NEIMME Transactions
Volume 2
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE OF
MINING ENGINEERS.
TRANSACTIONS.
VOL. II.
1853-4.
SECOND EDITION,
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE: ANDREW REID, 40 & 65, PILGRIM STREET.
1853.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE:
PRINTED BY ANDREW REID, 40 & 65, PILGRIM STREET.
INDEX TO VOL. II.
A
Asphyxia produced by Choke-damp .. .. •. • • • • 7
B
Belgium Royal Academy, Transactions of........3
Boring1, Improvements in .. .. .. . • • • .. 57
C
Choke-damp, its Process in destroying Life...... 6 35
Carbonic Acid Gas, its Effects on Respiration ...... 7
Choke-damp, J. A. Longridge on.......... 35
Coking District of Northumberland and Durham...... 156
Coking Coal.......... ...... 207
Coal-Cutting Machine, Waring's.......... 67
Coal-field North of England, extent of ........ 103
D
Dip and Rise Workings, Ventilation of .. •. .. .. 31
Durham Coal, its extent ............201
Duration of Northern Coal-field • • .. .. • • 211 221
E
Extent of the North of England Coal-field........103
East Somerset Coal-field ............251
F
Eire-damp in Coal Mines discussed .. . > ......H
Felling Colliery, Plan of the Workings of........33
G
Gauze Lamp, discussion on . , .. ., .. .. ..78
(iv)
Gases, Penetrating and Dangerous.......... 85
Greenwell, G. C, on Ventilating Dip and Eise Workings .. .. 31
Greenwell, G. C, on East Somerset Coal District .. .. .. 251
Gas in a state of Tension, in situ .......... 13
H
Hall, T. Y., on an Improved Lamp.......... 21
Hall, T. Y., on the Northern Coal-field ........ 103
Hall, T. Y., on Dangerous Gases .. ....... 85
Hedley, J., on Mining in Staffordshire ........ 235
Household Coal District ............ 146
I
Improvements in Colliery Working.......... 21
Improved Safety Lamp, Hall's .. .. .. .. .. 21
Improved Boring for Minerals .. .. .. .. .. 57
K
Kind's System of Boring for Minerals .. .. .. .. 64
L
Longridge, J. A., on Choke-damp, &c. . - .. .. .. 35
Lamp Gauzes, Sizes of .. .. .. .. .. ..' 79
M
Mackworth, H., his Letter .. .. .. .. .. .. 51
Mackworth, H., on Improved Boring .. .. .. .. 57
Mackworth, H., on Water as a Ventilating Power...... 71
Mackworth on Waring's Coal Cutter ........ 67
Nitrogen, its Destructive Powers.......... 6
Northern Coal-field, T. Y. Hall on.......... 103
Number of Collieries.............. 195
Northumberland Coal, quantity of.......... 201
P
Penetrating Dangerous Gases ..........85
Prices of Coal, T. Y. Hall on .. .. .. .. . • 189
Ports of the Northern Coal District.. .. ..114
Q
Quantity of British Coal raised .. .. .. .. .. 200
R
Royal Belgic Academy Transactions .. .. .. • • 3
Railways for Carriage of Coal .. .. .. • • .. 184
Rents of Coal Mines.............. 193
S
Safety-lamps, T. Y. Hall on............ 21
Safety-lamp, H. Mack worth's .......... 51
Sections, Coal-field given in .. .. .. . • • • .. 186
Somersetshire Coal-field .. .. .. . • • • • • 251
School of Mining discussed •. • * .. • • .. 48
Staffordshire Coal Mines ............ 235
Steam Coal District .. ............ 162
Strata of Northumberland and Durham Coal-field .. .. •. 127
T
Tyne District Coal, Formation of the .. .. .. .. 142
Taylor, Thomas John, Paper on Gas in a State of Tension discussed 11
V
Ventilation discussed .. .. .. •• .. ..17
Ventilation by Water as a Power .. .. .. .. . * 71
W
Waring's Coal-cutting Machine .......... 67
Water a Ventilating Power .. .. . • • • .. 71
Working Colliers, Number of .. ........ 195
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Institution is not, as a body, responsible for the facts and opinions advanced
in the following Papers read, and in the Abstracts of the Conversations which
occurred at the Meetings during the Session,
ANNUAL REPORT
The Council of the Institute have much satisfaction in congratulating
the meeting on the prosperous state of the Society. Though its estab-
lishment dates no longer than two years ago, yet, during that brief
period, it may be safely stated that material progress has been made, and
light thrown upon various branches of mining which were previously
' either not at all or very imperfectly illustrated, while such current sub-
jects of interest as are connected with the objects of the Society, whether
arising within the pale of the profession, or from extraneous sources,
have, it may fairly be said, met with equal consideration, and have been
placed it is hoped, on their right basis by the patient investigation
bestowed upon them.
The Council cannot, perhaps, relate the progress of the Institute in
a more effective shape, nor better show its practically useful tendency,
than by a notice of the papers which have been read and discussed at
the several meetings since the commencement of its career :—
1. After the excellent Inaugural Address of the President, the earliest
in the order of papers read was one by Mr. James A. Longridge, on the
Steam Jet as a Motive Power for purposes of Ventilation.
2. An Account of elaborate Experiments on the Relative Value of the
Furnace and Steam Jet in the Ventilation of Coal Mines, by Nicholas
Wood, Esq., President of the Society.
3. Account of Experiments on the same subject by Mr. William
Armstrong.
4. Notices of similar Experiments by Messrs. Wm. Barkus, T. John
Taylor, and Matthew B. Robson.
5. On the Ventilation and Gases of Mines, and the Working of
Pillars, by Mr. William Barkus.
6. On the Subsistence of Fire Damp in a State of high Tension in
mCh by Mr. T. John Taylor.
(viii)
7. On Safety-lamps for lighting Coal Mines, by Mr. Nicholas Wood,
with Appendix of Experiments with various Safety-lamps, by Mr. T,
John Taylor and others.
8. On Safety-lamps, with an Account of a proposed improved Lamp,
the main object of which is to obtain a more brilliant light than that
yielded by the Davy-lamp, by Mr. T. Y. Hall.
9. Improvements in Colliery Workings, and Observations on Safety-
lamps, by Mr. T. Y. Hall.
10. Observations on the greater facility of Ventilating Dip than Rise
Workings, by Mr. G. C. Greenwell.
11. On Choke Damp, and the means of counteracting its effects, by
Mr. James A. Longridge.
12. A communication on the subject of Safety-lamps, from Mr.
Herbert Mackworth, Inspector of Mines.
13. On Improvements in Boring for Minerals, Wells, and Shafts, by
Mr. Mackworth.
14. On Waring's Coal Cutting Machine, by Mr. Mackworth.
15. On Water as a Ventilating Power, by Mr. Mackworth.
16. On Penetrating Dangerous Gases, by Mr. T. Y. Hall.
17. An elaborate paper on the Extent and Probable Duration of the
Northern Coal-field, with remarks upon the Coal Trade, by Mr. T. Y,
Hall.
18. On Mines and Mining in the North Staifordshire Coal-field, by
Mr. John Hedley.
19. Notes on the Coal-field of East Somerset, by Mr. G. C. Green-
well.
The very minute manner in which the vexata qucestio of the Steam
Jet has been investigated in the first of the foregoing series of papers
may be cited as an example of what may be expected to constitute the
future course of the Society on similar occasions, where a suggestion is
made or an improvement proposed, which is based upon such apparently
sound grounds, as entitled it at all events to investigation. In a similar
manner will be hereafter tested the real value of propositions made for
the improvement of Mining Science, a test beyond the reach of indivi-
duals, and which, it is obvious, could not be applied except through the
medium of a united and competent body.
The excellent paper of Mr. Hedley, together with various other com-
munications received from mining districts at a distance, evince in a
marked degree the advantages accruing from the establishment of the
(ix)
Institute, since the valuable information thus furnished, either could not
be obtained, or must have been acquired by individuals at material incon-
venience, and probably expense.
To the foregoing outline of the proceedings of the Society may be
added the equally interesting discussions which have taken place on the
several papers, and the exhibition of maps and models.
Such is a brief statement of the work done during the two years of
the existence of the North of England Mining Institute; and the Council
are gratified to say that the extension of the Society is in a ratio not
incommensurate with the activity displayed by its individual members.
The increase of members during the past year has been from 114 to 143,
and there is every reason to believe that an augmentation may be
expected for some time to continue, as the Institute becomes more generally
known, and its publications more extensively consulted by scientific and
practical men.
The report presented by the gentlemen who have taken upon them-
selves the duties of the Finance Committee, affords a not unpleasing
corroboration of the progress making, and the liberality with which
pecuniary support is afforded to the Institute and its objects. To this
essential element of success the attention of the Council will continue to
be directed in the hope that the present friends of the Society will continue
their support, and that others, incited by their example, will come
forward for a similar purpose, not merely on particular, but also on public
grounds. The much agitated question of security to the miner is
obviously identified with that of mining improvement.
The Council may be permitted to refer with feelings of satisfaction to
the general arrangement for holding meetings, for a library, and for the
safe custody of plans, models, and apparatus, which have been made
under the inspection and by the care of the general Committee of the
Coal Trade, as a proof of the high sense which the trade entertain of the
importance of the Institute, and their wish to contribute, by every means
in their power, to its prosperity and usefulness. The Council cannot
view what has been done with any other feelings than those of unmixed
pleasure, and they congratulate the meeting accordingly upon the
convenient apartments in which they now find themselves located.
It becomes, of course, one of the primary views of the Institution to
collect gradually, a library of such British and Foreign publications as
are connected, either immediately or indirectly with its objects* In this
some progress has been made. The Society has been favoured with
b
00
statistical accounts of the mines of Belgium and France. It has also the
honour to comprise amongst its members, gentlemen resident abroad,
distinguished for engineering and scientific attainments, and from them by
a reciprocal interchange of publications gradual additions to the library
of the Institute may be expected to accrue.
The Society's transactions also exhibit the pleasing fact of contribu-
tions of books due to the liberality of individual members, upon the
occasional recurrence of which the Council cannot err in relying. It may
be proper to mention, that in furtherance of these views, copies of the
printed " Transactions" of this Institution have already been exchanged for
publications of the same nature from abroad, kindly presented by friends
of science connected with mining pursuits, and that such reciprocal
interchange may be expected to continue.
It has been deemed by some that these advantages might be still
further multiplied and secured by some junction of this Institution with
Societies elsewhere, pursuing the same or similar objects. This, however,
will require grave consideration. To an Institute bearing upon objects
less of pure science, than of great, practical, national, and commercial
importance, independence of action is the first requisite, without which
every other may become worse than useless; and the Council cannot but
conclude that, however advisable and useful may be intercourse between
bodies pursuing kindred ends, junctions like those alluded to cannot be
too cautiously considered in all their consequences, nor too narrowly looked
to in the tendencies which they may produce. In saying this, the Council
must not be understood as undervaluing the great and undoubted
services effected by the communication of papers and other transactions
of which their own minutes contain some pleasing evidence, nor the vast
utility of the transmission of plans and models to and from Societies
having similar pursuits. Such intercourse cannot, they think, be too
much encouraged.
It is thus advantageous however, because whilst rendering the spread
of knowledge very compendious and regular, it does not interfere with
that independence upon which the ultimate value of institutions depend.
While upon this subject the Council cannot forbear noticing with
satisfaction that a general meeting of representatives from the several
coal mining districts of the kingdom has been held in London during the
current year. From this meeting, which is the first of the kind that has
been hitherto assembled, a favourable augury may be drawn of the
future results of joint efforts in the same good cause. Reflecting upon
(xi)
the vast importance of the coal mining interest of Great Britain, it appears
not too much to expect that a similar meeting may be held annually,
for the purpose of maintaining a healthy condition of that interest, and
especially with a view to the safety and welfare of the persons employed
in working and conducting the mines.
Amongst the changes of the past year, the Council have to report the
resignation of the Secretary of the Institute, Mr. Edward Sinclair, whose
future residence in Monmouthshire, will deprive the Society of his
valuable services. In his place, Mr. Thomas Doubleday, who is also
Secretary to the Trade at large, has been appointed, and it is not doubted
that the well known and remarkable literary talent of that gentleman
will prove of service to the Institute.
The Council cannot conclude their report without venturing the ex-
pression of their confident hope that the progress already made may only
act as a stimulus to the zeal of members, and that communications bear-
ing upon the objects of the Society may not only be expected to flow in
from residents in the northern coal districts, but that the Society may
look to be favoured with papers on points connected with mining
engineering generally, as practised in other districts and under the
varied circumstances of different and distant localities. Upon such
communications the utility of this Society must greatly depend; and the
exertions and opportunities of the various members must be looked to as
the means of making it known generally that such is the intent and
scope of the Institution.
FINANACE COMMITTEE'S REPORT
31st JULY, 1854.
Gentlemen,
At the close of the second year of the Society's ex-
istence, the Finance Committee have much pleasure in announcing that it
is established in proper rooms, worthy of the importance of its objects,
and conveniently situated for access to its members.
We understand that this has been chiefly owing to the liberality of
the Coal Trade Committee of Newcastle, to whom we suppose due allu-
sion will be made in the President's address, we therefore proceed to
notice the financial position of the Society.
The cash outlay during the twelve months just ended (as per Trea-
surer's account), amounts to the sum of £220 9s. 3d., and the income
from various sources (inclusive of a balance of £151 lis. 6d. from last
year) to the sum of £478 15s., leaving an amount in hand of £258
5s. 9d.
The liabilties, consisting of the Secretary's salary and two small items
for advertising, amount to a sum of £26 13s., whilst the assets, con-
sisting of the balance in hand, uncollected subscriptions, papers unsold,
and a donation from W. B. Wrightson, Esq., are of the value of £433
Is. 3d., leaving a balance available for the future expenses of the Society
of £406 8s. 2d.
The position of the Society is a good one, and will, we think, with
care and economy, enable it fully to follow out the objects for which it
was established, without urging its publications before the public, and
thus lowering their value to too great an extent, with the view of
realizing funds.
We should, at the same time, recommend the sum of one hundred
pounds to be laid out in the purchase of a good and well selected collec-
(xiv)
tion of scientific works relating to mining, and with this view would
suggest that a proper minute book be kept, in which the members might
recommend to the Society the purchase of books, from time to time, the
final selection being left to the discretion of the Council of the Society.
We would also suggest, with a view of greater economy, the regular
publication of the Society's papers upon fixed days in each month, and
would also urge that these publications might be made the vehicle of
communication to the members all over the kingdom, of the times of
their next meetings, as well as other information requisite in the pro-
gress of the Society.
We are of opinion this would save a considerable amount in postage
and circulars, in proof of which we would refer to the large amounts
paid for these items in the Treasurer's accounts of the past year.
We would also urge upon the Council the making of the publications
of the Society as profitable as possible, by permitting advertisements on
the covers of the monthly papers. We are induced to this course by
observing that other scientific societies adopt this plan, and we see no
reason why the Mining Institution, which is more closely allied with
commercial pursuits, should not follow their example.
In futherance of the objects of the Society, we would also recommend
constant attendance either by the Secretary or some one else, on stated
days, at the rooms of the Institute, so as members from distant parts
may enjoy every facility of communicating with the Council and mem-
bers with whom they may wish whilst sojourning in the district.
With these suggestions, and leaving to the Council and members the
proper and efficient mode of carrying out the objects of the Society,
We are, Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servants,
(Signed,) CHARLES CARR,
WM. BARKUS,
P. S. REID,
E. F. BOYD, Treasurer.
THE TREASURER IN ACCOUNT WITH THE NORTH OF ENGLAND MINING INSTITUTION.
1854. Bt. s. d. 1854. Qtv. s. d.
July 31- 151 11 6 July 31.- —By Amount paid for Reporting to date i« in
„ Subscriptions from 111 Members to this „ Cash paid for Postage at various times....... 13 11 7
233 2 0 „ Cash paid for attendance at the Literary
„ Amounts received from the following Col- and Philosophical Society's Lecture Rooms 1 7 6
lieries, viz. :— „ Cash paid for Printing Society's Papers...... 136 2 10
Crow Trees and Heugh Hall..................... 4 4 0 Cash paid for Circulars and Advertising 33 6 8
4 4 0 „ Cash paid Secretary for Salary, 1st year..... 25 0 0
2 2 0 Cash paid for Carriage at various times 2 1 10
2 2 0
4 4 0
2 2 0
2 2 0
3 3 0
4 4 0
6 6 0
10 10 0
10 10 0
8 8 0
5 0 0
5 0 0
2 12 6
2 12 6
2 2 0
To Amount received from Sal p. of Publications.............. 12 13 6 By Balance in hand.................................... 258 5 9
£478 15 0 £478 15 0
GENERAL ANNUAL STATEMENT, 1st AUGUST, 1854.
1854. UtaiuUttes. £ s. a. „ Proprietors of the Mining Journal........... 110 „ Proprietors of the Newcastle Guardian.... 0 12 0 1854. 3lSSet0. £ s. d. „ Members' Subscriptions Uncollected........ 37 16 0 „ Colliery Subscriptions Unpaid to date...... 50 8 0 „ Amount allowed for Publications unsold... 84 11 6 „ Donation from W. B. Wrightson, Esq....... 2 0 0
£433 1 3 £433 1 3
PATRONS
, His Grace the Duke of Northumberland.
The Right Honourable the Earl of Lonsdale.
The Right Honourable the Earl Grey.
The Right Honourable the Earl of Durham.
The Right Honourable Lord Wharncliffe.
The Right Honourable Lord Ravensworth.
The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Durham.
The Very Reverend the Dean and Chapter of Durham.
The Venerable Archdeacon Thorpe, the Warden of Durham
University.
Wentworth B. Beaumont, Esq,
OFFICERS, 1854-55,
PRESIDENT
Nicholas Wood, Hettoii Hall, Pence Houses,
VICE-PRESIDENTS
Wm. Anderson, St. Hilda's Colliery, South Shields.
Edward Potter, Cramlington Colliery, Newcastle.
T. J. Taylor, Earsdon, Northumberland.
R. Stephenson, M.P., 24, Great George Street, Westminster.
COUNCIL
W. Armstrong, Wingate Grange, Ferry Hill.
Geo. Elliott, Houghton-le-Spring, Fence Houses.
J. A. Longridge, Quayside, Newcastle.
P. S. Reid, Pelton Colliery, Chester-le-Street, Fence Houses.
W. Barkus, Sen., Gateshead Low Fell, Gateshead.
G. C. Greenwell, Radstock Colliery, near Bath.
J. Taylor, Haswell Colliery, near Durham.
T. W. Jobling, St. Mary's Terrace, Newcastle.
C. Carr, Seghill Colliery, Newcastle.
M. Liddell, Benton Grange, near Newcastle.
J. Robson, North Bailey, Durham.
J. Easton, Hebburn Colliery, Gateshead.
TREASURER
E. F. Boyd, Urpeth Colliery, Chester-le-Street, Fence Houses.
SECRETARY
Thomas Doubleday, Newcastle.
HONORARY MEMBERS
Edward Shipperdson, Esq., South Bailey, Durham.
Goldsworthy Gurney, Esq., Bude Castle, Cornwall.
Charles Morton, Esq., Inspector of Mines, Wakefield.
Joseph Dickinson, Esq., Inspector of Mines, Barr Hill Cottage, Pendleton,
Manchester.
Herbert Mackworth, Esq., Inspector of Mines, Clifton Wood House, Bristol.
Thomas Wynne, Esq., Inspector of Mines, Longton, North Staffordshire.
Matthias Dunn, Esq., Inspector of Mines, Newcastle.
Dr. H. Yon Dechen, Berghauptmann, Ritter, &c, Bonn on the Rhine,
Prussia.
Baron Von Humbolt, Potsdam, Prussia.
Mons. De Vaux, Inspector General of Mines, Brussels.
Herr R. Yon Carnall, Berghauptmann, Ritter, &c, Breslau, Silesia, Prussia.
M. Gonot, Mining Engineer, Mons, Belgium.
M. de Boureuille, Paris.
LIST OF MEMBERS
1 Anderson, W., St. Hilda's Colliery, South Shields.
2 Anderson, C. W., St. Hilda's Colliery, South Shields.
3 Arkley, G. W., Harton Colliery, South Shields.
4 Atkinson, J. J., Pontop, Gateshead.
5 Adams, W., Ebw Vale Works, Newport, Monmouthshire.
6 Arkless, B., Tantoby, Gateshead.
7 Ashworth, —., Poynton, Cheshire.
8 Armstrong*, W., Wingate Grange, Ferry Hill.
9 Barrass, T., Little Chilton Colliery.
10 Boyd, E. F., Urpeth, Chester-le-Street.
11 Barkus, W., Gateshead Low Fell.
12 Barkus, W., Jun., Team Colliery, Gateshead.
13 Berkley, C, Marley Hill Colliery, Gateshead.
14 Bourne, S., Monkwearmouth Colliery, Sunderland.
15 Bourne, P., Whitehaven, Cumberland.
16 Burn, D., Busy Cottage Iron Works, Newcastle.
17 Bell, W. H., Sacriston Colliery, Chester-le-Street, Fence Houses.
18 Bell, C. W., 1, Gresham Place, Newcastle.
19 Bell, T., Cassop Colliery, Durham.
20 Bell, J. T. W., Higham Place, Newcastle.
21 Bell, I. L., Washington, Gateshead.
22 Booth, P., Evenwood Colliery, Bishop Auckland.
23 Bartholomew, C, Rotherham, Yorkshire.
24 Beacher, E., Grange Colliery, Wakefield, Yorkshire.
25 Baker, J. P., Chillingworth Colliery, Wolverhampton.
26 Binns, C, Claycross, Derbyshire.
27 Bassett, A., Tredegar Mineral Estate Office, Cardiff.
(xxi)
28 Clark, G., Wallsend Colliery, Newcastle.
29 Croudace, J., Washington Colliery, Gateshead.
30 Croudace, C.
31 Crawford, T., Bowes House, Fence Houses.
32 Crawford, T., jun., Little Town Colliery, Durham.
33 Crone, S. C, Little Town Colliery, Durham.
34 Carr, C, Seghill Colliery, Newcastle.
35 Coulson, W., Crossgate Foundry, Durham.
36 Charlton, G., Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyne, Staffordshire.
37 Carnes, J., West Hetton, Ferry Hill.
38 Cope, J., Sion Cottage, Rowley Regis, Dudley.
39 Dixon, R., Ckypath, Durham.
40 Douglas, T., Barrington Colliery, Durham.
41 Daglish, T., Ratcliffe Colliery, Amble, Northumberland.
42 Davidson, J., Church Street, Durham.
43 Day, J. W., Pelaw, Chester-le-street, Fence Houses.
44 Dumolo, J., Danton House, Coleshill, Warwickshire.
45 Elliott, G., Houghton-le-Spring, Fence Houses.
46 Elliott, W., Etherley Colliery, by Darlington.
47 Easton, J., Hebburn Colliery, Gateshead.
48 Evans, J., Dowlais Iron Works, Merthyr Tydvil, South Wales.
49 Errington, C. E.,-, London.
50 Foord, J. B., Secretary General of Mining Association, 52, Broad
Street, London.
51 Forster, J. H., Old Elvet, Durham.
52 Greenwell, G. C, Radstock Colliery, near Bath.
53 Gray, J., Garesfield Colliery, Newcastle.
54 Green, G., Seaham Colliery, Fence Houses.
55 Greene, W., jun., Framwellgate Colliery, Durham.
56 Hunter, W., Quayside, Newcastle.
57 Hall, T. Y., Eldon Square, Newcastle.
58 Heckels, R., Bunker's Hill, Fence Houses.
-59 Hedley, J., Waterloo Road, Burslem.
60 Hunt, J. M., Birtley Iron Works, Gateshead.
(xxii)
61 Hawthorn, B., Engineer, Newcastle.
62 Hawthorn, W., Engineer, Newcastle.
63 Harrison, T. E., Engineer, Westoe, South Shields.
64 Humphrey, A., Tredegar, Newport, Monmouthshire.
65 Haggie, P., West Street, Gateshead.
66 Hann, W., Hetton, Fence Houses.
67 Johnson, E. S., West Hetton, Ferry Hill.
68 Johnson, J., Willington Colliery, Newcastle.
69 Johnson, G., Laffak Colliery, St. Helen's, Lancashire.
70 Joicey, J., Quayside, Newcastle.
71 Joicey, J., Tanfield Lea, Durham.
72 Jonassohn, D., Usworth Colliery, Gateshead.
73 Jobling, T. W., St. Mary's Terrace, Newcastle.
74 Kimpster, W., Washington Office, Quayside, Newcastle.
75 Laws, J., Prudhoe Castle, Northumberland.
76 Liddell, J. E., Killingworth Colliery, Newcastle.
77 Liddell, M., Benton Grange.
78 Longridge, J., Quayside, Newcastle.
79 Long-ridge, H. G., Walbottle Colliery, Newcastle.
80 Locke, Jos., M.P., Westminster.
81 Morton, H., Lambton Office, Fence Houses.
82 Morton, H. T., Lambton Office, Fence Houses.
83 Murray, T., Chester-le-Street, Fence Houses.
84 Marley, J., Bishop Auckland.
85 Mundle, W., Eyton, Gateshead.
86 Middleton, T., Davison's Hartley Office, Quayside, Newcastle.
87 Mercer, J., St. Helen's, Lancashire.
88 Mulcaster, H., High Street, Maryport, Cumberland.
89 MacLean, J. C.
90 Maynard, T. C, North Bailey, Durham.
91 Nicholson, E., Jesmond Villas, Newcastle.
92 Potter, E., Cramlington Colliery, Newcastle.
93 Potter, W. A., Cramlington Colliery, Newcastle.
(xxiii)
94 Palmer, A. S., Seaton Burn Colliery, Newcastle,
95 Palmer, C. M., Quayside, Newcastle.
96 Palmer, J. B., Jarrow, South Shields.
97 Philipson, E. H., Cassop Colliery, Durham.
98 Peace, W., Hague Cottage, Wigan, Lancashire.
99 Eobson, J., North Bailey, Durham.
100 Eo])son, J. B., Byer's Green Colliery, Durham.
101 Eobson, M. B., Field House, Borough Eoad, Sunderland.
102 Eeed, E. G., Cowpen Colliery, Northumberland.
103 Eeid, P. S., Pelton Colliery, Chester-le-Street, Fence Houses,
104 Eutherford, J., ShinclifTe Colliery, Durham.
105 Eamsay, J., Whickham, Gateshead.
106 Southern, G., Kibblesworth Colliery, Gateshead.
107 Southern, G. W., Springwell Colliery, Gateshead.
108 Southern, J. M., Springwell Colliery, Gateshead.
109 Stobart, W., Eoker, Sunderland.
110 Stobart, H. S., Etherley, by Darlington.
111 Simpson, E., Eyton, Gateshead.
112 Spencer, W., Jun., Woodifield Colliery, Crook, by Darlington.
113 Storey, T., St. Helen's Auckland, Bishop Auckland.
114 Stannier, F., Manor House, near Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire.
115 Smith, J., Thornley Colliery, Durham.
116 Smith, F., Bridgewater Canal Office, Manchester.
117 Seymour, M., South Wingate, Ferry Hill.
118 Stephenson, E., M.P., 24, George Street, Westminster.
119 Sanderson, E. B., Jun., West Jesmond, Newcastle.
120 Sop with, T. Allenheads, Hay don Bridge.
121 Stott, E., Ferry Hill.
122 Stenson, W., Whitwick Colliery, Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
123 Stenson, W., Jun., Whitwick Colliery, Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
124 Sinclair, E., Tredegar, Newport, Monmouthshire.
125 Taylor, H., Earsdon, Northumberland.
126 Taylor, T. J., Earsdon, Northumberland.
127 Taylor, J., Haswell Colliery, Durham.
128 Telford, W., Cramlington, Newcastle.
129 Todd, H. W., Mickley Colliery, Newcastle.
(xxiv)
130 Thomas, W., Bogilt, Holywell, Flintshire.
131 Thompson, T. C., Kirkhouse, Brampton, Cumberland,
132 Wood, N., Hetton Hall, Fence Houses.
133 Wood, C. L., Blackboy Colliery, Bishop Auckland.
134 Wood, W., Trimdon Colliery, Hartlepool.
135 Wales, J., Hetton Colliery, Fence Houses.
136 Watson, W., High Bridge, Newcastle.
137 Wilson, J. B., Haydock Rope Works, near Warrington, Lancashire,
138 Woodhouse, J. T., Overseal, Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
139 Walker, T., Jun., High Street, Maryport.
140 Watney, A., Gwendraeth Iron Works, Carmarthenshire*
141 Witham, Rev. Thos., Lartington Hall, Barnard Castle,
RULES
1. —That the Members of this Society shall consist of Ordinary
Members, Life Members, and Honorary Members.
2. —That the Annual Subscription of each Ordinary Member shall
be £2 2s. Od. payable in advance, and that the same shall be considered
as due and payable on the first Saturday of August in each year.
3. —That all Persons who shall at one time make a Donation of £20
or upwards, shall be Life Members.
4. —Honorary members shall be persons who shall have distinguished
themselves by their Literary or Scientific attainments, or made impor-
tant communications to the Society.
5. —That a General Meeting of the Society shall be held on the first
Friday of every month, at two o'clock p.m., and the General Meeting in
the month of August shall be the Annual Meeting, at which a report of
the proceedings, and an abstract of the accounts of the previous year
shall be presented by the Council. A Special Meeting of the Society
may be called whenever the Council shall think fit, and also on a requi-
sition to the Council signed by ten or more Members.
6. —No alteration shall be made in any of the Laws, Rules, or Regu-
lations of the Society, except at the Annual General Meeting, or at a
Special Meeting; and the particulars of every alteration to be then pro-
posed shall be announced at a previous General Meeting, and inserted
in its minutes, and shall be exhibited in the Society's meeting-room,
fourteen days previously to such Annual General or Special Meeting.
7. —Every question which shall come before any Meeting of the
Society, shall be decided by the votes of the majority of the Ordinary
aad Life Members then present and voting.
8..—Persons desirous of being admitted into the Society as Ordinary
or Life Members, shall be proposed by three Ordinary or Life Members,
d
(xxvi)
or both, at a General Meeting. The proposition shall be in writing, and
signed by the proposers, and shall state the name and residence of the
individual proposed, whose election shall be ballotted for at the next
following General Meeting, and during the interval notice of the propo-
sition shall be exhibited in the Society's room. Every person proposed
as an Honorary Member must be recommended by at least five Members
of the Society, and elected by ballot at the General Meeting next suc-
ceeding. A majority of votes shall determine every election.
9.—The Officers of the Society shall consist of a President, four
Vice-Presidents, and twelve Members who shall constitute a Council for
the direction and management of the affairs of the Society; and of a
Treasurer, and a Secretary; all of whom shall be elected at the Annual
Meeting, and shall be re-eligible. Lists containing the names oi all the
persons eligible having been sent by the Secretary to the respective
Members, at least a month previously to the Annual Meeting;—the
election shall take place by written lists, to be delivered by each voter
in person to the Chairman, who shall appoint scrutineers of the lists;
and the scrutiny shall commence on the conclusion of the other business
of the meeting. At meetings of the Council, five shall be a quorum,
and the record of the Council's proceedings shall be at all times open to
the inspection of the members of the Society.
10. —The Funds of the Society shall be deposited in the hands of the
Treasurer, and shall be disbursed by him, according to the direction of
the Council.
11. —The Council shall have power to decide on the propriety of
communicating to the Society any papers which may be received, and
they shall be at liberty, when they think it desirable to do so, to direct
that any paper read before the Society shall be printed. Intimation shall
be given at the close of each General Meeting of the subject of the
paper or papers to be read, and of the questions for discussion at the
next meeting, and notice thereof shall be affixed in the Society's room
ten days previously. The reading of papers shall not be delayed beyond
three o'clock, and if the election of members or other business should not
be sooner despatched, the President may adjourn such business until after
the discussion of the subject for the day.
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE
of
MINING ENGINEERS.
GENERAL MEETIN, NOV. 3, 1853' IN THE LECTURE R00M 0F ™E
LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
NICHOLAS WOOD, Esq.President of the institute. in the Chair.
The Secretary having read the minutes of the last general meeting,
The President stated that the Committee which had been appointed
to ascertain "where, and on what terms, a suitable room for the meetings
of the Institute, with convenient offices adjoining, where the library of
the Institute could be kept, and members have access to it at any time,
could be procured," had met that morning, and agreed upon a report,
which would be read by the Secretary. The Committee had inspected
Mr. Leadbitter's house, in Westgate Street, and thought it would be a
suitable place for the purposes required, if it could be obtained at a mode-
rate rent. They were also of opinion that it would be desirable, if possible,
to secure the cooperation of the Coal Trade Committee, which might hold
their meetings there also, diminishing in some degree the expense to the
Institute. There was, no doubt, great need of a suitable building for the
Institute, for at present, although they had the use of the Lecture Room
of the Literary and Philosophical Society, for which they were indebted
to the members of that Society, yet, though a public Institute, they, it
might be said, had not any location, nor had they any room to deposit
papers or books, or any place to transact business. He suggested that
the Committee should be empowered to treat with Dr. Charlton, who had
the letting of the house he had referred to, and ascertain from him the
amount of rent, and whether he would undertake to alter it and fit it up
for the occupancy of the Institute.
2
The Report having" been read, the motion, recommended by the Presi-
dent, was put and carried unanimously.
The President exhibited a neatly bound volume of the "Transac-
tions " of the Institute during the past year, which was adopted as the
form of publication of the Society's papers, &c.
The President then referred to the papers standing for discussion.
Mr. Taylor's paper, read at the last meeting, had only been a few days
out of the printer's hands, and therefore had not been circulated among
the whole of the members. It would, consequently, be inconvenient to
take the discussion upon it at this meeting, but they might come prepared
to do so at the meeting of next month. The subject of the Steam Jet
and Furnace Ventilation had, he thought, been exhausted, and the discus-
sion upon them might therefore be considered at an end. His own paper
on Safety-lamps, giving an account of the experiments he had made upon
various lamps, had not been printed yet; Mr. T. Y. Hall had read a
paper on Safety-lamps, which had since been printed. As this subject
was still under investigation, and they having been promised some further
information upon it, he thought it would be better to defer the discussion
at present. He next referred to the necessity of the members of the
Institute giving timely notice of their intention to furnish papers to be
read at the monthly meetings; it was desirable that they should not have
to wait until the monthly meeting before the Council knew what papers
were to be produced,- and he referred to the general rules on the subject.
He was sorry that they were that day disappointed of a paper by
Mr. Mackworth, who had promised to prepare one bearing upon Boring
for Coal in Belgium; it had been sent to be read last month, but
there being no meeting, Mr. Mackworth got it back again for revision,
and had not returned it; they might, however, expect it at the next
meeting. The same gentleman had laid before the Institute a paper
containing an abstract from the "Transactions of the Royal Academy of
Belgium," relative to the proposal of that Government to offer a prize of
2,000 francs to the author of a practical, commodious, and safe method
by which a person might be enabled to penetrate without delay to great
distances, to abide there some time, inform himself as to the state of, and
act freely in, underground excavations filled with dangerous gases, and
especially in explosions of fire-damp. The Royal Academy had appointed
a Committee to draw up a report upon the subject, and that report was
presented to the Minister of Public Works. The document had been
translated, and the Secretary would read it. The Academy, he might
3
state, had offered their gold medal in addition to the above prize. Com-
munications would be received from any country, but the term of
competition was fixed for December 31st, 1853, beyond which day no
essays would be received.
The Secretary then read the following document:—
ROYAL ACADEMY OF BELGIUM.
{Extract from Vol. XIX., JVo. 6 of the Bulletins.)
The Minister of Public Works having consulted the Members of the
Academy, upon the utility of appointing a Special Commission to improve
the means of safety, on account of accidents vitiating the air in the
workings, the members appointed Messrs. De Vaux, Stas, and De
Hemp time, to prepare a report on this subject for him.
M. De Vaux, in the name of the Commissioners, read the Report as
follows:—
Your Commissioners have studied, with much interest, the question raised by
the Minister of Public Works, in the despatch of 17th April last, No. 2271.
You cannot fail to sympathise with this proposition of the Minister, which is
so benevolent and philanthrophic. The effect produced by it will be to aid the
working classes, to stimulate the genius of invention, and to increase the means of
safety.
The accident which happened on the 6th of March last, in the coal district of
Langterm Ferrand, at Elonges, has aroused attention to this subject, and has created
a deep interest in the management of mines. On that occasion, the utter inability
of a number of workmen to reach the victims of this catastrophe was painfully
exhibited. The heavy falls in the principal rolleyway certainly opposed an insur-
mountable obstacle to the speedy restoration of the circulation of air in this way ;
but, in all probability, it was beyond these falls where the miners would be found,
and it was the universal opinion, that the main return air-course remained open
and in good condition throughout its whole extent, about 600 metres* from the
entrance to the face of the workings. Now this gallery, through which one would
gladly have proceeded to the face of the workings, were it only to relieve the
anxiety felt for the fate of sixty-three fellow-men, being filled with deleterious gas,
was inaccessible, and no one could have proceeded a few metres along it, without
being seized with asphyxia. A few days after, on the 12th of March, the coal
district Maritage, at Seraing, in the province of Liege, became in its turn the scene
of a catastrophe, whereby seven workmen lost their lives, under circumstances still
more deplorable than those at Langterm Ferrand, inasmuch as it was impossible to
penetrate quickly into the excavations filled with deleterious gases. The water of
some old mines burst into the workings of the coal mine of Maritage; the quantity,
according to all appearance, was not so great as to carry away the workmen with
the current, but independent of the dangerous gas which came into the mine with
* A metre is forty inches.
4
the water, the level of the water rose so high as to stop the circulation of the airs
and from that moment, all who had attempted to escape by running and raising*
themselves above the level of the water became in imminent danger of asphyxia,
Now, in this case the workmen were neither exposed to fire, nor yet to the terrible
commotion which usually accompanies an explosion of fire-damp ; and there were
scarcely 100 metres to traverse in the air-courses before they would have been
rescued.
If we confine ourselves to these occurrences, it is not because other examples
are wanting. Cases of asphyxia are unhappily only too frequent in mines, espe-
cially after fire or bursts of water. But We would remark, that it is not in mines
only that the lives of workmen are affected by deleterious emanations; the same
danger frequently occurs in underground excavations of little depth, which are daily
used in our buildings ; in certain wells, common sewers, shallow ditches, cisterns,
&c, and it will be easily seen, that the question proposed should embrace all these
different cases. On the other hand, various methods have been proposed, or tried,
to prevent these casualties, and competitors ought to make themselves well
acquainted with all that has been done or published on this subject—ventilators,
respiratory apparatus, air pumps, the apparatus of Paulin for conflagrations, &c.
It would, perhaps, be useful to them, if we were to give publicity to the
different addresses, which could be procured from the office of Home Affairs, upon
analogous subjects, and, among others, to a report addressed to the Home Minister,
July 14th, 1848, by a Special Committee, composed of the Inspector General of
Health, De Hemptime, Member of the Academy, and De Vaux, Inspector General
of Mines.
The competitors should acquire immediately all the knowledge which will
spring up from the appeal made to inventors; the managers of mines should do
their utmost to render practical the use of respiratory apparatus, and to obtain
mechanical ventilators, which can be easily transported to where required, and the
working of which, combined with the use of large pipes or tubes, may speedily
purify the air in an excavation, the atmosphere of which is vitiated*
With regard to the terms in which the question is put by the Minister of Public
Works, your Committee have nothing to alter, viz.:—
" That a prize will be given to reward the author of a practical method,
commodious and safe, which will permit a man to penetrate without delay to great
distances, to abide there some time, to obtain a knowledge of the circumstances
and to act freely in underground excavations filled with dangerous gases."
We consider that we should insist on one point, viz., that the individuals
appointed to judge of the merits of the plans proposed should know enough to be
on their guard against the abuse of theoretical considerations ; that is to say, that
the prize ought only to be given when the essays, following and concluding, have
clearly proved the infallibility, and also the facility of employing the plan proposed
in the different cases which may be met with.
We conclude by remarking that, considering the difficulty of the question, and
the time that the essays must require, the term for this competition may be fixed
for December 31st, 1853.
The Report has been received and adopted; it shall be communicated to the
5
Minister of Public Works, informing him, at the same time, that the Academy will
add its golden medal to the prize of 2,000 francs already offered by the Royal
Mandate.
No contributions will be received after December 31st, 1853.
The President said, it very often happened when explosions took
place, that the parties entering the workings could get to within a short
distance of where the men were, but were unable to reach them; so that
if anything could be contrived which would enable a person to push on
through the foul air, it would be extremely desirable. No object was
perhaps of more importance in mining than the recovery of the men who
happened to be in a mine when an explosion occurred. He believed three-
fourths of the lives were lost in this way, not from the explosion itself,
but from the deleterious air afterwards—commonly called the after-damp.
[Mr. Easton—Nine-tenths.] A very large proportion, indeed, were lost
in that manner. He did not think this subject had been as much attended
to as it deserved; but, he trusted more attention would be paid to it in
future.
Mr. Easton remarked that one full inspiration of carbonic acid gas
was sufficient at all times to produce asphyxia.
Mr. Boyd said, he was just going to make the same remark. In one
case he had made application to a medical man, and his answer was—
" where a man is once prostrated with it, all the power on earth would
be of no avail."
Mr. Barkus said, there must be some mistake as to the properties of
the gas they had to deal with after an explosion. That part of the mine
where an explosion occurs, will be filled with about 9-10ths of atmospheric
air, and l-10th of carburetted hydrogen. The former
composed of 77 parts nitrogen,
23 parts oxygen,
100
And the latter of equal parts of carbonic acid gas and hydrogen,
or 69*3 of nitrogen,
207 of oxygen,
5 of carbonic acid,
5 of hydrogen.
100
6
After an explosion, the oxygen and hydrogen unite and form watery
leaving the nitrogen and carbonic acid (which is usually termed after-damp)
to be removed mechanically by the current of pure atmospheric air when
directed into the mine. Having been induced to descend Springwell
Pit, on the 6th of December, 1837, after an explosion, in order to assist
in getting to the men lost on that occasion, accompanied by Messrs.
Southern, Sinclair, and my son, we proceeded beyond where the air had
been confined (in consequence of the lamps burning so bright and
clear), in the direction of that part of the mine where the people had
been working; however, after proceeding a short distance, the first-
named two gentlemen complained of unpleasant sensations, and almost
immediately became powerless, inasmuch, that they had to be carried out
into the air-course; during this time, the lamps continued to burn the
same as when in a pure atmosphere, without showing the usual symptoms
of the presence of carbonic acid gas. A peculiar atmosphere must have
been formed here to support flame, but destructive to animal life.
Mr. Sinclair said, they had known instances where persons had been
got out alive, after breathing the deleterious air of the mine after an
explosion, who completely recovered.
Mr. Boyd—That depends upon the state of the air at the time.
Mr. Sinclair—Yes; but it is clear they lived sometime in the impure
atmosphere, and that showed the importance of the Belgian inquiry, as
to the possibility of introducing some method of speedily relieving them.
Mr. Boyd—There was no doubt a great many lives were destroyed
by the after-damp. This was the case some time ago in a colliery with
which he was connected. One man was saved in a district further in
than where the great majority of the bodies were found. He was himself
instrumental, under God's mercy, of saving that man, but it was only
by pushing over all the dead bodies, to the sixth board, where the man
was lying. He had not imbibed so much of the carbonic acid gas as the
others, and he was still breathing, though insensible. He was brought
out, and got well, but was about twelve weeks before he completely
recovered.
The President said, he thought it would be wrong to allow the
impression to go abroad that life was destroyed in an instant; it was only
after a man had breathed the deleterious atmosphere for some time that
life became extinct. They had known men, who must have been some
time in the deleterious gas, got out and restored. There was always
some portion of atmospheric air left after the explosion; it was seldom or
7
never entirely destroyed, and the parties, under such circumstances,
obtained a little respirable air which had been left after the explosion.
They had known persons, to all appearance dead, brought round by judi-
cious treatment: and he did not, therefore, think they ought for one
moment to sanction the conclusion, that because a person was immersed
in air which apparently was incapable of sustaining animal life, that no
means should be employed to reach him, or that life was destroyed imme-
diately. There was sufficient time, if a suitable invention were at hand
to enable a person to penetrate the deleterious atmosphere with safety, to
succeed in reaching the men, and probably saving many lives.
Mr. Easton—There are two deleterious gases produced in the mine,
carbonic acid gas and nitrogen.
The President—It is what remains after an explosion that destroys
life, what is called choke-damp.
Mr. Easton—The effect of both gases is the same; both produce
asphyxia.
The President—Whatever the effect may be, it is well known that
the men live some time in the vitiated atmosphere. They are seldom
struck down at once, but the effect upon them gradually increases, and it
goes off again on their coming into the pure air at the bottom of the shaft.
Mr. Easton—There is a partial decomposition of the air produced by
the explosion; the oxygen becomes consumed, and what is left is incapa-
ble of sustaining animal life. What is required is some means of restoring
the atmosphere quickly to its former state, or providing against the effect
of it, while immersed in it.
Mr. Longridge suggested the use of a helmet similar to those used
by divers under water, who remained immersed for considerable periods
without feeling the least degree of inconvenience. He thought such an
apparatus might be adapted so as to be applicable in coal mines, when it
became necessary to penetrate a deleterious atmosphere.
Mr. Dunn said, the principle had been carried out in the diving bell,
and Mr. Hutchinson, in his evidence before the Parliamentary Committee
of 1849, had suggested its application in mines.
Mr. Greenwell—The effects produced by carbonic acid gas and
nitrogen are quite different. The effect of nitrogen is like that of drown-
ino-; carbonic acid gas acts in the way of direct poison, but the other
merely acts by deprivation of oxygen. If a person may be recovered from
death by drowning, so may he be restored from the effect of nitrogen,
provided it has not gone too far.
8
The President—Although, as was remarked by one gentleman, the
whole of the air in the mine was destroyed by the explosion, there was
still remaining a portion, more or less, of atmospheric air mixed with the
gases, and though the air in that state might not be capable of sustaining
animal life for any long period of time, it might still do so till relief was
obtained. He thought it quite practicable that contrivances might be
struck out which would enable a person to enter the impure atmosphere
of a mine with safety after an explosion.
Mr. Barkus (taking up the elastic tube of the gas pipe which lay
upon the table, and applying the end of it to his mouth), said, he thought
some handy apparatus of that kind, which a man could seize upon and run
along the bords with, applying it to his mouth when necessary, might
be easily contrived, the man carrying one end and the other being attached
to an air pump.
The President said, he thought a man might carry with him a supply
of extremely condensed oxygen, to be made available when necessary.
He considered it desirable that the attention of the public generally
should be called to the subject, which was of a medical as well as of a
mechanical nature, and for that purpose he suggested that the proceed-
ings of this meeting in reference thereto should be published in the local
newspapers, to draw the attention of the scientific gentlemen of the dis- „
trict to the subject.
Mr. Easton, with reference to the remarks of Mr. Green well, said,
that carbonic acid gas, when inhaled by a person, produced spasm of the
epiglotis, and prevented inspiration. Nitrogen did not do so, but it acted
upon the lungs. Both, however, produced asphyxia. Nitrogen did not
destroy life immediately, but gradually; the other, carbonic acid gas,
almost instantaneously.
Mr. Greenwell—I differ with you.
Mr: Boyd—In the case to which he had alluded, several of the men
were found not quite dead; they were not absolutely dead, though they
were so to all appearance; but they all died on being carried out into
the air, except the man who was found farthest in, and who only reco-
vered after twelve weeks.
Mr. Easton—The men all knew the effect of the deleterious gases,
and the practice of the old men in the colliery trade was a very sensible
one, although they acted without knowing the reason why. The first
operation was to place the man's head in a hole in the ground, from
which a sod or turf had been cut. If he were to breathe the pure atmos-
9
phere at once, in the weak state the lungs are in after being some time
in the deleterious atmosphere of the mine, it would probably destroy life
instead of saving it. The air in passing through the soil became some-
what changed, so that it was less injurious under the circumstances.
After some further conversation, it was arranged that Mr. Sinclair
should receive any essays on the subject of the Belgian inquiry from the
members of this Institute, and gentlemen of the district who might be
disposed to investigate the matter, and forward them to the Belgian
Government Commissioners.
Mr. T. Y. Hall submitted several beautiful drawings of his improved
safety-lamp, which were inspected by the President and the members
present.
The meeting then adjourned.
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE
of
MINING ENGINEERS.
GENERAL MEETING, DEC. 1, 1853, IN THE LECTURE ROOM OF THE
LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
NICHOLAS WOOD, Esq., President of the Institute, in the Chair.
The Secretary having- read the minutes of the last general meeting,
The President stated that, since the last meeting, the Committee
appointed to ascertain " Where, and on what terms, a suitable room for
the meetings of the Institute, with convenient offices adjoining, where
the library of the Institute could be kept, and members have access to it
at any time, could be procured," had had a meeting with Dr. Charlton
and Mr. Leadbitter, and had drawn up a report upon the subject, which
the Secretary would read.
The report was then read by the Secretary.
A plan of the building was also exhibited, and the proposed altera-
tions, in order to adapt it for the use of the Institute, were explained by
the President \ after which it was unanimously resolved, " that the
Committee confer with the Committee of the Coal Trade, in order to
ascertain whether they would join the Institute in'the occupancy of the
building."
The President said, the regular course of proceeding would be to
take the discussion upon Mr. Taylor's paper, " On the Existence of the
Fire-Damp of Coal Mines in a state of High Tension in situ," and " On
Safety-Lamps," on which subject a paper by Mr. Hall was read at a
previous meeting. He was happy to say that they had three papers to
read that clay; but still he thought it best to follow the rules of the
Vol. II.—December, 1853.
12
Institute, and first to take the discussion upon papers which had been read
at previous meetings. They would not, therefore, take any discussion
upon the papers that would be read that day, but any explanation might
be given upon any point which required explanation. As the discussion
upon Mr. Taylor's paper came first before the meeting, he should now be
happy to hear any remarks from any gentleman upon the subject. He
had been told that Mr. Easton had something connected with it to state
to the meeting, and he should be happy to hear him.
Mr. Easton said, he merely had to observe that, about a week ago,
there was an irruption of gas in Hebburn Pit, and as Mr. Taylor's paper
was very much in point, he had simply taken notes of the facts, and
reported them to that gentleman, with a pencil sketch of the part where
the irruption occurred. It was a matter of very little consequence, he
considered, but the circumstances connected with it were rather unusual.
The President—Perhaps you could favour us with a sketch, and a
brief description of it, which we might embody in the proceedings of the
Institute.
Mr. Easton said, the drifts were three in number, and two of them
had reached the dyke, and probed the fissure of it. The third one was
going under the top coal, and had reached within about two feet of the
dyke. An irruption of gas came through the top coal, and the most
remarkable feature connected with it was the circular shape of the hole,
showing a very singular operation of the gas. The hole was as perfect
a, circle as could be \ it was almost two and a half feet in diameter, and
three feet in depth. The gas accumulated for a few minutes, but the men
were not frightened by it; they were working with lamps, and scarcely
noticed the place foul. This was the first instance he had met with of a
blower producing a circular aperture by the force of its evolution. The
coal was not ragged, but it appeared just as if the hole had been bored.
The President—Were there any partings around it ?
Mr. Easton—No; it was a hole right into the fissure of the dyke.
I have not in my experience met with anything like it.
The President—Then we are to understand there were about two
feet of coal forced out of the solid mass.
Mr. Easton—Yes \ out of the top coal, which was about two feet
eight inches thick, and within two feet of the dyke. The gas blew the
coal out in a circular form.
Mr. T. Y. Hall—There was no doubt Mr. Taylor's paper was a very
able one, and one very much wanted by the Society.
13
Mr. Taylor (addressing Mr. Hall)—Have you any instance to give ?
Mr. Eeid—I have a question to put to Mr. Taylor, as regards the
length of time Percy Main Pit was filled with water. No period of
time is mentioned in his paper.
Mr. Taylor—I would give the information to-day, but I find I
cannot without referring to the original papers. I believe it was from
November to about February or March.*
Mr. Eeid—I think that has a very important bearing upon the subject,
inasmuch as the mine being filled with water to a certain height, as
soon as the water began to be lowered, a certain quantity of gas came
off. The mine was long filled with water, and it would appear that
there was an immense quantity of gas ; that the mine was making that
gas, and that at a certain regular ratio; so that it was not a sudden
burst, but a regular feed from all parts of the coal.
Mr. Taylor—No doubt that was the fact.
Mr. Reid—Therefore the time in which such quantity of gas was
coming off was very important. The subject of Mr. Taylor's paper is
an important one. We have all at times seen gas, but are ignorant of
its origin. One step is taken by this paper to ascertain in what direction
the gas comes from, whether by spontaneous combustion in the mine, or
whether it accumulated by the internal heat of the earth, or by some
other means. No doubt one element in the issue of gas from dykes where
there was a feeder of water, was the water itself. A very small quantity
of water may dam an immense quantity of gas back. Mr. Greenwell has
suggested to me to ask Mr. Taylor whether, in his opinion, if the mine
had been longer in an abandoned state, there would have been a much
larger emission of gas ?
Mr. Taylor—I think, under the particular circumstances of that
mine, as explained in the paper, the probability is, that the gas was
escaping by some extraneous means or other. There was some "broken,"
and means of escape might be provided in that way. Without entering
into the question at large, he believed the gas did continually issue from
the coal, and the reason why it did not assume a higher tension was, that
it escaped at four-and-a-half atmospheres. As Mr. Dunn suggested, and
as was also explained in his (Mr. T.'s) paper, part of the discharge woujd
* On the 10th March, the water reached the confined air space of the mine, the
air and gaseous products having been previously drawn off by the pipe apparatus
laid down for that purpose. On the 14th June, the Bensham Pit was filled with
water up to the high seam. On the 15th November, the water began to be lifted
*>ut. On the 7th of the following March, the water-blast took place,
f
14
take place through the water itself, so that they could not ascertain from
that particular experiment the tension capable of being assumed by the
gas, or how long it would be before the gas and water were in equilibrium.
Gas would also be absorbed by the water, and that would keep down its
tension. He had no doubt the gas was issuing the whole time.
Mr. Be id—It was very important to have the area of coal, and the
time during which the gas was accumulating.
Mr. Taylor—With regard to the maximum tension, the highest
tension he had heard or read of was a case related in " Silliman's Journal,"
where a column 400 feet in height was displaced by carburetted hydrogen
gas. That amounted to twelve atmospheres. In the other case, it was
only four-and-a-half atmospheres, which was the highest he knew of it
assuming in a mine. There was no doubt the gas issued all along, and
as soon as the tension of the gas balanced the column of water in the
shaft, it escaped.
The President—The elasticity of the gas would overcome the pres-
sure of water, and so create the water-blast; but that does not show what
was the tension of the gas in situ; it was no doubt very much higher.
Mr. Taylor—We have a right to assume that the gas issued all the
time. It might have issued to the extent of ten or twelve atmospheres.
The President—That is, if there had been a sufficient height of
water ?
Mr. Taylor—When we had an opportunity of measuring it?, it was
at four-and-a-half atmospheres. That is noticed in the paper, and so far
is an answer to Mr. Keid's question.
Mr. Reid—In that case I think we cannot doubt that gas does issue
at an immense pressure, without reference to dykes.
Mr. Taylor—It becomes a modification of the same thing. The gas
exists in situ in a high state of tension, and escapes through the capillary
pores of the coal gradually. Sometimes, however, it comes off with great
force, as in the case mentioned by Mr. Easton just now.
Mr. Dunn—Is the water-blast ever known to take place until the
water column has begun to be lowered by pumping, or does it take place
by a gradual accumulation of gas ?
The President—In this case it did accumulate.
Mr. Dunn—But suppose the water had not been lowered, and the
gas had been allowed gradually to increase, would the water-blast have
taken place ? Can any gentleman give us an instance ?
Mr. Hall—Yes, I can do so. At the Towneley Pit (about thirty
15
years ago), which is from sixty to seventy fathoms in depth, a drift had to
be driven for an air-way in a fiery seam to another smaller pit, or staple.
After the drift was holed through from the pit to the staple the gas
issued out of the coal so strong that it accumulated in the drift; and,
the engine having to stand, the water coming down both the shaft and
the staple got several fathoms above the level of the drift in each. The
water in the shaft being heavier than that in the staple, the gas getting
stronger and stronger in the drift lifted the water in the staple up to the
top, a distance of about twenty fathoms, where Thomas Eobson, over-
man, and several others, together with myself, were sitting. The con-
tinuation of the staple not being directly above the point where we were,
the body of water spread in all directions, forcing us away from the
place, and there being no other outlet but the staple the water returned
into it. The water in the shaft, on the gas escaping, rushed into the
drift and filled it, meeting that from the staple, and leaving a portion of
the water still in the shaft and the staple, above the mouth of the drift
at each side. The gas still continued accumulating in the drift, and
when it became strong enough again lifted the water, until the engine
drew it off below the drift. Mr. Hall illustrated his observations, by
means of a diagram, of which the following is a copy:—
The President—That would be a case of the gas having lifted a
column of water twenty fathoms in height.
Mr. Taylor—Still it does not show the maximum tension of the gas.
16
We do not know what the maximum tension is. I may refer you to a
passage in my paper, put in with reference to that subject. " A question
arises as to why the elasticity of the confined gas was between four and
five atmospheres, and not mora or less ? I apprehend that this tension is
in the particular case, to be regarded as a minimum; for in so large a
mine space, where some pillars had also been removed, means of escape
might be created for the gas, which did not exist previously to the open-
ing of the mine. It is not improbable even that a portion of it penetrated
the interposed water barrier, because seriform bodies easily find their way
by absorption into that fluid, especially under pressure. These circum-
stances, rather than a want of sufficient tension in the gas, may assist,
in the present state of information at least, to explain why a water-blast
did not take place when there was a considerably greater depth of water
in the shaft, than that under which the irruption actually occurred."
Mr. Jas. Longridge—It appears to me as if the gas had been cooled
from the coal or come off suddenly, because in the first instance it would
be compressed in the workings of the mine, and it would not be until the
water was lowered to a certain point, equivalent to the tension of the
compressed gas, that the gas would reach the bottom of the shaft. Now,
if there had not been a sudden evolution of gas from the coal, it ought to
have passed off gradually, but, as I understand, it came off suddenly in a
large quantity and with great violence. I do not think it would have
done that unless there had been a great and sudden discharge or evolution
from the coal. It would have remained compressed in the workings, and
as it was gradually cooled, would have escaped gradually by the shaft
and without explosive violence. I cannot reconcile the facts as set forth
in the paper with the assumption that there was no extraordinary discharge
from the coal.
The President—The fact was, the elasticity of the gas was overloaded.
Suppose the water pressure in the first instance was greater than the
pressure of the gas, if that extra pressure were removed, then the pressure
of the gas would put the water in motion; a much stronger power would
be required to put it in motion when at rest; then, when once it got into
motion, it would come off in a water-blast. They knew that water-blasts
did take place where there was no discharge of gas whatever. If you
have pent up in a close place a quantity of atmospheric air, and you
remove the pressure from the air, you will find that in some way or other,
you will have what may be termed a water-blast, although there is no
increase of gas at all. Valuable as this paper is, I think it by no means
17
proves what the tension of gas is in situ. [Mr. Taylor—Clearly not.]
I think it far beyond four-and-a-half atmospheres. I think if they had
not commenced pumping, the elasticity of the gas would have lifted the
whole of the water. [Mr. Taylor—Provided it did not escape by some
other channel.] The elastic force of the gas, as Mr. Easten had shown,
was far beyond four-and-a-half atmospheres; that pressure would not
have thrown off two-and-a-half tons of coal.
Mr. Easton—We did not ascertain the weight of the coal thrown
off. It was broken into fragments and scattered about. I recollect a
case where the gas came off several feet below the water, which ebbed
and flowed as regular as the vibrations of a pendulum, and when the gas
came off the water fell.
The President—This paper does not show the utmost tension of
which gas is capable, and I am sure the Institute would be indebted to
any gentleman who has any experience of facts relating to the subject for
the information. It would also be very desirable if members would
communicate such facts to the Society when they do occur.
Mr. Greenwell—There has been a fact stated to-day which shows
that gas does exist in a state of very high tension.
Mr. Longridge—I believe that the gas exists either in a solid or
liquid form.
Mr. Taylor—I quite agree with you that it may exist in that state;
but I was anxious not to mix up theory with the consideration of the
question.
The President—You think it may exist in a solid or liquid state ?
Mr. Taylor—Yes.
Mr. Eeid—I believe Professor Earaday tried with a pressure of fifty
atmospheres to solidify carburetted hydrogen, and failed.
Mr. Easton—Professor Earaday liquefied bicarburet of hydrogen
gas with a pressure of thirty-nine atmospheres, under a temperature of
minus seventy-seven degrees. He could solidify carbonic acid gas, but
he could only liquefy bicarburetted hydrogen.
Mr. Reid—Mr. Taylor advocates the safety-lamp to a greater extent
than he does ventilation. Now, I think there is an impression out of
doors that unless we can ventilate in some better form than at present we
should use the safety-lamp altogether.
Mr. Taylor—I have stated in the memoir, with regard to ventilation,
"That no portion of this memoir is intended to disparage improvements
in mine ventilation. On the contrary, the most efficient practical develop-
Vol. ii.—December, 1853. c
18
ment of a ventilating system is held to be necessary, not only in fiery
mines but in those yielding incombustible gases, perhaps equally wasteful
of human life. One of the results of the line of argument in this paper
is to show that a superior ventilation is required to dilute and remove the
ordinary issues of fire-damp; but what is also contended for is, that we
must not attempt to carry ventilation beyond its legitimate object, the
real question being, whether we are justified in encountering an enemy of
so powerful, and yet so insidious a nature, as the one we have described,
without some protection beyond that of a good ventilation." No doubt
ventilation was desirable, but where gas existed in situ, not with a pres-
sure or tension of four atmospheres only, but, as he believed, with a
tension of twenty atmospheres, or more, it is absolutely necessary to use
the safety-lamp.
Mr. Eeid—I have had an instance in which the gas came off with
such a pressure that the safety-lamp was almost valueless.
Mr. Taylor—You mean near the point of issue. But that is not
the question. The gas travels until it becomes mixed with the atmospheric
air and comes in contact with the light, and an explosion is the consequence.
Mr. Dunn—That establishes the utility of lamps. What would you
do with naked lights in such a case, when the gas has reached the explo-
sive point ?
Mr. Eeid—We were obliged to use naked lights in the case alluded to.
Mr. Taylor—In consequence of the quantity of fire-damp ? ,
Mr. Eeid—No; under circumstances which shall be hereafter com-
municated to the Institute.
The President—There is no doubt Mr. Taylor has protected himself
quite strong enough with reference to ventilation, because he certainly
does say, "depend upon ventilation in cases where ventilation is useful,
and where it is complete." But there is one expression which rather
tends to lead to the conclusion which Mr. Eeid mentions—" What is
contended for is, that we must not attempt to carry ventilation beyond
its legitimate object." I suppose what Mr. Taylor meant by these words
was, that we should not rely upon ventilation in such cases, but resort to
something more than ventilation. There is no point of ventilation where
we ought to stop. [Mr. Taylor—Not at all.] The greater the ventila-
tion the better. [Mr. Taylor—By all means.] But that we should not
entirely rely upon ventilation, but also rely upon the safety-lamp. I am
glad Mr. Taylor has been called upon by Mr. Eeid to give this explanation.
Mr. Taylor—The whole paper tends to that conclusion.
19
Mr. Dunn—It amounts to this. Suppose a set of fiery workings,
and an abundant supply of air going through the workings, the question
arises, is it the best practice to work with naked lights and a good venti-*
lation, or is it better to work with safety-lamps, with or without blasting—
I mean in the face of workings which require to be bratticed to keep
them safe, but where there is abundant ventilation going on. Some
persons, perhaps, are working with lamps, some with naked lights, where
should the line be drawn, under the expectation that some of these places
would suddenly discharge gas, which Mr. Taylor says exists there in a
high state of tension.
