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By John W. Buch

NeaRly 25 years ago operating officials in the northern anthracite field were confronted with the problem of profitably mining virgin beds of thin coal (those 48 in. and under) or destroying them by mining underlying thick beds. To solve this problem costly hand-mining methods were replaced by cheaper mechanical methods, which eliminated the need for the lifting of bottom or the brushing of top in excessive quantities, which was essential if proper height for hand loading1 was to be provided. During this period long-face mining was an outstanding development. In its favor in comparison with any other method were the ease with which undercutting machines could be used, a differential in powder cost of about fifteen cents per ton in favor of this method over mining from a solid chamber or pillar face, and a greater production per day from a single working place, resulting in lower capital expenditures for a given total production, closer supervision and lower transportation cost. The long faces were drilled by jackhammer and undercut by machines. The coal from the cut was loaded into mine cars placed on the gangway road by means of a double-drum mechanical scraper engine and a mechanical V-type scoop. A tugger hoist was used to spot empty cars at the loading point from a supply placed at the operation by an electric mine locomotive. During loading the roof was supported by vertical wooden props paralleling the face. After the loading was completed the scraper engine and the ropes that had been used to propel the scoop in the loading of coal transferred the props to and along the face. A row of unfilled cogs was then built parallel to the new face and about 6 ft. from it. These cogs were usually made 6 by 3 ft., the longer dimension paralleling the face; they were placed on an average at 12-ft. centers. These wooden cogs were left in place and were buried later by falling roof. Attempts to remove them were never successful. When a new long face was started, the cog spacing would be increased to about 20-ft. centers. As successive cuts were made, weight would begin on the cogs, and they

Jan 1, 1940

By R. E. Rick-Secker, W. M. Baldwin, R. McC. Baker

The development of residual stress in strip during rolling has not been systematically studied. A few scattered papers1 -3 mention the existence of residual stresses in rolled strip or touch upon some of their consequences,4 but there is no report of experimental studies in the literature describing the effect of roll diameter, strip thickness, reduction per pass, metal or metal temper on the magnitude of residual stresses developed in strip. A knowledge of the effect of these factors is of utmost importance since the present trend in some mills to roll thicker castings brings the rolling operation directly into that set of conditions which, as will be brought out in the present paper, can develop residual stresses of a high order of magnitude. Fundamentally, residual stresses are developed when a metal is inhomogeneously unloaded from a plastic stress state. A quantitative treatment of the problem requires a reasonably complete understanding of both the plastic stress state existing in the metal during deformation and the elastic stress state that would exist in the metal if the metal deformed as a perfectly elastic body. Our knowledge of either state during rolling is so meager that we can make no more than certain limited predictions. The external stress state* operating between the roll and the metal consists of Fig i—External stress state operating on metal being rolled (after siebel and LUEG5) compressive stresses acting almost perpendicularly to the strip surface but varying in intensity both across the width of the strip and along the length of contact between the roll and the strip. An example of such a stress distribution is shown in Fig I. The nature of the internal stress state, produced by this distribution, is not known. Various investigators,5-7 however, have felt that a qualitative similarity must exist between the internal stress state so produced and that produced in a wide strip that is compressed between two flat-nosed punches. In the latter case the external stress state is represented by a uniformly distributed compressive stress acting per-pendicularly over the face of the tool. The

Jan 1, 1949

By Richard E. Chism

SAN DIMAS, in the State of Durango, Mexico, on the frontier of the State of Sinaloa, is the centre of an extensive and rich mining region, which has been exploited for over a hundred years; and the patio process for working silver ores has there attained the highest perfection of which it is capable. Local modifications have been engrafted upon the underlying principles of the process, but, as a whole, the San Dimas practice so fully illustrates its typical capabilities, that I have undertaken to describe its workings in the hope of lightening, to some degree, the labors of my professional brethren who may have occasion to visit Mexico." As is tolerably well known, the patio process, like all other systems of free amalgamation, is not successful with ores containing more than a trace of zinc or lead, the presence of zincblende being especially obnoxious. Iron and copper in small quantities are not particularly disadvantageous. The process succeeds very well with all sulphide ores which do not contain much more than a trace of arsenic and antimony, provided the tailings are concentrated, although, of course, it is best adapted for free milling ores. For suitable silver ores that contain small amounts of free gold the process is still a good one, but where the gold is combined with sulphurets, a considerable and even an excessive loss is inevitable. Hitherto the Mexicans have submitted to this loss, but, since the introduction of American mills, they are gradually abandoning the patio process in favor of the other. The San Dimas ores have a gangue of quartz and feldspar. They are composed principally of silver sulphides, with some chloride and

