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Steel Tape The new Lufkin Royal Ni-Clad steel tape, made in 25, 50, 75, and 100-ft sizes, is stated to cost less than any other steel tape on the market. Figures and graduations are an integral part of the steel and the nickel plated surface is rust and corrosion resistant. Circle No. 1 Lift A manually operated and propelled hydraulic lift marketed by Century Products Co. weighs only [ ] 150 lb, but the 23x24 in. platform will raise 1000 lb from floor level to 4 ft height. Circle No. 2 Scintillation Counter The Scintillator from Precision Radiation Instruments, stated to have 100 times the sensitivity of the Geiger counter, is suitable for prospecting and may be operated from plane or moving vehicle. The instrument is contained in a 2-lb probe and the belt mounted battery box weighs less than 4 lb. Circle No. 3 Generators Wincharger Corp. announces development of a Speedy-Shift wheel-barrow base type attachment for model 700, 1800 and 5000 engine-generator sets. Portability of the engine-generator sets themselves has been improved by belted construction for higher operating speed and maximum weight reduction. Circle No. 4

Jan 1, 1952

By WM. P. BLAKE

THE salt-beds at Salton, on the line of the Southern Pacific railway, in San Diego county, California, have been successfully worked for many years by the corporation known as the East Liverpool Salt Co., and the salt has been largely used upon the Pacific coast generally and in the interior. But the industry has lately been destroyed by the overflow from the Colorado river. The salt is dissolved, and the waves of the Salton sea now roll 50 ft. above the site of this once thriving and growing business. The salt-bed was evidently the residual accumulation from the waters of an ancient lake, which I have named Cahuilla, from the name by which a large part of the valley-the home of the Cahuilla tribe of Indians-is known. The deposit covered a comparatively small area in the lowest part of the valley, 280 ft. or more below the sea-level. This depressed area is now generally known as the Colorado desert, but has a soil of wonderful fertility wherever water can be had on its surface. The deserted beaches, and the water-lines, only a few feet above tide-level, upon the rocks of the bordering mountains, as well as a great abundance of shells in the soil, all bear decisive testimony to the former occupation of the valley by water. The depression is topographically the northern end of the Gulf of California, from which it is now separated by the delta of the Colorado river, extending practically from the mouth of the Gila river across the valley to the coast mountains on the west side. We may conclude that the imprisoned salt water was gradually displaced and freshened by the inflow and outflow of the river, so that the lake was changed to fresh or brackish water, with enough salt in it to give a bed at the bottom upon

Jan 1, 1908

By A. C. Stevenson

THE hoisting equipment selected for use at the Hecla mine in 1907 was one of the first Ilgner type Ward-Leonard controlled hoists put into ser- vice. Development of the Hecla below the 2000-ft. level, which is the ultimate depth of the old equipment, and the additional service required by the "Star," necessitated additional hoisting capacity. It will be our endeavor to give j70u a brief summary of the engineering which determined the selection of the new equipment. The engineer in making his decision as to size, speed, etc., must .make a duty study approximating as closely &s possible the actual opePating conditions which will eventually result. Primarily, it is necessary to know what work must be done. The amount of material which must be hoisted under the maximum condition, as well as its distribution from the various levels of the mine was carefully studied by the mining engineering department, as the ore reserves, their relative-position and the probable method of working them had to be considered. The final figures reached, taking into consideration four different operating conditions, were, in tons per day, as follows:

Jan 1, 1930

By A. B. Kinzel

MUCH work has been done recently in an attempt to analyze the physicochemical mechanism involved in the production of steel by the open-hearth process. . This has resulted in reducing the process to a series of interrelated phenomena obeying the usual laws of mass action and diffusion. Of these, the reaction of the iron oxide and carbon in the molten steel is of most interest from a technical point of view as it con-stitutes the main action in the usual steelmaking processes. A. L. Feild1 has formulated a basic differential equation expressing the open-hearth reactions and Hefty has done considerable experimental work on the determination of a number of constants involved in the basic open-hearth reaction. In considering the application of the law of mass action. to the reaction FeO +C ?? CO +Fe, the iron will be taken as constant, as is the case in the open hearth and the carbon monoxide pressure will be assumed' constant at one atmosphere. From this xy = m at equilibrium, where x is the percentage weight of carbon, y percentage weight of iron oxide and m the weight-concentration equilibrium constant. While it is customary for physical chemists to express equilibrium constants in terms of molar concentrations, the constant is here expressed as the product of the percentage-weight concentrations for ease of comparison with the constants quoted by Herty and by Feild, and for more ready applicability to the open-hearth reactions. Herty and his associates have attempted to calculate the value of this constant from data on open-hearth heats. So many variables affect these results that an adequate calculation presents very great difficulties. A value of 4 X 10-2 was first arrived at, but this was later changed to 1.6 X 10-2. Feild, in order to illustrate the operation of the differential equation of the open hearth, has assumed a value considerably lower than Herty's, namely, 1.0 X 10-2, the largest value consistent with certain theoretical

Jan 1, 1929

By W. L. Zeigler

THE Galena mill of the Callahan Zinc-Lead Co. is of 150 tons daily [ ] capacity and is situated at Lake Gulch, 2 miles west of Wallace, Idaho. (Fig. 1. It was constructed during the summer of 1926, work having been started late in June and the plant placed in operation Oct. 15, following.

Jan 1, 1928

By Peter G. Groer

Several methods1-3 are being used to determine the WL and individual Rn-daughter concentrations in uranium mine atmospheres. The best of these methods is the one given in Ref. 3. According to this method, the WL and the Rn-daughter concentrations are determined from the total a-counts observed during three consecutive time intervals. Its only disadvantage lies in the fact that rather involved calculations are necessary to convert the observed counts into WL or pCi/l (picocuries per liter). There are, however, counting intervals that give simple weighting coefficients for the observed counts. This fact makes it possible to convert from a-counts to WL or pCi/l with the aid of a graph. After some trial runs on a computer the following equations emerged as the basis for the most practical procedure: [ ] NA, N.., and & stand for the number of RaA, RaB, and RaC atoms per liter of air. C(t1,t2) denotes the counts observed from time t. to time t2 (in minutes) after the end of the 5-min sampling period. E is the detector efficiency and V is the flow rate in liters per minute. With an accuracy loss of less than -5% one finds from [Eq. 1] by adding the corresponding terms: If the WL would have been calculated according to [Eq. 2] instead of using the graph, the result would have been 0.31. Since the values used for C's under [Eq. 3] represent the exact number of counts from a Rn-daughter mixture in equilibrium with 100/3 pCi of Rn the exact WL of this mixture can be calculated easily. The exact value is: [ ] This shows that the method is quite accurate for the 0.3 WL domain. The precision of the method excluding errors made in reading the graph can be estimated with the help of the following formula: [ ]

Jan 1, 1974

By A. C. Dorenfeld

Ores of the Mammoth mining district, some 45 miles northeast of Tucson, Arizona, are treated by Mammoth-St. Anthony, Ltd. The ores now treated come from a complex system of veins and faults, comprising three mines, in close proximity: The Mohawk, Mammoth and Collins. The ore treated in the past was oxide ore, which contains economic amounts of gold, silver, lead, molybdenum, and vanadium (as wulfenite and vanadanite). The lead-zinc sulphide ore has never been treated before. The Ore The sulphide ore contains galena, sphalerite, marmatite, pyrite and some chal-copyrite, covellite, chalcocite and bornite, as well as small amounts of gold and silver. The value of the ore is principally in the lead and zinc content. The lead-zinc sulphides are substantially liberated at a minus 65-mesh grind. However, a large part of the chalcopyrite and other copper minerals is not freed, but remains as pin points on the sphalerite. Economically, the copper is unimportant. The gangue is a rhyolite granite, with very little limestone. There is no molybdenum or vanadikm in the sulphide ore. History of Sulphide Treatment Test work on samples of the sulphide ore was conducted by several equipment companies, the Arizona Bureau of Mines and the company's laboratory. Results of this test work indicated that for some reason, which at the time could not be explained, recoveries would be only about 65 per cent lead and 50 per cent zinc. Notwithstanding this, because of the nation's need for metals, the management built a 150-ton treatment plant. The mill was started in June 1942. During December 1942, using the standard method of treating lead-zinc ore, the monthly results were as shown in Table I. These results were poor. Too much lead was in the zinc concentrate, and too much zinc in the lead concentrate. It should be noted here. that prior to December attempts were made to depress the sphalerite with large and varied amounts of cyanide, zinc sulphate, and sodium sulphite with poor results.