Mr. Taylor—No doubt there would be difficulties, as Mr. Dunn states,
in drawing the line. There is difficulty also in saying what collieries
yield gas of great tension, and what yield it in the more common or
liberated form. There is the same difficulty in establishing the line in
both cases. But, sometimes the line is established already. Haswell
Colliery, for instance, was a case where 35,000 cubic feet of atmosphere
was rendered inflammable in a few minutes.
Mr. Dunn—But I think in certain parts of it the bords are worked
with candles.
Mr. Taylor—In that case, the ventilation was at the rate of four-and-
a-half feet per second.
Mr. Dunn—How many cubic feet per minute ?
Mr. Taylor—About 9,000 or 10,000.
Mr. Dunn—Now, with a greater amount of ventilation—-and this is
a matter in which I feel greatly interested, on account of my official
position—with a greater quantity of air going through the workings,
and a number of men are employed, is it a proper practice to work with
candles or lamps, and ought blasting with powder to be permitted or not 1
Mr. Hall—We ought to have that from the Inspector himself.
The President—I was just going to say so.
Mr. Taylor—Will the Inspector inform us what is a good current of
air?
Mr. Dunn—About 10,000 or 12,000 cubic feet per minute.
The President—I think the subject a very important one, and
deserves a separate discussion.
Mr. Taylor—I have been accumulating more facts upon the subject,
and I shall be happy to take an early opportunity of bringing the subject
again before the Institute. I think it will be better to defer the final
discussion till that time.
20
It was therefore agreed that the discussion be adjourned, after which,
The President called the attention of the members to an under-
standing come to some time ago, that there should be a holiday at the
close of the year, when it was resolved that the next general meeting of
the Institute should be held in February, thus omitting the January
meeting.
The reading of the following papers was then proceeded with, after
which the meeting separated.
IMPROVEMENTS IN COLLIEEY WORKINGS,
AND
OBSEEVATIONS ON SAFETY-LAMPS.
By T. Y. HALL.
This Society numbers amongst its members many of the most expe-
rienced and able mining engineers in the United Kingdom, and also
a great number of persons who are engaged in the immediate direction
of large collieries. However important the questions of lighting and
ventilation undoubtedly are, it is not less the object of the Institute to
illustrate the economical system upon which collieries are worked.
A correct understanding of this is essential to the future development
and prosperity of that great branch of national industry, the Coal Trade.
With this object in view, I beg to offer the following remarks, premising
that I do so on general principles, and with a view to illustrate what I
conceive to be correct rules, and without any invidious feeling towards
individuals or parties. The interests of humanity, and justice towards
the labouring colliery population, demand that every precaution against
danger to life or limb, shall be taken which art can suggest and money
command; and it is an honourable trait in the character of the coal
owners in the North of England, that they have ever exerted themselves
to attain this object; but besides providing what is due to the safety of
their workmen, their own advantage, intimately involving that of the
public, ought also to be fairly considered.
I will first refer in general terms to what I have effected in reducing
the working charges of collieries, since my connection with the Coal
Trade began, about twenty-six years ago. These are noticed in the
paper I recently read on the safety-lamp. The extensive changes
and reforms which have been carried into effect, in the Northern
Coal-field, since that period have far exceeded those introduced in the
22
other coal districts of the United Kingdom; they have been successful
as well as extensive, and the expenditure of capital proves to have been
as judicious and profitable as it was liberal.
These improvements resolve themselves into two branches, the saving
of working charges and the remuneration for capital invested. The
means by which they have been effected are as follows.
First, the abolition of the use of corves, and the substitution of tubs
with carriages attached thereto, having wheels suitable for edge under-
ground rails, instead of the old system of trams and tram plates.
This had been attempted by the late Mr. Thos. Easton, at Hebburn
Colliery, about the year 1827; but, in consequence of the difficulties of
conveying loose corves upon trams, and the objections of the boys em-
ployed as putters to continue their employment, he was compelled to fall
back upon the former arrangement, which continued up to the time
when I introduced the new plan at South Hetton, Towneley Main, and
Whitefield Collieries. It was then taken up at Hebburn, by Mr. J as.
Easton, son of the late Mr. Thomas Easton, who again introduced it
into that and every other colliery of which he had the charge; and, in
fact, it has now become universal throughout the trade in this and many
other countries.
This improvement led to others. The one next in importance to the
adoption of tubs was the construction of perpendicular guides in the
shafts of pits, so as to admit of the raising and lowering of cages
attached to the ropes with great rapidity, and without any undulation in
the shaft.
The former mode of slinging corves, with workmen and boys, up and
down the shafts, was very objectionable and dangerous—so much so,
indeed, that no set of men could now be induced to return to the practice.
The third improvement was, that the guides secured such uniformity
and despatch, that one engine and one pit or shaft were enabled to per-
form double the work that had been done before, in even these two
counties. I understand such can now be proved by Mr. William Ander-
son and Mr. N. Wood, to be the case at Harton Colliery (1300 feet in
depth) near South Shields, and at Killingworth Colliery also, which I
believe to be three times the depth, and to yield four times more per
annum per pit than upon Mr. Curr's plan, adopted in the year 1794, near
Sheffield. The guides, on my plan, became so safe as to produce great
regularity and quickness, and, by concentrating the powers of the colliery
more fully upon one focus, simplified and cheapened every auxiliary
23
operation. Upon this foundation every other contingency, so far as
relates to the expenditure of capital, depends, no matter in what situation.
If even there were off-shoots from the pit which were unsuccessful, all
the weight would be thrown upon the stock, which must, more or less,
bear the burden.
Other collateral advantages, though not all of the changes just
described, will be found in the following particulars. A larger quantity
of coals can be much more safely and easily conveyed in tubs, with suit-
able wheels, than by corves, with an improved and lighter line from the
face of the coal in the various workings to the bottom of the shaft, thus
abolishing the expensive system of conveying coals in bogies, drawn by
horses, upon a heavier line of rail, and lifting the corves by crane from
the bogies to the tram, where the putter took possession of them, and
vice versa.
The system now in operation is to employ large horses, where the
seam is suitable, or where roads sufficient for the height of the horses
have been cut, to the places where the cranes stood; putters and Shet-
land ponies being substituted from that point or station to the face of the
coal, to draw tubs, with bogie wheels upon light edge rails, instead of
corves conveyed loose upon trams, along common metal and malleable
iron tram plates, or wooden ways, as formerly.
This system also admits of the employment of self-acting planes or
steam machinery with small wire rope, with greatly increased simplicity,
facility, and cheapness, and it is attended by this satisfactory reflection,
that it is not likely, at all events not very speedily, to be superseded by
any other.
By the agency of this system, the pits at Towneley Main and White-
field Collieries, about 500 feet deep, twice the quantity of coal per annum
was produced from one pit that had previously been produced from two
under the former system; and at South Hetton, 1,100 feet deep, it
performed double the work ever effected of that estimated for any pit
similarly circumstanced.
Neither colliery owners nor any other persons throw aside plans that
have answered well, until superior ones are devised, and nothing of this
kind has yet been discovered, nor even hinted at, up to the present period;
nor do I find any other improvement done, or suggested, even by our
Government Inspector, Mr. M. Dunn. The modes of carrying out the
improvements described differ according to the varied requirements of the
respective pits. ? Those most suitable for pits in general are shown in the
24
plans and diagrams prepared by Thomas Sopwith, Esq., which accom*
panied a model of my design of a pit shaft with guides and cages,
constructed by that gentleman some time ago, exhibited (as may be
remembered) at the Polytechnic Exhibition of Newcastle, and afterwards
deposited in the Museum of Practical Geology, in London, where they
are open to public inspection.
To show of what vital importance these changes have proved to the
coal trade, I may be permitted, in substance, to repeat the statement
made in my paper; observing that it would be easy for me to enume-
rate names and instances sufficiently well known to silence doubt or
objection were that statement impugned.
There can be no question that, during the last twenty years many
collieries have been compelled to sell their produce at from a third to a
half less price than they obtained previously; and it must be obvious
that it would have been impossible for them to have done so, had it not
been for those reductions in the working charges upon which I have
dwelt, and which have effected a saving to the coal trade, in the counties
of Durham and Northumberland, estimated at least at three-quarters of
a million sterling per annum.
London, which, twenty years ago, required two millions of tons of
coal per annum, up to the present time, this year, has had four millions.
It would not cost much trouble to enumerate the few colliery owners,
for few they have been, who have paid expenses; besides the loste of
interest upon the enormous capital embarked in colliery enterprises; the
vicissitudes and vexations to which they have been annually exposed, and
the augmention of their capital accounts by the addition of the losses
they have sustained.
Viewing the case through this medium, I greatly fear that, instead of
my former views on these points having been overcharged, it will be con-
fessed they have rather been underdrawn.
So enormous indeed has been the loss accruing from coal mining
operations, that in Fordyce's History of the County of Durham it is
stated that nearly two millions sterling have been exhausted and wasted
in this manner by two joint-stock coal mining companies, the proprietors
never deriving a farthing from the undertaking, to say nothing of dis-
appointed hopes and misapplied energies.
But passing from this topic, on which too many cases of a like nature
might be mentioned, let us look at one of more immediate and practical
importance.
25
Assuming, as I have high authority to do, the capital in the Coal
Trade at this time, in the counties of Durham and Northumberland, to
be £13,000,000, without public railways that have got Acts of Parlia-
ment, and have bought their own land (£12,000,000 is too low a
computation, taking all circumstances into account), and assuming the
gross quantity of coal raised to bank at 13,000;000 tons, taking also the
per centage upon capital, for interest, risk, and redemption of capital, at
H\ per cent, (as stated in my former paper), the amount is equal to Is. 6d.
per ton, or upon each pound sterling, which is 7 j per cent.—about double
the sum named in my paper. Even at 5 per cent., it would be about Is.
or Is. Id. per ton; which is double what I have estimated and stated, on
the £25,000 and £50,000 capital alluded to below for 100,000 and
200,000 tons per annum, for one pit, &c, upon an improved system at
full work, supposing the capital to be only twelve millions; it could not
be much less.
This will clearly show that I take a low basis when I state the capital
required to produce 100,000 tons to be £25,000, and to produce 200,000
tons £50,000. The average is calculated by me upon these capitals and
the improved system being 6|d. per ton, for each pit at full work. I am
satisfied that my estimate of the reduction of working charges was
underrated at three quarters of a million, which is equal only to about
Is. or Is. Id. per ton on the aforesaid quantity. I base this conclusion
upon my own practical experience in extensive concerns of which I have
had the management, and many others within my Knowledge. Twenty
years ago, the best coals were selling at double the present price; ten
years ago they experienced a decline; and since that period have not
averaged more than half the price paid twenty years ago. This was the
case both in England and foreign countries. Within the last six months
there has been an universal change for the better.
I mention this to show that many additions to capital account must
have been made within the ten years to which I refer, which would
certainly have been greatly increased but for the improvements I was
instrumental in establishing, in working the collieries in the Northern
Coal-field.
If these facts be worth anything, they show the importance of per-
severing in a similar course of improvement wherever the door to it may
be opened, assuming that we would maintain the northern counties in the
high position they have hitherto held in the Coal Trade.
If I have not already trespassed too long upon your attention, I shall
Vol. II.—Dece'mber, 1853. »
26
feel obliged by your granting me your indulgence for a short time longer,
while I make a few observations upon the miners' safety-lamp.
I have it from good authority that four-fifths of our mines are worked
by them; and the same authority states that the whole of our coal mines
would be so if a good safety-lamp with gauze (not glass) were provided.
Such a lamp, I have for some months past, been engaged in bringing to
a state which at length justifies me in recommending it to the consideration
of our inspectors of mines, and to all classes concerned in mining operations,
as one combining greater brilliancy with greater safety than any by
which it has been preceded. After the copious details and illustrations
of the invention which have appeared in the papers printed in the
" Transactions" of the Institute, and in other publications, I feel it to be
wholly unnecessary, at the present moment, to enter into any relation of
technicalities, and would rather confine myself to a statement of the
opinions of its merits concurrently expressed by some gentlemen, whose
judgment, based upon long and matured experience, would entitle it to
my submission even if it differed from my own, but which, I may be
allowed to say, has still stronger claims to my respect since it coincides
with my own opinion. Amongst the gentlemen I allude to, I may be
permitted, I hope, to ^mention our President, Nicholas Wood, Esq. \ and
the following gentlemen have also expressed their approval:—
Mr. Thos. John Taylor, Mining Agent to the Duke of Northumberland.
Mr. Thos. Sopwith, Chief Mining Agent to W. B. Beaumont, Esq., M.P.', and
Commissioner to the Crown under the Dean and Forest Act.
Mr. Wm. Anderson, Mining Agent to the Earl of Lonsdale, &c, Sec.
Mr. Hy. Morton, Chief Agent to the Earl of Durham.
Mr. Geo. Elliot, Mining Agent to the Marquess of Londonderry.
Mr. R. Heckels, Mining Agent to the Earl of Durham.
Mr. Thos. Wood, Managing Owner at Ludworth and Thornley Collieries.
Mr. John Dobson, Architect, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Mr. John Robson, Managing Owner for several Collieries.
Mr. Edw. Potter, Managing Owner for several Collieries.
Mr. Wm. Barkus, Mining Agent, Gateshead Fell.
Mr. M. Liddell, Mining Agent for Gosforth and Mickley Collieries.
Mr. Jas. Easton, Mining Agent for Hebburn and Gateshead.
Mr. Wm. Armstrong, Mining Agent for Lord Howden, Wingate Grange and Castle
Eden Collieries.
Mr. Thos. E. Forster, Mining Agent for South Hetton, Seaton Delaval, &c.
Mr. Thos. Storey, C.E., St. Helen's Auckland.
Mr. P. S. Reid, Viewer, Pelton Colliery.
Mr. G. C. Greenwell, Viewer, Mining Agent to Messrs. Bowes, Wood, and Palmer,
Marley Hill and other Collieries.
27
Mr. Robt. Simpson, Radstock Colliery, near Bath, and Managing Agent to the
Stella Coal Company, at Towneley and Whitefield Collieries, Ryton, County
of Durham.
Mr. Wm. Watson, Viewer, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Mr. Hy. Watson, Manufacturer of Safety-lamps, &c.
Messrs. J. Abbot and Co., Manufacturers of Safety-lamps, &c.
Mr. Wm. Hunter, Mining Agent for several Collieries. (" You have attained two
great desiderata, increased light and perfect safety."—W. H.)
Dr. Richardson, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Mr. W. G. Armstrong, F.R.S., Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Mr. Robt. Hawthorn, Engineer, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Mr. Wm. HaWthorn, Engineer, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Also two others, who were formerly pitmen. One of these is now a viewer :
the other, when a boy, was employed to work a steel mill, to light the hewers at
their work in the mine at Wallsend Colliery.
I may here add, that the above list contains the names of nearly all
the gentlemen to whom I have shown my improved lamp. All of them
have had opportunities of personally testing its qualities 5 and I believe
they will not be disinclined to continue to bear testimony in its favour.
Two eminent borers, George and Pawling Stott, Ferryhill, Durham,
came, half an hour ago, to get one of my lamps, to enable them to judge
of the different quantities and qualities of gases let off while boring-
through the different stratifications of stone and coal seams. They are
now boring where they expect to approach a coal seam, formerly worked
to a great extent, and filled up with water. They contemplate that the
gas accumulated therein will be corked up, so that the tension in situ
will be very great, and the same will come up the bore-hole, when
approached with the bore-rods. In this or any similar case, it may be
ascertained when gas is coming off, either in large or small quantities,
by closing up the hole all round the bore-rods, and having a small pipe
connected with a hole; and also by a tap-cock to let the gas into the
safety-lamp, the flame of which will thereby be so much changed in
appearance as to indicate its presence.
I shall be glad to have an opportunity of showing it to the members
of the Institute,, and to any other person who may have a desire to form
his own opinion upon a personal inspection, rather than take it from the
dictum of others, however high in professional character or position. I
do not say this from any wish to exalt my lamp unduly in the estimation
of those who hear me; but I wish my invention to be judged by its own
merits—by nothing more and by nothing less—to have, in short, a fair
field and no favour. We know that there may be a disinclination to
28
disturb the state of things that has prevailed since the introduction of
Sir Humphrey Davy's, Stephenson's, and Upton and Roberts'—gauze
lamps, like my own. Among some papers which have been placed in my
hands by the widow of the late Rev. John Hodgson, Rector of Heworth,
I find, by a series of memoranda kept by him, from the time of the
Felling Colliery explosion, about the year 1812, until after Sir H. Davy's
and Stephenson's lamps were made, that our President had something to
do in assisting to invent or make the latter—a plan of which I now pro-
duce, with the originals of Sir H. Davy's, and a diagram of my own,
together with the lamp itself. I have also a hot oil lamp which answers
well. My dioptric lens lamp I may be able to produce to your notice at
the next meeting; in the meantime, any one is welcome to see it at any
convenient time. So far as my lamp is concerned, I will venture to
repeat, in conclusion, that I now feel assured of success. I am diffident
at all times of expressing strong opinions ; but in this case I am firmly
persuaded that it will be a boon long wanted in the mining world, and
prove instrumental in the preservation of life and property. Fortified
as I am by the opinions expressed by the eminent individuals whose
names I have mentioned, I invite the public to favour me with their
encouragement. Utility is the test of merit, and to that test I cheerfully
submit the product of my labours. It is not alone for the preservation
of life that an improvement in lighting is required, (although that, of
course, is of the very first importance), but for the advantage of the
colliery owners themselves, whose pecuniary interests invariably suffer
whenever an explosion takes place.
The damage occasioned by the blasting of a mine is much more con-
siderable than persons unacquainted w;th colliery operations can possibly
conceive. The derangement occasioned in the workings and air-ways of
the pit is almost always such as to require great expense and time to
restore them to their former condition. This occurs in ordinary cases; but
in more severe explosions the shafts and air brattices are also injured;
and before the damage thus caused can be remedied, the colliery is fre-
quently laid off for a considerable time, during which, all the establishment
charges, rents, interest, and other fixed payments, keep of horses, &c,
have to be sustained, though not a ton of coal is drawn. Although I
have had the good fortune to avoid explosions in the collieries with which
I have been professionally connected, for upwards of thirty years, yet I
have been employed to restore, and assist in restoring some in which
casualties of this kind of the most injurious description have occurred;
29
and I can, therefore, speak without reserve as to the greatness of the stake
which colliery proprietors, from mere regard to their own interests alone;
and without reference to other considerations, have in the safe working*
of their mines, and in the use of lamps, which shall be satisfactorily
shown (as mine I am satisfied can be) to afford the best light, with the
greatest security from danger. In this district, I may refer to Towneley
Main, Whitefield, Washington, and Wallsend Collieries in support of my
observations upon this point. But the most serious explosion, perhaps,
that ever occurred in any part of the world, was that at the Blackheath
Pits, Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States, when the amount of
loss, in injury to the mine, sacrifice of life in negro workmen and horses,
derangement and long suspension of the colliery, loss of profit, interest,
&c, did not fall short of £40,000 to £50,000. I would refer to two
other mines, the Etna and Mid-Lothian (adjoining Blackheath), in the
latter of which, the most deplorable consequences ensued. In each case
the managers had given up the mines; but the fires were extinguished
under my advice and superintendence. In the Blackheath pit, in 1839,
when I cleared the mine, the gas was in the whole of the workings, which
Varied in height from twelve to twenty feet, and the gas came out so
strong to the bottom of the shaft, that it prevented any person from pro-
ceeding further. I undertook the work, six or eight months after the
calamity occurred, and cleared the mine of the gas, brought out the dead
bodies (seventy or eighty in number), together with the horses, &c, and
set the pit to work again.
The Mid-Lothian pit was exploded by a naked light setting fire to
the coal, which came in contact with the brattice conveying air down one
portion of the shaft and up the other, after going through the workings.
In this case, I succeeded in rescuing one of the agents and also a number
of the workmen. After the manager and his son had abandoned the pit,
the brattice referred to was burning, and burnt out for fifty or sixty feet
opposite the furnace drift, whilst I was bringing up those whose lives
were placed in the most imminent peril. The danger was so great, that
the flames would in a few minutes have reached the top of the pit, had I
not given orders to close it, even before the horses could be extricated.
The pit was closed for about six months, in consequence of the standing-
coal being on fire near the bottom of the shaft, before it was thought
prudent to re-open it. Before many weeks had elapsed, the gas made in
the mine filled the whole of the workings, and came up to the top of the
pit against the covering placed over it, which stood twelve feet above the
30
surface of the ground, and the walling of the cover not being tight, the
gas issued twenty yards through it, got into the engine-house where
naked lights were placed, and ignited there. The Blackheath pits, in
which I am still largely interested, have suffered several disasters up to
the present time, since I left the management.
It is a great mistake, therefore, to suppose that the agents or owners
of collieries can be indifferent to the safety of their workmen, seeing how
closely it is interwoven with the protection of their own property. Still,
I would respectfully repeat that, although much has been unquestionably
done to guard against these destructive visitations, much yet remains to
be done.
The lamp to which I have drawn your attention (I am afraid at
somewhat too great length), and for which I have obtained the protection
of a patent, appears, according to the authorities which I have mentioned
and the tests which it has undergone, to combine, in the greatest degree
yet discovered, increased light with increased safety. I have to express
an earnest hope that the colliery proprietors in the North of England
may be induced to investigate and adopt the improvement which I have
brought before them and the mining community at large; at all events,
that they may, both for their own safety and from a due regard to the
valuable lives of their workmen, give my humble, but I trust useful,
invention a fair trial.
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE GREATER FACILITY OP
VENTILATING DIP THAN EISE WOKKINGS.
By G. C. GREENWELL.
That the circumstance implied in the title of this paper is of uniform
occurrence is an acknowledged fact, the reason of which has frequently
been discussed among practical miners, without, however, their arriving
at any mathematically correct conclusions on the subject, the importance
of which, when viewed aright, is not inconsiderable, as will be seen in
the sequel.
In treating of this matter, I shall do so entirely apart from all
considerations connected with the greater lightness or heaviness than
atmospheric air of the gases met with in mines, and as the mere abstract
question which it is my present object to elucidate.
The rise and dip of the strata forming the Newcastle Coal-field are in
general so gentle, that we have rarely opportunities presented to us of
making observations in point, upon an extensive scale, while it is under
such circumstances alone that we are enabled, by the striking facts which
we observe, to draw any just inferences.
The great elevation of the rise workings above, and depression of the
dip workings beneath, the level of the bottom of the upcast shaft at
Backworth Colliery, where, as the workings approach the ninety-fathom
dyke, the strata dip to the south at an angle of from 20° to 30°, afforded
an excellent opportunity of examination, and, at the suggestion of
Mr. Thomas John Taylor, I, in January, 1844, made the observations
from which I obtained the results, which I now beg leave to submit to
the notice of the Institute.
32
The relative position of the rise and dip workings, with regard to the
upcast shaft at Backworth Colliery at the above date, may be represented
by the annexed diagram.
A B the downcast shaft for the rise workings ; depth, 53 fathoms.
C the rise extremity, 11 fathoms above B, and 43 fathoms above F,
the bottom of the upcast shaft.
G F a bratticed shaft, one side being the downcast for the dip work-
ings, and the other the upcast for the whole colliery; depth, 85 fathoms,
E the extreme dip, 48 fathoms beneath the level of F, and 80 fathoms
below B.
Mean temperature of downcast for rise workings - 43'875°
Mean temperature of downcast for dip workings - 45*937°
Mean temperature of upcast.....77*5°
Mean temperature of B C.....53*125°
Mean temperature of C F.....58*5°
Mean temperature of F E (Intake) *¦ 62*25°
Mean temperature of F E (Return) - 66*123°
From these data we derive the following as being the comparative
powers available for the ventilation of the rise and dip workings.
1. RISE WORKINGS.
The difference in weight between the downcast and upcast columns
m this case, which produces the current of air through the rise workings,
is expressed as follows :—
33
Feet.
(Gj^!/F) 77'5 - 4:3-875 = 16.124ffc of air at 43.g75o _ in air at 50° to 16-324
!• 480 + 45-5
j_F (77*5 - 58*5) = 9<328 ft of air ftt 5g.5o = in air at 5Q0 tQ _ m 9.171
480 + 45*5
"i ^4!2217Jok75) = 1-218 ft- of air at 43'875° = « air at 50° to - 1-233
26-728
of air at 50°, which is equal to a pressure of 2*6277 lbs. avoirdupois upon the
square foot.
2. DIP WORKINGS.
The difference between the weight of the downcast and upcast columns
is here as follows :— Feet
1 JlZj77'5 -45-937) SQ.m ft f ajj. t 45.9370 _ in air at 50o to . 30.691
480 + 45-5
F e (66-125 - 62*25) 2.17Q ft f ^ t 62.25o in air t 5QO t m 2>118
^* 480 + 34-125 _
32-809
of air at 50°, which is equal to a pressure of 3*226 lbs. avoirdupois upon the
square foot.
We have, therefore, a preponderating power as applied to the dip
workings of 3*226 — 2*6277 = '5983 lbs. per square foot, which proves
of course, that so long as there was sufficient area in the dip airways to
prevent the resistance of these workings offering any barrier to its pro-
gress, no air at all would pass through the workings situated to the rise.
Were the necessity, where practicable, of having upcast shafts situated
to the extreme rise of a colliery not so universally admitted, it would be
established by the experience of such facts as those given above. One
practical conclusion may, however, be drawn therefrom, which I think
has not received the attention which it merits. I refer to the mode in
which air is coursed in districts of pillars.
In order to base my observations upon what has been, and yet is the
actual practice, I shall take as an example the plan prefixed to the Rev.
J. Hodgson's account of the explosion at Felling Colliery, which occurred
on the 25th May, 1812, and which represents the workings as they
existed at that date. (Plate I.)
It will be here observed, that, although we are informed in this
account that the rise of the seam from A to B was nearly twenty-three
fathoms (or 550 yards at 1 in 12, see pp. 6 and 33), the whole of the
coursing was conducted up and down the full rise direction of the seam)
Von. II.—December, 1853. e
34
and the number of courses being* very considerable, and the air becoming*
gradually warmer, both in ascending and descending towards the bottom
of the upcast, it will be readily seen how a powerfully antagonistic force
was at work, which would very materially detract from the ventilating
power of the upcast shaft.
We may then lay it down as a rule, that in coursing the air through
a district of pillars, we should never carry the courses upon the rise, but
always upon the level direction of the seam. Where the exit is at the
rise extremity of the district, there is no other arrangement required;
and when at the dip, the coursing should still be along the level, working
upwards, excluding, however, the necessary returns to bring the air down
from the rise extremity. (Plate II.)
It is, perhaps, needless to remark that the sheth stoppings should be
at the low ends of the bords or walls, as shown in the plate, in order to
prevent the possibility of any accumulations of gas, which might take
place below the stoppings, were they placed at the contrary ends.
There are some other cases in which we find this principle violated:
thus, we sometimes observe in the ventilation of two panels of dip
workings placed contiguous to each other, the current of air which has
been employed to ventilate the first, employed (after having been brought
up to the top of the panel) to ventilate the second also; although, after
having performed the first portion of its duty, it may have attained a
higher temperature than the natural temperature of the mine.
In conclusion, I feel persuaded that there are many cases in which the
observation of the principles involved in the foregoing remarks would
materially improve the ventilation of such mines more especially as have
their beds lying at any considerable degree of inclination, although there
are no doubt instances in which they might be applied advantageously to
others; in fact, I view the matter as one of those details (apparently
trivial), the combination of which in practice conducts to that perfection
which, as has been well remarked, is, of a verity, no trifle.
ON CHOKE DAMP,
AND
THE MEANS OF COUNTEKACTING ITS EFFECTS.
By JAMES A. LONGRIDGE.
The attention of the members of this Institute, during* the first year of
its existence, has been chiefly directed to the subject of Ventilation, and
particularly to the examination of the comparative merits of the Furnace
and the Steam Jet as agents for that purpose. By the elaborate experi-
ments which have been made, and the full discussions which have taken
place, we may be content to leave that question as it now stands, and
turn our thoughts to other matters; not that we are to sit down satisfied
that we have done all that can be done to ensure safety to the miner, but
that we have proved that, so far as safety is dependent upon quantity of
air, the question as between the Furnace and the Steam Jet is set at rest.
There are other questions of great importance, such as the proper distri-
bution of the air, the size of the air-courses, &c, which may well occupy
our attention, and by bringing to bear upon them the vast amount of
practical data already in existence, and which only requires collecting and
classifying, there can be no doubt that a most valuable addition would
be made to our knowledge of this branch of Ventilation, and that the
degree and nature of the resistance which the air undergoes in its passage
through the mine, might become a matter of strict calculation instead of
vague surmise.
It is not my intention at present to enter upon this branch of the
subject of ventilation, nor indeed upon that subject at all, but rather upon
one cognate to it, and probably of equal importance. In looking over
the immense mass of evidence which has from time to time been given
relative to accidents in mines, we are struck with the fact, that by far the
greatest proportion of that evidence bears upon the modes of preventing
36
explosions, and yet in the very same evidence is found the somewhat
startling* fact, that by far the greatest mortality attendant upon these
accidents has been caused, not by the explosion itself—not by the fire—8
but by the consequences of the explosion, the after-damp.
It is stated by those of great experience, that at least 70 per cent, of
the deaths in fiery mines is to be attributed to after-damp, and by some
this estimate is carried as high as 90 per cent. In the great Haswell
accident, it is stated, that of ninety-five deaths twelve only were from
fire, twelve from concussion, and seventy-one from choke-damp, and there
can be no doubt whatever of the fact, that by far the greatest proportion \
of mortality arises from this latter cause. It seems, then, strange, that
when such should be the.admitted fact, and whilst so much should have
been done to prevent explosions, so little has been done to palliate their
consequences.
I believe that no amount of care, no amount of ventilation will prevent
accidents from explosion, and this belief is strengthened by the perusal of
the valuable paper read before the Institute by Mr. T. J. Taylor, " On the
State of Tension of Fire-damp in sitii" I entirely agree with the author
of that paper, that, looking at the proofs we have of the natural state of
fire-damp being that of a high degree of tension, accidents are more
likely to occur from a sudden outburst of gas from the whole coal, where
probably for days previous no symptoms of gas had been seen, than from
the workings in the broken, which for a length of time had been subjected
to a process of drainage, if we may so term it, by which the gas had passed
gradually away; and I further agree with him in his recommendation
that safety-lamps should be exclusively used in fiery mines, and especially
in the whole coal workings. Were this rule strictly adhered to, the
number of explosions might probably be considerably diminished, but
from time to time they would occur in spite of every precaution.
It, therefore, behoves us to consider in what way we may render them
least fatal in their consequences, and as it is to the after-damp that the
greatest mortality is attributable, I propose to myself to direct your
attention in this paper to such means as have been proposed, or as appear
feasible, to avert its deadly consequences.
As some of the means that have been suggested are dependent upon
chemical action, it is proper at the outset to state briefly the chemical
nature of choke-damp, and its action upon the animal economy.
Choke-damp, or after-damp, is a combination of gases in varying
proportions dependent upon the peculiar circumstances of each explosion ;
37
these gases are nitrogen, carbonic acid (and perhaps in some cases,
carbonic oxide), carburetted hydrogen, and atmospheric air.
In some cases, those in which the fire-damp is mixed with atmospheric
air in a certain definite proportion, viz.:—One part of the bihydruret to
four parts of air, the following is the product—
v. i ( 1 of carbonic acid.
1 bihyd. carbon rt _
A . J < 2 of water.
4 air.
/ 8 nitrogen.
H2 C + 4 (0 N2) = C O2 + 2 H 0 + 8 N.
If now a greater proportion of atmospheric air be present, it is evident
that its excess must as far as the bihydruret of carbon is concerned, be
undecomposed.
In other cases, when this excess exists, it may enter into combination
with small particles of coal and coal dust set on fire by the explosion,
and a large quantity of carbonic acid may be generated.
At times, probably generally, the evolution of fire-damp may continue
after the explosion, and we would find it present in the choke-damp.
Hence, we see that, in certain circumstances some of these gases
may be in excess, and in different circumstances others, and it is therefore
obviously impossible to predicate the constituent parts of so variable a
mixture, and this alone would be a ground for distrusting any appliance
of chemical re-agents, were they in other respects applicable.
As regards the action of these gases on the animal system, a good
deal of discrepancy exists between the opinions of different persons,
arising chiefly from overlooking the above fact, that it is not with the
pure gases we have to deal, but with mixtures in various proportions.
Nitrogen may be inhaled pure without inconvenience, but in an
atmosphere of nitrogen a man would soon die for want of the oxygen
necessary to produce a certain chemical change in the blood. Other
gases, such as cyanogen phosp. and carb. hydrogen are simply poisonous.
Others again, such as carbonic acid and chlorine, are not only poisonous,
but in a concentrated form cannot be inhaled from inducing a spasmodic
contraction of the glottis, but in a diluted form they may be inhaled
without inconvenience, or at least some of them. Carbonic acid, for
instance, when diluted with atmospheric air, may be respired, and the
many deaths which have occurred from the use of the charcoal brazier for
heating rooms, in which the sufferers have passed from life to death
without a struggle, are proofs that this gas in a diluted form, though a
deadly poison, may be inhaled without inconvenience.
38
Such being the nature of the atmosphere which supervenes in a mine*
after an explosion, and cuts off all communication between the workings-
and the shaft, the question arises in what mode are we to deal with it.
I think no practical man will deny the assertion, that in the state of
confusion in the mine consequent upon an explosion, where stoppings and
doors are blown out and crossings destroyed, no general means can be
effective. No operations carried on from bank by steam jets or fanners
forcing air down the shaft, or by large pipes laid in to refuge stalls, can
do much good. Practically we must descend the shaft, replace stoppings,
and carry the air with us till we get to the workings; and, alas ! too
often get there too late.
Looking at the complicated magnitude of the workings in an extensive
mine, and the derangement consequent upon an explosion, it does not
seem to me that the difficulty that is to be contended with can be met
otherwise than by the adoption of some system, whereby each individual
miner shall be rendered as independent of the influence of choke-damp,
as by the safety-lamp he has been rendered independent of that offre*
damp. His safety should not be based upon the perfect action of any
general system, even were that ordinarily practicable, inasmuch as the
failure of one portion of that system might be fatal, not to an individual,
but to all—but each man should have his independent safeguard, which
at any moment he might have recourse to. By this conviction I have
been influenced in devising the apparatus now brought before you, but
before entering upon its description I will advert shortly to the means
already proposed, so far as they have come under my cognizance, for
accomplishing the same purpose.
The first is that proposed by Mr. Elliott, in his evidence before the
Lords Committee, in 1849 (3604), when he proposes, by means of pipes
laid from bank, to convey to the scene of explosion quick lime and water,
or oxygen gas, previously in readiness on the surface, for the purpose of
absorbing the poison of the carbonic acid and imparting to the residual
nitrogen a quantity of oxygen, which would render it fit for respiration.
Now, the first objection that occurs to this system is, that the remedy
could scarcely be conveyed to the scene of explosion. In an exten-
sive colliery it would require a system of piping analogous to that
required for the distribution of gas in lighting a town. The piping must
be co-extensive with the workings, and a system of stop-cocks would be
necessary for each district. If all these cocks were left permanently open,
the gas or the lime water would be distributed over all the outlets, and
39
probably but a small portion would reach the spot where the whole was
actually required. If, on the other hand, the cocks were kept shut,
there would be no possibility after an explosion of reaching those which
required to be opened so as to supply the materials required at the right
place. But independent of this mechanical objection, there arises another
of no less force. If it were possible to convey to the district—the scene
of an explosion—by means of these pipes, a supply of lime water or of
oxygen, I apprehend it would be impossible so to distribute these ele-
ments as to make them subservient to the preservation of life. In order
that these re-agents may be effective, they must be supplied, not only in
large quantities and within a short space of time, but they must be
brought rapidly in contact with the elements with which they are to
combine and react. The lime water, to absorb the carbonic acid gas,
should be spread over a large surface—should be distributed almost in
the form of spray throughout the poisonous atmosphere—a condition
quite incompatible with the mode by which, and the circumstances under
which, it is proposed to be supplied; the oxygen gas again would equally
require diffusion, and though diffusion is a law of gaseous matter, yet
for that diffusion time is required, and in that time the life which it was
sought to preserve would have perished.
Furthermore, could these difficulties be provided against, there still
remains another, viz.:— the maintaining a constant provision of the
chemical elements, in sufficient quantity at the surface, ready at a moment's
notice to be brought into operation.
The next suggestion is that of Mr. Barkley, for refuge stalls, Lords
Report, 1849 (4315). "The means I propose is a refuge chamber placed
in the main intake of each panel, and supplied by artificial means with
respirable air." And again, speaking of Robert's Safety-hood, he states
(4316), "The principle of it was this: the carbonic acid gas was passed
through lime water or chloride of lime, and in so doing the foul or destruc-
tive portion was precipitated, and the oxygen set free, affording the agent
necessary for the support of life." And he continues to describe the
mode of application of the principle to the refuge chambers, stating (4320),
" I would conduct the bad air (pressing in to fill the partial vacuum formed
by the action of the pump) through a composition as described. The
carbonic acid would precipitate and form chalk, while the oxygen would
alone enter, and, by supplying the necessary ingredient, would prolong
the inmates' existence for a sufficient period to permit of their being reached.
Now, with respect to this Mr. Barkley seems to be under a miscon-
40
ception as to the nature of the action of lime water on carbonic acid gas.
He speaks of the noxious portion being precipitated and the oxygen set
free, as though the lime water had the power of decomposing the carbonic
acid. As, however, the residual atmosphere is not one of pure carbonic
acid, nor yet of pure nitrogen, but of a mixture of these gases, with, in
most instances, a certain quantity of undecomposed atmospheric air, it is
possible that by some such arrangement the atmosphere might be rendered
to some extent less noxious, but whether it would be sufficiently so as
to support animal life is, to say the least, so problematical that it could
scarcely be depended upon as a means of safety. In most cases the
probability is, that after the carbonic acid had entered into combination
with the lime, the nitrogen would be so much in excess as to effect by
suffocation that which the carbonic acid would have effected by a different
process.
The idea of refuge stalls, thrown out by Mr. Barkley, has been
extended subsequently in 1832 by others, who, abandoning any system
of chemical action, simply propose to make these refuge stalls reservoirs
of atmospheric air, to which the men could betake themselves after an
accident.
Now, in this proposition there are four things involved.
The first is, that these stalls should, under ordinary circumstances, be
in connection with the regular system of ventilation of the mine. If they
were not they would soon become stagnant spaces in which an impure
atmosphere would accumulate unfit for respiration. It would further be
requisite that some mechanical device should be resorted to, whereby, on
the occasion of an explosion, these reservoirs should separate themselves
from the ordinary ventilation, and shut out from their interior the foul
air. Such a self-acting mechanical arrangement might fail in its action,
and the refuge stalls fill with choke-damp, and so be utterly useless for
the purpose they were intended for.
In the next place, these refuge stalls should be so frequent as to be of
ready access to men from all parts of the workings; and lastly, they
should be of sufficient capacity to support life to their inmates until the
ventilation of the mine could be restored.
Now, with respect to this latter point, Mr. Gurney, in his evidence
before the Committee of 1832, seems to think it practicable so to construct
these refuge stalls as that they should serve as a place of safety for the
men for a long space of time, say twenty-four hours or more. None of
the witnesses who spoke in favour of these refuges appear to have gone
41
into any calculation respecting the quantity of air required to support life
for a given time, and, consequently, their evidence is entirely deficient
in a point of the highest importance, viz., the requisite capacity of these
places. In order to arrive at precise information on this point, the
following calculation is submitted.
According to Dumas, on an average a man, by respiration, transforms
into carbonic acid, in one hour, all the oxygen contained in 90 litres, or
19T8^ gallons of air = 3-^ cubic feet = 91 \ cubic inches per minute; but
100 parts of air, according to Thompson's experiments, performed with
very great care and by means of electricity, contains 80 of nitrogen and
20 oxygen, a statement varying somewhat from the ordinarily received
opinions formed on the experiments of Dalton, Davy, and others, but
which is probably more correct than the ordinary statement, inasmuch as
it accords with Gay Lussac's law of the union of gases in ratios the most
simple, and it also agrees exactly with the specific gravity as calculated
from that of the component gases and of the compound. Thus, the
specific gravity of nitrogen being 972*2, and of oxygen 1111*1, we have—
Oxygen. Nitrogen. Air.
972-2 x 4 x 1111*1 nnon . ..' , .
-----= 999*9, the specific gravity of air ; consequently
91*584 cubic inches of air contains 91*584 x 0*20 = 18*3 cubic inches
of oxygen.
Now, the volume of carbonic acid produced is exactly equal to that of
the oxygen consumed in its production, consequently carbonic acid pro-
duced = 18*3 cubic inches per minute.
Now, according to the experiments of Allan and Pepys ("Phil.
Trans.," 1808, &c), air is no longer respirable, i.e., it produces asphyxia
when it contains 9 % °f carbonic acid; hence, the carbonic acid generated
per minute will vitiate ^ ^ * = 203 cubic inches of air, to which
9
we must add the air from which the oxygen consumed in the production
of the carbonic acid was derived, viz., 91 \ cubic inches, and we get the
total quantity of air vitiated or rendered unfit for respiration, 294| cubic
inches per minute = 10J cubic feet per hour. This is for respiration
alone; but in addition to this, an allowance should be made for trans-
piration through the pores of the skin.
It is stated in Dr. Reid's " Elements of Chemistry" (p. 570), that the
skin affects the air much in the same manner as the lungs, carbonic acid
being produced and' oxygen consumed. The same thing is stated in
Fyffe's "Elements" (p. 316), who refers to the experiments of Collard
Vol. II.—-December, 1853. p
42
de Martigny (" Med. Eep. N.S.V."), but I regret I am not able to state
to what extent this action takes place. Perhaps it would not be far
from the truth in adding, for transpiration and vitiation from perspiration,
2\ cubic feet per hour, which will make the quantity altogether 13 cubic
feet per hour. Consequently, a refuge stall to hold twenty men would
require 260 cubic feet per hour, or for 24 hours, 6,240 cubic feet, equal
to a bord 12 feet wide, 5 feet high, and 104 feet long.
The next system to which I will direct your attention, is that
proposed by Mr. Hutchinson, in 1849, in his evidence before the Lords
Committee (1524).
He proposes that, in order to penetrate the noxious atmosphere, a
man should carry in with him a bag of air, of which he states 4 or 5 cubic
feet would last half an hour. He speaks also of a mask with a valvular
arrangement, so that the expired air shall pass off direct into the atmos-
phere. Now, this proposal is a step in the right direction, inasmuch as
it renders each man, to the extent of the air he takes with him, independent
of all general arrangements ; but, in the form proposed, it would be found,
from the cumbrous size of the apparatus, utterly impracticable in practice.
Mr. Hutchinson seems to have miscalculated the quantity of air required,
or rather to have based his calculations upon the quantity actually vitiated,
to the extent of producing asphyxia, rather than upon that actually passed
through the lungs, and expired in a less vitiated form.
As we pointed out before, the quantity actually rendered unfit for
respiration by the lungs, is at the rate of 10J cubic feet per hour, which
agrees with Mr. H.'s estimate \ but this is what would produce asphyxia
in a person breathing it, not what he would require to support him so as
to be able to give active assistance to others, or repair damages in the
mine, and that this is what Mr. Hutchinson means is evident, since he
speaks of the expired air escaping direct into the atmosphere.
The quantity of air required under these circumstances would be from
300 to 320 cubic inches per minute, and about 80 for the lamp, say in
the whole 400 cubic inches per minute, or 14 cubic feet per hour.*
Now, a bag to carry this quantity, or even half of it, would be by far
* Estimate of Quantity of Air required per Minute.
For one Man.—According to Dr. Thompson, a man inhales on an average 320 cubic
inches of air per minute.
Mr one Lamp.—A safety-lamp burns about 0*016 lbs. of oil per hour.
¦Now, oil contains in 100 parts 78 carbon, 11*5 hydrogen, 10*5 cftygen, but 6*12
carbon requires 16 oxygen.
78 X 16
.*. 78 carbon requires = 204 parts of oxygen.
Again, 11*5 lbs. hydrogen require 11 "5 X 8 = 92 oxygen.
43
too bulky, and would be found impracticable to use it in many cases,
where from falls in the roof, the passages would be much contracted.
The principle, however is good, and it is with a strong conviction of
its goodness and value that I set about devising the instrument which I
now bring before you.
It is represented in Fig. 1, and consists of two parts. 1st. The reser-
voir containing the air, which is to serve for respiration, and which is
compressed to a very high degree of tension, so as to reduce the bulk;
and 2nd, of the respiratory apparatus, the object of which is as follows.
The air in the reservoir being at first at a very high degree of pressure,
and that pressure gradually diminishing, it is obviously necessary to
provide some means whereby it may reach the lungs under a uniform and
moderate pressure. This is accomplished by the regulating* box, which
is in fact a self-acting valve, by which the compressed air is let to escape
from the reservoir.
This is represented in Section in fig. 2, and consists of two conical-
shaped vessels made of tin plate, AA and BB bolted together by the
flanges at CC. To the small end of BB is attached a brass valve-piece
D, which screws into the stop-cock E, communicating with the reservoir
of compressed air. The valve-piece has two apertures GG opening into
BB, and these apertures are opened or shut by the sliding-piece FF.
The two conical vessels A A and BB are separated by means of a
flexible diaphragm of india rubber KK, held between the flanges. This
diaphragm is connected with FF by means of the spindle H, which is
screwed into FF. I is a pipe to which is attached a flexible tube,
through which the air passes to the lungs, and L a smaller pipe to sup-
ply the lamp if required.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:—In the first place the
spindle H is turned until the diaphragm assumes a slightly convex form
as MM, by which means it has a tendency to force down FF and open
the ports GG. The amount of this tendency depends upon what we may
term the working pressure in BB, i.e. the pressure at which it is desirable
/. Total oxygen required = 204 + 92 = 296; and deducting the 10*5 oxygen
contained in the oil, there requires 285*5 oxygen for 100 of oil, or 2*855
oxygen for 1 of oil.
Now, 8 of oxygen is contained in 36*4 of atmospheric air.
.*. 2*855 of oxygen is contained in 36'4 * 2'8^ = 13 parts of air.
Consequently, # part of oil requires 13 parts of air, and air required per hour =
0*016 X 13 = 0*208 lb. ; but 1 lb. of air = 13 cubic feet.
Air consumed per hour = 13 x '208 = 2*704 cubic feet
tov - , =77 cubic inches pei minute.
Which added to the quantity required for the men = 400 inches per minute.
44
to bring the air to the lungs. This may be regulated with the greatest
nicety, and varied at any time by simply turning the spindle H, so as to
be either superior or inferior to the atmospheric pressure. Ordinarily
the working pressure will be slightly superior to the atmospheric pressure,
and in this case the diaphragm will be made slightly convex towards AA,
So soon as the pressure in BB is diminished, the diaphragm opens GG,
and a fresh supply of air passes from the reservoir; but the moment the
pressure in BB exceeds the working pressure, the diaphragm is forced
towards AA, and shuts off the supply. By this action then a uniform
degree of pressure is maintained in BB, whatever be the amount of
pressure in the reservoir.
The rest of the apparatus consists of a flexible tube, through which
the air is conveyed from the regulating chest to the mouth or nostrils,
and the valvular arrangement connected therewith. In some cases it may
be sufficient simply to insert the end of the pipe into the mouth, and the
small nostril-valves into the nostrils. These valves are perfectly simple
in construction, and consist of a piece of india rubber tube closed by a flap,
and admitting of expiration, but preventing inspiration. But another
arrangement may be found preferable by means of which inspiration and
expiration are both performed through the nose. This consists of a small
valve-chest with two valves, one opening inwards and the other outwards.
The one opening inwards is made of india rubber, and is stretched to
such a degree that it will not open by the pressure of the regulating box,
but only when the force of inspiration is added thereto. The reservoir
may be slung either in front or behind, and the small pipes of the nostril-
valve being inserted in the nostrils,' the man is ready at a moment's
notice to pass with safety the deadliest combination of gases. In cases of
need, a small branch pipe may be attached to the safety-lamp, and thus
furnished, forth he may enter an atmosphere of pure carbonic acid.
But it is not only as a means of giving assistance to those below that
I propose this apparatus. If it has any value it is in its portability and
adaptation at a moment's notice, and I would propose that each man and
each boy should each day take with him his supply of air, as he now takes
with him his Davy-lamp. The apparatus would then be within reach,
and in case of an explosion, might be applied at a moment's notice, and
the men, the vast majority who are not burnt or injured by the concussion,
might at once proceed outbye to the shaft, or even commence at once to
restore the ventilation by repairing stoppings, &c, &c.
I have only further to direct your attention to the mode of filling the
reservoirs with compressed air.
45
This may he done by an ordinary compressing- or condensing1 Syringe,
or by a small hydraulic press force-pump, worked either by hand or
attached to the steam engine at bank. In this latter mode water would
be forced into a reservoir of suitable size, to which the smaller reservoir
to be filled would be attached by a screw coupling. As the water was
forced in, of course the air would be expelled from the larger into the
smaller reservoir, and by a proper proportion of the capacities of the two,
and the size of the pump, any required degree of pressure might be
attained. But the system which I would reccommend, as at once the
simplest and most effective, is the following.
In some convenient place at the bottom of the shaft I would place a
hydraulic press with two cylinders, one directly above the other and firmly
connected to it, and a double ram, fig. 3. The area of ram in the lower
cylinder A would be to that in B as pressure arising from a column of
water equal to the depth of the shaft to the pressure to which the air was
to be compressed, with an allowance of course to overcome the friction of
the ram. To the lower cylinder A is connected a small pipe, say of 1J in.
diameter, leading to a cistern of water at the top of the shaft; and to the
other cylinder B another small pipe leading to bank, to bring down the
pure air. Each of these pipes is furnished with a cock or valve, as E
and F. The cylinder A is provided with another cock G. To the top
of the cylinder B is screwed the small reservoir, which is to be filled with
compressed air, provided with its own stop-cock. The action of the
apparatus is very simple \ the cocks F and G being shut, and E open,
the column of water in the pipe E enters A, and forces up the ram A,
and with it the ram B, driving all the air in B into the small reservoir.
The cock E is then shut, and F and G opened, when the water escaping
by G, the ram descends by its own weight, and B is again filled with
fresh air from bank, through the pipe F. This process is repeated until
the required quantity of air is forced into the small reservoir, when it is
removed, and another similar vessel takes its place until the whole are
filled.
I would further propose to have another pipe I, with its stop-cock
leading from B to a large reservoir, fig. 4, which should be kept constantly
full of compressed air. The object of this reservoir is two-fold. First,
that there might always be a supply to fall back upon in case of emer-
gency ; and secondly, that each man's reservoir being daily applied to it
as he goes to work in the morning, he may be sure of his taking it with
him charged at the proper pressure.
On leaving work each man would leave his apparatus in the air-room,
46
in which the filling apparatus, &c, is placed, and before he took it out
again in the morning, it would be examined by some one whose duty it
would be to see that it was in proper order and duly charged with air.
It would also be part of this person's duty to maintain the large reservoir
always full, and at a proper pressure; also to blow off a small portion
daily, and replace it by the hydraulic ram, so as to keep it in proper
working order. All this would not take much time, and would become
a matter of simple routine duty. He would first put the ram into operation
in connection with the large reservoir. If the pressure was maintained,,
then he would one by one screw on to a convenient branch in connection
with it the small reservoirs} after which he would examine the regulating
boxes and the respirators, and then put them together ready for the men.
Then, after greasing or oiling the rams, his duties would be at an end for
the day.
ADDITIONAL NOTE.
I further propose that at certain places throughout the mine large reservoirs be
placed, containing a supply of compressed air, and communicating by lines of
wrought-iron piping with the hydraulic press. Such reservoirs may be made about
thirty inches diameter, by ten feet long, and would be kept constantly charged, so
that in case of a heavy fall, whereby men might be shut in for a considerable
period, they might always have recourse to these depots ; and unless the line of
piping was injured, a supply of air might be kept up for an indefinite period. Such a
vessel as proposed would contain 84,840 cubic inches, which, compressed to 100
atmospheres = 8,484,000 cubic inches; and allowing 320 inches per man per
minute = to a supply for one man for 442 hours, or for twenty men for twenty-two
hours. /
It is evident, therefore, that half a dozen such vessels, distributed in different
places in the mine, would be of great service in the preservation of life, in cases-
where the men might be shut in by falls of so heavy a character as to require a con-
siderable space of time to remove them.
Vessels of the dimensions above proposed should be about two inches thick, and
in order to avoid, as far as possible, accident in case of their bursting, they might
be isolated by being placed in a situation removed from the men, and a small pipe
connected with them brought to any convenient spot, to which the men might have
a ready access. This might be furnished, at intervals of two feet, with rows of
stop-cocks, to which the men might apply their regulating boxes, and so remain in
safety, whilst others are working at the removal of the obstacles in the air passages,
¦so as to restore the ventilation. It is hardly necessary to add, that each of these
large vessels would be furnished with a valve at its junction with the supply pipe,
opening inwards, so as to admit the air, but prevent its return along the pipe in
case the pipe should be damaged by any accident.
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE
of
MINING ENGINEERS.
GENERAL MEETING, FEB. 2, 1854, IN THE LECTURE ROOM OF THE
LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
NICHOLAS WOOD, Esq., President of the Institute, in the Chair.
The minutes of the Council were read. One of the resolutions adopted
by the Council related to the printing and revising of the papers read at
the meetings of the Institute, and the report of the discussion upon these
papers. The Council recommended that the manuscript of the short-
hand writer should be laid upon the table of the Institute, on the Saturday
next after each meeting; that it should remain there for the perusal of
members, and revision by those who had taken part in the discussion,
until the Tuesday following, when further revision was to be entrusted
to the President and Mr. Thos. John Taylor. The minutes of the Council
were unanimously confirmed.
The President stated, that an arrangement had been effected with
the Committee of the Coal Trade, for the joint occupation of apartments
in the building lately occupied by Mr. Leadbitter, at the west end of
Collingwood Street. The arrangement, he was happy to inform them,
had been effected on. satisfactory terms, and in a week or two the rooms
would be accessible to members at any time. The next subject was the
election of members, and he had to propose, on the recommendation of
the Council, some gentlemen connected with mining upon the Continent
He had no doubt they would contribute to the Institute that knowledge
of facts relating to Mining Engineering of which they had so many
opportunities of availing themselves, and, on the other hand, the Insti-
Vol. ii.—February, 1854.
48
tute might reciprocate those services. The President then proposed
Baron Yon Humboldt ; Herr R. Yon Carnall, Mining Inspector, Berlin;
M. De Yaux, Inspector General of Mines, Brussels; Mons. Gon6t,
Engineer-in-Chief, Belgium; M. De Boureuille, Director General of
Mines, Berlin ; M. Yon Dechen, President of the Royal Superior Mining
Court, Bonn, as honorary members of the Institute, which resolution was
adopted unanimously.
The following gentlemen were elected ordinary members:—Messrs.
J. P. Baker, H. S. Stobart, Rawling Stott, A. Watney, A. Homfray, and
Thomas Walker, jun.
The President remarked, with reference to the minute of the
Council respecting the printing and revising of papers, that considerable
delay had taken place in consequence of its being thought necessary to
send a copy of the printed report to every member who had taken a part
in the discussion. The Council had arranged to lay the papers on the
table of the Institute on the Saturday, and he trusted those members
who took part in the discussion thereon, and felt anxious to revise their
speeches before they were printed, would avail themselves of the oppor-
tunity thus afforded them. It was very desirable to encourage free
discussion; but, as matters irrelevant to the subject under consideration
were sometimes introduced, it was desirable to curtail such observations
in the printed reports. He hoped the members would have confidence in
himself and Mr. Taylor that nothing was omitted which ought to be
inserted, and the members would have an opportunity of supplying any
omission which they may have themselves made.
This arrangement appeared to give general satisfaction.
The President said, the next subject he had to introduce was the
establishment of a Mining School. He had already had the honour of
bringing that subject before the members of the Institute on more than
one occasion, and he was quite sure it was unnecessary for him now to
trouble them with any observations as to the necessity of such an Insti-
tution. Indeed, he thought it would be admitted by every one that a
Mining School in this district was most essential to the proper education
of those who would in future have the management of our mines. Other
classes had schools for promoting education, and he thought it highly
desirable that miners and managers of mines should keep pace with other
parties in that respect. They would have observed that in Cornwall a
Mining School was about to be established; it had long been a subject
49
of discussion there, but it was now being carried into execution. They
had first of all appointed a committee to go into the question and draw
up rules. The report of that committee had been drawn up and laid
before the general body, and it was now being printed; and, as far as he
understood, there was not the least doubt of the recommendations of
that committee being carried into full effect. This district had always
being looked upon as a proper place for a College or Mining School, and,
perhaps, very properly so, for they had opportunities of gaining information
and experience here which were not enjoyed by other places. It was only
necessary, therefore, for them to put their shoulders to the wheel, in order
to carry out the object successfully. Mining was every day becoming
more difficult. In all districts of the country they found mines being
sunk deeper and deeper down, and new difficulties were in consequence
met with. And, as most of them knew, other districts were drafting
away from here man after man, to take the management of their mines;
and he believed, at this moment, there was a scarcity of properly educated
persons to take the management of mines in this district. It was, there-
fore, absolutely necessary that education should be extended in regard to
mining beyond what had been hitherto done. They ought to have a
sufficient number of educated men, not only at present, but hereafter;
and they also required to have persons of a higher grade of education.
Indeed, he thought it almost unnecessary to make these observations,
because every one there must be convinced from their own experience,
not only of the desirability of establishing a Mining School, but that this
was the proper district for commencing one in. It had been stated to
them on former occasions, that attempts had been made to unite the two
Medical Schools in this town, and by co-operation with the University
of Durham to establish a Mining School or College here. He believed
every pains had been taken to unite these two bodies, but. he regretted
to say, unsuccessfully; and it was now deemed by every one that it was
quite impossible to bring about an amalgamation between these two
parties. The Durham University had always come forward in the most
handsome and liberal manner. The worthy Warden had always stated
that he was quite prepared to do anything towards the establishing of a
Mining School in this district, and the promotion of mining science in
general. Therefore, he thought it was only necessary for them to com-
mence, in order to ensure their being supported by the University of
Durham. They were also certain of being supported by the Central
Institution in London, having had Professor Playfair's explanation of his
Vol. II.—February, 1854. G
50
views upon the subject, who expressed the willingness of that Institution
to do every thing in their power to promote the establishment of a Mining
College in Newcastle. He was quite sure also, from what took place in
Parliament last session, with respect to the inquiry into accidents in
mines, that something of the kind will be recommended by the Com-
mittee, which is to be renewed this session. He thought, without assuming
more than belonged to them, as having peculiar opportunities of acquiring
and imparting sound practical information, which in fact no class of
miners in the country had but themselves, that they were the proper
persons to commence such an undertaking; and he believed if it were
only begun it would form a nucleus for the principal mining, chemical,
and manufacturing interests of the district, to support and carry out the
object successfully. The coalowners, proprietors of chemical works, manu-
facturers of various kinds, and mechanics' institutions would, he felt
assured, rally round them, and they would, he trusted, establish an insti-
tution which would not only do credit to their Institute, but also benefit
the neighbourhood and mining interests at large. With these observations
he would take the liberty of laying before them a resolution which had
already met with the sanction of the Council :—u That this meeting is of
opinion that the time has arrived when it is essentially necessary that a
Mining School and College of Practical Science should be established in
this district; that this Institute appears to be the most suitable body to
take the initiative in such an object; and that the Council be requested
to consider and report to the Institute the necessary preliminary steps to
be taken towards the establishment of such an Institution." If they
approved of this resolution, the Council would go fully into the subject.
They would enquire what sort of College and School would best answer
the purposes intended, under what arrangements it was desirable to
establish it, and they would prepare a report upon the subject, to be sub-
mitted to the consideration of the members of the Institute at the earliest
possible period. Although the resolution laid most stress upon a Mining
School, it was obvious such an establishment would comprise science in
general, so as to make it both useful and popular. Before putting the
resolution to the meeting, he should be glad to hear any observations
upon the subject from any of the members.
Mr. M. Dunn—The resolution only empowered the Council to inquire
into the subject, and report to a subsequent meeting of the Institute.
The President—That is all. The subject will then come fully
before the Institute.
51
Mr. Barkus said, he thought there might be considerable difficulty
in carrying the matter out, as he considered it might involve a degree of
responsibility which this Institute did not contemplate at its commence-
ment. He should like to know what sort of responsibility the members
of the Institute would be called upon to bear.
The President said, all these details would be explained when the
Council went into the subject. He did not apprehend that the funds of
the Institute would be at all involved in supporting such a school; for
he trusted they would get support for such an undertaking. No doubt
as individuals they were all interested in carrying the object out, and
would contribute their mite towards it. As to difficulties, he never
thought them insurmountable. They might have to deal with some diffi-
culties, no doubt; but he did not think they ought to be deterred from
the pursuit of this object by imaginary difficulties. If they made the
attempt, he had no doubt they would have the support of all the mining
interests of this district and elsewhere. While upon the Continent
recently, he had heard very strong opinions expressed with respect to the
great utility of a school of the kind in this district, where so much prac-
tical knowledge could be obtained. He should be happy to hear any
further observations.
Mr. Taylor said, the proper time to discuss the subject would be
when the report of the Council was laid before them, and they were in
possession of all the information obtained by the inquiry.
Mr. Eeid then proposed the adoption of the resolution submitted by
the President.
Mr. Longridge seconded the motion, and it was carried unanimously.
The President said, the next business would be to take the discus-
sion upon Safety-lamps, Mr. Hall's Improvements in Colliery Workings,
and Mr. Greenwell's paper on Ventilating Dip and Eise Workings.
Mr. Mackworth, who had been unable to attend, had sent a letter
containing some observations on safety-lamps, which the Secretary would
read. As Mr. Hall and Mr. Greenwell were not present, perhaps the
discussion on their papers might stand over.
The Secretary read the following letter from Mr. Mackworth:—
January 28th, 1854.
My dear Sir,—As I am unable to attend the discussion at the Institute, I am
anxious to state my views as to the employment of safety-lamps. The experiments
lately made by the President and Mr. T. J. Taylor afford an agreeable relief to the
52
quackery so often paraded, of exploding through lamps by means of a pencil of gas
forced upon the gauze, and whilst they satisfy us that what Sir H. Davy long ago
told us, respecting the passage of flame at high velocities, is correct, they show
that this limit of safety is preceded by so great an intensity of heat, that the prac-
tice of mining is hardly likely to offer an example of such a contingency.
The safety of the common lamp is sufficiently shown by there being, in the
thirty-eight years of actual trial, no well-authenticated instance of an explosion
being caused by a safety-lamp. In the three coal-producing countries of the Con-
tinent, by common consent, the exclusion of exposed flame from fire-damp mines
has passed into a law, and not a doubt is entertained of the safefy of the Davy,
which, with the exception of about 8000 Mueseler lamps, in mines near Liege, is
the one universally used.
The explosions in these countries, which are not half as many as in ours in
proportion, arise either in mines where the presence of fire-damp had not previously
been ascertained, or by the opening of a locked lamp ; not in any case by the fault
of the principle of the Davy. It is high time that reprobation shall fall on the
attempts of certain empiricists, who, by denying its safety, under the guise of
humanity, are flaunting in a transient popularity, but who are prolonging the
annual sacrifice of several hundred lives, inasmuch as they divert the public atten-
tion from the point to which we must some day come, of excluding exposed flame
from every part of a fire-damp mine.
Mr. Taylor explains the signal immunity from explosions effected by the safety-
lamp in pillar workings, which are so dangerous that they cannot be worked without
them; and he shows how very little more is required to place the northern mines
entirely under lamps. But with me it is not so much a question how the best of
your northern mines are lighted ; my attention is directed to the condition of the
great mass of the other coal mines, and the reckless system adopted. The 1000
fire-damp mines which contribute the great majority of victims, are almost always
overlooked in the discussion, for the sake of the fifty which take the lead.
The unerring test of practice has decided the safety at least of the Davy,
Stephenson, and Mueseler ; let them only be completely adopted. In the average
condition of mines tfyc mixed system of lighting, the want of discipline, and the
many shortcomings, place us far below the point where the question of the safety
of the principle of these lamps ought to arise. It is not a question of safety in the
abstract, or Glover's, Hall's, and other more perfect lamps would be adopted.
