THE WALLARAH COLLIERY. 257 



live steam by a small cock on the side of the filter to boil 

 the water for a short time, putting 1 a little sulphate of am- 

 monia or soda inside before starting; shut the steam off, re- 

 move the dome, and turn on cold water at the sludge cock, 

 when all the oil and dirt which has been adhering to the in- 

 side body of the mantles and filter will overflow at the opening 

 that the dome sits on. This operation performed about once a 

 week will help to make the mantles last longer, especially 

 when much oil is used. 



The fitting shop contains two lathes and machines for 

 shearing, punching, drilling, and shaping; the blacksmith's 

 shop two forges, the air for which is supplied by mechanically- 

 driven blowers; also a steam hammer. In the carpenter's 

 shop is a band saw, drilling and morticing machine, and a 

 lathe. In the waggon repairing shed, portable electric drills 

 are used for drilling rivet holes in the plate iron. (Fig. 164.) 

 These are convenient to handle, easy to take apart, and all 

 parts being completely covered they are suitable for outdoor 

 work. In comparison to their capacity and stability, they 

 are very light. A saw-mill is in course of construction, and 

 a spacious store has just been completed. 



The jetty is lighted up by electric lights, from a Siemen 

 Bros. 250- volt 0-20 amp., and 400-475 r.p.m. dynamo. The 

 hopper waggons are drawn along the jetty to the four shoots 

 by an endless rope of flexible galvanised iron driven by a two- 

 drum winch. The rope passes over a vertical sheave at the 

 shore end, and two horizontal sheaves at the ocean end. A 

 vertical boiler supplies steam for the dynamo engine and 

 winch. The waggons are weighed on a Pooley weighbridge 

 near the jetty before being discharged into the ship's hold. 



Pacific Colliery. 



This colliery has, in different stages of its existence, been 

 known as the Great Northern, the Northern, the Pacific Co- 

 operative, and the Pacific. The total thickness of the seam 

 is 19ft. 6in. In the first working, 7ft. 6in. is extracted; in 

 the second working, 6ft. is taken out. Two feet of top coal 

 is left, and 4ft. of bottom coal. The roof consists of a blue 

 shale, or conglomerate, and the floor is a very fine sandstone. 

 The seam is worked 011 the pillar and bord systenij the pillars 

 being 8 yards and the bords 12 yards wide, i.e., they are in 

 the proportion of 2 to 3. Every eighth bord is made into a 

 " ganning bord," or wheeling road. 



The mine is worked from tunnels. First an engine hauls 

 the skips for about half a mile along an engine plane, and then 

 the main and tail rope system takes up the haulage for another 

 half-mile. A drag-bar, consisting of a heavy, pointed iron 

 bar, is connected with a shackle to the last skip by a screw 



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