Video Parts (2)
This clip is Part 1 of a 2-part film.
MINING ANTHROCITE COAL Part 1
Description
The original catalog description provided by the Ford Motor Company reads as follows: “Coal is a necessity in the home, the factory and in transportation. Heat, light and power are all dependent upon coal. We have --” “Hard or Anthracite coal. Soft or Bituminous coal.” “The coal deposits of the United States are --” Map of United States, pointer indicating coal beds, types and grades labeled. “Hard coal is the ideal fuel for the home. It is clean. It burns without smoke. It has high heating value.” “Hard coal is the most expensive coal as it is difficult to mine, and occurs only in a small area in Pennsylvania.” Map. “In mining, a shaft is sunk to the coal bed. Horizontal tunnels or entries are cut in the coal bed. Rooms are made along the entries.” Diagram of cross section of Earth showing shaft, coal vein, mine buildings. “Miners enter the elevator to descend to the coal bed.” Group of miners getting on open-sided elevator, gate dropping - diagram, elevator descending to seventh vein of coal at 1,500 foot level - diagram showing main entry, side entry, rooms, cross cuts. “Arriving at the bottom of the shaft the miners go to the different rooms for work. Their lamps give only a dim light.” Miners walking along tunnel, torches attached to caps. “The large fans keep the fresh air circulating through the mine.” Mine buildings from above. “Mammoth pumps keep the water from flooding the mine.” Pump in operation. “Coal mining is hard and dangerous work.” Miner breaking coal with pick. “Drilling a hole for blasting --” “Putting in the powder.” “The explosion --” Explosion, coal face falling. “Large chunks of coal are blasted out. The loose pieces in the roof are broken off.” “The coal is piled into cars and drawn by mules to the bottom of the shaft.” Mule-drawn mine cars. “The loaded cars are carried swiftly to the surface.” Miners pushing cars onto elevator, elevator rising. “There are two cars in each shaft. The cars are at the ends of this long steel cable. A powerful engine raises the loaded car and lowers the empty one.” Close-ups of elevator machinery in operation. “At the surface the car dumps the coal into a conveyor.” “The large chunks must be broken and sorted before the coal is shipped from the mine. The coal goes to the top of this breaker building.” “The lumps going through the breaker.” “The coal is now smaller in size and ready to be sorted.” Coal on conveyor. “The slate and shale must be taken out. The boys are alert to pick out the waste.” Boys sorting as coal passes them on conveyors. “It is noisy and dusty work.” “Happily this machine can do the sorting as well as the boys.” View of coal sorting machine. “The coal is now graded into the different sizes.” Machinery in operation. “A car is loaded and weighed.” “Trains of coal are leaving the mine yards.” “Hard coal is the most important fuel in the New England and Atlantic states. It is shipped by sea from Philadelphia to the Atlantic ports. These are the coal docks.” “The entire car is lifted up and dumped into the boat in less than one minute.” “While many eastern cities are receiving their supply by boat, trains are carrying anthracite coal to the inland cities.” Long freight train moving through snow-covered countryside. “The total coal mined in the United States is 640 million tons. Of this amount only 1/7 or 90 million tons is hard or anthracite coal." “The End.” “Ford Educations Library.” [1922]
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