The real questions in practice are the locking, the amount of light, the extinc-
tion in an explosive mixture, the value as a test for gas, the effect of ill-usage, the
prevention of smoking, and others of a similar kind.
The Davy is without a rival for testing the presence of gas, and is, therefore,
especially suitable for the deputies, but it must be recollected, that unless the flame
is diminished before using it as a test, it will not show a halo, and yet, a collier
by unscrewing his lamp at that spot, may cause an explosion.
The Mueseler, which is little more than the Clanny with a metal chimney in it,
gives more light than the Davy, and goes out at once in an explosive mixture.
Like Glover's lamp, the air enters by a double gauze, descends near the inside of
the glass so as to keep it cooler than in Clanny's, and the long metal chimney is
53
more decisive in its action than that in Glover's. At the Grand Bac Mine, near
Liege, I found 400 Mueseler's in constant use, and the breakage of glasses was
from one to four per week, but a piece was hardly ever broke out of the glass.
In June last year, I brought before the Committee on Coal Mines, an improve-
ment in safety-lamps, which I afterwards submitted to the Institute in September,
and which was contrived to meet comparatively frivolous objections which were
made to me in my endeavour to get locked safety-lamps universally adopted. I
have avoided interfering with the practical reputation of the three lamps in use,
and endeavoured, by an addition of a simple kind, at very small cost, and capable
of fitting any lamps in use, to increase the light and obviate some of the defects
which arise from the habits of colliers.
To the ordinary Davy, Clanny, and Stephenson, I have added a chimney. This
chimney A, as shown in the sketch, is of glass, contracted near the bottom to
improve the combustion. It is mounted on a cone of perforated copper or gauze
B, so that the air has to enter through a double gauze. On the top of the chimney
is a long tapering cap of copper C, which, without diminishing the light, contracts
the outlet, so that only the slightly cooled products of combustion pass, and it acts
like a gauze in checking the passing of an explosion upwards. I have adapted a
very similar contrivance to the Mueseler, and in which the air has therefore to
enter necessarily through three gauzes, and to pass out through the chimney and
two gauzes. The light is in all the lamps nearly doubled. My object has been, at
a cost of Gd., to put one safety-lamp inside another. It will fit any lamp, and can
be made by the lamp-cleaner.at any colliery.
The effect will be to prevent danger in case the glass of the Meuseler breaks, to
obviate the risk arising from dirty lamps, and to prevent any tampering with the
flame.
The locking of the lamps is, in my opinion, the most important subject connected
54
With safety-lamps. My observations of the causes of explosions tend to show, that
the use of unlocked lamps, or the partial lighting with candles in a colliery, is more
dangerous than when exposed lights alone are used. Where lamps are nominally
locked by the common screw, the men can unlock them whenever they wish to do
so, and in some instances I have found the majority of the lamps having the hole of
the screw rimed out from the frequency of the practice. To remedy this evil prac-
tice (one of great frequency and importance), I have tried several plans. One is,
the locking by a long key passing up the pillar of the lamp, and made of this length,
so that if a false key were made, it might be more easily detected on the person of
the offender. The lamp which I have sent, showing this improvement, also has a
circular wick, which is raised or lowered by simply turning the gauze. Another
plan is, a padlock brazed to the oil-box, with the keyhole downwards, to clear it of
dust; but this too can be picked. The other lamp which I have sent to the Insti-
tute exhibits the first attempt at a method of locking which at once detects any
attempt to open it. It consists of a lead rivet passing through cheeks on the upper
and lower part of the lamp. It is clinched by nippers, which leave a letter or die-
mark on the end of the rivet. To open the lamp the rivet can be cut across the
middle with a knife, and then the two ends drop out.
I need hardly say, that as my object is to simplify and remove some of the diffi-
culties in arriving at a more perfect system of lighting collieries, that any of these
suggestions are at the service of any one who chooses to apply them.
I remain, yours very truly,
Edw. Sinclair, Esq. HERBERT MACKWORTH.
A lamp, with the adaptation recommended by Mr. Mackworth, was
exhibited.
Mr. Taylor remarked, that it appeared complicated, and not calcu-
lated to give a better light than the ordinary Davy.
The President said, he certainly felt his mind very much relieved
by the experiments which he had made upon safety-lamps. He was much
more satisfied as to their safety than he was before. In these experiments,
he found that when the flame passed the gauze, it did so under circum-
stances which never ought to occur in practice. He felt quite satisfied,
that with ordinary care, the lamps used in mines here were perfectly safe.
He thought the Davy-lamp, if properly used, and if taken out of the
mixture of explosive gases, without putting it into a great velocity so as
to increase the temperature beyond a certain point, would not pass the
flame. It was certainly of importance, to know under what circum-
stances the flame would pass, so that they might guard against it. With
Stephenson's lamp, which was protected by glass, no such circumstances
could occur, and he therefore thought that lamp an exceedingly safe one.
As long as the glass remained whole, the gas would not affect the intensity
of the flame beyond a certain degree, when it would be extinguished;
55
and, if the glass broke, it simply became a Davy-lamp, and they knew
tinder what circumstances it would explode. In practice, the heat of the
flame never could become so intense as to cause an explosion. It ought
to be observed, however, that the shield was no preventive against
explosion. It was only about two inches high, and could not prevent
explosion under the circumstances elicited by his experiments; therefore,
they ought not to depend upon the shield as a preventive under these
circumstances. In ordinary practice, no case could occur wherein the
intensity of the flame would become so great as to cause an explosion.
Mr. Dunn—The inventive genius of the country was now alive upon
this subject, and it ought to be allowed to run on, without this society
pronouncing in favour of any particular lamp. It was probable that
some new invention might come out before the next meeting after such
an opinion had been pronounced. It was, therefore, desirable to let the
progress of improvement go on, and they could select out of the many
inventions brought forward, that which might be best adapted for the
particular circumstances of the mine.
The President—You are quite right. This is an age of progress^
and it is desirable it should be promoted.
Mr. Taylor (adverting to Mr. Dunn's view of the subject), said, it
might still be thought desirable to give a little direction to the inventive
genius of the country. They might assume, from recent experiments,
that practically speaking*, the Davy was a safe lamp; but, at the same
time, he was afraid they must also admit that the Davy-lamp did not
give a sufficient degree of light. If they could get a lamp to combine
the safety of the Davy with a greater degree of light, it would no doubt
be very beneficial.
Mr. Dunn thought Mr. Mackworth had admitted in his paper that
many accidents occurred in mines under the use of the Davy-lamp.
The contrary, he believed, was the fact.
Mr. Taylor said, he believed there was not one authenticated
instance of an explosion having occurred under the use of the Davy-
lamp. He had investigated the subject very carefully, and had come to
that conclusion.
Mr. Sinclair—Mr. Mackworth states the same in his paper.
Mr. Taylor—It mentions the instances of broken lamp glasses
occurring as from one to four weekly; if you multiply that by the num-
ber of weeks in a year, it will give about say 200.
Mr. Sinclair—But in all these cases the glass was not broken, it
were merely cracked.
56
Mr. Taylor—Does Mr. Mackworth say so distinctly ?
Mr. Sinclair—Yes. He says, " out of more than 200 lamps, a
piece was hardly ever broken out of the glass."
Mr. Taylor thought it worthy of consideration, whether much finer
gauze than that commonly used might not be introduced. When Davy
invented his lamp, the manufacture of wire gauze was not so perfect as
it was at present. With a greater number of apertures, the quantity of
light would be materially increased.
The President—The only question would be as to the gauze being
sufficiently strong.
Mr. Taylor—Yes.
Mr. Southern, jun., observed, with respect to the locking of the
lamps, that the principle suggested by Mr. Mackworth had been adopted
in the Stephenson-lamp in those recently constructed, and was found to
be of very great value.
The President next called attention to the other subjects of discus-
sion, when
Mr. Thos. John Taylor (in reference to Mr. GreenwelPs paper
on the " Yentilation of Rise and Dip Workings") explained, by means
of a diagram, the difference of resistance at various points in coursing
the air through the workings of a mine. The general result was, that
both in rise and dip workings, as well as those on the level, irrespective
of temperature, there was a difference of resistance,, the column of air
entering the workings being more compressed, and consequently denser,
than that passing out. In working to the dip, the light air had its
natural tendency to ascend in the return unimpeded; but in workino- to
the rise, the contrary was the case, the light air having to be driven
downwards before it passed into the upcast shaft. After some general
discussion upon the subject, Mr. Taylor promised to resume it at a future
meeting.
The Secretary then read a paper " On Boring," by Mr. H. Mack-
worth. Papers " On Water as a Yentilating Power," and " On Coal
Cutting by a Machine," a model of which was exhibited, were also
submitted to the Institute.
The President having retired, the chair was taken by Mr. Thos. John
Taylor, who presided during the remainder of the proceedings.
IMPROVEMENTS
IN
BORING FOR MINERALS, WELLS, AND SHAFTS.
By HERBERT MACKWORTH.
Our President having" invited communications from members of the
Institute on various subjects intimately associated with mining1, amongst
which he enumerated boring*, I have endeavoured to draw a practical
comparison of the relative merits of the various systems employed on the
Continent, with the view of submitting to the notice of the Institute, the
success which has attended the system and operation of Mr. Kind.
It is surprising in this country, the richest in the world in present
available mineral wealth, and where the beds of mineral, faintly sketched
in their subterranean depths by the researches of the geologist, are for
a large portion covered up by unconformable rocks, that so little attempt
has been made to improve, and raise into a science, the practice of boring,
whether it be to ascertain the quality and position of coal, ironstone, slate,
gypsum, salt, or mineral lodes, to obtain gas as in China, salt, or medi-
cinal springs in their appropriate rocks, to intercept the drainage of
geological basins by artesian wells, to bring up water from great depths,
of a natural temperature sufficient for public baths without the interven-
tion of fuel, or simply to inform a landed proprietor of the value of his
estate in depth, in the same way as his map does of its superficial extent.
In all these respects we are thrown every year still more on the art of
the borer, by which we see through the earth's crust, and certify the
existence of those new sources of wealth which science has taught us to
expect.
There are few departments of engineering towards which so many
paths of science tend; there are few operations of a mechanical kind
Vol. II.—February, 1854. h
58
which require the union of so much ingenuity, patient observation, and
unflinching perseverance combined; and yet, notwithstanding the practi-
cal skill and mechanical capabilities of which we boast, we are, in the
practice of boring, allowing the Continental engineers very much to sur-
pass us.
Towards the close of the last century James Ryan patented a method
of extracting, by boring, lumps of rock as specimens, and several other
patents have followed, such as that of J. Good, in 1823, for improvements
in the tools, yet little improvement has been made in boring in England.
In France and Germany, since the time of Bernard Palissy, until thirty
years ago, the progress was also insignificant. Since then, the talent and
ingenuity of D'Oeynhausen, Degousee Kind, and others, have met with
well-earned success, and have rendered the operation of boring more
effective, rapid, economical, and certain in its results.
The multiplication of artesian wells, which are said, in the majority
of instances, to return double the capital expended, has aided in improving
the art, and led to the carrying out of much larger and deeper borings.
The well at the abattoir of Grenelle is 600 yards in depth; the boring
to the salt spring at Mondorff, executed by Kind, is 764 yards deep.
Similar borings, near Brunswick, reach to 566 and 626 yards, and at
Minden to 742 yards.
Boring can conveniently be classed under five systems.
The Abbe Imbert relates that he had seen, in China, holes bored from
five to six inches in diameter, to a depth of 500 or 600 yards, at a cost of
from £400 to £500.
The Chinese system consists in suspending the tool by a rope wound
on a drum, by which the tool is alternately raised and dropped, and it
acts solely by percussion. The shank of the chisel consists of a heavy
iron cylinder, and the torsion of the rope is sufficient to turn the chisel
after each shock. This system has been several times employed in
England. At Ardwick, near Manchester, holes of considerable size, from
three to four feet in diameter, were sunk by it. It has been employed
and improved by Jobard and Selligue; and at Sarrebruck, Mr. Sello, the
director of the Government Coal Works, has bored numerous air-holes of
a foot in diameter, during the progress of the coal workings, for venti-
lating the drifts and removing the fire-damp.
The principal objection to the system lies in the difficulty of boring
through hard strata having a considerable dip, or straight enough to
admit of the insertion of tubes in soft ground.
59
The English or German system, which is too well known to need a
detailed description, consists of a continuous series of iron rods jointed or
screwed together, and carrying various tools, which are made to penetrate
the strata, either by a circular motion or by percussion. Although, for
yielding ground, it may be sometimes convenient to use wimbles and
similar tools, in hard quartzose sands and all kinds of rocks the system
of percussion is alone applicable.
The objection to the continuous iron rods is well stated by M.
Degousee:—
When the borings are very deep, the weight of the rods prevents the borer acting
by percussion, and yet there is no other means of penetrating hard rocks; the
instrument, therefore, runs the risk of breaking frequently. Besides, to act by
percussion, the instrument being raised from three to four inches, and then allowed
to fall, is subject to a tremulous motion between each shock, which lashes it
violently against the surfaces of the bore-hole; this tremulous motion, repeated
from 12,000 to 15,000 a-day, and during many months, entails the deterioration of
the retaining tubes ; and if the bore-hole is not tubed, makes the hole oval in
tender portions, giving rise to crumbling in ; and the fragments occasionally press
angularly against the tool in such a manner that the rods break by the efforts
necessary to extract them.
To obviate this objection to some extent, D'Oeynhausen's slide has
been extensively used on the Continent. It is inserted at a height of
five or six lengths of rods above the tools, so that it confines the shock
of the fall to that portion. By means of a strong spring, or counter-
balancing the upper lengths of the rods, this portion has simply to support
the weight of the lower, and is generally made of lighter materials—
frequently of wood, with iron ferules and screws.
The third system, that of the Societe Freminville, presents many inge-
nious contrivances, and every care has been given to bring the principle
on which it is founded to the utmost perfection of which it is capable.
It consists chiefly of an improvement on the Chinese method. The
entire depth of the hole is tubed, the tubes being kept loose by turning,
so as to descend as the boring proceeds. A pile chisel works in grooves
at the lower end of the tube. After a certain depth has been bored by
percussion, a forked tool, with saws at the extremities, which are forced
outwards by a ring, enlarges the hole to a size sufficient for the descent
of the tube.
The system of Monsieur Fauvelle, which next calls for notice, possesses
a, high degree of novelty and ingenuity. The removal of the chisel, to
allow of the bore-hole being cleared, is unnecessary, as by means of a
rapid current of water the debris are brought up to the surface as soon
60
as formed. The tube in this instance, screwed tog-ether, forms the rod,
and extends to the bottom of the hole, but is considerably smaller than
the hole in diameter. A great advantage is also gained in the continuous
clearing of the surface acted on by the chisel. Ordinarily the current of
water is forced to descend the inside of the tube, whilst the debris are
brought up by the current on the outside \ but when passing through
gravel or rock, it is found necessary to force the current up the tube.
In this manner stones of 2 \ inches by 1 \ inches in size have been brought
up by the current.
At Perpignan, according to M. Arago, in July, 1846, a boring was
made by this system to a spring, at a depth of 186 yards, in twenty-
three days, or 140 hours of actual work. A boring at the same place,
undertaken by another person, occupied eleven months in arriving at the
same depth.
The action of underground currents, and the absorption of water by
certain strata, as well as the difficulties presented in deeper borings,
have operated against its general adoption, however extraordinary may
be the result in some grounds and in shallow borings under fortunate
circumstances.
The fifth system, which I think especially deserves the attention of
the " borer," as offering a solution to most of the difficulties and imper-
fections of this work, which has been uniformly successful in a great
number of instances during the last nine years, and is very extensively
at work on the Continent, is that of Mr. Kind. The three improvements
which I shall have specially to mention, are the use of light rods, boring
with a "free fall" percussion tool, and the method of ascertaining,
With the precision usually attained by a shaft, the exact nature and dip
of the ground bored through.
At Besch, in Luxembourg, Mr. Kind first used the light wooden
rods, and a depth of 290 yards was bored in seven months, at a cost of
£320. The next work to which the apparatus was applied, was the deep
boring for salt at Mondorff. During the progress of this work, Mr. Kind
invented the free-falling tool, and in July, 1844, it was applied at a depth
of 371 yards. The work had, up to that time, occupied thirty-seven
months, and cost, including tubing to a depth of 291 yards, the sum of
£1,873. The lower portion, 323 yards in depth, was executed in fourteen
months, at a cost of £829.
The "free fall" of the tool, with a length of rod attached to it,
effects in a more perfect manner the object of D'Oeynhausen's slide, in
61
removing from the wooden rods the injurious vibrations caused by the
shock of the tool.
The mode of action is explained by figs. 1 and 2; the first showing
the manner in which the upper end of the piece A B is taken hold of
by means of the fangs C D, which work on the centres E; the latter
figure exhibiting the position of the various parts at the moment the tool
is released. The tool is not shown, it is screwed into the bottom of A B.
The fangs are made to bite by means of the ring and wedge I being
forced downwards. As this ring I is drawn up, it immediately opens
the fangs. The ring and wedge are attached to a leather piston K, made
about half-an-inch less in diameter than the bore-hole. The rods are
moved up and down in the usual way. At the end of the upward stroke,
a sudden motion is communicated in the opposite direction; this causes
the pressure of the water against the under side of the piston to lift the
ring, and open the fangs. The tool falls, and the rods follow at a slower
speed. Having descended to the proper point, a slight upward motion,
producing pressure against the upper side of the piston, causes it to
descend with the arm and ring, and close the fangs. The tool is then
lifted to its position for the second fall. I saw the system in operation
at Stiring, Creuzot, and Denain. The fall was from one to three feet \
the number of strokes per minute, with manual labour, from eight to
sixteen, which can be increased by the application of machinery to
twenty or twenty-five. The weight of the falling tool was from eight
to ten cwts. The holes were twelve inches in diameter. The rods are
about forty-five feet in length, made of wood, three inches in diameter,
with iron male and female screws to unite them. At Creuzot, the boring-
was expected to reach the coal through the lias and triassic series of
rocks, at a depth of 500 yards. The progress had been thirty-one yards
in the thirteen days preceding, which was considered satisfactory, as the
ground required tubing, although intersected by hard layers of rock.
At Denain, the hole had been sunk sixty-six yards in six weeks, through
similar ground.
A boring at Hesse Homburg, is intended to obtain water of a tem-
perature suitable for hot baths, at a depth of 770 yards. It had attained,
in September last, a depth of 570 yards. At Schoningen, in Brunswick,
a boring for salt springs, 626 yards in depth, was lately executed at a
cost of £1,500.
Appendix J\To. I, contains the particulars of ten bore-holes in the
carboniferous and later rocks, excluding the cost of installation, smiths'
shop, and carriage of materials. x
62
The ordinary prices charged in England for boring holes of small
diameter, without tubes, are—
For the First 100 yards - - - £80 0 0
Second do. ... 230 0 0
Third do. ... 380 0 0
Fourth do. ... 530 0 0
Fifth do. - • - - 780 0 0
Sixth do. ... 830 0 0
The cost for the three first 100 yards being £690, or £2 6s. per yard $
and for the lower 300 yards, £2,040, or £6 16s. per yard.
Degousee estimates that a boring on his own system, 655 yards in
depth, will cost, in easy ground like chalk, £6,340; in the beds of the
secondary formations for obtaining coal or rock salt, £10,200; and in
ground offering the greatest difficulty, £13,980. I am informed that
four 8-inch borings at Salens Jura, in the same lias and marls as those of
Kind, but executed by Degousee, were of the depths of 265, 270, 257,
and 205 yards, and cost on an average £4 6s. 8d. per yard.
He contracted to execute an artesian well at Rouen, 360 yards deep,
for £1,600, defraying every expense. M. Degousee has constructed
artesian wells in other parts of France, averaging 275 yards deep, at a
cost of from £600 to £1,000.
The artesian well at Grenelle, including the whole expenses and
constructions over the well, cost £14,500. This was executed by
Monsieur Mullot, as well as a boring at Montreuil sous Laon, varying
from 10 inches to 4f-inch in diameter, through sandy clays, hard and
soft chalk marls, to a depth of 332 yards, which cost £2,080.
From these figures it will be seen that the free fall system can justly
lay claim to great advantages, both in cost, time, and the magnitude of
the bore-hole. In Appendix II. will be found an abstract of the register
of borings executed by Kind, at Kreutzberg, Moselle, in which some
unusual accidents occurred.
There remains for me now to describe the mode adopted by Mr. Kind,
to detach cores 10 inches in diameter, and upwards of two feet in length,
from the bottom of the bore-hole, so as to exhibit, with the utmost
accuracy, the quality of stone passed through, the direction and amount
of dip, and the actual thickness of the bed of rock or mineral. Evrard
and Souich had early contrived a mode of making a cut with the boring
chisel in the line of the meridian, and then breaking out a piece of rock
containing the mark.
Another method by which the direction and amount of dip could be
63
known, depended on the meeting with a bed of soft shale, overlying one
of hard rock. The shale was carefully scraped away. The position was
ascertained in which the chisel stood the highest, and the amount of
subsidence which occurred when it was moved at right angles to that
position, was carefully noted. The first position of the tool was the line
of dip, and the fall alluded to was the amount of dip in a length equal
to half the diameter of the hole.
The tools used by Mr. Kind for cutting and extracting cores are
represented in fig. 3. The first is a crown borer, which, being armed
with five chisels, by percussion, makes a circular cut to the required
depth. The second tool is then lowered down to the bottom of the core
thus formed, and the curved teeth slide down the surface of the core.
The interior cylinder, which had previously been suspended by a cord, is
then lowered so as to press the teeth inwards; a few vertical motions are
given to the rods by which the teeth groove themselves into the core, and
then by a jerk the core is detached, and brought carefully to the surface.
I obtained some specimens of the cores whilst abroad last year, and
have sent them to the Institute for inspection. I found at that time that
Mr. Kind had taken out a patent for England, and he has since appointed
an engineer, Mr. Wall, in this country, as his representative.
Several other improvements were progressing under his direction at
Stiring, Moselle, amongst which were shaft borings. A shaft, fourteen
feet in diameter, had been bored by a tool similar to that represented in
fig. 4,100 yards in depth, in about nine months, by the aid of two steam
engines of 12-horse power, through the new red sandstone. The principal
object was to save the erection of a 300-horse power engine, which would
have been required to keep the pit dry. But as these attempts may still
be classed as experimental, and I have already trespassed beyond the
limits I had originally intended, I must conclude this sketch of a system
of boring, which appears to fill up a void hitherto existing in mining
practice, whether it is used for taking an accurate vertical section of the
whole of the strata in a mineral property, for ascertaining the beds of
minerals lying under a working shaft, and assisting in its sinking, or for
executing large and deep artesian wells.
APPENDIX No. I.
ABSTRACT OF REGISTERS OP BORINGS ON KIND'S SYSTEM.
APPENDIX No. II.
ABSTRACT OF REGISTER OF BORING AT KREUTSBERG, NEAR FORBACH, MOSELLE.—Diameter op Hole 11-8 inches.
66
KREUTSBERG, NEAR FORBACH, MOSELLE.
table of monthly cost of boring.
WARING'S COAL-CUTTING MACHINE.
By HERBERT MACKWORTH.
The primary cause of the accumulations of explosive gases in mines, and
therefore of the serious accidents which ensue, is (in the great majority
of instances) the compelling air to descend along airways in those parts
of the mine in which fire-damp may possibly exist. In mines where the
upcast shaft is not to the rise of the workings, it may be requisite to allow
the air to descend in order to enter the bottom of the shaft, using, how-
ever, in such a case, great precaution, and excluding all exposed flame
from that portion of the mine. To make the ventilation " ascensional,"
as it is called, in other parts of the mine, it is necessary to have a return
air-course to the rise of the workings. To facilitate the carrying out of
this essential provision for the safety of every fire-damp colliery (but one
too generally neglected), every encouragement should be given to more
rapid and economical modes of driving airways.
The success which has accompanied the tendency of the present age
to substitute machines for hand labour, holds out the prospect of success
in applying machines to cutting a uniform substance like coal, and driving
airways through it. This application would have an important bearing
on the safety of mines on other grounds, in enabling mines to be more
rapidly opened out, and the seam to be intersected, or the winning to be
surrounded by airways so as to drain out the gas; in rendering more
common the mode of driving, first out to the extremities, and then working-
back towards the shaft; or in uniting two collieries with the view of
improving the ventilation. Several machines have elsewhere been
attempted without success, which may in some degree be attributed to
their being too close an imitation of the collier's pick.
Mr. Charles H. Waring, the Mining Engineer of the Neath Abbey
Coal Company, has constructed several ingenious working models, and a
68
machine, worked at present by two men. From its performance under
these circumstances, it is very desirable that steam power should be
applied to it. Annexed is a plan which Mr. Waring has submitted to
me, showing the mode of opening out a colliery by the use of his machine,
so that it may yield its full average of coals in the shortest time after the
shafts are down, and so that the coals may be worked " in descending,"
which is necessarily the safest manner.
The hand machine, of which two views are given, consists of two saws,
which make the upper and lower parts of each cut respectively, and are
advanced alternately, one before the other, by means of a screw. After
numerous trials, extending over a period of five or six years, of various
kinds of circular and other cutters, the form of teeth exhibited is found
to yield the best effect. The weight of the machine is two cwts. It is
held firm by vertical screws, and occupies a space in the heading about
six inches in width. It cuts, when worked by two men, a groove four feet
long, three-quarters of an inch wide, and twenty inches deep, at the rate
of an inch deep per minute in an unfavourable seam of coal, which has a
parting of fifteen inches of shale and bad coal near the middle of the
seam. The machine can be at once adjusted, so as to work vertically,
diagonally, or horizontally, and take advantage of the slips and partings
which intersect the face of the coal. Mr. Waring proposes to attach a
small air cylinder to this machine, connected by pipes with an air forcer
on the water pumping engine. The air thus discharged near the roof
of the heading would be sufficient, in many instances, to dilute the gas
given off, without the necessity of driving, as is usual, a second parallel
airway, connected with the first at intervals by thirlings. Under such
circumstances an important saving might be obtained. Engine power is
about to be applied to the machine, for the purpose of driving a heading
1800 yards in length, at the Bryndawe Colliery, near Neath, and, even
should this prove to be as expensive as the ordinary system of driving
airways, an important gain will, in my opinion, result in the time required
for opening out a colliery.
The following is Mr. Waring's statement of the estimated effect and
cost:—
To drive a heading, six feet wide in a six feet seam, five vertical cuts are made
in the face eighteen inches apart, and one horizontal cut at about midway between
floor and roof, each cut being two feet deep. According to the power of the engine
applied this cut may be deeper, and the speed of advancing may be increased above
¦^gth of an inch per cut. At this speed, and at sixty-four strokes per minute, the
machine will cut four inches per minute, or each cut in six minutes, which gives
69
thirty-six minutes for the time occupied in the six cuts. Whilst the machine is
cutting the men can be at work at the side of it wedging down and filling. For
moving the machine, wedging down, and filling, allow twenty-four minutes. Then,
in one hour, two feet will be cut, or sixteen yards per twenty-four hours.
A few horse power can frequently be spared from the pumping engine, but say
that a separate engine will be required :—
Then 10-horse high pressure engine, horizontal cylinder, boiler,
forcers, &c................................................................£300
Four-inch pipes in pit, say 100 yards ................................. 100
Fixing reservoir for air, &c.............................................. 100
£500
This engine compresses the air and forces it through the pipes, from which it is
taken to the air cylinder on the coal-cutting machine by a flexible hose; fresh pipes
being laid, as required, to bring the "main" up to the face of the work.
Interest and wear and tear on capital to bottom
of pit, 10 per cent, per annum =s £50, or
3s. 4d. per day ~ by 16 yards ...............= Od. 3d. per yard forward.
Pipes in heading, 3in. at 3s. Gd. per yard ......= 3s. 6d. „ „
Enginemen (the pumping enginemen may at-
tend partly), to expenses... = 10s. per day
Machinemen and fillers, 3 turns,
2 men in each, 6 men at 4s. = 24s. „
Machine..............................= 10s. .,
44s. -~ by 16 = 2s. 9d. „ „
6s. 6d. „
But if the pipes, &c, are afterwards used for driving machines, and cutting
coal in the stalls and faces of work, the whole of this capital should not be charged
on one heading; and if used only for driving the airways, and then removed, the
above cost will be reduced by the value when removed. The value of the coal is
not taken into consideration.
The engine, or cylinder, will be proportioned to the hardness of the coal, and
the speed with which it may be cut. The quantity of air delivered at the face of
the heading may amount to 200 cubic feet per minute, and where this is not suffi-
cient, brattices or air trunks may be used, as at present, to increase the circulation
of air.
The cost of labour in some parts of England, as compared with the
coal-producing districts of the Continent, which are gradually coming
into competition with our own, and the restriction of the production of
coal which the scarcity of labour imposes, will, I confidently hope, direct
the attention of the members of the Institute to the merits of this machine
for cutting coal, which is the result of many and varied practical trials.
WATER AS A VENTILATING POWER.
By HERBERT MACKWORTH.
When the natural ventilation of some collieries becomes languid or an
explosion has rendered the employment of a furnace dangerous, the most
common resource is to turn water into the downcast shaft, for few pits are
without an excess of pumping power. The fall of water being unequally
distributed over the area of the shaft produces, to some extent, rotatory
or reverse currents in the shaft, and its ventilating effect seems mainly
due to the cooling and consequent increase of weight of the downcast
column of air. The air again heated by the surface of the mine, the
lights, the animal heat, and rarefied by the exhalations and saturating
vapour, ascends the upcast with a velocity proportionate to the square root
of the difference in the weight of the total columns of air resting on the
bottoms of the two shafts. Water, under these circumstances, must be
classed with natural ventilation, as producing motion by temperature.
There is in this application a motive agency of a mechanical kind
which is nearly altogether lost, and which, from its small first cost and
easy application, might be employed with advantage in sinking shafts,
and ventilating small collieries, where the furnace or other motive power
might be inconvenient. This application of water has been long known
in some mining districts; and where a head of water can be obtained on
a hill side, and there is a level or adit to conduct the water away after
having performed its duty in falling from a sufficient height, it is probably
the most economical ventilating power which can be employed. In North
America the air brought down by natural waterfalls is collected in its
compressed state by suitable vessels, and employed as a motive power for
machinery. Similar in its effect is the air-trunk, used on the Continent
for ventilation, which has been found to yield a useful effect, amounting
to 15 per cent, of the motive power.
72
The section is given at fig. 1. The cylinder, or supply pipe A, is
made just large enough to take the required quantity of water. The
lower cylinder, or trunk B, is made about three times the area of the
upper. At C are a number of sloping holes, through which the air is
drawn, and the water by its fall and by breaking on the sloping block D,
ejects the air by the air-trough E. The water overflows at the orifice F.
In one instance the air is forced through a tube of four inches in diameter
and 450 yards in length, after leaving the machine for the purpose of
ventilating part of a mine. The height of the fall is thirty feet, and the
compression of the air is measured by thirty-three inches of water. The
water supply pipe has been made as much as nine inches in diameter,
with a discharge of water of 100 cubic feet per minute. It is thought
by some that several air-trunks of sixteen feet fall, each placed one below
the other, produce more ventilation than a long one possessing their
united fall.
In Mines in Cornwall a somewhat similar contrivance exists for airing
the ends of drifts or the rise of a winze. The winzes being ten fathoms
in depth, this is a common height for the fall. A, fig. 2, is the conduit
trough, B are bars to break the stream and entangle the air, C is the out-
let air-trough. The bottom of the trunk is usually fixed two or three
inches below the surface of the water in the receiver, which gives an
indication of the pressure exerted. Although the pressure of the air
which can be obtained by the above arrangements is considerable, the
contracted area of the pipes, and the excessive proportion of the water
used to the air which they impel, render them unsuitable to a con-
siderable ventilation. There are several means of remedying this by
employing the enormous pressure which the depth of an ordinary shaft
can afford.
This mode has been employed, with success, in the drifts of the
Merthyr Tunnel, lately constructed. Two of the shafts were 1,270 yards
apart, and it was found advisable to drive a single heading, seven feet by
six feet in size, to a length of 700 yards. The air was carried in by
troughs, but delay being experienced from want of air and from powder-
smoke hanging in the face after shots were fired, a waterblast was fitted
into the horizontal air-trough, as represented in fig. 3.
The shaft was ninety-four yards in depth. An iron pipe, one inch in
diameter being brought from a cistern at the top, down a trough, branched
off at the bottom on each side, as shown in the sketch, and terminated in
two roses or bellmouths. The escape of the water was regulated by cocks,
73
and six holes, each ^ inch in diameter, were drilled into each rose. vThe
top end of the pipe was turned horizontally, ending* in a rose, pierced with
still more minute holes to exclude dirt. The enormous pressure forced
out the water like a blast of condensed steam. The current of air attained
a velocity of about 1200 lineal feet per minute through a trough of ten
inches square and nearly 800 yards long, clearing out the smoke from
the working face, and returning by the heading to the shaft. The other
branch pipe and jet performed a similar office for the tunnel on the other
side of the shaft. The discharge of water from each rose did not exceed
a fraction of a cubic foot per minute, and it ran out to the open end of
the tunnel.
The application of this method to sinking shafts needs no recommen-
dation. The water can be readily intercepted before it reaches the bottom
of the shaft. This application of water is capable of great extension.
Pipes of two or three inches diameter can be connected with the pumps
or with water confined by tubbing in the shaft, or be brought down from
the surface, and the water can be discharged through a number of holes,
sufficiently small to break it up into the finest spray, but with sufficient
momentum to spread outwards and fill the area of a shaft. The arrange-
ment of the jet holes in one or more roses can be accommodated to an
area of any shape, the larger holes being placed near the circumference.
An arrangement of this kind in connection with the highest lift of pumps
in a shaft is shown in the sketch, (fig. 4). Its cost would be about £10.
It would be useful in collieries subject to fire-damp, to be set in motion
on the occasion of any explosion or other emergency, when ventilation
could be carried on entirely by the pumping engine. In two instances
in which I have had this new motive power applied to the whole area of
the shaft, it has produced very remarkable results. Another method, of
which imperfect modifications are not uncommon, combines the air-trunk
with the water-blast, as shown in the sketch, (fig. 5). The air enters the
vertical air-trough by numerous holes in the upper part of its sides, and the
effect of the accumulated velocity of the water is transmitted to the whole
area of the shaft, by causing the stream, broken up by the intermixed air, to
diverge outwards at the lower extremity. Forcing air being attended
with a greater loss of power ordinarily than exhausting, these jets can
sometimes be arranged for the latter object.
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE
of
MINING ENGINEERS.
GENERAL MEETING, MARCH 2, 1854, IN THE LECTURE ROOM OF THE
LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
WILLIAM ANDERSON, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.
Mr. Sinclair, the Secretary, read the minutes of the Council, after
which,
Mr. Sanderson called the attention of the meeting to a resolution
passed at the last general meeting, when he was not present) which
resolution was recorded in the printed report of the proceedings as
follows:—"That this meeting is of opinion that the time has arrived
when it is essentially necessary that a Mining School and College of
Practical Science should be established in this district \ that this Institute
appears to be the most suitable body to take the initiative in such an
object 5 and that the Council be requested to consider and report to the
Institute the necessary preliminary steps to be taken towards the establish-
ment of such an institution." What he wished to remark here was this,
that he did not think the words of the resolution were in strict accordance
with truth; for he held in his hand the report of an inaugural address on
the establishment of a School of Medicine and Practical Science in this
town, in the preliminary proceedings of which the President of this
Institute took a part, and he could not see how it was now desirable that
this Institute should take the initiative in the establishment of such an
institution. He did not see any notice taken by the President in his
remarks, on introducing the resolution referred to to the meeting, of the
existence already in this town of a College of Practical Science. There
Vol. II.—March, 1854.
76
was, certainly, an allusion to the differences that unfortunately prevailed
among the members of the medical profession, but none to the existing
College of Practical Science, and therefore he thought the language of
the resolution adopted at the last meeting was not strictly correct. It
was incorrect to say that this Institute should take the initiative—simply
because such an institution was already established. He happened to be
a member both of this Institution and the other, which, he had trusted,
would have had more cooperation from the viewers than had been met
with, especially as the President said we could not undertake such an
object successfully and satisfactorily without the cooperation of the
mining engineers of the district. He quite agreed with Mr. Wood that
a College of Practical Science, efficiently conducted and properly sup-
ported, would do honour to the district. Certainly, the one in existence
had not made that progress in the department of Practical Science which,
on its establishment, they were led to anticipate; but as far as the Medical
School in connection with it went it was in active and successful operation.
What he now proposed, was that the resolution passed at the last meeting
should be reconsidered, and that some notice should be taken of the Institu-
tion already in existence, and which was set agoing by the assistance of
the President himself. It was desirable to avoid difficulties, if it were
possible to do so, but he did not think the course which this Institute
was now taking, was conducive to that end. If persisted in, it was
probable they would not only have two Medical Schools in the town, but
two Mining Schools. There was allusion made by the President to the
University of Durham in his observations at the last meeting. Now,
there were certain reasons existing why the two Medical Schools could
not go in union together, and one of the principal of them was the
connection with the University of Durham. He thought, therefore, under
all the circumstances, if anything could be devised to prevent discordance
in this matter it would be very desirable.
Mr. Longridge said, he thought it would be in the recollection of
the members of the Institute, that a Committee was appointed to commu-
nicate with the College of Practical Science, the University of Durham,
the Literary and Philosophical Society, and other scientific bodies in the
town, with the view, if possible, of securing their combined action.
Attempts had been made to reconcile the differences between the Medical
Schools, but had failed, and there did not appear any probability of such
reconciliation being effected. He was sure every one there regretted
very much the existence of these differences. If Mr. Sanderson was
77
prepared, on behalf of the party he represented, to bring forward any
proposition upon the subject, the Council of this Institute would, he had
no doubt, be ready to give it their best consideration; but he thought
that, after the failure of the attempts which had already been made to
reconcile the contending parties, Mr. Sanderson had no just ground for
complaint against the Mining Institute.
Mr. Sanderson said, what he complained of was that the resolution
ignored an Institution which was already in existence; whether it was
going on as it ought to do or not was another matter, but its existence
ought not to be ignored.
Mr. Re id suggested the convenience of taking this discussion when
the President was present.
Mr. Dunn considered the discussion premature. The Committee had
not made their report, and until they did so the discussion ought to be
deferred.
Mr. Sanderson said, all he objected to was the wording of the reso-
lution, which he thought not strictly correct.
The Chairman said, he thought it would be better to defer any
discussion on that point until the President was present.
Mr. Sanderson concurred in that opinion, but as he was not present
when the resolution was proposed, and this was the first meeting that had
been held since, he had availed himself of the earliest opportunity of
calling attention to the subject.
Mr. Longridge said, before the meeting proceeded with the reading
of papers, there was one subject he wished to mention. They had gone
on for a long time electing new members in a manner rather contrary to
the rules, which provided that the members to be proposed should be
nominated at one meeting and elected at the next.
The Chairman said, that arrangement was only made until the
Institute obtained premises of its own. The rule regarding the election
of new members, provided that the names of members, proposed and
seconded at any meeting, should be exhibited at the rooms of the Institute
till the next monthly meeting, when their election would take place. As
. the Institute had not yet obtained possession of their own rooms, the rule
could not be acted upon, but it was understood that so soon as the
Institute did obtain premises of their own, which was expected to be
before the next meeting, the rule would be strictly enforced.
The Secretary said, there were two papers by Mr. T. Y. Hall before
78
the Institute, one being "On Safety-Lamps, and Improvements in Colliery
Workings f the other " On Penetrating Dangerous Gases." The first of
these papers had been read, and stood over for discussion; it had not been
discussed at the last meeting, in consequence of the absence of Mr. Hall.
Mr. Dunn, referring to an observation he had made at a former
meeting, and the conclusion then come to, said he thought it was hardly
competent in the Society to pronounce an opinion in favour of any par-
ticular lamp. It was better to allow the inventive genius of the country
to take its course, and the various practical parties concerned in mining
would, from their own knowledge and experience, select the lamp that
was best and safest under the particular circumstances of each case.
Mr. Longridge said, that he perfectly agreed with the opinion
expressed by Mr. Robt. Stephenson, at a former meeting of the Institute,
that it would be very undesirable to commit the Institute to any formal
expression of opinion on the subjects brought under discussion.
The Secretary observed, that the papers had been read, and any
gentlemen was at liberty to express an opinion upon the subject in the
course of the discussion, but such opinion would only be taken as that of
the individual making it.
Mr. Dunn said, he thought it desirable that Mr. Hall should state the
advantages his lamp possessed, if any, over other lamps in existence.
Would Mr. Hall state in what way his lamp was superior to those of
Clanny, Davy, Glover, Stephenson, and others ?
Mr. Hall said, he thought it best to place the lamp before them, and
allow them to judge for themselves. His great object had been to produce
a lamp that would combine all the advantages required both for light
and safety. It was put together in a workmanlike manner, and he would
leave them to judge whether it was better than others or not. Mr. Mack-
worth had read a paper at the last meeting of the Institute, in which he
described a lamp which he recommended in preference to what he calls
6 the more perfect lamps of Glover or Hall." Why give preference to a
lamp that was less perfect over others that were more perfect ? Glover's
was a glass lamp. Here was his gauze lamp; one which produced
more light, combined with great safety, which was not cobbled up and put
together m a rough way, but was completed in a workmanlike manner.
He had been engaged upon the subject six months before Mr. Mackworth
had first brought his lamp forward, and he found that he could not cobble
up a lamp to make a perfect one; the consequence was he was obliged to
set to work with a workmen who never had anything to do with a lamp
before, and who, the principle being new, had nothing to take his
79
attention from going on with the work, and he considered they would
find he had made a very good job of it.
Mr. Longridge said that, as he observed in the lamp brought forward
by Mr. Hall, silvered wire gauze was adopted, he wished to know if in
Mr. Hall's opinion there was any difference in the quantity of light trans-
mitted through silver and iron gauze ?
Mr. Hall said, from his own experiments he could not discover any
difference in the light; the light let out depended upon the number of
holes in the wire ; the smaller the wire, the greater number of meshes
there were in a square inch. He found that he got more light from
gauze with 1,296 holes than with 784; that he got more still with 2,500,
which was the number in the lamp produced, and he even had lamps
made which went up to 6,400, and from that to 10,000. The fine gauzes
he found to be sufficiently strong for the purpose of safety.
Mr. Longridge—But you did not think there was any difference
arising from the colour of the wire, as far as that goes ?
Mr. Hall—I did not think so; I tried it with a photometer, and I
prefer the colour of platina to that of either silver or iron; the platina
colour is produced on the iron by annealing the wire without air in a
hot casing.
Mr. Dunn—What size of gauze does Mr. Hall recommend?
Mr. Hall—I have tried about double the number of holes in the
Davy with good effect. I have got a good light with 1,296 holes in the
gauze.
Mr. Barkus said, he thought it necessary they should know some-
thing of the metal the gauze was made of; for Mr. Wood had stated
that copper gauze was dangerous to make use of in a heated atmosphere.
It was desirable to know which was the best for that purpose.
Mr. Reid said, in the experiments that were made by Mr. Wood, it
was found that copper wire gauze passed the flame more readily than iron
wire gauze.
Mr. Hall said, he was present at the experiments, and believed the
lamp made use of in the experiments referred to, was a surveying lamp
made with brass wire. He preferred iron or platina wire, but copper
wire was better than brass.
Mr. Dunn—According to Sir Humphrey Davy's opinion, iron wire
was best.
Mr. Hall—But in the way my lamp is constructed the gauze has
no connection with the flame, being protected from it by a cylinder of
glass.
80
Mr. Boyd—But the glass may break.
Mr. Hall—Even in that case my lamp would still be a safe lamp.
The Secretary said, he thought Mr. Hall had somewhat misunder-
stood Mr. Mackworth's observations with reference to the preference to
be given to the lamp he described over other " more perfect" ones. Mr.
Mackworth was favourable to the principle of Mr. Hall's lamp, but pre-
ferred a simpler and less expensive mode of construction.
Mr. Hall said, he had not read the remarks in that way; but he
thought there were other things in the same paper that ought not to
pass without observation. Mr. Mackworth had made some remarks
upon the ventilation of Foreign mines on the fan blast system, which he
said was superior to that of English mines; he, of course, included all
the mines of this district. In his evidence before the Committee of the
House of Commons, with respect to the latter, he made four or five
exceptions, which he now extends to fifty. Exceptions were made in
favour of Hetton, Tyne Main, and Killingworth, which were ventilated
on the furnace principle; and he also supposed Seaton Delaval was
alluded to, as they now got more than 70,000 cubic feet of air per minute
from the operation of the steam jet. Now, he considered that all the
collieries in this district were much better ventilated than those in foreign
parts, leaving the great mass of the collieries to which Mr. Mackworth
had referred, in his own district, which he had had the power over for
two or three years, to improve. Even his one or two model collieries
were not equal to the worst of those of Northumberland and Durham.
This was a matter for the viewers, rather than for himself to take up,
because it was a slur upon their character, to which they ought not to
submit. If, in Mr. Mackworth's district, where he speaks of wanting to
have good locked lamps, the practice of the men has been to use false
keys, so long and to such an extent as to wear large holes in the brass,
the pitmen of Northumberland and Durham ought not to be included.
A Government Inspector seeing that practice prevail, and having power
to prevent it, ought to have put a stop to it long ago. If such practices
prevailed in Mr. Mackworth's district, that was no reason why he should
cast a stigma upon the viewers and the miners generally in Northum-
berland and Durham, where, for the last twenty years, at least, such a
practice had not prevailed.
Mr. Dunn said, Mr. Mackworth had, no doubt, founded his opinion
upon the statements on ventilation made to him by official and scientfic
men.
Mr. Hall—Are you of the same opinion ?
81
Mr. Dunn—Certainly not \ but the statement was given in evidence
before a Committee of the House of Commons as the result of official
inquiry.
Mr. Hall—Did it include the mines of Northumberland and Durham ?
Mr. Dunn thought it did; and it seemed to be Mr. Mackworth's
opinion from the investigation he had made.
Mr. Hall put it to Mr. Dunn whether the worst of our collieries were
not better ventilated than those in Belgium and on the Continent.
Mr. Dunn admitted they were, but said he spoke merely as an
amateur, whereas Mr. Mackworth spoke officially, after having examined
everything.
The Chairman—Had not Mr. Mackworth some of his colleagues
with him 1
Mr. Dunn said, one of the gentlemen was with him.
The Chairman—And Mr. Dickinson ?
Mr. Dunn said, he did not think Mr. Dickinson was with him.
The Chairman said, he thought they could not look over the state-
ment made by Mr. Mackworth without noticing it in some way or other.
Having done so, they might now proceed with the other business before
the meeting. Mr. Hall had also a paper upon " Improvements in
Colliery Workings f had any gentleman any observations to make on
that subject ?
No remarks were offered.
The Secretary then read a paper by Mr. Mackworth, on " Coal-
Cutting by a Machine," a model and drawing of which were exhibited.
He believed Mr. Peace had also taken out a patent for a coal-cutting
machine, which would probably come before them at another meeting, so
that it was evident the subject was attracting attention.
Mr. Hall said, he was very certain his friend, Mr. Peace, would
give an honest opinion upon that or any other subject he might speak
upon.
Mr. Barkus observed that nothing was said about sharpening the
teeth in Mr. Waring's machine.
A Member—There would be no difficulty in grinding them if
necessary.
The Chairman said, the next subject to come before the meeting
was a paper by Mr. Mackworth, on " Water as a Ventilating Power."
Vol. ii.—March, 1854. l
82
Mr. Hall asked if the mode described by Mr. Mackworth was an
original invention.
The Secretary said, Mr. Mackworth described what he had seen
upon the Continent, and the water-power was used for ventilating* in
America.
The paper having been read, the discussion of it was deferred until
the next meeting.
Mr. Hall said, he had not found any better mode of ventilation in
America than that adopted in this neighbourhood. If they resorted to
water-power here, they would find that they had not the mountainous
streams to work with which were sometimes found in America. He then
introduced the subject of a paper which he had laid before the Council,
" On Penetrating Dangerous Gases," and enquired why that paper had
not been brought before the meeting ?
After some discussion as to the propriety of deferring it, the paper
was read.
Mr. Hall, in reply to an enquiry from the Chairman, said, he should
have a lengthy document " On the Coal Trade and the probable Duration
of the Northern Coal-field," of which he had given notice to the Chair-
man, in readiness to be brought forward at the next meeting.
A new anemometer, the invention of Mr. Dickinson, the Government
Inspector of Mines for the Lancashire District, was exhibited by Mr. Reid,
and elicited the approval and admiration of several of the members. It
was of a very simple construction, consisting of a fan of talc, suspended
and properly balanced so as to reduce the friction to a minimum. A
quadrantal arc graduated on one side showed the number of feet of air
passing in each superficial foot of area per minute, the instrument being
placed at right angles to the current of air, and properly adjusted by
means of a small plummet attached, and protected by glass, the whole
arrangement being so contrived as to fold up like a book and go into a
moderate sized waistcoat pocket.
Mr. Reid observed, that Mr. Dickinson had sent him the instrument
for exhibition at the February meeting, but, only receiving it upon
entering the room, he was unable to speak to its merits. After a month's
trial, however, he had much pleasure in speaking approvingly of its
merits. It had been carefully compared with other anemometers during
that period, and he could testify to its being an instrument of very simple
construction, and of a most easy and convenient application, well adapted
to the requirements of underground inspectors, wastemen, &c, especially
83
in narrow air-courses, and whose time would not admit of the lengthened
observations necessary in using other anemometers, which generally
occupied minutes to ascertain properly the velocity, whereas the object
was attainable in a few seconds with^Mr. Dickinson's.
The Chairman highly approved of the little instrument exhibited,
and observed that everything, of course, depended upon the adjustment
and graduation of the index.
Mr. Reid observed, that the original graduation was carefully com-
pared with the best instruments of the kind made in Paris; and that he
understood from Mr. Dickinson that great pains were taken to ensure
correctness. So far as it had been tried during the past month it agreed
to a nicety, after due allowances made, with the other anemometers, for
friction on each trial, and he had no hesitation in recommending it for its
convenience and ready application alone.
The meeting then adjourned.
ON PENETRATING DANGEROUS GASES.
By T. Y. HALL.
The annexed diagrams represent and illustrate a simple, practical, and
commodious plan for enabling a man to penetrate, without delay, to great
distances, to abide there some time, to obtain a knowledge of the circum-
stances, and act freely in underground excavations filled with dangerous
gases, which was submitted in competition for the prize of 2000 francs
offered by the Belgian Government, and the gold medal of the Eoyal
Academy of Belgium, for a good, simple, and safe mode of effecting these
objects.
The plan so described consists of safety-pipes of metal, glass, earthen-
ware, gutta percha, or any solid material laid down permanently in the
thill of the main galleries of the mine, in the direction taken by the air,
from the top of the downcast shaft into the workings, and back through
the return to the upcast. There may either be two pipes laid parallel to
each other throughout the whole course, with a junction at a certain
point, or a single continuous pipe may be used both for the fresh air and
the return.
These are represented in plate I., where D is the downcast, A the
upcast, P the permanent pipes, the course of the air in which is indicated
by arrows, B the boxes, at which the air is stopped or trapped. The
shaded surfaces represent solid coal, and the white spaces bords, or
openings.
The circulation of air through these permanent pipes is constantly
maintained by means of a steam jet, air pump, furnace, or other means
for accomplishing the ventilation of the mine for working purposes.
These permanent safety-pipes are provided with boxes, or joints, at
intervals of between forty and fifty yards, for the purpose of stopping or
trapping the air, so as to guide it through portable tubes into an air-tight
dress, or into safety-chambers, where the workmen may take refuge, or
into other safety-pipes traversing the bords or galleries.
86
These boxes or traps are of a cubical form, and have slides and aper-
tures on the top inserted into grooves, so as to admit of their being
withdrawn for the purpose of introducing into the same grooves the end
of a double portable tube made of gutta-percha, india-rubber, or any
other flexible material, such end being adapted to slide into these grooves
in such manner that the apertures of the flexible tubes shall exactly
correspond with the apertures in the permanent pipes.
Between these apertures in the boxes or traps of the permanent pipes,
a stopper is or may be inserted, so as either partially or altogether to
interrupt the course of the air, and direct it into one of the apertures A,
or of the flexible tubes, whence it will be carried forward into an air-tight
chamber, dress, or casing, in which the person penetrating the mine is to
be enveloped, returning thence by the other portion of the tube, and
through the other aperture A into the permanent pipe.
The portable tubes are used for the purpose of penetrating the mine
by first fixing one end to a trap or stopper, and the other to an air-tight
dress or casing, in which the party penetrating the vitiated air is
enveloped.
This party proceeds forward to the next trap or stopper, where he is
furnished with the means of detaching the end of the tube from the first
stopper, and affixing it to the one at which he has arrived. The contri-
vance for effecting this is very simple, and may be easily applied; but if
two individuals go in at the same time, which is recommended, they can
do so by means of the same tube, and thus they will inspire mutual
confidence, while they render mutual assistance, and are enabled to
penetrate the galleries more quickly than could otherwise be done.
In case any of the boxes or traps should get out of working order,
which would be very improbable, and it should become necessary to
extend the portable tubes, that may be easily done by placing their flat
or slide ends together, and fastening them by means of nuts and screws.
The air-tight dress, or casing*, may cover the whole body, or only a
portion of it, as may be thought proper. In either case there would be
a belt of brass, or other metal, to go round the waist, having an overlap
for the purpose of uniting the upper and lower portions of the dress;
such belt being constructed with apertures and slides, similar those in
the permanent pipes, for the purpose of attaching one extremity of the
flexible tube thereto when necessary, and carrying the air into the body
and head dress, in order to supply a sufficiency of pure air to, and remove
deteriorated air from, the individual penetrating the mine.
87
The feet will have an additional protection of sole leather, or gutta
percha, to prevent the dress being cut in that part while passing through
the galleries of the mine. A pipe, having a self-acting valve within it,
might be placed in communication with the brass belt, so as to admit of
air being forced through it by means of a pair of bellows from the inside
of the dress when necessary, to supply pure air and other restoratives to
any of the persons who had been injured by the explosion, and who were
still in the mine, but unable to move without assistance.
The upper part of the air-tight dress may be made sufficiently wide
to admit of the arms being withdrawn from the sleeves, and the hands
applied to any useful purpose inside the dress.
The metal belt will be kept in its proper place by means of leather
straps attached to the body, and will be provided with suitable crooks on
which to suspend, when necessary, one or more reserve coils of flexible
tubes, a capacious pouch, and a safety-lamp. There will also be pockets
inside the dress, for putting anything into that might be desirable to
take into the mine.
In every case of an explosion, it would be advisable to put on the
air-tight dress at the top or bottom of the shaft, although the shaft and
even the main galleries may be penetrated for a considerable distance,
without danger, in consequence of the air in those parts not being con-
taminated. Generally, however, the deteriorated or foul air is met with
before reaching the district where the explosion took place.
On arriving at such places, it will be necessary to apply the flexible
tubes.
In order to test the quality of the air in the mine after an explosion,
and its capability of sustaining life, it would be advisable for the parties
as they advanced along the galleries of the mine, to observe the effect of
the air outside the dress, on some living animal, such as a dog, cat, or
other animal of less value. By making such observations, a pretty
correct judgment might be formed as to the probability of any of the
miners surviving amongst the contamined air or gases.
The safety-lamp will be enclosed in a proper covering of metal or
glass, or partially of both, the air being supplied to it by means of a tube
attached to the metal belt. The heated air may be made to escape at the
top, through a small portion of double wire-gauze, with 10,000 holes per
square inch, protected by a self-acting valve over it; or the heated air
may be carried off by means of a return tube connected with the return
tube inside of the dress, thus assisting ventilation without clanger or
88
inconvenience. In either case, the safety-lamp, invented by myself, is
recommended, as it is constructed upon a principle to burn without
smoke, and combine great luminosity with perfect safety from explosion.
At each junction of the main pipes, where provision is made for the
purpose of attaching* branch pipes thereto, so as to form a communication
for admitting* the air into a glass case, to be placed against the wall in the"
gallery for the purpose of containing a safety-lamp, to remain stationary,
and be kept constantly lighted, if necessary. This would assist ventila-
tion in the main tubes, and so illuminate the galleries as to admit of their
being traversed at all times without carrying a lamp. Where air pipes*
are laid in the mine for working machines for the cutting of coal, &c.,
the same pipes might answer this purpose also.
It is proposed that a sufficient number of air-tight dresses, or casings,
be kept constantly in readiness at top or bottom of the shaft, together with
a sufficient number of flexible tubes, so as to be available at all times-
Tubes and dresses may also be kept at the principal flats or stations in
boxes provided for the purpose.
As an additional means of safety for workmen in fiery mines, it is
proposed to form safety chambers, or what may be termed refuge stalls*,
in such of the bords or openings in the galleries as may be thought
advisable and convenient. (See fig*. 1.) Such safety chambers should be
air tight, or nearly so, and ventilated by means of fixed tubes in connec-
tion with the permanent pipes, the entrance to be by two trap-doors,
which can be opened only from the outside. A means of communication
between the parties in these chambers, and those at the top or bottom of
the shaft might easily be established.
It is respectfully submitted that the method above described is not
only practicable, but commodious and safe, for enabling a person to pene-
trate, without delay, to great distances, to abide there some time, to
obtain a knowledge of the circumstances, and act freely in underground
excavations filled with dangerous gases. The plan has been described
as applicable to coal mines ,* but it equally is so to all places where
noxious gases or impure air exist. It is simple in principle, and infal-
lible in its operation, at least so far as infallibility can be predicated by
human means.
It is recommended that the workmen be frequently practised in the
use of this apparatus so as to become competent to apply it when neces-
sary, with as little delay as possible, as such can be practised at no cost.
The advantage to be derived from the introduction of the apparatus
89
and system, herein described, into mines, would be very considerable,
while the expense of doing so would be exceedingly small, particularly
when done as the workings of the mine are in progress.
A colliery having a capital of £50,000 employed in conducting it
ought to pay for interest and redemption at least 8 per cent., or £4,000
per annum. The extra sum required in order to have the apparatus and
its appendages always in readiness, would form a very small addition to
such capital, and would not be a sacrifice of interest of more than £20
a-year - whereas, when an accident did occur, by enabling the works to
be resumed at a much shorter period than could otherwise be done, the
saving of interest thereby upon the large capital embarked in the under-
taking, would far more than counterbalance the small cost of the
apparatus.
In short, so obvious are the advantages to be derived from the use of
such apparatus in cases of accident, by enabling the lives of the men to
be saved, and the works to be speedily resumed, that the Government
ought to make it imperative upon all colliery owners to construct such
apparatus on the opening out of every mine.
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE
OF
MINING ENGINEERS.
GENERAL MEETING, APRIL 6, 1854, IN THE LECTURE ROOM OP THE
LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
NICHOLAS WOOD, Esq., President of the Institute, in the Chair.
The minutes of the Council meetings having been read, the meeting
proceeded to the election of members.
The President then stated, that the subjects for discussion were
Mr. Longridge's paper " On Choke Damp j" Mr. Mackworth's two papers,
one " On Boring" according to the plan of Mr. Kind, and the other " On
Water as a Ventilating Power." He was happy to see a gentlemen present
who could probably offer some remarks in explanation of the system of
boring described in Mr. Mackworth's paper. They had also a coal-cutting
machine before them, by Mr. Waring, of Neath, whom he was also glad
to see present, and who would favour them with any explanatory observa-
tions respecting it, which might be thought necessary. There was, likewise,
a paper by Mr. T. Y. Hall, " On Penetrating Dangerous Gases," which
had not been discussed. The regular course was to take the discussions
first, and the reading of papers afterwards. The only paper to be read
was one by Mr. Hall, " On the Extent and Probable Duration of the
Northern Coal-field." Before, however (said the President), we go on
with the discussion, I think it necessary for me to notice some remarks
made at the last meeting by Mr. Sanderson, whom I am very happy to
see present to-day. I regret that in consequence of an accident I was
prevented from being present at the last meeting. The subject Mr.
Sanderson brought forward was that of a Mining School and College of
Vol. II.—April, 1854.
92
Practical Science, which it was proposed should be established in this-
district; and, in noticing- which, I must first of ail beg Mr. Sanderson
clearly to understand, that it is not the wish of this Institute, myself, or
any of the members thereof, to interfere in any way whatever with the
College of Practical Science, which Mr. Sanderson states is in existence,
and with which he is connected. I did deliver, as he stated, an address
to that Institution with reference to the establishment of a College of
Practical Science in this town. It is well known to most of the members
present that a meeting was got up for the purpose in this building;
I attended that meeting; and having always been very desirous, and
feeling the necessity of such an institution, I gladly availed myself of
that opportunity of, as far as I could, promoting such an object. The
consequence was, that I was asked to deliver a lecture in what was then
called, and was intended to be, a College of Practical Science, in connec-
tion with the Medical College, which Mr. Sanderson promotes, viz., the
College of Medicine in Eye Hill. In doing so, I was not aware, at that
time, that there was any difference of opinion in the town upon the subject.
I considered in doing so I was promoting the general interest of the
district. No division of opinion, that I was then aware of, existed upon
the subject, or that there were two institutions, of which I have since-
heard more than I then knew. I have since found, and I regret very
much, that there are two parties connected with the medical establish-
ments, and that there are two separate medical institutions in the town.
I have endeavoured in the promotion of the object I had then in view,
which was the establishment of a Mining School and College of Practical
Science, to promote a union between these two parties. Probably, like
every other person who interferes in such a case, I have been blamed
by both. Whether that is the case or not, however, my object was a
straightforward one, which was the establishment of a College of Practical
Science and Mining School. Those were the reasons which then induced
me to deliver a lecture on the subject; and since then, I have done every-
thing which would in my opinion promote such an object. I must,,
however, before proceeding further, notice one remark which Mr. Sanderson
makes, wherein he alludes to the University of Durham. I am quite
sure Mr. Sanderson will recollect that in the lecture which I delivered,
I made the same allusion to the Durham University as I did in the
meeting here, that it would be a benefit to any institution of this kind
to be associated with and assisted by the University of Durham. I have
stated that more than once, and, therefore, I think I may be excused for
93
saying that I have ever been consistent on that point, being actuated solely
with the view of having the institution established. Now, the reason
why this Institute has taken up the subject so very strongly at this
time, is that it is deeply impressed with the necessity of such an insti-
tution for the benefit of the mining population of this district. The
Institute considers it of vital importance that something of the kind should
be established. They have anxiously watched its progress week after
week, and month after month. It was brought, first of all, before the
Institution of which Mr. Sanderson is a member. Afterwards a meeting
was held in the town, at which Dr. Playfair was present, when a
committee was organized for the purpose of carrying the object into
effect. That committee was constituted of both parties, of gentlemen
belonging to both institutions, as well as other persons; and it was
only when this Institute found that the matter was in a state of rest
—that no progress was making whatever in it—that they took the
subject up with the view of carrying the object out, if it could possibly be
accomplished. I am happy to say that since this Institute has taken this
step, I have received assurances of support from gentlemen who are quite
capable of carrying it to a successful issue, independent of support from
other quarters, so deeply are they impressed with the necessity of such
an institution, solely in a mining point of view, that they are prepared to
support it to the extent I have stated, were it confined to that limit alone,
yet they think it would be extremely desirable if such an institution could
be associated with other Literary, Scientific, and Medical Institutions of
the town. While, therefore, we consider it our imperative duty to look
to the establishment of a Mining School in the first place—and while, I
think, we shall be enabled to carry out such an establishment indepen-
dently of any other branch of science—we are, at the same time, most
anxious that all existing differences between the other institutions should
cease, and that such a united School and College might be formed as
would do credit to the district, and accomplish all the objects in view. I
do hope, therefore, notwithstanding the differences existing between two
very powerful bodies, of great influence in the town, that this very
desirable object will yet be accomplished. We have, however, one course
only to pursue, which is to go straightforward and with energy to work,
and endeavour to establish a Mining School, as to the 'necessity for
which we are all agreed, and in which, I have no doubt, we shall succeed,
and the probability is that we shall be able also to unite with it a College
of Practical and General Science. I do hope, therefore, without seeking
94
to interfere with existing institutions, or with their differences, that both
parties will rally round us, and that we may become a nucleus on which
to engraft something generally applicable to practicable science in this-
town. I do not know that I can say anything more on the subject at
present. I think, from Mr. Sanderson's own statement, that the Insti-
tution with which he is connected has not made that progress in the
department of Practical Science, which, on its establishment, he was led
to anticipate. I am very happy to find that the Medical School in
connection with that College has been successful. I am happy indeed to
find from their reports, that both Medical Schools have been successful.
