COAL MINING. 849 
first day. The rock—a coarse-grained sandstone—was of very porous 
nature, into which it was impossible to introduce naked powder for 
blasting. It had no partings, and the work of sinking was slow and 
costly, but the contractors persevered, knowing that the sandstone, 
as revealed by the borings of the large drill-hole, would be softer and 
easier to blast, the deeper the pit went into it. | 
But every additional foot of depth increased the volume of water, 
till at the depth of sixty feet the pump was kept running at its full 
capacity. The contractors now applied to Messrs. Wicks and Wells 
for additional pumping power, which they felt very reluctant to provide. 
The sinkers wanted a duplicate pump, as the breaking of any part of 
the one in use would necessitate its withdrawal, and fill the shaft with 
water, entailing needless expense and loss of time. After much 
hesitation and delay they got a second-hand pump of the same num- 
ber, but of a larger make, no part of which could be used on the other 
pump, and this third party were forced to give up the contract, having 
lost two thousand dollars in the shaft. Most of this loss, however, » 5 
in sinking the large drill-hole, reconstructing machinery, and in the 
purchase of tools and fixtures for handling the pumps, and in a for- 
feiture of sureties (ten dollars a foot) for the completion of the work. 
Messrs. Wicks and Wells now concluded to sink the shaft by day- 
work, themselves personally superintending the operations, and hiring 
and paying the sinkers. A second pump was soon found necessary, and 
then a third one, pump after pump being added, until six steam pumps 
were in the shaft, capable of discharging 3,000 gallons of water per 
minute. Little or no progress could be made with so many pumps, 
the work of sinking was suspended, and a new shaft, 8 by 12 feet, was 
laid out alongside of the main shaft, and sunk down to the level or bot- 
tom of the main shaft. Some of the pumps were removed to the new 
pit, and progress was resumed below; at the depth of 110 feet, however, 
a large crevice in the rock was struck in sinking, from which the 
water rushed with such force as to throw the drill high up in the shaft, 
and all the pumps were overpowered. They were all withdrawn, and 
the shaft filled with water. 
After some weeks of stoppage, all the pumps were again set to 
work, and the water pumped out down to the point where the pressure 
of the water and the power of the pumps were balanced. All the 
pumps were run to their fullest capacity for four weeks, discharging 
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