Jan 1, 1883

By Harold H. Goe, Louis V. Bender

The recovery of arsenic was started at the Washoe Reduction Works (later called the Anaconda Reduction Works) in 1904, when an arsenic plant was constructed adjacent to the lower end of the 60-ft. main flue.' This plant originally consisted of a Brunton roasting furnace for treatment of flue dust and a small reverberatory furnace for treating the crude arsenic produced in the roasting operations, together with the necessary kitchens for condensation of the fumes and grinding and barreling apparatus for preparing the refined white arsenic for market. The Brunton furnace was fired with wood. It was 14 ft. 6 in. in diameter with two outside fireboxes. The hearth revolved upon a central shaft. The charge was fed through a dust-tight hopper on to the center of the hearth and slowly moved to the outer edge of three rows of stationary rabbles fastened in the roof of the furnace. There was a 3-ft. space between the hearth and roof. A crude arsenic was condensed from this furnace. The hot flame from the fireboxes passed directly over the charge, vaporizing the As203 that was carried through brick flues to the condensing chamber. This chamber was 8 ft. high, 16 ft. wide and 240 ft. long, divided into small kitchens by partitions spaced every 7 ft. It was connected with the main flue system to provide draft and to receive any losses from the chamber. The small kitchens were connected by openings in such a way that the fumes took a zigzag course, causing them to come in contact with the cold walls and ceiling and condense the arsenic. There was an opening from the outside into each kitchen, for the removal of the deposited arsenic, which was closed by a wooden door. The refining furnace was a small coke-fired reverberatory having a hearth 10 by 20 ft. in dimensions. It had three hoppers through which the crude charge was introduced, and one firebox placed at one end. The hot gas from the burning coke passed over the charge, volatilizing the arsenic and carrying it to the kitchens.

Jan 1, 1934

Coal was known in this county before 1819, but there is no record of its use before that year. In that year a furnace, the first one built in the northwestern countries, was put in blast on Bear Creek; it was built to use coke and its first blast was with this fuel, which was made in heaps, but the blast was too weak and the furnace chilled after two or three tons of iron had been made. Charcoal was then substituted, and this use of coal ceased.1 In November of the same year a resolution was adopted urging state aid for a road from Kittanning to. Hamilton, New York: "that this road will increase the trade and industry of the whole county, between Pittsburgh and the New York line; and that our soil will in consequence be better tilled, our mines of coal, of iron and of salt, be better wrought, etc."2 In 1828 an advertisement of lands situated near Freeport on the Allegheny River and contiguous to the canal nearly completed between the Kiskiminitas and Pittsburgh stated that they contained "large and never failing springs, Coal in abundance, and a great deal of Fine Timber."3 In 1830 there were said to have been 24 salt wells in this county producing 327,000 bushels of salt, chiefly on the Kiski and Allegheny Rivers. In 1837 there were a number of wells in the vicinity of Freeport. As all the salt works on the Conemaugh River, were using coal long before 1830,4 it is safe to say that a considerable tonnage of coal was used for some years in these plants. In 1837 a tract of land in Clarion Township having a new saw mill and abounding "in Stone Coal" was offered for sale,5 and also one in Toby Township having "an abundance of the best quality of iron ore and stone coal."' In 1839 an advertisement in the Pittsburgh Mercury said