If the gentlemen connected with them think two Medical Schools are
better than one, we have no right to interfere; but such, I believe, is not
the feeling generally. In conclusion, feeling the deep importance, in a
mining point of view, of such an institution as I have stated, and deeming
it desirable that some effort should now be made to carry that object out,
it was with that view that this Institute took the matter up at the time
alluded to. I repeat again, in conclusion, that we do not wish to inter-
fere in any way whatever with the interests of any other institution; but
rather than that nothing should be done, this Institution must, from
necessity, confine themselves entirely to the establishment of a Mining
School, and so endeavour to promote the interests of their own profession,
leaving it to time to accomplish a further extension.
Mr. Sanderson explained the reason, and apologised, for having
called attention to this subject when the President was not present, as his
observations were chiefly founded upon what the President had stated.
He then proceeded—I am glad to learn, from what you have stated this
morning, that there is no intention on the part of this Institute to interfere
with institutions already in existence. In that case I do not think it can
consistently assume the title of a College of Practical Science, which would
give rise to two institutions having the same name. We have already
two Medical Schools, and I think it very desirable that we should avoid,
if possible, creating two separate Colleges of Science, which would only
give rise to a good deal of ill-feeling that would be much better avoided.
If; in any way, we could come to an understanding with the different
institutions in the town, so as to secure their joint cooperation, it would
be exceedingly desirable. It would be exceedingly desirable that we
should go on in peace and concord one with another - but, as I said before,
I am afraid if this Institution takes the name which has been already
adopted by another institution, you will in effect set up a rival institution
95
of your own • and I am sure if that were done, it would produce a great
deal of ill-feeling, that would be injurious to both sides. No doubt each
would get friends. There would be a party on both sides, and such a
state of things would be very unseemly. With regard to the University
of Durham, the reason why I mentioned it was, that we felt and expected
when we opened our Medical School that we should be put, with respect to
the University of Durham, upon the same footing as the other Medical
School in the town. We found the University quite indisposed to do so,
they having taken a part with the other School, which, in fact, forms a part
of their organization. One Hall, Neville Hall, in this town, was as much
a hall as any in existence at Durham. Of course, when we saw that you
were favourable to joining the Mining School and College of Practical
Science with the University of Durham, much in the same way in which
the Medical School is already joined, we felt quite sure if that were done
it would be a great pity and cause a great deal of division in the town.
To originate a College very much like that which is already in existence
in the town would, besides, only be unsatisfactory to both parties. There
is another circumstance which has excited a little degree of suspicion.
The property which has been rented for the accommodation of this Insti-
tute belongs to the same proprietors as that occupied by the other Medical
School. You have certainly a right to take the property of A., B., C, or
any other party you find most convenient; but we felt a degree of
alarm at this, and thought the matter looked a little suspicious, though
in reality there might be no substantial ground for entertaining such a
feeling. When it came out afterwards that you were about to establish
another College of Practical Science in the town, we really felt afraid
there was to be an attempt made to accomplish that in one way which
had not been done in another. When I saw this, I felt it my duty to
notice it, and to warn you against doing anything that might excite a bad
feeling in the town. In practical science and in mining you must be more
influential and more powerful than we are - you may succeed • but it will
cause an unpleasant feeling and widen the dispute which already exists,
and which it seems very desirable should be put an end to. I sincerely
hope that will be so, though I do not see any prospect of it at present. I am
glad to state, with respect to one of the Medical Schools of which I am
treasurer, and therefore have good opportunity of knowing the facts,
that it is doing well. It is not necessary for me to say more; but I
would suggest that one or two of the committee of this Institute should
communicate with one or two gentlemen connected with the Medical
96
Schools, so as to consider if some plan might not he arranged to prevent
any clashing of interests in this matter.
The President—It is not desirable to prolong this discussion. I am
very glad to hear the explanation of Mr. Sanderson, and his expression
of a wish that the two Institutions should not clash together. I am sure
it is not the wish of this Institute, or any one connected with it, that we
should clash together. On the contrary, we wish to be united, and with
that view we have endeavoured to promote a union between the two
Medical Schools. I am very glad that Mr. Sanderson seems to be of the
same opinion as myself that it would be desirable there should be only
one School instead of two. With respect to the name, " College of
Practical Science," probably, by adopting it, we may have entrenched a
little upon the title of another Institution. It was with the expectation
that their College of Practical Science should be incorporated with that
of our Institution in some way or other, so that there should be only one
College of that description in the district, that we adopted that title. Of
course, if that object is impracticable, and we are compelled to establish
a Mining School alone, unconnected with other branches of science, we
cannot adopt the name which already belongs to another Institution.
We must confine ourselves to a Mining School, and, of course, adopt
some other name. With respect to the University of Durham, I do not
know at present what amount of assistance it will give us, except from
what was stated before by the Warden, who said—"Tell us how to
benefit you and we will do it. We will do anything to promote the
advancement and interests of the mining population of these counties.
Only tell us what we can do in that respect and we will do it." Mr.
Sanderson is under a mistake with respect to the renting of rooms for the
accommodation of this Institute. This Institute does not rent any rooms;
the rooms being rented by the Coal Trade. And feeling the propriety
of keeping a close connection with the Coal Trade, and the Committee
having allowed us to occupy a portion of the rooms in that building, we
thankfully accepted their offer. Therefore, we are not tenants of the
building, although we will occupy apartments in it. But, I still hope,
notwithstanding all that has occurred, that some arrangement will be
come to whereby a union may be established among the different Insti-
tutes of the district, and I think the course this Institute is now taking
is calculated to effect that object.
Mr. T. Y. Hall said, as Mr. Sanderson had heard from the President
that he was in expectation of great assistance in support of a Mining
97
School, it behoved the other party and the two Medical Schools to try to
come together in a friendly manner, to do away with all past differences,
and join hand in hand. He believed, from what he had heard, and he
had opportunities of meeting with both parties, (Dr. Charlton and Dr.
Dawson, who were his neighbours), that both were very desirable of
putting an end, if possible, to the unpleasant feeling that existed, so that
they might go on harmoniously together, in conjunction with other insti-
tutions in the town for the good of the public. Neither of the Medical
Schools, it seemed, had much money, and on that account, therefore, he
thought their usefulness would be increased by being united.
The President said, he hoped what Mr. Hall recommended would
take place, if not at present, by and by.
The President directed attention to the subjects standing over for
discussion, and asked if any gentleman had any observations to make
upon Mr. Longridge's paper which stood first on the list.
Mr. T. Y. Hall said, the only remark he had to make was that made
at a former meeting, that the paper was very late in coming before the
members. It was read at the December meeting, and not circulated till
March—then with additional notes.
The President said, it was printed in February. He considered the
subject well worthy the consideration of the Institute. There were some
very good practical suggestions made, well worthy the attention of all
practical miners; and he was sure the Institute was very much obliged
to Mr. Longridge for the trouble he had taken in bringing the subject
before them.
Mr. Henry Longridge said, in a report made^ in 1845, the subject
of compressed air in sheet iron vessels as a means of penetrating choke-
damp was mentioned, and a small apparatus was exhibited; but it did
not appear that anything of the kind, at least that he had heard of, had
been carried out in practice. He should be glad to know from any of
the members if such an apparatus had ever been tried on a practical
scale in Belgium.
Mr. Jas. S. Longridge said, that since his paper had been written
he had seen a paper by Mr. Gouat, who also proposed the adoption of
compressed air in metallic vessels as a means of penetrating choke-damp;
and he had since seen Combe's work which contained a similar propo-
sition. If he had seen these before he wrote his paper he should not
have brought the thing forward; but, as it happened, it was a re-inven-
Vol, II.—April, 1854. n
98
tion on his part, of what had been previously proposed. He did not
know any reason why it had not been practically adopted. "Whether or
not it had been tried and failed he could not tell* but he still remained
of opinion that its practical application might be of very great service.
But, the point to which he attached most importance, if it were of any
real value, was its being applicable to each individual miner. He believed
the apparatus might be made in a cheap form, so that each miner might
take one with him when he went into the workings, as he did his lamp.
If that were not so, the only benefit to be derived from it would be that
of enabling the people at bank to get access to the sufferers after an
explosion. It was very much more desirable if the men, instead of being
left until some one went into them, had the means of coming out through
the dangerous atmosphere themselves, or of getting into places of safety
where the compressed air might be stored up.
Mr. Dunn suggested that as Mr. Longridge's paper and Mr. Hall's
were upon the same subject the discussion should be taken together.
The President said, he thought it very desirable that both discus-
sions should be taken at once.
Mr. Hall said, he had never read Mr. Longridge's or any other
paper on the subject before he had prepared his own plan ,• and he had
written to the Secretary, Mr. Sinclair, so far back as August last, stating
that if he could find a place he was quite willing to test the principle on
the plan he had developed.
The President said, of course it was not to be supposed that there
was any rivalry in the matter. No doubt this was a very important
subject. They could not have a better illustration of that than the late
melancholy accident at Ince Hall. They all, probably, would have heard
that there were several men destroyed on one side of a door, while on the
other side of it there were several men that were saved. It was of very
great importance, especially in so small a distance, that they should have
some means of saving life * and it was a serious question for the profession
whether or not such an apparatus as had been suggested might be effectual
for that purpose. Of course, any new invention required consideration
before it was introduced * but he thought both Mr. Hall and Mr. Longridge
might take it for granted that both papers would receive that considera-
tion from the members of this Institute which was due to the importance
of the subject. As the expense of constructing an apparatus, of the kind
proposed by Mr. Hall, was so trifling, he would suggest to that gentleman v
that he should fit one up in his own colliery at Towneley, and invite the
99
members of the Institute to witness the result. No one was better able
to superintend the application of such a plan than the inventor himself.
Mr. Hall expressed a wish that the President or any of the members
should provide a place, when he should be very willing to try the experi-
ment - but after some conversation, Mr. Hall undertook to apply the
apparatus at Towneley Colliery, where there was plenty of gas for the
purpose, and so afford the members of the Institute an opportunity of
witnessing its application.
Mr. Dunn proposed to ask Mr. Hall a number of questions which he
had prepared in writing, with respect to several points not sufficiently, as
he conceived, explained in his paper.
The President having perused the questions, observed that they
might be very proper ones, but, being sixteen in number, it was evident
they could not get through the discussion of them within any reasonable
time that day. He, therefore, suggested that the questions should be
handed to Mr. Hall, allowing him to answer them at the next meeting.
This suggestion was acquiesced in unanimously.
The Secretary said, Dr. Payerne, the inventor of the Submarine
Boat, was said to have discovered a substance which enabled some
fourteen persons to live together in an atmosphere completely excluded
from the external air, for six or seven hours together. The experiments,
it was said, had been tried in Cornwall*. perhaps some of the members
of the Institute could give an explanation of the matter.
The President—Where is Dr. Payerne ? Perhaps the best way
would be to communicate with him at once.
The Secretary said, he believed Dr. Payerne was in France. He
had read an account of the experiments in the newspapers, but that was
all that he knew upon the subject.
Mr. Wall, of Prescott Street, London, who had attended the meeting
for the purpose of affording explanation with respect to boring on the
plan of Mr. Kind, said a friend of his who had seen an account of the
experiments in Cornwall, which were tried in a diving bell under water,
had written in order to ascertain all the information he could upon the
subject, when the answer he received was, that the plan was practicable
but too expensive.
This terminated the discussion on the subject of Penetrating Dangerous
Gases.
The President then directed the attention of the members to the
100
next subject for discussion, namely, Mr. Mackworth's paper on Boring
according to the plan of Herr Kind, in Germany.
Mr. Wall explained, by reference to models which he exhibited, the
processes of boring according to the " Systeme Kind," and described in
the paper read at the last meeting. The models were, of the " free-fall"
apparatus, the " core borer," and the " core extractor." The action of
the free-fall apparatus is to permit the fall of the chisel to take place
without the rods falling* with it; the lashing of the rods against the sides
of the hole during and at the end of the fall was therefore avoided. The
rods had nothing to do but lift the chisel to the necessary height, and
after its fall follow at a moderate speed and lay hold of it again; they had
not, therefore, to withstand the severe shocks as when rods and chisel fall
together• they never rested on their lower end at the bottom of the hole,
but were always hanging from the end of the lever with which the opera-
tion was carried on; and were never, therefore, subjected to other than
the tensile strain in lifting the chisel. On these accounts they incurred
less risk of breakage and could be of much lighter construction • wooden
rods were usually made use of, which were seldom or never broken, except
caused by some accident to the overhead gearing, or, where tubing is not
used, by a fall of rock in the hole, and even accidents of this latter nature
were much less liable to occur under this system, from the rods not
striking against the sides of the hole. The models of the "core borer"
and " core extractor" were alluded to in illustration of the description
given in the paper. Care was necessary in the use of these instruments
in order to ascertain, with accuracy, the direction of the rise of the beds,
especially in raising the core after it had been detached. In order to
guard against any error from the twisting of the rods, in raising them,
straight edges are fixed on the rods at right angles to their length, which
are kept parallel to a string stretched across the mouth of the hole. The
¦ system is now in very extensive operation in France, Germany, and
Belgium. One of the most remarkable instances is at Homburg, near
Frankfort-on-the-Maine, where they had, in September last when he
visited it, reached a depth of 1,800 feet, and were going through schist
and quartz rock. The hole was lined with an iron tube from the top to
the bottom. They had had very serious difficulties to encounter, one of
which was owing to a bed of loose gravel, some distance down, which
had closed up the hole after passing through it. The object of this
boring was to obtain water of a sufficiently high natural temperature to
be used for warm baths. It is intended to go 600 feet deeper, when the
101
temperature is expected to reach 95° Fah. In the second table of
Appendix No. II. of Mr. Mackworth's paper, a note has been omitted
which is necessary in order to show how the average cost per yard is
arrived at. The total expense of the plant to the end of December,
deducting 50 per cent, for depreciation, outlay in erection, &c, is divided
by the depth bored up to that time, to give the cost for plant per yard,
on the whole depth j this amount is added to the cost per yard in labour
due to the boring itself for each month. In the months of September
and October, it will be observed, that little or no boring was done while
there was still the same outlay in labour on the hole; this was due to an
extraordinary accident in a violent storm which overset the bore-house
and broke the rods in the hole, together with some other accidents causing
delay and expense to remedy. In the deduction to be drawn from this
example, therefore these two months should be omitted, lessening the
depth by 11*91 yards, and the expense by £104*82. Further, it is to be
remarked that the outlay in plant includes a small wooden house for the
residence of the bore master, sheds for smith's shops, and the whole
original cost of rods, tools, &c. For a comparison with the old method
we may, therefore, say that 285 yards of boring, 12 inches diameter,
were executed for £348, expended in labour • as to the rods, tools, &c,
there is nothing* about them to render the cost but very slightly, if at all
more costly, than is the old method.
The coal-cutting machine, by Mr. Waring, of Neath Abbey, formed
the next subject of discussion. A beautiful model of the machine was
exhibited, and Mr. Waring explained its principles anoi mode of application.
A specimen of a substance denominated, by Professor Johnston, hat-
chatine, and supposed to contain fire-damp in a high state of tension,
was exhibited by the Secretary, Mr. Sinclair. It was found by him at
Seaton Colliery, in the county of Durham, at a depth of 250 fathoms.
The President observed, that the discussions having been gone
through, the meeting would now take the paper to be read. There was
only one, which was by Mr. T. Y. Hall, " On the Extent and Probable
Duration of the Northern Coal-field." It was, he believed, rather a
lengthy document, but if they could not get through the whole they
might read what they could in the time at their disposal, and take the
remainder at another meeting*.
Mr. Hall, at the request of the President, then proceeded with his
102
paper, prefacing" it by observing- that he presumed the object of this Insti-
tute was to give universal popularity to the views the members entertained,
and the improvements that were made, or proposed to be made, in the
Northern Coal-field from time to time. He deemed it expedient for him,
while attempting- an exposition of the subject he was about to brin°-
before them, to solicit their attention while he stated, in as concise a
manner as possible, his opinions as to the probable duration of the coal-
field in Durham and Northumberland, and other subjects immediately
connected therewith.
During* the reading- of the paper the President found himself oblig"ed
to leave the meeting", and Mr. Anderson, of South Shields, one of the
Vice-Presidents of the Society, occupied the chair during" the remainder
of the proceeding's.
By T. Y. HALL.
It may be necessary, before commencing a rather lengthy paper, sub-
divided into a great number of sections, on the Present State and Probable
Duration of the Northern Coal-field, and other remarkable matters con-
nected therewith, or included within the range of the subject, to mention
to the members of this Institute, that, as many of our most influential
members reside in foreign parts, and others at a great distance from the
Northern Coal-field, to which we desire chiefly to direct our attention
with a view to improvement, it appears extremely desirable that this
Institute should possess a large and accurate map of the coal district in
Northumberland and Durham, accompanied by sections and plans, with
a written description of the whole, so as not only to render elucidation
easy to strangers, but to serve the mining engineers of the district as a
work of reference and a guide for the future.
The increase of collieries both in new and old districts, and the manu-
facture of iron and coke, in which a certain description of coal is largely
employed, may warrant an extension of this plan a few miles beyond
what may be termed the N. W. limit of the coal-field, so as to include the
North Tyne coal and iron ore district; and also beyond the county of
Durham, so as to embrace the rich iron ore of the Cleveland district, on
the Yorkshire coast, and contiguous to the long-proposed harbour of
Redcar, with its extensive capabilities of improvement.
Having already prepared a long document on the subject, it is my
intention to submit it to the Institute (together with a plan and sections
104 ^ ~~
of the coal-field) under the following- heads:—Chapter 1. Situation
of the Coal-field; its general Character, Boundaries, and Divisions.—
Chapter 2. Dykes and Faults.—Chapter 3. Rivers and Ports.—Chapter
4. Strata of the Coal-field.—Chapter 5. Colliery Districts and Coal
Seams.—Chapter 6. The different Kinds of Coal.—Chapter 7. Coal For-
mation in the Tyne District.—Chapter 8. Districts distinguished by the
Nature of the Coal they chiefly produce: Household Coal District.—
Chapter 9. The Coking Coal District.—-Chapter 10. The Steam Coal
District.—Chapter 11. Doubtful or more precarious Districts.—Chapter
12. General Remarks on the Districts.—Chapter 13. Public Railways
and Docks.—Chapter 14. The Coal-field in Sections.—Chapter 15. Prices
of Coals.—Chapter 16. Estimate of Coal, Rents, Working and Leading
Charges, &c.—Chapters 17 and 18. Number of Collieries, Pits, and
Workpeople employed.—Chapter 19. Annual Quantity of Coal raised
from Mines in Great Britain, with the Number of Underground Work-
men.—Chapter 20. Comparison of Collieries, Pits, and Underground
Establishments in Durham and Northumberland, with other places.—
Chapter 21. Weight of Coal in the Solid and Broken State.—Chapter 22.
Coal and Coke.—Chapters 23 and 24. Duration of the Coal-field.—
Chapter 25. Concluding Observations. Any extra information which
any of the members may be disposed to afford me, especially in respect
of details which can only be reached through the various representatives
of local collieries, will be acceptable, and if it reach me in time shall be
embodied in the paper. And with regard to anything that may seem to
require correction or be open to debate, I shall be very happy to hear
discussion upon it.
CHAPTER I.
SITUATION OF THE COAL-FIELD: ITS GENERAL CHARACTER,
BOUNDARIES, AND DIVISIONS.
The accompanying plan of the Great Northern Coal-field, in the
counties of Northumberland and Durham, exhibits the relative position
of the several collieries, and the ports at which their produce is shipped;
also the cropping out of the coal measures, the magnesian limestone, and
the new or upper and the old or lower red sandstone, as traced upon-the
surface from actual survey; the direction of the principal dykes or faults,
by which the strata have been disjointed or broken; and the special
districts wherein the various qualities of coal at present worked have
been found in the greatest perfection.
This coal-field is geographically situated between 54° 35' and 55° 22'
north latitude, and between 1° 10' and 1° 57' west longitude. Newcastle,
the metropolis of the district, with its street architecture of beautiful
freestone, is one of the finest towns in the kingdom, being in 54° 58' 30"
north latitude, and nearly 1° 37' 30" west longitude. This district is
bounded by the river Coquet on the north, and extends southward nearly
to Hartlepool, near the Tees, a distance of about forty-eight miles. Its
extreme breadth is about twenty-four miles, and its area has been calcu-
lated at not more than about 800 square miles. Mr. Hugh Taylor, in
his evidence before a Parliamentary Committee, estimated the area at
837 square miles, or 535,680 acres; while Mr. R. C. Taylor, an American
author, in his " Statistics of the Coal Trade," adopts an admeasurement
of 780 square miles, or 499,200 acres. As representing the superficial
area of the Great Northern Coal-field, either of the above admeasurements
may be admitted; but if applied as the basis of a calculation for deter-
mining the quantity of what is termed the workable coal existing, and
the probable period over which the supply will extend without being
exhausted, both may be considered open to objections, and liable to
reduction on several grounds, as will be satisfactorily shown in a subse-
quent portion of this paper. The writer, as the result of careful measure-
ments, has adopted an admeasurement of little more than 700 square
miles, or 448,000 acres, the details of which will be fully exhibited
hereafter. In a considerable portion of the area southward, where the
o
106
seams of coal are under the upper red sandstone, the magnesian lime-
stone, and the lower red sandstone, they are proved so thin as to he
almost unworkable.
The lineal boundaries of the Northern Coal-field assume the form of
an irregular triangle, one side of which may be described as running from
the mouth of the Tees westward to Woodland Colliery, near CockfTeld, a
distance of nearly thirty miles. The inland side is formed by the escarp-
ment of the coal westward, and the line of sea-board may be adopted,
with special modifications, as the boundary on the east, the junction
northward being at a point near to Amble Harbour, at the mouth of the
Coquet.
The general boundary, as thus described, is accurately defined upon
the plan. Leaving the Tees near to Port Clarence, the boundary line on
the south proceeds by the coast to Hartlepool, thence it follows the old
Hartlepool Docks and Railway line, passing through Monkhesleton Dean,
near to Castle Eden Pit, south of Hutton Henry. To make a straight
line of boundary we may, perhaps, go not so far south as Wynyard or
Newton Parks, thence on by Sheraton, Chilton, the Clarence Railway,
to Middridge, East Thickley, Brusselton, south of Witton Park Iron
Works, Evenwood, Norwood, Cowden, Cockfield Fell, Butterknowle,
and Copley Bents, in the Township of Lynesack-cum-Softley, where it
joins the extreme western boundary. The country beyond that point is
mountainous and destitute of workable coal seams, but it abounds in rich
limestone, iron and lead ores, which are extensively worked there and
at Allenheads and Weardale.
After forming an angle at Copley Bents the boundary line proceeds in
a northerly direction, with a slight inclination towards the east, in nearly
a straight course to the Derwent, near to Hamsterley Hall, previous to
which it crosses the river Wear below Wolsingham, where limestone,
iron ore, and lead are met with; thence it proceeds towards Towlaw, a
valuable ironstone district, where extensive iron works are established;
next on to Thornley Colliery and Hedley Hope, and then to Consett,
near Shotley Bridge, on the Derwent, at which place we meet with iron
works on a scale of great and rapidly increasing magnitude.
The raw material for the works at Towlaw and Consett was principally
supplied in the locality, but now immense quantities are brought from
Cleveland at a cost of about 5s. per ton for carriage alone, and from
other places. There are great facilities for the manufacture of iron at
Consett, inasmuch as a very large capital is employed, and coal suitable
107
For the purpose is obtained close at hand, and within twenty fathoms
of the surface.
The coal seams " crop " out at Newland and many places along the
hill towards the Derwent, putting in again towards the more elevated
Crown Woods at Chopwell, Garesfield, Hedley, Stella, Towneley, and
Mickley, and again cropping out west in the low lands near the Tyne, at
Horsley Wood (near Wylam), and westward at BywelL Thence, the
course of the boundary is over Prestwick Carr, past Mitford (near
Morpeth), towards the harbour of Amble-on-the-sea (near Warkworth),
where the coal measures diverge from the land under the sea, before
reaching which, the seams become very precarious in all directions.
The coal measures slope or dip from the out-crop towards the sea,
from Widdrington Castle, on the north coast, to Castle Eden (near
Hartlepool), in a south-easterly direction. On the west and north-west,
they are bounded by the out-cropping of the underlying millstone grit
and mountain limestone, which, in some cases, causes the coal to be
found in patches, as at Shilbottle, Scremerston, Newton-on-the-Moorr
and other places, such as North Tyne, Acomb, and Stublick.
The lowest working seams of coals are at Monkwearmouth pit, under
the limestone, where the shaft, which is about one mile distant from and
100 feet above the level of the sea, has been sunk to the depth of nearly
1,700 feet to the Hutton seam, below which, as usual, will be found the
Beaumont—Harvey or Towneley, Five-quarter, Stone Coal, Three-quarter,
and Brockwell seams.
These seams have been worked in many of the westward collieries, for
both sea and landsale use, and are considered to be the lowest workable
seams of the coal formation.
The seams of coal south of Monkwearmouth (under the Hutton seam,
which is the first workable one there), lie also at a considerable distance
below the level of the sea. Westward near the Wear, at Pease's West
Pits, the general out-crop of these seams is at a considerable height
above the level of the sea. The same thing occurs near Wylam and
Bywell on the Tyne. The inclination or rise of the coal measures west- .
ward is at the rate of 92 feet, or 15 fathoms per mile. In the mountain
limestone, and in some places within the coal measures, westward, the
iron and lead measures make their appearance.
Besides the general out-crop of the coal measures westward, several
of the seams appear at the surface in the great valleys of the Tyne, the
Derwent, the Team, the Wear, and the Tees, probably caused by denu-
dation of the surface.
CHAPTER II.
DYKES AND FAULTS.
The strata of the coal district are extensively fractured and displaced
by dykes or faults, which run across the country in a direction nearly
parallel to each other from east to west. The principal of these is known
by the name of the Ninety-fathom Dyke. It runs from near Cullercoats
in the direction indicated upon the plan by a strongly marked red line,
passing about four or five miles northward of Newcastle, and in all
probability going to the western ocean. The coal strata on the north
side of this dyke may be traced for twenty miles, thrown downwards
from sixty westward to 150 fathoms eastward, near the sea, and hence
the name by which this great fault or slip in the strata has been
distinguished.
The Ninety-fathom Dyke may be traced at Whitley, Killingworth,
Kenton, Denton Hall, Lemington, Stella Hall, Stevens' Hall, Greenside,
Kyo, East of Coalburn, South of Minsteracres, and through the Lead
Mines belonging to W. B. Beaumont, Esq., M.P., towards the western
ocean.
It has been drifted through at Shire Moor, and from the south to the
north side at Gosforth, Bell's Close (near Lemington Iron Works), at
East Towneley, Stella Colliery, and West Towneley Colliery, about half
a mile west of Greenside, on or under the road from Greenside to
Coalburn.
The drift at Bell's Close was commenced by Mr. Christopher Bedling-
ton, agent to the Montague Family, about seventy years ago, and hence
it is called " Kitty's Drift." It was intended to cut several seams of
coal in the neighbourhood of Kenton, on the level it was commenced at,
which was very little above that of the Tyne at Bell's Close* it was like-
wise intended to use it as a horse way for the purpose of bringing the
coal and water out on the level without incurring the great expense of
sinking a shaft and drawing the same up by an engine, a mile northward
ol the dyke. It was known, that for a considerable distance the seams
of coal, even north of the dyke, had been worked above the Tyne level,
and that unworked coal seams would still be found further to the dip,
where this level road was intended to end, and north-eastward beyond
these seams to the rise.
109
On reaching a certain point, however, after many years of tedious
labour, and the expenditure of a large sum of money, it was discovered
that, in consequence of faults and troubles, the coal seams were thrown
downwards to the north about forty fathoms below the level of this drift,
and could not be reached in the way contemplated. Some time after this,
pits were sunk to the coal north of the dyke; and the water from them
is at present pumped into " Kitty's Drift," through which it is discharged
into the river Tyne. This is a remarkable instance of the misadventure
and miscalculation of mining engineers in former times.
It may be remarked, that it was in this district that iron bars were
first used as edge rails for tram or railroad carriages. Benwell, in the
same neighbourhood, was probably the first place where coal was worked
in Great Britain.
It was on Wylam Colliery railway, which terminates at Lemington,
that locomotives were either first or very early used on metal rails of
various forms of construction to suit the rough and rugged road existing
at that day. The engines had wheels constructed to suit the rails ¦ these
wheels and rails have since undergone changes, having been three or
four times re-modelled, till they have become what are now generally in
use on all railways.
In the village of Benwell, which is pleasantly situated on the north
bank of the river Tyne, commanding a picturesque view of the country
for several miles to the south and west, up the valleys of the Tyne, Ravens -
worth, Team, and Derwent^ the remains of my late friend, Mr. John
Buddie, are interred in a vault constructed during his life time, in the
escarpment of a coal seam on the south side of the church-yard. Appro-
priate locality for the last earthly resting place of one who had devoted
a long life to the interests of the coal trade.
Several centuries ago coals were conveyed in carts from Brandon, near
Brancepeth, and the late Lady Peat's collieries at Thornley Common, to
iron works then established on a small scale on the Tyne and Wear.
The distance was upwards of twenty-four miles, and several pits, where
good coals were worked, had to be passed in making the journey. The
reason why coals from the more distant pits were selected over others
that might have been obtained nearer, was, no doubt, their being found
preferable for the purposes to which they were to be applied. This fact
proves that, even at that early period, when the coal and iron trades were
in their infancy, the parties engaged in them had discerned and appreciated
the quality of coal best suited for such manufacture. It is fortunate for
110
the iron manufacturers of the present day that they can obtain ample
supplies of suitable coal on so much more favourable conditions than their
predecessors.
A considerable basaltic dyke, visible on the surface at Brockley Whins,
proceeds thence across the Tyne at Walker, through Byker Bar, the Town
Moor, to Kenton, where it meets the Ninety-fathom Dyke, on the north
side of which it makes its appearance in two divisions a mile apart. The
southernmost division runs from East Kenton Hall, taking the course of
the Roman Wall, to Heddon-on-the-Wall, near which village we find
even upon high ground the escarpment of the lowest seam of coal.
The northern division passes through Coaly Hill, where it is 24 feet
in thickness, which is worked in quarries for the purpose of road making.
Five or six other basaltic dykes intersect the coal-field at various
places in Northumberland, to the north of the Ninety-Fathom Dyke.
Two of them run parallel about half a mile apart, from Hartley to about
a mile north of Cramlington. Two others run westward from the sea
near Blyth, one on each side of the harbour, about a mile and a half
apart. These are all nearly parallel to each other, and also to the one
previously described from Brockley Whins to Coaly Hill. Another
basaltic dyke, near to Radcliffe Colliery, runs about east and west. At
this point from the sea westward, the coal field is only about four miles
in breadth. Three miles north of Radcliffe is Amble Harbour on the
Coquet, where this outcrop of coal enters the sea.
The Heworth Dyke extends from the sea, south of Jarrow, by Heworth,
Swalwell, Axwell Park, west of Stella, to Stevens' Hall, where it disap-
pears in the Ninety-fathom Dyke. On the north or opposite side of
which, and nearly in a line with the Heworth Dyke, a similar dyke runs
close by the house occupied by the agent of the Towneley Colliery, at
the west end of Ryton Bar Moor, and north west through Crawcrook
fields. It then crosses the Tyne, under the house in which the late emi-
nent engineer, George Stephenson, Esq., was born, about half a mile
below Wylam, enters the Rift estate, and continues through the Wylam
estate to Horsley Wood, where the Brockwell seam of coal, there called
the "Crankey," and sometimes the "Horsley Wood Seam" terminates at
the surface. This is the lowest workable seam in the coal series, and it
takes its name from its coming to the surface at Brockwell Woods, in
Blaydon Burn, below Barlow.
The Hett Basaltic Dyke, in the county of Durham, traverses the coal-
field from Easington, between Shotton and Haswell Collieries, also
111
between Thornley and Ludworth by Hett, between Sunderland Bridge
and Ferry Hill, close by the north end of the village of Tudhoe, crossing
the Wear, and is seen a little north of the Willington Colliery near
Brancepeth, apparently running into the Butterknowle Slip Dyke. Further
westward, these two and the Cockfield Fell Basaltic Dyke appear to come
to a point altogether, and thence on towards the Western Ocean. The
Hutton seam of coal, on the south side of this dyke, is much thinner and
more expensive to work than the same seam on the north side of it,
particularly in the eastern portion of the district. This dyke may be
traced considerably beyond the out-crop of the coal at Witton-le-Wear,
beyond which place it runs nearly parallel with the out-crop to Woodland
Colliery, a distance of nearly six miles, which colliery is situated about
two miles to tbe south of the Hett Dyke, at the extreme out-crop, and
at about the same distance northward from the Cockfield Fell Dyke.
These three dykes approach each other as they proceed westward • the
reverse is the case as they go eastward, the Hett Dyke running into the
sea near to Easington, and the Cockfield Dyke running between Great
Aycliffe and Darlington, close to Roseberry Topping on the south, into
the sea at Whitby. In the same manner that the Hett Dyke deteriorates
the quality of the Hutton seam southward of it, does the Cockfield Fell
Dyke deteriorate the quality of the ironstone to the south of it, which is
particularly observable in the neighbourhood of Roseberry Topping.
The Hett Dyke has been drifted through at Shotton, which pit was
sunk by the Haswell Company on the south side of the dyke for the
purpose of working a good Five-quarter seam, and also in expectation of
meeting with the Hutton seam in good workable condition. The Haswell
Pit had been sunk previously north of the dyke, into a good Hutton seam,
the produce being shipped by the Durham and Sunderland Railway at
Sunderland, and it was intended to convey the coal south of the dyke from
Shotton Colliery by the Hartlepool Railroad to Hartlepool Dock for ship-
ment. When the Hutton seam was sunk to at Shotton, it was found to
be very inferior in consequence of its being tender. The Five-quarter was,
therefore, mainly resorted to, and the proprietors afterwards bored or sunk
to the Beaumont or Harvey seam below the Hutton. They then made
a drift in the Hutton seam to the Hett Dyke, which they found to be
of great thickness, and very hard, and after much labour and expense
they pierced through it into the good Hutton seam, on the north side,
thus enabling a direct underground communication between the Shotton
and Haswell Collieries to be made at some future day, and so admitting
112
of the good Hutton coal being brought through a long lead in this under-
ground drift up the Shotton Pit, and led and shipped along with the
Five-quarter seam at Hartlepool.
The quality of the Hutton seam on the south side of the Hett Dyke
had been proved previously by another proprietary, the Thornley Company,
who, in consequence of its thinness, limited the workings to the Five-
quarter - and subsequently sunk to the Beaumont or Harvey, which they
found to yield good coking coal. The Thornley Company being in
possession of a large district north of the dyke, drifted up to, but did
not at that time attempt to cut through the dyke, but sunk another pit
at Ludworth, where they found the Hutton seam in excellent condition,
which they now work extensively. The coals from Ludworth and Thornley
Colliery being sent to Hartlepool Docks.
The Hett Dyke was likewise cut through at Willington, near Brance-
peth.
The Butterknowle Forty-fathom Slip Dyke is seen at Cockfield Fell, a
little west of Cockfield, and proceeds -by Thrislington, Bishop Auckland,
Ferry Hill Station, and near Monkhesleton, to the sea. It runs parallel
to the Hett Dyke throughout its course, at an average distance of about
three miles to the south of it. This is a slip dyke and not a basaltic one
like those of Ilett and Cockfield Fell, but like the Ninety-fathom Main
Dyke and the Heworth Twenty-five-fathom Slip Dyke.
There are several small dykes and slips met with in various parts of
the coal-field, running in different directions, which are of sufficient
importance to call for minute description. These dykes cause great
expense to coal owners, as they interrupt the working of the coal very
materially.
The present paper being foreign to the purpose, it is not necessary to
express any opinion as to the formation of these extraordinary pheno-
mena, further than to say that it would appear some great force had
occurred, throwing the stratified crust of the earth down in some places
and up in others. As regards the basaltic dykes, there would seem to
have been a severance of the strata in a vertical or sloping direction, in
many places several yards apart, and the intervening space to have become
filled with basalt, while in a state of fusion from intense heat. At Cock-
field this severance extends to about 22 yards - it is greater at Shotton
and westward. At Willington, near Brancepeth, the dyke is not so
difficult to penetrate as at other places.
The fact of the severance having become filled up with basalt in a
113
state of fusion is evident from the circumstance of the coal in some places,
on both sides of these dykes, having been found charred or converted
into coke by the agency of heat, and deteriorated from other causes.
At Stella Pit we meet with a coal which when burnt in a coke oven
for 150 hours does not change its appearance. In certain districts, also,
the quality of coal in the neighbourhood of these dykes is found to be
deteriorated, from what cause has not been satisfactorily ascertained.'
A similar deterioration, as before remarked, occurs with respect to
the ironstone south of Cockfield Fell Dyke.
A peculiar dyke or fault is found running in a direction north and
south, extending from near the City of Durham to the Team and King's
Meadows, on the Tyne. It is 27 fathoms in depth in some places, and
is filled with alluvial deposits, pointing in a direction towards Norwood
Colliery, on the Team valley, and through Ravensworth Park.
CHAPTER III.
RIVERS AND PORTS.
The Ports at which the produce of the Northern Coal Field is shipped
on the eastern coast of England are Middlesbro' and Port Clarence on
the Tees, East and West Hartlepool, Seaham, Sunderland, Newcastle,
Shields, Seaton Sluice, Blyth, and Amble near Warkworth.
Bedcar, about four miles south of the Tees, though not established
as a port for the shipment of coals, has lately risen into importance in
consequence of its proximity to the Cleveland Hills, which abound in
valuable ironstone, in beds of from 10 to 16 feet in thickness. A railway
unites Redcar with Middlesbro', where it joins the Stockton and Darling-
ton Railway, and branches are formed from the Redcar and Middlesbro7
line to Birdley Moor, Eston Nab, Roseberry Topping, Birnaldby Moor,
Guisbro', and Cod Hill, and the ironstone deposit at Huntcliffe and
RedclifTe, on the sea banks. Extensive ironstone workings have been
commenced by various parties in this important district, the produce
being conveyed by railway to the different places where furnaces have
been established for smelting the ore. The principal parties engaged in
this rapidly extending branch of trade, are Mr. Pease, who leases a
considerable district, including Roseberry Topping, round which he
proposes to form a railway, for which he has already obtained an Act
of Parliament * Messrs. Bolckow and Vaughan, who have extensive iron
works at Middlesbro' * Bell, Brothers, at Port Clarence, on the opposite
side of the Tees • Charles Atwood and Co., at Towlaw, on the Wear •
the Consett Iron Company, who have a large establishment near Shotley
Bridge, on the Derwent • and sundry other parties on the Tyne.
About twenty years ago, I went with Mr. Brooks, now Engineer to
the Commissioners of the River Tyne, to examine and report upon these
valuable iron ores, as may be seen in the report made by him, when
engineer for the river Tees, and published in the "Nautical Magazine"
for May, 1833.
Notwithstanding the publication of this long and valuable report, call-
ing attention to the immense beds of iron ore, from that time until two
or three years ago little notice was taken of that which has since turned
out to be so important. Mr. Brooks, at the period referred to, suggested
115
the formation of a harbour at Redcar, not only for mercantile purposes,
but as a refuge for ships of war and merchant vessels in stormy weather.
The projected harbour comprised an area of 450 acres, admirably situated,
and sheltered by rocky promontories north and south, with a depth of
twenty feet at low and forty feet at high water. This magnificent scheme
might have been carried out at comparatively little cost, on account of the
facilities of formation afforded by the locality itself; had such been the
case, Redcar would have become a very important place long before this
time.
The Tyne, and also the northern and western district of our coal field,
would derive immense advantage from the construction of the proposed
harbour at Redcar, in consequence of the distance being only thirty miles,
and screw steamers could sail to and fro in a few hours and bring the ore
to the Tyne for Is. 6d. per ton, to coal on the spot of a quality extremely
suitable for the manufacture of iron. The coal is at present conveyed by
the Stockton and Darlington Railway thirty-six miles to the docks at
Middlesbro'. If the furnaces are there, the stone must be brought from
the places where it is quarried in the hills, by rail either near to or to
Middlesbro/ and other places to meet the coal* making the distance for
land carriage before the two articles and the limestone meet about forty-five
miles. In case the furnaces were erected at or near Redcar, Middlesbro',
or Port Clarence, the distance for land carriage would not be diminished.
But, were the stone brought from Redcar by sea to the Tyne, where the
best coking coals are worked upon the spot, full two-thirds of the cost
of carriage would be saved, besides other advantages. Assuming that
three-and-a-half tons of iron-ore, with less than one ton of limestone, will
make one ton of pig metal, five tons of coal are required for the purpose
of manufacturing it into pig metal, and two tons extra coals to make it
into bar iron. Two tons of good coke are equal to five tons of coal in
the manufacture of pig metal* so that by using coke instead of coal,
notwithstanding a little less cost for carriage, the saving might be much
greater. From this data a calculation can easily be made of the advan-
tage to be derived from bringing the ore to the locality where the coal,
coke, and limestone can be obtained upon the spot, or with only a short
lead of a mile or two.
Upwards of twenty years ago, Stockton was the principal shipping
place for the Auckland Tees Coal District, with which it was connected
at that time by the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was subse-
quently extended by a bridge, (which was first a suspension bridge, but
116
when that form of construction did not answer for locomotives and heavy
trains, a stone and iron bridge was built) across the Tees to Middlesbro',
on the Yorkshire side of the river, where shipping places, with descending
drops to put the coal from the waggons into the ships, and a spacious dock
have since been erected. Stockton, as a shipping place for coal, has
nearly altogether fallen off since that period, although the Tees river
tidal water has, at that place and elsewhere, considerably improved and
straightened the mouth of the Tees.
About the same time, or shortly after the shipping places at Middles-
bro' were established, Port Clarence, on the opposite side of the Tees,
was brought, by the formation of the Clarence Railway, into connection
with the Coxhoe, Byers-green, Ferry Hill, and Chilton district. Branches
have been formed with the Clarence from Stockton to Hartlepool, and
also Thirsk and Leeds, and from the Clarence line to the Stockton and
Darlington Railway at Simpastures, Bishop Auckland, and Wear Valley,
and other places westward. There are other connections between the
Clarence, across the Tees, to the Middlesbro' side contemplated, if nothing-
better can be invented to cheapen the present round-about carriage. All
these works have contributed to change the aspect of trade upon each
side of the Tees very materially during the last quarter of a century.
The next port north of the Tees is Hartlepool, a safe and commodious
harbour, accessible in all weathers. Spacious docks have been constructed
here within the last twenty years, which are connected by railways with
the neighbouring coal fields, and also with the ironstone district of Cleve-
land. The old dock is connected by a railway with Thornley, Shotton,
Haswell, and South Hetton, having also a branch from it by Castle Eden,
Wingate, the Trimdons, Garmondsway Moor, Cassop Colliery, to the
Byers-green and other branches from Ferry Hill, where the York, New-
castle, and Berwick Railway crosses underneath it. Hartlepool West
Harbour, with the railway joining the Clarence, from Stockton to Hartle-
pool also forms an imporant part, each with a junction at Ferry Hill.
These railways unite with the Stockton and Darlington, and the Leeds
and Thirsk Railways near Stockton, and the York, Newcastle, and Berwick
Railway at Ferry Hill, to Byers Green, &c, and the West Durham Rail-
way to Bishop Auckland, &c.
The East and West Hartlepool Docks are in the hands of rival Com-
missioners so that the port charges have always been moderate. They
are so, at the present time, and are likely to continue.
At Hartlepool there is one of the best lighthouses in the north of
117
England, and every facility and accommodation are afforded to vessels
visiting the port.
Ships of twenty feet water and upwards at extra high tides are able
to load in the dock. The lighthouse, which embraces many novel features,
amongst others the dioptric lens light, the only one in this part of the
country used for such a purpose, was erected under the direction of the
Government, ten or twelve years years ago, by Stephen Robinson, Esq., -
civil engineer, Hartlepool.
The next port northward is Seaham, constructed at an enormous
expense by the late Marquis of Londonderry, of whose public spirit and
commercial enterprise it constitutes a conspicuous monument.
The valuable and extensive estate of Seaham, rich in mineral treasures,
was purchased by the noble marquis from Sir R. Noel, formerly Milbanke,
about thirty years ago.
Shortly after obtaining possession of the property, his lordship com-
menced the construction of a harbour at Seaham, with the advice of
Wm. Chapman, Esq., civil engineer (who had previously designed the
first plan), and his chief agent, the late John Buddie, Esq., of Wallsend,
who afterwards made many extensions and great improvements, and
whose name will ever be honourably associated with the coal-fields of
the north of England.
The locality presented many formidable obstacles to such an under-
taking. The sea-board was by no means favourable. It was necessary
to excavate the limestone rock, which here forms the ocean barrier.
Public opinion generally pronounced the scheme, if not. impracticable, an
unprofitable and bold undertaking. On making the first experiment
at excavating, when many thousands were assembled at the opening
ceremony, a conical pinnacle of rock, weighing thousands of tons, was
fired with gunpowder and blown into the air, when several of the people
were injured. The marquis and his agent, Mr. Buddie, fired the shot,
retreating into a creek during the explosion, while the marchioness
witnessed the scene from an adjoining height, in company with an
immense assemblage of people. Year after year the^noble marquis pur-
sued his laudable object, undaunted by difficulties (as he was in everything
he undertook), which would have dismayed ordinary minds. He sur-
mounted every obstacle, and now a populous and prosperous port and
town, the convenient outlet of an extensive and valuable coal district, justify
the foresight of the noble marquis, and his manager, John Buddie, Esq.,
and enable us to appreciate their sound judgment, spirited enterprise,
and dauntless courage.
118
As an individual, undertaking* the construction of Seaham Harbour,
he stands without a parallel in this country, except at Cardiff, in Wales,
where the same may be said of the late Marquis of Bute in making docks
and harbour at that place.
The coal wrought from his own royalties, which are very extensive,
independently of those which he held under the Dean and Chapter of
Durham and others, was shipped at Seaham, the Tyne, the River Wear
Drops, and the Sunderland Docks, to which they are contiguous. Seaham
yields sufficient revenue for interest in port charges to maintain the harbour
in an efficient condition, and defray the cost of necessary improvements,
so that, as a private undertaking, the expenditure of capital has been
judicious and remunerative at last.
The shipments are not confined to those of the late noble marquis only,
which were considered to be far more than he could ever make accommo-
dation for, but they embrace the coal produce of the Grange, North and
South Hetton, Dalton, and two Seatons, extensive collieries belonging to
the marquis and wealthy companies, many of them having railways of
their own, and, it is probable that in a short time, other collieries will be
brought into these arrangements for part of the accommodation they
require. Overtures with that object were made to the proprietors, and
his lordship offered to extend the present and lay down a new railway.
The coal under the Seaham estate comprises the justly celebrated
Hutton seam, which is deservedly held in high repute. Next to Seaham
and Seaton are Silksworth and Ryhope royalties, also in good repute.
Not only are the present working collieries of the late noble Marquis
sufficient of themselves to sustain the prosperity of the port of Seaham,
but there are extensive royalties in reserve, not only belonging to, but
under lease to the late Marquis and others, viz., Earl of Durham, Haswell,
Great Hetton, South Hetton, and two Seatons, and for which they have *
paid in "dead rent" several thousands annually, amounting to upwards
of £150,000, and if interest were taken into account another £100,000
might be fairly added, making something like a quarter of a million for
five parties only, who are ready to work out the same whenever they
think it profitable and desirable to do so.
The "dead rents" paid by various parties in the counties of Northum-
berland and Durham in this way, and which apparently profitless
expenditure they must continue for many years to come, in order to
carry out the object for which they embarked in such a course, must add
greatly to the capital embarked. There are no means readily accessible
for ascertaining the aggregate amount of "dead rents" paid annually in
119
these two counties, but, judging from facts which have from time to time
come within our own knowledge, the amount now paid may be taken at
more than double the sum named. The gross amount at present paid
being about £360,000. A further amount of 150,000 or more may be
said to be paid to landlords for surface way leaves.
The object of such payments is obvious. They constitute a large
item in the expense of maintaining not a monoply of coal districts, but
of reserving to each coal owner sufficient territory of coal equal to the
capital he has employed for the plant and railroads and other stock, by
keeping enterprising individuals, and especially small proprietors, out of
the best field or coal districts.
Proceeding northward from Pensher, we reach the flourishing port of
Sunderland, situated at the confluence of the River Wear with the sea.
This port is the largest in respect of tonnage in ship-building of any in
the United Kingdom, or even in the world. There spacious docks afford
accommodation to vessels of the largest class, where they may ride in
safety in the most tempestuous weather. The entrance at the south side
will soon be finished.
Coals are extensively shipped at this port, besides various articles of
general merchandise. Iron, lead, glass, and earthenware, are the chief
articles of export besides coal • and the imports, beyond timber, hemp, and
tallow, are comparatively insignificant. The River Wear flows through
a large portion of the county of Durham, but is only navigable for ships
to Southwick and Victoria Bridge, which is about seven miles west of the
sea, above the beautiful cast iron bridge, of a single span, resting upon
rock abutments on both sides, built upwards of fifty years ago, by the
late Rowland Burdon, Esq., a name familiar as a "household word" in
the colliery districts of the Tyne and Wear.
There is little to relate of Sunderland beyond what may be found in
any hand-book or directory of the place. The town is united by a
branch railway, (which goes through a coal field already taken up) to
Pensher, on the line of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway, and
it also possesses railway communication with East-and West Hartlepool,
Durham, Stockton, Darlington, Monkwearmouth Dock on the north side
of the Wear, and Railway to Stanhope in Weardale, and various parts of
the county in which it is situated, and which, perhaps, more appropriately
than any other port in the United Kingdom, may be described as being
" girded with railways." Monkwearmouth, on the north side of the Wear,
belonging to Sir Hedworth Williamson, is, through that gentleman's
120
liberality in granting long leases, becoming an important place for ship
building, factories, dwelling houses, &c. The Newcastle Eailway runs to
the North Dock.
The late Marquis of Londonderry, who had constructed a railway
from Rainton and his collieries to Seaham, was constructing another of
his own at the time of his death, between Seaham and Sunderland, with
a view of shipping a portion of the produce of his extensive coal-fields
in the capacious docks near the south entrance of the harbour of the
latter place. This work is still in progress. For these docks the
inhabitants of Sunderland are almost wholly indebted to the wonderful
enterprise of one man, George Hudson, Esq., one of the members for
the borough.
The Hetton Coal Company and the Earl of Durham have each
railways of their own to the port of Sunderland, on the River Wear,
and ship coals to a large amount every year. The Monkwearmouth
Company, on the south side of the Wear, have also shipping places
on the opposite side. Coals are also shipped in the Docks at Monk-
wearmouth and Bishopwearmouth. Usworth and other pits work coal
and ship the same at the North and South Docks, to which places they
are conveyed by public railways belonging to the York and Berwick
Railway Company.
The chief port upon the north eastern coast of England, comprising
the limit of the Northern Coal-field above described, is undoubtedly the
Tyne, recently subdivided into the port of Newcastle and the port of
Shields.
The River Tyne forms the natural division between the counties of
Northumberland and Durham, for the two coal-fields through it are not
in all places topographically bounded by it. The town of Newcastle is
situated on the north bank of this river, about nine miles from its con-
fluence with the German Ocean, and, as already stated, has long been
regarded as the metropolis of the Northern Coal-field; a distinction to
which it is entitled, as well for its antiquity; the conspicuous position it
occupies in the history of the district; the number, intelligence, and
wealth of its inhabitants; and the large extent of business operations
carried on within its precincts, as from the peculiarity of its situation in
the midst of those material elements which have essentially contributed
towards the development of the industry, wealth, and greatness of the
British nation.
The river Tyne affords excellent shipping berths for vessels of a large
121
class, there being deep tidal water nearly all the way from the bar at
Tynemouth, through the port of Shields, up to the spacious quay at
Newcastle.
This quay was enlarged a few years ago, at the sole expense of the
Corporation, in order to meet the requirements of an extending trade, and
improvements on a scale of great magnitude are also contemplated at the
mouth of the river. Mr. Walker, in his report of 1854, recommends
that extensive piers should be erected both on the north and the south
side of the entrance to the river.
There is plenty of tidal water for vessels west of Newcastle, up to
Blaydon and Stella, in a most valuable coal-field, but at present the
navigation is greatly impeded by the old Tyne bridge, with its numerous
low narrow arches, and also by an upthrow, or stone dyke, which crosses
the river below Lemington. Both these obstructions cripple the tidal
flow; one by narrowing the channel, the other by lessening its depth, and
never altering on account of its being rock, but which could easily be
removed. In neap tides the navigation near Lemington is altogether
stopped in consequence of there being so little water upon the rock.
About a mile westward of this rock, the soft bed of the river is scoured
to a depth of nearly twenty feet, but the river again runs shallow at
Blaydon Burn Foot, further west, where it is too wide and dammed back
by deposits in the river, and by an old quay, of no use to any one for the
last thirty years, which might be blown up in a day and carried away.
The bed of gravel might be easily removed out of the river at Blaydon
Burn Foot. The navigation is not required much further up the river
at present, but still further westward several minor obstructions occur.
At my suggestion, the late T. G. Dunn, Esq., chairman of the then River
Committee, and Mr. Brooks, then engineer to the Newcastle Corporation,
commenced removing the upthrow of stones near Lemington, which has
already improved the navigation. A few points below the Derwent are
also rendered difficult by the injudicious width of the/ river.
It is probable that the old bridge across the Tyne at Newcastle will
be removed, since better accommodation is now offered by the stupendous
High Level Bridge, erected by the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway
Company, after the design of R. Stephenson, Esq., M.P., the celebrated
civil engineer, who has combined in this magnificent structure, the highest
degree of architectural skill, with the noblest emanations of mechanical
science. This bridge is without a parallel in the world, and after the old
structure shall have been swept away by the onward tide of civilization,
Vol. II.—April, 1854. Q
122
vessels of the largest class may proceed five miles westward to Blaydon
and Stella, thereby benefitting the commerce of the Tyne.
The banks of coaly Tyne exhibit an interesting subject for contem-
plation. They are studded with manufactories. Scarcely a span is there to
be found without its hive of industry in continued operation.
The smelting of iron ore, and the manufacture of that metal, are
carried forward upon a large scale in several extensive establishments on
the Tyne, of long standing. Their chief supply of raw material is not
derived from the immediate locality of the works, but from Cleveland,
Scotland, and Cumberland. The expense of transit, however, is amply
compensated for by the proximity of the locality to the coal-field.
The same remarks apply to manufactories for steam engines, foundries,
alkali, acids, soda, potash, glass, lead, soap, fire-brick, earthenware, and
grindstones, which are conducted upon a scale of great magnitude. There
can be no doubt whatever, but that the cheapness of labour, and of good
coal, coke, and water, and the facility of obtaining them, are the principal
elements which have contributed to attract capitalists to select this locality
for the seat of the manufactories above described, and as a central local
seat it is now more appreciated than ever.
Within a recent period, several establishments have been founded for
builders of steam, screw, and iron sailing vessels, a branch of industry
in which the Clyde has for some time past largely participated.
The facility afforded for the manufacture of iron made almost on the
spot, with little carriage, has contributed to this result. But what has
been the chief element of Tyneside prosperity ?—-The abundant supply of
cheap labour, and of coal, coke, and water of the best quality, at the
cheapest rate, which has been, and will continue to be supplied to those
who require them. For miles, the land and water embrace each other
under a canopy of coal drops. Most of the collieries which work coal on
the Tyne are either close to, or within a moderate distance of that noble
river. It is worthy of remark, that the greater part of them on both
sides of the Tyne have not been successful for the last twenty years.
Before this period, one particular instance to the contrary may be men-
tioned. Wallsend, within half a mile of the river, while working what
is called the Main coal seam, was so prosperous as to add greatly
to the wealth of its proprietor, and identified its name with the " black
diamond," not only in the metropolis of England, but in every coal mart
of the world ? but when that portion of this valuable coal seam was
exhausted, about thirty years ago, and this pit was sunk to and worked
123
with the Bensham and the other coal seams below this, it sank to the
level of the others of the same sort in the district. It was given up in
1831 • since that time it has been carried on by other parties up to the
present day, struggling on the same footing, or even lower. This is one
instance of an owner, who, some forty years after the year 1780, having
made so bold and wise a stroke at that date, as to sink a pit at such great
expense, and hazarded so large a stake as nearly to exhaust a moderate
fortune, as is generally the case, before any returns. However, it did
get under-way with coal working that year, and for ten or fifteen years
sold coals at about six shillings per ton. After that, for forty years or so,
the prices got much higher, making the fifty years from the commence-
ment to the time when it came into other hands, after which, little
competition existed for about forty years. It may now not be out of
course to state that I heard the agent boast that, while exhausting this
valuable seam, over about forty years, by working two million chaldrons,
or equal to five millions three hundred and fifty thousand tons, he
realized the large sum of ten shillings per chaldron, or one million ster-
ling in gain. This was an excellent household coal at that day. During
the year 1786, one pit was on fire, and only worked that year 4000
chaldrons • the same year they put up a Bolton and Watt steam engine
at the C pit • and it is worthy of further remark, that the said owner
at that period of time, bought large estates in the western part of the
county of Durham with part of his profits, and left a memorandum
before his death, which event took place some time after, that this terri-
tory might come into profitable play in fifty years time, as it had several
fine workable seams of coal under the same, not of the same quality as
the household at Wallsend, but of a different though finer quality, as to
be suitable at the present day for coke and gas purposes, for which there
is now an immense demand • and this district, so valuable, is now coming
into play as one of the most valuable of our coke-coal districts. The
results realized at present, and in prospect, will Amount to an immense
sum yearly for the present proprietor, and quite possibly make, over the
same number of years as above alluded to, similar profit to the large
amount already named.
The superior quality of the Wallsend coal for household purposes that
was yielded from the mine at that time, was a great portion of the
high-priced or best coal required at that day, and gave it a most decided
advantage in the market over many others of a more tender description.
It, like a few others, at that time, such as Percy Main, Whitley, St. Hilda,
124
Jarrow, Walker, Heaton, St. Lawrence, the two Elswicks, Fenham,
Benwell, &c, that had a portion of this good coal seam, have now to
resort to work coal in the Bensham and other lower seams of a much
inferior quality, which works tender, and these now, as well as other
collieries, enjoy no such decided advantage over their competitors as they
did some time ago.
Among the several ports on the sea boundaries of the coal district
that of Newcastle is pre-eminent, as it has long been and must continue
to be while the navigable water which has so largely contributed to its
prosperity shall lave its populated shores, and bear upon its bosom the
products of its active industry to distant people and to foreign lands.
The River Tyne is under the special guardianship of a Board of Commis-
sioners, but was formerly under the jurisdiction of the Corporation of
Newcastle, who, it may be remarked, although deriving a large revenue
from it in various forms, were considered by many not very assiduous in
discharging the duties of Conservancy which devolved upon them; or,
perhaps, they might not have the ample means at their disposal to effect
that for the Tyne, which the citizens of Glasgow, within the last thirty
years, have accomplished for the Clyde. The duties of Conservancy have
been transferred to other hands, and it is to be hoped that those to
whom they are now confided will avoid the censure which public opinion
awarded to their predecessors.
The Tyne is capable of vast improvements, but this is not the place
to indicate either the nature of them or the extent to which they should
be carried out.
The present prosperity of the Tyne has arisen from sundry causes,
involving mighty changes in the coal trade of the district, to which
attention will be more particularly directed hereafter.
Before leaving the Tyne, however, there is one observation incidental
to the general subject, which may be mentioned. When Mr. Rowland
Burdon built Sunderland Bridge he conferred an invaluable boon upon
the inhabitants on both sides of the River Wear. With admirable fore-
sight he effected arrangements, which, in a comparatively few years,
discharged the cost of the erection, and the passage has since been thrown
open, no toll being exacted. The venerable architect lived respected and
died regretted in ripe old age, within a few weeks of the time when this
magnificient work was confided to the public care. The Tyne Bridge at
Newcastle has been for some years exempt from toll, a privilege for which
the inhabitants are indebted to the munificence of his Grace the late
125
Duke of Northumberland, whose noble successor, the present Duke,
reared and tutored as a British sailor, and inheriting all the excellent
qualities that have rendered his ancestry renowned in war and foremost
in the arts of peace, has established an especial claim to the gratitude
and respect of all interested in the prosperity of the port, by his having
exerted his influence and contributed largely from his princely means
towards the establishment of shipping docks on the Tyne at Hayhole,
upon a scale of considerable magnitude. As another instance of his Grace's
liberality towards the mineral trade of the district, from which he derives
a great benefit, it may be stated that his support has been largely given
toward the project of a railway up the North Tyne from the Newcastle
and Carlisle Railway, near Hexham, which will bring the manufactured
iron of Hareshaw into this district.
There have been many projects before the public, from time to time,
for the formation of docks on the Tyne; but notwithstanding the
admitted necessity for such accommodation, and the professed willingness
of parties to meet the requirements of the case, these various projects
were suffered to fall to the ground, and have been almost forgo^en. The
example set by his Grace the Duke of Northumberland and the gentlemen
who are associated with him in the undertaking at Hayhole will be, it
may be hoped, taken up and followed by other enterprising individuals at
St. Peter's, below bridge, and several other places above Newcastle, and
if so, we may expect in a few years to have dock accommodation there,
and at Jarrow on the south side of the Tyne, that may excel all other
places in the world; also for cheap coal and coke such as Warkworth,
Amble, Seaton Sluice, and Blyth, that have grown up in reliance princi-
pally on such coal resources, as well as the Middlesbro', Tees, Hartlepool,
Seaham, and Sunderland Docks.
True, the basin of the Tyne is itself a capacious dock; but modern
times have given birth to a system of centralization which is admirably
organized and sustained in our docks and warehouses on the Thames, the
Mersey, and the Humber.
Pursuing the eastern limit of the coal-field, we arrive successively at
Seaton Sluice, a sort of dock or artificial harbour, which has been cut
out of the solid rock at an enormous expense. Then further north we
have Blyth. Near to Warkworth, on the Coquet, is Amble Harbour,,
the trade of which consists chiefly in the shipment of coal from one or
two collieries in the neighbourhood, which hitherto have produced a sort
of low priced steam coal.
126
There are many statistical details relative not only to the trade of the
different ports on the northern coast of England, comprised in the limits
above described, and the facilities they afford for shipping, but these
would lead into matters beyond the province of the present paper.
At the same time it may be useful to give the depth of water on the
bars of the rivers and harbours on the north-eastern coast during spring
tides, at which coals are shipped: —
FEET* IN.
The Tyne.......24 0
The Wear.......18 6
Seaham........160
Hartlepool.......190
The Tees at Middlesbro'.....16 0
Redcar (sea coast)......43 0
Cowpen, or Seaton Sluice - - - - 15 0
Blyth.......- 13 0
Coquet ]
Amble >.......13 0
Ratcliffe J
CHAPTER IV.
STRATA OF THE COAL-FIELD.
In a paper devoted to the coal-field, it only seems necessary briefly
to notice the strata more immediately in connection with it.
The coal measures throughout the whole of this district rest upon the
mountain limestone and millstone grit, which crop out beyond the coal-
field westward, and form the chief depository of lead ores, which are
extensively worked at Allenheads, on the estates of W. B. Beaumont,
Esq., M.P., and at Weardale and other places on the edge of and some-
times within the coal measures.
