172 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



After nine years of development in 1836 there were 30,678 chaldrons 

 raised. To effect tliis ont])ut there were employed : 

 1 Resident manager. 2 Sawyers. 48 Labourers, 



6 Clerks and overmen. 1 Stable-keeper, 4 Wharfmen, 

 66 Colliers, 1 Woodman, 2 Farmers, 



28 Drivers, 1 Saddler, 32 Brickmakers, 



3 Engineers, 1 Groom, 28 Fonndrymen, 



8 Carpenters, 18 Surface drivers, 5 Sailors. 



7 Masons, 8 Bankhead men. 10 Ship carpenters, 



3 Blacksmiths, 2 Pick carriers, 50 Ship})ing labourers. 



335 



For an economic out]nit the proportion of colliers should have been 

 one-half of the total number employed, instead of one-fifth. 



In 1838 the number of employés had increased to 619. the propor- 

 tion of colliers being slightly larger, but the production was only 28,506 

 chaldrons, the cost per chaldron of screened coal being 12s. 2d. currency. 



When the first attempt was made to work coal systenmtically in 

 1818, a rough tramway was built from the mines to a point on the East 

 River, a few hundred yards distant, which could be reached by barges 

 at high tide. In 1827 when the association began to mine on a large 

 scale, attention was directed to the necessit}^ of improved shipping facili- 

 ties, and a wharf was built a short distance above New Glasgow which 

 could be reached by boats at low water. A railway was built and horses 

 used to draw the coals from the pits. Barges received the coal, and they 

 were towed by a steamer to the harbour where tlieir loads were trans- 

 ferred to the vessels. 



About the j^ear 1834 a further improvement was made by continuing 

 the railroad to a point about one-half a ïnile below New Glasgow where 

 a set of loading shoots were built, traces of which still remain. At this 

 j)oint vessels drawing seven feet of water could be loaded at any tide and 

 pass the varioiis bars in the I'iver. Vessels of a larger draught were partly 

 loaded at the wharfs, and received the remainder of their cargoes from 

 lighters in the harbour. The necessity of deepening the channel of the 

 river next engaged attention, and a bill for this purpose was introduced 

 in the Provincial Legislature in 1836. This bill passed, but the dislike 

 and jealousy with which the General Mining Association were viewed, 

 led to the incorporation of a clause calling in question the wisdom of the 

 grant to the Duke of York, and the Act was disallowed by the Imperial 

 Government. A similar bill introduced the following year was thrown 

 out, as the New Glasgow people objected to the power sought {o allow 

 the company to levy toll on vessels using the improved navigation. The 

 system of transportation and loading are described as indifferent, but 

 capable of improvement. However, it was decided that a new road should 

 be built to the harbour itself. 



