THE COMSTOCK MINES. 117 



its load either of ore or waste-rock, is placed upon the cage or platform in the 

 shaft and raised to the surface, where it is run from the cage on to another 

 track and so conveyed to the appropriate ore-bin or waste-dump, according 

 to its character, and thus delivered of its load without any intermediate hand- 

 ling. 



The car in general use in the Comstock mines is made of wood and has 

 a capacity of about 1,600 or 1,800 pounds. That employed at the Savage 

 may serve as an example. Fig. 1 on Plate VI presents an elevation of the 

 side and front end of one of these cars. The box is made of plank 1^ to 2 

 inches thick, lined with sheet-iron and strengthened with iron bands on the 

 outside. It is 3 feet 10 inches long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet 4 inches deep, 

 inside measurement. The truck on which it is supported is a stout frame of 

 four timbers, the two longitudinal pieces having their front ends beveled off 

 to admit of the car being dumped. A cross-timber near the middle of 

 the frame supports the car, and an iron pin attached to the car-bottom 

 passes through the same, serving as a pivot on which the box may be turned 

 to either side and dumped. Another cross-timber on the frame supports the 

 hind-end of the box. The wheels are cast iron, about 12 inches in diameter, 

 turning on the axles, which are fixed on the truck. A little cap may he 

 screwed on to the wheel over the end of the axle, to retain the oil and exclude 

 the dirt. The track is about 18 or 20 inches wide, so that the wheels are 

 under the car-box. The front end of the car is hinged at the top to swing 

 as a door for the discharge of the contents. It is closed by a button that may 

 be turned up to confine the door or turned down to release it ; the button 

 being fixed on an iron rod passing under the car to the back end, is controlled 

 by the man who pushes the car before him. An iron rod at the back end of 

 the car which, when adjusted for that purpose, serves to prevent the box from 

 swinging on its pivot, is so connected with the rod on which the button is 

 fixed that the door of the car may be opened and the box made free to swing 

 to either side by one and the same movement on the part of the carman. 

 The weight of this car is from 400 to 500 pounds. 



PIoiSTiNG Cages. — Cages, or platforms, are generally employed in the 

 hoisting compartments of the mine-shafts for the ascent or descent of the 

 underground laborers, and of the drift-cars bringing rock or ore to the surface. 