Jan 1, 1942

By Albert J. Phillips

As EARLY AS 1824, Haidinger1 described crystals of native copper that were, according to Dana,2 "probably twinned parallel to the octahedral plane and normal to this axis." In 1837, Rose3 very clearly demonstrated that native copper crystals were commonly twinned on the octahedral plane. Lasaulx,4 in 1882, described polysynthetic octahedral twins and stated that enclosed twinning lamellae were observed. Even on crystals formed artificially by electrolysis, twinning was observed as early as 1886, by Brown.5 Many other descriptions of twinning in native copper and in gold and silver are to be found in the literature, and in every case with which we are acquainted the twinning is conformable to the spinel law; i. e., the octahedral plane is both twinning and composition plane. Metallurgists have long been familiar with the straight-sided bars or bands that commonly occur within the irregularly outlined grains of metallic crystalline aggregates. They are certainly found in nearly all metals of the face-centered cubic type after cold working and annealing. If a specimen showing these bands is rotated, keeping the angle of incidence of the illuminating beam constant, they usually exchange color contrast periodically with their respective matrix crystals. Also slip lines, when produced in these specimens, nearly always show a change in direction upon passing through the bands, giving rise to the "stairway" effect often illustrated in metallurgical textbooks. Apparently the only quantitative observations on bands of this sort were made by Osmond and Cartaud6 on austenitic steel. They selected,

Jan 1, 1928

By Sidney A. Swensrud

Much has been said and written about uneconomic and evil marketing practices in the oil industry, including such factors as loaning of equipment, price cutting and secret prices, commercial discounts, abuses of credit cards and coupon books, and so forth. It is not my purpose here to add to the discussion of those problems, but rather to attempt a discussion of some of the more basic factors in the general distribution economies of the industry. The economics of distribution in the oil industry cannot be regarded apart from the general economics of the industry as a whole. The attempt to regard them as separate has led many people into the fallacy of believing that the responsibility for the apparent evils in the marketing end of the business lay entirely at the door of the marketing end. Such a view fails to take cognizance of many underlying factors; we can only expect to understand the distribution economics of the industry if we understand its general economics. We must realize also that the oil industry today is essentially the gasoline industry. The oil industry may be said to have begun about 60 years ago. At the outset it was concerned chiefly with the manufacture and sale of kerosene, lubricating oils and greases. Gasoline was then a most obnoxious by-product. The early oil-marketing company was engaged almost exclusively in refining and marketing—it did not concern itself with production but bore the relation to it merely of a purchaser. It may be said that the urge of marketing development in those days, therefore, came from the refining and marketing end of the business. The raw material had not yet begun to exert its enormous pressure, nor had the producer of crude oil acquired a direct interest in the sale of the ultimate finished products. Since then great changes have taken place. With the development of the automobile came a vast new demand for the raw material from which gasoline could be made. No longer could the refining and marketing companies be indifferent to the source of that raw material, particularly in view of the pessimistic outlook then presented as to the probable quantity of oil in existence. And despite the complete overturning of those early estimates, made before the bounty of nature and the skill of

Jan 1, 1931

By Charles Barrett

PLASTIC flow in metal crystals and the changes in orientation resulting from it are generally understood to take place by the following funda-mental mechanisms: (1) slip on crystallographic planes, (2) homogeneous crystal rotation resulting from the slip, (3) bending of the lattice between the planes of slip, and, under certain circumstances, (4) twinning. This paper and a preceding one on iron subjected to uniaxial compression1 concern two additional processes that must now be added to this list: (5) the formation of deformation bands, and (6) the bending and rotation of these bands. The present investigation yields a new understanding and definiteness to the common terms so loosely used when speaking of cold-worked metals -"grain fragmentation," "elongated grains," and "deformation twins," "deformation bands," "etch bands," or "X-bands." Bands have been noted on the polished and etched surfaces of cold-worked metals by vari-ous investigators for more than 25 years, ? yet their nature and their significance have been so little understood that they are not treated in the most comprehensive modern texts on the deformation of crystals. The experiments in this series show that they are one of the fundamental processes in the deformation of metals, of importance in the development of preferred orientations, in work-hardening (since they have the effect of reducing the effective grain size and interfering with slip), and in the recrystallization process. The present experiments were performed on the same stock of mate-rial that was used in the earlier compression experiments1-hydrogen-purified mild steel in which the carbon content had been reduced to the limit detectable under the microscope and in which single crystals could be grown by a strain-anneal treatment.2