The strata of the coal measures, or those which form the chief depo-
sitory of this valuable mineral, are, of course, familiar to the members of
this Institute, from sinkings which have been made through them. They
consist of shales, grits, and clays, and the great abundance of impressions
of plants found in them, particularly those of luxurious growth, such as
the fern, &c, indicate and sufficiently attest their vegetable origin.
Sections of the strata, from the highest to the lowest workable coal
seam, in sinkings occurring at different parts of the coal-field, will be
subsequently given.
Immediately overlying the coal measures, where they lie at a great
depth near the sea, is the lower new red sandstone, which is very pure,
and unmixed with shale • and above this, over a considerable portion of
the county of Durham, we find the magnesian limestone, which in some
parts is overlaid by the upper new red sandstone.
One remarkable effect produced by the dykes displacing the strata
upwards or downwards, is the throwing in of patches of stratification in
places where they would not be expected to make their appearance.
Near to Whitley, where there is a small patch of limestone, the lower
new red sandstone is found cropping out beneath it. At Killingworth,
in consequence of the downthrow caused by the great Ninety-fathom
Dyke, which runs from the sea by Shire Moor through Killingworth,
where it must be a very great downcast to the north, a patch of the same
formation is thrown in, being the only instance of the kind that is known
in the county of Northumberland.
In the county of Durham, at Hessleton Dean, a similar case occurs
128
with respect to the new red sandstone, which is thrown in with the
displacement of strata hy the Butterknowle Dyke, which throws the
strata forty fathoms downwards. This is the only known instance that
occurs of the new red sandstone being thrown in in that manner.
As the coal measures dip towards the sea in a south-easterly direction
from the general line of outcrop, which varies in distance, proceeding
from the sea westward, it is in the latter direction that we may expect
to find the several escarpments of overlying strata. If, on proceeding
westward, we find the lowest workable coal seam, the Brockwell, at the
surface, proceeding south-eastward towards the sea, the several members
of the series of super-strata ought to make their appearance successively.
They undoubtedly do so with certain modifications, arising out of a
variety of causes.
With respect to the coal series itself, when the seams lie at a great
depth from the surface, they may be traced with considerable accuracy
from one district to another. But on approaching the surface westward,
these seams are found nearer to each other. Sometimes two unite and
form one seam, or the occurrence of a slip may throw a seam out alto-
gether, when all further trace of it is lost. The slip may occur in the
opposite direction, and instead of throwing the seams out at the surface,
throw them down perhaps several fathoms. Thus we find certain col-
lieries, at no great distance from each other, differing very considerably
in the number and quality of workable seams. From these and other
circumstances, therefore, a section of the coal measures, say at Monk-
wearmouth Pit, will not find its counterpart on the surface at the coal
measure escarpment westward. Some of the seams have run one into
another; others have been nipped out or thrown out in the distance
between the two places, particularly if that distance is very considerable.
The debris of the surface, however, affords a certain indication of the
strata below, and hence the line of the several escarpments can be accu-
rately defined and delineated, as on the map produced.
The debris of lower new red sandstone, intermixed with other strata
of the coal measures, fills up the interval between the coal outcrop and
that of the magnesian limestone, the existence of which upon the strata
found beneath it, has given rise, at various periods, to much discussion
and inquiry with respect to the character and quality of the coal sub-strata.
The escarpment of the magnesian limestone, as traced upon the map,
runs in an irregular line. A small patch of it lies north of the main
dyke at Whitley, in Northumberland, at Tynemouth Priory, and it strikes
129
in again at South Shields after crossing the Tyne, and continues on across
the Wear at Pensher Hill, Newbottle, Eppleton, Hetton, Moorsley,
Elemore Hall, Pittington, Sherburn Hall, Coxhoe, Haswell, Shotton,
Ferry Hill, Coundon, Thickley, and Middridge, into Cleveland in York-
shire.
The outcrop of the lower red sandstone is shown with a thin interme-
diate stratum of shale in some places immediately beneath it, particularly
where it is deep. The sandstone appears on the surface in many places
as fine soft sand. As this sand, or lower red sandstone^ clips under the
limestone it becomes more compact, and at a great depth is found hard
with gullets or cracks in it filled with water, which comes off into the
shaft, when sinking, in enormous quantities, bringing with it particles of
sharp sand, so that the leather buckets used for pumping (a practice I
would not adopt, as those buckets, which must be worked with great
rapidity and power to overcome the influx, are made of leather,) do not
last many hours when the water is at a heavy pressure, in consequence
of its great depth. It may be remarked that in one case, that at South
Hetton Dalton Colliery, the cost of the leather for the buckets, was at the
rate of £100 per week for a year or two, while little or no progress what-
ever was made in sinking until they got through the bed of sand, which
difficult part was only a few feet in thickness. A similar occurrence took
place in the first pit sunk at Haswell, where the sand was softer and much
thicker than at South Hetton Dalton Pit, which is further to the dip,
and the proprietors in consequence were obliged to abandon it before
they got through the sand, after spending upwards of £60,000. They
afterwards sunk a short distance westward, to the rise, where they had
to sink through the same strata, and to their agreeable surprise, the sand
being nipped out, there was little or no water found.
With respect to the magnesian limestone in the county of Durham,
and the differences of opinion prevailing with regard to the quality and
character of the coal sub-stratification, a few remarks here may not be
out of place.
The author of a popular work entitled " Our Coal and Coal Pits,"
extols the sagacity of Dr. Wm. Smith, the father, as he may be termed,
of English geology, and inferentially depreciates that of some of the
late colliery viewers on the Tyne, who, it is reported, entertained an
opinion regarding the quality of the coal underlying the limestone forma-
tion in the county of Durham, and the expense of working it, which
was unsupported by theory and not justified by experience.
Vol. II.—April, 1854, R
130
Now, so far from this being the case, it turns out that experience is in v
full accordance with what was predicted by the late Mr. Jolm Buddie,
and the viewers referred to, so far as experience has gone and new facts
have been elicited. A very great portion of the coal under the lime-
stone has not yet been proved. That which has been proved has not
been of sufficient extent, or found to be of sufficient thickness and good
quality to warrant any one in making any positive contradiction. The
Hutton seam under Moorsley estate was worked a short distance under
the limestone and found to be good, as was known to the late Mr. Buddie,
as well as myself, at the time he is said to have made the remark that
his opinion did not go so far as to lead him to believe that any great
extent of the good Hutton seam would be found under the magnesian
limestone.
Since then, the experience of thirty years has thrown additional light
upon the subject, and I hold that his opinion was consistent with truth,
and it has been confirmed to a considerable extent.
A great portion of the coal under the limestone, as already stated,
has not yet been proved, particularly where the limestone is overlapped
by the new red sandstone. In that portion which has been proved, the
Hutton seam, which is considered the most valuable coal, is of unequal
thickness. A great portion of it is so thin that it is unworkable with
profit; and, where this thinness occurs, there is only one seam above it
that can be considered of workable good quality, namely, the Five-quarter,
which is only a thin seam compared with the good Hutton seam; and
although of good hard quality where of sufficient thickness to be work-
able, in many districts, it is not in at all, and in some cases where it is
in, it is so thin and bad in quality, as at Croxdale, Whitwell, Byers
Green, &c, that it is not workable. Therefore, even the Five-quarter
cannot be taken into account as a regular workable seam throughout the
proved coal district under the limestone. When the Hutton seam is thin,
and the Five-quarter above it is not workable, recourse has been had, in
some cases, to the seams below, which require deep sinkings, which when
reached are also found to be comparatively thin and tender. This coal is
suitable for coking and gas, but does not bring the price of the best Hutton
seam and Five-quarter or Main coal'at Tees Wallsend by one-third.
The remaining portion of the Hutton seam under the limestone, which
may be considered good, lies south of the Hett Dyke from Easington to
Seaham, next the sea, and from Seaham or Ryhope, or a little north of
it, to Pensher on the Wear, and thence to Durham, and by way of
Shincliffe and Sherburn to the Hett Dyke, near Thornley.
131
The area thus circumscribed, it will be seen by reference to the map,
is only of very small extent* and little more than one-hallof it, namely,
that portion next the sea, is overlaid by limestone.
In that portion under the limestone where the Hutton seam has been
proved to be in good state of perfection, a few deep pits have been sunk
down to it "through the limestone, and a great many other pits have
been sunk on the borders of the limestone, working underneath it as well
as to the rise in the opposite direction, and these pits have already worked
a large portion of good coal from under the limestone, and those with
others working to the rise, have worked out nearly the whole of the
Hutton seam up towards Durham.
Therefore, the pits on the border of the limestone already referred to,
and others sunk to the rise in that portion of the good Hutton seam
district which is not under the limestone, have exhausted, or will very
shortly exhaust, the whole of the workable seams that can be got in that
division, and which are known as the Five-quarter, Main coal, Low Main,
and Hutton.
The seams below the Hutton in this district are yet unexplored. At
Haswell, the Beaumont or Harvey, the next workable seam to the Hutton,
has been bored to at the customary depth. As to the seams below the
Beaumont, their thickness has not yet been ascertained. Even the number
of workable seams below the Hutton in this district is doubtful. Indeed
it is questionable whether there be more than two; for, although in the
Tyne there are four workable seams proved below the Hutton, averaging
upwards of a yard in thickness, these lie from ten to twenty miles beyond
the outcrop of limestone at Tynemouth, whereas, at Black Boy, in the
Tees Auckland district, where the limestone runs off, about twenty miles
from the sea at Hartlepool, there is no proof that there are four work-
able seams below the Hutton, and it is doubtful whether there are more
than two there, and although they lie at a great depth, they rise out to
the surface within one mile southward, and a few miles westward, by way
of West Auckland and Etherley, as may be seen upon the map.
Upon the whole, that portion of the coal-field in Durham and
Northumberland, which is covered by the magnesian limestone, amounts
only to about one-sixth of the entire area, and in only one-half of that
can the Hutton seam be considered good • in the other half it is not
workable with profit. The same observation applies to several of the other
seams, particularly the Main coal and Low Main, which have been sunk
to in various places.
132
Having disposed of the collateral question of coal under the limestone,
it only remains to state that the new red sandstone overlaps the magne-
sian limestone from North Hartlepool to near Middridge, where the Tees
Wallsend seams crop out.
Its northernmost point is at the Hett Dyke, between Hutton Henry
and Wingate Grange Colliery. Southward it continues thickening to
the Tees, till it is overlapped towards Redcar by the alum shale.
A little to the south-west of Redcar are situated the now extensively
worked iron ore districts of Cleveland.
CHAPTER V.
COLLIERY DISTRICTS AND COAL SEAMS.
The Tyne district was formerly the most important in the Northern
Coal-field, both as regarded the value of its coal seams and the number
of its collieries in operation, but it is at present excelled in finer, harder,
and better qualities by the Wear and a portion of Bishop Auckland,
called the Tees Wallsend district. Nevertheless, it still retains the first
position upon the official lists, published by the Committee of the Coal
Trade, as it still comprises the largest number of collieries. There appear
in the circulars issued by the Coal Trade Committee, at the present time,
the names of 134 collieries, and most of them have several different pits
or working shafts. There are sixty-four collieries in the Tyne district,
twenty-four of which are distinguished for producing good household
coal, the like number (twenty-four) a coal suitable for coking or the
manufacture of gas, six collieries producing coal suitable for steam pur-
poses, and the remainder an article of a promiscuous character between
household and coking coal.
These characteristic differences in the quality of coal shall be afterwards
investigated and explained, as they have an important bearing on the
consideration of the general subject of the coal trade and the probable
duration of the coal-field.
Four collieries, all supplying steam coal, are enumerated in the Blyth
district, but they ship coals also on the Tyne. Three extensive collieries,
supplying household coal, belong to the Seaham district. On the Wear
there are sixteen collieries, all of which, excepting one, produce household
coal. And in the Tees district there are twenty-one collieries, ten of
which yield household coal.
The information, with respect to the various collieries in the coal
district, set forth in the subjoined table, has been collected with great
care, and as a statistical record of the present state of the trade in this
part of the kingdom will be regarded with interest and importance. (See
Appendix.)
It has been calculated there are about fifty-seven different seams of
coal in the Newcastle Coal-field, varying in thickness from one inch to
five feet five inches, forming an aggregate of seventy-five feet seven and
134
three-quarter inches, but some of them are so thin that they cannot be
worked so as to be remunerative, on which account their existence is of
little consequence. Judging1 from past experience and present prospects
generally, a seam, to defray the expense of working and leave a return
for interest of capital and risk, ought not to be less than from thirty
inches to near three feet in thickness.
Seams of coal have been in some cases wholly excavated, or so much
has been removed as could be done with safety. Formerly much more
coal was left in the seams as irrecoverable than in the present day, as
we have now a much more efficient plan of working than was in existence
during many hundreds of years. In such cases the mine has been either
lost or abandoned, or recourse has been had to other seams in the same
mine of inferior quality which are worked at greater expense, while the
produce of them will not bring so high a price in the market. The profits,
if any, in such cases, must be extremely precarious and uncertain. The
following is a list of what may be termed workable seams in the Northern
Coal-field, according to the designation they receive in the Wear district:—
High Main, Five-quarter, Main coal, Bensham, Hutton, Beaumont, Stone
coal, Low Five-quarter, Three-quarter seam, and Brockwell.
These several seams vary in quality as well as thickness, and some of
them are known by different names in different districts; thus the Bensham
seam of the Tyne is known as the Maudlin seam of the Wear; the
Beaumont or Harvey seam is known in Towneley Colliery as the Towneley
seam* and in Wylam Colliery, as the Main coal seam* and so on of
others. Even some parts differ in quality from others in the same seam,
so that great diversity exists in that respect throughout the entire district
of the northern coal measures.
The High Main seam of the Cramlington district separates into two
at Hetton, and is there called the Three-quarter seam* unites at Pontop
under the name of Shield-row seam, and again at Auckland takes the
name of the Three-quarter. The Grey seam of the Cramlington district
forms the Metal coal seam, and the Stone coal seam at Sheriff-Hill,
uniting to form the Five-quarter seam at Hetton, running close to the
Brass Thill seam at Pontop, still preserving its name, and rising in the
strata in the same name in the Auckland district. The Yard coal seam of
the Cramlington district retains the same name at Sheriff-Hill, becomes the
Main coal seam at Pittington, Hetton, Haswell, and Houghton-le-Spring,
the Brass Thill at Pontop, and the Main coal at Black Boy in the Auck-
land district.
135
The Bensham seam of the Cramlington district is known as the
Maudlin at Sheriff-Hill, as the Low Main at Hetton, and runs into the
Hutton seam at Pontop; and is marked by Mr. Greenwell in the Black
Boy Colliery as Surtees Seam, at a very deep boring at Black Boy Old
Pit. But this seam wants identification. There appears to be less doubt
by mining engineers, as to the present Five-quarter and Main coal seams
being the same seams as are so-called in the Wear district, which district,
namely, Tees Wallsend, will be seen on the map only of small extent.
These seams are now worked not only at Black Boy and Tees Wallsend,
but at Coundon, Leasingthorne, Eldon, and Adelaide Collieries, and yield
a superior quality to any other Five-Quarter or Main Coal, or in fact
the Hutton seam, besides there is a great thickness of good coal of proper
hardness.
The Five-quarter seam of the Cramlington district divides and forms
the Six-quarter, and the Five-quarter at Sheriff-Hill the Brass Thill
seam at Pittington, which unite there, and run together into the Hutton
seam at Pontop Colliery. The Low Main seam of the Cramlington
district retains the same name at Sheriff-Hill, becomes the Hutton seam
at Hetton, and the Main coal at Pontop, dividing into two thin seams
in the Auckland district.
In Towneley Colliery, in the Ryton district, the coal is worked in the
Beaumont, which is the Harvey or Towneley seam, the Stone coal, Five-
quarter, and the Brockwell seams. The Tilly and the Hand seams,
between the Beaumont and the Stone coal, and the Three-quarter,
between the Five-quarter and the Brockwell, are not of workable thick-
ness. These are all coke and gas coal. The Stone coal and the Five-
quarter seams run together in patches at Towneley Colliery and other
places, and they form the Busty Bank seam of the Pontop district.
The Three-quarter seam of the Sheriff-Hill district is twenty fathoms
above the High Main seam.
CHAPTER VI.
THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF COAL.
The seams of coal not only vary in thickness, but they also differ in
quality, and even the same seam alters in different and often in the same
district. Sometimes a seam is nipped out and disappears from the series.
In other places, it runs into and it may be said becomes part of other
seams. In consequence of the gradual rise of the seams to the westward,
and the uneven surface of the ground, particularly when undulated as in
the valleys of rivulets and streams in the western districts, which valleys
are still above the level of the sea, and the hills on each side of the
Derwent and Tyne from 500 to 1,000 feet above it, one seam may come
out much sooner than the other, the lower one at all times continuing
further under the surface. In all the districts the whole of the seams of
coal appear except near the western outcrop, that is to say, they are
all found either in a good or bad condition, but at the western outcrop the
Beaumont or Harvey, the Five-quarter, Stone coal, and Brockwell often
run together and form only two seams before they appear at the outcrop.
In the Black Boy district further east, as already remarked, it is ques-
tionable whether there are any more than two workable seams below the
two seams that are at present being worked, and which, continuing west-
ward, come into one at the outcrop. The sloping banks to the west of
the coal district, and the rise of the coal in the same direction in many
cases, cut the higher seams out a mile or two before the lower seams
reach the surface, or cause them to become so much altered that they
lose their distinctive characters, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to
determine which seam they really are, and whether they possess any value
or not.
Of course, the lower seams will continue longer under the surface
westward than the upper ones, consequently, these upper seams cannot
be measured as over the whole surface.
Those who have read Mr. GreenwelPs work upon the western district
will find that he makes allusion to this. The doubt which arises is,
which name is right—whether the seam ought to called by one name or
the other ?
This is particularly observable on approaching the escarpment of the
137
coal-field, where very few, and in many cases not more than a single
seam appears. In the outcrop, two, and sometimes three, seams run
together, but this arises from local circumstances, and does not afford
any criterion by which to judge of the whole of the different coal seams,
which vary in thickness, but correspond in number one with another,
when properly traced through the various coal districts, except where
good reasons can be given for their non-conformity. Sometimes the
direction of a seam is suddenly altered; it is thrown upwards or down-
wards by hitches or slips of the strata. In the proved districts of the
coal-field, these various circumstances and conditions are ascertained and
recorded; and, from the information collected, the state of other districts
where the coal has not been proved may be inferred. This is particularly
observable on the map.
Household Coal.—The best quality of coal is considered to be that
which has been found most suitable for household purposes, and termed
on that account household coal. It has hitherto brought the highest
price in the market, and is in universal demand. As regards price, it
may only now be said to be excelled by a very limited portion of a certain
seam below the Towneley seam at Blaydon and Stella, which is in high
repute, and selling at high prices for gas purposes only. Indeed, it is
only within the last half century that the seams which are now generally
considered to yield the best household coal were opened out for working.
Before this period there were certainly Wallsend, Heaton, Percy Main,
and some other collieries on the Tyne that were working good coals,
which have since been nearly worked off\ but, even if that were not so,
and these coals had been in the market, they would not have brought
the price of what are now regarded as the best coal by 4s. or 5s. per
chaldron. There was at that period a fine tender coal of good quality
worked, which augmented the supply of household coals; at that time
the household customers not being so particular either as to the size or
quality. This coal, at that day, was very much used for smithies, and
for the manufacture of gas, iron, and coke, and also for refining sugar.
It is now worked extensively for coking and gas, as well as the other
manufacturing purposes to which it was formerly applied, the demand
having increased an hundredfold, and being likely to continue while
cheap iron ore can be got.
Household coal is described generally as bright and cubical; it pre-
serves its form in regular blocks after the small is taken from it. As an
instance of this, it may be stated that one block was hewn at Black Boy
Vol. II.—April, 1854. s
138
Colliery, for the purpose of being* sent to the Middlesbro' drops on the
day of opening- them, in 1831, and from thence to the Coal Exchange in
London, weighing no less than three-and-a-half tons. This was the
largest block ever received by shipment from the Northern Coal-field.
This coal burns to a black cinder, which in turn is consumed, so that
only a small portion of ashes remain. Its freedom from sulphuret of iron
renders it admirably adapted for the purpose to which it is applied.
The best coals for household purposes, after being drawn to the pit
mouth, are passed into waggons, in most cases, over a five-eighth inch
screen, and the "duff" is that which falls through another screen, the
latter leaving, of course, nothing but very small \ only a very small
portion of this coal is turned to refuse at the present time, for the dirt is
sifted out of the duff • in some cases it is washed out by a machine inven-
ted for the purpose. The best portions of the duff are used for manufac-
turing purposes, in places where there is a demand for it. This was not
the case formerly, for nuts and duff were thrown aside and accumulated
near the pit mouth, where storage ground was required to be provided.
Hundreds of thousands of tons of these coals were annually destroyed
as waste by burning.
, This was, in fact, at that time the most economical mode the proprie-
tors had of disposing of them, for they could not be sold at a price to
cover rent and leading expenses, without the working charges, which
were very considerable, so that all the weight came upon the large, and,
besides, for many years there was a heavy duty chargeable on sea-borne
coal, which of course tended to limit inferior sorts and to enhance the
cost to the consumer. The abolition of the duty, and the repeal of other
imports which crippled the coal trade, have been followed by an increased
demand for coal of all descriptions, and the high mountains of black
diamonds which once disfigured the surface of our fields, and invited the
comments of strangers and travellers, have nearly disappeared. Nothing
more clearly shows the policy of taking off a duty than the remission of
the import of sea-borne coal, which, as in the case of glass, has led to a
greatly increased consumption and its application to uses to which it was
formerly unapplied.
The screening process, to which we have referred, was not resorted to
with respect to coal used for coking or gas, iron factories, sugar refineries,
or smithies, as the small in some districts was found to answer the purpose
quite as well as the other on account of its fine bituminous nature. The
steam coal, was, however, screened until lately, the practice having been
139
abandoned since the increased demand arose, and the low prices at which
these coals have been sold at the shipping places on the river Tyne.
Steam coal is distinguished by the rapidity with which it generates
heat.
Its combustible elements readily unite and burn with great intensity,
leaving a white ash, which, after a time, disappears through the fire-bars
or the draft of the chimney. Instead of the dark cinders and bright
clear fire produced by the best household coals, there is a large portion
of dust and dirt which are by no means agreeable accessories to the
parlour or drawing room.
This coal is principally nsed for the purpose of heating steam boilers,
especially those of sea-going vessels. Its specific gravity is 1*26. A
cubic yard of it weighs a ton.
Steam coal is now found in seams of considerable thickness, nearly
from six to seven feet, of a different appearance from what is called splint
or cannel in this district. It looks like the best household coal, but it
burns like splint to a white ash. These three kinds are suitable for steam
purposes, but more particularly that obtained from the thick seams north
of Blyth, Cramlington, and others, as the splint and cannel coals are
only found to be a portion of the seams in their beds ; the thick seams
can be worked to more advantage and in larger quantity than the thin
ones to meet the demand.
Coking coal is characterized by the large quantity of carbon which
enters into its composition, amounting, in a general way, to eighty per
cent, in that obtained from Towneley, Marley Hill, Garesfield, Bowdon
Close, Pease's West Pits, Hunwick, Byers Green, and Brancepeth
Collieries, nineteen of the remainder consisting of gaseous matter, and
only one residuum or ashes, making the best coke. The residuum may
be even diminished by an improved oven, properly ventilated and managed,
for which I am about taking a patent. It is more tender and finer than
household coal, and rapidly crumbles or falls to pieces, and becomes dusty.
It is laminated in structure, and open in what is called the facings or the
fibres. It cakes or runs into a plastic mass on the application of heat,
and yields a reddish white ash when burned. Coke may be considered
as the fixed carbon of the coal.
It is manufactured upon an extensive scale in many parts of the
western portion of the county of Durham, also on the Wear and the Tyne,
in ovens built expressly for the purpose, either in the vicinity of the
mines which yield coal of quality suitable for the purpose, or in localities
140
where facilities exist for bringing the coal to it at a cheap rate, and
disposing of the manufactured article to advantage.
There is a very marked distinction between cinders and coke, which
is, of course, familiar to those in the trade. Coke if good, sinks in water,
bad coke and cinders swim. The reason of this, observes Dr. Ure in his
" Dictionary of Arts," is " The longer and higher the heat to which
carbon from wood or coal is exposed, the more it contracts, and conse-
quently the denser it becomes. The volatile combustible matter of the
coal is employed in producing the requisite temperature for coking, and
the oven is or ought to be so contrived as to retain the heat and a proper
quantity of air a sufficient time to produce the necessary aggregation of
the particles of the carbon, or in plain words, the condensation of the
coke which is discharged out of the oven in one mass.
Splint coal is heavier in specific gravity than other coal. It is some-
times found very pure at the top of the Towneley, Beaumont or Harvey
seam, which are all the same seam, but which are called the Main coal at
Wylam, and Engine Main at Walbottle. At Towneley this top splint
coal is very good, and it is also found very good at the bottom of the
Brockwell seam in the three last named collieries, seldom running
thicker than eight inches. It is equal in quality to the rest of the seams
in which good splint cannel coal is found, but is generally worked in this
seam along with the other portion, and is advantageously mixed with it
in the process of manufacture of coke or gas, where there is always a
great demand for it.
The Towneley splint coal, which is extremely brittle, burns away like
wax, and leaves a considerable quantity of white powdery ashes. The
Brockwell seam splint in the western collieries on the Tyne works more
in blocks like cannel coal, and is also much in demand.
Cannel coal, when found in entire beds, as in Lancashire, is not of so
brittle a nature as that called splint, and is worked more in blocks. It
can be turned in the lathe, and will receive a high polish. The cannel coal
is found under and forms the lower part of the Brockwell seam, the
lowest of the workable coal seams ; it varies in thickness from five to ten
inches. When this coal seam lies deep on Tyneside, it is often thinner
and more tender in its nature than what it is when it comes nearer to the
surface. At Wylam, Towneley, Eltringham, Bywell, and Mickley, this
coal is found in a good state. It is used for the same purpose as splint
coal. It is very bituminous, and in making coke or gas it is mixed with
the smallest of the best coal, which causes it to burn much quicker than
141
it would do alone. The admixture is also beneficial in another respect,
greatly accelerating and improving the process of manufacture. Occa-
sionally in other coal districts, the splint or cannel coal is found in distinct
beds, where it is generally of a much harder nature, as at Blaydon and
Stella, and part of Grand Lease, where it is of another quality of coal,
which is now being brought into operation, but which had not before
been noticed as a workable seam in that district. It lies between the
Towneley and the stone coal. It is very thin, and only worked of suitable
quantity in small patches on the south side of the main dyke at Blaydon
and Stella. It brings a good price in the market for gas purposes, being
nearly equal in quality to the best gas coal in Scotland. On account of
the thinness of the seam, viz., from two feet to two feet three inches,
with a band in it, it is expensive to work, consequently where it is
worked it has to be sold at a high price, and besides, there is only a very
small quantity of it in this district. This seam, in a great extent of the
district, is not of the same good quality, and consequently is not, nor ever
may be workable with profit. The seam is so small, that particular kind
of workmen would have to be increased so as to obtain a greater quan-
tity. It is not like the Scotch or Lancashire thick seams.
The coking coal seams, where they are tender, are very apt to have
what are called partings, fibres, or facings, often at an inch or an inch and
a half asunder. When these seams lie near the surface, these partings
sometimes admit saturation with water, and after having been stagnant
and drained off by working the coal from the dip towards the rise or
surface, the facing, when broken up dry, presents a very beautiful appear-
ance, being traced with lines resembling the colour of the feathers in a
peacock's tail.
CHAPTER VIL
COAL FORMATION IN THE TYNE DISTRICT.
Under this head it is proposed to give a description of the various
seams in the different districts of the coal-field, with sections when
necessary.
In the first place, we shall describe the general character of the seams
of coal in the Tyne district above Newcastle Bridge.
The Seven Feet High Main Coal, No. 1.—This main coal seam,
the highest workable seam in the series, is found close to the north sido
of the Ninety-fathom Dyke, at a depth of from two to thirty-five fathoms
beneath the surface. This seam gets thicker when at a great depth near
this fault, as do all the other seams below it next the vicinity of the
trouble.
It is not of large extent, as it rises quickly to the outcrop.
It is generally from seven to eight feet in thickness, and yields a com-
pact coal, in good sized blocks. It burns to a brownish white ash. From
the specimens I have seen I am of opinion that it would have answered
well for similar purposes, and might have worked much in the same way
as the Cramlington, Hartley, Seghill, and Seaton Delaval steam coal of
the present day. This was a very valuable seam in former times, having*
been in great demand as a household coal, but it has been so easily got
as to be entirely worked out, or is now only found in very small pillars
or patches, and even these are unworkable. It lay above the level of the
Tyne, and was easily and inexpensively drained into that river.
Craw Coal, No. 2; Old Five-quarter, No. 3 * Cannel Coal,
No. 4.—These seams generally run together, or with very little stratifi-
cation between them, in consequence of which they were worked
separately and sometimes in conjunction, as in former times. The Craw
coal is on the average about three feet, and the Five-quarter about three
feet six inches in thickness; and there is in some places another seam of
coal like cannel coal, about two feet three inches thick, near the vicinity
of Greenside, in Ryton parish, next the root of the main dyke, with a
portion of stone strata between each of these two former coal seams, which
have been partially worked. The cannel coal not having been worked at
all in that day, in consequence of a white ash coal not being saleable.
143
The Craw coal and Five-quarter seams yield tender coals, which are
easy to work, but in quality are not so good as the lower seam, since the
opening out of which they have been generally abandoned* but, not,
however, until they had been extensively worked. In many situations
west of Newcastle, these seams are above the level of the Tyne and are
all drained into it by day levels, made centuries ago.
These day levels are at present used as delivery drifts for the water
made on or about the same, and for pumping water from the lower seams,
as at Towneley, Stargate, and C Pits, near the Main Dyke, and " Kitty's
Drift," commenced in the neighbourhood of Bell's Close at the surface,
but when Kitty's Drift was under Denton and Kenton, being* then thirty,
forty, or fifty fathoms below the surface, they found, to their disappoint-
ment, that the seams they were aiming at were considerably below the
level of the drift, and they then economised the lifting power of the
pumping engines in making use of this drift. The Craw coal and Old
Five-quarter, are not so easily kept clean of pyrites as the lower Five-
quarter.
The Ruler, No. 5.—This is a seam of excellent quality, but in this
district being only about two feet six inches in thickness, it has not been
worked except to a small extent in Towneley Colliery, but, may be
worked more extensively after mechanical power has been adapted to
the hewing of coal.
The Ruler would appear to be the Hutton seam of the Wear district,
the good quality of which it very much resembles, besides lying at the
same distance immediately above the Towneley or Beaumont seam, which
is the first of the series of coking coal, and equally good in quality.
Towneley, Harvey, or Beaumont, No. 6.—This seam averages
from three feet six inches to four feet eight inches in thickness. About
ten inches of the top is fine splint coal, and the remainder a good coal for
household purposes, also for coke and gas, but it has a small band under
the splint. The best part of the Towneley seam is harder than the three
or four seams below, which are also of good quality, with a small band
occasionally occurring near the bottom, but which increases in certain
districts. The quality of the Towneley is excellent, but not so hard,
although much more durable than the Ruler above it, which is the Wear
Hutton seam.
This coal is of very fine bituminous nature, free from pyrites, and
suitable for the manufacture of coke and gas, for which it is extensively
used. It is probable, however, that for these purposes, it is excelled by
144
the lower five workable coal seams, Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, namely, the
thin Splint or Cannel seam, next below the Towneley, at Blaydon and
Stella, and the Stone coal, the No. 9 Five-quarter, with the No. 10
Brockwell seams for coke and gas.
Gas Coal Seam, No. 7.—This is an excellent seam for gas, particu-
larly on the south side of the main dyke, where it is found good in patches.
The Stone Coal, No. 8.—This seam is from two feet ten inches to
three feet two inches in thickness. It is uniform in quality, and is suitable
for gas purposes, and particularly for coke.
Five-Quarter, No. 9.—The coal for about five or six inches at the
top of this seam yields a white ash when burnt, but it is not of a splinty
appearance. The remainder, about three feet in thickness, resembles the
Stone coal, and is used for similar purposes, for which it is well adapted.
Three-quarter, No. 10.—Is a very hard, coarse coal, and has
been very little worked on that account. At Wylam it is a very good
seam, and is worked in perfection there with advantage, and well known
by the name of the Yard coal.
The Brockwell, No. 11.—This is the lowest workable seam that
has been sunk to in the coal formation, which has only been done at a
few places, namely, Towneley, Stella, Blaydon Main, and Norwood
Collieries on the Tyne, but it has been bored to at the Black Boy, in the
Auckland district, and also at West Auckland and Etherley, where it is
known sometimes, when two seams run together, as the Main coal.
The average thickness of the Brockwell seam in general is about
three feet six inches. About six inches of that at the bottom is splint,
which burns to a white ash, the remainder is of excellent quality for coke
and gas purposes. In some places there are between two and three
inches of jet at the top which looks like stone or slate, yet it is used for
the workmen's fires at Wylam.
It is questionable whether the Auckland and Etherley seam is the
Brockwell or the Dusty Bank.
The Stone coal and Five-quarter coming together form the Dusty
Bank at Pontop, but go by other names elsewhere. The Stone coal and
Five-quarter are closely connected throughout the district.
The seams below Newcastle Bridge, both north and south of the main
dyke, differ in hardness and quality from those to the west of it.
CHAPTER VIII.
DISTRICTS DISTINGUISHED BY THE NATURE OF THE COAL THEY
CHIEFLY PRODUCE.
By generalizing the differences in the quality and character of the coal
described in the preceding chapter, we are enabled to introduce a sub-
division of districts, based thereupon, which will be found convenient and
important in a consideration of the coal trade. This sub-division will
comprise :—
I. —Collieries producing Household coal. These are situated princi-
pally in the south-eastern district of the coal-field from Haswell, Hettons,
Houghton, to Port Seaham.
II. —Collieries producing Coking coal. The best of which are found
in the western district, from the river Tyne, above Newcastle, to the river
Wear, near Brancepeth.
III. —Collieries producing coal of a quality suitable for Steam pur-
poses. The principal of these are situated in the north-eastern division
of the coal-field, along the sea coast from Blyth to Widdrington Castle.
IV. —The fourth division includes all those collieries that are not
embraced in the other three divisions, places that have not been proved,
but where the coal is doubtful or supposed not to be workable hitherto
at a remunerative price; or which have been proved and abandoned, or
where the workings are being carried on in many places with little profit.
This division is not limited to any particular locality, but lies scattered
in considerable patches over the entire coal-field. Some of the districts
or collieries have been worked off in the best seams of coal in former
times with profit.
It is not affirmed that the whole of the coal found in the localities
thus specially indicated is used exclusively for the respective purposes
which have furnished the characteristic terms applied to each division, but
that these distinctive features of the Northern Coal-field are so prominently
marked that we are justified in adopting them as the basis of an arrange-
ment upon which to found our observations.
The best household district lies south of the Wear, and a patch of it,
about a mile or two in width, runs along the Ninety-fathom Dyke, and
lies at a great inclination towards and up to this dyke from near the sea
Vol. II.—April, 1854. t
146
till it joins the coking district, after crossing the Tyne at Stella, between
Blaydon and Newburn.
The coking coal occupies nearly the whole of the western district, and
the steam coal is found in the greatest perfection a little northward of
the Ninety-fathom Dyke, beyond the limit of the household coal district.
It may be desirable to consider each district separately.
household district.
The best household coal, as already stated, is worked principally in
the county of Durham, south of the river Wear. A line from Seaham
Harbour, by Easington, Shotton, Thornley, Ludworth, Shincliffe, Cassop,
Lord Londonderry's Pit at El vet, near Old Durham, and thence by the
river Wear to Pensher, and then on to the sea south of the entrance
of the Wear, will circumscribe the principal portion of the household
district. There is a small portion on the west side of the Wear, at
Auburn House and Waldridge Fell, near Pelton, where it joins the
coking coal district. Household coal is worked in the Main and Hutton
seams, and it is somewhat remarkable that wherever the Hutton seam
and the Main and Low Main seams are found to be good, the Upper Five-
quarter is almost invariably inferior (Pittington being, I believe, the only
exception), and often it is not in the coal series at all, as at Moorsley,
North Hetton, South Hetton, Elemore, and Lord Durham's Houghton
Pit, and many other places.
On the contrary, where the Upper Five-quarter seam is good in the
Wear or Hartlepool districts, south of the Hett Dyke, the Hutton Low
Main and Main coal seams are in most cases thin, and unmarketable with
profit, and whenever the Upper Five-quarter and Upper Main coal seams
are good between the Wear and the Tees, the Lower Five-quarter, the
Lower Main, and the Hutton seams are not good, as for instance at
Black Boy, Tees Wallsend, Eldon, Adelaide, Coundon, Leasingthorne,
and part towards Ferry Hill. The Upper Five-quarter and Main seams
in the collieries just named are of a quality which is suitable for the best
household coal.
The Lower Five-quarter, which is found at Trimdon, Wingate, Thorn-
ley, Cassop, Coxhoe, Bowburn, Crowtrees, Pittington, and some other
collieries, yield also good household coal • at Byers Green, Whitworth,
and Old Park, not so good where the coking district puts in. At a few
places in the same neighbourhood, the coal marketable as household is
worked in the Five-quarter seam so called. Those parts of it lying
147
between the Butterknowle and the Hett Dyke, yielded household coal
before they were abandoned. Again, where the Hutton seam is turning
inferior from the Londonderry Pit at Pensher, where the Hutton seam is
only thin, and towards the sea, a distance of about six miles, the seams of
coal, although thicker, are tender, as is proved where worked to the south
side of the Wear from Monkwearmouth Pit towards Tunstall, and
Ryhope, and Seaton, which are at so great a depth along the sea coast
towards Seaham, and so tender, both near the sea and approaching
the Hett Dyke, as to prevent their being won and worked except at
comparatively great expense and risk, for when the Hutton seam is tender
it brings a much less price. The limestone being so very thick, which
is proved at Seaton, Dalton, and Monkwearmouth Pits, there is at present
less necessity to incur that expense, since the same quality of coal may
be obtained by sinking further inland, where the seams lie near the
surface, and may be worked to the dip underground by means of steam
power. Yet in the estimate of our coal-field I have, in two places, calcu-
lated for about nine miles in width, one opposite the best Hutton seam
coal district, the other under that portion of the best steam coal district,
next the sea coast at each place, as there may be a possibility of some
parties attempting to work coal under the sea at these points. I have,
therefore, in my estimate, allowed such enterprising persons an extent of
coal that may dip, and get to a great depth under the sea at the distance
of two miles, which I have taken into account. The writer considers
that there is abundance of risk and plenty of room in going half a mile
under the sea to deter the more cautious speculators from doing so, until
the good coal elsewhere is worked off. The best Hutton seam where sunk
to below the Main coal is generally free from water, and, consequently,
requires little or no draining. The Hutton seam also extends westward
to near Whitwell and Croxdale, where it becomes so very inferior and
thin as to be unprofitable to work, and so it continues till it joins next
above the coking coal districts of Brancepeth, Brandon, Willington,
Byers Green, Bowden Close, and over the Derwent to Towneley on the
Tyne, where it is found thin, but of hard, good quality. The best descrip-
tion of household coal was formerly wrought on the banks of the Tyne,
in the High Main seam at Wallsend, where the quality was good, and it
brought a higher price in the market than any obtained at that time at
other places in the same neighbourhood. Its reputation continued as long
as the coal lasted in the pit, as well as several others from the same seam,
which obtained the same name.
148
In consequence of the repute the seam had obtained, many parties
applied the name to very inferior coal seams, sunk in the same district,
and even continued to do so for a very long- period in new districts, but
time and trial proved that the name alone would not do when the quality
was wanting*, consequently when the late Mr. Buddie found that the
Wear districts were full of good coal, principally the produce of the
Five-quarter and Main seams, which were then being worked under the
name of Ducks and Eden Main, and suited the London market well, he
very properly gave the name of W^allsend to and began to bring the
Hutton seam into the market, calling it by the name of Stewart's
Wallsend. That established the name of Wallsend as a general designa-
tion for coal so excellent as this was. The coal south of the Wear
shortly before that was unexplored and but little known, only having
been wrought by the Tempest family, the Lambtons, and Neshams, and
the opinion generally entertained by the mining engineers of that day
was that no good coal existed to any extent under the magnesian lime-
stone, but that it was of very inferior quality and thinner.
The opening out of the Wear district took place almost simultaneously
with the exhaustion of the best seams on the Tyne. The pits were first
sunk westward of the outcrop of the limestone, and were worked in the
Main and Five-quarter seams, but soon afterwards, when Mr. Buddie
succeeded Mr. Arthur Mowbray as manager for the late Marquis of
Londonderry, then Lord Stewart, it was soon found that at Lyon's the
Hutton seam was good under the outcrop of the limestone, it having
been approached from Moorsley. Lyons Hetton and the North Hetton
Company also sprung up, and at Moorsley followed the example set
by Mr. Mowbray in sinking and working the Hutton seam, and their
example was followed at South Hetton, Dalton, Seaton, Haswell, and
other places at greater depth, where the Hutton seam under the edge of
the limestone was found to exist in great perfection, and that, years after,
led to sinkings through the limestone at Monkwearmouth, Dalton, Seaton,
and other places.
As the best seams of coal on the Tyne became exhausted or nearly so,
inferior seams, worked at greater expense and less valuable, were resorted
to, the produce of which was brought to market, sold for one-half the
price the best coal formerly did, while the best coals were worked at a
cheaper rate.
But to take a much later period let us go back to about a little more
than ten years ago when prices were nearly double what they have been
149
up to July 1853. The Hutton seam in the household district along with
the Main coal and Five-quarter seam, were worked to considerable profit,
but during the last ten years it is very doubtful whether much profit has
been derived, if so, very limited, from the sale of coal worked out of the
seams above mentioned, and which have been more extensively worked
by Lord Londonderry, the Earl of Durham, the Lyon's Hetton, the Has-
well, North and South Hetton, Belmont and Thornley, the Seaton,
Seaham, and Dalton companies, who are the largest colliery proprietors,
and who work the great bulk of household coal, having large capitals
employed from which they ought to derive a good annual revenue, espe-
cially under the existing large demand for this sort of coal, and the
present increasing rate of labour for working it, and considering the fact
that the product may only last a comparatively short period. The duration
of the Northern Coal-field may be estimated at under 400 years, but
hereafter it will be shown that according to the present demand all the
most valuable will be exhausted long before that time shall have elapsed,
and should the estimated yearly quantity be increased accordingly it
will be a still shorter period.
In former times the best coals on the Tyne were wrought at Whitley,
Percy Main, Walker, Wallsend, Heaton, Bigge's Main and the several
pits, Killingworth and other pits belonging to the Grand Allies, the title
of an association or company formed by Lords Ravensworth, Wharncliffe,
and Strathmore; afterwards Mr. Bowes, M.P., became a partner, as heir
of the late Earl of Strathmore. This firm has lately sub-leased their
interest to Nich. Wood, Chas. Palmer, and Co., who are now working
good household coal, next the root of the Main Dyke, at Killingworth
Pit, which lies at a very great angle, 1 in 4, 3 and 2 per yard, and also
at as great a depth under the surface as any pit.
Those collieries that produce the best of the household coal of the
present day, namely, Lyon's Hetton, Eppleton, Elemore, South Hetton,
Dalton, North Hetton, Keiloe, Haswell, Shotton, Thornley, Ludworth,
Cassop, Crowtrees, and the collieries of the Earl of Durham and the late
Marquis of Londonderry, are situated on an average from eight to ten
miles from good shipping berths or stations where the coal is delivered
with facilities for supplying the markets.
We have already alluded to the large quantities of the best coal
formerly destroyed as waste, or allowed to accumulate near the mouth of
the pits and burnt.
150
This practice continued up to a few years ago, and the extent of coal
thus destroyed amounted, on a moderate calculation, to nearly one-fifth of
the whole produce. It was found cheaper to destroy them than pay rent
and leading charges. There was, in fact, no sufficient demand for the
coal dust, as it may be termed, there being at that time very little coke
required, and even what were called nuts were sold very sparingly. The
general supply of coals at that period exceeded the demand, and conse-
quently it was deemed advisable to dispose only of the most profitable -y
those which retained their best form were hence usually denominated
large. The small coals, in many districts where the Hutton seams were
worked, were found mixed with pyrites, sulphur, and other ingredients,
which rendered them unfit for manufacturing or coking purposes. A
machine for cleaning them by washing has been patented and introduced
into this district by Mr. Morrison, and coke of good quality is made from
them in the Wear district. Small coals were formerly destroyed in even
the best districts of the Tyne, although the pits whence they were obtained
were only a mile or two from the place of shipment or delivery.
The following is a statement of the vend of coals from this district
for the years 1851 and 1852 respectively, as furnished in a report of the
Coal Trade Committee, at a meeting of the representatives of collieries'
held in the Assembly Rooms, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on the 16th of
August, 1853
London and Coastwise, Over-sea. Total.
Tons. Tons. Tons.
1851 ......... 5,707,736 ...... 2,180,070 ...... 7,887,806
1852 ......... 6,000,337 ...... 2,334,546 ...... 8,334,883
Increase in 1852 ......... 292,601 ...... 154,476 ...... 447,077
A review of the vend for the past ten years gives the following results,
taking the quantity in each fifth year:—
London and Coastwise. Foreign. Total.
Tons. Tons. Tons.
1842 ......... 4,548,823 ...... 1,425,125 ...... 5,973,948
1847 ......... 5,921,037 ...... 1,806,637 ...... 7,727,674
1852 ......... 6,000,337 ...... 2,335,546 ...... 8,334,883
The above is without home consumption, which was in 1852
more than.......................................................... 6,000,000
Tons in 1852...... 14,334,883
Increase in ten years ..................... 2,360,935 Tons.
Increase per cent............................ 39'5
Increase per cent, per annum ......... 2§
151
Tons.
In the last year, 1853, coals sent to London alone ............... 4,023,156
Coastwise, export, and foreign.......................................... 4,300,000
Home consumption......................................................... 6,000,000 upwards.
Tons yearly...... 14,323,156 upwards.
Deduct sundries sent from other places than Durham and
Northumberland to London:— Tons.
From Southern Counties by railway............ 629,712
Do. do. canal............... 24,017
653,729
Tons.
By vessels from Yorkshire............... 24,247
Welsh .................. 82,542
Scotch .................. 13,611
Liverpool............... 180
Small coal ............ 31,778
- 152,358
- 806,087
Leaving from " Our Coal-field" in Durham and Northumber-
land, yearly............................................................ 13,517,069 upwards,
Note.—In the year 1700, the quantity of coal sent to London market was only
329,000 London chaldrons, at 28 cwts. per chaldron, equal to 460,000 tons, used
yearly at that period.
This great increase is irrespective of the large quantity of coals now
converted into coke for inland consumption, and of the augmented home
consumption arising from the local manufactories, in reference to which
it may be remarked that the price of small coals has lately been raised,
but only in what is considered a fair advance.
It is somewhat singular that the coal south of the Wear should for-
merly have been worked in the Main coal seam, when the Hutton coal
seam lay only 250 feet below, exceedingly fine in quality, about four feet
eight inches in thickness, nearly free of extra feeders of water, and
approachable at a cost for further sinking of about £500. The Main
coal seam is more expensive to work than the Hutton, and the produce
does not sell for so good a price. The Low Main coal seam, below the
Main coal, is like the Five-quarter above it, and more expensive to work.
During the last few years, when prices were low, it was doubtful whether
the trade of the district could have gone on if the Hutton seam, so good
to sell, had not been easily wrought. The formation of a public railway
company within the last few years, has brought other large coal-fields
152
into the market, and competition has been further extended by speculators
adventuring* money in hazardous undertakings, which injuriously inter-
fered with legitimate colliery concerns.
The Great Northern Eailway doing the like unto London, and deli-
vering- to consumers at a low price, in consequence of the quality not
being generally so good as our Northern Coal-field, Wallsend coal, which,
when sent by the Great Northern Railroad, has a longer distance to
travel, consequently our northern coal owners take the advantage of
sending to London and coastwise from ports on the east coast.
At Black Boy, Tees Wallsend, Eldon, Coundon, and Adelaide, the
coal was worked in the Upper Five-quarter seam till about the year 1830,
and was generally considered better than the Main coal, which is now
proved to be better and finer there than that of the Hutton seam.
The Main coal seam was easily approachable without extra water
power from the Five-quarter, like the Hutton seam under the Main coal
on the Wear; yet, when it was sunk to at Black Boy, in 1829, and tried,
it was rejected by the fitters at Stockton, who gave preference to the more
tender coal of the Five-quarter seam. There was not a shipping place
at Middlesbro' at that period. The Etherly seams, which is a good
durable coal, free from sulphur, the Beaumont, the Five-quarter, and the
Stone coal, either combination of which or the Brockwell seam (forming
the Main coal), which is from forty to forty-five fathoms lower, lie con-
siderably under the Main coal of the district, where the seams are separated,
crop out westward of Witton-le-Wear, from which circumstance it may
be assumed that they are to the eastward, though dipping low towards
Ferry Hill and Thornley, and under the red sandstone at Hartbushes,
Hessleton Dean, and south towards Hartlepool. At none of these places
have the seams been proved of good thickness or quality where sunk or
bored to.
In the large district east of Black Boy, south of the Butterknowle and
Hett Dykes, to a line running towards Wynyard or Newton Parks, and
towards the mouth of the Tees, the upper seam, as far as has been proved,
is found to be of inferior quality * and no Hutton seam, or any other,
has been found to be good, so far as this district is proved south.
It is probable that the lower seams exist at their greater depth, not-
withstanding the limestone and the red sandstone lie at considerable
thickness above them; but the depth of these lower seams must be both
great and uncertain, so that few speculators will be induced to incur the
expense of approaching them, at least not until the pits sunk west of the
153
red sandstone and on the borders of the limestone have been worked out
in the seams to which they now afford access, and also until the patches
are occupied and worked where the seams are known of sufficient thickness
in the doubtful districts.
It may be remarked that there are very few pits even sunk in the
limestone, most of them being upon the border of it, as East Thickley,
Eldon, Black Boy, Coundon, Westerton, Ferryhill, Cornforth, Coxhoe,
Cassop, West Hetton, Crowtrees, Heughall, Cassop, Shadforth, Sherburn
Little Town, Haswell, Pittington, Moorsley, Hetton, Eppleton, Downs,
Houghton, Newbottle, East Harrington, Pensher, Manor Wallsend,
St. Hilda, Jarrow, and Harton, the latter working extensively near St.
Hilda, in the county of Durham. Whitley and several others in the
county of Northumberland are now laid in.
The only pits that may be said to be sunk in the limestone are at
Haswell, Ludworth, South Hetton, Dalton, Seaham, and Seaton in the
Hutton seam district; Thornley, Shotton, Castle Eden, Wingate Grange,
South Wingate, Trimdon Grange and Trimdon Bishop Micldleham,
Chilton and Ferryhill new pit in the Five-quarter seam, south of the
Hett Dyke, are all in an expensive and more precarious district, as regards
the Hutton Seam.
Castle Eden, South Wingate, and Hartbushes are perhaps the worst
of all, so far justifying the inference that the coal under the limestone
approaching the red sandstone and the sea towards Hartlepool is very far
from satisfactory. The pit at Castle Eden and Hartbushes is about fifteen
miles east from the west outcrop of limestone at Thickley, bordering on
the outburst of new upper red sandstone. At Haswell New Pit the coal
is under the limestone for about two miles in a direct course eastward
from the outcrop at Sherburn Hill, which is about two and a half miles
from the city of Durham, but that is not the old Haswell village visited
by Mr. Smith, whose opinion that good coal would be found in all places
under the limestone has been so often quoted in contrast with the more
cautious expression of opinions by other eminent colliery viewers in con-
nection with the district. If Mr. Smith had taken the course from
Durham through Whitwell, about two and a half miles, and put pits down
there, or at the outcrop of limestone about three miles, he would have
found the Hutton seam inferior, and none of it good under the limestone,
or in the workings even north of the Hett Dyke. Then, if he had taken
the line from Durham, through by Pittington Hallgarth, and Little Town
to Elemore Hall, and farther on to Low Old Haswell, a distance from
Vol. II.—April, 1854. u
154
Durham of about five miles, he would have found between Pittington
Hallgarth, one mile east of Belmont Station, and near Sherburn Station,
a narrow strip of land extending*, uncovered with limestone, for about two
or three miles to Old Haswell, which is probably the place to which he
applied his conjectural opinion, where the limestone puts in eastward.
In fact, the good Hutton seam really found under the limestone in the
county of Durham is of very small extent, not more than a few miles
square, or less than one-fifth or one-sixth of the area of the limestone
in the county of Durham, under which the coal has been estimated;
and the remaining- five-sixths is precarious as to profit, and so thin
in many places as to be unworkable.
This verifies to a great extent, the opinion expressed by the late Mr.
Buddie; and in my opinion a very different result would not be arrived
at, even taking- into account the small portion of g'ood coal that may be
got under the sea. After Mr. Buddie, in the year 1818, succeeded Mr.
Arthur Mowbray, in the management of the extensive concerns of the
late Marquis of Londonderry, the Hutton seam then became, although
at greater depth, more extensively worked, and its qualities better known.
The coal from that seam sold for many years at the place of shipment at
3Gs. 6d. per chaldron, equal to 13s. 9d. per ton; and that price continued
up to 1827, when the price of best coals was reduced 4s. per chaldron,
making 32s. 6d. per chaldron, or 12s. per ton.
The Main coal seam was formerly, and about that time, called
" Ducks," (I believe, after an individual of that name, who was in humble
circumstances when a boy, near Durham, but afterwards acquired great
wealth, and became Sir John Ducks), and the second quality, Eden Main,
at the colliery of Lord Londonderry, then Sir Harry Yane Tempest's;
but at Lyon's North and South Hetton, when opened out there, it went
under the name of Lyon's Main, the late John Lyon of Hetton Hall,
being- one of the principal lessors of these collieries. The lessees of
Lyon's Hetton Colliery hold largely of him, both of this Main coal and
Hutton seams, as well as others in that district.
Hutton Seam.—This district comprises the following collieries :—
Ryhope, Silksworth, Murton, Dalton, Seaham, Seaton, Pensher, Houghton,
Elemore, Pittington, Brasside, Heughhall, Shincliffe, Rainton's Hazard,
Dunwell, Moorsley, North and South Hetton, Newbottle, Ludworth,
Broomside, Whitfield, Lumley, Kepier, Shadforth, Cassop, Easington,
Hetton, Down's Elemore, Little Town, Belmont, Whitehouse, Crowtrees,
Grange, Arbour House, Old Durham, Alexandre, Adventure, Meadows,
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and Revolution pits—the estimated area being 55*25 square miles—which
are greatly worked westward.
Black Boy, or Tees Wallsend District.—This is a small patch
of good house coal in the seam at the south-western portion of the coal-
field, on the outcrop of the magnesian limestone. It is irregular in
shape, and contains an area of about six miles. It includes Black Boy,
Tees Wallsend, Leasingthorne, Westerton, Coundon, Eldon, Copy Crook,
Shildon, and Adelaide Deanery, greatly worked out.
Tyne District.—This, a piece of good coal running along the north
side of the Ninety-fathom Dyke from Earsdon to Stella, Greenside, and
Kyo, thirteen miles, averaging about one mile in breadth. It includes
Earsdon, Holywell, Gosforth, Backworth, Killingworth, Coxlodge, Wal-
bottle, Stella, and Towneley Pits. At Stargate, near to the main dyke
at Stephen's Hall, and C Pit at the Folly, this is also greatly worked
off in the narrow scribe alluded to, which lies near to the main dyke at
a great angle, dipping to it at the rate of 5, 4, 3, and even 2 per yard,
making it difficult to get in the underground working places where there
is a large quantity of water made in workings, when workable at so great
an angle to the dip. These are the causes why there is still a small por-
tion of this good coal left in a workable state, which is now being
worked at Killingworth, four miles north, and at Towneley, six miles
west of Newcastle, and shipped in the river Tyne.
CHAPTER IX.
THE COKING COAL DISTRICT.
A large portion of the district which at present supplies coal for
coking purposes was, a very few years ago, either altogether dormant or
only worked in small localities for sea-sale, leaving the large remainder
very partially worked for landsale, the district being then thinly populated.
The writer of this paper, upwards of twenty-one years ago, when
mining agent for Jonathan Backhouse, Esq., Darlington, was appointed
to examine and report upon the whole of the extensive district, forming
the south-western portion of the Northern Coal-field (suitable for gas and
coke), and reported that it was extremely improbable that any considerable
portion of it would be required to be opened out during the twenty years
then next ensuing. There was not then any reasonable ground for
entertaining a different opinion.
The public railway system was then in its infancy. The Liverpool and
Manchester Railway, the second after the Stockton and Darlington, was
then unopened, each of which is now in connection with nearly all the
railways in the kingdom, and by means of telegraph with Ireland.
Since that period, however, the extraordinary demand for railway iron,
and the increase of locomotive engines, not only in this country but the
whole continent of Europe, have caused such a demand for coke, as to
have brought this district, which produces coals admirably adapted for
that purpose, into active operation; and, in many places the manufacture
of coke has been established as an entirely new branch of business, in
which large capitals are embarked in our northern coal-field. Although
the coals in the coking district are got at comparatively little expense,
since the seams lie near the surface, and are tender to work, the cost of
making coke ovens and providing for the long railway transit necessarily
involved an expenditure of a considerable amount of money, and
proportionally augmented the leading charges.
The district which supplies the best description of coal for coking
purposes, coloured blue on the map, is circumscribed by an irregular line,
commencing at Butterknowle and Copley Bents, the extreme western
portion of the Northern Coal-field, and proceeding by Witton Park iron
works, near to Bishop Auckland, thence along the course of the river
Wear to Wolsingham iron works, across by Towlaw and Consett, where
157
extensive iron works are established, Newlands, the Crown lands at
Chopwell, Hedley, Bywell, the course of the Tyne by Mickley Colliery,
Stella Coal Company, collieries at Towneley, Whitfield and Stella south
of the Tyne, also a small portion of Wylam on the north side thereof,
again across the Tyne to the Derwent, and down the Tyne to the Team
at Norwood, then south by Farnacres, Ravensworth, Lobley Hill, Marley
Hill, Pontop Pyke, and the pits south of it at Brandon and Brancepeth,
and again along the course of the Wear to Witton Park.
This district, from the Etherly seams on the south, to about half a
mile north of the Tyne at Wylam, is nearly twenty-three miles in extent.
It is irregular in form, and averages about nine miles in width. Its
extreme breadth, on a line from Ouston to Shotley, Unthank and Consett,
is upwards of thirteen miles • from Burnopflat to the outcrop of coal, about
5 miles- from Sunderland Bridge to Elm Park, about eight miles. It
may be taken as averaging 20 miles by 8 = 160 square miles. It is
traversed by two principal lines of railway—one, the Pontop and Shields
Railway, formerly Stanhope and Tyne, enters it south of Pelaw, proceeds
west through Pontop to Berry Edge and Mains Field near Cold Rowley,
and forms a junction on Muggleswick Common with the West Derwent
and Wear Junction Railway, which runs by Thornley Common, Pease's
West Pits, Witton Park, into the centre of the Black Boy district, and is
continued by another branch to the Stockton and Darlington line near
Shildon Station. The West Durham Railway is a continuation of the
Byers Green Branch, through the coking district from Byers Green to
Witton-le-Wear and Woodland Collieries, a little beyond Pease's West
Pits. The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway skirts the northern portion of
the district from Blaydon to Mickley. A branch on the south side of the
Tyne, from Blaydon to Gateshead, with short branches from near Blaydon
to Blaydon Main, Stella, or Carr's and Cowen's pits. A branch from
Derwenthaugh to Garesfield and Chopwell Collieries, and another branch
by Redheugh, to Team, Norwood, Marley Hill, Andrew's House, and
other collieries.
Branch Railway from Stella, near Blaydon.—Commences
from the Newcastle and Carlisle line at the dep6t at Stella to the Stella
Freehold Pit, and also the Towneley and Whitfield Pits, near Ryton and
Woodside.
Newcastle and Carlisle Railway.—Mickley, Stella, Towneley,
and Blaydon Main Collieries.
Pontop and Shields Public Railway.—South Pelaw Colliery,
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Pelton Moor, Twizell, Stanley, South Tanfield, Stanley South, South
Moor, Cresswell, Greencroft, Dipton, Brooms, Medomsley, Old Medomsley,
Carr House, Crook Hall, Burnopflat Pit, Crag- Head.
Derwent Wear Junction.—Witton Park, North Bitchhurn,
Ditchburn, Woodyfield, Pease's West Pits, Roddy Moor, Thornley
New Town, Hedley Hope.
Derwent Branch.—Garesfield and Chopwell.
Marley Hill Branch.—Norwood and Farnacres, Marley Hill,
Crook Bank, Burnopfield, Andrew's House, East Tanfield, Tanfield Lea,
Tanfield Moor, Harelaw, Pontop.
West Durham Railway.—Byers Green, New Field, Hunwick,.
Sunnyhrook, Brancepeth, Bowdon Close, Jobs Hill, North Roddy Mooiy
and Whitworth.
Auckland Branch.—Etherly Colliery, Old Witton Park, and Stock-
ton and Darlington Railway.
There are a few private branches of railway from Springwell, Heworth,
Hebburn, and Gateshead Park Collieries to the Tyne.
This district is surrounded by a considerable portion of coal of pre^-
carious or doubtful character, which is classed under the Fourth Division.
The seams of coal for coking purposes are in great perfection at
Norwood, west of Newcastle, in the Towneley Main and Whitfield
districts, in the parishes of Ryton and Winlaton, and also at Wylam and
Mickley, in Northumberland, the outcrop being only a short distance
westward at Bywell. The highest shipping places on the Tyne are the
wharfs of the Towneley Coal Company close to the Newcastle and
Carlisle Railway at Blaydon for Gateshead, Newcastle, and Sunderland,
where coal and coke can be sent by railway, or shipped in craft of from
20 to 200 tons. The proprietors of the Towneley colliery have built and
supplied coke ovens with coal for a considerable time, and they have
recently extended their own ovens very considerably, though not to the
extent of those newly erected for the purpose of large contracts at
Mickley, Marley Hill, and elsewhere, with newly established collieries
for that purpose, in the same neighbourhood. They supply coke burners
with coal of finest quality, which is delivered either into ships on the*
Tyne, or sent elsewhere by railway. In the river Tyne freights are as
low, or even lower than at any other coal port on the eastern coast; the
ships having carried coals to London for years, at from 6s. to 7s. per ton.
The coal from this district is extensively used in the manufacture of
gas, glass, for smithwork, sugar refining, and various other purposes
160
of whom took refug-e in this locality, and hence these houses got the
name of the " Frenchmen's Row." The property belongs to the Green-
wich Hospital. There is still a pit at Throckley for landsale. A colliery
was sunk at Callerton, in the same neighbourhood, for seasale; but
after a considerable sum had been sunk upon it, and in the formation of
a railway to the Tyne at Bell's Close, near Scotswood, it was abandoned
as an unprofitable concern; the same may be said of Fawdon and Wide-
open Collieries, where a railway was constructed to the same point, to
ship coals by keels, but the line was abandoned after some years trial.
Another railway was constructed by the same company, for half-chaldron
waggons from the same collieries to another point below Newcastle,
where they had formerly been shipping with full chaldron waggons, but
even after this second, or rather third attempt, the Fawdon and Wide-
open Collieries were abandoned. It was at Throckley, that William
Brown, a mining engineer, produced his wooden-man to hew coal, but
the difficulty of getting it to obey orders and execute the required work,
was found to be greater than was anticipated. We have now an excel-
lent machine for cutting coal, invented and patented by Mr. Peace, of
Haigh Colliery, near Wigan, at the extensive collieries belonging to the
Earl of Crawford and Ballcarres, which is worked by means of one of
the steam engines to get high pressure air into a small pipe to work it,
which promises to supersede, in a great measure, the present mode of
working. Mr. Brown failed to find an effectual substitute in his time
(above 80 years ago), and many have turned their attention to it without
success. As I have seen Mr. Peace's machine in operation, working up
to six-horse power, I have every reason to believe it will be successful,
as it occupies so small a compass as a square yard.
