lx 
beside,*—have in turn been assigned for the falling off in duty 
which has, with scarcely a check continued from 1843 until now ; 
a subject not unlikely to evoke further enquiry. 
The publications of both the Registrars show that as fewer 
engines were reported,—or, in other words, as competition de- 
clined,—the average duty of the rest diminished.t To the mana- 
gers of several considerable mines, however, the advantages of 
such comparison appeared so great that they recorded both the 
daily performance of their engines and the names of the mer- 
chants by whom they were respectively supplied with coal.t At 
the Consolidated and United Mines, indeed, it was stipulated that 
the merchant whose coal failed to perform an appointed amount 
of work should submit to a reduction of price corresponding to 
the deficiency. As mines wrought in the clay-slate of our Great 
Central District admit much more water than those in other parts 
of Cornwall,§ the cost of drainage is an important item of expen- 
diture, and every imaginable effort has been made to lessen it. 
As an incentive to economy of fuel, therefore, the enginemen 
were, for many years, paid a small premium (million-money)|| on 
all duty beyond a standard appointed specially for each engine. 
It is impossible to realize, after the lapse of half-a-century, the 
intense interest which prevailed amongst the agents of mines, and — 
even amongst engine-men, when the monthly Report became due, 
and whilst several engineers—working, in some cases, engines of 
different construction—were striving for preeminence; this ex- 
citing and beneficial state of affairs, however, has long since passed 
away. 
*« “The primary cause of this decline seems to be the indifference 
‘‘of mine proprietors as to the performance of their engines. When legiti- 
‘mate mining was less rare than it is at present, and when more mines 
“were held by men who intended to work them, economy of fuel was care- 
“fully attended to, and the managers were, in a great measure guided in 
‘their choice of an Engineer, by the duty attained by his engines. Now, 
‘however, So many mining operations are undertaken merely for the pur- 
““pose of speculating in shares, the performance of the engines is regarded 
“as a matter of secondary importance. Even in those mines of old standing, 
‘‘ which are so worked as to yield dividends, both agents and proprietors 
‘seem indifferent to the performance of their engines. The excessive 
‘desire for a high duty, which prevailed a few years ago, has, in fact, been - 
‘*followed by a reaction.” Morsurap, Proceedings of the Inst. of Civil En- 
gineers, Xxiii., p. 48. 
‘* At the present day adventurers in many instances [buy] shares solely 
“to deal with on the Stock Exchange, and [pay] no attention to the working 
“of the mines; and to that lack of interest in the adventurers must be 
‘attributed the unscientific mining and all the evils resulting therefrom.” 
Hussanp, /bid, p. 76. 
t Ante pp. 58, 59. 