Jan 1, 1939

By E. E. White

In August, 1911, I read a paper before the Lake Superior Mining Institute1 on surveying and sampling diamond-drill holes. The present paper gives a more thorough descriptiou of these methods, together with a few changes and notes suggested by further experience. Since August, 1911, the methods, used constantly by the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., have been developed to a higher degree of efficiency, and have given great satisfaction. Until a few years ago but little attention was paid to the determination of the actual course of drill-holes, to the accurate sampling' and analysis of the material, or to the scientific location of the drill-holes. It has now been common practice for several years in many districts to test the inclination of drillholes by etching glass tubes with hydrofluoric acid, but the direction of deviation from the vertical has not often been determined. Methods of determining the direction by means of a compass were first developed in connection with drilling in Victoria. The latest method used on the Rand in South Africa has been recently described by John I. Hoffman.2 In the same paper Mr. Hoffman describes an ingenious method of wedging-off a drill-hole so as to start new holes at several successive points. By this means a hole can be deflected in any desired direction, and the curvature can be controlled to a considerable extent, provided the rock is soft enough to permit the hole to be wedged off. Unfortunately, in the Lake Superior district, the jasper iron-formation is so hard that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to do this. I tried to deflect one hole so as to avoid drill-rods stuck in the hole, by using a

Jan 1, 1913

By Thomas H. Clagett

ThE Pocahontas coal field comprises the area in Tazewell County, Va. and Mcrcer and McDowell counties, W. Va., in which Nos. 3 and 4, Pocahontas seams of bituminous coal are mined. It is a mountainous region with ridges rising 300 to 1000 ft. (91 to 305 111.) above the very narrow valleys and, except for some poorly kept farms along the tops of the ridges and the area occupied by the mining and coking plants and villages, is wooded throughout. First shipments were made from Pocahontas in 1883. There are now about 100 mines, 95 per cent. of which are drift mines. At the end of 1920, approximately 298,000,000 gross tons of coal had been produced and 35,000 acres of coal mined. No. 3 seam is from 4 to 10 ft. (1.2 to 3 m.) thick, but the change is gradual and the thickness fairly uniform in any particular locality. It has a streak of bone, about 2 in. (5 cm.) thick, to which the coal adheres on both sides. In parts of the field this bone is replaced by hard slate, usually from 2 to 4 in. thick. The seam has a slate or fireclay bottom and a draw-slate top. No. 4 seam is from 65 to 80 ft. (19.8 to 24 m.) above No. 3 seam, and of minable section only in the western part of the field. It is from 3 to 8 ft. thick and has two streaks of bone, cach from 1 to 2 in. thick. It has a fireclay or slate bottom and is overlaid by from 4 to 24 in. of a laminated coal and slate, locally termed "black rash," which is separated from the coal seam by about 3 in. of slate. This "black rash" averages about 2.5 per cent. ash, but contains some clean coal. The coal in both seams is quite soft. Cleavage sufficieiltly well defined to exert an influence on the mining is rare. Overlying strata arc slates, shales, and sandstones, the sandstones predominating, extending from 30 to 1000 ft. above No. 3 seam. The strata directly above the draw slate of No. 3 seam, or "black rash" of No. 4 seam, and up to the first sandstone are usually slates or shales, about 10 ft. thick over the.

