Bituminous Coal Mines Research Articles

Dust Control Practices in the Bituminous Coal Mining Industry

The need for improved dust control in bituminous coal mining is recognized by the industry and considerable effort in this direction is being applied. The general methods of dust suppression consist of wet cutting and water sprays at dust sources in handling the coal to prevent dust generation; high pressure sprays on the mining machine to reduce airborne dust; wet drilling; the use of dust collectors on roof bolting drills; face ventilation by the line brattice or exhaust tubing and auxiliary fan method; limiting a single machine in each split of air and the use of filter and air supplied respiratory equipment. This paper discusses each of these control measures with emphasis on preventing the generation of dust and the application of good face ventilation practice.

Enzymatic digestion of human lung tissue.

A procedure for the enzymatic digestion of human lung tissue based on studies utilizing ficin, bromelin, and pronase is described; and the recovery of coal dust from bituminous coal miners' lungs by enzymatic solubilization is compared to recoveries of coal dust by the sodium hydroxide digestion procedure of King and Gil-christ. Since the application of enzymatic digestion as an analytical method is relatively simple, requiring minimum surveillance and equipment, the use of enzymes to degrade protein provides a convenient method for the recovery of dust and other solid materials from tissue.

Metal and mineral concentrations in lungs of bituminous coal miners.

Abstract The concentrations of metals and minerals in lungs of bituminous coal miners are the subject of a continuing study that includes gravimetric determinations of coal and total dust, chemical determinations of free silica, and quantitative spectrographic analyses of metallic and other elemental constituents. The free silica and the elemental constituents of the residual mineral deposits were determined by phosphoric acid and quantitative emission spectrographic methods, respectively.

Pneumoconiotic lesions in bituminous coal miners and metal miners.

Pneumoconiotic lesions in bituminous coal miners and metal miners.

Composition of water discharged from bituminous coal mines in northern West Virginia

Previous reports of the composition of water discharged from bituminous coal mines generally discuss only pH, acidity, iron, and sulfate. We have analyzed five samples of mine discharge for ferrous iron, total iron, aluminum, manganese, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulfate, silica, and pH. Selected trace elements were sought in two of the five samples chosen because of their extreme values in pH (3.2 and 7.4).Four of the samples may be considered mine so characterized by pH of from 3.2 to 5.5, total iron in excess of 500 ppm, and aluminum greater than 100 ppm in the more acid samples. The fifth sample resembles uncontaminated ground water from the Monongahela Group and has a pH of 7.4, total iron less than 4 ppm, and aluminum less than 20 ppm. Similar distinctions in composition are reflected in trace elements of the two extreme samples.The marked differences in the neutral sample and the acid samples are evidence for the efficacy of minimizing contact of water with the underground workings. The high quality water is discharged from a mine that was designed to minimize residence time of water in the workings, whereas the acid samples come from more extensive drainage systems, each utilizing one discharge pump.

LOCAL AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN LONG TERM BITUMINOUS COAL PRODUCTION PROSPECTS IN EASTERN UNITED STATES

ABSTRACT The United States bituminous coal mining industry anticipates record prosperity during the next several decades as national energy demands soar to unprecedented levels. However, it is highly improbable that each of the country's numerous and diversely constituted coal producing areas will share equally, or at all, in the expansion. The objectives of this study are twofold: 1) to propose a method for differentiating between long term growth and non-growth conditions in the coal mining industry, and 2) to apply this criterion geographically in an attempt to forecast future local and regional responses to the forthcoming increase in national demands for energy. The chartist technique, involving determination of past long term coal production trends by graphic procedures, is utilized to differentiate between growth and non-growth situations among the 169 major bituminous coal mining counties (out of a total of 306 counties in which coal has been mined) in eastern United States during the period 1898–1963. Important spatial homogeneities and differences thus become apparent. Extrapolation of these local and regional trends permits an estimate to be made of the reactions of each of the 169 counties under study to the anticipated future increase in the national coal market. A total of eighty-two Appalachian and twenty-one Eastern Interior counties are rated as potentially increasing in future production, whereas a total of thirty-eight Appalachian, twenty-six Eastern Interior, and two Northern Interior counties are rated as not significantly sharing in the future expansion of coal mining. The remaining 137 counties in the three coal districts will produce only irregularly.

