BUIttVOOD EXTENDED COLLIERY. 317 



Bur wood Extended. 



This colliery suspended operations for many years,^ but 

 is now at work again, under the management of Mr. G. F. 

 Thomas. There are two seams, both of which have been 

 worked to a certain extent. The upper seam, 23Uft. from, the 

 surface, is the Victoria Tunnel or Burwood seani, which is 

 the most extensively worked of the two; while 269ft. deeper 

 is the Borehole seam, containing 4ft. lOin. of workable coal. 

 The upper seam consists of 2ft. 9in. to 3ft. of inferior coal 

 and clay, which makes a good roof; then comes the top coal, 

 which consists of 2ft. 6in. to 2ft. Tin. workable coal, followed 

 by a 2in. clay band. This is succeeded by a band of coal used 

 in the colliery boiler, and which is supplied at the rate of one 

 ton per month to each man employed at the colliery for house- 

 hold purposes. There is then another 2in. clay band, a band 

 of splint, and finally the lower workable coal, 2ft. 3in. thick. 



The coal from this colliery is unscreened, and is mostly 

 used as a bunker coal, being good for steaming purposes. 



They use three Jeffrey's electric chain coal cutting ma- 

 chines, size 17 A. They are fixed on their self propelling 

 trolleys, so as to make them high enough to cut into the 

 bottom of the splint coal. These are called six feet machines, 

 but it is considered good holing if they cut in five feet six 

 inches with a four inch kerf. The points are 

 fixed in the sockets of the chain with set 

 screws, so that they project IJin. They are set so as 

 to make a clearance top and bottom as well as in the centre. 

 As the machine works, it rakes out all the fine cuttings made. 

 Fair work for one machine in an eight hours' shift is to hole 

 three 8-yard bords and one narrow place, e.g., a 4-yard head- 

 ing. The self-propelling truck consists of an iron frame 

 mounted on axles fitted with wheels. At the rear end of the 

 frame is shafting, resting in suitable bearings. This shafting 

 is driven by means of a chain and sprocket wheels by the 

 machine motor, and transmits motion to the axles of the 

 truck. The machine motor can be thrown in or out of gear 

 by means of a clutch, and when propelling the truck, the 

 cutting part of the machine is put out of action. The motor 

 is further equipped with a reversing switch, so can cause the 

 truck to travel backwards or forwards. The coal above the 

 cut, as far as the bottom of the top coal, breaks away easily 

 with long handle picks and bars. Then the top coal is shot 

 dcwn with bobinite, and when cleaned away, the bottom coal 

 is lifted with shots. 



The cages run on rope guides in the 20ft. diameter shaft. 

 Angle irons are arranged at the mouth of the pit, so as to en- 

 gage the corners of the cage and steady it when at rest. The 



