20 
rope partially prevents it at the brace. This will not prevent the grippers from holding, neither will the 
hardness of the skids, not even if they were made of iron. In being over-wound, whenever you see that 
you are being taken too high, pull down the handles, and hang on to them till the cage stops ; if it should go 
to the poppet-heads and be disconnected, you will not experience the slightest shock, but will remain firmly 
fixed on the skids till the rope is readjusted, and the strain taken. Some managers, I am aware, are afraid 
to educate the men as to the use of those handles, for fear they might stop the cage wdion not wanted, but 
this would bo better than to have them ignorant of what they can do when required. It might be neces¬ 
sary, for the satisfaction of every one, to have a sham over-wind without detaching the rope; then no 
danger could be apprehended. Take the cage a few feet above the brace, and let the occupants act as if an 
over-wind were imminent, viz.—pull the handles, and hang on to them till the engine is reversed, when the 
rope will fall slack, and the cage will remain fast on the skids. I would suggest that cages should be 
tested at least once a mouth, reeve a small rope through the top and bottom links of the chain, and draw 
them to within a foot or so of each other, then raise the cage, say, a foot, from the flippers, and suddenly 
chop through the small rope, when the cage, if in good order, will drop only about an inch. 
Brown’s Patent Safety Cage Appliances. 
Mr. H. B. Nicholas, the Senior Inspector of Mines, under date 19th July, 1884, 
reports as follows concerning the safety cage appliances invented by Mr. Wm. Brown, 
Postmaster, Talbot:— 
The model is constructed about half the size of a working cage. Attached to each angle of the 
bottom of the cage there are two reversed wedges; the one with the butt eud upwards is affixed to the 
cage; the second wedge, with the thin end upwards, moves on the face of the fixed wedge, and is controlled 
by a tongue and groove movement. On the face of the movable wedge, which is presented to the shaft 
timbers, there are three small projecting bosses. ^ There is a false bottom to the cage, aud between it and 
the permanent bottom are four spiral springs. The false bottom is connected by gearing with the butts or 
lower ends of the movable wedges. When the rope breaks, or is detached from the cage, the springs 
depress the false bottom. This action forces the movable wedges upwards; the fixed wedges descend with 
the cage, jam the movable wedges against the shaft timbers, and stop the falling cage. The several test 
trials which I made with the model were perfectly successful. The principle of the invention is good, but 
the method of adapting it can be improved. Mr. Brown is now reconstructing his model, so as to apply it 
to the skids of shafts. I inspected it in progress, on the 16th instant, and then proved that, in its 
application to the skids, the principle will ho equally successful. This model will ho complete in a week. 
Writing on the 8tli September, Inspector Nicholas reports farther respecting 
this cage:— 
In compliance with your instructions, I attended at the Southern Cross Company’s mine, near 
Talbot, on Saturday, 6th instant, and inspected the trial tests of Mr. Wm. Brown’s safety appliances, as 
affixed to a cage in use at that mine. I found some alterations had been made to the appliances since the 
model was tested at the Talbot 1 own Hall, last month, but they do not in any manner affect the principle 
of the wedge, as the means adopted lor stopping the descent of a falling cage. There is an improved method 
of applying the springs to the movable wedges. Ihe grippers on the face of these wedges are stronger, and, 
in lieu of fixed wedges, bars of angle-iron are strongly riveted to the sides of the cage, with diagonal faces 
parallel with the faces of the movable wedges. Ihe weight oi the cage and load used for the trial tests was 
about 15cwt. . . 
I tested the cage in the following manner with satisfactory results throughout:—At the first trial, 
the cage was suspended, with its load, between the lauding brace and the surface. The rope was cut, and 
there was no perceptible fall of the cage. I found the indents into the skids, made by the grippers, were 
half-an-inch below my marks. At the second trial the gripper indents were directly on my marks; and at 
the third trial, the indents were 2g inches below my marks. This important fact was apparent at each of 
the tests, that immediately the grippers touched the skids the descent of the cage was arrested. As I 
ascertained from the manager that it was his intention to adopt Mr. Brown’s safety cage for the future 
working of the mine, I informed him that the tests of the safety appliances were satisfactory, and that I 
would furnish him with the certificate required by general rule 27 of section 8 of the Regulation of Mines 
and Machinery Act 1883. The cost of attaching Brown’s safety appliances to ordinary cages is, I believe, 
about £8, inclusive of the royalty. 
Reference to sketch of Brown’s Patent Safety Cage. 
A. A. Skids or guides. 
B. B . Shoes of cage. 
C. C. Movable wedges, with roughed (serrated) face next skids. 
F. F. Springs. 
G. Fulcrum. 
//.//. Connecting rods. 
LI. Fixed plates of angle-iron parallel with face of wedges. 
I am informed that it is claimed for Mr. Brown’s invention that the wedges 
will act upon skids which may not be plumb—a condition under which some cages 
have failed to act. Moreover, the appliances are simple, and can be fitted to any cage. 