The mineral content of bituminous coal miners' lungs.

Abstract Lung samples from 30 bituminous coal miners have been analyzed for coal and noncoal dust. The latter has also been analyzed for quartz, other crystalline substances, and metallic constituents. Initially, the sample is freeze-dried, and ground in a mullite ball mill, and suitable aliquots are then digested by the King and Gilchrist procedure. Following the destruction of the lung matrix, the total dust is determined gravimetrically. The loss obtained on igniting the total mineral residue at 380°C represents the weight of the coal fraction. The resulting noncoal residue is then aliquoted for the determination of quartz and for the identification of other crystalline substances by x-ray diffraction. The analysis for the metallic constituents is accomplished by emission spectrography. Particle size analysis of the noncoal fraction is conducted by an electron microscopic procedure.

COMPARISON OF DUST EXPOSURES IN PENNSYLVANIA ANTHRACITE AND BITUMINOUS COAL MINES.

Abstract Results of a two-year study of dust conditions in Pennsylvania coal mines, including 24 anthracite and 14 bituminous coal mines are presented. Determinations of airborne concentrations, particle size distribution, and free silica content were made on more than 1400 samples. Dust in anthracite mines had, in general, more free silica and smaller particle size. Mechanized mines were not significantly different from non-mechanized mines in dust production. Exceptions to these generalizations are discussed.

New Estimates of Hours of Work Per Week and Hourly Earnings, 1900-1957

N EW estimates of hours and earnings indicate greater declines in hours of work and greater increases in hourly earnings the past half century than the usually used, currently available historical series show. The new estimates presented in this paper are hours of work per week in the manufacturing, railroad, bituminous, and anthracite coal mining industries, as well as hourly earnings and hourly compensation in the latter three industries. The purpose in presenting the new hours and earnings series is threefold. (1) For historical data on hours and earnings, economists generally refer to the series published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.' The conceptual basis underlying the calculation of the Bureau's series is one of total time paid for. For the researcher who is interested in problems relating to long-run changes in the hours of work, the introduction in recent years of such practices as paid vacations, paid holidays, or payment travel time gives an upward bias to an hours-per-week series when measured on a total time paid for basis. Since these practices provide additional earnings, division by the additional hours paid for, according to the total time paid for concept, tends to cancel out these gains and thus leads to understatement of the historical increase in hourly earnings. The new series attempt to correct these biases by deducting the time accounted by these practices from the measured hours both in the calculation of hours of work per week and in the calculation of hourly earnings. (2) The new series provide annual data continuously from 1900 through 1957, thus supplying information time periods since 1900 that are not covered by the Bureau's series (Tables 1 and 2 below). (3) The comprehensive review of the historical evidence on hours of work, which was undertaken in constructing the new series, suggests that the level of the Bureau's oft-used manufacturing series is in error during the 1920's. In 1929, a bench mark year the manufacturing series presented in this paper, the new estimate of hours of work per week is 48.0; the level of the Bureau's series is 44.2 hours. The construction of the hourly compensation series extends to three more industries the compensation concept developed by Rees manufacturing, to take account of the increasing importance to employees of employer contributions to such programs as pension plans and social insurance.2 Total hourly compensation is the sum of these wage supplement payments and the direct wage payments to workers measured by average hourly earnings. The employee coverage of the new series is identical to that of the Bureau's historical series. Except the railroad series, employee coverage is limited to production workers. The employee coverage of the railroad series is somewhat broader, including all wage and salary workers except the upper echelon of management which is classified as officials, and staff 3 Tables 1 (hours) and 2 (earnings and compensation) below present the new series together with, comparative purposes, the currently official historical series of the Bureau of * This paper is adapted from Chapter II and Appendix B of my Ph.D. dissertation, Hours of Work in the United States, 1900-1957 (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Economics, University of Chicago, 1961). My thanks are due to both H. Gregg Lewis and Albert Rees their assistance on the dissertation and their helpful suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper. 1See, e.g., U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1957 (Washington, 1960), 92-3; and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings Statistics the United States, 1909-60, Bull. No. 1312 (Washington, 1961), 14, 31, and 422. 2Albert Rees, New Measures of Wage-Earner Compensation in Manufacturing, 1914-57, National Bureau of Economic Research, Occasional Paper 75 (New York, 1960). 'The new series exclude only the reporting divisions (1) executives, general officers, and assistants and (2) division officers, assistants, and staff assistants. See U. S. Interstate Commerce Commission, Monthly Report of Employees, Service, and Compensation, Forms A and B.

