EAST GRETA COLLIERY. 



329 



are worked backwards. Several pillars may be worked at the 

 same time, but tlie upper pillar is kept half a chain in advance 

 of that next below it. The coal is not undercut, as it is found 

 to be inconvenient to fix sprays, on account of the steep in- 

 clination, but it is shot down in the solid. This is, of course, 

 more expensive in explosives, but the men get a larger out- 



i. k ^U6. Pillar Work. 



put in a given time, so they find they earn more in the long 

 run. besides there is less slack made. 



All the transport of coal in the bords is done by hand, 

 that in the jigs by gravity, in the levels by horses which are 

 raised and lowered every day, and in the tunnels by steam. 

 The jigs between levels have four feet gauge rails for the cage, 

 and parallel with them 2ft. 2in. gauge rails for the dummy, 

 which is a small, narrow waggon filled with old iron to a 

 little more than counterbalance the cage, empty skips and 

 rope, so as to fetch them, to the top of the incline. Near the 

 entrance to each bord a small chamber is cut out called a 

 "coup over." This is a place into which an empty skip can 

 be upset off the rails so as to make room for a full one, as only 

 a. single line is laid in each bord. The jigs vary in angle ac- 

 cording to the dip of the seam, consequently the cages have 



