231 
had not any other alternative. Had they worked at greater 
depths, and possessed a proper roof, they might very probably 
have adopted some system of longwall. This historical 
record is the parent of the present system of "pillar and 
stall/* greatly altered and improved, but still retaining the 
impress of its origin ; hence, perhaps, may arise the reluc- 
tance in many minds, to change a system that has grown 
with them, and been handed down to them from their fore- 
fathers, for one that has been long practised with uniform 
success in the Coal Fields of Derbyshire and the Midland 
Counties. 
The combination of this system of "pillar and stall," as 
practised in the Yorkshire Coal Field, may be described as 
"Banks and Pillars,'' as illustrated in my plan of that 
method, and marked No. 1, the distinguishing feature of 
which consists of getting a certain portion of the Coal, and 
leaving the remainder as pillar, to support the roads, and 
prevent any movement in the ground or roof of the seam. 
The Coal thus left is either permanently lost, or left until 
some remote period in the history of the mine, to be either 
partially or totally removed. In either case the results are 
equally unsatisfactorj^, for, generally, when it is got after- 
wards, the length of time that it has borne the pressure of the 
superincumbent strata, renders it almost worthless. Being 
mostly crushed into small Coal, it is almost impossible to work 
such pillars at a profit, hence arises the momentous question : 
What is the best mode of getting a given seam of Coal? 
upon which decision, in opening a colHery, depends whether 
it shall be an absolute loss, or a remunerative profit to the 
owner. For if the workings of a mine are badly set out and 
unskilfully conducted at the commencement, the consequences 
are an unremunerative investment of capital and frequently- 
occurring accidents ; hence, how important it is in colliery 
operations, that the mode of getting the Coal, and the 
