14 The Descent from the Mine. 



fumace, because the fragments of limestone, being angular and of 

 considerable size, preserve the cavities necessary for ventilation. 



As bricks are made abundantly and of such excellent quality near 

 Philadelphia, it is not probable that they could be carried to that city 

 from this distance, but perhaps the time may come when it can be 

 done with advantage, or when they will be needed for towns that will 

 rise in this region. Clay appears to be abundant here and of a good 

 quality, and were it worked up with the refuse anthracite, especially 

 with the dust, as recommended by Dr. Meade,'^ it might be a source 

 of much advantage. 



Two new mines have been recently opened within a mile of the 

 large one : they are very promising in their appearance, and in con- 

 nexion with that now wrought they present an inexhaustible supply 

 of fuel. 



DESCENT FROM THE MINE. 



The coal is conveyed to Mauch Chunk village, in wagons run- 

 ning upon the railway. Fourteen of them, containing each one ton 

 and a half of coal, are connected by iron bars, admitting of a slight 

 degree of motion between two contiguous wagons; a single man rides 

 on one of the wagons, and by a very simple contrivance regulates 

 their movement : a perpendicular lever causes a piece of wood to 

 press against the circnmference of each wheel on the same side of 

 the car, acting both ways from the central point between them, so 

 that by increasing the pressure, the friction retards or stops the mo- 

 tion, and as all the levers are connected by a rope they are made to 

 act in concert. The traveller is much interested in seeing the succes- 

 sive groups of wagons moving rapidly in procession and without ap- 

 parent cause ; they are heard, at a considerable distance, as they come 

 thundering along with their dark burdens and give an impression of 

 irresistible energy : at a suitable distance follows another train, and 

 thus three hundred tons a day and some days three hundred and 

 forty tons,f are regularly discharged into the boats as already des- 

 cribed. At first they descended at the rate of fifteen or twenty 



* Am. Jour. Vol XVIII. p. 118. 



t One day's work at Mauch Chunk, between Sun rise and half past foiir P. 

 M. — Three hundred and forty tons of coal quarried at the Mines, loaded and biought 

 on the rail road, nine miles — unloaded from the wagons down the chute, and loaded 

 into boats. The boats for this coal all built the same day and within the above 

 mentioned time. Forty thousand feet of lumber sawed in one day and night. They 

 create the freisht, and build and load the vessels all on the same dav. 