Jan 1, 1947

By A. C. Dorenfeld

Ores of the Mammoth mining district, some 45 miles northeast of Tucson, Arizona, are treated by Mammoth-St. Anthony, Ltd. The ores now treated come from a complex system of veins and faults, comprising three mines, in close proximity: The Mohawk, Mammoth and Collins. The ore treated in the past was oxide ore, which contains economic amounts of gold, silver, lead, molybdenum, and vanadium (as wulfenite and vanadanite). The lead-zinc sulphide ore has never been treated before. The Ore The sulphide ore contains galena, sphalerite, marmatite, pyrite and some chal-copyrite, covellite, chalcocite and bornite, as well as small amounts of gold and silver. The value of the ore is principally in the lead and zinc content. The lead-zinc sulphides are substantially liberated at a minus 65-mesh grind. However, a large part of the chalcopyrite and other copper minerals is not freed, but remains as pin points on the sphalerite. Economically, the copper is unimportant. The gangue is a rhyolite granite, with very little limestone. There is no molybdenum or vanadikm in the sulphide ore. History of Sulphide Treatment Test work on samples of the sulphide ore was conducted by several equipment companies, the Arizona Bureau of Mines and the company's laboratory. Results of this test work indicated that for some reason, which at the time could not be explained, recoveries would be only about 65 per cent lead and 50 per cent zinc. Notwithstanding this, because of the nation's need for metals, the management built a 150-ton treatment plant. The mill was started in June 1942. During December 1942, using the standard method of treating lead-zinc ore, the monthly results were as shown in Table I. These results were poor. Too much lead was in the zinc concentrate, and too much zinc in the lead concentrate. It should be noted here. that prior to December attempts were made to depress the sphalerite with large and varied amounts of cyanide, zinc sulphate, and sodium sulphite with poor results.

Jan 1, 1947

By W. H. Wamsley

Used in combination with conveyor belt haulage, bucket wheel excavators offer unusual possibilities for low excavation and haulage costs. Originating in Germany, these machines are now in use or on order for Australia, Northern Rhodesia, the Belgian Congo, Italy, Yugoslavia, France, Belgium, Indonesia, and the Union of South Africa. A diamond mine in South Africa that has been using German bucket wheel excavators since 1928 purchased American cable-way excavators and American scraping equipment after the war. Operating cost for this equipment was double that for the bucket wheel machines operating in the same mines with crawler-mounted stackers. Machines built and operated in the U. S. are, as far as the writer knows, confined to the northern Illinois coal field, where they are used in conjunction with large shovels to strip overburden too high to be reached by the 30 to 40-yd shovels. Their long stacker belts can deposit the spoil far enough behind the coal face to avoid slides, in such a manner as to make reclaiming the land easier. These large, specialized machines are now being made by Bucyrus-Erie Co. but are not adaptable to many open pit mining situations.