Jan 1, 1923

By James Douglas

American metallurgical inventions have not always been absolute metallurgical improvements, if accurate work be the standard of comparison; but when we review the new methods and machinery which have been generally accepted, we find that some have become essential to the metallurgist the world over, while all are so admirably adapted to the peculiar requirements of our local conditions that they have entirely supplanted foreign processes and appliances. The necessity of diminishing to the utmost the employment of labor (owing to its great cost), and the inexorable requirements of our modern joint-stock corporate system, which demands that large quantities be worked up in order to secure large returns, regardless betimes of waste, have been the impelling motives to invention, and indicate the special directions in which originality has been exercised. As might be anticipated, the West has been the most fertile field of inventions by miners and metallurgists, by reason of its great and varied mineral wealth, locked up in ores sometimes lean and often of intricate composition, which must be profitably handled, at a great distance from fuel and from building-materials, by workmen who are paid wages very much higher than those received by their fellow-workmen of like craft in Europe, and in some localities twice as high as those paid for like services even in the eastern States. Moreover, paradoxical as it may seem, the technical inexperience of many of those engaged in mining and metallurgy has helped rather than hindered the progress of invention; fop while there may have been ignorance, there has been radical freedom from

Jan 1, 1894

By R. M. Asimow

The magnetization curves for specimezs containing superparmagnetic particles are considered. It is shown that the curves may differ from a Langezlin function because of particle anisotropy, particle interactions , and the presence of a size distribution of particles. The various causes of particle anisotropy are considered, and magnetization curves for specimens with cubic and uniaxial anisotropy are presented. The magnetization curves depend on the In the particle-size below 100A it is quite difficult to obtain quantitative size and shape information on precipitate particles. All of the available techniques have their limitations; however, quantitative applications of superparmagnetism have not been developed as fully as possible due to a lack of analysis of the complete magnetization curve. With such an analysis it appears possible to obtain from a single magnetization curve of a specimen containing randomly oriented SPM (superparamagnetic) particles a quantitative volume distribution and a description of the particle shape.* sign of the anisotropy energy and in the case of a negative uniaxial anisotropy (prolate spheroids) the resulting curves may differ very considerbly from a Langevin function. A graphical technique is developed whereby it is possible to separate out the effects of the size distribution, the particle interaction, and the particle anisotropy. Thus it is possible to obtain quantitative values for both the particle shape and the size distribution. Langevin function2 I/Is = ctnh(HVIs/k T)-k T/HVIS [ 1 ] where I, is the saturation magnetization, V the particle volume, H the applied field, T the particle temperature, k the Boltzmann constant, and I the magnetization in the direction of the applied field. Such behavior is rarely if ever observed in actual systems. One explanation for this is that the SPM particles do possess a significant anisotropy and thus the magnetic energy associated with the particle depends on the direction of magnetization in a more complicated way than for the isotropic particle of Eq. [I]. In general the magnetic energy E of an isolated SPM particle embedded in a nonmagnetic matrix can be expressed as a sum of several contributions: E = Eh + Ed+Es+Ec [2] where Eh is the external field energy, Ed the energy resulting from the particle demagnetizing factor, E, the magnetostriction energy, and E, the crystalline anisotropy energy. In each term we consider only the part dependent on the orientation of the magnetization vector and the particle axes as the shape of the magnetization curve will be determined by these contributions. Following the same procedure used in deriving the Langevin function,

Jan 1, 1965

By J. Versluys

A well can flow exclusively through the casing or exclusively through a tubing but can also flow partly through a casing and at the top part through a tubing. The main principles of the flowing of wells under these conditions were explained in the author's former paper.' Practically all factors that influence the regular flow are dealt with therein. The question of irregular flow, however, will be discussed briefly here. As a rule, an irregular flow must be avoided, as it may be assumed that the efficiency is thereby very small, while on many fields it is injurious to the sand of the oil-bearing layer. Periodical flowing often occurs with rising mixtures of gas and liquid. The phenomenon can be explained if it is accepted that two conditions are possible in the mixture; namely, the foam condition and the mist condition. If there is no stabilizer in the liquid, the foam condition can exist only when the liquid forms a greater portion of the volume than the gas. The mist condition, on the other hand, can exist only when the liquid occupies a smaller part of the volume than the gas. The foam condition occurs when there are gas bubbles in the liquid mass, while in the mist condition drops of liquid are disseminated in a gas-filled space. For sake of simplicity, it has been assumed that the mist condition prevails when 50 per cent. or more of the volume is occupied by gas, while with less than 50 per cent. gas the foam condition will arise. For distilled water and for oils which do not tend to form stable foams this is probably approximately true. If this does not hold good, however, two cases are possible: (1) The fields of the two conditions overlap or (2) they do not meet. If the fields of the conditions overlap there is an intermediate field where either of the two conditions can exist, depending on the history of the mixture. Suppose the foam condition prevails first and the gas

