome in this mine, into consideration, I consider its sanitary condition very good. The boss has an anemometer of his own, and that enables him to make all divides in his air that are necessary, and make them accurate. An air meter is something that every mining boss should have furnished him. If this was done it would enable the mine bosses to make the proper divides in the air currents passing through their mines.

Eclipse Mine.-This mine had met with a small accident the morning I visited it, by having a fall in the air-way from the top of the air-shaft to the fan. They had covered it temporarily with hay and boards, but the air-way doors and stoppings were in good repair, the entries were all driven to the boundaries and the rooms were about all wrought out so there was not work left but bringing back the pillars; at the present time the mine is about ready to be abandoned. Des Moines Coal Company.-This mine was in good condition in every respect. They were working twenty men and two mules. The volume of air was 7,520 cubic feet per minute. At the time of this visit the mine had not beenin operation one year and had no escape shaft, but the law allowed them one year to furnish the second opening, and while they did not have the escape they had complied with the law by not employing over twenty men under ground. I called the attention of the manager to the fact that the time given by law for him to furnish the second opening had about expired; he made arrangements with the Union Coal Company and connected with their mine under ground, and in that way furnished for both mines.

an escape

Union Coal Company.-This mine was not in very good condition. They were working thirteen men and one mule. The full volume of air was 3,512 feet per minute. The mine was without the second opening, but their underground works were driven up to those of the Des Moines Coal Company. It was only the work of a day or two until they were all right in this respect, and also in regard to ventilation as the hanging of one door and the repairing of one or two stoppings would force the air to where it was needed.

Pleasant Hill Coal Company.-This mine had a volume of air of 4,450 feet per minute, with fourteen men employed. There was some