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opinion, all safety hooks ought to hang the cage (not allow it to fall away), as then it would give two 
chances of catching instead of one. Safety cages ought to have appliances by which a man on the ca<*e 
could stop it, in any part of the shaft, if desired. y g 
Reference to sketch of Hart's Patent Safety Cage. 
Q . A { ^Pension bar, having formed on its lower end a stud or holt which acts as a guide and to receive 
the spiral spring I, which is adjusted by moans of nuts. b 10 recen e 
B, pin secured to suspension liar A, which gives motion from A to levers CC, which are nivoted 
” '>>• bmckol, to 111. other end of the levee. EE are two couoee leg S, whS “ 
' in poeitiott by radia! ,™» GG, which are held"by pia, fl«d™ 
In case of accident to the rope, the result would he as follows :—A would be at once forced down 
by means of spiral spring / and its own weight; tl.ua B, the pin, conveys motion to the levers CC, by which 
the connecting rods BE and the grippers FF, to which they are attached, are lifted up. The grippeis are 
thus pressed against the skids by means of the radial arms GG, which are set at a given angle, soSto gfve 
out a superior gripping power to maintain the weight of cage and its load. S 
Naylor’s Safety Cage. 
Mr. John Naylor, J.P., of Stawell, has kindly furnished me with the following 
description of a safety cage invented by him:— 
The cage, I believe, is different in its construction to any other now in use, as it is designed to act 
upon the slabs in shaft by grippers at each corner of cage (as shown in sketch), which are balanced, and by 
that means are easily set m position to grip the slabs by four small rods attached to the lower plate of cage 
Small rollers fixed in levers will also be observed attached to the lower plate. They rise inside tapered 
shoes, or guides, and, on any breakage of rope or shackles occurring, the cage carrying the load overtakes 
the lower plate 111 its descent, and throws the rollers up between the skids in the shaft and the tapered 
shoe, and throws out grippers to slabs m shaft simultaneously. A slight spring is fixed in each side of cage 
to make the action of grippers more sensitive. ® 
My reasons for introducing the levers for gripping slabs in shaft are that, in my experience, the 
majority of accidents occurring m winding shafts are occasioned by tl.e skids getting out of their places 
through the rusting of nails or spikes, and very frequently through the settling of ground when mined 
underneath or around, and consequently any safety appliances adapted only to skids become inoperative 
I have a half-sized model of the cage, which proves very effective so far as yet tested. I mav state 
that the invention is not patented. I merely designed the cage to act upon both skids and slabs in shafts as a 
double safeguard m cases of necessity, and so avoid, if possible, the sacrifice of human life and property 
Some instances have come under my notice where safety cages acting upon the skids alone have failed to 
perfoim their duty, lou are quite welcome to use the sketch in any way you may deem advisable. 
(Signed) John Naylor. 
Noland’s Cage. 
respecting this cage, the invention of Mr. J. T. T. Noland, of Castlemaine, I 
have obtained from Mr. Nicholas, the Senior Inspector of Mines, tire followino- renort 
dated 12th May, 1884:— ° 1 ’ 
The model is constructed about one-third of the size of the intended working cage, and is placed in a 
strong frame, to which are affixed guides or skids. 6 ° ’ p a 
The heavily loaded cage was wound up and detached similarly to a case of over-winding. At each 
trial the cage was instantly I,eld by the grippers. The tests of the detaching hook and of the suspending 
power of the grippers were perfectly successful. 1 ° 
The safety appliances consist of twelve eccentric serrated discs, three pairs of discs on each side of 
the cage,and these are supplemented by two pairs of brake blocks. The discs are forced against the skids 
by the motive power ot four spiral springs, and the brake blocks by the use of a double crank lever which 
the men m the cage may put into operation when an emergency, or any necessity for suspending the cage 
arises The cage may he stopped by its occupants either in its ascent or descent; and there is a detaching 
lever for disconnecting the rope from the cage, which is also under the control of the occupants 
defects are’astllow:- P ^ a S reat ara0Unt of mechanical ingenuity in constructing hi; cage. Its 
1st. Complication of parts in design. 
2nd. Necessarily cumbrous form of cage. 
3rd. Cost of manufacture. 
4th. Liability of arms of detaching hook being cauglit by the coupling chains. 
- , Writing subsequently, under date 17th December, 1884, Mr. Nicholas remarks 
m reference to this catre:— 
. 1 llave ’ ‘J 11 scveral occasions since the date of my former report, tested these improved safety 
contrivances, and always found them to act perfectly. * ^ 
