. The pictorial sketch-book of Pennsylvania, or, Its scenery, internal improvements, resources, and agriculture, populary described . , and is driven through thevein in the same manner as described when below water-level. Themine being far enough in, gangways are extended to the right andleft, and the coal worked out upon the same plan as in slopes, whenit is hauled to the breaker by horses and mules. As the gangway isabove water-level, with a slight inclination towards the drift, of coursethe water will run out, thereby rendering engines, pumps, and pump-ino- apparatus, wholly unnecessary. Th
. The pictorial sketch-book of Pennsylvania, or, Its scenery, internal improvements, resources, and agriculture, populary described . , and is driven through thevein in the same manner as described when below water-level. Themine being far enough in, gangways are extended to the right andleft, and the coal worked out upon the same plan as in slopes, whenit is hauled to the breaker by horses and mules. As the gangway isabove water-level, with a slight inclination towards the drift, of coursethe water will run out, thereby rendering engines, pumps, and pump-ino- apparatus, wholly unnecessary. The mines, both of drifts andslopes, are substantially propped up with timber, indicated in theannexed figure, 56, at a, h, andy, f, f, f, which are the slabs of boards ;d indicating the groove or canal through which the water flows out. Blasting is frequently resorted to in mining, especially when work-ing large veins. For this purpose the safety-fuse is used almost in-variably, the coal being generally so wet and damp that the ordinaryprocesses of blasting would not answer, even if preferable in an ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 193. FIG. 5G.—VIEW OF THE TIMBER OF A DRIFT OR COAL MINE. economical view, which they are not. The safety-fuse, too, is perfectlysafe, which gives it not the least important advantage. It is a speciesof fire-cracker or cartridge, the principal part of the compositionbeing powder, which is surrounded by a hempen fabric, and thencovered with another composition, to render it water-proof, of whichthe greater part is pitch. In blasting coal it is difficult to keep thewater from filling up the drill-hole, but by inserting a piece of safety-fuse, and then fastening it tightly, no other preparations are necessary,The match is applied, and following the powder through the fuse,produces the desired result, afibrding ample time for the miners towithdraw, whenever desirable. The anthracite coal fields are, throughout, more or less faulty; thesouthern region more espe
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade, booksubjectminesandmineralresources