Dec 1, 1956

By G. Hergert

SUMMARY Three gradients have been identified in regard to the average horizontal ground stress increase with depth. [S (0-900 m) = 9.86 MPa + 0.0371 MPa/m SHa (900-2200 m) = 33.41 MPa + 0.0111 MPa/m SHae (extreme)= 12.36 MPa + 0.0586 MPa/m] The extreme stress values are not caused by mining geometry and are of limited extent only. In some cases geological disturbances like faults and rock type boundaries suggest an explanation but in other cases the unusually high stresses cannot be explained readily. It is interesting to note that in the same locations the vertical stress components are very much higher than those derived from overburden weight and that the vertical stress gradient is similar to the gradient obtained from the extreme horizontal stress components. INTRODUCTION Ground stress determinations have been carried out in mines in Ontario and Manitoba, Canada, over more than a decade (Herget, 1980). Most of the sites are located in the Superior and Southern Tectonic Province of the Canadian Shield, which consist of Archaen and Proterozoic rocks comprising volcanics, metamorphosed sediments and granites. The youngest orogenic deformation occurred during the Grenville Orogeny (955 million years ago).

Jan 1, 1982

By Robert M. Dreyer

Diamond is the hardest known material. The diamond industry is separated into two major segments: (1) industrial and (2) gem. The major industrial use of diamonds is as a high-grade abrasive in a wide variety of applications for which no effective low-cost substitute is available. Table 15.4C.1 gives data on diamond production and on United States diamond imports. In both gem and industrial diamond production, but especially in the case of gems, the quantity of stones produced is not directly correlated to value, for the determination of value is markedly affected by quality. South Africa long has been the world leader in gem diamond production with an estimated production in 1968 (including South-West Africa) of about 4 million carats, equal to 43% of world production. During the past decade there has been a marked rise in gem diamond production in the USSR, so that nation is now the second-ranking world producer, with Angola (Portuguese West Africa) third. In natural industrial diamonds, the major production comes from Congo-Kinshasa (former Belgian Congo) which had a production of 15 million carats in 1968, equal to 47% of world production. In the past six years, there has been a remarkable increase of industrial diamond production in the USSR, which now ranks second with a production of 6 million carats, equal to about one-fifth of world production. South Africa now ranks third followed by Congo-Brazzaville and Ghana. No natural diamonds are produced in the United States. Since the discovery of an economical method for synthesizing small diamonds, there has been a rapid increase in synthetic production from 4 million carats in 1962 (1 carat equals 200 mg) to 11.5 million carats in 1968. Table 15.4C.1 gives the gradually increasing imports of industrial diamonds and indicates a relatively stable price. In 1968, the imports of industrial diamonds were 13.5 million carats with a value of $59.2 million. Table 15.4C.2 shows the rapidly increasing imports of cut and uncut gem diamonds into the United States. In 1968 the United States imported 2.5 million carats of uncut stones with a value of $166 million and 1.5 million carats of cut stones with a value of $175 million. Diamond marketing is dominated by DeBeers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., which, through subsidiaries, controls many of the major African diamond deposits. More important economically, however, through its Central Selling Organization, DeBeers markets 86% of the non-Communist world's natural diamonds, including most of those derived from deposits outside of corporate control. In 1967 the mines owned by DeBeers produced nearly 8 million carats, and the Central Selling Organization sold over $600 million in gem and industrial diamonds. The dominance of diamond sales by

