Question of Angle of Draw

IT is evident from Professor Louis' remarks that he holds a different opinion on certain phenomena connected with a specific type of surface subsidence from mining than is held by many engineers in the United States. The question which appears to be at issue is whether or not the line or plane of "draw" produced in ground movement resulting from extraction of pillars may, under certain conditions, be vertical or even inclined toward the workings rather than inclined for- ward over the unworked mineral, as it is universally agreed occurs in mining by the longwall advancing method. In discussing this case it is well to take the simplest condition, such as specified by Professor Louis, of a flat bed, whether it be coal, iron or other mineral, where the overburden is stratified rock and where there is no overlying quicksand. Professor Louis says in effect that his experience is that the ultimate angle of draw is always positive and inclined 5" to 15" from the perpendicular over the unwrought mineral. My experience under Illinois coal-mining conditions is that .'where longwall advancing is used the draw is always positive as Professor Louis describes it, but that in extracting of panels by withdrawal of pillars, the ground movement is manifested, after the first roof' beam break, by the forming of an unstable dome over the goave. Then subsequently, by the falling of individual slabs from the under side, the dome gets larger and higher until it breaks through to the surface of the rock., Up to this time, arch stresses buttress the rocks above the solid coal or mineral. When, however, after. the dome breaks through and the central hole - #enlarges so the arch is no longer sufficiently supported -the stratified rocks cantilever out .from over the solid unworked mineral and tend to break off in masses triangular in vertical cross-section, until the broken loose material, sliding down against the solid rock, .has such a thrust that it balances the tendency ,for the solid stratified rock to break away and slide toward the excavation.