PART VIII. MINE INSPECTIONS The reports of the mine inspectors of St. Louis, Itasca and Crow Wing counties show the following totals for the statistical years ending on June 30, 1915, and June 30, 1916. The following summary of the shipments of ore, and yards of stripping and number of men employed in recent years in the mines of the state will probably prove of interest. Excerpts from the letters of transmittal sent by the mine inspectors with their reports will perhaps give the best commentary that can be presented upon conditions on the mining ranges and the following passages are given for this purpose. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, 1914-15 "During the year there were 24 fatal accidents among 11,346 employes, or 2.09 fatalities per 1,000 men employed; there were also 476 men employed and 830,469 tons of ore shipped for each fatal accident. This is a considerable decrease in the number of fatal accidents over last year and previous years, as the following table will show: Year July 1st, 1905, to June 30th, 1906. "This decrease in the number of accidents can be largely attributed to the 'safety first,' 'first aid' and 'general welfare' movement which has been adopted and is being actively enforced by all the mining companies throughout the county. "In all cases I have found the mining companies solicitous for the best conditions of safety for their men and willing to comply with all reasonable requests for bettering the conditions! And at the present time I know of no dangers in the mines other than those common to the risk of mining. "Yours very truly, "W. H. HARVEY, "Mine Inspector." ST. LOUIS COUNTY, 1915-16 "A number of new mines have been opened up during the year, and the number not operating is somewhat smaller than that of last year. The total shipments for this year exceed those of last by 10,850,910 tons, and the number of men employed shows an increase of 3,203. "During the year there were 34 fatal accidents, an increase of 10 over last year. The number of fatal accidents when compared with the number of men employed shows a slight increase over last year, but a considerable decrease when compared with the number of tons of ore shipped. This increase per 1,000 men is, no doubt, due to the fact that there has been a greater increase in the number of men employed underground than on surface. "In my opinion the men have been fairly and justly treated, and had it not been for outside agitation I do not think there would have been any considerable trouble on the range this year. "In all cases I have found the mining companies ready and willing to comply with all reasonable requests for better conditions and safeguarding the men. At the present time I know of no dangers in the mines other than those common to the risk of mining. ITASCA COUNTY, FEBRUARY 1, 1915, TO JUNE 30, 1915 "In the course of the five months I have made 203 inspections, 10 of which covered underground properties. The rest of the inspections covered open pits, dumps, tracks, locomotive sheds, locomotives, steam shovels, boiler houses, blacksmith, machine, and carpenter shops, power and washing plants, and other territory in proximity to mines with respect to old shafts, diamond drilling and test pits. In most cases I found the conditions were very satisfactory, especially with the Oliver Iron Mining Company, in regard to the safety appliances installed by the said company. It is with pleasure that I report that the mining companies are doing everything in their power to make mining safer. The smaller companies are gradually falling into line in the work of accident prevention. Anyone familiar with the conditions of mining as they existed a few years ago will be surprised to see the changes that have taken place in the last few years. In regard to the safety appliances that have been installed in the last few years: safety appliances have been installed on gears, overhead walks equipped with railings and toeboards, warning signs posted in all dangerous places and a great many other measures too numerous to mention have been taken to safeguard the men underground and on the surface. The Oliver Iron Mining Company deserves great credit for spending the large amount of money for safety appliances to make the lives of the men employed by the Oliver Iron Mining Company safe. "I wish to call your attention to the fact that the greater part of mining done in Itasca county is done by the open pit method, which consists of removing the over burden and the ore by steam shovels. In the open pit mines the chief dangers are encountered from high banks, blasting and the constant movement of trains. To protect their men from the blasting in the open pits, most of the companies have installed shelter houses of steel construction. These houses are distributed throughout the pits and the men are required to go into them before a blast is set off. Bank trimmers are employed to trim the banks of loose rock and dirt to prevent possible accidents from rock rolling down on the men working below. Overhanging banks are blasted down to give them the proper slope. In many mines the men are prohibited from