354 COALFIELDS AND COLLIERIES OF AUSTRALIA. 



from top to bottom with bricks. It has steel rail guides at the 

 sides for the cages to run on,, so as not to obstruct ventilation 

 with centre buntons. The air shaft is 12ft. diameter in the 

 clear. It has one cage with four rope guides. The roof of 

 the air drift is made of planks covered with felt and lead on 

 the outside where exposed to the weather, so as to make it 

 air tight. Windows at this shaft are placed opposite each 

 other, to enable the driver to see the position of the cage at the 

 landing place. They have an iron Ghiibal-Walker fan, 16ft. 

 diameter, and 6ft. wide, open at both sides, and there is a fixed 

 Walker shutter at the exit end. Steam exhaust and water 

 pipes occupy this shaft. When sinking the air shaft, much 

 trouble was experienced for a few weeks by a heavy now of 

 water about 16ft. from the bottom. The water is now kept 

 down with a Taiigye pump 12in. by 5in. by 24in., and they 

 have a spare Tangye 14in. by 6in. by 24in. in case of emer- 

 gency. 



The main winding engine is a duplex 20in. diameter cylin- 

 der, 3ft. stroke, with an 8ft. drum, on which two ropes 

 are wound. The pit head frame is of wood, standing in cast- 

 iron shoes. 



The N.W. heading is about half a mile long, with a grade 

 of 1 in 14. The coal is mostly drawn by horses. There are 

 stables both underground and at the surface. 



The coal is worked in 8 yard bords, 14 yard pillars being 

 left between them. The pillars are taken out Tft. to 10ft. 

 high; the top coal has not been dropped yet. Every two chains 

 cut-through s are put in. At first all the hewing was done by 

 hand pick, but now they have one Jeft'rey shortwall machine, 

 and two Jeffrey breast machines. Five more of the latter have 

 been ordered. Naked lights are used in this colliery. 



The first electric plant they had was for lighting purposes, 

 and consisted of an 8| h.p. Siemens 220 volt, direct current, 4 

 pole motor, belt-driven from a vertical Tangye engine, Tin. by 

 Tin. They now have a 150k. w. Siemen's generator, 500-550 

 volts, 420 r.p.ni. direct coupled to a Bellis-Morcorn engine, 

 with 13in. and 21in. cylinders, and 9in. stroke, which uses 

 steam at 1501bs. The steam is supplied by a Thompson boiler 

 30ft. long by 8ft. 3in. in diameter. 



A Marcus conveyor, 62ft. long, the first to be installed in 

 N.S.W., for screening and cleaning purposes, is belt driven by 

 a 10 h.p. motor, which has 1060 revolutions per minute. The 

 conveyor speed 'is 61ft. per minute. After separation, 

 the coal is conveyed by a under trough for 22ft. to 

 the required position over the small coal waggon road. The 

 skips are returned to the shaft by a creeper chain travelling at 

 the speed of 50ft. per minute, motion being imparted to it 