Observations on the source of acid in empoldered mangrove soils

In an earlier study of sulphur oxidation in mangrove soils, the author 4 obtained evidence which showed that the development of highly acid conditions was the result of the activity of the bacterium Thiobacillus thio-oxidans. The intense activity of this organism which was demonstrated was indicative of the presence of large concentrations of elemental sulphur, and this was confirmed by soil analysis using the method of Smittenburg et al.1 In addition to the elemental-sulphur fraction, a second fraction of oxidisable sulphur compounds was shown to be present. This fraction was identified as polysulphides (probably pyrites), and appeared to be relatively stable to oxidation except at low pH values. It was thus suggested that complete oxidation of the soil sulphur reserves would be dependent upon the preliminary oxidation of elemental sulphur by Thiobacilli at high pH values, followed by the oxidation probably chemical of the pyrites fraction at the resulting low pH values. This scheme was similar to that proposed by Temple and Delchamps8 for acid formation from sulphur balls in bituminous-coal mines, and was compatible with the results of the laboratory experiments of Quispel et al .6 on the oxidation of pyrites.

Industrial Concentration and Price Flexiblility in Inflation: Price Response Rates in Fourteen Industries, 1947-1958

T HIS study investigates rates of price response to changes in cost and demand over the period I947 to I958 in fourteen United States industries, half of which are classified as concentrated, half as unconcentrated. The industries studied are: tires and tubes, rubber footwear, glass containers, plumbing fixtures, internal combustion engines, agricultural machinery, motors and generators (concentrated); bituminous coal mining, cotton broadwovens, seamless hosiery, leather footwear, gray iron foundries, construction and mining machinery, valves and fittings (unconcentrated). The primary purpose of the investigation is to test the hypothesis that inflationary pressures are transmitted through concentrated industries at a different rate than through unconcentrated industries. A secondary purpose is to estimate the degree to which prices are insensitive to demand change under varied conditions of concentration in manufacturing industries. For each industry in the sample, monthly indexes of output price and direct costs were constructed from Bureau of Labor Statistics data, using weights derived primarily from information in the Leontief input-output table; B.L.S. data on the average number of hours worked per week in each industry were used to estimate demand changes in each industry. Multiple regression analysis was employed to study the relationship between price change and change in the other variables. Response to cost change was examined on a monthly basis, using a distributed lag technique to estimate the total response pattern from the month preceding a cost increase to the second month following. Response to demand change was estimated only on a quarterly basis, since preliminary findings indicated that little would be gained by more detailed analysis. Surprisingly little difference was found between the two groups of industries. In the concentrated group price response to demand change did not appear at all; in the unconcentrated group such response was quite limited, explaining only two per cent of the variation in price change. Response patterns to cost change in the two groups of industries were even more similar. Standard statistical tests indicated that all differences between the two groups in this aspect of behavior could easily have resulted from chance; the hypothesis that response patterns for the two groups were identical could not be rejected at a 50 per cent level of confidence. For both groups of industries the lag between cost change and price change was short generally not longer than one month. The magnitude of response was generally sufficient to maintain pre-existing percentage gross margins. Examination of the behavior of gross margins supported these conclusions, as margins remained relatively stable through periods of both recession and inflation, until I956-58 when they rose for a number of industries, especially in the concentrated group. These findings suggest that insensitivity of prices to demand change is not confined to highly oligopolistic industries, but is characteristic of most manufacturing industries. On the whole, inflationary pressures seemed to be transmitted through the two groups of industries in a similar manner: prices were insensitive to demand changes, but were rapidly and fully responsive to cost increases. The investigation did not attempt to ascertain the sources of inflationary pressure but was focused on the mechanics of price change. Thus the concept of price flexibility employed is similar to that of Gardiner Means in his I935 study, Industrial Prices and Their Relative In-

