55 
At Sandhurst, on the other hand, Mr. E. R. Meekison, Travelling Inspector of 
Mines and Machinery, reports that the general opinion is in favour of the provisions of 
the Act being enforced :— 
“ I 1 1 Jive asked,” writes Mr. Meekison (under date 26th May), “ the opinion of many mining managers, 
engine-drivers, and miners on the working of the Act, especially as relating to machinery, and, with very few 
exceptions, it has been in favour of the provisions being carried out strictly. Several managers asked me 
would I like to see their cages tested, and on my answering ‘Yes,’ the cages have been taken just as they 
were working and connected to the chain with a rope, then the rope was cut, when the cages caught at once. 
Their hooks and cjiges at Sandhurst arc well attended to, and I was told several instances in which they had 
saved life.” 
An accident, which occurred at the mine of the New North Clunes Company, 
on the 2nd June, further illustrates the desirability of having all cages fitted with 
safety appliances. Mr. Inspector Stewart thus describes the occurrence :— 
The driver, John Selkeld, lias been driving engines for about 30 years. For the past 13 years he 
lias been driving the same engine be is now at for the above-named company, and he has always been an 
exceedingly careful driver. On the 2nd June, at 2.45 p.ni., Mr. Thomas, the pitman, came up in the cage 
and got off at the surfjice. The cage then knocked up to the brace, when the driver let it go a little too 
high, and the hook was slipped. 
The engine is a powerful one and the spider large, the last few revolutions taking 45 feet of rope each 
revolution, and when I say tliero is only 7 feet 6 inches between the hook on the top of the cage and the 
poppet-heads, you will at once see how slight a mistake would cause the cage to reach the latter. The 
wonder to me is that it is not done oftener. This is another illustration of the value of safety appliances 
on cages, and of the necessity for self-acting catches between the brace and the poppet-heads. In this 
instance the safety hook at once acted, the cage quietly set on the catches, and in half-an-hour the cage 
was again working as though nothing had happened. Had the cage been shackled on to the rope, therels 
no knowing the amount of damage that might have been done. 
The cages used in this mine are Pryor’s Patent, fitted with Middleton’s Ilooks, and they are always 
well looked after by the manager. 
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Brown's Safety Hook .—In reference to this hook, which is 
intended to he worked with Brown’s safety cage (see page 20), the 
inventor observes :— 
I have endeavoured to overcome anything in the shape of an abrupt angle, 
and have Jilso tried to prevent the mineral water entering the inside of the hook and 
thus create rust. The objection to angles is, a slack rope will sometimes foul, lift the 
cage a distance up the shaft, and then right itself—the cage suddenly dropping and 
taking up the slack, at the risk (if the safety appliances he not good) of snapping the 
rope. There can, I think, be no objection to my wooden model on that score. By 
taking out the little wooden peg at the bottom of the washer the hook will all 
come to pieces, and its principles can be examined. I have several ways of supporting 
the hall, hut 1 think the indiarubber washer the most secure and best. 
Hart's Patent Safety Hook .—This hook is intended to work 
in conjunction with Hart’s patent safety cage (see page 22), hut it 
can he fixed to any other. The difference between Hart’s Hook 
and other patents is that it has no copper rivet to cut ; con¬ 
sequently no extra strain is added to the rope or poppet-head. It 
O o is composed of two half-hooks acting upon a centre pin, and kept 
gear by a sleeve or socket. Under this socket is placed a spiral spring, sufficiently 
strong to hold same in position. Upon the socket coming in contact with the 
obstruction placed near the poppet-head pulleys, the hook is drawn through, and, 
upon being drawn a sufficient distance, the ends of the hook are set at liberty, and 
immediately release the shackle attached to the rope or chain, thus preventing 
accidents from overwinding. 
New Safety Catch for Colliery Winding Cages. —“ At the meeting of the 
Manchester Geological Society, held on 1st April,” remarks Iron , “ Messrs. Tonge 
and Kensley, of Hulton, near Manchester, exhibited a model of a new patent safety 
cage designed to remove risk of accident in the case of the breakage of ropes, &c. 
The cage is one of ordinary construction, with a pair of wheels, slightly eccentric, 
on each side of the conductor or rod. In winding, the wheels are held bv the 
chains with their longest radius away from the rods. As soon as the chains holding 
the weight of the cage go slack, the wheels are brought together by means of an 
elastic hand or spring, or by making the longest radius heavier, so that it falls of 
its own weight. The conductor being between, is firmly gripped by the wheels, 
and the greater the weight, or stronger the spring, the more tightly are the 
conductors held. This arrangement, which has already been tested satisfactorily by 
