MINING. 129 
800 tons per day, they had but one mule or pony in the pit 
at any time, and it was in charge solely of the repair man, 
to haul about their props and repair material. The mine 
proprietors informed me that, if they were to fall back to 
the old style of pony (or mule) and trammer to haul their 
coal to the pit bottom, that it would ruin their business, 
for they could not compete in that case with their neighbors 
using the underground wire rope haulage. 
They had passed the experimental stage long ago, knew 
at a glance the kind of pulley or sheave, in their great 
variety, that was essential to enable the rope to work well 
in the thousand and one difficult localities of their gang- 
ways and slopes. They have a large number of variously 
shaped pulleys, and modify their methods of using their 
wire ropes to suit the varying circumstances that surround 
them. They have two methods of conveying the power 
down their pits to their systems of wire rope haulage: the 
one in most general use is compressed air from air com- 
pressors at the top, to compressed air engines near the 
bottom of the pit; the other method is to have a steam 
engine at the pit top, geared as to give a slow motion to 4 
large broad grooved sheave, having two or three wraps of 
the rope around it. This is carried down the pit to the pit 
bottom, and from thence to the various parts of the pit, 
where the power is needed ; this rope is driven at a speed of 
11-4 to 1 1-2 miles per hour ; this manner of conveying the 
power suits the endless rope the best, while the compressed 
air engine suits the “tail rope method,” or any style where 
quick motion is required. The leading systems in use 
mostly are: 
The Endless Rope System. 
The Tail Rope System. 
The Simple Engine Plane or Slope. 
The Gravity or Self-Acting Plane or Slope (called 
when the rope is endless, an “endless jig.”) 
These systems are all modified to some extent to suit the 
varying circumstances. The endless variety of their appli- 
ances to prevent their ropes from rubbing, convinced me that 
they paid close.attention to wear and tear of their under- 
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