Experience of the Umwa Welfare and Retirement Fund

The welfare and retirement fund negotiated in 1946 by the UMWA for bituminous coal miners was the first large program of its type to be set up by collective bargaining after the war. Based upon principles differing from those followed in other industries, the fund aroused much speculation in regard to the high benefits which it afforded and the soundness of its financing. In this article, the operating experience of the fund, primarily with respect to old-age pensions and certain other benefits, during the last five years is analyzed. (Author's abstract courtesy EBSCO.)

The Polish Bituminous Coal-Mining Industry

The Polish Bituminous Coal-Mining Industry

Labor Policy for Economic Stability

FOR OVER A CENTURY from 1820 to 1930, the best statistics available indicate that the real wages of American workers, measured in goods and services, rose markedly. There were setbacks during periods of inflation and of depression; but the general trend was definitely upward. Real wages rose at an average rate of about one per cent per year from 1900 to 1926 during a quarter of a century in which trade unionism was stronger than in the nineteenth century but much weaker than it has been since 1937. The total union membership increased from less than 900,000 in 1900 to about 3,500,000 in 1926. From 1939 to 1950, the cost of living increased about 74 per cent while the weekly wages of workers in our manufacturing industries rose from $23.86 to $59.33, or approximately 150 per cent. During the same period, the weekly wages paid to steelworkers employed by the United States Steel Corporation increased from $31.59 to $69.10; and the weekly earnings of bituminous coal miners reached $70.35 in 1950 and $81.61 in 1951. Real wages in the manufacturing industries of the nation increased nearly 43 per cent in the period 1939-1950. No account is taken of a variety of benefits-social security benefits, private pension programs financed wholly or in part by the employer, vacation pay, etc. In 1939, fringe benefits were few and not important; in 1951, it has been estimated, for every dollar paid out in wages, manufacturing concerns paid 16.4 cents in fringe benefits. Consequently, real wages actually increased, 1939-1950, materially more than is indicated by the weekly wage figures. From the time of the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935 to 1952, the total membership of American unions rose from 4,000,000 to 16,000,000. Also, a typical large union such as the steelworkers or the coal miners, now includes nearly all of the workers in the particular industry. During the same period, marvelous increases in technological and managerial efficiency took place. Big labor, huge corporations, and a powerful federal government began playing leading roles in industry. Productive capacity and performance have increased rapidly since 1939 and powerful unions have been instrumental in forcing the payment of higher and higher money wages. By the end of the period, wages and salaries including an allow-

Autotrophic bacteria and the formation of acid in bituminous coal mines.

Thiobacillus thiooxidans increases the acid formation from certain types of the pyritic concretions in coal known as sulfur balls, as well as from marcasite. Thiobacillus ferrooxidans increases the acid formed from museum grade pyrite of fine particle size as well as from sulfur balls. A general mechanism for acid formation in coal mines is proposed.

Are Coal Strikes National Emergencies?