walking on the tracks and policemen are employed to patrol the tracks and see that this rule is obeyed. "In the Underground Mines-Since my appointment as mine inspector for Itasca county I wish to say that the Mississippi mine at Keewatin is the only mine that has done any underground mining, and that was on the slicing system. And I found the underground workings at the Mississippi mine were safe and very economical. With this method of mining the entire ore body can be mined out, as it is not necessary to leave large pillars for supports. I always found conditions underground at the Mississippi mine in excellent condition. "The shafts at the different mines are of substantial construction. The drifts and raises are timbered wherever necessary, good natural ventilation is maintained, and in every mine there are several outlets to provide means of escape in case of fire or accident. "As near as I can learn the ore shipment to date is about the same as 1914. There were no new mines opened up from February 1, 1915, to June 30, 1915. "Respectfully submitted, "WILLIAM J. TRESCOTT, "Inspector of Mines." ITASCA COUNTY 1915-16. "In the course of the year from June 30, 1915, to June 30, 1916, I made 522 inspections, 28 which covered underground properties. The rest of my inspections covered open pits, dumps, tracks, locomotives, steam shovels, boilers, washing plants, electric and power plants, diamond and churn drilling, well drilling and sinking, and territory in proximity to mines with respect to old shafts and test pits. In most cases I found the conditions were very satisfactory. It gives me great pleasure to report that the mining companies are doing everything in their power to make mining safer. The Oliver Iron Mining Company, the La-Rue Mining Company, the Hawkins mine and the Crosby mine, also the Bennett mine, at Keewatin, deserve great credit for spending the large amount of money for safety appliances to make the lives of the men employed by the above named companies safe. Some of the other companies are slow in making these necessary safe-guards. Anyone familiar with conditions as they existed thirty or forty years ago and to go around and see the conditions as they exist today would be greatly surprised. Safety appliances have been installed on gears, overhead walks equipped with railings and toeboards, warning signs posted in all dangerous places and a great many other measures too numerous to mention have been taken to safeguard the men underground and on the surface. I wish to call your attention to the fact that the greater part of mining done in Itasca county is done by the open pit method, which consists of removing the overburden and the ore by steam shovels. In the open pit properties the chief dangers are encountered from high banks, blasting and the constant movement of trains. To protect their men from blasting in the open pits, most of the companies now provide shelter houses of steel construction. These houses are distributed throughout the pits and the men are required to go into them before a blast is set off. Bank trimmers are employed to trim the banks of loose rock and dirt to prevent possible accidents from rock and chunks of dirt rolling down on the men working below. Overhanging banks are blasted down to give them the proper slope. In many mines the men are prohibited from walking on the tracks and policemen are employed to patrol the tracks and see that this rule is obeyed. In the underground Crosby mine at Nashwauk there are two steam shovels, Marion, model 28, used for loading the ore. The shovels are lowered into the pit. The shovel on the West 40 loads the ore into the cars and they are taken to the shaft by electric motors. The shovel on the East 40 shovels the ore into mills from where the ore is loaded into cars from chutes and taken to the shaft, from which place it is hoisted to surface by electric power, and dumped onto grizzlies, the fine ore going down into the steel cars below and the rock and large chunks of ore are picked off the grizzlies by men employed for that work. These steel cars when loaded are taken to the Crosby mine washing plant by locomotives, after being put through this plan the ore is shipped as Bessemer concentrates. At the Bennett mine, Keewatin, the 'slicing and caving' system is used. This is the safest and most economical method of mining. With this method the entire ore body can be mined out, as it is not necessary to leave large pillars for support. During this past year I have made several underground inspections at the Bennett mine and always found this mine in excellent condition. The shafts are of substantial construction, the drifts are timbered wherever necessary, good natural ventilation is maintained, and in every mine there are several outlets to provide means of escape in case of accident. Since my. last report there have been two mines opened up. The Mace No. 2 at Nashwauk was stripped last winter and is shipping Bessemer ore this season. The other property is the Kevin mine, west from the Quinn-Harrison mine, at Nashwauk. This property is being stripped by Butler Brothers. The Walker property adjoining