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Wednesday morning, March 23, I started on another mine inspection trip of St. Joseph Lead Company property and went underground at Shaft No. 17, the central hoisting shaft for this area. On this trip, thru the courtesy of B. F. Murphy, General Manager, I was able to have accompany me some friends of long years' experience in the mining business, at least that's what they told me after they survived the trip: Judge Norwin D. Houser, Harry Eschenroeder, Sgt. A. G. White, Lt. Schaperkatter, Kirkwood and Rev. Arthur R. Hicks.
My friends were told to be at my office at 7:30 a.m. that morning and the first one to arrive was Judge Houser at about 7:10, and the rest of them were on hand before the designated time. We arrived at No. 17 about 7:40 and got into the necessary safety equipment. Here we were met by W. C. Bochert, Safety Engineer, B. Oliver Rasch, General Attorney, Lovell Turley, Asst. General Mines Superintendent, Lawrence Casteel, Mine Superintendent, Roy "Red" Horton, Mine Captain, Federal No. 11 Mine, and F. H. Welch, Mining Engineer.
Before going underground we had a chance to survey the surroundings and
watch trucks coming in from No. 12 Chat Dump carrying chat containing metalic lead of
about nine tenths of one per cent and also trucks coming in from the Doe Run mine with ore
which runs from two to four per cent metalic content. Those shipments are dumped, after
being weighed, into ore bins and run thru the mill with the balance of the lead ore.
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We started down the shaft shortly after eight and landed at the bottom a minute or so
afterwards at a depth of more than 700 feet. The first thing to be seen after landing was
the big railroad yard where the ore is pulled in from all the mines east of Leadwood to be
hoisted and milled. Before I go any further, I may as well tell you this story at random,
because it is written from memory and therefore back to the beginning. Men are hoisted up
and down the shaft by a different hoisting engine from the one that hoists the ore. We
were lowered and brought out by Charles Womack, a veteran hoisting engineer, whose picture
appears elsewhere in this issue of The News at the controls of the mighty engine he
operates.
Landing in a mine railroad yard such as is in operation at No. 17, which rivals Union Station in St. Louis or Grand Central Station in New York, is an experience within itself and it so interested my friends who were with me, that I thought we would never be able to leave there. The rotary dump and automatic scales, where cars of ore are weighed and dumped into the ore chute without being uncoupled from the locomotive, is most interesting, so much so, that one of our party asked me what that fellow was doing with a bucket gathering something up. I told him it was milking time; time to take a sample from each car of ore for assay purposes.
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Giant locomotives pull in with forty or fifty cars and dump their cargo while you wait--locomotives of 13 to 25 ton capacity, hauling ore cars containing from 2.7 tons to 14 tons. One big train came in from No. Eight Mine, which is around old Mitchell Shaft near Leadwood, an underground distance of about five miles; it was pulling about 16 of the big cars and makes about four round trips a day. Three railroad crews handle big trains of ore with as much precision as railroad crews on the surface handle main line freight and passenger trains.
After watching that operation for some time, we boarded a special train consisting of two passenger cars and a locomotive driven by Thurman Gibson, who has 29 years service, and is usually selected for this particular job because of his knowledge of the mines, his good record for safety and general capability as engineer. I always tried to sit next to Red Horton because if he said jump, he meant jump. Well, we rode with comfort at a safe underground speed to the vicinity of the old Red Onion Shaft, No. 11 Mine, where we unloaded for an inspection of some drilling which was going on in two different types of working, drift No. 18805 and an ore stope having the same number.
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Here the actual beginning of the mining of the lead ore begins. The drill steel that is now being used is not like the old time drill steel. Small, detachable bits of alloy steel are used and when they are worn out are discarded and replaced with new ones. The drill steel is hollow and a constant stream of water flows thru it to the bit, not only keeping it cool but at the same time eliminating dust. While on the dust and ventilating subject, I found the mines to be as well ventilated as the modern air conditioning found in hotels, railroad cars and theatres, which means that our mines are healthful places to work in. Thanks to Safety, ingenuity and the whole hearted cooperation of management and employees in carrying out the program.
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I shall always believe that Red Horton planned a scare for the inspection party. He took us to a place where a high pillar had been shot down, say about 180 feet high, and just as we arrived he said we would have to shuffle back to the train in a hurry as shooting was going to start, and it did. Several block hole shots were put off to tear up the boulders of the falling pillar so the ore could be loaded and sent to the mill. The best I remember, Eschenroeder was the first to climb into a car of our train, and he trembled like a leaf while the mine shots went off. Within a few minutes we went back where the shooting took place and only faint odors of powder were sensed. That to me was a fair sample of expert mine ventilation throughout the St. Joseph Lead Company mines.
Trimming up the roof in this high stope, were Harold Kassabaum and Leo Centers, working from the usual "traps" employed in this type of mining. A mis-step on the traps might mean a fall of 180 feet but "Red" told us not to worry about these two fellows as they were two of the most careful miners he had.
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Our party next saw the loading machines in action--one of the many St. Joe shovels which load about 100 tons or more per shift. They work so smoothly under the control of the operator that no more fuss is made than listening to a radio while someone is talking. Vastly different from the old days, when men had to labor hard with a hand shovel and go home worn out after eight hours, sometimes, without being able to load enough cars on a shift to justify their pay.