Strikes allegedly creating emergencies are the events which evoke the keenest interest of legislators and the general public in labor relations. Such strikes have been extremely important, as the authors of this article point out, in influencing passage of legislation restricting the right to strike. The philosophy of such legislation is that work stoppages in certain industries may so imperil the functioning of the economy as to endanger national health, welfare, or safety. Strikes in the coal industry have been especially regarded as falling into this category. Strikes in bituminous coal mining, from 1937 to 1950, are analyzed here to determine what their actual effects have been upon coal production, important industries consuming coal, and general business activity. Readers may wish to compare the findings in this article with those of Edgar L. Warren, Thirty-Six Years of 'National Emergency' Strikes, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, October 1951. (Author's abstract courtesy EBSCO.)

Autotropic Bacteria and the Formation of Acid in Bituminous Coal Mines

Thiobacillus thiooxidans increases the acid formation from certain types of the pyritic concretions in coal known as sulfur balls, as well as from marcasite. Thiobacillus ferrooxidans increases the acid formed from museum grade pyrite of fine particle size as well as from sulfur balls. A general mechanism for acid formation in coal mines is proposed.

Analysis of Power Costs of Bituminous Coal Mines

The trends and amount of electric power use and cost at bituminous coal mines are of interest to the executive, the operating man, and the engineer alike. A study of the data based on a single year, or even a few years, could result in misleading conclusions; but the data from over 400 representative mines for the past 26 years make it possible to determine the trends quite accurately. These trends, illustrated by graphs and tables, are discussed in this paper.

The action of anthracite and bituminous coal dusts mixed with quartz on the lungs of rats.

Belt and King (1945) studied the tissue reactions produced in animals by selected dusts from South Wales coal mines, and found that clean coal (low ash coal fraction containing 99% coal) produced only minimal fibrosis (grade 1) with simple foreign body reaction in 250 to 500 days. In experiments with high ash coal fractions which contained from 37 to 66% coal and aboLit 1 to 3% quartz, the rest being kaolin and mica, grade 1 fibrosis was also produced in 250 days ; and the reticulin was slightly denser in character, although it could not be classified as grade 2 fibrosis. In their experi ments with airborne dusts, they examined 14 samples from six different mines, which included anthracite mines with both a high and low incidence of silicosis, and also steam coal and bituminous coal mines. Nine of these samples produced only a simple foreign body reaction with grade 1 fibrosis, the average coal content of these nine samples being 85%, and the average siliceous mineral content 13 %. The remaining five samples produced something more than a foreign body reaction, and fibrosis was of grades 2 and 3. These dusts averaged 74% of coal and contained 39, 28, 14, 17, and 15% (average 22%) of siliceous minerals, there being a considerable overlap between the two groups. Further studies were made using artificial mix tures of airborne mine dusts with amounts of pure quartz which were varied from 19 to 28%, and in one case made as high as 51%. In all these experi ments, at the end of one year, the fibrosis was of grade 4 type, and no difference could be found between anthracite and bituminous coal mine dusts.

A Political-Economic Solution of the Coal Problem

-T HE IMPORTANT strikes of the United Mine Workers during the last three years have again brought attention to the problems of what President Truman, in 1949, called the sick bituminous-coal industry when he began considering the need for a new investigation of it. The present interest in this industry is not new, however, either in its cause or in its possible results. The 1922 strike resulted in the investigations of the United States Coal Commission.1 In 1928 the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce investigated conditions in the coal fields following the strike of 1927-1928.2 Some major legislation has been directed at solving the problems of the industry. The Guffey coal act of 1935 aimed at correcting overproduction and ruthless competition in the industry.3 When this act was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,4 a new bituminous-coal act was enacted to replace it in 1937.5 The industry itself attempted solution of its difficulties through the creation of a regional marketing agency, which was found by the Supreme Court to be unable to fix prices and to be innocent of monopolization.6 The relative ineffectiveness of these measures in solving the coal ills is evident in the renewed attention now being given the industry. If it is true, as seems likely, that the chief ill of the industry lies in the existence of excess capacity,7 one solution may be the removal of excess capacity by the imposition of a tax on mines. Special taxation on bituminous-coal mining is not new. The Guffey coal acts of 1935 and 1937 relied for their