Title: Mining Bituminous Coal - Pennsylvania
Artist: The Philadelphia Museum
Silver gelatin photograph, 1910s.
Image size 9 1/2 x 12" (241 x 304 mm).

This photograph shows a coal miner and his helper at work in a tunnel. The miner is using a compressed-air drill to drive a hole in the lower edge of the working face of the coal vein. The compressed air is supplied through the hose which is fastened to the machine. Charges of powder will be exploded in several such holes at one time, loosening a large mass of coal. Coal is generally loosened from its place in the vein by "undercutting" and "breaking down". In this way can be taken out in large pieces than when the work proceeds from above downward. Coal mines were formerly worked entirely by hand. The miners used picks and shovels to break down the coal and load it on cars. Holes for blasts were bored with hand drills instead of by machinery. At the present coal mining machines Of many types do a great deal Of the work more rapidly than it can be done by hand, and in addition, less coal is broken into Small pieces and wasted, than by the older method. Some of the coal mining machines are driven by compressed air and some by electric power. The; coal Will be, loaded on mine cars which run on the narrow track seen in the foreground, and thus it will be taken to the main shaft and then to the surface of ground. In some mines the cars are drawn by electric mine locomotives, but in most mines they are hauled by mules. That this mine is well ventilated is shown by the naked lamps to be seen on the miners' hats. Some mines have in them dangerous explosive gases ("fire-damp") which make it necessary for the miners to use safety lamps. In these lamps. the flame Surrounded by wire gauze. Electric lamps give light in many mines, but they can seldom be used near to the place where the actual work of breaking down the coal is in progress. Nearly all mines with fresh air by means of great pumps and fans which blow fresh air to all parts of the mine, thus ridding it of foul of all kinds, due to the breath of the workmen, decomposition of the goal, explosion of powder in blasts and other causes, Enormous quantities of timber are used in mines to give support to the roofs of the tunnels and to prevent the rock falling down from above. In addition to this, great masses of coal are left as supports. It is dangerous work to remove these "pillars" of coal, and where they have been taken away, cave-ins have sometimes occurred, affecting many acres of ground at the surface. Pennsylvania is the leading state in' this country in the production of bituminous coal, in addition to producing nearly all of the anthracite.

Condition: Very good condtion, some minor surface staining on back of photo board.