After leaving the headings and the land of tall timber, rock pillars and high ground, our special train backed in to the railroad yards at No. 17 for an inspection of the machine shop where the heavy work is done, all the way from making a small bolt to building an underground locomotive. The shop is in charge of Oscar Kennedy, with Jimmie Morris on the electrical end of it. Unless you have seen the operations there, you would not believe what goes on. Big lathes, drill presses, milling machines, boring machines, riveting machines, welding, drill steel sharpening machines and all the things in the line of machinery that is required to keep the mechanical end of the giant lead mining business going. Before going thru the shop, which was not my first trip, I ran across many I knew, Sidney Beckett, Cletus Shaw, and others, and by the way, I found Shaw engaged in a painting job of walls, roof and machinery, which is designed to make work underground, as well as on the surface, pleasant. We were delayed there somewhat, as elsewhere in the trip thru the mines, by Rev. Hicks, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Flat River, who took so much time talking to members of his church working for the company in the shop and throughout the mines.
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After completing the tour of the shop we descended about 50 feet below the main level to see the skip loading operation and had to wait a few minutes because the surface ore bin was overloaded. The skips, containing about 8 tons of ore, are loaded from the special loading chutes, with massive discharge gates operated by hydraulic water pressure at 220 pounds pressure, at the rate of about one every thirty-five seconds and hoisted to the surface. That means that about 16 tons of ore are hoisted every minute when hoisting is in full swing. The ore is automatically dumped into the primary crushing plant and is started on its way to the concentrating mill. The man who operates the big hoisting engine has an easy job, if you want to call it easy, but he is alone on his job, and must know his business, in order to keep the wheels on top turning to produce lead. We left the mines a little after twelve and went to Bonne Terre for lunch at the St. Joe Club, where we were joined by B. F. Murphy, General Manager of the Company, N. A. Stockett, General Mill Superintendent, and others.
It was there where Mike Christoff came to the rescue. He, or rather his wife, provides meals that inexperienced mine inspectors enjoy after having walked miles over rough rock and riding trains thru drifts they never before saw or dreamed of. Mike arranged besides the fine menu of pork roast, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, hot rolls and butter, coffee or milk, and a dessert of the finest pie one ever tasted, which he said was lemon chiffon.
After lunch our party was invited to see motion pictures of the mining operations in the office of W. C. Bochert, Safety Director. That was a very interesting part of the program and was enjoyed by all. Aside from the entertainment, it gave the tired inspectors a chance to relax and rest their bones. Shortly after the motion picture show we left for No. 17 Mill and other surface operations. By the way, before I forget it, there are more than a hundred miles of railroad track in the St. Joe Mines and all main line tracks operate on block signals, the same as main line railroads you travel over on the surface.
N. A. Stockett, General Mill Superintendent, accompanied us and upon arrival at the mill, we were met by H. R. Stahl, Mill Superintendent at No. 17, who assisted Mr. Stockett in explaining the various phases of the concentrating plant to the group. I know those fellows do not like to talk about ages but I feel safe in talking about them for the reason we are keeping the same company. Pete Stahl came to Desloge Lead Company as a chemist back in about 1916 and Norman Stockett has been with the company at least that long, and probably longer. I started to work for the lead companies in 1909 and worked with all of them.
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Our journey thru the mill, the largest in the lead belt district, was as interesting as the mines. About 14,000 tons of lead ore goes thru the mill every 24 hours. The process there is like that at the Bonne Terre Mill which I described in a story some time ago. The ore starts thru the coarse crushers, known as primary crushers, thence to the secondary crushers to the rod mills and then to the tables. The concentrates which the tables do not salvage goes to the flotation plant and from there the refuse goes to the Slime settling pond thru pumps.
While in the mill I ran across Ed Mouser, who is a shift boss on the evening shift. He told me that everybody employed in the mill were doing fine work and liked their jobs. I also ran across Fred Stange and by that time I had about decided that we would buy the plant, but when he told me that it would require about 20 million dollars the deal was postponed, at least temporarily.
From the mill we went thru the surface machine shop. John Rabaduex, Shop Foreman, was most courteous and explained the various machines in operation. I inquired as to whether Charlie Rapp was working and the reply was, that he is here some place. I found him head over heels at work doing this and that in keeping his own end of the work up and cleaning out his tool chests, etc. It was getting near quitting time for the shift and everybody was busy cleaning up the machinery for another day's work. The shop is clean, well painted and ventilated and does an enormous amount of work every eight hours.
However, I forgot to mention that we climbed to the top of the primary crushing plant and had an excellent view of the entire community. I also forgot to mention the sanitary toilet in the machine shop. It is as modern and well kept as you find in any hotel.
We also viewed the big railroad yard around the big chat dump, the trackage amounting to about 4 miles. There chat is loaded for sale as commercial fertilizer and railroad ballast. At times as many as 100 freight cars are loaded and shipped daily to various points in central states of the country. Our final stop was at the Change Room and Hoist at old No. 1 Jaybird Shaft at the top of Federal Hill. It is modern in every respect, showers, lockers, wash basins, toilets, etc. There we met James "Banjo" Guitar, who attends to the change room and the hoist which is used for lowering supplies to the mines. He had the place spic and span and the hoisting engine shining like a new dollar. He is to retire in May.
And while on the subject of hoisting engines, we also inspected the giant engine at No. 17 which yanks out about 16 tons of ore every minute. It has a cone type drum and the hoisting cable measures two and seven-tenths inches in diameter. It is operated by a thousand horse power electric motor, the largest motor used in the district. Harry Fritch was at the controls and we marveled at the smoothness and apparent simplicity of the operation.
Most everyone in the party felt at the end of the trip that a full eight hour shift had been put in and from what I have heard, every minute was interesting and much enjoyed.
Before long, I expect to make a trip thru Doe Run, Mine La Motte, Leadwood and Desloge Mines, about which you will have a chance to read.