the Canisteo mine has also resumed operations after being idle for several years. During the past fiscal year Butler Brothers have enlarged their washing plant from onehalf unit to a full unit with an addition of six double-decked tables, making 12 double decked tables for the unit. The Crosby mine at Nashwauk also completed their washing plant of one-half unit with five single tables. And I understand from their superintendent, Mr. Barber, that it is giving very good results. The Hawkins mine at Nashwauk has also installed eighteen double-decked tables at their washing plant, and General Superintendent B. W. Batchelder informs me that they are getting very good results from the tables. "Butler Brothers have made some very extensive improvements on the Quinn-Harrison property since my last report, having erected a large twostory building, an office, which they use for their headquarters for this district, also a large blacksmith shop fully equipped with a large steam hammer and are prepared to do all blacksmith work in this shop. Also a very large machine shop and locomotive shed has been built and equipped with all kinds of machinery. Also a boiler house has been built and two boilers have been installed; this building is used as a power house to supply the shops and office with steam. Butler Brothers have also erected several dwelling houses on this property, with two large boarding houses. At the La-Rue mine, since my last report, their washing plant has been remodeled; this plant consists of one-half unit, one screen and one log washer, followed with one six-foot and one three-foot Wetherbee washer, without tables, and Superintendent H. F. Reifel informs me that they are getting excellent results from this plant. Since my last report the Arcturus has resumed stripping operations in November last and worked three shovels all through the winter. At the present time only one shovel is being operated on this property. At the Crosby mine, Nashwauk, one large up-to-date dry or changing house has been erected, and one large brick building equipped with electric pumps, one electric hoist, and dynamos. At the Holman mine at Taconite the Oliver Iron Mining Company is sinking one new shaft. This shaft when completed will be used for their main pumping shaft. Concrete sets with concrete slabs are used for laths, and when completed will be the best constructed shaft in Itasca county. At my last inspection on this property this shaft was at a depth of 190 feet. As soon as this shaft is completed the old shaft which has been used for a number of years will be abandoned. "Iron ore seems to be in great demand at this time and wages are very high; common labor is $2.60 per day. Never before was such high wages paid to common laborers. I have a table showing the number of steam shovels, and their models, operating in Itasca county. This will be the first report of the inspector of mines for Itasca county showing the number of shovels operating in Itasca county, and the models of shovels. "And the prospects seem to be very bright for sometime to come. There are now twenty-five mines in Itasca county. Two new mines were opened up during the year, Mace No. 2 and the Kevin; both mines are in the Nashwauk district, of which sixteen are operating, and thirteen are shipping ore during the past year. "Respectfully submitted, "WILLIAM J. TRESCOTT, CROW WING COUNTY, 1914-15. "As a result of 105 inspections made, and in taking, now at the end of the year, a backward perspective review of the same, I can say with confidence that great strides have been made for the better. "One must bear in mind in considering the industrial element of this report that the price of ore has been low throughout the year, and then despite this handicap to any enormous increases in operation or output we find that there has been a decided increase in ore shipments, it having increased from 674,516 tons last year to 968,495 tons this year. Also referring to the tabulated report we find that four new mines have been opened, and two that appeared as closed down since previous reports have resumed operations. Drilling that has been done on property of Crow Wing county, formerly the county poor farm, has shown up ore of quality and in quantities that would justify it being mined, and though some royalty bids have been made none has as yet been accepted. "It is with regret that we note three fatalities occurring during the year. This is an increase of two over last year's report, and as the tonnage has only doubled it shows an increase of fatalities per thousand tons of ore shipped. "However, in all three cases, the employers and all others directly concerned are entirely exonorated from blame, and unless there was carelessness or indifference on the part of the victims we are at a loss to account for and locate the blame. A study of the detailed reports of these cases seems to indicate anything but wide-awake vigilance. "New rules and regulations governing all employes have been issued and posted conspicuously and even printed in book form and circulated. These are extremely strenuous and emphatic in dealing with safety as a |