A new pit, twelve years ago, was sunk in the property of the Duke
of Northumberland, in the low grounds on the south side of the Tyne,
opposite Wylam, Horsley Wood, east of Prudhoe Castle. A great num-
ber of hazel nuts were found here in the quicksand, at a considerable
depth below the surface, showing that these grounds had been in the bed
of the river in former times. This colliery has been laid in for some
years, not having been successful to the proprietor. The coal produced
from collieries in this neighbourhood at present and at several of the
collieries above-named, is of such fine quality that the small coal when
screened is like pulverised corn; and it is found to make coke of the very
best quality, as the screened coal can only be obtained in limited quan-
tities, when making household coal, the larger or unscreened coal is
161
resorted to for coking purposes. At Marley Hill, the blocks being too
large, a machine was resorted to for the purpose of breaking them into
what has been found the most convenient size. Where the seams are of
suitable quality at other collieries, when the small coals are not suitable
from admixture with pyrites and other ingredients, the coal has to be
washed by means of an expensive process.
Large quantities of coke are exported annually to Spain and various
other parts of the world; and there is no doubt a much more extensive
trade may be done, under more favourable circumstances, by cutting the
coal cheaper than at present, and lessening the manual labour, by means
of machinery (as has been done in factories), as the facilities for shipment,
both on the Tyne and the Wear are very great, while freights to all
parts are generally moderate.
There is no doubt that we are able to compete with Belgium, Prussia,
Austria, France, Russia, or any other Continental state, where coal may
be found, even though these countries are a great distance from our coal
districts, and may have labour at half the price we have to pay for it here.
Many of these states have abundance of coal seams hitherto only partially
developed, but which may be brought into play by means of railways and
mechanical power to assist labour (if constructed by Government,) and
the great demand created by steam vessels engaged on long voyages.
The manufacture of iron going on in continental Europe does and will
require large supplies of coal. The price of coke, and coal for the pur-
pose of making coke, has been so very low in this district for the last
twenty years, up to June, 1853, as to have rendered the trade, except
under peculiar circumstances, far from remunerative. Since that period,
however, there has been a decided improvement, and at the present prices
are nearly one-fourth, or twenty-five per cent., higher than they have
been for the previous ten years. There is still a good and increasing
demand for coal and coke, both in this country and in the general market
of Europe and America.
CHAPTER X.
THE STEAM COAL DISTRICT.
The steam coal district of the North of England lies to the north of
what is called the Ninety-fathom Dyke; and like the household coal
district, is only of very limited extent. It extends from about two miles
north of the Main Dyke to about two or more miles north of the
Wansbeck, a distance of nearly nine or ten miles, and from the coast
westward about five miles. It is oblong in form, and the area is about
forty-two or fifty square miles.
A line from Hartley to Seaton Burn Pits and Blyth, along the York,
Newcastle, and Berwick Railway to Morpeth, and by the course of the
Wansbeck to the sea will enclose the best steam coal district. Steam coal
is worked to the north of the Wansbeck, but the coal is of less value and
inferior in quality; and the district, to a certain extent farther north, in
which it lies may be classified as belonging to the Fourth Division.
The best steam coal district is about the same size as the unwrought
household district. Both together are not equal in area to the coking coal
district, which is again smaller than the aggregate of what is included in
the Fourth Division.
The collieries supplying the best steam coal are Cramlington, Netherton,
Seghill, Bedlington, Seaton Delaval, Cowpen, Blyth, and Seaton Burn.
The greatest portion of the coal from the steam district is shipped on the
Tyne, by which considerable expense in haulage, both on public and
private railroads, is incurred in consequence of the length of lead. A
portion is by short lead shipped at Seaton Sluice and Blyth; but the
present facilities of that harbour are not adequate to meet the requirements
of the district, as vessels of large size cannot load there.
The coal district, to which Seaton Sluice and Blyth would form the
natural outlet, occupies, it is calculated, an area of not less than fifteen
square miles. A project for the improvement of Blyth harbour, the
construction of docks, and the formation of a railway in connection
therewith, and uniting with others in the neighbouring district is before
the public. It is proposed to form a company for the purpose of executing
the work, with Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bart., as chairman. The
docks have been planned by Mr. James Abernethy, C.E., London, and
when his plans are fully carried out they will, no doubt, be of great
benefit to the coal district.
163
Notwithstanding the great distance which the coal district lies from
places of shipment on the Tyne, the cost of transit is extremely moderate,
being, according to distance, threepence per chaldron, or say ljd. per
ton per mile, including shipping charges. The distance is from eight to
fourteen miles, being an average of about ten miles in carriage; and the
average cost is about 2s. 8d. per chaldron or Is. per ton the entire aver-
age distance from these collieries.
Cramlington Colliery may be said to be the oldest and best of the
steam coal pit districts, and Seghill is next to it. A large capital was
sunk in each of these collieries in the years 1822 and 1823, in the expecta-
tion that coal would be found there suitable for household purposes, as
good or valuable as the Wallsend seam had been previously, or, at any
rate, as good as the Backworth and Killingworth coal.
However it turned out otherwise, and it is somewhat surprising that
the very seams of coal that were passed by at that time, because they
were considered not suitable for household purposes, and therefore not
wanted, and were not worth the expense of excavating and bringing to
market, are now being- worked, and bring the best price in the market
for good steam coal, with profit to the proprietors. The great de-
mand that has sprung up within the last twenty or thirty years for this
description of coal, preferred for steam purposes, has created a most
important change in the character of this branch of the trade.
The second district of steam coal lies farther to the north, or from
Widdrington Castle towards the River Coquet, near Amble Harbour,
where the collieries of Raclcliffe and Brown Hill have been sunk \ the
former about a mile from the shipping, and the latter about three miles,
and two miles from the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway.
The Harbour of Amble and Radcliffe Colliery were both projected at
the same time, and prosecuted with spirit for some years, but it is doubtful
whether either have been lucrative undertakings up to the present time,
the opposition having been so great, the annual vend so small, and the
selling prices of late years so low.
This district, being situated close to the limestone or millstone grit
seams, is of a very uncertain character, lying in patches or isolated basins.
The Brownhill Colliery, commenced about twenty years ago in Earl
Grey's property, has lately come into the hands of an enterprising party,
who will probably work it with vigour, but previous to this time it has
been much impeded by underground difficulties, which have required-
capital to overcome them. These two collieries have now, in addition to
164
the Harbour at Amble, an outlet on the Tyne by means of the York,
Newcastle, and Berwick Railway, at a distance of about twenty miles,
which is greatly in their favour.
To the west of these two places the coal is only worked for landsale.
From the river Tyne northward the surface of the earth in the steam
coal-field is very level, and not on an average more than 100 feet above
the level of the sea.
The York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway, almost upon a level, runs
through it from the Killingworth station to the Warkworth station. The
proprietors of Seaton Delaval Colliery, which lies about half-way between
the sea and the outcrop, and may be considered in the centre of the steam
coal district, have sunk several pits nearer the sea. In several of these
pits the seams of coal are so thin as not to be considered workable at a
profit, proving that the coal towards the sea, in certain patches, is thin
and inferior here as well as farther northwards, in places where tried.
These pits were abandoned in consequence of the thinness of the seam,
and some of them are still standing unworked \ others were drifted into
thicker coal, at a great distance from the pit, which took a long period of
time and great expense. These pits, which were unsuccessful, were sunk
by the late John Straker, Esq., of Cramlington, who also sunk Cramling-
ton Colliery.
There are pits sunk in this district to the rise as well as to the dip.
Almost all the coal applied to steam purposes lies in bags or basins, the
extreme edge being the thinnest part. These seams have been apparently
nipped by the roof and sill coming close together for several hundreds of
yards in breadth in many places, thus reducing the quantity per acre, and
making it much more expensive to work.
This thin coal extends over a considerable portion of the steam coal
district, and the principal proprietors who prefer to work the thick seam,
varying from five feet to six feet six inches in thickness, are leaving the
thin seams to be worked at some distant day when even they can be made
profitable. Considering the extent of these thin seams, and the extent
of precarious district, it is obvious that the average thickness throughout
the steam district cannot be taken so high as might have been reasonably
expected some few years ago, from what we now see in the districts
where the high seams prevail, but probably from a foot to two feet and a
half less, which, when taken into account, will make a considerable
reduction over the whole area.
CHAPTER XL
DOUBTFUL OR MORE PRECARIOUS DISTRICTS.
We now come to treat of the patches in the coal field, which I10
scattered in various places, and which we group together under a fourth
sub-division, as comprising some portions which have not been proved,
but where the coal is doubtful or supposed to be inferior, and hitherto not
workable at a remunerative price, or which have been proved and aban-
doned, or where the works are being carried on without profit.
On the south side of the Main Dyke, opposite Killingworth, towards
Wallsend, at Wallsend and at Percy Main, the Main Coal seam of the
Tyne was at one period very valuable; but now the principal portion of
it is nearly worked out, and the district has become almost abandoned.
On the south side of the river, at St. Hilda's, Davy's Manor Wallsend
Pits, near the Brandling Drops, Jarrow, Tyne Main, and Gateshead, the
best coal is entirely exhausted; and at Heaton, on the north side of the
Tyne, the owners are sinking the shaft lower in expectation of meeting
with a steam coal seam. Walker, Spital Tongues, Elswick, Benwell,
Callerton, Bell's Close, Fawdon, Coxlodge, and Montague Main, are all
in an unprofitable state.
Opposite Bell's Close, on the south side of the Tyne, at Swalwell,
Axwell Park, and other pits, sunk a few years ago near the seam, down
to Jarrow, the district, which is north of the Heworth Dyke is doubtful
or inferior, the coal measures lying at a considerable depth below the
surface and the level of the sea.
The coal worked at Harton Colliery is not remarkable as a household
coalj nor is it exactly a steam or coking coal. It has been sunk a long
time, and at great expense, and although close to the shipping place
incurs a considerable outlay in working. The seams being deep have
hitherto not brought fair prices, considering the large capital invested.
This pit lies near to and between St. Hilda's and Jarrow.
The deep coal measures extend southward along the coast, but they
have not been reached between Harton and Monkwearmouth Collieries.
These two collieries are the deepest in existence below the level of the sea.
That at Monkwearmouth has been sunk to the Hutton Seam, a depth of
1800 feet, through the magnesian limestone. It was about twenty years
in sinking, at a great outlay, without any return of interest. The Hutton
166
coal seam at this colliery is not so first-rate as in other parts of the*
district where it is worked, being tender and friable, and in consequence
it sells at a less price than coal from the Londonderry, Hetton, Haswell,
South Hetton, North Hetton, the Earl of Durham's,, Wingate Grange,
Ludworth, Kelloe, Tees Wallsend, and Adelaide Wallsend.
From Monkwearmouth Pit towards Pensher, there are Chatershaugh
and Biddick Collieries, where the Hutton seam is also tender, and is
supposed to partake of the same character. Immediately southward of
the Wear to Ryhope, eastward of a line from Pensher, nearly to Dalton,
and Seaton near Seaham, the Hutton seam has been proved to be good,
but rather more tender than at Hetton and Haswell.
We may take the Whins tone Dyke at Hett from the Sea at Easington,
through between Shotton and Haswell Pits, and between Ludlow and
Thornley Pits, by Hett, as the line at which the Hutton seam is cut off
to the south, and to Cockfield Fell.
The Five-quarter seam at Thornley, Trimdon, and some other collieries
in that neighbourhood, on the south side of the Whinstone Dyke, produces
good household coal, though it is more expensive to work than the Hutton
seam.
In the Hartlepool District, as shown on the plan by the pink shading,
the magnesian limestone is overlapped by the new upper red sandstone,
which crops out in a sweeping direction from Hartlepool West Docks to
Hutton Henry, southward to Hartbushes, South Wingate, Butterwick,
northward to Holdfirth in the neighbourhood of Bishop Middleham,
thence to the south-west of Bradbury to Isle Bridge, between Woodham
and Windlestone, and then in a south-easterly direction towards Aycliffe,
Seven miles to the southward of the Tees mouth is Redcar-on-the-Sea,
where it was proposed at one time to form a harbour of refuge. The
Cleveland Hills, with their treasures of ironstone, commence and extend
over thousands of acres, about six miles south-west from Redcar.
Between the cropping out of the new upper red sandstone and the
Butterknowle Dyke, in a distance of about four miles, a great number
of collieries have been sunk, and large capital expended with little profit.
Lord Howdon's, Wingate Grange, and the two Trimdons, though
producing good coal, have yet been so costly that they have been either
sold or valued at a tithe of the amount expended upon them by their
original owners. They are worked in the Five-quarter seam; and, if
the working operations had been judiciously conducted, some of these
concerns might have, before this, yielded satisfactory returns for the
167
original owners; but which have proved much more so, upon a smaller
outlay of capital, for the new owners. There is a good strip of coal in
the Five-quarter seam here and there, from Wingate Grange to Trimdon
and Kelloe, averaging about a mile in breadth, and altogether about
three miles in length. The district referred to embraces the following
collieries, viz:—Castle Eden, South Wingate, Mr. Burdon's Castle Eden,
Garmondsway, Cornforth, Bishop Middleham, Thrislington, Ferry Hill,
Mason's Chilton, Mainsforth, Merrington, Middridge, Thickley, and Midd-
ridge Grange.
A somewhat similar district, hardly broken into as yet, to that above
described, lies between the Butterknowle and the Hett Dyke.
The collieries of Cassop, Crowtrees, Heugh Hall, West Hetton,
Coxhoe, and Clarence Hetton, six in number, are sunk upon the outburst
of the limestone, just within the edge of it. They produce a good coal
from the Five-quarter seam.
Lying to the westward of the six collieries just mentioned, there is a
patch, about two miles and a-half in width, and six miles in length,
terminating at Whitworth, which is of a doubtful character, generally
considered to be indifferent, and consequently avoided by capitalists and
speculators at the present day. Deep bore-holes have been sunk down
at Hett without any brighter prospect.
About two miles west of the cropping out of the new red sandstone,
there is a district of good coal, which has been brought into the market
within the last few years, and from which considerable advantage to the
owners may now be fairly expected, notwithstanding its great distance,
upwards of twenty-five miles, from the place of shipment on the Tees.
This district includes the collieries of the Black Boy, Tees Wallsend,
Eldon, Adelaide or Shildon, Coundon, and Westerton Deanery, near
Coppy Crooks; they are situated on the south of the Butterknowle
Dyke, and are bounded by the Bishop's Park and the river Gaunless on
the west. This small district produces peculiarly good coal in the Five-
quarter and Main coal seams, the former of which crops out near
the Gaunless, and the Main coal becomes deteriorated in quality as it
approaches the surface, near to Bishop's Park, Thickley, Middridge,
Coppy Crooks, and Brusselton Bank top. A lead vein puts into the
Five-quarter seam in the Black Boy, Coundon, and other collieries; it is
of very pure quality, about three inches in thickness, and it is a singular
instance of lead being met with in the coal measures. Good coal is
produced from the lower seams at West Auckland, St. Helen's Auckland,
168
Woodhouse, and other places in that neighbourhood, and the same seams
continue farther west to Even wood, Little Gordon, Norwood, Store}dodge,
West Tees, Lands, Cockfield Fell, Butterknowle, Copley Bents, Lowton,
and Cragg's Carr, the coal lying close to the Whinstone Dyke, and
cropping out farther west at Woodlands.
Evenwood, Norwood, Gordon and Cockfield Fell Collieries have been
relinquished.
CHAPTER XII.
GENERAL REMARKS ON THE DISTRICTS.
summary of districts.
I. Household Coal. Sq. Miles. Sq. Miles. Sq. Miles.
1 Good Hutton seam - - - 9'5 x 7-5 = 71*25
2 Black Boy district - 6
3 Tyne district - 13 9025
II. Coking District. 22 x 9 =198 198
III. Good Steam District. 9 x 55 = 49*5 49*5
IV. Fourth District.
1 Inferior steam coal - - - 12x4 = 48
2 South west ditto - 29
3 Ditto, next the sea 3*5 x 15 = 5-25
4 North of the Tyne to 90-Fathom Dyke 13 x 3 = 39
5 Between Tyne and Wear - - 10 x 6 = 60
6 South of the Wear - - - 6 x 3 = 18
7 Tender Hutton seam west - -6x3+ 2 = 20
8 North of the dyke - - - 6x1=6
9 Between Hett Dyke & Butterknowle = 60
10 South of the ditto 15 x 3 = 45
11 West of limestone ditto 12 x 3 = 36 366*25
Total square miles - - 704
Measurement in Sections.
South...... 28 x 5 = 140
Do....... 20 x 12 = 240
Do....... 23 x 3 = 69
Do....... 17 x 9 '= 153
Do....... 11 x 2 = 22
Do....... 5X1=5
North...... 5 x 15 = 75
Square miles - - 704
Total length 47 miles, and width (average) 15 miles = 705 miles.
Taking the extreme length of the coal-field from the Tees, on a line
from Stockton to Port Clarence or Middlesbro', to the entrance of the
Vol. II.—April, 1854. y
170
Coquet at Warkworth, as fifty-two miles, and the average width at fifteen
miles, the admeasurement adopted by Mr. R. C. Taylor in his American
work, gives an area of 780 square miles.
Taking a section from the same line at the Tees, northward twenty-
seven miles, and westward from the sea to the outcrop twenty, gives
Square Miles.
An area of.......540
Northward 9, west 9.....81
Northward 17, west 5.....85
706
Taking the length from a point on a line drawn north and south from
the outcrop at Middridge Grange, where the coal dips under the limestone
to the sea northward to Warkworth, at the mouth of the Coquet, gives
the length forty-eight miles—the admeasurement of Mr. Hugh Taylor.
Then taking the average width at fifteen miles, we have 48 x 15 = 750
square miles.
Taking a line from the same point at Middridge to West Hartlepool,
and measuring direct north, gives forty-seven miles. Then, as before,
47 x 15 = 705 square miles—the author's admeasurement.
To be added—Hutton seam of good coal under the sea:—
Square Miles.
9 miles coast x 2 sea = 18
Good steam coal seam under the sea:—
7 miles coast x 2 sea = 14
32
Which is all I would fairly estimate to be under the sea.
Square Miles.
Inland coal.....705
Under the sea.....32
737
Being the total of saleable coal in the Northern Coal-field, as deter-
mined by superficial measurement.
Again, 737 miles.
640 acres equal one mile.
29480
4422
471680 total acres.
171
The estimated average stands thus:—
Acres.
Mr. Hugh Taylor - - - 535,680
Mr. R. C. Taylor - - - 499,200
Mr. T. Y. Hall - 471,680
It is not known to what extent the first two estimates embrace the
quantity of coal under the sea.
Before attempting to determine the probable duration of the coal-field,
it is necessary not only to ascertain the area of the coal seams and their
cubical contents of coal supposed to be unworked, but the several condi-
tions under which the process of excavation must proceed.
A certain amount of capital has been expended in opening out pits in
the several districts of the coal-field. In the Hutton or household district
only a very few more pits than those at present sunk may be required,
in order to excavate the whole of the good seams. These additional pits,
perhaps 80 or 100 years after, will or ought to be paid for gradually out
of the profits, as was done at Wallsend Colliery, by including all charges
whatever each year as working charges, over a period of about seventy
years. This would not require any great sacrifice or outlay on the part
of the present owners, who already have the royalties on lease for long
periods, which could not be abandoned except at a considerable sacrifice.
There is, consequently, but little room left for new speculators• and were
any disposed to enter the field where there is a chance left, they would
find the expense large, indeed almost insurmountable. Besides, the length
of time required to reach the coal has, in several cases, been from ten to
twenty years, during which the expenditure referred to is in progress.
This of itself is sufficient to deter wealthy speculators from embarking in
such undertakings, so that competition with the older proprietors, where
capital is already invested, has little prospect of being successful.
The great depth to which the pits in this district require to be sunk
operates as a check against the opening out of new mines, and more
especially when the coal can be obtained by extending the workings of
pits already in existence at an easy expense. This, then, is the district
of large underground operations, and as the process of exhaustion pro-
ceeds, the greater will be the inducement to coalowners to abstain from
any outlay of capital that can be possibly avoided.
There is no doubt that so long as the supply of the best household
coal from this district can be obtained, it will find a preference, and bring
the highest price in the market. As the coal is in comparatively few
172
hands, the supply of the market may he easily and advantageously regu-
lated, not only for the benefit of the coalowner, but that of the public
generally, who seldom derive any advantage from low prices, when
recurring at intervals of violent fluctuation from the opposite extreme.
What would be the consequence if the whole of the coal in this district
of the coal-field, though the inquiry is equally applicable to all, were now
dug from the bowels of the earth, and pressed upon the market ? Specu-
lating capitalists would hover round the mineral treasure like vultures
round a putrid carcase, eager to engross the profit and devour the spoil.
A general scramble would effect its distribution on terms ruinous to the
original proprietors; and new holders would speculate not on present,
but on future wants, and the impossibility of meeting them with supplies
from a source thus improvidently exhausted.
The invention and introduction of mechanical excavators will have a
tendency to increase the quantities wrought, and economise labour, and
lower wages in some departments of mining. So far, they will have a
tendency to diminish the cost, and, at the same time, extend the capabili-
ties of production; so that diminished cost will be contemporaneous with
increased quantity. If the price to the public be lowered in consequence
of mechanical facilities in production, the general rule in such cases would
imply a corresponding extension of consumption. Should that effect
follow, and production keep pace with the increased demand, the more
rapidly will the exhaustion of our coal seams proceed ; but the public
would be directly benefitted, as they have always been, by the introduc-
tion of machinery, while labour continues in as great, or becomes in
greater, demand than ever. Should prices, by any arrangement among
the proprietors of coal or otherwise, be maintained, matters will go on
much as they have hitherto done, in so far as the supply of the market
is concerned; and the saving effected by any new and more economical
mode of working will, it is to be hoped, augment the general profits of
each mining establishment, besides benefitting the public. These remarks
in regard to more economically working the best or household coal district,
apply with equal force to the steam coal and the coking coal districts,
leaving the fourth, or precarious district as it may be termed, open to
speculators for centuries to come; for it would be absurd to conclude that
the entire coal-field will ever be completely exhausted, for, independent
of the inferior coal districts, no doubt there will be left a great quantity
of good coal buried up, by inundation with water, in places unknown;
to work which the probable expense would overbalance the value four
173
hundred years hence, when coal may be more abundantly opened out
elsewhere, so as to undersell such partially exhausted patches, which have
been left on account of difficulties. The process of exhaustion will have
been completed, for all practical purposes, when profitable excavation
ceases. When such is the case, our now flourishing coal districts will
fall into a state of decadence, and the immense population which they now
sustain will look for new localities, probably in distant countries. Such
periodic changes have occurred every few centuries since the world began,
or since history afforded authentic records.
With this view, therefore, in estimating the present extent of remain-
ing available coal, and the probable period of its exhaustion, a most
serious error would be committed were we to assume that as beino*
o
determined by, or coinciding with, the cubical admeasurement of the
mineral unworked. The question is, what is the extent of coal available
under the existing powers ?
Then, assuming these powers to remain unchanged, how long will it
be till that available supply is exhausted ?
Again, to what influence and to what extent is it probable that the
present powers will undergo modification; and, under such assumed or
determined modification, at what period may we calculate upon the
production for practical and beneficial purposes ceasing? These are
complicated questions, only to be solved by careful observation and
details, and not by general estimates, such as appear to have formed the
basis of calculation adopted by preceding writers on the subject; which,
from the appearance, when such estimates were given, only ten or twenty
years ago, a longer duration might have been expected than can now be
calculated upon, in my opinion, by even more than a thousand years, as
will be hereafter shown.
Commencing, then, with what is termed the household or good coal
districts, we shall endeavour to ascertain, with as great an approximation
to accuracy as the materials in our possession enable us to do, by showing
the quantity available under existing circumstances.
From the general observations introduced in the preceding chapters,
when assigning to each description of coal its separate locality in the
sub-division of the coal-field, it may be concluded that we have almost
complete proof that at least two-thirds of the best seams under the lime-
stone, at considerable depth, even where the best coal measures are found,
will scarcely turn out to be worth looking after for nearly a century to
come, and, therefore, for sale are of no value at present. Even when
174
wrought they will have to come into competition with numerous coal
districts elsewhere, with a multiplicity of pits now working to the rise in
our own district, which may be in a great measure worked off before
that period, and probably become filled with water, which will render the
working of the inferior seams to the dip more precarious than ever, even
if they can be wrought with profit. To work any of these deep pits,
where they may extend under the sea, for coal where it may be found,
for it is attended with much danger, not only to the pit or pits but to the
workmen who may attempt to do it, and also to many others to the rise
in the seam, for if once a mishap, by cutting a trouble, a gullet, or slip
dyke, should happen to set the sea into the workings, the mischief that
may be done, the water being at so great a pressure, will overbalance the
good by a thousand-fold. It is supposed that the water which was at the
Birtley Salt Works, six miles from the sea, came by a dyke, from the sea.
Two or three attempts have been made to obtain coal near the sea in the
northern coal-field, and on the west coast there have been two trials-
one by the Earl of Lonsdale, at Whitehaven, has so far succeeded, r ut
his neighbour, a coalowner at Workington, a short distance from him,
did not do so, for his workings were drowned out and a fortune lost; and
as far as we have seen coal seams in pits being wrought towards the sea,
as at St. Hilda's, Whitley, and Radcliffe Collieries, the result offers very
little encouragement.
Therefore, the district shaded black being only a portion of what has
been estimated by previous writers as being good coal, in the Hutton seam,
lying under the limestone, when the deficiency in extent, as now seen, and
quality is deducted, so much of the portions south of the Hett Dyke,
and at places where the Hutton and other seams are not in, or so thin as
not to be workable with profit, I have no hesitation in saying, that the
remainder, which has been taken into account as a good district for the
best seams of coal, is of much less extent than has been estimated by
previous writers on the coal-fields, not only in the district alluded to, but
even in the best steam coal districts, as seen by the map, in three sections,
and the best part is about the same size as that of the whole coal left in
the good Hutton seam district. After the whole of the seams producing
the best W^allsend coal have been wrought off, which probably may be
only 100 years hence, the inferior or doubtful districts will be brought
into action, provided the remunerative prices at that period warrant the
outlay, greater risk, and more expensive working. When these two, and
the coking coal districts already in operation are taken into account, it
175
will be seen that the immense capital now employed in the best districts,
where nearly all the coal may be obtained, will bring the whole of it
into the market at such a low price as may comparatively keep the
inferior coal from being resorted to until the others are exhausted, unless
there be a very large demand, with good remunerative prices leaving
larger profits than can be reasonably anticipated. The present profit and
loss, by experience, for the last twenty years, do not warrant such anticipa-
tions • and during the last few years other coals by railway from more
southern counties have been coming into competition with those from
this district, and even foreign coal-fields will do so in foreign markets.
The same observation may be applied, pari possu, to other parts
producing steam, coking, and household coal, as Wales, Staffordshire, &c,
and stimulate the coalowners in our district to follow up all new inven-
tions as they have for a long period done, so that these calculations of
the estimated duration of our coal-field will be increased for household
and other descriptions of coal from the counties of Durham and Northum-
berland, and by the opening out iron ore districts in localities contiguous
to these two counties.
About one-half of the Hutton seam, producing the best household
coal in the county of Durham, lies beneath the magnesian limestone.
At the northern extremity of the limestone the St. Hilda's pits, formerly
belonging to the late Messrs. Brandling, Davy Pit and Manor Wallsend,
near the Brandling drops, at South Shields, each now laid in, Harton
being now substituted by a new company instead, the shaft being sunk
to a great depth, working towards Jarrow (which is also laid in), but
now taken, like St. Hilda's and Manor Wallsend, by the same Harton
Company, which are also extending their workings towards Jarrow Pit,
for an air-pit, and progressing towards Monkwearmouth, in the same
royalty. The St. Hilda's was sunk at South Shields, but it had not the
good fortune to be wrought of late to advantage to the late owners.
The same may be said of its neighbour, Jarrow Colliery, which has shared
a like fate, as also Whitley and Percy Main on the northern side of the
river. Each of these border on the outset of the limestone, and each, like
St. Hilda's, have not proved remunerative, and have ceased working.
Harton, a new colliery, also sunk on the edge of the limestone, in
the vicinity of Jarrow, after largely expending money for some years to
open it out, are about trying what can be done in an extensive maiden
district, by going southwards and approaching Monkwearmouth Pit on
the Wear. The prices during the last half-year, up to the beginning
176
of January, 1854, have been much in their favour, being one-fourth
more per ton than previously. This is now a good colliery, showing the
wisdom of the spirited proprietors in persevering over so long a period,
for with the low prices that prevailed at the commencement, this was
considered to be a very doubtful district, even from the time when
Messrs. Brandling had to do with it, at the commencement in the year
1828, and the formation of the railway to Sunderland, even up to a late
period, July 1853, and to January 1854, when better prices were obtained.
Since the latter period, until the present month of May, 1854, prices have
been again much the same and better than for twenty years past. There
is not at present encouragement to capitalists, when the southern coal-
fields are delivering coal, by railway, in London, to the depots of the
consumers at low prices, although the quality may in general be not so
good. As a proof, all sent to London by them, and from the Scotch and
Welsh Collieries, by rail and otherwise, is only 806,087 tons, while the
counties of Durham and Northumberland sent 3,217,069 tons last year
to the London market from the northern coal-field. The outcrop of the
limestone ranges from three to four miles from the sea between the Tyne
and the Wear, and no pits have been sunk, except at St. Hilda's, Jarrow,
Harton, and the Davy Pit, Manor Wallsend, on the borders of that
district, till you come to Pemberton's Monkwearmouth Pit, one mile from
the sea, or about a quarter of the way between the sea and the outcrop
of the limestone. In Pemberton's Monkwearmouth Pit the Hutton seam,
which was reached at a considerable depth, with an enormous outlay of
money and years of incessant labour, has not been so profitable as was
anticipated, being of a tender quality. The Maudlin seam above it was
tried in that pit for a short time and relinquished. But the proprietors
had royalties taken south of the river Wear, towards Tunstall, near
Ryhope, a part of which is marked as the second good coal district at
near that point. The coal is tender at Monkwearmouth, and continues
so till it becomes a little stronger towards Ryhope, Tunstall, Silksworth,
New Seaham, and Seaton to Dalton. The two latter places are sunk still
farther south-east in the good Hutton seam district, although the coal
seam there is not so strong as the Hutton seam at Hetton, Elemore,
Haswell, Pittington, Little Town, Sherburn, Ludworth, and Cassop
Collieries, which is the farthest west, the good hard Hutton seam being
at these places.
From Sunderland towards Pensher, about six miles from the sea
where the limestone crops out, we have Biddick, Chatershaugh, and even
177
a portion of Pensher itself, with inferior coal. The two former collieries,
as well as Oxclose in the same neighbourhood, have been abandoned as
unprofitable. , When we look at this fact, and Monkwearmouth, six miles
east, being tender, there is every reason to conclude that on the line of
the Wear, from Monkwearmouth to Pensher, and from Pensher to
Ryhope, there is an angle in the Hutton seam southwards, next to and
including Sunderland Town Moor, of a less valuable nature, particularly
as none of the upper seams at Monkwearmouth and towards Ryhope and
Tunstall have been found of sufficient strength to be as valuable as the
Hutton seam at Hetton, Haswell, Pittington and Little Town Pits. Simi-
lar observations may be made with respect to another angular area of coal
under the limestone, situated on the north-side of the Wear, from Monk-
wearmouth to Chatershaugh opposite Pensher, by way of Biddick and
Usworth to St. Hilda's and the German Ocean on the east, from Shields
to Sunderland. Again, at Houghton, a pit belonging to the Earl of
Durham, sunk near the edge of the limestone to the Hutton seam, lies at
a depth of 1300 feet. That was also an expensive concern, and for some
years after it was sunk it stopped working, (although it had as good a
Hutton seam as any colliery), I suppose in consequence of its working
charges being more in the Main coal and Hutton seams than at the
Lumley, Sherburn, and Little Town Hill Pits in that district, belonging
to the same proprietor) but this Houghton pit is now wrought extensively
in the good Hutton seam towards Hetton and Dalton.
The Downs Pit, Hetton and Haswell, Moorsley, Eiemore, Pittington,
Little Town, Sherburn, Shadforth, and Cassop Collieries, and it may be
said Ludworth, are all sunk on the verge of the limestone to the Hutton
seam, which continues towards the sea under the limestone in a state of
great perfection, but nevertheless there is plenty of room for changes to
occur between these pits and the sea, since they have not wrought the
seam much more than about a mile in that direction at any of them,
except Seaton, Dalton, and Monkwearmouth; and we have proof of such
an occurrence as coals thrown unexpectedly thinner as at Seaton Delaval
Colliery, Northumberland.
Southward of the Hett Dyke the quality is good in the Five-quarter
seam, which is worked at Cassop, Heugh Hall, Crowtrees, Kelloe, West
Hetton, Coxhoe, Bowburn, and Clarence Hetton, all which are situated
between the Hett Dyke and the edge of, or bordering upon, the limestone,
including Thornley, three miles to the east of the outcrop, and Shotton,
about other three miles to the eastward, all as first household coal. The
Vol. II.—April, 1854. z
178
coal becomes precarious and all the seams thinner on the south side of
the Hett Dyke, except this district of good Five-quarter, which keeps its
thickness for a distance of several miles from the sea to a few miles
westward between these dykes. At Shotton Colliery a drift was made
from that pit north through the Whinstone Dyke, some hundreds of
yards, in order to prove the Hutton seam, where it was found hard and
of good workable thickness. Instead of working it at the Shotton Pits,
they are working the Five-quarter seam, which is found an expensive
coal to work, although good. South of the dyke the Hutton seam was
found, after drifting through the Hett Dyke, to be good, being, in fact,
the same as was worked by the same parties at Haswell, and the Thornley
Coal Company at Ludworth. From this point, on the Hett Dyke, the
Hutton seam continues excellent and hard, northward to Elemore and
Moorsley, and also eastward to South Hetton, Hetton, and Houghton-le-
Spring, thence east to Dalton, belonging partly to the same owners, at
South Hetton and eastward to Seaham and Seaton new pits (close
together), the first belonging to Lady Frances Anne Vane Tempest,
representative of the late Marquis of Londonderry, the other Seaton Pit
to part of the Lyon's Hetton Coal Company and the Earl of Durham.
The Hutton seam becomes a little more tender as it approaches the sea.
The seams above it at Dalton, Seaham, and Seaton, in the eastern dis-
trict, are not to be depended upon or looked forward to as at Hetton,
Haswell, Elemore, Pittington, and Little Town, yet they are of great
importance, having so short a distance to lead their coal to the shipping
port.
The enormous amount of capital frequently expended in sinking a
single pit, forms a serious obstacle to speculative undertakings, as may
be illustrated by one or two examples. The sinking at Dalton, through
a considerable thickness of limestone and watery quicksand cost its
owners, it is said, £300,000. The pits at Seaton and Seaham, taking
all expenses into account, will probably cost the same sum before they
are got into full work; and these large amounts have been expended
without the parties having to construct more than half a mile of railway,
in each case to join their own private lines of railway.
The first attempt made to sink a pit at Haswell, was in Lady, or Sir
George Shea's property, where the limestone was comparatively thin,
being only about thirty-six fathoms in thickness, then a depth of twenty
fathoms of quicksand was so great and abounding in gullets filled with
feeders of water, which came in with great pressure, that it greatly
179
impeded the operations of the sinkers, and could only be kept under by
the employment of strong engine power, for twelve months or more.
The difficulties at length proved to be so great, that it became necessary
to abandon the sinking after an expenditure of about £60,000, less the
value of the materials removed, in a period extending over about two
years, and afterwards enabled them to work the coal under the abandoned
pits. The new sinking pits alluded to, are the present pits at Haswell,
which were sunk in a field of coal, which belonged to the South Hetton
Company, given in exchange for the same area of coal belonging the
Haswell Company, near South Hetton Pit. It may be worthy of remark,
that after the Haswell sinking pit was abandoned, three bore-holes were
begun, and one where the present pit is had no quicksand whatever,
while the other, not far from it, was left off after boring into twenty-six
fathoms of quicksand. The third, nearer to Shotton, was found, while
boring, to have sixteen fathoms quicksand, and was abandoned like the
other that had twenty-six. The present Shotton pits were then put down
a little farther from this place, having only six fathoms of sand.
The Hutton seam extends south-eastward to the Hett Dyke, near
the Shotton Pit, where the sand was six fathoms in thickness, on which
the pit was laid out double the diameter, so as to provide for various
cases of tubbing if found necessary, which, afterwards, was found to
have been a wise precaution. Here, as at other places at this dyke, the
Hutton seam is of less account.
In sinking South Hetton Colliery pits, which are considerably deeper
than Old Haswell Pit, which was abandoned, the owners were more
fortunate, and they opened out a large and valuable district. Both
sinkings were commenced about the same period. The Hutton seam in
the South Hetton Pit was reached before the Haswell sinking was aban-
doned, in consequence of not being able to get through the sand and
water. Both these pits are situated in favourable positions,- and the
Hutton seam in them is of the finest quality, producing the best house-
hold coal, the owners having large and valuable royalties, all taken from
different parties for nearly forty years to come. It may, therefore, be
stated generally, that this district of the Hutton seam in the county of
Durham has been proved to be hard and good; but there is a portion
beyond the outcrop of the limestone, and at a short distance within it, of
good quality, but which has been wrought out. There is also a large
district of Hutton seam, west of Durham, that may be considered very
precarious.
180
Eastward, and to the south of the Hett Dyke, towards the sea, the
Hutton seam becomes tender in the Wear district. North of the Wear,
from Pensher to the Tyne at Shields, it is coarse and inferior in quality;
and South of the Hett Dyke it is thin but hard in places, as at Castle
Eden, where it is worked about two miles from the sea. The district
includes the following1 collieries:—Hartbushes, South Wing-ate, Wingate
Grange, Castle Eden, Thornley, Shotton, and Whitwell, at those places
the seam is in. The Hutton seam continues good to a point marked black
upon the plan, under the Cathedral at Durham, which may be unwrought,
although Mr. Crawford has had two pits within 200 yards of it working
the Hutton seam for the last thirty years, which affected the foundation of
the church near to it. But the Hutton seam is not, or if so hardly to be
distinguished at Garmondsway Moor, Kelloe, Coxhoe, Clayhole, Whit-
worth, Mainsforth, Cornforth, Ferry Hill, Merrington, Westerton, Little
and Mason's Chilton, Black Boy, Adelaide, Eldon, St. Helen's Auckland,
Woodhouse Close, West Auckland, Byers Green, Old Park, Etherly,
Cockfield Fell, Bitchburn, Butterknowle, Hunwick, and Pease's West
Pits.
North of the above-named collieries there is a district where only one
seam can be considered workable. It may be the Hutton seam in some
places, and it is of so fine a nature, like the coking seams, as to become a
coking coal. The Hutton seam, where in, crops out at the western pits
and other places thereabout, at Langley Mill, near Durham, and below
Marle}r Hill, north of Lintz Hall Colliery, where a new pit is sinking by
a London Company, in a district formerly partly wrought, with one or
more pits to the top seams in every field. The like was the case in other
districts adjoining that hundreds of years ago, below Pontop Pike, and
on the banks of the Team, the Tyne, and the Derwent, putting in again
at Towneley, twenty fathoms above the Towneley or Beaumont seam,
and is there called the " Ruler seam," where it is two feet six inches
thick, of excellent quality, but not much worked, in consequence of its
hardness. In my opinion, this seam is identical with the Hutton seam
on the Wear, as proved by sinkings and borings, showing a similarity of
character, both before and after it is burnt to a cinder. This is also the
opinion of another mining engineer, Thomas John Taylor, Esq.
Nearly the whole of the district towards Hartlepool and the Tees,
under the new or upper red sandstone, has not been proved; but there is
little reason, from what we have seen where it is proved, to believe that
any considerable extent of it consists of the best description of workable
181
coal, or will it be speculated in, until better known districts are wrought
off, perhaps years to come.
The Hutton seam from Whitwell to Croxdale, Burn Hall, and Lang-
ley, where it crops out, or nearly so, is inferior; and likewise eastward,
where it lies at no great depth at Biddick, and irregular at Framwellgate
Moor, near Durham (Edmondsley, Hedley's Crag Head Pit), close
towards Burnhope Flat, where it becomes more of a coking coal district.
Taking the total area of our coal-field at 750 square miles, viz.:—
1. Household.—Wear......77 .
Tyne - - - - . - - 13
Tees......6
- 96 greatly worked out.
2. Steam (Tyne).—1st.....49'50
2nd.....23-50
3rd.....17
- 90 " "
3. Coking.—This district has sometimes four, three, two,
and only one workable seam over portions of it,
and some parts not workable - 216 " "
4. Fourth or precarious.—This may be divided into three
portions :—1st, Five-quarter first-rate household
coal; 2ndly, second-rate household coal; and lastly,
third-rate household coal, and various others, each
in equal quantities, with portions not workable
at all........ 300 " "
5. Under the sea, &c........48 not worked.
Total - - 750 square miles.
This is including part coal district under the upper red sandstone
towards Hartlepool, and about one mile in width under the sea along the
coast j each district doubtful and precarious to work.
In estimating the quantity of coking coal available at the present
time, we shall proceed exactly upon the same plan as has been pursued
with respect to the other districts. We shall first take a defined limit
of acres for average good coal, manufacturing large quantities of coke
on the spot to cheapen the carriage when the distance of transit is great,
and where operations will, most likely be carried on till resort must
necessarily be had to more doubtful or inferior portions. This, with the
number and average thickness of seams will give the cubical contents
of the coal, which may be estimated as capable of being obtained after
making allowances for practical difficulties. The coking coal district
is in many respects different from any of the others. The seams lie
comparatively nearer the surface, so that it is often found cheaper to sink
182
a shaft than to extend the underground working's beyond a certain limit.
This facility of sinking shafts, with the use of public railroads, affords
likewise better opportunity to speculators to embark in the trade than
where the seams are deep, and expensive sinkings are required. But, at
the same time, the coal royalties over a large portion of this district are
so taken up that very few openings are presented, and these are, in my
opinion, by no means of an inviting character. It may be remarked,
that if the annual produce of the entire coal field be taken at 13,000,000
of tons, as at present, half of that quantity is yielded by the coking coal
and the fourth district, leaving the other half for the two remaining
portions, the former and the latter two increasing yearly.
This description of coal being extensively used in the manufacture of
iron, gas, coke, and for other purposes, as the demand for these articles
increases so will the demand for this coal be extended. Every additional
ton of pig metal manufactured, will alone create an extra demand of
nearly five tons of coal, and if pig-metal be re-manufactured into malleable
iron, two tons more will be wanted, therefore one million of manufactured
iron might require six millions of tons of coal.
The steam coal district may be divided into two or three portions,
the best of which is situated to the south of Morpeth. The number of
pits already sunk and in course of sinking, as at Cramlington, Hartford,
and Bebside Collieries in that district is, I consider, nearly sufficient to
work the whole of the coal within it, and there is no reason to apprehend
that any farther attempt will be made to sink shafts there, although there
may be two or three more made hereafter, and also in the second district
north of the Wansbeck. Several of the first steam collieries, as already
stated, were not sunk for the purpose of working that description of coal,
which they now yield in such perfection and to such an extent, but in
the expectation of finding in that district, coal of the nature of good
house coal, similar to the wrought out coal seams at Wallsend. There
was not at that period so extensive a demand fork steam coal as in the
present day • but the development of this branch of industry and enter-
prise was rapid and extraordinary, and the coal in this district was found
to be admirably suited for that purpose, and hence its marketable value.
This demand for steam coal will go on increasing for many years to come,
so as to work off this now circumscribed, cheap, and good district more
quickly than was ever expected.
But, at the same time, other parts of the country are coming into
operation, and already supply coal by sea, for steam purposes, to a certain
183
extent. In Wales there are many patches of excellent steam coal, and
Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire afford a constant
supply to the manufacturing establishments in those counties or localities
near the same. In Scotland, besides supplying the local demand, there
are part sent by ships, particularly from Troon, a good harbour belonging
to the Portland family.
The duration of the steam coal district will be included in the chapter
on that head.
This northern steam coal district, which is called the third section
of this coal-field, will yield, for many years to come, (when prices
warrant,) and has yielded a small quantity worked in two or three pits;
so that although operations are carried on at three or four places, the
concerns have held out little inducement for others to do the same. * The
number of pits in this portion of the steam coal district is not therefore
likely to be increased in competition in the less valuable coal seams until
all the good steam coal is wrought out in the southern portion, and other
coal districts failing to meet the present and increasing1 demand which
may be expected to arise. For it is clear where a good district, having
pits and machinery already planted over it, and the like below, will
always have the advantage over those of less value and more expensive
to work and take to market, and when prices are low and profits small
(if any) a little reduction in price might make one unprofitable, while
the other may be just clearing its way.
Note.—An Appendix will be annexed explaining the different average thickness
of the various workable coal seams in the different coal districts alluded to here-
tofore.
CHAPTER XIII.
PUBLIC RAILWAYS AND DOCKS.
The capital invested in the coal trade of the counties of Northumber-
land and Durham in private railways, drops, waggons, coke ovens, and
other adjuncts of the mine, has been satisfactorily ascertained to amount
to about £13,000,000, which sum may be said to have been expended
by the coalowners of the district, solely for the purpose of conveying
the produce of their mines from the pit mouth to the place of shipment.
But a much larger amount of money would have been required had it
not been for the existence of public companies investing capital in under-
takings of a speculative character, and constructing railways not only for
coal but general merchandise and the conveyance of passengers. The
sum thus invested in the counties of Northumberland and Durham can
be only proximately ascertained. Some of the railway companies provide
waggons for the conveyance of coals along their line, charging the coal-
owner a moderate rate per mile for long distances, which arrangement
relieves many of the coalowners from so large an outlay as would other-
wise be required. In other respects these public companies are of great
benefit to the coal trade, by developing its resources, and opening out
distant inland markets that would otherwise be inaccessible, except at
great expense.
Public docks stand in the same relation to the coal trade of the district
as public railways. They are constructed without any special cost to the
coalowner, are most useful for inland traffic, and they also afford him when
the ships are ready, of placing coals on board immediately on their
arriving at the staith or drop without waiting for a rising or falling tide.
The amount of capital embarked in undertakings of this description, as
well as that invested in public railways, or at least a very considerable
proportion of it, ought to be added to the sum already stated as capital
invested in the coal trade of the district, over and above that expended
in sinking pits and prosecuting mining operations.
Of the amount of capital invested in public railways, docks, and other
works in immediate connection with and dependant to a large extent, if
not entirely upon the coal trade, it is very difficult to form an estimate.
The construction of many of our public railways involve gigantic
185
works, such as the High Level Bridge over the Tyne at Newcastle, the
Tubular Bridge over the Menai Straits, between Wales and Anglesea,
which only an Englishman had the ability to contrive and the nerve
skilfully to execute. The following estimate may be accepted as an
approximation. It is possible one-half more of the amount of the
£13,000,000 might have been required to be expended by the coal-
owners, in case public companies had not made the amount of accommo-
dation they have done for the coal trade in this district. In this case the
capital required might have been twenty million pounds sterling, to
answer for the present quantity, or even a greater yearly quantity, say
20,000,000 tons per annum; but if this one-third is saved in capital, the
coalowner has to pay for it in railway dues as interest upon the same to
those public companies who find the extra capital, which is greatly to the
advantage of the proprietors of royalties that are at a considerable distance
from the shipping berths or places of sale, and which might have long
lain dormant had those public companies not removed the produce from
the same, which is done for about three farthings a ton per mile, and in
some cases showing favour to the more distant coal workings, by charging
the same amount for conveying thirty-six miles as they do for twenty-six
miles, on purpose to get enlarged trade to their railways, by the produce
of distant coal districts, while other railway companies charge so high for
short distances, that they lose the traffic of coal nearly altogether \ besides,
allowing millions of tons to be sent to market from other districts, which
they might get a full share of, seeing that they have the article to produce
by the same railway within six miles of the shipping berths. Hitherto,
the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, rather than reduce the dues for short
distances, and taking hold of all the produce, 1000 times more than they
now have, which is now kept back, or conveyed by river craft, appear to
prefer projecting branches to their main line.
Vol. II.—April, 1854.
A A
CHAPTER XIV.
THE COAL FIELD IN SECTIONS.
The lineal boundaries of the Northern Coal-field are described in the
opening chapter of the present paper, and in a subsequent chapter a
similar description was given of the different districts into which the
coal-field is subdivided, according to the characteristic differences in the
nature or quality of the mineral found. Thus, one district was described
as producing household coal; another as yielding coal for coking, gas,
and the manufacture of iron; a third as supplying steam coal; and the
fourth as comprising a sort of medley, scattered in patches over the entire
coal-field, not confined to any particular quality of coal, nor yet yielding
any description of coal in profitable perfection, and in which adventure is
rendered precarious and uncertain.
In the present chapter it is proposed to divide the coal-field into sections,
in combination with a*fundamental basis.
That basis is formed by a horizontal plane, cutting the stratification on
a level with the sea. Above that level we have undulating surface, with
numerous fixed points upon it accurately defined, and already ascertained
to be so many feet above the level of the sea, such as the several railway
stations, rivers and bridges, towns and villages; and most important of
all, as regards the subject under consideration, the various collieries at
which pit shafts have been sunk to the coal seams which lie beneath.
Below the horizontal plane basis, in the majority of cases, pit shafts have
penetrated, and the record of each sinking not only indicates, or ought
to indicate, the nature of the several strata cut through, but the depth,
number, thickness, and quality of the different seams in which coal has
been found, and may be considered workable or valuable now or hereafter.
The inclination of the seams, direction and extent of working, situation,
area, the tenure of the royalties, and general estimate of the working
power, form items of information which, in the opinion of the writer,
would be of the utmost value to all engaged in mining operations, and
would, moreover, constitute a synopsis of the coal-field in Northumberland
and Durham worthy of the attention of the Institute.
The filling in such a plan as we have thus roughly sketched, must, it
is obvious, be a work of considerable time, expense, and labour. It would
187
have been satisfactory to the writer, if he could have embodied the whole
of the information contemplated in this outline before the members of
the Institute at the present meeting; but in consequence of the length of
time required to read it, and the probability of its extending into another
meeting to finish the facts properly, (even if other engagements, and
without assistance he should find himself unable to do so at the end of
another month, having to go out of this country for a time), with that
degree of completeness and accuracy which could alone render such a
document valuable and important. It is his intention, however, to pursue
the subject in fulfilment of the design now developed. In the meantime
he submits the skeleton or frame work of the proposed structure.
The line of coast upon the sea level furnishes defined points at Redcar,
Hartlepool, Seaham, Sunderland, Shields, Seaton Sluice, Blyth, Widdring-
ton Castle, Newbiggen, and Amble. All of these are coal ports except
Widdrington and Newbiggen, which are mere fishing stations.
Then inland, and running sufficiently parallel for the purpose required,
the line of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway, furnishes equally
well defined points at Croft upon the Tees, Darlington, Ferry Hill,
Belmont, the Victoria Bridge over the Wear, Brockley Whins, Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, Morpeth on the Wansbeck, and Warkworth on the Coquet.
The distance of each of these stations as also many more in a direct line
from the sea, as well as the height of each respectively above the sea level,
or horizontal plane, selected as the sectional basis, having been determined
and recorded, the bearing, distance, and elevation of various other points,
including railways, public and private collieries, iron works, and all
manufactories of importance throughout the entire range of the coal-field
may be added, and the whole accurately laid down upon a surface map,
showing the undulation of hill and valley, the course of the rivers, and
the line of outcropping coal seams and other strata.
A block section representing the surface and descending from it to a
sufficient depth beneath, on the sectional basis, might be made to represent
the various strata* and sections of every pit might be shown on plugs, with
the depth and thickness of each seam laid down to a scale and marked
thereon, with circular holes drilled in their respective situations on the
block to receive the plugs, so that they might be drawn out for inspection
when required, to examine the strata of each district.
While upon this point, it may not be improper to direct the attention
of the Institute to the great importance of its being rendered the special
depository for such models and mining records, particularly of plans and
188
sections drawn to a uniform scale of the underground operations of various
collieries in the coal-field, as far as they are known, or might be deter-
mined.
Mr. Sopwith, in his work " On Isometrical Perspective/' offers some
suggestions with regard to such plans and the mode of constructing
them j and the principle there laid down he has exemplified satisfactorily
in practice, as applied to the Alston lead mines, the property of W. B.
Beaumont, Esq., M.P. An arrangement might be adopted at compara-
tively little cost, for filling up these plans from time to time, so that they
would present a correct record of the progressive operations at any given,
period. Such a body of information as is here indicated with regard to
sections and plans, would constitute a valuable treasury, not only for the
present but all future reference.
In connection with or taking advantage of the government survey,
taking the ordnance levels, and particularly their fixed marks at various
points or angles over our coal-fields, when those marks and the levels are
given, and comparing them with our own, and when found correct, to be
hereafter taken as fixed points to work from correct plans of under-
ground operations, in all the mining districts (particularly our coal-field)
throughout the kingdom, would be of national importance, when we find
that the produce is so large for England, Wales, and Scotland, as fifty
million tons, without Ireland, besides the immense quantity of iron ore
and lead from different mines.
CHAPTER XV.
PRICES OF COALS.
Whilst coal, which forms so important a branch of commerce, lies
buried beneath the surface of the earth at unattainable depths it cannot
be said to be of value. But no sooner does it come within the category
of available materials in satisfying human wants, than it assumes a
position and a recognised price or exchangeable value in the market of
merchantable commodities. That price being governed or regulated by
various circumstances and conditions. Some of them within, but the
greater number beyond the control of individuals, or even of classes.
Eventually, however, these circumstances may be resolved into two,
viz., supply and demand; but in every case the attainable price should
sufficiently cover the cost of production, which includes royalty rent,
interest of capital, wages of labour, outlay in materials, and expense of
conducting the adventure, otherwise production would either cease alto-
gether, or be carried on with loss to the producer. We have then four
different classes of individuals, each having a separate, and sometimes a
conflicting, interest, which ultimately may be amalgamated in the price
of coal, after various interchanges and fluctuations by the consumer,
under which term may be comprehended all parties who either alter or
destroy the characteristic features of the mineral by applying it to useful
purposes.
The first step in production, is to satisfy the original holders of the
raw material. The machinery and other means necessary in order to
carry on operations, or what is termed the plant, must then be provided.
The actual workmen, agents, and superintendents are the next class of
claimants.
These claims must be met; materials, machinery, buildings, horses,
workmen, and stock provided, and all current expenses paid in the first
instance out of capital, so that the capitalist enters the field and encoun-
ters the enterprise in its earliest stages. He is also the last to quit it,
and the peculiar hardship of his case is that while he is the only one
engaged in the transaction that can be impoverished, the losses, if any,
falling on him, he is the last to be enriched and may be the worst
remunerated, as many adventurers have found to their cost, as far too
190
many instances have proved, since Master Beaumont rode home, on his
light horse, in the middle of the 17th century.
When the adventurer is himself landlord or lessor and capitalist, he
of course combines the interest and responsibility of each. All these
parties stand in relation to their own trade, as well as to every other, in
the position of consumers.
Much of the Northern Coal-field is situated within the Bishopric of
Durham, and a large proportion of it is held by the Bishop of that
diocese, the Dean and Chapter, and the Clergy, who do not possess any
power of alienation, except in special cases conferred by act of parliament.
Legislative arrangements have, however, been made, and are now pending,
which are calculated materially to affect the position of the clergy in
regard to mines.
The church lands in Durham and Northumberland are for the most
part let on renewal leases. The freehold land in the county of Durham
is of comparatively limited extent, but the contrary is the case in
Northumberland.
The rents paid by the owners of collieries for royalties and way-leaves,
including also outstroke and shaft rent, in the counties of Durham and
Northumberland are estimated to be nearly half a million sterling per
annum, over an extent of coal comprising not more that 700 to 750
square miles. It may now be said that nearly the whole of the coal-
field of value has been taken up by private individuals or companies, and
there is also a large portion where rent has been and continues to be
paid without apparently any return being yielded for the outlay at
present, or probably for several years to come, leaving a considerable but
very precarious district yet unopened for adventurers.
The settlement of rents is of course "a private arrangement between
the respective parties, but it may be stated that in consequence of the
anxiety of great mining companies and influential proprietors to extend
their royalties or procure additional ones, competition has been stimulated
to an extraordinary degree, and very large sums have been paid by
speculators in certain districts as premiums for leases, thus making the
reserved rents much greater than they would have been.
These dead rents necessarily for a time absorb a large proportion of
the profit derivable from mining operations, and, in many instances,
become redeemed.
The capitalist who undertakes to advance the money required to
organise a colliery establishment, is not only entitled to interest such as
191
he might receive were his money advanced upon substantial security, but
to such farther additional sum as may cover the risk encountered. The
adventurer may himself be lessor, and furnish capital and superintend the
whole of the business operations; in which case he would be entitled to
additional remuneration. Even in prosperous cases, three times the
amount of legal interest might not be so beneficial in the end as the
deposit of the same amount of capital in the three per cent, consols, parti-
cularly as the plant is of very little value after the exhaustion of the mine.
Clerks, agents, and others expect to be remunerated on a scale commensurate
with that of similar classes in the other departments of trade, and according
to the degree of trust and responsibility which, in addition to their other
duties, they are required to sustain. The labourers in our coal mines
form what may be termed a separate class of individuals from the rest of
the community. They reside for the most part in the neighbourhood of
the mines wherein they are employed, in dwellings built or rented by the
colliery owners, and have coals and gardens found them. These dwellings
constitute, it may be said, a portion of the wages to which the workmen
become entitled for labour performed according to agreement; and hence
when their labour is suspended as in strikes, the owners have been led,
after much ineffectual forbearance, to displace them (since the yearly
hirings ceased, at their request) in order to provide accommodation for
other workmen brought from a distance.
Now, as the whole expense of material, labour, and interest of capital
is to be paid out of the price obtained for the coal when wrought and
brought to market, it is but natural that those who undertake the risk
and responsibility of conducting all these operations should be anxious to
get as high a price as possible. In some cases it has been customary for
the coalowners to contract with fitters, at the port of shipment, to supply
coals in certain quantities at fixed prices for a given period. In other
cases colliery owners have freighted vessels, on their own account, to the
London or other distant markets, and employed agents to sell on commis-
sion. Owners of ships have also been merchants of coal, bringing cargoes
into the markets for sale, and on completion of the voyage the difference
between the cost, including charges and selling price, being taken in
payment of freight of ship and interest.
Before the market price for coal sold is obtained, the coal has to be
distributed through a multitude of channels, for multifarious indeed are
the intricacies of distribution before any portion of it reaches the actual
consumer. In the meantime the hewer or working miner has to be
192
sustained upon the wages paid to him by his employer. These wages
are advanced in the first instance, by the capitalist or adventurer, as part
of the cost of bringing the coal into a marketable state, but it is evident
that they must be finally discharged or repaid to the coal proprietor,
by the purchaser or consumer, in the price for which it is sold. This,
however, is not always the case, prices may fall so as to be unremunera-
tive; and when this state of things prevail for any lengthened period, the
coalowner has no other resource than that of reducing the working
expenses of his establishment, and immediate cash payments are often
among the first to be curtailed. The consequence is a reduction of wages
as the preferable alternative to suspending the works, either wholly or in
part. Sometimes this reduction is quietly submitted to from the obvious
necessity of the case, at other times it is resisted, but generally ineffectually,
for it is seldom if ever proposed except in cases of extreme emergency.
On the other hand a continuation of what may be considered com-
paratively high prices, very soon leads to a demand on the part of the
workmen for an increase of wages. When such demand is deemed
moderate and proper it is at once conceded, but generally such concessions
are made with reluctance, and frequently to avert a still greater evil.
The workmen on finding their demand resisted, deeming it just and reason-
able, sometimes seek to obtain their object by passive means, and hence
operations are suspended in what is termed a strike, a subject on which
a good deal might be said from past occurrences, and which it was
intended should form the next chapter in this paper, but I now consider
it might be out of place, and have accordingly omitted it.
CHAPTER XVI.
ESTIMATE OF COAL, RENTS, WORKING AND LEADING CHARGES, &c.
Memorandum of the average estimated cost of working and leading
coal from collieries to the place of shipment, or manufactories in the
neighbourhood of the pits, while in the counties of Northumberland
and Durham, the Tees or Cleveland, for the last twenty years, with an
addition of interest, say 7| per cent., the capital embarked in the trade
by the coalowners being £13,000,000 for the quantity of coals at present
obtained, which is upwards of 13,000,000 tons yearly in the two counties.
This amount expended is independent of the capital advanced by the
public railway companies within these counties, which have been the
means of saving the coalowners a large amount which otherwise would
have been required to be invested by them, say one-half more of the
above amount, making twenty millions sterling for the present quantity,
or perhaps that would have given the advantage to the coalowners to
increase the quantity to 20,000,000 tons yearly when required, or could
be disposed of.
Coals disposed of say as below.
6,000,000 tons Rent at 0s. 6d. per ton £150,000
Do. Working charge 2s. Od. „ 600,000
Do. Leading at Is. 6d. „ 450,000
Do. Interest at Is. 6d. „ 450,000
-_ - £1.650,000 0 0
5s. 6d.
Coal for Steam Purposes, &c.
3,500,000 tons Rent at 0s. 6d. per ton £ 87,500
Do. Working charge 4s. 4d. „ 758,333
Do. Leading at Is. 2d. „ 204,167
Do. Interest at Is. 6d. „ 262,500
--- 1,312,500 0 0
7s. 6d.
Household Coals, &c.
3,500,000 tons Rent at 0s. 6d. per ton £ 87,500
Do- Working charge 5s. 4d. „ 933,333
Do. Leading at Is. 2d. „ 204,167
Do. Interest at Is. 6d. „ 262,500
--- 1,487,500 0 0
8s. 6d. -—---
- Total for cash......£4,450,000 0 0
Vol. 11,—April, 1854. B B
194
Abstract of the annexed Amounts.
Tons per Incidentals
Annum. Rent. Working. Leading, or Interest.
£ £ & £
For coke, gas, &c, 6,000,000 150,000 600,000 450,000 450,000
Steam, &c. - - 3,500,500 87,500 758,333 204,167 262,500
Household- - - 3,500,500 ' 87,500 933,333 204,167 262,500
13,001,000 325,000 2,291,666 858,334 975,000
1_!______£4,450,000 0 0
In addition to the above, which includes a sufficient amount
charged for the coals made into coke, there will be a farther cost,
before the coke is shipped or disposed of, like the coals, out of these
counties, in consequence of extra capital for 5,200 coke ovens in
Durham, and 200 or 300 in Northumberland—
Of which cost £162,000 at 7£ per cent, per
annum, equal......... 3d. per ton£12,150
Produce of ovens, 1,400,000 tons, manufac-
turing ............Is. 3d. „ 87,500
Loading to ship or carriage of the same out
of the two counties, 1,400,000 tons, loading Is. 3d. „ 87,500
- 187,150 0 0
Estimated amount of yearly produce of coal and coke £4,537,150 0 0
Independent of the above capital there is a farther capital employed
by railway companies in locomotive engines and carriages for carrying
the coke and coal. Therefore the produce of these two counties for coal
might truly be said to amount to £5,000,000 sterling per year to pay for
interest and risk to the coalowners. It will be seen that this large
amount yearly concentrated and coming into a district so circumscribed
as 700 square miles, has been the cause of requiring an immense capital
being expended in erecting manufactories in so suitable and cheap a coal
district, thus assisting in carrying forward the same independently of the
shipping and railroads which it must necessarily have employed.
CHAPTER XVII.
NUMBER OF COLLIERIES, PITS, AND WORK-PEOPLE EMPLOYED.
It may be now necessary to estimate and show the present amount of
manual labour with the past (taken a few years ago,) and the progressive
increase of the coal trade in the counties of Durham and Northumberland.
We have the past, as to quantity, at various periods, from a pamphlet,
entitled " Remarks on the State of the Coal Trade," 1843. It is therein
stated that in the years
1773, there were only thirteen collieries on the Tyne ; and in
1800, there were upwards of thirty; and in the year
1828, the number increased to forty-one on the Tyne, and eighteen on the Wear,
making in all fifty-nine; and their working powers were rated at 5,887,522
tons yearly.
