132 
Journal of the Mitchell Society [ November 
adapting it to his special needs. The shaft is vertical 
for 200 feet and then inclines at an angle of 35° 
from the horizontal for 150 feet more. The skip is the 
ordinary iron skip, except that the wheels are a little larger 
than usual to reduce friction on the incline and all have 
narrow treads. In the vertical part these wheels run between 
two vertical guide timbers. The rope is not over the center 
of the shaft but toward the dumping side so that when 
the skip reaches the top the front wheels run down the 
forward curve of the track until they strike the top. 
Then the rear wheels swing to the rear in the arc of 
a circle. Just before they reach the top of this arc 
the nose of the skip strikes a roller which raises the front 
wheels sufficiently to bring them to a bearing against the 
front vertical guide so that incase of overwinding the skip 
rises at the dumping angle and rock cannot be dumped down 
the shaft. In this way the skip need wait at the top of 
the shaft only long enough for the ore to slide out of it, 
which is but a small fraction of a minute. 
The ore is dumped from the car on to a platform about 
3 feet below the level of the rails and the skip is stopped 
with its top about level with this platform and nearly fill- 
ing the opening in it. If the output of the mine was a 
little greater, Mr. Price would replace the platform by a 
small bin, into which the cars could be dumped as they 
reach the station and from which the ore could be rapidly 
run into a skip through a chute. But since the man that 
would be required to operate the gate has ample time to shovel 
all the ore into the skip, there would be no labor saving in 
the bins and no justification for the expense. For even a small 
mine this skip saves the labor of a top man. 
In the ordinary vertical shaft the bales of the skips are 
fitted with shoes and there are no wheels on the skip which is 
unlatched and dumped at the top by rollers striking suitable 
curved gnides. Such a skip has the advantage of needing 
only one set of guides and no wheels, but it cannot be operat- 
ed around a curve. 