Jan 1, 1976

By H. B. Hunter, F. G. Stone, F. J. Dunkerley

Introduction and Literature Survey This is the second in a series of papers coming from this laboratory on the correlation of the low temperature tensile properties of tin-binary alloys with microstructure. These engineering data and those of the previous paper1 were obtained as the initial part of a long-range program to determine the changes in the fundamental mechanical properties accompanying the beta to alpha phase change in tin and its binary alloys below 13.2°C. Since it appears now that the more fundamental studies will be delayed,* and since no summary of the low temperature properties of these tin-base white bearing alloys was found in the literature, it was decided to publish all the engineering data thus far obtained. Accordingly, the tensile properties of thirteen binary alloys containing from 0.1 to 60 pet cadmium and 0.1 to 10.43 pet antimony measured at six temperatures from —196 to +23°C are presented here and their variations rationalized in terms of microstructure. A literature search showed that these systems had not been investigated at low temperatures, although both the tin-cadmium and tin-antimony2,3,4,5 and the tin-rich corner of the ternary system67 have been studied at room temperature. Hanson and Pell-Wal-pole5 and Homer and Plummer4 determined the tensile properties of alloys containing from 0 to 10 pet cadmium. The same authors3 determined the tensile strength and elongation in the tin-antimony system from 2 to 18 pet antimony at room temperature while Pell-Walpole et al.6,7 studied the properties of high tin and tin-antimony-cadmium alloys. Since there were many variables besides composition in these tests, it was difficult to make a valid comparison with the room temperature data of the present study, but in general the tensile strength and ductility values are in reasonable agreement. Pell-Walpole2 also determined the effect of grain size on the tensile strength of pure tin and 1 pet alloys of both antimony and cadmium. The true maximum stress was found to decrease exponentially as the number of grains in the cross-section increased. This effect of grain size was strikingly revealed in the present work, as indicated in a later section. Hanson and Pell-Walpole8 placed the solid solubility limit of antimony in tin at 3.5 pet at 20°C, increasing to 4 pet at 190°C, and then sharply increasing to 10.3 pet at 246°C (the latter being a peritectic point). Their results are in disagreement with those of previous investigators,9 and the discrepancy seems to lie in the micro-graphic observation of the second phase

Jan 1, 1950

By AIME AIME

THE Employment Bureau of the F. A: E. S., conducted under- the direct supervision of the secretaries of the four Founder Societies, has wanted to extend its activities and usefulness but it is operating right up to the limit of its budget; consequently, anything which requires the expenditure of more funds cannot be -undertaken, for the present. A great deal of time has been spent in recording, classifying, and interviewing the men listed, but owing to the business depression, only a comparatively small number of men have been placed' luring the last few months. There are men in New York from all over the country. What the Bureau needs is more positions available. With this in view, a number of high-grade engineers, themselves in need of employment, volunteered their services for a publicity campaign in the City of New York. A definite mode of procedure was evolved, and the success of the movement has been considerable, so much so that it has been thought well to call it to the attention, of members elsewhere, so that similar committees ' and campaigns might be organized in other cities. Following is a chronological arrangement of the methods used.

Jan 1, 1921

By Joseph P. Hodgson

Since about 70 per cent. of the total cost of mining is due to underground work which is out of sight, it is essential that expenditures should be made here to the best advantage. A great many mistakes have been made which were expensive, but perhaps these have not even been detected by mine owners. In the future these may be minimized to some extent, especially if there is cooperative effort on the part of each employee. I have been interested in this subject for some years and have tried to deduce principles and methods. These have proved highly advantageous and may also be of help to others. Some corporations, like the United States Steel, and the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., have done a great deal in this field by having stated meetings of their organizations, with the view to interchanging ideas among their men and educating them along the lines of concerted effort. Since no man knows all about the various branches of mining, it is advisable that frequent meetings of the operating department be held for the interchange of ideas and that all members of the organization have an opportunity to express themselves on the various subjects. It has often been found that in discussions between heads of departments, foremen and bosses, many valuable suggestions may be obtained which promote the best interests of the company. The method regarded as the most conducive to cooperative effort, and pursued by the organization, is to analyze and develop the different phases of various mining subjects at regular meetings. Nine Foremen's Dinners In the latter half of 1912, the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Go. gave monthly dinners to the men in the operating departments. Those who attended were superintendents, foremen, shift bosses, engineers, geologists, and heads of all departments, making a total of about 75 men. After the dinner, lectures were given on subjects which pre-

Jan 1, 1917

By Allan B. Tanner

The effects of radon in drillholes on gamma-ray logs have been described by L. S. Hilpert and C. M. Bunker1 Since these effects may cause drastic error in the evaluation of uranium deposits, it is useful to know the conditions under which significant amounts of radon tend to accumulate in drill- holes. In the studies described here, atmospheric conditions were found to dominate in the control of the behavior of radon in drillholes in the vicinity of a uranium orebody. The site of the investigation was in McKinley County, New Mexico, about 12 miles north of Grants. Drillholes of 4 ¼ -in. diam, on 25-ft and 100- ft centers, penetrate ore in dry rock at a depth of about 100 ft. A geologic log of the drillhole of primary interest is shown in Fig. 1. Gamma-ray logs revealed three zones of ore-grade mineralization in the Todilto limestone. A 6-ft zone, the lowest of the three, assayed 0.20 pct U3O8 by chemical analysis. The limestone ores in this area contain disseminated uraninite and some yellow and orange secondary minerals.