1836, the aggregate capabilities of the district had sprung up from 5,941,812 in 1828
(including the Tees), to 9,623,922 tons, being an increase of 3,612,130, or fully
62£ per cent., and from 1836 to 1843 the increase was in a similar ratio.
From 1843 up to 1853 or 1854, we have an account of 13,333,331 tons per year. In
1829 the late Mr. Buddie reckoned the number of persons engaged in mines
and in the above-ground operations connected therewith at 21,000. In a return
in the "Newcastle Journal" of May 14, 1844, the following numbers are
given:—
No. of collieries. No. of work people.
1844 Tyne .... 65 ...... 15,556
Blyth .... 4 ...... 1,051
Wear - - . - 31 ...... 13,172
Tees .... 24 ...... 4,211
124 33,990 of which 25,383 are below ground, and
-- - 8,607 are above ground.
33,990 for 9,623,922 tons.
In 1854.
JSw?rof No. of work Under Above Total,
collieries. people. ground. ground.
Tyne - - 68 17,500 12,900 4,600
Blyth- . 5 1,500 1,100 400
Coquet - 2 600 450 150
Wear- - 21 8,050 6,200 1,750
Hartlepool 22 8,450 6,600 1,950
Tees - - ^18 11,020 7,890 3,130
136 47>120 35,140 11,980 47,120 for 13,333,333 tons yearly.
As there has been no regular account taken of the number of work people em-
ployed in 1854, the foregoing may only be taken as an approximation.
196
To London from Durham and Northumberland, we have in 1853,
say same 1854.......- - 3,217,060
The returns have not appeared as yet for the export or foreign in
1853, but it may be stated at present that we are working at
the rate of.......... 4,000,000
And for home consumption, coasting, coking, and gas coal - - 6,116,273
Total - - 13,333,333 tons.
Therefore, taking the foregoing statement as a data, it appears that
for every million of tons of coal raised in the two counties, 2600 persons
are required for under-ground work, and 910 for above-ground, showing
the number in 1854 to be 47,120, while working at the rate of 13,333,333
tons yearly; and farther, showing the increase over ten years to be 13,130,
viz.:—9755 extra for under-ground, and 3375 above, making 13,130
additional in the above time \ and as there has been an alteration of late,
in favour of the workmen, by increasing their prices in piece work and
daily wages, and they at the same time doing a less quantity of work for
the same amount of money as heretofore, therefore, we cannot reckon on
any less number for each million of tons wrought, although great improve-
ments are making daily to assist and cheapen manual labour.
Taking the present area of our coal-field to cover 700 square miles
in the two counties, the greater portion of the population (say nine-tenths)
will be found employed in the coal works and the manufactories situated
near the same, leaving only a small portion of the remainder for the
lead and iron mines, and a smaller portion still for the farming and
landed interest. The population, as taken a few years ago, was :—
In Durham.......... 390,792
In Northumberland......... 305,508
696,300
The number estimated as required to work in and about the pits is
47,120, viz.:—under-ground 35,140, above-ground 11,989, for producing
13,333,333 tons yearly, the number of collieries being about 136,
showing each colliery to be working at the rate of 100,000 tons yearly.
For the past ten years there have been ten additional collieries, making an
increase of one new colliery on an average yearly, with a farther annual
increase of 1300 working people; some collieries with more than three
pits, many with two, and a large portion only one each, making 230 pits
at work. The aforesaid quantity, taking 270 working days as the yearly *
average, gives 222 tons each daily, although the power, as far as the
machinery goes, at all our best collieries, is now equal to from 400 to 500
tons daily at each pit. Since guides and cages have been introduced into
our collieries more work than what has been stated above has been done,
for at South Hetton Colliery, where " shafts" or pits nearly 1100 feet
197
deep, designed under my care, and which were constructed with guides,
one engine of 60-horse power produced 110 or 113 scores of coal daily,
each score being equal to six and a third tons, making 700 tons per day
from the above depth, besides the men and boys, stone, materials, &c,
for several weeks, so as to show the owners what might be done with one
engine at each of their pits (there being then two in work, and two so
far sunk), with a 60-horse power engine each, which was the greatest
quantity that had been produced at any one pit, either at this depth or
any less depth, either before that time (1833) or since,* which, with the
introduction of "edge rails" to tramways, superseded the old plates for
the same purpose. Cages, with tubs containing coal, guided in shafts,
also superseded the old use of wicker corves, by being much safer and
better, besides running them at greater speed with less risk in the shaft,
but which, when first introduced, were thought to be of no practical
utility, in consequence of the great depth of our north country collieries
where the production of such a great quantity of work was required from
each pit. However, by perseverance, both at Hetton and Towneley, they
fully answered, and my then newly introduced system has since been
universally adopted, not only throughout the great Northern Coal-field,
but also, I believe, in the whole of the coal producing countries where
pits are established. The advantages of this method, which has been
already alluded to and discussed in this Institute, proved to be a saving to
the coalowners of Durham and Northumberland of upwards of £1,000,000
sterling, on their produced quantity of 13,500,000 tons of coal yearly in
these two counties, which important trade is daily increasing with nearly
all parts of the globe. Independent of the extensive and newly wrought
district of iron ore in Cleveland, and ore from other counties coming here,
we have still others of very great importance in the counties of Durham
and Northumberland, both as to quantity, and more particularly as to the
quality, of the ores, which will require an immense quantity of extra coal
being raised.
Great Britain alone, exclusive of Ireland, produces 56£ millions of
tons annually, on which large amount I intend to detail more particularly
in Chapter XIX. It, therefore, would appear something curious, while
we have such an increasing demand for coals, if an estimate was formed
at the present period, of the probable time it would require to work out,
or see what would remain in each royalty or district now under lease for
the unexpired time in Durham and Northumberland, say for twenty,
thirty, or forty years to come.
* See page 22.
CHAPTER XVIII,
The following statements, made at different periods, relative to work-
men, &c, employed, are obtained from Holme's " Treatise on Coal
Mines," Dr. McNab> and others.
An estimate of the number of persons receiving employment from the
coal trade was made in 1792 by Dr. McNab, who calculated that 64,724
persons were employed by the collieries of the Tyne and Wear, of whom
26,250 belonged to the Wear, and 6704 were pitmen and boys belonging
to the River Tyne, and the remainder on the Tyne as follows :—
Fitters and Runners - - - - * - 103
Keelmen, Boys, Boatmen, &c., * 1547
Trimmers^ Ballast-heavers, &c., - 1000
Pilots and Foymen - 500
Seamen and Boys - 8000
Shipwrights, Keel Builders - - - - - 946
Purveyors for Ships' Keels - - - - -1100
Coal Factors, Clerks, &c,..... 2000
And if one-fourth of these have families, and three
in a family employed ----- 16,425
Making a total at that time on the Tyne - 38,325
In 1810, Mr* Bailey, in his " General View of the Agriculture of the
County of Durham," estimated that there were thirty-four seasale
collieries in the county, which annually vended 1,333,000 chaldrons of
thirty-six bushels, and employed 7011 men, and that the landsale
collieries in Durham vended 147,010 similar chaldrons, and employed
382 men. Mr. Bailey, calculated that the proportion of coals carried to
the Tyne from the Durham pits was as eight to five of those carried to the
Wear. The keelmen on the Wear at that time amounted to 750; casters,
trimmers, and fitters to 507; so that, by the above statement, there
would be 2000 persons employed by the Durham trade on the Tyne;
making the total amount, exclusive of pitmen, seamen, &c, 3257. The
Newcastle coal trade is supposed to employ about 6530 pitmen, and at
this time the pitmen on both rivers may be fairly calculated at 10,000.*
Mr. Bailey calculates that the number of men employed in the aggre-
* Now, if such was the number at that date upon the quantity of coal yearly,
as above-stated, the number of people depending upon the coal trade in this dis-
trict at present must be very considerably increased on account of the vend being
13,250,000 tons annually.
199
gate, as casters, trimmers, keelmen, &c, is in the proportion of 10,650
to 1,480,080 thirty-six-bushel chaldrons.
This is nearly the annual exportation of both rivers; so that in the
working of pits and conveying of coals on board there are about 20,650
persons employed in this district, exclusive of landsale collieries.
The duties upon coal have been extremely variable; and with all the
precaution possible, I run much danger, owing to the numerous acts,
statutes, &c, relating to them, of making some incorrect statement; but
this I have, of course, endeavoured to avoid, as much as circumstances
will admit, by making brief references where I deemed longer ones
unnecessary.
It will be unnecessary to trace the subject through its early grada-
tions, suffice it to say, that on an average of six years, ending 1776, there
were annually cleared at the Custom House of Newcastle, 260^000 chal-
drons to London, 92,000 chaldrons to British ports and the Colonies, and
27,000 chaldrons to foreign ports, f
It appears by a treatise on the Coal Trade, published in the year 1789,
by Mr. Beaumont, that France and her dependencies were in the habit
of receiving upon an average, 20,000 chaldrons of coals annually from
the Tyne and the Wear, principally for forging and distilling. This
demand has, however, been subsequently decreased by the war, and it is
not expected that it can revive to the former extent, as considerable
improvements have in the meantime been made in the collieries of that
country, and as the coal is found more answerable for their purposes than
any they could discover before, a circumstance which I fear will coun-
teract Mr. Beaumont's anticipations, that an increasing population would
enhance the price of wood and other fuel, and thus augment her demand
for coal upon this country.
t A chaldron is fifty-three cwt., nearly two and three-quarter tons.
CHAPTER XIX.
STATEMENT OF THE ANNUAL QUANTITY OF COAL RAISED FROM
MINES IN GREAT BRITAIN, WITH NUMBER OF UNDERGROUND
WORKMEN.
The following* statement was given to me by one of our members,
who is considered a careful writer on the subject of the Coal Trade, viz:—
Tons Yearly.
For Household, about......... 19,000,000
Ironworks, about - ...... 13,000,000
Steam, Gas, Coking, and Manufactures..... 9,000,000
Export over-sea.......... 4,000,000
Total, exclusive of Scotland and Ireland - - 45,000,000
Scotland is found by Mr. Williams, Inspector, to be about - - 7,500,000
Total tons yearly - - - 52,500,000
Since I made out the above statement for Durham and Northumberland,
I have been favoured with the results of what the Government Mine Inspectors
make in each of their districts.
Underground. Output from Great Britain yearly,
(From Northumberland and Durham - 13,300,000
qk 1 Aft )
'1 „ Cumberland........ 1,000,000
31,950...... „ Lancashire and North Wales..... 10,000,000
28,000 (say) „ Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Worcestershire - - 8,000,000
23,000 „ „ Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicester-
shire, and Warwickshire..... 7,000,000
34,000 „ „ South Wales, Monmouthshire, Dean Forest, and
Bristol Fields....... 10,000,000
21,250...... „ Scotland........ 7,250,000
173,350 Total tons (exclusive of Ireland) - - 56,550,000
60,000 (say) besides mines for iron and other ores.
233,650
Mr. Williams, Inspector of Mines for Scotland, farther states that 730
pits, and 21,790 workpeople are employed for the above quantity; and
9,300 workpeople for 3,000,000 tons of ironstone ores, wrought in Scot-
land yearly. Mr. Dickinson gives us, January, 1854, twelve furnaces in
North Wales ; five in blast at work, and seven out of work. We have
only two furnaces in Cumberland, but in South Wales and Staffordshire
the iron works are very extensive, consuming large quantities of coal
yearly, like those in Durham and Northumberland,
CHAPTER XX.
COMPARISON OF COLLIERIES, PITS, AND UNDER-GROUND ESTABLISH-
MENTS IN DURHAM AND NORTHUMBERLAND, WITH OTHER PLACES.
Joseph Dickinson, Esq., Inspector of Coal Mines, states that the
number of collieries in the districts of Lancashire, Cheshire, Anglesea,
Flintshire, and Denbighshire, are 423, viz. :—
Lancashire.—Ashton-under-Lyne, 7; Blackburn, 21; Bolton, 43;
Burnley, 14; Bury, 11; Chorley, 7; Leigh, 15; Manchester, 15;
Oldham, 28; Rainford, 10; Rochdale, including Bacup and
Rossendale, 84 ; St. Helen's, 25; Wigan, 54; making a total of 334
Cheshire - -- -- -- -- --28
Anglesea - .......5
Flintshire -----......30
Denbighshire..........26
Total collieries - 423
The number of working pits or shafts, exclusive of those used solely
for air, is--------- - 879
Besides additional winnings from day-hole levels 60
Total - - - 939
These pits have 849 steam engines at work pumping and winding, besides other
engines used for surface arrangements, water wheels with balances, hydraulic
engines, horse gins, and horse runs are also employed in a few instances.
The out-put of coals during the year 1852 reached nearly ten millions of tons,
viz.:—
679 pits with coals, say from 44 levels=723 out-put of coal in Lancashire - 8,255,000
50 m „ 4 54 „ Cheshire - 715,000
150 » „ 12 162 „ North Wales 953,000
879 60 933 Total produce of the district 9,923,000
With the exception of about 1,000,000 tons, the whole of this large out-put
appears to have been consumed in the district.
The exports for the year from Liverpool are stated at 105,952 tons coastwise,
and 277,645 tons foreign.
Shipments were also made from North Wales, Preston, &c; about 50,000 tons
were also sent from Lancashire by rail, to London and the south.
The number of people employed in and about the collieries in 1852, amounted
to 38,800, of whom 6850 were employed on the surface, and 31,950 underground, as
follows:—
In Lancashire - ..... 25,540
In Cheshire --____----2130
In North Wales.........4 280
Vol. II.-April, 1854. c c 81,950
202
The total number of 423 collieries produced, in 1852, 9,923,000 tons,
and employed under-ground, 31,950 workmen, which is nearly seventy-
five and a half to each; and each colliery produced 23,460 tons as a
yearly average. Taking the number of working days to be 270 annually
the working for each colliery would be about eighty-seven tons. The
number of pits being 939, gives thirty-four workmen on an average to
each colliery per day, making thirty-nine tons per day in each pit,
which gives a yearly produce of 10,568 tons, being 311 tons yearly to
each under-ground workman, or parts to each. To each collier there
will have to be added an assistant, called a u putter," who trams the coal
to the horse-way or shaft foot, which reduces the stated quantity produced
by the "hewer" in his day's work; there are also other under-ground
workmen, as sinkers, pony drivers, road men, incline men, trap-door
boys, off-hand men, waste men, deputies and over-lookers, all tending,
with the limited number of working days, to reduce the produce of the
"hewer" to what is stated above, although his real quantity on the
average would be about four tons daily.
Mr. Dickinson in his " Statistics of Collieries," states that the total
" out-put" of coals in Great Britain is not correctly known, but it may
be stated at not less than 54,000,000 tons yearly.*
I find that in chapter XVII., page 195, that I have overrated the
number of under-ground workmen in Durham and Northumberland for
the quantity of 13,333,333 tons yearly. The number being stated as
35,140, which, in consequence of so large a quantity of the more tender
coal being wrought for coke making, the aforesaid numbers may include
the under-ground workmen for say seventeen collieries in Cumberland,
or 2500 persons employed there, making the produce 14,333,333
yearly from the 136 collieries, now 153, equal to 93,681 tons on an
average, also 230 persons yearly for each colliery; but, taking the num-
ber of pits at 247 instead of 230, as stated heretofore, the produce will be
for 143 persons in each, and 58,000 tons on the average yearly. That
is, taking 270 working days, which gives us 408 tons for each under-
ground workman in Durham, Northumberland, and Cumberland, equal
to more than one and a half tons per day, although a "hewer" might
average in cutting coal about four tons daily, yet it is reduced to what is
above stated by the numerous other persons required under-ground to
assist the production, which are independent of the persons employed on
the surface at the pit's mouth and sundry other places about the colliery.
* I find that he has taken the produce of Durham and Northumberland at
11,000,000 instead of 13,333,333, as stated in the preceding pages, where it makes
Great Britain produce, exclusive of Ireland, 56,500,000.
203
TWO UNDERGROUND ESTABLISHMENTS IN DURHAM.
mi tttt? WT? a X> ON THE TYNE.
Haswell Pit, as per T. J. Taylor, Esq., for 200,000 Tons Yearly. Towneley Emma Pit, by Mr. R. Simpson, or the Writer,
for 100,000 Tons Yearly.
]Men Boys . Men Boys Men Boys . Men Boys.
1.—Staff (for safety) employed in superin-
tendence, and in properly ventilating
the mine and waste, in keeping roads,
setting timber, removing obstruc-
tions, and doing all things necessary
for the safety of the mine and the
workmen:—
Overmen..................... 2 2
Back Overmen ............... 2 1
Deputies..................... 23 10
Inspectors .................. 2 1
Wood-leaders.................. 3 2
Trappers..................... 7 4
Bolleyways ...... ... ... ...... 7 2 1
Furnacemen ... ............ ... 2 i 1
Safety-lamp keepers ............ 2 i
Shifters...................... 12 2'
Wastemen ....., ............ 8 1 1
60 1 Q O
DO iy o
2.-—Bargainmen, employed in stone-drift-
ing, cutting through troubles, &c,
generally by piece or bargain work
(average) ... ......... ...... 12 12 4
3.—In transit of coal under-ground:—
Putters ..................... 44 28
Couplers and loaders ............ 12 2
Switch-keepers ............... 10 1
Horse and pony-drivers ......... 38 10
Inclines..........,.......... 12 2
Horsekeepers............... 2 2 1
Brakesmen underground ......... 2 2 2
Firemen (engine)............... 2
Onsetters and Greasers ... ... ... 3 4 2 2
[26 5 45
1
4.—Employed in cutting coal.........* ?10 98
210 98
Total............... ?89 ] [39 ... 1 26 53
-__
As above-ground requirements alter so much, according to circumstances, I have
only taken the underground working establishments at Haswell Pit on the Wear, and
Emma Pit Towneley Colliery on the Tyne, as my guide to make comparisons, the
coal seams being different in thickness and hardness in different places, which
increases or diminishes the hewing price. I, however, give the amount of manual
labour required for two pits' underground staff, one with two coal drawing engines
and 428 men and boys for 200,000 tons, the other with one coal drawing engine and
179 men and boys for 100,000 tons yearly ; the latter paying the highest price for
hewing the coal, although it is of a more tender and finer nature.
204
BLAST FURNACES IMPORTANT TO THE COAL TRADE.
Furnacea Furnaces
Out. in. Total.
South Wales - - - -......
Staffordshire - - - -......
Scotland..........
Mr. Dickinson gives the number in North Wales, viz. - - 7 .... 5
— — 12
NORTHUMBERLAND.
On the Tyne—Losh, Wilson, & Bell, Walker - - - - 1 ...... 4
Ditto Tyne Iron Company, Lemington - - - 0 .... 2
Ditto Bell Brothers & Co., Wylam - - - - 0 .... 1
Ditto James Spence, Bedlington - - - - 0 .... 2
Ditto J. Carr & Co........0 .... 2
North Tyne—Messrs. Woods, Parker, & Co., Hareshaw - - 4 ...... 0
Ditto Mr. Forster, Reedsdale.....4 ...... 0
The two latter have coal and ore on the spot of excellent
quality, which will be connected shortly by a projected
line with the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, near Hex-
ham. This projected line will no doubt become a central
independent railway to Scotland, lying between the York
and Berwick and the Caledonian, and connect itself with
the Great Northern at York, so as to become linked with
all the railways in England.
DURHAM.
On the Derwent—Consett Iron Company, near Shotley Bridge,
manufacturing pig metal, malleable bar, and sheet iron (the
same as is the case at Walker, by Losh, Wilson, & Bell, and
the Tyne Iron Company) - - - - - - -1 ...... 12
On the Wear—Charles Attwood & Co., Towlaw - - - 1 ...... 4
Ditto Ditto, Stanhope, Weardale - 1 ...... 0
Ditto Bolckow & Vaughan, Witton Park - - - 0 ...... 4
Port Clarence—Bell Brothers & Co......1 ...... 2
Darlington (new ones erecting)—John Harris - - - -2 ...... 0
Birtley Iron Company - - - - - - - - 0 ...... 2
H. L. Pattinson & Co., Felling 2, and Washington 1 - - 0 ...... 3
CLEVELAND.
Tees—Bolckow & Vaughan, Middlesbro' and Eston - - 0 ...... 9
Eston—Joseph Pease - - - - - - - -1 ...... 2
Middlesbro'—Cockrance, Slade, & Co. - - - - -4 ...... 0
Ditto Gilkes, Wilson, Leathum, & Co. - - - 1 •••••• 3
Ditto Mr. Samuelson..... --2 ...... 0
23 52
Total - - - — — 75
Say 70, when working regularly may use nearly three and a
quarter million tons of coals yearly.
205
In Northumberland and Durham, including Middlesbro', there are 70
blast furnaces, in blast and building. Each furnace requires 600 tons of
coals weekly for making 140 tons of pig iron, and for that portion of it
which is converted into bar, rail, and sheet, which may be two-thirds
of the whole quantity, the coals required will be three tons additional on
ninety-three tons of pig iron, or say,
Pig iron ------ 600 tons of coals.
Bar, rail, and sheet iron - - 280 „
880 tons of coals weekly.
Therefore, 52 x 880 = 45,760 X 70 = 3,203,200 tons of coals required for sixty-
eight furnaces annually.
Each furnace, as above, will produce 140 tons of pig iron per week, therefore,
140 X 52 x 68 = 509,600 tons of pig iron yearly.
One-third is assumed to be sold to foundries as pig iron - - 169,866
The other two-thirds are converted into bar, rail, or sheet iron - 339,732
509,598
Looking at the coke and gas trade, which is increasing daily, it may
fairly be presumed that at this time the consumption will not fall short
of 13,500,000 tons annually, the increase being henceforth more rapid
than heretofore in the two counties, and that notwithstanding at present
certain powers of production are limited. These, however, will soon be
be increased, and the production, ten or twelve years hence, cannot be
assumed at less (provided they can be produced) than 20,000,000 tons
annually. On this subject the reader is left to form his own opinions
and conclusions, taking the datum we have previously given—say,
14,000,000 tons yearly.
CHAPTER XXI.
WEIGHT OF COAL IN THE SOLID AND IN THE BROKEN STATU.
Coal, in its natural bed, pretty strongly indurated by time and a heavy
superincumbent covering, weighs 78*12 lbs. per cubic foot. The same
coal in the broken or wrought condition, as generally delivered into
waggons on the pit bank, over screens, the width between the bars of
which is three-eighths of an inch, weighs about 47*87 lbs. per cubic foot;
or the solid to the broken coal is as 100 : 61-27. The small coal produced
by such screening, passed over a three-sixteenth of an inch screen, weighs
about 43*08 lbs. per cubic foot, making the solid coal to the re-screened
small, as 100 : 90, which represents this latter description of small coal
as one-tenth lighter than the merchantable best coal. The trials which
brought out the above figures were made chiefly with the Wear Hutton
seam.
A seam of coal one inch thick, contains, as it lies in the natural bed,-
47*77 Newcastle chaldrons in an acre, being in weight 126 tons 12 cwts.
A seam one foot in thickness contains 573*26 Newcastle chaldrons, or,
1519 tons 3 cwts. 11 lbs. And a seam of one yard thick contains
1719*79 Newcastle chaldrons, or, 4,557 tons 9 cwts. 1 qr. 5 lbs. The
weight of a cubic yard in the natural bed being 18*83 cwts.
A summary method of calculating the quantity of coal in an acre in
the counties of Northumberland and Durham is, to reduce the seam to
cubic yards, and allow three of them to be a Newcastle chaldron. This
is not quite correct, for if the computation be applied to a three feet seam,
we have in an acre (4,840 yards -i- 8 =) 1613*66 Newcastle chaldrons,
which is 106*13 chaldrons less than the real quantity, or 6*17 per cent,
below it. This, however, for practical purposes, is near enough, and
makes the deviation on the proper side.
Note.—The 1613*66 is proved to be so nearly correct in the generality of coal
seams, that I propose to take this as my standard in estimating the probable dura-
tion of the coal-field in the counties of Durham and Northumberland. As regards
coke, I find I have alluded in page 139 to the quantity that can be produced from
good coking coal in a general way, by a process of testing in Dr. Richardson's (of
Newcastle), laboratory, to be much more per centage than we generally get for
saleable coke, produced from ovens of the present construction, when long burnt,
the average being only about sixty per cent., independent of a good deal of small
as refuse going to waste, which, by the by, when saved, might be advantageously
mixed up with the small coals that may be used by the manufacturers of patent
fuel to be manufactured on an improved principle. I farther find, in a treatise by
B. Thompson, Esq., in pages 68 and 69, some very useful remarks on coal and coke,
which I herewith give in detail, as I omitted the like in the proper place when
treating on coke.
CHAPTER XXII.
COAL AND COKE.
So important an offshoot of the coal trade has the business in coke
become in these northern counties, that it cannot be necessary to offer
any excuse for devoting a little space to some observations relative to the
connection of coal and coke, and the comparative powers of the fuel in
its twofold state.
The best coking coals of the Tyne are upon the western verge of the
basin; indeed, the same peculiarity seems to prevail throughout the
coal-field to its southern extremity. In the first portion, the Six-quarter
and the Brockwell seams have yielded the Garesfield, Towneley, and
Wylam cokes—the first being the property of the Marquis of Bute, and
the latter of Mr. Blackett. These, exclusively, as regards the North of
England, possessed both the home and the export markets for a long
period of time; nor were they interfered with until within a few years
back, when the demand for locomotive engines, at home as well as abroad,
became considerable. Other collieries, then, in the neighbourhood of
those above adverted to, and some more in the heart of the basin, with
coals not so well adapted, and many in Weardale (in the second of the
above sections), with coal of excellent quality for the purpose, commenced
coke burning, so that at the present time (May, 1847) the coke trade
has risen up into one of considerable importance on the rivers Tyne,
Wear, and Tees, with a flattering prospect for the future, as the demand,
even now, cannot be met, and new sources of requirement are springing
up in the shape of railways and foreign markets.
Deduced from results of very extended operations, I am able, of my
own knowledge to state that the Six-quarter seam yielded sixty per cent.,
or something more, and the Brockwell about fifty-three per cent. A
chaldron waggon of these cokes, of the Newcastle or statute measure,
weighed and taken with care, was found to be 26 cwts. 2 qrs. 8 lbs.,
averaging 24 lbs. to the cubic foot. The commercial (or imperial) chal-
dron of coke (commonly, but erroneously, called twelve bolls) is a moiety
of this, viz., 13 cwts. 1 qr. 4 lbs.
There are some rather singular coincident circumstances connected
with coal and coke, which I shall now consider.
In the making of coke, when the combustion is over (that is, when
208
the gases are consumed), the waste ceases, however long afterwards the
charred fuel remains in the oven closed up and secured against the access
of air; during which, however, a great improvement is going on in the
hardening and perfecting of the coke. The time requisite for the burning
part of the process, varies with the bulk of the mass under treatment, as
well as the nature of the coal itself. An oven charged (of course lightly)
for a twenty-four hours carbonization (that is, charging, burning, and
drawing inclusive) will have ceased its combustion in about seventeen or
eighteen hours ; charged for a forty-eight hours operation, with a good
deal heavier load, the combustion will be done in thirty or thirty-two
hours. These short periods may be said to be for private use (at least in
this part of the kingdom), as, when coke is designed for sale, and parti-
cularly for shipment, regard to its appearance is expedient, and with this
view much longer time for carbonizing is resorted to, as seventy-two and
ninety-six hours, and occasionally even one hundred and twenty hours,
by which means a more compact, hard, and silvery-looking fuel is
obtained. In South Wales the furnace coals are less bituminous, contain
more carbon, and are freer from sulphur. A shorter period for carbonizing
is practised there than has been found requisite here—twenty-four hours
for the complete operation being the most approved time. It is proper
to observe, however, that by far the largest proportion of coke used in
the Welsh blast furnaces is made from large coal in open beds, such coke
weighing from 31 lbs. to 32 lbs. the cubic foot.
In round numbers, it may be said that the coal yields half its weight
and an equal bulk in coke—that the product (thus reduced in weight)
possesses a heating power as great as the original fuel. These figures do
not exactly represent the comparative capability and relations of the two
conditions of the fuel; but, generally speaking, they sufficiently approxi-
mate for the present object. The quantum of heat thus wasted by the
burning of the gases I am not prepared to state; but some idea may be
formed of its importance when it is observed that a ton of good New-
castle coal, by the coking process, gives out from 10,000 to 12,000,
say 11,000, cubic feet of carburetted hydrogen gas, about ten gallons of
tar, and about eighteen gallons of ammoniacal liquor, all which products
are absolutely destroyed. If the gas was valued, as for lighting purposes,
at the low figure of 4s. per 1,000 cubic feet, it would amount to £2 4s.
giving the tar and ammoniacal liquor in ; while the coke produced by a
ton of coal, assuming 60 per cent, to be the yield, would be 12 cwts., and
the worth, at 10s. per ton, 6s., which is less than one-seventh of the value
209
of the gaseous product now thrown away. What might be the value of
the gas as a heating agent (as before remarked), I cannot definitely speak
to • but I apprehend it will not be rating it too high to take it as equiva-
lent to the coke. These facts are very striking, and show a wide field
spread out for the man of genius and science. For my own part I cannot
doubt the arrival of the day (how soon or how late is not to be foretold)
when the entire products of coal will be secured and rendered available.
Having had no inconsiderable experience in coke making, in South
Wales by open burning in beds, and by oven burning in this district, and
having also experimented with ovens of (I apprehend) every variety of
size and shape, it may not be deemed irrelevant, perhaps, if I offer some
opinions which have resulted from the practice referred to.
The ovens in most common use here are of the circular kind, with
dome tops. From this figure, I believe I was the first to depart, by the
adoption of the parallelogram form, being thereto induced by economical
views solely, for the quadrangular oven assuredly saves considerably in
the cost of construction—1st, in the comparative expense of fire-bricks;
the one requiring bricks of a plain and ordinary size, while the other must
have them specially made both as to shape and size, which brings them
to treble the cost; 2nd, a group of round ovens renders necessary a
greater quantity of materials in the filling up of the angular vacuities;
and 3rd, the workmanship is more expensive. I have found the saving to
vary between a quarter and a third. Then, as to their comparative merits
the idea may probably arise that as the circular oven comprehends a more
concentrated body of the material the burning should be more uniform,
but this does not appear to be the case. An impression is prevalent in
this neighbourhood that the larger the body of coal employed the better
is the resulting quality of the coke. This is undoubtedly true; but it is
a benefit gained at no trifling cost, which may be explained as follows :—
The larger the mass the longer the time required to burn off the gases;
for while seventeen or eighteen hours are needed for the combustion of a
charge adapted to a twenty-four hours' operation, double that time will
be necessary for one of a seventy-two hours' process, and during the time
of combustion, not only are the gases burnt off but a quantity of carbon
is also destroyed at the same time. Hence, the longer the time taken for
burning the gases, the greater the waste of coke—a loss, on the whole,
far from inconsiderable.
They find advantages in Wales by the shorter periods of carbonization,
of a twofold nature, viz., the obtainment of a better yield, and the turning
Vol. II.—April, 1854. d d
210
out of more work by the same means as to the number of ovens. The
heat is kept up to a higher temperature by reason of these quickly repeated
operations, and the short intervals of the burnings, which conduces greatly
to the promotion of rapid and good results, both in respect of quantity
and the per centage yield. By the extended operations, as carried on
here, the heat of the oven is greatly reduced, even before the drawing
commences; and, consequently, from the length of time necessary for the
drawing, and again for the filling of so heavy a load as nine or ten tons
(which not unfrequently happens), the temperature is so very much lowered
that the ignition of so large a body of coal is slow and the combustion
very tardy; the light charges, on the contrary, going off at once, and that
very vigorously.
It has often occurred to me that if an oven (suppose of ten feet dia-
meter) was charged for a twenty-four hours' process, with two and a half
tons of small coal (which would form a layer of some two feet in thickness)
was recharged upon the coke as soon as the gases were consumed, viz,,
in seventeen or eighteen hours, with a fresh supply of coal some eighteen
or twenty inches thick (about two tons), that the high temperature of the
oven, together with that of the coke itself, would be such as to complete
the second burning, on Lord Dundonald's principle of distillation, stopping
up all the openings for the ingress of air, and merely inserting a pipe for
passing of the gasses. By these means all waste of carbon would be
prevented in the second proceeding, and a much greater yield of coke
could not fail to be gained. In case the power of heat was found insuffi-
cient to carry out the distilling process, a little air, more or less, as might
be found necessary to aid the other means, could be admitted; but I am
of opinion this would not be called for—-a higher doorway might probably
be required.
CHAPTER XXIII.
DURATION OF THE COAL-FIELD.
[Which has been kindly communicated to me by Mr. G. C. Gkeenwell, with leave
to use it as I pleased. I give it as received, with the addition of a few short
remarks.]
The subject of the present chapter has frequently attracted attention,
and very different results have been arrived at.
The following calculations probably assign to the coal-field of Nor-
thumberland and Durham a shorter period of duration than many are
prepared to accede to, but it is the writer's most decided opinion that,
notwithstanding its shortness, its limit has been rather deferred than
hastened. If, for instance, we take one of the largest class of royalties,
and consider it to be worked in proportion to its extent, will not its
endurance be a fair criterion of the duration of the whole ? This is, of
course, under the assumption of that state of things in which all royalties
are at work; and it is tolerably evident, that unless coal be discovered
beneath new districts (the new red sandstone suppose) the whole of the
present known coal-field will, in the course of a very few years, be in
active operation.
The consideration of the present subject naturally divides itself into
two parts.
1. The portion of the coal-field already excavated.
2. The portion remaining unwrought, with the annual demand upon
such portion.
1. Probably the chief difficulty in presenting anything like an accurate \
estimate of the quantity of coal which may reasonably be supposed to be
at one time or another workable to advantage, arises from the necessary
vague and uncertain state of our information with regard to the quantity
of coal which has already been extracted, together with that which, in
old workings, has been left in the mine in such a state as to be completely
irrecoverable.
The following is an estimate of the quantity of coal which has been
wrought from the coal-field. The information on which it is based being
collected from various publications concerning this neighbourhood :—
Chaldrons.
a. From the rivers Tyne, Blyth, Wear, and Tees the quantity exported
from 1843 to 1847, both inclusive, was, say - 13,366,390
212
b. The following is an account of the quantity of coals exported from
the rivers Tyne and Blyth previous to 1843 :—
Chaldrons.
From 1836 to 1842 inclusive..... 7,697,880
„ 1830 to 1835 „ ..... 4,800,000
„ 1800 to 1829 „ ..... 20,223,273
„ 1791 to 1799 „ ..... 4,625,827
The vend from the Tyne in the year 1780 was 366,260
chaldrons, and in 1785,449,997 chaldrons, and on refer-
ring back to 1710 the average of the previous four
years was 178,143 chaldrons. The average export from
these rivers from 1701 to 1790 inclusive, may be, there-
fore, taken at 280,000 chaldrons, which gives for this
period a gross export of ----- - 25,200,000
The quantity exported from the Tyne in the 1613 appears,
from a comparison with the duty paid to the town of
fourpence per chaldron, to have amounted to 60,000
chaldrons ; therefore, assuming the average quantity
during the seventeenth century to have amounted to
to 119,000 chaldrons, we have a gross quantity for that
century of......... 11,900,000
And suppose the vend from the Tyne, during the 400 years
previous to have averaged 30,000 chaldrons per annum,
we have for that period a total vend of 12,000,000
The total quantity estimated to have been exported from
the Tyne and Blyth, previous to the year 1843 - - 86,445,980
e. Quantity of coals exported from the Kiver Wear previous to the year 1843 :—
From 1836 to 1842 inclusive..... 3,296,140
„ 1829 to 1835 „...... 3,255,000
„ 1816 to 1828 „...... 6,023,281
„ 1748 to 1815 „----.. 16,944,386
The vend from the Wear in 1748 was 147,403 chaldrons; and
in 1710, 65,760 chaldrons; the average from 1701 to
1747 inclusive, may be taken at 110,000 chaidrons,
which gives for this period a gross export of 5,170,000
The export of the Wear during the seventeeth century may
be taken at one-third that of the Tyne - - - 3,966,666
And during the preceding 400 years, (say) - 3,000,000
The total quantity estimated to have been exported from
the Wear previous to 1843 - - - - - - 41,655,473
d. Quantity of coals exported from the River Tees, previous to the year 1843 :—
From 1836 to 1842 inclusive..... 3,659,300
. From 1826 to 1835 „ ...... 574,260
And suppose the quantity prior to 1826 to have been - 150,000
The total quantity estimated to have been exported from
the Tees previous to 1843 - tr - - - - 4,383,560
213
Total quantity of coals estimated to have been exported
from the Bivers Tyne, Blyth, Wear, and Tees, up to
the end of the year 1847, (Newcastle chaldrons) - - - 145,851,403
Home consumption, exclusive of coal consumed in manufactories, &c.:—
The proportion of the population of Northumberland and
and Durham, supplied with coal from this coal-field
might probably be....... 450,000*
And in Yorkshire, (say)......• - 100,000
550,000
And suppose one-fifth of this number to use round coal, and consume
one chaldron per annum each, the annual quantity thus consumed
will be.........110,000
And supposing the consumption to have increased in the same degree
as the exportation, this would give a total quantity of round coals
consumed, equal to......... 6,000,000
Total quantity of round coals f exported and consumed landsale from
the coal-field of Northumberland and Durham - 151,851,403
For every chaldron of the above, at least half a chaldron of small and
refuse coals has been produced from the gross quantity drawn to
to the surface out of the mine since the year 1780, when the
practice of screening was introduced ; from this source four-fifths
of the home consumption and the manufactories were supplied;
the remainder, in general from 12 to 16 per cent, being wasted.
Owing, however, to the less skilful mode of extraction adopted
formerly, we may suppose that the loss was equalled in former
years, much coal having been left under-ground in pillars now
totally irrecoverable. To the above quantity, therefore, add one-
half, viz :-.......... 75,925,701
Also, loss underground ; barriers against adjoining royalties to prevent
the influx of water, or other casualties occasioned by forming
communications with old workings, drowned up or filled with
inflammable or other noxious gas ; also bad coal adjoining dykes
and slips ; and a certain amount of loss in pillar working under
the present system, at least equalled by losses of other descrip-
tions from thrusts or creeps under former management, previous
to the extraction of the pillars, say one-fourth of the whole quan-
tity, or one-third of the above - - - - - " 75,925,701
Total estimated quantity of coal excavated from, or lost under-ground,
in the coal-field of Northumberland and Durham - 303,702,805
* At present 700,000 and more,
f This is, strictly speaking, scarcely correct, for, on the one hand, the home
consumption would, in former years, bear a greater ratio to the present consump-
tion than the former to the present export (for many and very obvious reasons),
which must raise the gross home consumption higher than the quantity put down,
214
2. We are now brought to the consideration of the second division
of this chapter, which consists in the attempt to calculate the quantity
of coal remaining in the coal-field in an accessible and workable state >
this we shall effect by deducting the quantity of coal estimated above to
have been exhausted or rendered valueless, from the quantity supposed
to have been contained in the coal-field in its original and unbroken
condition.
Instead of assuming, as has generally been done, the gross area of
coal-field, and the average thickness of workable coal therein contained,
it is preferred, in the present instance, to estimate the workable area of
each seam in order, that, by so proceeding, a little more accuracy of result
may reasonably be expected to be attained. At the same time it must
be admitted that whatever such result may be, it must be viewed in a
very qualified light, as certainly being, to say the least, but an approxi-
mation.
We shall, therefore, take each seam in order, commencing with
1. The High Main Seam.—The boundary of workable High Main
may be said to extend as follows :—From North Shields to Earsdon and
Hartley, thence a little to the north of Burradon, north of Wideopen
and Fawdon, west of Kenton, and across the west part of Newcastle
Town Moor to Newcastle, from Newcastle to Benwell, and across the
Tyne to Gateshead, thence to Gateshead Fell, south of Heworth and
Hebburn, then returning to North Shields. The above comprises an
extent of fifty-one square miles of coal, the average thickness of which
may be taken at five and a half feet, and calculating three cubic yards of
solid coal to weigh one chaldron, the gross quantity of coal contained in
the High Main seam will be equal to 96,549,120 Newcastle chaldrons.
2. The Five-Quaijter Seam.—The boundaries of this seam in its
workable state are more difficult of definition. It may be stated to exist
in a fairly workable state, as regards thickness and quality, under the
following districts.
SQ. MLS
a. East of the River Wear from Newbottle to Pittington, four miles by-
one and a half miles -.....-----6
Carried forward ------ 6
while on the other hand, there is a certain quantity of small coal contained in the
gross export, which ought properly to have been deducted ; the whole, however, is
but at best an approximation, which would not be materially affected by the cor-
rection of the above errors, one of which, indeed, may balance the other.
215
SQ. MLS.
Brought forward......G
b. From Pittington, south-east by Haswell, Easington, and Castle Eden,
then west by Wingate Grange, Trimdon, Cornforth, Chilton, Eldon, Shildon,
and Coppy Crooks, thence north by St. Andrew's Auckland, and Bishop
Auckland, to the Butterknowle Dyke ; from this point the slip is the northern
boundary of both Five-quarter and Main coal seams as far east as Ferryhill,
then north-east to Coxhoe, Quarrington, Cassop Moor, and by Sherburn to
Pittington. The extent comprised within the above boundary is altogether
equal to........44r
c. In the Pontop and Beamish district there is a considerable tract of
Five-quarter seam, probably an extent equal to six miles by four, or - 24
Total - 74
The average thickness is three feet six inches, exclusive of splint, which
is so generally left underground that it is not considered worthy of a
place in this estimate. The gross quantity of coal contained in seventy-
four square miles of a coal seam, the thickness of which is three feet six
inches, is 89,142,028 chaldrons.
3. The Main Coal Seam—(Yard seam of the Tyne)—is more
extensively distributed, the following being its boundary :— ^
a. The Main Coal. From Washington, east of Pensher, Ryhope, Seaham,
Dalton-le-Dale, South Hetton, Elemore, and thence north to Washington.
This district contains - -- -- -- -- --32
b. Add also the districts containing the Five-quarter, as above - - 74
Total - - - 106
SQ. MLS.
c. The Yard coal, workable throughout the district north of the Ninety-
fathom Dyke, to the extent of six miles by three - - - - " -18
The gross quantity contained in the Main coal or Yard coal will,
therefore, be:— ¦ „ mm
7 Newcastle Chaldrons.
106 square miles, four and a half feet high - - - 164,173,754
18 square miles, three feet high ----- 18,585,594
Total- - 182,759,348
4. The Bensham or Maudlin Seam.—Also Low Main seam of
Wear Collieries, and Hutton seam of the Pontop district.
The boundary of the Bensham, in a workable state, is from North
Shields to Sunderland on the east, from Sunderland to Pensher on the
south, and thence across the country to Wallsend, and east to Shields j
contents, forty-five square miles.
The Low Main exists under a large portion of the coal-field in the
county of Durham, in fact, with the exception of the district from Gates-
head to the south-west, under almost the whole. The area of Low Mam
216
or Pontop Hutton seam may probably be two hundred square miles, of
which, however, the thickness is exceedingly variable, being found in
large tracts of little more than the thickness considered barely workable.
The gross quantity contained in the Bensham Low Main, or Pontop
Hutton seam may therefore be equal to
Newcastle Chaldrons.
45 square miles, five feet high...... 77,439,912
200 square miles, say on an average three feet high - - 206,506,600
Total - - 283,946,515
5. The Hutton Seam of the Wear or Tyne Low Main.—This
seam exists in a workable state throughout a great part of the coal-field:
its boundary may be thus defined:—
The east coast from Warkworth to Castle Eden, thence to Thornley,
and west along the Hett Dyke to the Stockton and Durham turnpike,
then north-west to Heugh Hall and west of Durham to Plawsworth,
thence to Lanchester, and from Lanchester by an irregular line to Wark-
worth. The extent thus inclosed is equal to 350 square miles of coal,
4| feet thick, neglecting the coarse coal at the bottom, which is chiefly
left in the mine, and the quantity of coal contained therein is equal to
542,083,150 chaldrons.
6. The Beaumont or Harvey Seam.—Has not been discovered in
a good state below Newcastle Bridge, and cannot perhaps be calculated
on existing over a greater extent of country than the following (some of
this even being doubtful), from Newcastle to Sheriff Hill, direct south to
Durham and thence to Coxhoe, from Coxhoe west to Evenwood, north
to Walbottle and back to Newcastle, comprising an area of .. 120
Also a tract from West Auckland to the east sea, of an average
breadth of 3 miles........................................ 60
Square miles. • 180
And the average thickness being taken at three feet six inches, the
quantity of coal contained in the above area of 180 square miles is equal
to 216,831,940 Newcastle chaldrons.
The extent of the next seams is very uncertain, as the localities
where they may be chiefly expected to be met with have not been much
explored; none of them having yet been discovered east of the turnpike
road from Newcastle to Bishop Auckland.
7. The Stone Coal—This may perhaps exist in the neighbourhood
of Ryton, under an area of 20 miles, in a barely workable state, 2| feet
thick. The quantity of coal contained in the seam will therefore be
17,208,880 chaldrons.
217
8. The Lower Five-quarter Seam.—Say under an area of 40
square miles, three feet thick, will contain 30,975,990 Newcastle chal-
drons.
9. The Three-quarter Seam.—May exist under an extent of 20
square miles, 3J feet thick, and contain 24,092,440 chaldrons. »
10. The Brockwell Seam.—The extent of this seam is very
doubtful; it may, at a hazard, be said to exist beneath the whole of the
district west of the Newcastle and London road, between Newcastle and
Rushyford, a distance of 24 miles, to the western boundary of the coal-
field ; this would give an area of 250 square miles, the coal averaging
4| feet in thickness, the quantity of coal will therefore be 387,202,250.*
The gross quantity of coal estimated to be the produce of the seams
of coal found in the coal-field is then as follows :—
Newcastle Chaldrons.
1. High Main ....... 96,549,120
2. Five-quarter seam...... 89,142,028
3. Main coal - -...... 182,759,848
4. Bensham seam -.....- 283,946,515
5. Hutton seam....... 542,083,150
6. Beaumont seam....... 216,831,940
7. Stone coal -------- 17,208,880
8. Lower Five-quarter...... 30,975,990
9. Three-quarter seam - - - - - - 24,092,440
10. Brockwell seam....... 387,202,250
Total, exclusive of what may be worked beneath the sea- 1,870,791,661
And supposing that an average breadth of two miles may be worked
under the sea, for the whole length of the coal-field, and granting
that two good seams of coal may be accessible, we have 100
square miles of coal, nine feet thick, which will produce - - 309,759,900
Gross chaldrons - - 2,180,551,561
From this must be deducted the quantity estimated to have been
already extracted......... 303,702,805
Quantity of coal now remaining in the coal-field - - l,876,848,7o6
From the gross quantity must be deducted loss underground, which
by further improvements in the method of working coal we
hope to see much further reduced, but say one-sixth - - - 312,808,126
Quantity of coal to be drawn to the surface - - " 1,564,040,630
Carried forward - - - -1,564,040,630
* If, however, the Auckland Bitchburn seam corresponds with the Busty Bank
seam instead of the Brockwell, the quantity of coal contained m the Brockwell
will be diminished, and that in the Stone coal and Lower Five-quarter increased m
the same proportion, the aggregate continuing the same.
Vol. II.—April, 1854. E E
218
Brought forward .... 1,564,040,630
It may also be reasonably expected, that coals will ere long cease to
be so heavily screened as they are at present, and that merely a
sufficient quantity of small coal will be extracted to supply the
consumption about collieries, and such as a constant home
demand for small coals for manufacturing purposes will always
require. For these purposes probably one-fifth of the gross
drawings will suffice, say....... 312,808,126
Total quantity of merchantable round coals estimated to remain in the
coal-field of Durham and Northumberland in an accessible state - 1,251,232,504
If the annual demand should he equal to 10,000,000 tons or 3,773,585
Newcastle chaldrons of round coal, a quantity which it is exceedingly
probable will within a few years be realised, the above will be exhausted
in 331 years. Should the demand exceed this (a circumstance considered
worthy of notice by a good authority in the coal trade*), the duration of
the coal-field will of course be proportion ably less.
In the above calculations no notice whatever is taken of the thinner
seams which have occasionally been estimated at great prospective value,
because, unless their quality is of a very first-rate and peculiar description
they will never be worked except for home use, for when compared with
coal from other districts their cost of extraction will be found to be too
great.
It must be obvious, that if it be really the case that the duration of
our coal-field is limited to the extent above calculated, every means
should be adopted whereby our resources should be husbanded to their
utmost, so that, of a non-productive article such as coal, none should be
suffered to go to waste.
The existing mines will beyond doubt require, at no very distant
period, to be worked to their fullest extent to supply the demand which
is now increasing at so rapid a rate; and since the gross quantity of coal
left in the coal-field is by no means equally distributed, it must necessarily
follow that, long prior to the limit assigned by the present method of
producing round coals, many mines, by working an unnecessarily large
quantity, must, even before their legitimate time, have ceased working
altogether.
It should, therefore, be an object to all deriving their supply of coal
from this district, with even no other view than the postponing of future
* " Observations addressed to the Coalowners of Northumberland and Durham,"
by T. John Taylor, Esq., 1846.
219
monopoly, to insist upon as great a produce as possible of a description
of coal less heavily screened than the round coals produced at present,
but which would reach the consumer in a state equally free from dead
small, and be no doubt as intrinsically valuable. To screen the coal less
heavily should also be the best policy of the coalowners themselves, espe-
cially those having limited tracts of valuable descriptions of coal.
I am aware that anything like a restriction will be viewed with great
distrust, and that it is liable to many objections. In truth, the matter is
not very easily disposed of, for if the landlord of the mine and the owner
of the wrought coal both agree upon the subject of the waste in question,
whose province does it become to interfere ?
At the same time, though all waste should be as much as possible
provided against, there are no reasonable grounds for restriction of sales
of any description, even were it the fact that the duration of the coal-field
were limited to half the extent estimated; for the only result of the
complete exhaustion of the coal-field of this district would be the removal
of the seat of certain manufactures from this to another locality, the
country at large being totally unaffected; and farther, regard being had
solely to the advantage of this neighbourhood, if it be admitted that the
greater the trade the greater the prosperity, it must be evident that the
free use of our resources must be most beneficial, for the present worth
of even one flourishing century is of far more consequence than that of a
thousand years where trade is harassed by restriction, and checked by
the exercise of groundless fears.
220
THE AUTHOR'S REMARKS ON THE OPINIONS OF MR. GREENWELL
AND OTHER WRITERS ON THE DURATION OF THE NORTHERN
COAL-FIELD.
Mr. Greenwell takes the width of coal obtainable along the coast, under the
sea, at two miles ; I however, prefer, taking only half that width, giving an area of
fifty square miles, and I would select only that portion where the seams are in the
greatest perfection, and very deep under the sea.
I shall only make a few remarks upon the probable duration of the coal-field,
as estimated by Mr. G. C. Greenwell. In 1846, with a yearly consumption of
10,000,000 of tons of round coals, Mr. Greenwell fixed the period of 331 years as
the time in which the whole area of the coal would be worked out. In this calcu-
lation is included 100 square miles of coal beneath the sea. But the yearly sales
having now increased to 13,250,000, a proportionate alteration must be made in the
period of duration ; therefore, assuming the correctness of the previous statement,
324 years may be taken as the full extent of the time the coal-field will last. I
may farther add, that various methods of calculation, by sections of different dis-
tricts, have been tried both by Mr. Greenwell and myself, unknown to each other,
and the results, which it was impossible to anticipate, have been found to be
perfectly similar.
I intended here to have shown that the information given by Mr. Hugh Taylor
and other writers does not differ much from mine, either as to the extent of area,
or the thickness of the coal seams; but, having got Mr. G. C. Greenwell's opinion,
I prefer giving it. Although many districts have been proved since 1829 or 1846,
there are still many seams found of workable thickness, which have not proved
profitable to work at present prices. One most important fact is clearly demon-
strated, viz :—that nearly treble the quantity of coal is wrought since Mr. Hugh
Taylor's opinion was made public, and increased demand or the opposite, will
render all statements on this point liable to error.
It may be necessary to remark, that Mr. Greenwell's statistics were made in
1846, at which period he assumed one-fifth of the whole extracted to be small coal.
At that time, and formerly, the great bulk of the small coal was consumed by fiery
pit heaps, and stored away underground as waste. On account of the great demand
for coal at present, and the enhanced value of labour, the one-fifth that he calcu-
lated as small, independent of the 10,000,000 tons of round, has become saleable
coal; I therefore consider Mr. Greenwell's estimate of the duration of the coal-
field equally as probable as my own.
It will be unnecessary to increase the length of this treatise by alluding to
the statements of Mr. R. C. Taylor, of America, who has written on the subject.
This Will be admitted when it is known that, although the information given in his
valuable work is generally correct, he never visited or made himself personally
acquainted with our coal districts, when he estimated the duration of the coal-field
at upwards of 1,700 years.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE AUTHOR'S ESTIMATE OF THE DURATION OF THE COAL-FIELD
IN NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM.
According to statement in Chapter XII., and the plan annexed, the coal-field
under 750 square miles, which includes fifty square miles under the sea, has been
divided into several sections, taken at many different points, so as to ascertain the
average thickness of the seams in each district of square miles. The author gives
the following as the total number of tons which he considers may be worked out of
each. Taking the figures as here stated, and dividing the same by the present
annual amount obtained, the number of years which it will take to exhaust the
existing coal-field is shown.
No. Square Miles. Total Tons in each Section.
l)Wear) [68-16^ .................. 1,086,151,660
2 I Tees } Best W.E. household coal <IV53 .................. 162,776,520
3 (Tyne) ( 13 .................. 259,048,800
4 J Seaham & Ryhope (under ) I Best
the sea), .................. 18 / [ household.
Five-quarter seam, &c, V 47'31 .................. 379,074,168
south of the Hett Dyke 21 (
Sundries at different places 8*31 J
5) (51-65) .................. 706,778,600
6 V Steam coal on the Tyne............ \ 23'25 } .................. 318,153,000
7) (21-18) .................. 260,844,408
Say under the sea at Hartley,) 21 140 000 000
Blyth, and Wansbeck............J
8) ^,. , w -n <- * (84-67) .................. 695,174,568
I Coking coal-Tyne,, Derwent, and ) 62.55 ( .................. 1,198 307 880
10f Wear Western District ......... (21-50 J .................. 196il37,333
(21 )
11 Sundry sorts........................... <2l V .................. 649,758,400
12 Do........................................ 12 .................. 320,419,200
13 Do........................................ 9-75 .................. 71,156,813^
14 Do........................................ 155-25 .................. 1,487,108,700
15 Do........................................ 14-46 .................. 198,370,640
16 Do........................................ 28-90 .................. 263,545,066TVo-
] 7 Sundries of little account ......... 28
Quantities 140, 117, 169, and 324 = 750 square miles. 8,182,805,757
The deductions that have to be made from the above are :—
First, one-fifth of the whole, which being required for
pillars, barriers, &c, must remain or be lost...... 1,608,561,151
Second, the quantity already excavated ............... 898,812,433
H . _1- 2,507,373,584
5,575,432,173
But having regard to the difficulties of obtaining coal in certain
localities, from the workings filling with water, and the large
quantity of coal which will be irrecoverable from that and
various other causes, a further reduction in the period must
be made, estimated at one-tenth of the remainder ............ 553,543,217
5,121,888,956
Which, divided by 14,000,000 annually excavated for sales and
pit consumption, gives.................................................;• **65 years.
But supposing the demand to increase to 20,000,000 annually in
a few years, already referred to as being probable, and that
quantity can be annually excavated, the duration of the
coal-field in such case would be only .............................. 256 years.
CHAPTER XXV.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
Mr. Clegg, in his work on Coal Gas, has shown so comprehensive
and generally correct a view of the coal-fields of the world, that it is
worthy of extracting in an abridged form, and also of being corrected in
one or two particulars, with respect to which the author has fallen a
little into error.
He remarks, that Great Britain takes the first rank, both in quantity
and the quality of its coal, yet he greatly understates the annual produce
of the island, which is (exclusive of Ireland) over 58,000,000 tons, not
32,000,000. A correction that equally applies to other authors, who
have made estimates on the Northern Coal-Field.
America, the yield of which he gives at nearly 3,000,000 tons of
anthracite, and 2,000,000 tons of bituminous coal, produces fully twenty
per cent, over these quantities. There is reason to believe, however, that
his statements of the produce of different countries of continental Europe
may be more implicitly relied on. He says Belgium produces annually
5,000,000 tons j France, 4,200,000 tons; Prussia, 3,500,000 tons; and
Austria, about 1,000,000 tons \ and there is every prospect that in con-
sequence of the construction of railways, the production will largely
increase. The population not only requires it, but it will be necessary
for their manufacturing purposes, which indeed, at the present time, are
increasing rapidly, and prices are thirty per cent, higher than for
years past.
Belgium is a coal producing country, second to Great Britain, tra-
versed by a large zone of bituminous coal, and may be described under
three divisions. The western or Hainault division, Charleroi or Liege
district, and that of Namur. The area of these fields is about as
follows :—
1. In the province of Hainault - - 187,116 English acres.
2. In that of Charleroi or Liege - - 103,151 do.
3. In that of Namur - - - - 41,125 do.
Being l'22nd part of the superfices of Belgium. The eastern or Liege
division, from the province of Namur, traverses that of Liege, extending
towards Rhenish Prussia, where it communicates with other coal basins.
It furnishes some coal of excellent quality. The whole being chiefly
consumed in the many iron works of the district. In the Hainault most
varieties of coal are met with, including the flaming, with a series of
223
veins approaching to that of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and adapted to gas
making.
The production of France has advanced from 240,000 tons at the
commencement of the First Revolution, to 4,200,000 tons (the quantity
yielded at present). Notwithstanding this advance of 1700 per cent, upon
her native production, her importations have also increased during the
same period 792 per cent., the quantity of coal imported being still more
than one-half of the entire amount produced at home. The general
quality of the French coal is not to be compared with that of Northum-
berland and Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire,
Wales, &c, or Ireland, from the mines of which both the French Govern-
ment and private companies obtain the best coal they use. Even America
still continues to require large supplies from England.
Mining and manufacturing enterprise both suffer from the scarcity
and dearness of coal and wood in France, although a change in their
national habits, and the facilities afforded by railways will increase the
produce and lower the prices. The distance which their coal-fields lie
apart render it unlikely that the price of coal will ever become so low as
it is in England, in consequence of the great expense of its inland transit
to shipping ports.
America yields bituminous coal in abundance, and from her energetic
advances in everything relating to trade will, doubtless, ere long, stand
second as a coal producing country, and will also make rapid progress in
gas-lighting. The railways will easily, cheaply, and yet profitably for
themselves, connect the towns with the distant anthracite districts, and
it is even possible that Canada may be supplied more certainly and
economically than with sea-borne coal. Wood fuel is almost entirely
used for railway locomotives and steam-boat engines, (alike in the distant
villages and cities,) particularly on board the boats on the Ohio and the
Mississippi. I have seen them, when the boats are racing against the
stream, put in flitches of fat bacon, which can be had for two or three
cents a pound, to assist the wooden fuel, raising the steam up to 150 and
2001bs. per square inch.
In the United States, hitherto, no anthracite coal, and only a small
district of bituminous, has been found near to a shipping port or place
with tidal water. This small portion is on the James river, Chesterfield
county, near Richmond, Virginia, and is called the Blackheath, Mid-
Lothian, and Clover-hill pit district. The produce is easy of transit,
being only from ten to fifteen miles by public and private railway, or
224
about the same distance if by canal, to the shipping place above Norfolk,
on the James river. A considerable portion of the State of Virginia,
and also the remainder of the coal districts of the States, twelve of which
are not so favourably situated, are from 150 to 300 miles and upwards
distant from tidal water and the place of shipment or principal depot for
sale.
The following table exhibits the vast area of her coal-fields, according
to S. A. Mitchell, who published them in 1836.
Area of States. Coal Area. Proportion
Square Miles. Square Miles. of Coal.
1. Virginia - - 64,000 .... 21,125 .... l-3rd Bituminous coal.
2. Illinois - - 59,130 .... 44,000 .... 3-4ths „
3. Pennsylvania - 43,960 ---- 15,437 ---- l-3rd Bitum. and anth.
4. Kentucky - 39,015 .... 13,500 ____ l-3rd Bituminous coal.
5. Ohio - - 38,150 .... 11,900 .. . l-3rd „ „
6. Indiana - ~ 34,800 ---- 7,700 ---- l-5th „ „
7. Missouri - - 60,384 .... 6,000 .... l-10th „ „
8. Michigan - - 60,520 .... 5,000 l-20th „ „
9. Tennessee - 44,720 .... 4,300 .... l-10th „
10. Alabama - - 50,875 ..... 3,400 .... l-14th „ „
11. North Carolina - 45,000 ... 200 ...... „
12. Georgia - - 58,200 .... 150 .... l-38th „ „
13. Maryland - - 10,829 .... 550 .... l-20th „ „
610,283 133,332 Nearly l-4th of twelve States.
Cannel coal of good quality is found in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio,
Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, and it is believed in Tennessee.
Even making certain deductions, the actual yielding area is enormous,
and of its ultimate value no present estimate can be formed; but, if we
consider that the American coal trade commenced in 1820 with 365 tons,
and that its present production is 6,000,000 tons, we must feel certain
that its influence will be felt at no distant period.
Canada, it is pretty clearly ascertained, contains no workable seams
of coal, but in other provinces of British America, viz., New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia, there are considerable fields of it; and Newfoundland
is said to be rich in this mineral. In Cuba no coal is found \ but a
quality of limestone, trap rock, or greenstone chapote is found in fissures.
Many of the provinces of Prussia are rich in coal seams, lying at
angles of from 1 in 2 and 3, in regular systematic but very curious posi-
tions, which promise to be very productive. In the Austrian coal-fields the
like have been discovered in the neighbourhood of Berlin, and more par-
ticularly near the valuable port of Trieste, or between Trieste and Vienna.
225
Austria possesses extensive and valuable coal districts, and is rich in
other minerals, although their productive qualities have hardly been
brought into competition with the wood fuel procured from the immense
forests, which cover 43,896,637 acres, one-third of the productive extent
of the empire. This is the case in consequence of the want of good
roads and public railways, but as the Government is now supplying both
roads and railways to a large extent, the demand for wood will be much
modified and coal brought into the market as a substitute.
Spain, Portugal, Lombardy, the Tyrol, and Hungary, all yield coal.
In Bohemia coal is abundant. The bituminous coal of Western Bohemia
is particularly good and plentiful. The basin of Rakonity is forty English
miles from east to west, and ten or twelve miles from north to south.
Poland contains several coal areas, the working of which has been
greatly neglected.
Sweden works mines of inferior bituminous coal to a very limited
extent, owing to the easy importation of good coal from England.
In European Russia, to the northern shore of the Black Sea, bitumi-
nous coal has been found in abundance. This is said to be equal to the
best English coal, and that it may be delivered at a port on the Dnieper
or the Don for 4s. or 5s. per ton. Little is known of the carboniferous
system of Northern Russia. St. Petersburg is lighted with gas produced
from English coal. Norway and Holland exhibit no indications of coal.
Coal, said to resemble that of Scotland, has been found in the Egyptian
Deserts. It has long been stated to exist in Abyssinia and tropical
Africa. There is reason to credit a report that there are level beds about
500 miles east of Cape Town, and in Madagascar, Mozambique, and Port
Natal.
Asia is rich in her deposits of bitumen and other hydro-carbonaceous
substances, and there is also good reason to believe that coal exists exten-
sively, which may be worked with profit in due time. At Erikli, in
Anatolia, about 150 miles east of Constantinople, on the southern shore
of the Black Sea, a formation, according to good authority, of genuine
bituminous coal is said to be of considerable extent, of excellent quality,
and situated so as to be easily transported.* One hundred parts consist of
Carbon ............................................................ 62'40
Volatile matter................................................... 31*80
Earthy matter................................................... 5*8
* There is no doubt of the existence of good coal at Erikli. Under the super-
intendence of European military engineers, coals are now being wrought for the
use of the allied fleets in the Black Sea to the extent of 1,000 tons weekly.