Jan 1, 1931

By G. Sherburne Rogers

Introduction. ONE of the features of oil-field work that puzzles operator, chemist and geologist alike, is variation in the gravity of the petroleum produced, on neighboring leases or even from adjoining wells. Few fields in the United States yield oil that is of uniform gravity throughout; in some, fields the different grades are produced from different sands, in a few from different formations, and in many from different areas in the same sand. In a few cases, perhaps, a common assumption-that the heavier oil is derived from the lighter through the escape of the more volatile constituents-is valid, but many cases can not be explained in this way. Although in the California fields the specific gravity of the oil generally decreases with depth, there are numerous exceptions to this rule; and, as in many other regions the light oil is found nearest the surface, it is evident that evaporation underground is generally an unimportant factor. It is generally recognized that the great differences between petroleum from widely separated fields are due largely to differences in age and degree of metamorphism and to variation in the composition of the original organic matter; but in the writer's opinion some of these broader differences, as well as most of the minor variations in the character of the oil from any one field, are clue to the local action of natural reagents such as sulphur or oxygen. This is particularly likely to be true if the oil has migrated from one formation to another, as in the California fields; and in some areas it appears that variation in sulphur content may even afford a rough index of the extent or distance of the migration. It is the purpose of this paper to call attention to the chemical action of sulphur and oxygen on petroleum, to show that the gravity of the oil from any one field is intimately related to its sulphur content, and to discuss the possi-

Jan 7, 1917

By Paul Tyler

FULLY a decade ago, demand for ground mica began to exceed supplies of scrap mica from manufacturing operations and of waste block from feldspar and sheet mica mining in the United States, with the result that in recent years the market has absorbed larger and larger quantities of mica recovered as a by-product from clay washing,1 as a joint product with kyanite,2 and by grinding schists. So far, only schists that contain a large percentage of mica have been utilized for making ground mica, but already there has been a good deal of wishful thinking with regard to recovering mica as an aid to the prospective working of low-grade gold ores and ores of certain base metals. With wet-ground mica selling at $60 to $100 a ton and even dry-ground mica worth over $20 a ton, many ores that could not be considered as otherwise workable under present conditions will show commercial possibilities if they can be made to yield even a relatively small percentage of salable mica. An interesting paper might be written on the coming role of industrial minerals as joint products of metal mines, It is largely a matter of mar-kets. Many years ago I watched the mess left behind the gold dredges in the mountains of Colorado and thought of the Denver sand and gravel operators who prided themselves upon their canniness in providing devices for catching gold merely as an incident to their regular business of selling what we miners classed as "tailings." Nowadays almost every milling or mining operation near settled communities finds use for at least part of its waste for road material or concrete aggregate and several eastern iron mines have gone into the crushed-stone business. Promoters now mention fertilizer "filler" as potentially salable at all the way from $1 to $10 a ton, or whatever is needed to cover costs of mining and treating the "ore" and leave the metal values as "clear profit." In emulating the pork packers in their efforts to utilize "everything but the squeal,"

