108 COALFIELDS AND COLLIERIES OF AUSTRALIA. 



The main shaft is 243ft. deep, and is oblong in shape, 

 being 12 by 6ft. in the clear. This is divided into three com- 

 partments two for hoisting purposes, and one for pipes and 

 hauling ropes. Side guides are used for the cages. A sliding 

 gate, to protect the mouth of the shaft, projects a little into 

 the shaft, so that it can be picked up by the top frame of the 

 <-age as it ascends and comes level with the brace. The cage 

 rests on chairs at the surface, which are manipulated by the 

 enginedriver, who pulls a lever at his side, which he rests in 

 a notch when desired to pull the chairs out of the way so that 

 the cage can descend. When released, a counterweight brings 

 the chairs forward again. Skips are held in the cage by a 

 balanced finger at both ends of an axle running with the 

 longer axis of the skip. The bearings for this axle rest on 

 cross-bars at either end of the cage above the skip. The 

 weighted end of the finger rests on its cross-bar when the 

 finger has to be raised. The winding engine is duplex, direct- 

 acting, Tangye's M size. It has one drum, with two ropes. 



Formerly the ventilation current was induced by a fur- 

 nace, but now they have a double Champion fan, 8ft. in dia- 

 meter and 4ft. wide. The top of the shaft is, of course, housed 

 in, to prevent short circuiting of the air. This is an open fan, 

 i.e., the foul air is expelled at the periphery, as in the case of 

 the Waddle fan, so it requires 110 stack above it. This- fan 

 can be reversed without stopping it, by moving a wooden cas- 

 ing over the top when desired to blow down, instead of having 

 the casing underneath, as is done when using it as an exhaust. 

 The casing is turned by means of a sprocket wheel and chain. 

 This fan is being used as an exhaust, and at present is given 

 200 revolutions per minute, but can be worked up to 300 revo- 

 lutions. It is driven by a belt. In the fan-house is a steam 

 capstan for lowering heavy weights down the air shaft. 



The headings are arranged 60-80 yards apart, and the 

 Lords are driven off these to the rise. The Lords are 4 yards 

 or 8 yards wide, depending on whether they are worked Ly one 

 or two men. The pillars are 22 yards apart from the centre to 

 centre, thus making the pillars 14 to 18 yards wide, according 

 to whether they are single or douLle Lords. Pillars of 12 yards 

 are also left Letween the ends of the Lords and the headings. 

 Air is Lrought up to the working face, as usual, Ly fastening 

 Lrattice cloth to props with clout nails. Where necessary to 

 divert the current in a working place, a drop sheet or curtain 

 of Lrattice cloth is tacked on to a batten across the passage. 

 This being made of two pieces, which slightly overlap in the 

 centre, horses and men can easily find their way past, though 

 the sheet forms a fairly good barrier to the passage of air. 



The pillars are worked in eight-yard lifts, or strips taken 

 off across them, commencing at the far end on that side of the 



