NEW LAMBTON COLLIERY. 269 



The skips are hauled out by an engine, sixteen to a set, and 

 run back by gravity. The last skip coming out has a dragbar 

 attached to the socket for the horse limber by a bolt and 

 cotter. Two pumps are worked from the surface by means 

 of endless ropes driven by geared engines similar to those used 

 for endless rope haulage, a tension pulley being employed to 

 keep the ropes taut. The coal is extracted by the usual bord 

 and pillar system; the 8-yard bords being worked by one man 

 in each. 



War at ah Colliery. 



This colliery belongs to the Caledonia Coal Company, who 

 work the Victoria Tunnel seam from a shaft, on the pillar and 

 bord system, the bords being eight yards wide, and the pillars 

 10 yards. They work 4ft. Sin. to 5ft. thick of coal, which is 

 mined by pick, no machine coal cutters being used. The coal 

 is conveyed out of the mine by the endless rope system of haul- 

 age. The drainage is done with an electrically driven centri- 

 fugal pump and steam pump of the Cameron type. The gene- 

 rator for driving the electric pump, and providing the lights, is 

 one manufactured by Ernest Scott and Mountain, built for 250 

 volts, 28 amp., and is direct-driven. 



A Schiele fan is used for ventilation purposes, which is 

 belt-driven from a steam engine. These fans are encased in a 

 volute air chamber, so that the passage along which the air 

 travels after passing through the fan gradually increases in 

 area until it finally escapes. The blades of the fan are wider 

 towards the centre than at their tips, so as to compensate for 

 the increased area at the periphery. 



The coal trucks, both box and hopper shaped, are made of 

 wood. Wood is easier to repair than iron or steel, and is not 

 affected in the same way, by the salty atmosphere of the coast. 



Purified Coal and Coke Company. 



This company obtains its coal from the Wallsend colliery. 

 The small coal is crushed in Cornish rolls, but if there is a 

 shortage of small coal, so that round coal has to be used, this is 

 given a preliminary reduction in a jaw breaker, and the pro- 

 duct is then raised to the rolls by a bucket elevator. The coal 

 that passes between the rolls is then elevated to four jigs. In 

 these, since the coal is lighter than the slate, it passes over 

 the tip in front, being assisted by a revolving paddle. The 

 slate sinks to the bottom and is allowed to pass out of the jig 

 T)y opening a valve periodically when the slate has collected 

 in sufficient quantity, which can be ascertained by feeling with 

 an iron tool. The valve cannot be left open all the time, as 

 ihe same quantity of dirt does not accumulate constantly. 