Jan 1, 1938

By Ralph E. Grim

THE technology of clay minerals is defined, for the purpose of this review, as- the application of fundamental data regarding clay minerals, and techniques of handling them, to the various industries, arts, and professions concerned with clay materials. The aim of the paper is to narrate recent developments in clay mineral technology. This review does not claim to be complete, and perhaps gives undue emphasis to matters that have been worked on in the author's laboratory or with which he has some other connection. In the United States in recent years, particularly since the end of World War 11, interest in clay mineralogy has increased greatly. Many laboratories in many different fields have embarked on studies of clay minerals but unfortunately much of this work has not been published. CERAMICS In the field of ceramics, in recent years, a great deal of interest has developed in clay mineralogy. Papers too numerous to be reviewed here have been published portraying the clay mineral composition of substantially all the important types of ceramic clays in all countries. There has been a growing tendency to attempt to solve processing problems on the basis of clay mineral data rather than chemical analytical data. Likewise, there is an in- creasing tendency to control the characteristics of raw materials on the basis of clay mineral composition rather than chemical composition. In the United States in the last few years something like 50 differential thermal analyzers have been set up, and many are for the sole purpose of controlling raw material and processing. The ceramic industry is currently increasing its attention to the influence of exchangeable ions and soluble salts on physical properties. Ion concentration in clay suspensions has long been a matter of interest, but now it is also of interest in clays in the plastic state because of its recognized importance in the plastic, shrinkage, and bonding properties of clays. Students of clay have long recognized that an understanding of the plastic properties of clays is based on an understanding of the character of the water in clay-water systems, the nature of the binding force between individual clay mineral particles, and the factors that control the character of the water and the nature of the bonding force. In the last few years, some extremely important contributions have greatly increased the understanding of the nature of water adsorbed on the clay mineral surfaces. In this connection the work

Jan 1, 1952

By Blamey Stevens

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) THE following paper aims to make a full explanation of the phenomena of rock jointing. It may be unnecessary to give any general description of what are termed joints in rocks, but. Professor Geikie's clear and faithful generalizations are so illuminating that no excuse need be given for introducing the following and other quotations into this paper: "Almost all rocks are traversed-by vertical or highly inclined divisional planes termed joints. These have been regarded as clue in some way to contraction during consolidation (fissures of retreat) ; and this is no doubt their origin in innumerable cases. But, on the other hand, their frequent regularity and persistence across materials of very varying texture suggest rather the effects of internal pressure-and-movement within the crust."1 General Explanation.-In this paper I show that the phenomenon of jointing may to a large extent be accounted for by the pressure of the water contained in the pores of the rock. To understand this, each constituent grain of. the porous material may be considered to be separately compressed by the 'water which submerges it. As all the grains are held together by cohesion, the whole mass is contracted by this pressure. In an indefinitely extended mass, however, there must be a limit to the possible contraction without rupture, because the material is restrained from. moving freely by other material around its boundaries. The mass of rock thus becomes broken up. This phenomenon is known as " shrinkage " jointing. The terra "shrinkage" is an apt one, if it be understood that the shrinkage of the rock is often brought about by change of stress. Stresses.-The compressive component of water stress on the individual grains is evidently the same as that of the water with which it is in contact. This is so, both. before and after the jointing is formed. Before the jointing is formed there is, however, a tensile stress in one or more directions which keeps the material from contracting.

Jan 7, 1913

By Charles A. Ashburner

VERY little is known of the economical value of the coal-betas of. the State of Texas. The first authentic statement in regard to their occurrence is that contained in the reports of the United States Explorations for the Pacific Railroad, near the 32d parallel of latitude, published in 1853-55. Professor William P. Blake reports, "that a number of seams of bituminous coal, varying, in thickness from two to four feet, have been opened along the Brazos River, in Young County, about one hundred and fifty miles west of Fort North." Dr: Shumard also states, "that the characteristic fossil forms of the Carboniferous Era have been found with this coal, and considers the ago of the formation established. Fossils obtained from the carboniferous limestone remove all doubt of the age of these deposits."† In the spring of 1879, I was called upon by. some Eastern capitalists to make an examination of the Brazos coal-field, in order to obtain the thickness, extent, and value of the coal which could be mined and be- made merchantable for steam, heating, and metallurgical purposes. The demand for coal in this section of the country is great, and a fuel. which in our Eastern markets might be considered of inferior quality, would here find a ready sale. It must be remembered that the market value of a coal does not depend upon its absolute purity, but upon its actual value in heat units which it is capable of producing. A poor coal which can be cheaply mined near the: consumer, is infinitely more remunerative to a mining company than a superior coal whose cost to the consumer is greatly increased by high mining charges and railroad freights. The value of the Texan coals does not depend upon their purity but upon their low first cost and nearness to a market. A glance at a geological map of the United States, will show that the Brazos coal-field is the extreme southwestern extension of what may be called the Missourian, Fourth or Western, bituminous coal * I am permitted by the gentlemen for whom the examination was made to publish the general statements contained in this paper. † Macfarlane's Coal Regions of America. More recently brief mention has been made of the coal-field in the pamphlets of the State geological survey. These reports are, however, too general, too indefinite, and too impracticable to permit of any conclusions as to the value of the coal as an economical, merchantable fuel.

