31 
GATES AND CROSS-BARS TO SHAFTS. 
There is considerable diversity of opinion amongst practical miners as to 
whether gates or bars form the better or more convenient protection against accidents 
through falling down shafts. In alluvial mines in the Ballarat district bars are, the 
mining inspector states, preferred, on account of the large number of trucks caged, 
and the great quantity of timber at times in the plat at the bottom of the shafts. 
Gates, under such circumstances, would not always be in a condition to be used, while 
bars are never in the way, as they hang down by the props when not required for 
actual use. In quartz mines, however, gates seem preferable to bars, owing to there 
being so many entrances to the shafts, and there being no platman constantly at each 
entrance as in alluvial mines. Furthermore, the ground is much harder and dryer in 
quartz mines, and consequently gates are easily kept in order. 
In the Sandhurst mines, about an equal number of gates and bars are used. The 
inspector for the district considers gates to be more convenient, and less liable to be 
left open than bars are to be kept up. 
In the Castlemaine district, the senior inspector reports that gates are generally 
adopted for protecting the surface entrance to shafts and bars at the entrances to the 
different levels, more especially in quartz mines, tie considers bars to he inferior to 
gates in many respects, as bars may be taken out and dropped without being replaced 
in the staples or catches. Moreover, men have fallen into shafts under the bars, and 
timber, drills, stones, and even trucks are liable to roll in from the surface or from 
the levels in the same way. With, self-closing gates, however, the senior inspector 
considers similar accidents could not happen. 
The inspector for the Maryborough district states that gates are generally used 
in the mines under his supervision, and he considers them preferable to bars, as they 
make the entrance to a shaft more, secure. “ When a gate is closed,” says the inspector, 
“ it is impossible for any person to fall into the shaft, whilst a bar placed across an 
opening gives but little protection. A trucker coming in the pint, ora platman working 
therein, or any person stepping out of a cage, might slip and fall under a bar. More¬ 
over, a bar might be displaced, because of its movable nature, or, in case of emergency, 
it might be used temporarily for some other purpose, and when required for its legiti¬ 
mate use would not he available.” 
Experience lias, however, shown that these objections of the inspector against the 
use of bars can be overcome — the first, by using two bars instead of one for each open¬ 
ing into a shaft, as in LanscH’s 180 mine; and the second, by having one end of each bar 
fixed so as to hang down by the props, as at the Garden Gully United Company’s mine 
(see sketches). 
At the Long Tunnel Extended Company’s mine, Walhalla, instead of bars or 
gates, an iron door is used (see sketch). 
The side-bars of these doors or gates 
are 2^in. by I’m., the centre bars 2.Un. by 
|in., and the bottom, or hinge bar, lin. 
round iron. Thev are thus strong enough 
to support a loaded cage, and light enough 
to he lifted up by one hand. They com¬ 
pletely cover the winding compartments, 
thus rendering an accidental fall down 
the shaft an impossibility. They are fixed 
in the winding compartment at each level. 
While winding is going on from any given 
level they are used as landing stages at 
that level, and at all other levels, being 
raised on their ends, they act as gates. 
When the cage is temporarily stopped at 
a level it hangs near the top of the gate, 
which is then used as a short ladder by 
any one getting in or out of the cage. 
(Fig. A shows the gate, and Fig. B the 
hook for lowering the gate across the 
shaft.) 
r\ 
6 
Fig. B. 
Fig. A. 
