May -2, 1887.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



U9 



pit, which soon became filled with water," and that " a pit 

 four yards in diameter and five yards deep was suddenly 

 formed in the Hartford volunteer drill shed." 



In some cases this crushing down of the superincumbent 

 rock supersedes the work of wedging ; the coal comes down 

 when merely undercut. This of course increases the de- 

 mand for props, and renders the working more dangerous. 

 A great deal has been written about the limits of depth to 

 which it is possible to carry coal working. Hull estimates 

 it at about 4,000 feet, and this is pretty generally accepted 

 on account of the high tempei-ature that would be there 

 reached. For reasons that I will discuss hereafter I believe 

 that the temperature difiiculty may be overcome, and that 

 the limit of depth at which it is possible to mine for coal or 

 any other mineral wOl be determined by the viscosity of the 

 crust of the earth, by its flowing after the manner of liquids 

 when subjected to a sufficient amount of pressure. I ven- 

 ture to predict that if ever the " trou Flammarion " — the 

 great boring into the earth's interior — is carried out as 

 projected, a limiting depth will be reached by the inflowing 

 of the granitic rock. 



Gunpowder blasting is used in some collieries instead of 

 the wedge, but only where there is no firedamp. Even in 

 the absence of such combustible gas, blasting may be dan- 

 gerous. Mr. Galloway has proved, by an exhaustive course 

 of observations and experiments, that in collieries where the 

 workings are dry serious explosions may result from the 

 firing of mere coal dust. A substitute for blasting has been 

 proposed which appeai-s promising, but I am not able to 

 estimate its practical merits. This is to bore a hole as in 

 blasting (which is very easily done in a soft material like 

 coal), ram quicklime into this, and then allow water to 

 percolate therein. Quicklime combines chemically with 

 water, forming the hydrate of lime, and in doing so expands 

 with great force. 



Long-wall working may be carried out by commencing 

 near the shaft and working away from it towards the 

 boundary. In this case gob-roads have to be made in the 

 goaf or fallen debris, and such roads must be supported 

 artificially. Under this system a profitable return is ob- 

 tained much sooner than when the working is begun at the 

 boundary. All the time in cutting the roads is saved, and 

 the first getting of coal is so near to the pit that the putting, 

 or carriage underground, is reduced to a minimum at the 

 commencement. If any of my readers are tempted to take 

 shares in a successfully working colliery, and the temptation 

 is backed by the display of a balance-sheet showing large 

 profits, let him inquire into the mode of working, as he may 

 be perfectly assured that, if this method of beginning near 

 the pit is in operation, the cost of working will gradually 

 increase with the increasing length of gob-roads that require 

 expensive supporting, and the gi-adually increasing distance 

 along which the coal must be dragged before reaching the 

 pit. On the other hand, if the method of working I first 

 described is in operation, that from the boundary pit-wai-ds, 

 these expenses will go on diminishing with every stage of 

 progress towards the pit ; besides which there must be roads 

 ready made which represent a considerable amount of capital 

 value. 



It would be out of place here to go into further details 

 concerning modifications of long work, or intermediate 

 methods partaking of the character of long work and pillar- 

 and-stall work combined. I may add that when I was in 

 North Wales about twenty years ago the introduction of 

 long-wall work met with considerable opposition among the 

 Flintshire colliers. They supposed it to be more dangerous 

 than the older methods. It probably was so at iii-st, but 

 now that it is better understood the majority of practical I 

 min ing engineers and of imderground stewards maintain that i 



it is less dangerous, and this conclusion is confirmed by the 

 statistics of colliery fatalities. 



Among the good old books of reference demanding a new 

 edition carried forward to date is the '■ Cyclopaedia of 

 Useful Arts," by Charles Tomlinson. In the article " Coal " 

 therein are painful pictures representing some bygone 

 horrors of colliery work. There is (page 396) " a hurrier 

 in a Halifax coal pit," a girl in her teens harnessed like a 

 beast, by means of girdle and chain allied a Jog. belt, to a 

 lorry or coal truck, and dragging it like a beast on all fours 

 through the dark, dripping tunnels of the pit. She is bare- 

 footed, bare-legged, and naked downwards to the hips. 

 Another picture of "coal-bearing in the East Scotland 

 mines " represents two girls carrying the coal in baskets on 

 their backs up a ladder of villanous construction. Other 

 pictures of women canying coal on their backs along steep 

 underground roads, and up a " turnpike stair " or screw 

 platform, are too truthful representations of barbaric prac- 

 tices which are now totally abolished in Britain, though 

 still lingering on in other countries. Our legislation has 

 justly prohibited the employment of girls and women in 

 any capacity whatever underground, and the ruin which the 

 blind worshippei-s of demand and supply predicted as a 

 con.sequence of this interference has not befallen us, but 

 on the contrary, it has enforced upon capitalists the 

 adoption of other methods which have proved themselves, 

 not only more humane, but actually more economical and 

 profitable. 



In the course of our current j ubilations, many historical sum- 

 maries of our progress dming the last fifty years have been 

 published ; but I find little or nothing there stated concern- 

 ing the general emancipation of women from degrading 

 imfeminine occupations and excessive hours of toil. A 

 special chapter might well be devoted to this feature of our 

 social progi-ess, as one especially worthy of attention, and 

 proudly characteristic of the reign of Queen Victoria. 



All pit roads are now railroads. Where the inclines are 

 steep and straight, and in many cases where thej' are not 

 steep, steam-power is used to haul the " tubs " or pit wagons 

 to the shaft. The power is applied to a winding drum, 

 which hauls a long rope to which a train of tubs is attached. 

 Where the incline exceeds 1 in 30 the empty tubs are run 

 down by gravitation, dragging out the rope from the drum 

 as they descend. If the incline is insufficient, a tail rope is 

 attached, and the empty tubs and hauling rope are drawn 

 down by this. 



In colliery working, as in everything else, conservative 

 resistance to progress exists, and on this account, as well as 

 from local difficulties, horse and even boy power is still 

 used in drawing the tubs along the roads. Welsh and 

 Shetland ponies are consequently in demand for pit work. 

 I see by to-day's newspaper (April 9) that at Lord London- 

 derry's sale Shetland ponies '• brought from sixteen to thirty 

 guineas apiece." The writer adds that " many of the hap- 

 less little animals sold on Thursday are doubtless destined 

 to pass the rest of their lives at the bottom of a black and 

 hollow vault," and he refers to the alleged brutality of 

 rough pitmen in the treatment of these animals, but is 

 wilUng to believe that considerable improvement has recently 

 taken place. 



I quote this in order to correct the popular errors which 

 it expresses. Colliers as a class are by no means rough and 

 brutal, less so than average London wagon and cart drivers, 

 and the condition of pit ponies is one that London cab or 

 omnibus horses may justly envy. They are well fed, not 

 overworked, commonly petted, and demonstrate the good 

 treatment they receive by their condition. It is well known 

 in colliery districts that ponies generally improve in condi- 

 tion and value by underground work, (xiven two ordinary 



