353 



M I N E. 



Mines of in which case, an irregular kind of wooden rail-roads 

 Coal. -was laid. 



When the distance from the pit bottom became con- 

 siderable, regular and well laid wooden rail- ways were 

 laid to a point near the wall faces, named the way-end. 

 To this point the coals were brought down in the corves, 

 either by men who draw the trams, named trammers, 

 or by horses upon slipes. Upon the rail-way there 

 were strong four-wheeled frames, or carriages capable 

 of holding two corves. At the way-end a small crane, 

 with a wheel, pinion, and chain was erected. With 

 this the corves were lifted from the trams, and placed 

 on the carriage ; two or more of them were then hook- 

 ed together, and one horse drew to the pit bottom from 

 four to six corves at a time. 



The whole system of bringing coals from the wall 

 face to the pit bottom, was greatly improved by the 

 introduction of cast-iron rail-roads, named tram roads, 

 in place of wooden roads. For this great improvement, 

 we are indebted to Mr.! John Curr of Sheffield, in York- 

 shire, who first brought it forward. This system is 

 universally adopted in all collieries of any considerable 

 extent, and is equally applicable to the smallest mining 

 concerns. The rails are named tram-rails, or plate- 

 rails, it being a plate from three to four inches broad, 

 with an edge at right angles to it, about two and a half 

 inches high, and are from three to four feet in length. 

 They are fixed either to cross pieces of iron named 

 sleepers, or more generally to wooden sleepers ; the 

 strength of the rails being proportioned to the weight 

 carried. For particulars regarding the construction and 

 weight of these roads, see the article RAIL- WAY. 



By this system, in some collieries, the colliers, after 

 having wrought the coals, draw them along the tram- 

 roads to the pit bottom. In other works, persons are 

 employed to draw the coals, named trammers, when 

 one in front of the corve draws with harness, and one 

 pushes the corve behind, who is known by the name of 

 a putter. The perfection of this system is to be seen 

 in the Newcastle collieries, and in the collieries of 

 Whitehaven and Worktngton in Cumberland. The 

 main roads or rolley- ways, also named mother-gales, 

 are laid from the pit bottom to a convenient central 

 point near the wall faces or rooms where the colliers 

 work. There a crane is erected. From this point 

 tram roads are laid into each room. In bringing the 

 coals from the wall face to the crane, a stout lad and a 

 young boy are employed at each corve. The lad, who is 

 in front, and draws, is named a headsman, and the boy is 

 named a foal. As many of these are employed in a set 

 or sheth of rooms as will keep the crane and rolley-way in 

 constant work ; the instant each corve arrives from the 

 wall face at the crane.it is lifted from the tram, and plac- 

 ed on a rolley, each rolley holding generally two corves : 

 Single curve rolleys are sometimes used, and as soon as 

 three or four double rolleys are loaded, they are hooked 

 together, when a rolley-driver, with his horse, takes 

 them to the pit bottom, while the loaded rolleys are go- 

 ing to the pit. Rolleys with empty corves are return- 

 ing, and these pass the loaded ones at given regular dis- 

 tances, where the rail-way is double, named an off- 

 set, or pass-bye road. The rolley horses, to prevent 

 the carriages overrunning them, have a peculiar kind 

 of shafts, named limbers, either made of wood or iron, 

 but commonly of iron, as represented in Fig. 4. Plate 

 CCCXCIII. ; the hole at a passing over an iron stud in 

 front of the rolley, and are quickly attached or detached. 

 In this manner the work is carried on with astonishing 

 regularity and expedition. The power of the engine 

 for drawing the coals is constructed in proportion to the 



PIATE 

 CCCXCIII.. 

 Fig. *- 



depth of the pit and quantity to be raised, taking two Mines of 



corves at a lift, and going at a velocity in the pit of 12 



feet per second, on an average ; and so very regular 



and systematic is the arrangement of this operation, 



that the corves are brought forward from the wall faces coals ^ l!>e 



to the pit bottom, and sent up the pit as fast as the on- ** 1 



setters at the pit bottom, and the banksmen at top can 



hook and dishook the loaded and empty corves to and 



from the engine ropes, so that 100 corves of coals every 



hour has been drawn up a pit 100 fathoms deep, which 



is equal to 27 tons per hour, or 384 tons in a day or 



shift of 12 hours. In short, any requisite quantity may 



be drawn up a pit by this highly improved system. It 



must, however, be remarked, that this system is more 



applicable to coals similar to those of Newcastle, which 



work small, than to coals which work in large masses, 



and which must be kept large, to stiit the market, on 



account of their open burning quality. 



When coals have so great a rise from the pit bottom 

 to the crop, that horses cannot be applied on the rol- 

 ley ways, the corves descend along the roads by means 

 of inclined plane machines, which machines are either 

 vertical rope-barrels, or horizontal rope-sheaves. The 

 descending motion is guided by a brake, and while six 

 or eight loaded corves are descending, as many empty 

 corves are ascending. These inclined planes are either 

 of great length, or divided into stages of from 200 to 

 300 yards long. At the end of each stage is an inclin- 

 ed plane machine, so that the coals are lowered in suc- 

 cession frem one machine to another. The corves are 

 brought from the wall faces to the planes cither by 

 men or horses. The whole of the system of bringing 

 coals from the wall faces to the pit bottom, can be 

 modified to suit the extent of any colliery. Inclined 

 planes are much used at Newcastle, when the dip of 

 the coal admits of it. 



The wheels of the trams and rolleys, are from eight 

 to sixteen inches in diameter, according to the thickness 

 of the coal. In some, the axles not only turn round on 

 their journals, but the wheels also turn round upon the 

 axis; in others, the axles are fixed, and the wheels 

 only turn round ; and there are some which have the 

 wheel fixed upon the one end of the axle, and the op- 

 posite wheel made to run round it ; and the other axle 

 has the fixed and loose wheels upon the reverse sides, 

 the intention being to make the carriages go easily 

 round the turns of the road. 



With regard to the drawing of coals up the pits, va- Drawing 

 rious kinds of machines have been applied. coils up'ihe 



In shallow pits, where there is very little output of pits, 

 coals, the common windlass, or jack roll, with two 

 men, is still used. In deeper pits, the common gin is 

 used, or the wheel arid pinion gin : these, however, are 

 only applied at collieries of small extent, and every 

 other machine for drawing coals has been superseded 

 by the rotatory steam-engine with fly-wheel, fly-wheel 

 shaft, and rope barrels. These engines are of every 

 variety of construction, and of Newcomen's, Watt's, 

 and Trevethick's principles. They are applied from the 

 power of three horses to that of fort} 7 . When they are 

 of small power, they are generally constructed with a 

 fly-wheel, and shnrt fly-wheel shaft, upon which is a 

 small pinion working into the teeth of a large wheel, 

 fixed upon the rope-barrel, by which means the engine 

 goes with great rapidity, while a slow and equal mo- 

 tion is produced in the ascending corves in the pit. 

 But when the engines are of great power, and much 

 execution of work required, then the engine is con- 

 nected directly with the rope- barrel ; and some of these 

 for deep pits are of such a size, that each revolution of 