Jan 7, 1959

By John Griffen

THE distinguishing principle of the Tromp process is the use of a medium in the bath which is not stable, i.e., the solids will settle and the density of the medium increases with depth. A medium of uniform density can most easily be effected by agitation or by means which increase the viscosity of the medium. Either of these works against the sharpness of separation of coal from its impurities. The Tromp process grinds the medium solids to relative coarseness, allows them to settle downward in the bath without hindrance, and introduces horizontal currents of medium at intermediate levels between top and bottom of the bath. This prevents any accumulation of particles denser than the upper layer of the medium from which the clean coal is conveyed away or an accumulation of particles lighter than the bottom layer or medium whence the refuse is removed. In a relatively shallow bath making a two-product separation, the intermediate horizontal currents sweep these intermediate gravity materials away to be discharged with the refuse removed by the conveyor. Such a system provides a number of advantages. The gravity of separation can be changed simply by changing the density of the medium without changing particle size of medium solids or other conditions, as would be necessary with a system requiring uniform or stable density throughout the bath. Some installations in Europe separate at 1.40 sp gr on one shift, producing a superclean coal, and on the next shift reclean refuse from dry cleaning units and effect a separation at 1.80 sp gr. Medium solids may be much coarser in size consist, which reduces the viscosity of the medium and promotes its fluidity and in turn the sharpness of separation. Coarser medium solids with a more rapid settling rate are much more easily recoverable from the dilute medium rinsed from the products. The Tromp process is not limited to the use of medium solids having magnetic properties. Instal-

Jan 1, 1952

By John W. Cloud

IN 1877 the Pennsylvania Railroad Company removed an old bridge from its line at Duncannon, Pa., built intermediate piers and erected shorter spans of the Pratt truss type, which had previously been in use on another portion of the road. The design of this truss would not admit of diagonals larger than 1 5/8 inches diameter, and in order to stiffen the bridge somewhat steel rods were introduced for the main diagonals in the first and second panels, 1 5/8 inches and 1 3/8 inches diameter respectively. These rods were threaded without upsetting, and by the ordinary formulae the strains were of the same intensity upon both, viz., 16,000 pounds per square inch with the maximum loading. The other main diagonals in the truss are 1 5/8 inches diameter, and of iron. It was specified for the steel rods : Elastic limit, - 45,000 lbs. Tensile strength, - 80,000 lbs. Elongation, - 20 per cent. The steel was procured without difficulty, and it allowed a factor of safety of 2 3/4 at elastic limit, while a similar factor of 2 1/2 had for a long time been successfully used for iron. In the course of three years, from time to time, six of these steel rods broke, three of them being 1 3/8 inches in diameter, and three 1 5/8 inches in. diameter. The broken rods were tested, and three of them. analyzed at Altoona to ascertain the cause of failure, and what modi¬fications should be made in the steel for such service. Examination showed that all the rods were broken in detail close under the nut. The threads were well cut and properly rounded at the root. In testing the rods micrometer screws,. reading to .0001" with electric bell to signal the contact, were attached to the test pieces, and by this means the modulus of elasticity and elastic limit accurately obtained.

