1873-18740 " 



*' putters," who progressed in a crouching attitude, with a swaying 

 motion, like the ungainly movement of an antediluvian reptile, the 

 ruts cut by the rough-shod bottom of the coal-laden hutch answer- 

 ing for the mud-track of the monster's tail. And thus they dragged 

 their heavy load over the rock floor of undulating levels, or pushed 

 them down the steep adits from the rise, with wet dropping from 

 the low roof, and coal-dust and rubbish ground into thick mud by 

 the traffic, and forming a continuous stream along the passages to 

 the lower levels. Having traversed several dozen yards in this 

 manner through these dreary workings, the members of the Field 

 Club returned to the surface, where they could scarcely recognise 

 each other, so transformed were they by being blackened with 

 mud and smeared with dirt. The " Torrent" river, however, soon 

 restored them to their normal condition, and they left the Cree- 

 nagh colliery with no very exalted notion of the skill displayed in 

 its working. 



It is this Creenagh colliery that yields the very best coal in 

 Tyrone, if not in Ireland, and the largest price is obtained for it. 

 There is here a seam of " cannel," or gas coal, proved by reliable 

 analysis to be equal to the best samples of Lismahagow cannel. 

 This seam, however, is limited in quantity and exceptional in 

 quality ; as a rule, the product of the Tyrone collieries is by no 

 means a superior coal, it has a tendency to be sulphurous, yields 

 a large per centage of ash, and contains a great proportion of smali 

 coal or slack, and cannot compete with the better qualities of im- 

 ported coal. It would be extremely useful for steam purposes 

 generally, and for domestic use when the consumer wishes to be 

 economical at the cost of a little inconvenience from dust, &c. 

 For the latter purpose large quantities could be disposed of. 

 Hitherto the quantity produced at the collieries entirely failed to 

 supply even the local demand, and therefore never affected the 

 market price of coal — the point in which the public is most interested. 

 It has been demonstrated on undoubted authority that this field 

 contains large quantities of coal sufficient for the consumption of 

 the North of Ireland for many years to come. The collieries in 



