1G2 COALFIELDS AND COLLIERIES OF AUSTRALIA. 



011 to a siding, along which it passes either to the slack hopper 

 to be refilled, or to one of several storage tracks according to 

 requirements. As one end of the kip crosses the outer rail 

 of the siding, in order to enable the empty truck to pass, a 

 groove is cut out of the timber of the kip while the rail above 

 it is hinged so that it can be slid out of the way, being kept 

 where placed by a counterweight; the full truck, as it goes 

 towards the tippler, pushes the rail back into place again. As 

 the ordinary screw clip would not be strong enough to hold the 

 large trucks on to the endless rope, a cam clip is employed, so 

 constructed that the heavier the load the tighter it grips. The 

 endless rope is placed in a U shaped piece of iron, and the foot 

 of a leg-shaped cam placed on the top of it ; a pin which is 

 fastened to the apparatus by a light chain is then passed 



Fig. 94. Cam Clip. 



through holes in the sides of th^ TI m'pce and the cam. (Fig. 

 94.) The rope is still free TO CHL ulate through the 

 clip, but when a chain fastened to the lever end of the cam 

 is hooked on to a truck, the weight of the truck causes the cam 

 to grip the rope firmly. 



The South Clifton Colliery. 



This colliery belongs to the South Clifton Coal Mining 

 Company, and has been under the management of Mr. John 

 Wilson for the past five years. 



The seam varies from 4ft. Sin. to oft. Gin. in thickness, 

 it is practically free from bands, and carries very little 

 pyrites. The coal outcrops along the coast about 166ft. above 

 sea level. It has a strong sandstone roof that requires very 

 little support, and a shale floor. There is no distinct 

 facing, as is the case with the coal of the Newcastle district, 

 but this is not necessary, as the coal is readily broken down 

 by pick, without any holing. The Welsh bord system of 

 mining is employed, but the bords are not filled up between 

 the roadways, as there is no waste to fill with. The bords are 

 turned off at right angles to the headings, and are opened out 

 12 yards wide, the pillars left between being 35 yards wide. 

 JNo pillar extraction has been done by the present management. 