Jan 1, 1881

By William P. Blake

In my short " Contribution to the Early History of the Industry of Phosphate of Lime in the United States,"* mention is made of the erection by Dr. Emmons and myself of a magnetic machine for the removal of iron-ore from the so-called "red sand," a granular form of apatite. At the time of writing, it was not possible to refer to my diary and notes, and the general statements were made from recollection. The subject seems to have special interest at this time, by reason of the many forms of machines now being introduced and patented for similar purposes; and, having received letters of in quiry for further details, I have availed myself of the opportunity, when recently at home for a few days, to refer to the original notes and records made by me in 1852, when living at Crown Point and Moriah, on Lake Champlain. The machine mentioned in my former communication mas pur chased of Ransom Cook, of Vermont. It arrived, and was un loaded from the boat and taken part way up to the nine, on October 18,1852. The weight was 1400 pounds and the cost $1200. It was constructed, not with permanent magnets but with electro-mag nets. It was set up and first turned by hand on October 28th, using twelve battery-cups or cells, the connections being made with wires in small cups of quicksilver. The magnets were not sufficiently strong, and the machine did not work well. More batteries were sent for, arid the machine was started with steam-power on Novem ber 6th. The ore was dried in kilns, then put through a coffee-mill crusher or grinder, and then fed upon the leather belt which carried it under the magnets. Many experimental runs were made, and some diffi culties were overcome, before December 21st, when the record states that the machine was working pretty well, using 24 cells and giving a product of from 3 to 5 tons a day of granular phosphate. The ori-

Jan 1, 1893

By D. H. Bacon

Nearly all men are too busy with their own affairs to keep informed of the progress in other lines. From time to time we read statistics showing the development in some industry that astonish us; but the feeling of surprise soon fades: to be followed by others that likewise pass away. A short resume of what has been done in one line may be of interest. Down to late in the fifties the ore-product of Lake Superior mas handled over a mule-tram-road to Marquette; now the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic, the Chicago and Northwestern, the Wisconsin Central, the Duluth, Superior and Western, the Duluth, Mesabi and Northern, the Duluth and Iron Range and the Lake Superior and Ishpeming railroads serve the shippers. Down to nearly 1870 a 700-ton ship was an enormous craft, the loading of which required two days; the unloading being seldom accomplished in that time. In 1871 the largest ore-barge carried 1050 toils and made twelve trips per season. Now the cargoes reach 5000 tons, the loading requiring less than three hours, and the unloading ten hours. Now the mines cover more land than was familiar to even the " timber-cruiser " when the Jackson mine was opened. The annual shipments have grown from a few thousand to 10,000,000 tons, and the ability of the mines to produce is not taxed. Lake-freights are at one-eighth, and rail-freights at one-quarter, of early prices. The deeper waterways, commodious locks and large ships of to-day are in a greater measure due to the movement of ore than to any other cause. Great savings have been made in each detail of each department. The only item of cost that has not been lessened, I am glad to say, is the money paid to men. Wages, measured by what they will buy, are as high

Jan 1, 1898

Mr. A. Bement, Chicago, Ill. (communication to the Secretary*) :—Mr. Campbell, in proposing his method of sampling coal-seams, has rendered an important service in insisting on the presentation of an adequate history of the sample; and it is to be hoped that his suggestion will meet with further recommendation. In my opinion it is fully as important that a complete description of the sample and the conditions surrounding its taking be given, as the results of the analysis itself; and if such should become standard practice, coal-analysis would assume greater value. As it is, the published data are very confusing, and only to an extremely small extent are they really useful. The method suggested by Mr. Campbell, however, cannot have a general application; for example, in the Eastern Interior coal-basin, particularly at the present time, the output consists largely in grades other than mine-run, which in Illinois, for the year 1905, was only about 24 per cent. of the total product; and inasmuch as Mr. Campbell's method of sampling cannot give values for any other grade than mine-run, my contention that, at best, it can have but a limited application, is apparent. To illustrate the argument, there are two coal-seams, with the characteristics of which I am particularly familiar; each seam, as it lies in the ground, contains almost exactly 10 per cent. of ash; the lump coal from one of these seams ranges from 10 to 11 per cent. of ash, but from the other seam it does not average more than 6 per cent., although, as before mentioned, the average percentage of ash in the full seam is the same for each case. A careful and proper sampling of coal-seams, to be followed by analyeis, is to be commended in connection with all investigation; in fact, it should precede any careful study. A serious error, however, may be made in attempting to use such results to set values on the product as shipped or received. The only

Jan 1, 1906