Jan 1, 1881

The first mention of the mining and use of coal in the Pittsburgh district refers to the mine under Duquesne Heights that furnished coal for the garrison at the fort at Pittsburgh in 1760. Coal had been dug and used as fuel just outside of Brownsville, Fayette county, in 1759, but this was not a regular mine as the opening was in an outcropping. Maps of Ohio in 1770 showed "Cole Mines" at various points. The Penns purchased all the coal south of Kittanning in southwestern Pennsylvania from the Chiefs of the Six Nations for a reported price of $10,000. During the Revolution, coal from Herron Hill, Mincrsville, and Coal Hill, all within the present city limits, was used in Pittsburgh. There is today one custom pit opened in Coal Hill (Duquesne Heights). The first steam engine was set up in Pittsburgh in 1794 and used coal as fuel. The first mine in the Youghiogheny gas district was opened in 1796. In 1803, the first shipment of coal by water was made from Pittsburgh down the Ohio river and landed at Philadelphia, where it sold for approximately $9.50 per ton. The mines along the Monongahela were naturally the first to be opened. With the completion of locks and dams in 1844, permitting slack-water navigation, the industry began to thrive. The No. 8 field of Ohio and the Fairmont region of northern West Virginia were opened in the period 1840 to 1855. From that time on there has been a continuous development of the coal rcsources of this district, until at present productive capacity is enough to supply 30 per cent. of the country's needs of bituminous coal. The original method of working the Pittsburgh seam was to drive under cover at some easily accessible point on the outcrop with a single entry, usually 1½ yd. wide. Rooms or gangways were turned to the right and left from this entry and ventilation was usually poor and inade-

Jan 1, 1927

By H. S. Munroe

As elaborate discussion under this heading formed a chapter in one of the reports made by Professor Raymond as Commissioner of Mining Statistics." In a subsequent report? was printed a paper., by Mr. William Main, Jr., of Columbia, South Carolina, containing a theoretical investigation into the effect of the velocity of impact on the effective ditty of stamps. A visit to the Lake Superior copper region last summer suggested an inquiry into the relative efficiency and economy of the enormous steam stamps of the copper-mills, as compared with the results obtained with the cam and tappet stamps commonly used in the West. The atmospheric stomp used at the Phoenix Mill promised to add interest to the inquiry, as giving an example of unusually high speed, this stamp making 160 drops per minute. In introducing his subject Dr. Raymond makes the following remarks, which are quite apropos of the present investigation: "In considering the economical application of stamping machinery, we meet, at the beginning, with serious difficulties in obtaining accurate data for comparison. The weight and fall of stamps vary as the shoes and dies wear out; and this may lead to a change of speed also. Moreover, defects in engines, boilers, or machinery for the transmission of power, may occasion serious losses, which cannot fairly be charged to the arrangements of the stamps proper. Again, the capacity of stamp-mills is directly dependent, in some degree, upon the nature and extent of discharge, fineness of screens, and other peculiarities of the battery. Finally the hardness and tenacity of the rock crushed varies so much that comparisons between different localities cannot be implicitly trusted. The safest experiments are those made in the same mill, by changing first one arid then another condition of working; but this is seldom possible for such

Jan 1, 1881