603 
That being so, what became of Mr. Brakenridge's special 
safety of the men with the mine ventilated as he proposed ? 
It would be no better than the present system. He thought 
it far better to place the up-cast shaft near the centre, and 
not at the extremity of the estate, where old works would 
have to be kept open for years for no other purpose than to 
keep open a communication with the up-cast. Another 
objection to Mr. Brakenridge's proposition applied to the 
principle of placing the down-cast shaft at the low end of the 
mine, and the up-cast shaft upon the rise, for experience 
told them that the deep shaft would always draw the shallow 
one, so that they would be under the necessity of not only 
forcing the air through the mine, but forcing it in a direction 
contrary to its natural course. 
Mr. Carter replied at some length to the objections raised, 
and remarked that the very utmost they amounted to was 
this — that Mr. Brakenridge's principle contained some of 
the evils of the present system of mining. Such was the 
allegation ; he contended, however, that it was not well 
founded ; on the contrary (though the principle might be 
capable of further improvement), the principle now suggested 
contained some most valuable improvements, to which hand- 
some testimony had been borne by Mr. Briggs, himself a 
colliery owner, who thoroughly understood mining operations. 
His own impression was that the principle laid down by 
Mr. Brakenridge was the only natural and safe one ; it was 
founded upon the principle which they saw in operation in 
nature ; and, if followed out, would have the effect of 
materially lessening the disastrous results of colliery explo- 
sions, if not of preventing them altogether. 
Mr. W. S. Ward next addressed the meeting, observing, 
in the course of his remarks, that some fallacies were 
observable in the arguments on both sides. He warned gen- 
tlemen not to condemn or cast aside a valuable suggestion 