Vol. II.—April, 1854. f f
226
The Syrian coal abounds in sulphur, which unfits it for commercial
purposes.
Sir Alexander Burnes states that large districts of bituminous coal
exist in Cabul, situated favourably for transport.
Coal has long been known in Tartary, where its use is not only men-
tioned by Marco Polo, but by other early writers. Much coal is also
worked in Japan, but no particulars have been published.
Indigenous coal of the bituminous species has already been discovered
in more than one hundred localities in Hindostan, the best being that of
the Marbudda and Burdevan districts, but no mines have been opened of
sufficient importance to cause these districts to rank as coal-producing
countries; but steam navigation must in process of time force them into
work, for an enormous price may be afforded for the coal, since the freight
of it from England is 40s. per ton, presuming always that there does
exist a bed of coal, for until it is fairly worked, doubts must exist. In
Bengal it appears that mining has been so sufficiently carried on as to
render the existence of workable coal quite certain.
China, if we look far into the future, will unquestionably become a
coal-producing country. We have evidence that amongst other varieties
there exists tertiary or brown coal, bituminous coal of various kinds,
cannel coal, and anthracite, all of which have for ages been in common
use in that remarkable country.
Australia is rich in other mineral productions beside gold. At New-
castle and the Hunter region of New South Wales, bituminous coal is
ascertained to be abundant. Sydney is (or may be) supplied with coal
from Lake Macquarrie. The Australian Agricultural Company sold
27,000 tons from thence in 1840. In South Australia it has been
reported that coal has been found, but it has not been verified. In
Western Australia no coal has yet been found.
Coal is stated to be traceable quite across the island of Van Diemen's
Land; and in different parts of New Zealand it has been found in con-
siderable quantities.
FURTHER EEMAEKS ON AUSTRALIAN COAL MEASURES.
The following memoranda of the coal measures in Australia are given
from published reports, and from MS. notes by Mr. Samuel Mossman—a
well-known writer upon that country—which contain the latest and most
authentic information relative to the subject.
Coal has been discovered in seams of good quality, and of a workable
nature, for the purposes of commerce, in New South Wales, Van Diemen's
Land, and latterly in Victoria.
The localities in New South Wales are on the Hunter river, in the
district of that name, and on the Brisbane river, in the Moreton Bay
district. The former were discovered in the earliest days of the colony,
where they crop out on the sea-coast at the mouth of the river in the
vicinity of what was formerly a penal settlement named Kingstown.
Upon this discovery, its name was changed to Newcastle, after the
famous capital of the land of coal and grindstones. The bluffs at the
entrance of the river, some 200 feet high, show the width of the upper
stratum about four feet thick in the open face of day, a little distance
above high water mark, with a westerly dip of twenty degrees. A mile
or so from this spot, a shaft is sunk on a hill about 100 feet above the
level of the river, where a seam of coal is worked, five feet in thickness,
of the best Australian coal yet discovered, which resembles the ordinary
Scotch coal in quality, being less bituminous than the Newcastle coal
generally. This mine is the property of the Australian Agricultural
Company; and is so advantageously situated for shipping the fuel that
vessels can lie under a shute within a hundred yards of the pit's mouth,
from whence the coals are discharged by means of a tramway at a con-
siderable declivity. In fact, the seam of coal is now being worked under
the bed of the river, where the vessels lie at anchor, and the town itself
is built above it. In this pit there is no fire-damp, consequently the
workmen labour with ordinary candles and lamps without the gauze pro-
tector. The mode of working is exactly the same as that adopted amongst
the Newcastle collieries in England. When the company commenced
operations they brought out 150 Newcastle pitmen and their families,
with a viewer and overseers.
Until within the last few years these coal measures were worked
228
under a monopoly, granted to the Australian Agricultural Company by
the Government; but this has been successfully upset by some spirited
landholders on the Hunter river, who possess coal on their properties,
and who now work them in fair competition with the company. Among
these private collieries, those on the Burrwood estate, three miles from
the town, are said to be more extensive and of better quality than the
company's mines. The workings commence at the foot of a hill, where
a tunnel is cut through the solid coal, about five feet and a half in height
and double that in width, with an equal depth of workable coal above,
the tunnel passing through the hill, and opening out into a small valley
behind. From this main tunnel there are two branch tunnels, half its
width, running into the hill, each of 200 yards in length, the working
"bands" being of the same dimensions, with a stratum of fire-clay
eighteen inches thick. It is intended to run these branch tunnels right
through to the cliffs on the sea-coast, many hundred yards distant, where
the seams crop out, so that this colliery will be an anomaly in coal mining.
There is no pit; and the workmen in many parts will be able to pursue
their labours by the light of day; while a tramway to the wharf will
convey the coal along a level road from the seam to the ship.
The seam of coal discovered on the Brisbane River at Moreton Bay
partakes of the same character. The small portion of it which has been
worked enters from the bank of the river, a few feet above its highest
flood, dipping very gently to the north-west. It is not more than two
feet three inches thick; hence the workmen have to cut away a great
portion of the shale to make room for themselves. This seam is supposed
to be much wider farther west, and has all the character at this spot of
being the edge of a great basin, where it thins out. The quality of the
coal is much the same as that of the Hunter. In both of these seams,
the carboniferous strata show the same succession of shales, clays, and
sandstones as in England. Some of the former in my possession show
beautiful fossil ferns and other acrogens of the coal formation; besides
some conifer ce of the same rare type as the existing pines of Australia.
The localities in Van Diemen's Land where coal has been found are
Port Arthur and on the Douglas river. The quality of the former is so
inferior in bituminous property that it requires to be mixed with an equal
quantity of wood in the stove to continue burning. Hence the workings
were abandoned when better coal was discovered on the banks of the
Douglas river; of this mine I have no particulars, but I have seen the
coal, and it is equal to the Now South Wales coal.
229
The localities where traces of coal-fields in Victoria have been dis-
covered, are in Western Port, in Bass's Strait, and extending thirty miles
to the eastward; along the eastern coast of Cape Otway, for a distance of
forty-five miles towards Port Philip; and in the vicinity of Geelong,
over an area of about ten miles long and three wide, running north and
south. This tract is known as the Barrabool Hills. It is not improbable
that the two latter coal-fields, although now many leagues asunder, are, *
in fact, portions of a continuous coal basin, (in the same manner that the
country drained by the Hunter river may be termed a vast coal-field,)
each extending over an area greater than the geological basin of the
Scottish coal-field.
In these three districts, the strata, in their character and general
sequence, present a striking similarity to the carboniferous deposits of
Great Britain. There is the same succession of numerous thin beds of
shale, clay-stone, fire-clay, and sandstone. The fire-clay is closely
associated with the coal. There are, also, many seams of lignite and
fragments of fossilized wood. Overlying the shales, coal, &c, is a thick
mass of grey sandstone^ variegated with red ferruginous veins, which
present one of the most curious phenomena connected with the Australian
coal-fields. Imbedded in the soft friable sandstone are hard spherical
bodies, or balls, similar in position to the ironstone-balls of the South
Wales coal-field, but wholly different in mineral composition. These are
silicious and crystalline, in colour resembling basalt, in size varying from
twelve to twenty-four inches in diameter. Occasionally these balls lie in
a horizontal tier or band, and sometimes are scattered irregularly through-
out the body of the rock.
The locality most likely to come into immediate use, is that of Western
Port, where the seam crops out at Cape Patterson, on the sea-beach, at
an available distance—though presenting many obstacles—for water
carriage to Melbourne. At this spot three seams appear. As no vertical
section is exposed to view, and the outcrop is half buried under sand and
water, it is not easy to determine the thickness with accuracy. The
middle seam is, apparently, the widest, being about four feet thick with
a dip of 20° west. The quality of the coal is better than any hitherto
discovered in Australia. It has a bright waxy lustre, with a splintery
choncoidal cross fracture—minute crystals of iron pyrites studdino' the
fissures. Specific gravity, 1*30. Its calorific power, as determined by
Berthier's method, with lead oxide, is eighty-six to Newcastle coal as
100. It produces a coke of excellent quality, weighing sixty per cent,
of the mineral.
230
Altogether there is good data to calculate from, that in south-eastern
Australia coal-fields exist in the same proportion to its extent as those in
Scotland \ and the quality of the mineral for use is about the same as
what is found in that country. Of course this applies only to the
colonies of New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and Victoria. In
South Australia, Western Australia, and the territory in the vicinity of
the abandoned settlements in North Australia, no evidence of coal have
hitherto been discovered. While in the New Zealand group of islands,
what the settlers term coal is nothing but a compact description of lignite.
And it is a question whether these islands—generally speaking of recent
formation—possess any stratified rocks of the carboniferous era.
There is no country at the present time, within the British dominions,
which presents a more lucrative field for the capital and experience of the
practical coalowner than Australia. Upon the Hunter river alone there
is room for quadruple the capital invested and labour employed, without
any chance of diminishing the net profits, which range from 20s. and
upwards upon every ton produced. The supply of coal is practically
inexhaustible \ while the markets for consumption are increasing to an
incalculable extent. There is an unlimited export trade to Peru, Chili,
Mexico, California, and the settlements in the South Sea Islands; and
an increasing intercolonial trade with New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land,
Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia, besides a growing
home consumption in New South Wales—all of which is sea-borne coal.
What the increase may be when the railways now in progress are estab-
lished it is impossible to say; but the subject is worthy the attention of
coalowners, with spare capital, in Britain j and I confidently assert that
they would be conferring a great boon upon the Australian colonists, by
thoroughly testing the extent of this branch of the mineral wealth of
their adopted country.
Note.—The foregoing statements, Chapters XVII. and XIX., will show how
quickly Durham and Northumberland counties have increased their collieries
tenfold ; and Chapter XXV. will show how America and all other countries have
also increased, while Britain is still burning a little peat and wood for firing. The
foreign countries use, to a large extent, the same fuel, independent of coal and
coke, even with steam engines on both railways and rivers. The different railways,
or projected railways, in Australia are, unfortunately for that country, proposed on
three different gauges—one 4ft. 6in., the other 5ft. 6in., and Mr. Brunei has proposed
the third, 5ft. 3in. ; but even these differences will not affect the consumption of
fuel when they are in operation ; they, of course, will do then, as all other countries
have done, very much to increase the demand for coal for home consumption, and
also what may be hereafter required for the different extensive manufactories that
will no doubt ere long be established.
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE
OF
MINING ENGINEERS.
GENERAL MEETING, MAY 4, 1854, IN THE LECTURE ROOM OF THE
LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
NICHOLAS WOOD, Esq., President of the Institute, in the Chair.
The minutes of the last general meeting and of the council meetings
held since were read and confirmed.
Messrs. Errington, C.E., Benjamin Arkless, W. Mundle, and Thos.
Charles Thompson, were elected ordinary members of the Institute.
The President said, that as only part of Mr. T. Y. Hall's paper
"On the Extent and Probable Duration of the Northern Coal-field" had
been read at the last meeting, no discussion on it would be held until the
remainder was read; and as it was very long, and would occupy the
whole time of the meeting, he would not detain them by further obser-
vations.
The Secretary then proceeded to read the remainder of Mr. Hall's
paper.
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE
OF
MINING ENGINEERS.
MONTHLY MEETING, THURSDAY, JULY 6, 1854, IN THE ROOMS OF
THE INSTITUTE, WESTGATE STREET, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
THOMAS JOHN TAYLOR, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.
The minutes of the last general meeting having been read and con-
firmed,
Messrs. Chas. Binns, William Stenson, jun., — Ashton, John Mercer,
J. T. W. Bell, I. L. Bell, and H. Mulcaster, were elected ordinary
members of the Institute.
The Chairman then observed,, that this was the proper time for dis-
cussing the subject of the paper read by Mr. T. Y. Hall at the last
meeting, but as Mr. Hall was not present, and the subject was understood
to be not yet exhausted by him, it was deemed advisable to postpone the
discussion. He also took the opportunity of stating that the next meeting
of the Institute (on the 3rd August) would be the annual meeting, and
it was presumed, also that of the customary dinner. He remarked that
though the convivial meeting in question passed off so well last year, yet
it was generally thought that an improvement might be effected by
making the price of the ticket 12s. 6d., and he, therefore, put it to the
meeting whether such had to be the cost, or whether the former price of
10s. 6d. had to be maintained.
The meeting hereupon unanimously declared their opinion that the
tickets should be 12s. 6d. each.
The Secretary then proceeded to read a paper, with very complete
plans and sections, by Mr. Thos. Hedley, on " Mines and Mining in the
North Staffordshire Coal-field," Mr. Hedley himself being absent.
Vol. II,—July, 1854. G G
234
The Chairman complimented the author on the very excellent memoir
which had just been read, and added that communications of this nature
tended specially to show the value of the Institute, in bringing under one
view the mining practice of distant parts of the country, and thus furnish-
ing information which could hardly be obtained by individuals in any
other manner, or without at all events great expense and inconvenience.
He added, that as the Institute had now members in all the various
mining districts in the kingdom, as well as on the Continent, the result
of their communications would, for the reasons given, prove, it could not
be doubted, of the most beneficial character.
It was then resolved—" That a vote of thanks be given to the Com-
mittee of the Coal Trade for the very handsome and tasteful manner in
which they have provided for the accommodation of the Institute at the
new rooms in Westgate Street.
ON
MINES AND MINING
IN
THE NOETH STAFFOEDSHIEE COAL-FIELD.
By JOHN HEDLEY.
The North Staffordshire Coal-field, including a small area in the county
of Chester, extends over 38,000 statute acres; this is exclusive of that
part of the basin overlaid with the new red sandstone, underneath which
mines have not been explored. On the west and south sides of the basin
the mines dip under the red sandstone; on the east side the outcrop is
fully developed, with an inclination of from nine inches to eighteen inches
to the yard. The country intervening between this coal-field and that
of Derbyshire is occupied with the millstone grit and carboniferous lime-
stone, except a small detached coal-field of the lower seams, near Cheadle,
six to seven miles beyond the outcrop of the main field.
At A on the map of the coal-field, the millstone grit has been forced
through the coal measures to an elevation of 300 feet above the sur-
rounding district, and forms a considerable hill called "Mow Cop."
This elevation of the grit appears to be on the range of an offshoot from
the internal disturbance, which has formed the great anticlinal axis run-
ning north and south through Derbyshire. The offshoot extends round
the northern and western edges of the visible coal basin, the mines being
much distorted and dislocated, every angle of inclination, from a level
plane to a vertical position, being met with.
What is locally called the Saddle is found on the western edge of the
basin. It is a minor anticlinal axis, running north-east and south-west,
the summit for a considerable breadth being flat, from which the mines
dip, much dislocated on both sides. From the manner in which the
236
continuity of the axis is broken, it appears to have existed prior to the
main fault which passes through it.
Faults are very numerous, the largest proved being upwards of 800
yards downcast to the east, and is shown on the map to the west side of
the basin. The main fault on the east side of basin is about eighty yards
upcast to the east, having an inclination of eighteen inches to the yard.
The strata of the upper series are chiefly argillaceous; neither shafts
nor tunnels will stand without being protected from the atmosphere.
Beds of fire-clay fifteen yards thick are met with. The great abundance
and cheapness of this material, coupled with the peculiar quality of fuel,
have no doubt been mainly instrumental in making this district the
metropolis of the earthenware manufacture. This branch of industry
having, in the first instance, been the means of developing the coal-field,
it may not be out of place to give a few statistics of the trade. Upwards
of 800,000 tons of coals and slack are consumed annually in the manu-
facture of earthenware in the Potteries; and 50,000 tons of fire-clay in
making saggers or pots, in which the ware is baked—the annual value
of goods made being about £2,500,000. 2,000,000 tons of coals and
slack are annually raised, and 500,000 tons of ironstone, or about 320,000
tons of calcined stone.
Where the whole of the mines do exist, there are 156 feet thick of
coal in seams above two feet \ and twelve feet thick of coal in seams
under two feet and above one foot; and 23\ feet thick of ironstone. If
the whole of the workable mines were spread over the extent of the basin,
the thickness would be thirty-two feet of coal and five feet of ironstone.
The ironstone is met with in regular seams, in rich deposits of sep-
taria and nodules, and comprise carbonaceous stone, silicious stone, and
argillaceous stone. A regular seam of calcareous stone, thirteen inches
thick, is also got in the carboniferous limestone strata, eight miles east
of the coal-field.
With such valuable deposits of ironstone, that may be mixed to flux
well in the furnace, great facilities are afforded for the manufacture of
iron. On the east side of the coal-field are found the best beds of stone,
but, owing to the great depth to the furnace coals on the royalties in
which stone is found, the make of iron has been curtailed. This draw-
back will not exist long on some royalties. * The Earl of Granville, under
the advice of Mr. John Lancaster, has recently made a winning, 250
fathoms deep, to furnace coals. The Stoney Eight Feet, Rough Seven
Feet, and Sparrow Butts are good furnace coals on the east side of basin.
237
A project is now before Parliament to connect by railway the ironstone
producing districts with districts in which furnace coals can be cheaply
won, if the railway is formed a great stimulus will be given to the iron
manufacture in North Staffordshire.
On the west and north sides of the basin, the deposits of stone are not
so rich as those on the east, but the fuel is more accessible, but not
so good for iron making. The coals on the east side are free burning,
and to some extent used raw in the furnace; on the west side they are
chiefly bituminous. The coal coke is made in open fires for the furnace.
The carbonaceous stones contain sufficient carbonaceous matter to
calcine or roast them, and are carefully piled up in stacks, containing
from 500 to 1,000 tons. The process of burning requires a fortnight,
and from 50 to 66 per cent, in weight is lost. The calcined stone yields
about 70 per cent, of iron by analysis, but only 50 per cent, in the furnace.
The silicious and argillaceous stones require about one-eighth of their
weight of coal, and one-twelfth of slack to calcine or roast them. These
stones are also piled up in stacks of from 500 to 1,000 tons, and require a
fortnight for the process of calcining, and lose from 30 to 36 per cent.
1 in weight, yielding in the calcined state about 65 per cent, of iron by
analysis, and in the furnace 50 per cent. The calcareous stone is used
raw in the furnace, and is prized as a flux.
Twenty furnaces are in blast (all hot blast, and five erecting and
several contemplated) in the district, producing annually upwards of
100,000 tons of pig iron. Our average produce per furnace weekly at
the Silverdale Iron Works throughout the year is about 150 tons.
We use 2\ tons of coals and 13 cwts. of slack, coked, 2 tons calcined
stone, 11 cwts. limestone in the furnace, 19 cwts. of slack for the hot blast
apparatus and blast engine, to make one ton of pig iron. With the above
burden and using ± carbonaceous mine, J argillaceous, and § silicious,
we make good grey forge, some foundry and strong white iron. These
qualities are more profitable than higher numbers, of which very little is
made or called for in the district, the demand being chiefly confined to
foundry iron, and pigs for conversion into bars.
The following table gives the make of iron and consumption of
material at two furnaces belonging to the Silverdale Company, situate
on the west side of the basin, for the week ending 15th of February,
1854, equal proportions of carbonaceous, silicious, and argillaceous mine
being used.
238
Iron made.
¦R/r^ Coals made Slack made Limestone SilcLUS(;d Slack used —.- „ . .
Mine used. into Coke. into Coke, used. ^if^ to^H^ No. 1 No. 2 A^al make.
Engine. Blast. Furnace. Furnace.
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. .
660 703 218 140 173 140 157 173 330
No. 4. Grey Forge. Mottled, ^£°i?on. TotaL
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons.
Quality of make..................... 69 200 19 42 330
.Three bar iron works, Kidsgrove Works, Eavensdale Works, and
Shelton Bar Iron Company's Works are in operation, producing about
1,100 tons of bar iron, boiler plates, and hoops weekly, considered by
many to be equal in quality to the South Staffordshire iron. Two bar iron
works are now erecting, in addition to the above, capable of making 500
tons of manufactured iron weekly. The surplus pig iron of the district
is chiefly purchased by the makers in South Staffordshire. Owing to
prejudice (arising from interested motives), which is now fast passing
away, the North Staffordshire pig iron does not realize so much per ton,
by 10s., in South Staffordshire as the South Staffordshire iron, yet the
South Staffordshire makers buy to mix with their own, make it into bars
and return it through North Staffordshire to the Liverpool market,
entailing a cost of more than 10s. per ton in carriage on the pig iron made
into bars in South Staffordshire over that manufactured at home ; a good
margin to enable the makers of this district to compete successfully with
the South Staffordshire makers. This district has also an advantage over
the south in the cost of producing the raw material. We raise and prepare
ironstone for the furnace at about one-half the cost; and also fuel at a
much less cost.
Above 100,000 tons of calcined stones are now annually sold to the
iron masters in South Staffordshire, who use about one-seventh in the
furnaces, and can afford to pay 16s. to 17s. per ton when trade is brisk,
and the carriage additional, about 5s. per ton. Puddling mine is also
sent to the south, realizing 4s. to 5s. per ton more than the furnace mine.
The picked calcined portions of the carbonaceous stones are used for
puddle mine.
It is about twenty years since the ironstones of this district were
turned to profitable account in the manufacture of iron; previous to that
time some of the carbonaceous stones were worked to repair roads, their
properties not being known.
239
In the roof of the Burnwood coal, on part of the east side of the
basin, a very valuable stone exists; it is a deposit of carbonaceous stone,
argillaceous stone, and silicious stone, distributed in six feet of dark
shale. Twenty years ago the coal was got under part of a royalty, now
under my management, and the stone left. I have sunk to the stone and
raised a considerable quantity of excellent ironstone. Owing to the
broken state of the strata it is a very difficult task to get. I can only
compare it to an old pit heap in many places. Sketches, Nos. 11 and 12
show the plan of working.
The mining leases are usually upon the ton of 2,400 lbs. A rent
from 8d. to 14d. per ton being paid for coals, and one-half these prices
for slack. From lOd. to 20d. per ton of 2,400 lbs. is paid for calcined
ironstone. When coals and ironstone are consumed at the works, a
charge is made on the pig iron, from 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. per ton, to cover
the rent for coals, slack, and ironstone used.
SECTIONS OF MINES.
Few records of the strata have been kept. I have no doubt there are
other ironstones in the upper series besides those noticed in the sections.
I have carefully examined the strata when I have had the opportunity,
and also compared the records of sinkings, in my possession, with new
sinkings. I think the following sections will be found accurate.
The strata from the Penny-stone to the Rowhurst coal (east side of
the basin) has not, through lack of opportunity, been carefully examined
by me.
The names of some seams are taken from the locality in which they
have been first worked. Others from peculiarities of the coals. The
cannel row for instance, has a band of cannel in it near the top. The
peacock coal is marked with the prismatic colours.
The term row, means seam. It is of frequent occurrence in naming
the coals.
SECTION—SILVERDALE, WEST SIDE OF BASIN.
Depths to Thickness of Thickness of
Seams. Stones. Coals.
Yards. Feet. Inches. Feet. In.
Top red mine (carbonaceous stone), inferior,
not worked.
Black band stone (carbonaceous stone) 35 1 6
Do. coal ............ 2 3
Red shag stone (carbonaceous stone) 47 *3 6
Coal .................. ... 2 0
Bottom red mine (carbonaceous) ...... a 0
Coal .................. ... ... 1 0
Peacock coal, free burning, used in the ma-
nufacture of earthenware, east side of
basin .................. 115 ... 2 3
Spendcroft coal............... 120 0 6
Great Row, free burning :—
Ft. In.
Coal ............2 0
Shale ............1 6
Coal ............3 6
- 140 ... 5 6
Cannel mine stone (argillaceous), in 3 bands,
deposited in 4 ft. of dark shale ...... 155 0 9
Cannel Row coal, free burning, used in the 0
manufacture of earthenware and bar iron 160 ... 6
Carried forward ...... 6 3 19 6
241
SECTION— SILVERDALE, WEST SIDE OF BASIN.
242
SECTION—EAST SIDE OF BASIN, NEAR BURSLEM.
243
SECTION—EAST SIDE OF BASIN, NEAR BURSLEM.
REMARKS ON MINING.
Previously to the last two or three years mining operations were
conducted generally in a very primitive manner—Mr. Woodhouse being
the first to lead the way to improvements, followed by Mr. Lancaster
and myself.
It was formerly the practice of the district managers to begin working
at the outcrop of the seams and progress towards the dip, until stopped
by water overpowering a water bucket drawn by the engine. At present,
the pumping power of the district amounts to about 2,000 horses.
Royalties have not been separated by barriers; and in some instances
large dykes, forming natural barriers, have been cut. Had mining
operations been conducted with that foresight and forethought so neces-
sary in carrying them out, the collieries would have been troubled very
little with water. The strata are chiefly argillaceous and impermeable.
The inclination of the strata is generally very great, almost every
seam in the basin comes to the day. In no instance that I know of has
. the coal been left solid to the day to keep back floods of surface water.
At one pumping engine I have at work, raising water eighty fathoms,
the engine feels a good shower of rain in two or three days after the
ground is saturated. Owing to these sudden influxes of water, more than
double the pumping power has to be provided at many of the collieries.
Shafts have, hitherto, been sunk from five feet to eight feet diameter,
with one rope to draw coals in a shaft, without guides. From ten tons to
450 tons being about minimum and maximum quantities raised weekly
from a shaft. Some of the old school pride themselves upon drawing
from six or seven shafts, with one engine, and raise 200 to 500 tons
from the lot.
The butty system is universal. The butty contracts to deliver coals
and slack into carts and waggons at bank, at a price per ton; also, a
price per cubic yard, for stone stacked on the bank. At some collieries
the butties have to find all materials and labour (except tramways and
engines) to put the coals on the bank. The butties are, in many instances,
the managers likewise; after they take a pit, their doings are sometimes
not overlooked for months. The mode of getting the coal is left to their
own judgment. The colliers, putters, <fcc., are usually engaged by the
day, and a more sluggish race of pitmen never came under my notice.
245
I have lately succeeded in putting several pitmen and putters under me
at work by contract.
When I was made acquainted with the mode of conducting mining
operations, it was no surprise to hear that collieries, situate with every
circumstance favourable for returning good profits (coals being 7s. 6d.
per ton on the bank) were with difficulty paying their way.
If the local system of conducting mining operations is not superseded
by improved methods, a great portion of the basin will remain unwrought.
The deepest colliery now working on the Staffordshire system, is 100
fathoms, and the cost of putting a six feet seam on to bank, amounts to
nearly 7s. per ton. Having been consulted about this colliery, I speak
from facts.
The mines are worked by two arrangements of post and stall, locally
called punch and thirl, and cross heading (see sketches Nos. 1 and 3),
and by long-work (see sketch No. 2). It is the practice here, whether
the seams are much inclined or not, to arrange bord and pillar workings
so that the goaf may lie on the dip of the face of the work. The incli-
nation of the seams tends to throw the pressure from the face of the
work. Some of our coal-fields would be greatly benefitted by generally
adopting this arrangement, which is to some extent practised in most
coal-fields.
In working post and stall, punch and thirl (see sketch No. 1), the
levels are driven out either to the boundary or to a determined distance
before the getting of coals begins, which is got towards the shaft. A
breadth of 70 to 100 yards is got by means of a pair of levels. The
operation of removing the pillars follows, one pillar length back from the
face of the bords. In getting the pillars, the operation commences at
the bottom end, and is carried forward to the next opening or thirling to
the rise, sufficient coal being left to support the roof until the pillars are
stripped. The coals from the pillars are brought through the second
opening back from the face of the bords. By this plan of working
from fifteen to twenty-five per cent, of the mine is left. The coals and
slack are removed from the mine on sleds (locally called corves). Large
coals are placed on the sled, upon these coals a wooden or iron ring is
placed and another layer of coals is placed on it, and so built up to a
height of six feet in some pits. The loads vary from ten cwts. to twenty
cwts. Horses drag the load from the workings along the floor of the
seam down to the level road, where it is drawn on to a waggon and con-
veyed to the pit bottom, and then the tackling chains are attached to
246
draw the load to bank. The process at bank is to push a large waggon
or door over the shaft mouth, and another waggon upon this to receive
the load, and the whole is removed either by the banksman or an ass.
The tackling chains are taken off, the load drawn down the bank or set,
which is inclined, and by a jerk of the banksman, the load is upset, to be
gathered up and put into carts or waggons. The cost of loading the
coals into waggons, &c, is 2d. to 3d. per ton. The cost of conveyance
underground along the levels is Is. per ton per mile.
Sketch No. 3, shows another method of working by bord and pillar,
locally called cross-heading. The bords are driven on the level course;
the pillars are got out towards the rise. A pair of winning bords (dips),
are driven 100 to 150 yards apart, one-half of the intervening block of
coal being got to each pair of bords.
Sketch No. 2, shows the method of working by long-work. The
levels are usually driven 70 to 100 yards apart. The coal got back
towards the shaft. The face of the work is formed at an angle of 45° or
so to the level course, in order to ease the labour in drawing the sleds up.
The coals are brought to the levels either by horses or manual labour,
the same as in bord and pillar work.
Sketches Nos. 4 and 5.—Sections of two seams, the first called the
Rowhurst, the latter the Burnwood. In both seams I have introduced
long-work, having hitherto been got by bord and pillar (punch and
thirl). When colliers wages were 3s. 6d. per day, the Rowhurst seam
cost 2s. 8d. per ton for coals delivered into waggons at bank. Wages at
4s. 9d. per day, the cost per ton into waggons was 3s. 4d.
In working the Rowhurst by punch and thirl the bottom part, nearly
six feet thick, was first got, the parting between the coals dropped and
stowed up on one side of the bords. The upper seam was dropped
below the first stenting or thirling back from the face of the bords, and
the pillars afterwards thinned. By stowing the thill or parting away in
the bords the pillars in the bottom coal were buried, and considerable
expense was incurred to clear away the stowed material in order to thin
the pillars. The stowage and removal of the thill entailed an expense of
4d. to 5d. per ton on the coal. Several trials have been made to get this
seam (Rowhurst) by long-work on the Staffordshire plan, but without
success. It was attempted to work the whole height of the seam (twelve
to thirteen feet high) at one operation, and to support the roof by posts or
rather trees; such supports could not break the roof along the face, and
when a weight came the face of the work was lost. Had the nature and
247
structure of the roof been studied another arrangement of the work
might have suggested itself.
The level course runs nearly magnetic north and south; the cleat of
the coal 8° to 10° east of north. The roof, for twelve feet above the coal,
is hard compact metal post, with cleavages running in the direction of
the level course.
My plan for working this seam by long-work is shown by sketches
6, 7, 8, and 9; sketches 6 and 7, plans of work; sketches 8 and 9, sec-
tions. By forming the face of the work on the level course the partings
of the roof are bared, and it breaks down without pressing on the coal
face. In this arrangement the inclination of the seam tends to throw
the pressure of the roof from the face. Sketch No. 6 shows the progress
of three benks, each forty yards wide ; a goaf road, for running the coals
down, is formed up the middle of each forty yards benk; twenty yards
on each side being got and sent down the goaf road, which is a self-
acting incline plane. The road is formed by building pillars with the
fallen roof, seven to eight feet wide up each side, and four feet high, to a
parting in the lower seam. The upper part of the lower seam over the
goaf road is cut and dropped to the edge of the plates at the top of the
incline, and the parting between the coal is also dropped, and used in the
formation of the goaf road pillars. Until the roof falls the goaf road
pillars are formed with the strongest portion of the parting between the
seams, assisted with a few chocks, which are removed after the first fall
of the roof. Referring to sketch No. 8, it will be seen that in the goaf
road roof there are seven to eight feet of coal and thill, in which head
room can be cheaply made when the pressure of the roof contracts the
size. Before the whole is cut away to make head room, the roof is settled
down upon the floor, and the road then stands as well as one in solid coal.
I work the bottom coal ten feet in advance of the upper (see sketches
Nos. 8 and 9) hole in the parting between the coals; upon the material,
from the holing, I set the chocks to support the roof, which reduces the
height to the chock to five feet. A lift, four feet wide, is got across the
face of the lower seam, and the top seam is dropped behind the timber
and loaded up with the lower seam. In some parts of the mine the
lower seam is open in the cleat, and can be got with levers; in other
parts shots are put in every seven yards, two feet from the floor. As the
lift is got off across the face, the back row of chocks are separately
brought forward to five feet from the face of the lower seam. When the
lift is taken across the face, the plates at the top of the incline are removed
248
forward four feet, and the face is again worked across as before. To
adjust the incline chain to the constant lengthening of the incline, a piece
at each end of the chain is double, and let out as required. When all
the chain is paid off another piece is added, and connected with a rivet
link. Forty tons of coals and slack are sent from a forty yards benk
daily. When the men become expert in the work, more will be sent out.
By introducing this system, forming good roads, fitting up the shafts
with guides for cages, the cost for putting coals on to the pit top is
reduced 6d. per ton, and the quantity of slack is considerably less.
Sketch No. 10.—Transverse section of the long-work in the Burn-
wood coal and ironstone. The plan of the work is the same as shown in
sketches Nos. 6 and 7, with the exception of another set of chocks for
working the ironstone.
Sketches Nos. 11 and 12 show plan and section of the work for getting
ironstone in the roof of a coal seam where the coal has been got. The
strata in which the stone is deposited, and for several yards above, are
argillaceous, and the action of the air and water for several years have
made it more like an old pit heat. The coal has been got, bord and
pillar (punch and thirl). The pillars left are from one to two yards thick,
and from five to eight yards apart. The levels and going roads have to
be formed and maintained with timber, set every five or six feet, and the
roof and sides covered with slabs. From the levels I drive narrow bords
up the old coal pillars, and work by means of these bords the stone over
an old coal bord to the next pillar. When the stone is got to within six
yards of the rise levels, the coal and stone are picked out of the going
bord, and as much of the timber as can be got out with safety.
NORTH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTE
OF
MINING ENGINEERS.
GENERAL MEETING, AUGUST 3, 1854, IN THE ROOMS OF THE INSTI-
TUTE, WESTGATE STREET, NEWCASTLE-ON^NE.
NICHOLAS WOOD, Esq., President of the Institute, in the Chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. The
financial statement, which was read by the Secretary, showed the Institute
to be in a very flourishing condition. Several new members were pro-
posed and elected, and officers chosen for the ensuing year. The retiring
officers were re-appointed with the exception of the Secretary, Mr. Sinclair,
who is about to remove to a distant part of the country. The thanks of
the Society were unanimously voted to the retiring Secretary for his
efficient services; and Mr. Thomas Doubleday was elected to the vacant
office.
The paper by Mr. G. C. Greenwell, " Notes on the Coal-Field of East
Somerset," was then read, and the discussions on papers were postponed
until the next meeting.
NOTES
ON
THE COAL-FIELD OF EAST SOMERSET.
By G. C. GREENWELL.
Any detailed account of this coal-field, my short residence in the
district necessarily precludes my entering1 upon at present; some of its
features are, however, so prominent, and, as applicable to certain portions
of the Northumberland and Durham Coal-field, so interesting, that I
trust no apology will be necessary for presenting the paper which I have
now the honour of submitting to the Institute. It is of the utmost
importance to a society like the present, that its sources of information
should be widely disseminated, and that, by its embracing the consequent
facilities for centralization and comparison of facts, it should be prevented
from falling into the too frequent error of arriving at conclusions founded
upon insufficient data; and, I trust that other distant members of this
influential body, who, by their position, are so well fitted to add to its store
of knowledge, will, ere long, show that they agree with me in this opinion.
It will be seen by reference to the Geological Map (Plate L), accom-
panying these notes, that the coal measures of East Somerset may be
shortly defined as resting, as in the North of England and elsewhere,
upon millstone grit, which is again based upon the mountain limestone,
&c.; and, as these same substrata rise from beneath the coal measures in
the northern, western, southern, and in all likelihood (as seen near the
Golden Valley and Chipping Sodbury) eastern direction, the whole,
though most probably unconformable in detailed structure, may be stated
to possess a certain conformability in general position.
By this expression, I would be understood to mean that there is not
here any abutting up of these inferior formations against an overlay of
coal measures, such as we shall observe when treating of the position of
the coal measures, with regard to the rocks of which they in turn form
the substrata.
252
The probable thickness of the coal measures, at the deepest part of the
coal-field in the neighbourhood of Radstock, may be 6,000 feet, in which
there are three distinct series of seams of coal, as shown in the general
section (Plate II.).
The aggregate thickness of the various seams of coal (or veins as they
are locally named), 33 in number, is 81 feet 4 inches, as shown in the
detailed section following :—
No. of Thickness mmoni otjbtoq Faths. Feet. Ins. Whs. Feet. Ins.
Seams of Coal. FIRST SERIES.
Feet. Ins.
Coal strata, shale, grit, &c., to
Great vein ......... 160 0 0
12 4 Great vein............ 0 2 4
--- 160 2 4
i Coal strata............ 7 0 11
2 I 1 4 Top little vein ......... 0 1 4
--,- 7 2 3
Coal strata............ 9 2 2
q;2 0 Middle vein............ 0 2 0
---9 4 2
Coal strata............ 16 0 0
4 i 2 0 Slyving vein ......... 0 2 0
---16 2 0
Coal strata............ 6 1 7
5 12 Under little vein......... 0 1 2
---6 2 9
Coal strata............ 4 3 0
6 2 4 Bull, or New vein......... 0 2 4
---4 5 4
Coal strata............ 9 3 0
7 10 Nine-inch vein ......... 0 1 0
---9 4 0
Depth to bottom of first series, ----
proved at Radstock, &c. ............ 214 4 10
SECOND SERIES.
Proved at Farrington, Tims-
bury, &c.
Coal strata............ 80 0 8
8 2 0 Coal............... 0 2 0
--- 80 2 8
Coal strata............ 5 4 0
9 1 10 Coal............... 0 1 10
---5 5 10
Coal strata............ 7 2 9
10 3 3 Coal............... 0 3 3
---_ 8 0 0
Coal strata............ 9 4 4
11 1 8 Coal............... 0 18
---10 0 0
Coal strata............ 5 4 2
12 1 10 Coal............... 0 1 10
___6 00
Coal strata............ 21 3(5
13 2 7 Coal............... 0 2 7
___ 22 0 0
Depth to bottom of second series............ 347 1 4
253
_1-,----1----—-
learns To?CoaL^ THIRD SERIES. Fath,. Feet. Inchs. FatliB. Feet 3^.
Proved at New Rock, Nettlebridge,
Feet. Inchs &c
Coal strata ... ...... 80 0 0
14 3 0 Globe vein ......... 0 3 0
--- 80 3 0
! Coal strata ...... 65 0 0
15 I 1 6 Small coal vein ......... 0 1 6
---65 1 o
I Coal strata ... ... ... 55 0 0
16 2 0 Two coal vein ......... 0 2 0 _ n _
J---do 2 0
Coal strata ......... 10 0 0
17 2 0 Wharkey course ...... ... 0 2 0 ^ ^
Coal strata ......... 3 0 0
18 3 0 Garden course ......... 0 3 0
---3 3 0
Coal strata ......... 30 0 0
19 1 6 Strap coal ......... 0 1 6
--- 30 1 6
Coal strata .......... 35 0 0
20 6 0 Great course ......... 1 0 0
--- 36 0 0
Coal strata ......... 40 0 0
21 1 6 Fire-stone coal ......... 0 16
---40 1 6
Coal strata ...... ... 20 0 0
22 I 6 Little vein ......... 0 1 6
—- =--20 1 6
Coal strata ......... 43 -0 0
23 3 0 Dunny drift coal......... 0 3 0
J ---- 43 3 0
Coal strata ......... 7 0 0
24 3 0 Hard coal vein ......... 0 3 0
---7 3 0
I Coal strata ......... 7 0 0
25 16 Stone coal ......... 0 1 6
___7 16
Coal strata ......... 35 0 0
26 4 0 Standing coal ......... 0 4 0
b ___ 35 4- 0
Coal strata ......... 31 0 0
27 2 6 Fern ra^ seam ......... 0 2 6
b ___31 2 6
Coal strata ......... 6 0 0
28 2 6 Stone rag vein ......... 0 2 6
__.- 6 ¦«
Coal strata ... ...... 6 0 0
29 6 0 Callows vein ......... 7 0 0
Coal strata ......... 10 0 0
30 5 0 Perrinkvein .......... 0 10 5 0
Coal strata ......... 5 0 0
31 2 0 White ash coal ......... 0 ^2__0^ 5 2 0
Coal strata ......... 40 0 0
32 3 0 Red ash coal ......... 0 40 3 0
Coal strata....... ... 20 0 0
33 1 6 Willmott's vein ......... 0 1 ^ } G
81 ~T Total mmWH............. 904 3 4
254
The proportion of coal contained in the entire thickness of coal
measures amounts to only 1*5 per cent.
The coal of the first series is the best in quality; it is of a bituminous
character, forming a cheerful and very durable fire, but produces more
ash than the better classes of coal found in the Northumberland and
Durham Coal-field. The long-wall method of working is universally
adopted, the undermining or benching being performed in the under clay,
by which means the coal is brought to the surface and sent to market in
very large blocks.
The strata interposed between the seams of coal, consist of shales and
grits of different kinds; the shales are similar in character to those of
the Newcastle district, although perhaps abounding more in bright and
glassy partings; they consist of sagre clay, (called " pan,")* capable of
being formed into fire-bricks of fair quality, and blue metal ("clift") of
various thicknesses, and containing organic remains in, I think, greater
abundance and better defined than those found in the North of England.
The character of the silicious rocks ("grays") is however different;
they are much harder and frequently contain a curious intermixture of
coal, the entry of which into the composition of these rocks is a somewhat
difficult problem to solve. So far as I have yet been able to ascertain,
there is no white sandstone (or "white post") in the Somersetshire
Coal-field.
A very remarkable stratum occurs in the first series; it consists of a
concreted mass of coal pebbles, cemented firmly together by a mixture of
grit and shale.
The coal-field is traversed by several dislocations, some of which are
of considerable magnitude; one of these passes in a North and South
direction, through Radstock, in the position shown on the section
(Plate III.); and depresses the strata to the west about 100 fathoms. On
the dip side of the dyke the strata decline towards it at the angle of 20°.
The geological age of the faults of this district appears to vary; some
of them (as at Timsbury,) affecting both the older formation of the coal
measures, and those newer ones of the red sandstone and lias, by which
it is covered, whereas others, of which the great fault at Radstock above-
mentioned is a notable example, produce no effect whatever upon the
formations overlying* the coal measures, their continuity being unaltered
in the slightest degree.
For some further observations on this subject see Messrs. Conybeare
and Phillip's " Geology of England and Wales," part I., p. 25?.
255
There are also some other faults of a singular description, termed
overlap faults and rises, which constitute some of those peculiarities
which it is the object of this paper to describe.
In the event of our finding any stratum cut off by a fault, it is the
generally received opinion that when the line of hade forms with the
thill of the stratum an acute angle, we may conclude that the stratum
in question will be depressed on the other side of the fault, and vice versd.
The overlap faults above alluded to, however form a remarkable instance
at variance with the above, the disloca-
tion of the strata producing the effect
shown in the diagram, occasioning
thereby a repetition of the seams of
coal and other strata, so that a pit sunk
at the point A, would pass through the same seams a b twice.
The principal fault of this description is also shown in the section
(Plate III.); by it the seams of coal are doubled for a breadth of about
150 yards, and the alteration in level occasioned amounts to twenty-two
fathoms.
Several minor faults, similar to the above, occur in the district, some
of them producing a difference of level of a few fathoms or feet, and
others a mere forcing over of the seam of coal upon itself, as shown in
Plate IV. In all these cases there is no deterioration of the coal in
quality, and rarely any in its hardness, notwithstanding that the lines of
stratification are sometimes contorted in a remarkable degree; these lines
in one part of the mass being parallel with the ordinary inclination of
the seam of coal, and in other parts (separated from the first by a mere
parting) lying at a very considerable angle to it.
A repetition of the coal of this kind is usually in the immediate
vicinity of an entire nip out of the coal, or what is termed " dead ground."
The nature of the roof and thill is in these cases little altered, with
the exception that the roof possesses more frequently than ordinary
glassy and slightly coherent partings, rendering increased caution in
working beneath it, and care in propping, requisite in order to prevent it
from dropping down.
Many of the faults found in this coal-field consist of sudden rises of
the coal, not unfrequently at an angle of from thirty to forty degrees;
the difference of level thereby occasioned, amounting in some instances
to eight or ten yards. In these cases there is no alteration either in the
256
thickness or quality of the coal, and the roof and floor of the seams
remain parallel as in other parts of the district.
The chief distinctive feature, however, between the East Somerset
and Newcastle Coal-fields, as at present defined, consists in the super-
position over the coal measures of the former district, of formations of a
much more recent date than any of those beneath which coal has been
worked in the North of England, and one of the principal objects of this
paper will have been attained, if these notes should draw the more parti-
cular attention of the Institute to what is undoubtedly a matter of no
slight importance. I allude to the existence, or otherwise, of the coal
measures beneath the new red sandstone and liassic formations of the
north-east of Yorkshire.
When treating of the presence of the coal measures beneath the upper
formations in the Somersetshire district, the justly celebrated authors of
the " Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales," observe (Part L,
page 254):—
" No inference can be drawn from this district in favour of similar trials
elsewhere, since two peculiar circumstances here concur: first, the manner in
which these more recent beds here overly the coal-field, resting unconf ormably in
horizontal planes upon the truncated ends of the highly inclined strata belonging
to the coal measures ; and secondly, the thinning out of many of the beds in this
direction, in consequence of which the sands of the inferior oolites and the clay of
the lias are greatly reduced, and have almost vanished in many places, leaving the
freestone beds of the inferior oolite almost in contact with the lower stony beds of
the lias; the new red sandstone also being greatly diminished in thickness, so that
a geological interval, equal in many instances to probably 2,000 feet, is here reduced
to less than a quarter of that depth."
This passage, it need not be remarked, has reference not to the absolute
presence or absence of the coal measures beneath the oolitic, lias, or red
sandstone formations but to the thickness of these strata, which, under
the circumstances of ordinary districts, would have to be passed through
before the coal measures would be attained.
It is not my intention to enter into any speculations of this nature, but
rather to leave them to form the subject of future investigation, and to
confine myself to a mere description of the manner in which the " over-
lay," as it is locally and most expressively termed, forms a component
of the stratification of the coal region of East Somerset.
The number of formations of which the overlay at any point consists
depends (1) upon the elevated or depressed situation of the surface where
257
the section is taken; for, excepting under circumstances of dislocation by
faults, they are found continuous and in a nearly horizontal position;
and (2) upon the local thickness of each formation; the surface elevation
only introducing a superior, when the thickness of the inferior formation
is so diminished as to allow of such a result.
The variation in thickness of these upper formations, within short
distances, is considerable, as will be seen by referring to the following
sections:—
Formations. Details. Brays-down. Radstock. Paulton.
~ Ft in. Fas Ft In. Fas. Ft 111.
Part of Inferior Oolite Bastard freestone......... i ( 0 q ( 0
Gray marl ............ 11 4 0 20 ( o
Gray limestone........... 0 2 () )
Brown sandy do....... 0 2 0 1 0 0
Lias.................. < Brown limestone........ 0 2 6 f 9 0 0 )
White limestone ......... 2 0 0 , 0 1 6
Gray marl ........... 0 4 0 2 o 0
Dark shelly marl ........ 1 2 0 j i o o
Do. with loose stones ... 2 2 0 J i 3 0
New Red Sandstone ... i Soft red marl and sand.. 17 3 3 26 g
Hard red stone............ 0 0 4 0 1 4 I 22 o o
( Soft red sandstone 9 0 2 1 2 o r
Red Conglomerate Millstone .............. 2 g 0 <*l 1 —
8| u i 0 0
Lower New Red Sand- ( Variegated shale with) 1
stone ........ i thin beds of red sand- \ 7 1 3 10 8 6
.............( stone.....................j
From this it follows that an elevation which at Eadstock would be
surmounted by the lower oolite would, at Paulton, only display more
elevated beds of the lias formation.
The bottom beds of the inferior oolite consist of calcareous sandstones
(called, locally, freestone), of different degrees of hardness, some being
very soft and easily cut or sawn into blocks of any shape, and others
harder and more crystalline in texture. These beds contain numerous
fossils. Beneath the inferior oolite is the lias; the upper part of which
consists chiefly of soft blue marls of very variable thickness, according
to the extent of denudation prior to the deposition of the oolitic sands.
This is followed by blue and gray lias limestone beds interstratified with
shale, the thickness of the whole being, also, very variable. It abounds
in organic remains, of which ammonites, gryphcese, and pectines, are most
frequent; it also contains, more particularly in the neighbourhood of
Glastonbury, at Street, remains of saurian reptiles, in considerable abun-
Vol. II.—august, 1854. K K
258
dance. This limestone affords a lime which possesses the property of
hardening in water. It is found to produce the best hydraulic mortar
when fresh slaked and mixed with riddled ashes, in the proportion of two
of ashes to one of lime.
Immediately beneath the blue lias is a bed of yellowish brown lias
limestone, called the "sun bed," about two feet thick, which is used as a
building* stone and road material) and, beneath this latter bed is the white
lias limestone, which is generally about ten feet thick, and lies in panels
of from six inches to a foot in thickness.
The white lias is much used for building, and affords a durable stone
for this purpose; it is easily dressed, and from the facility with which it
is carved, and its fine texture, it is well adapted for interior decorative
work, in which respect indeed it is difficult to surpass it in beauty.
Beneath the white lias is a bed of softish limestone, with thin clay part-
ings, about three feet thick, called " rumples," to which the wells of the
district are sunk; this bed contains mussels in abundance. Immediately
beneath this bed is a thin stratum of gray marble, about four inches in
thickness, which, when polished, presents the appearance of a landscape,
and is often cut into inkstands and other ornaments.
The lowest member of the lias is a black marl, about eight feet thick,
which is possessed of fertilising properties, and is frequently, at its
outcrop, dug up and laid on the land as manure. I have been informed,
however, by an intelligent farmer in the neighbourhood, that the advan-
tage derivable from it is to be attributed rather to its property of retaining
the moisture in the soils where it is laid, and preventing it from settling
into the dry stony sub-soil which is generally found where the lias lies
near to the surface. None of the strata above-mentioned contain much
water, but farther down when we enter the new red sandstone, we some-
times find it in abundance.
The new red sandstone is a peculiar formation; towards the top it con-
sists of a very soft argillaceous sandstone, which, when dry, appears a
fine red close-grained rock, but which, when wet, falls to a clayey earth.
It becomes gradually harder in some places as we descend, but in others
retains the character above described to the bottom. It contains a few
beds of white sandy stone of a harder nature, but these are irregular.
From the crumbly nature of this rock, and the large feeders of water
met with in it, it is somewhat difficult to sink through, the water wash-
ing the soft stone out from behind the timbering put in for the temporary
support of the shaft, until a foundation for tubbing can be obtained. The
259
water pumped during the progress of sinking through this formation
resembles red paint.
At the bottom of the soft sandstone is about twenty feet of an
exceedingly hard concretion of pebbles with red sandstone grit; this
stratum is locally called " the millstone," it has also received the name of
" magnesian conglomerate," and is supposed by some to be the repre-
sentative of the magnesian limestone of the Northern Counties.
This rock is very difficult to sink through; the pebbles consisting
chiefly of hard flinty chert, and the cement by which they are united
being of almost equal obduracy. This bed contains little water.
Beneath the red conglomerate last named is a stratum of variegated
soapy marl, containing one or two thin beds of dark, ferruginous sand-
stone ; the thickness of this, which may be called the lower new red
sandstone formation, may be stated as being at Radstock ten and a half
fathoms; but the exact line of demarcation between these red strata and
the coal measures is difficult to determine, the red colours gradually
blending with and becoming lost in the blue of the coal measure shales,
which have been already described.
In former years the existence of good coal beneath the "red ground,"
as it is termed, was considered quite as chimerical by the authorities on
the matter in East Somerset and the adjoining coal districts, as beneath
the magnesian limestone in the North of England; and it was only as
other mines became exhausted that the march of adventure was extended
into more doubtful districts.
An equally powerful impetus is now given to coal speculation in the
north-east of Yorkshire, by the discovery of its enormous wealth in
ironstone, as an addition to which coal would be almost invaluable.
APPENDIX
TO MR. T. Y. HALL'S PAPER ON
THE EXTENT AND PKOBABLE DUEATIQN OF THE NOETHEEN
COAL-FIELD,
WITH A DESCRIPTIVE PLAN OF THE BOUNDARY OF EACH OF THE
FOUR COAL DISTRICTS, DIVIDING THE SAME INTO THREE EACH.
[The following pages ought to have followed page 230, but during the interval of preparing the Appendix other
papers have been printed, ana thus the order of folio has been broken.]
By a reference to the plan attached to the paper on " The Duration of
the Northern Coal-field," which is 750 square miles in extent, it will be
seen that the coal-field is divided into four sections as follows :—The first
is the northernmost, and is called " The Steam Coal District," and is
coloured on the plan brown; the second is called the uThe Sundry Coal
District," and is coloured pink ; the third is what is termed " The Best
Household Coal District," and is chequered or coloured black ; and the
fourth is called " The Coking- and Gas Coal District," and is coloured
blue, thus describing the districts generally.
With respect to the first section, viz., the Steam Coal District, it will
be found that it is bounded by the sea, with a portion under the sea. It
is apparently limited in its breadth from the sea to that of the outcrop
of the coal formation, and is on the average not more than miles by
20, making thus, in the whole, about 100 square miles. The northern-
most limit of the outcrop is at Amble Harbour, near Warkworth, where
it enters under the sea j and its eastern boundary may be traced from the
outcrop of the coal formation south-west of Seaton Burn Colliery, thence
from Seaton Burn Pit to Burradon, and a little north of Holywell,
Killingworth, and Earsdon collieries into the sea. The other and
remaining boundary, except the sea-coal, may be described by the
outburst of the coal formation, nearly running in a line with the York,
262
Newcastle, and Berwick Railway, or from one mile wrest of Killingworth
to Warkworth, by way of Blagdon Park, Stannington, and Morpeth.
In the latter part of Chapter XII. the Steam Coal-field is divided into
three sections, which are fully described. The pits in each are hereafter
given.
The second district, coloured pink, of sundry sorts, is also divided
into three sections, one of which may be described north of the patch of
best coal lying north of the main dyke, from Seaton Burn Colliery, and
continues by wray of Prestwick and Throckley Collieries, Montague Main,
then by way of Fawdon and Wideopen Colleries, not now working; at
which places the district is estimated to be 28 square miles in extent, but
the coal is considered of a somewhat different description to either of the
steam coal districts, or the best coal lying next to the Main Dyke from
Stella by way of Killingworth and Earsdon, (which comprises 13 square
miles, and will be found chequered or shaded black, as good household
coal, on the plan. This 13 square miles lies at a very great depth
and angle). It may, however, be worthy of remark, that south of the
Main Dyke, and from Gosforth Colliery to Cullercoats, there is part of a
district which is shaded pink, east of Newcastle, and that part, so far as
bounding south on the Tyne, has been almost entirely worked off and
abandoned, which formerly contained one of the very best workable
seams of household coal, viz., "Wallsend, Percy Main, Willington, Heaton,
Walker, and Shiremoor. These collieries once contained the valuable
Main coal seam described in Chapter III., at Wallsend, as worked by
the late Wm. Eussell, Esq., of Brancepeth Castle, but all has been
worked off in the best seam. This part of the coal-field, like a portion
under and on the south of the Tyne, from Hebburn by way of Harton,
Jarrow, Manor Wallsend, and the sea at St. Hilda's, shaded pink on
the map to denote " sundry sorts of coal," still has some household coal
good. (See Chapter XXIV.) Before leaving this district, I shall advert
briefly to " the Swallow," or what is called the basin, as being the deepest
point of the Northern Coal-field, in the counties of Northumberland and
Durham. I shall begin with the dotted line, a little south of the Steam
Coal District, which is called the Ninety-Fathom downcast dyke, north
of the Church Pit at Earsdon. This dyke, however, may be considered
a downcast of nearly double the dip at this point. The course of
" the Swallow" from this point (Church Pit) runs north-west until it
comes between the two Holywell Pits, and thence east of Seghill and
Seaton Delaval, at which latter place it turns to the north-east, between
263
the north and the east pits at Cowpen Colliery, and thence into the sea,
a little south of the river Wansbeck. From the latter point, and alono- the
coast towards Amble, the coal seams all rise westward, the outcrop
coming out west of Morpeth, Ulgham, and Warkworth. Again, it may
be said that from a point at Earsdon Church Pit, and taking the south
side of the Main Dyke, this Swallow continues through Percy Main, Jar-
row Docks, west of Harton new Pit, and onward south until it comes
into conjunction with the Coaly Whin Dyke, and probably the Heworth
Dyke, at which place the Swallow seems to have been thrown farther to
the east, as is proved by the workings to the east of Monkwearmouth
Colliery, and the depth of the Hutton seam, which is at a dip of 1800
feet. The Hutton Seam at Harton Pit will be 1,400 feet, but the Swallow
being still farther west and still deeper, we may, therefore, fairly take
Monkwearmouth and also Sunderland Docks, thence a mile or so along
the shore, opposite the proposed new pits, near the sea coast, as shown
on the plan, a mile north of Ryhope, and next the dotted line by
way of Seaham. Turning into the land near to Seaham Harbour, then
westward, we have the coal rising south by Seaham, Seaton, and Murton
Pits; next crossing the Hett Whinstone Dyke, a mile or more west of
the sea coast, and a mile east of Easington. The dotted line continues
by way of Castle Eden, where the coal rises eastward as well as westward,
and this dotted line is carried on to where it touches the red sandstone
north of South Wingate, and east of Trimdon Colliery, where the Five-
quarter coal seam is cut out by the limestone coming down into it, both
at Trimdon and Trimdon Grange Collieries, where the Butterknowle Dyke
lies a little southward, and a little farther south about the same place
where the coal cuts out. At South Wingate Pit, the Main coal seam goes
out, and the fire clay puts in, with iron ore balls the size of hen eggs in
it, few and far between. The Low Main seam is 36 feet lower, making
732 dip, with 70 fathoms limestone above the coal formation. Before this
pit was dismantled or sold, it may have cost nearly £20,000 for sinking
alone (it is a good pit shaft), and for railways and machinery £70,000
more, making at that time and since say £100,000, which, at 8 per
cent, for 270 working days in the year, is equal to £30 per day for interest
alone. This colliery has only one machine drawing 60 or 70 chaldrons of
coals per day at this time. South Wingate Pit is to the extreme south
of the Great Northern Coal-field, Ratcliffe Pit is to the extreme north,
Evenwood, near Cockfield Fell, to the west, Monkwearmouth to the
extreme east, with North Biddick abandoned pit in the centre, where,
264
instead of getting* coal, the pit went down on cinders and troubles. The
extent of this section of the coal-field, part of which is called the house-
hold, amounts to 96 square miles, or little more than that with the 21 in
the Five-quarter seam, hereafter mentioned.
Collieries in the Steam Coal District.
South of the Wansbeck.—Seaton Burn, Seghill, Seaton Delaval,
Cramlington, Hartley, Cowpen, Blyth, Bebside, Bedlington, Netherton,
and Barrington.
South of Widdrington.—Morpeth Banks, Longhirst, North
Hartley, New Pit (North Seaton bore-hole to the yard coal), winning
at South Widdrington, and Widdrington Colliery.
North of Widdrington.—Ratcliffe, Togstone, Broomhill, and
Acklington.
To return to what is termed the Second Section on the plan, and
termed " Sundry Sorts" of coal, it is divided into three patches—the first
part alluded to already consists of 28 square miles, and is bounded by
the outcrop from the turnpike road between Seaton Burn and Stanning-
ton; also westward by the outcrop, at Heddon-on-the-Wall, then south
of the Whinstone Dyke, at Coaly-hill, and finally by way of Fawdon and
Wideopen, crossing the turnpike at Burradon. The second is a large
patch, lying south of the Main Dyke, from Lemington to Whitley and
Cullercoats, by the sea coast to Tynemouth, South Shields, thence to
Whitburn, the river Wear to Biddick, and near Chester-le-Street, where
it joins what is called the eastern part of the Coking District. It then
continues by way of Lamesley (leaving Springwell, Heworth, and Felling
Hutton seam gas coal to the east), Norwood, near Gateshead, thence
westward up the Tyne and the Derwent to Blaydon Haugh, opposite
Kitty's Drift, and Lemington. The third patch, pink, is mostly to the
north side of the Hett Dyke (or south of what is considered the best coal
district, as seen on the plan). It is bounded by Hart, near Hartlepool,
south of South Wingate, thence on to Sedgefield, continuing a little way
under the outburst of the formation of the red sandstone, until the upper
coal seams, Five-quarter and Main coal, strike out towards Thickley,
Middridge Grange, and Brusselton, where the outcrop of formation of the
farthest west magnesian limestone from the sea, above the coal formation,
occurred at this point, which is near to the west part of the Cockfield Fell
Whinstone Dyke.
The other line of boundary of this section may be said to continue on
265
from the Cockfield Fell Whinstone Dyke, near Evenwood, by way of the
Norwood Collieries, or rather the Butterknowle Dyke—thence to Wester-
ton Pit, by way of Whitworth to the Hett Dyke, taking the Wear by
way of Croxdale near Durham, and then from Croxdale to Whitwell
Colliery, where it intersects the Hett Dyke. The aggregate of these
three patches are fully described from No. 11 to 17 in Chapter XXIV.,
and amount together to about 307J square miles.
Collieries in thu Sundry Sort District.
North of the Main Dyke.—Fawdon, Wideopen, Coxlodge, Brun-
ton, and Prestwick.
South of the Main Dyke.—Near Whitley, Shiremoor, Burdon
Main, Percy Main, Willington, Wallsend, Bewicke, Craster, Walker,
St. Lawrence, Heaton, Spital Tongues, Elswick, High Elswick, Fenham,
Benwell, Montague Main; all these collieries are on the north side of the
Tyne from Newcastle to Tynemouth. The following are on the south
side from Gateshead to South Shields, by the sea to Sunderland Moor,
Pensher, the River Wear to Chester-le-Street, and thence, nearly by the
turnpike road, to Gateshead, viz.:—St. Hilda's, Jarrow, Manor Walls-
end, Harton, Hebburn, Friar's Goose, Oakwellgate) Tyne Main, Felling,
Heworth, Sheriff Hill, Stormont-Main, Derwent, Crook, Eighton Moor,
Springwell, Mount Moor, Usworth, Washington, Oxclose, North Bid-
dick, Harraton, Fatfield, Chatershaugh, and Monkwearmouth.
South of the Hett Dyke.—Lands, Storey Lodge, Evenwood,
Tenant's at Thickley, Middridge Grange, Mason's Chilton, Bishop Mid-
dleham, Garmondsway Moor, Thristlington, Cornforth, South Wingate,
Castle Eden, Attempt Pit (Mason's Chilton Pit); the coal seam worked
there runs out in a line with the wash from the Tyne south of Durham.
The Third Section, called "Household Coal," consists of three
or four patches. I will take the first, which is a small patch called the
Tees Wallsend, a district embracing about 11| square miles. It will
be found on the map in the shape of an egg; and will be seen bounded
by the river Gaunless and Butterknowle Dyke, at St. Andrew's Auck-
land, by Westerton Pit to the west of Ferryhill Railway Station, Little
Chilton, Eldon, Coppycrooks, and Shildon near Black Boy. The second
patch is called the Wear and Hartlepool District. It is east of Durham
and Chester-le-Street, and thence, by way of the river Wear, on to
Pensher and Sunderland Moor, north of the proposed pits at Ryhope,
then on to the sea, next by the sea coast south to the Hett Dyke, east
Vol, ii,—Auausr, 1854. L L
266
of Easington, then westward from the good Hutton seam border, where
the Dyke continues between Shotton and Haswell, also between Lud-
worth and Thornley by way of Whitwell, Cassop, and Heugh Hall to
the Old Elvet Colliery near Durham. The entire of this patch consists
of sixty-eight square miles or more. The third, which is only of thirteen
square miles in extent, called the Tyne District, is north of the Main
Dyke from Stella to Earsdon Church Pit, at several places it is a narrow
strip of less than a mile in width, which lies at a great depth, and dips
rapidly at a great angle; consequently these good seams being difficult
to work formerly have been left untouched, but since better mechanical
means have been introduced they are at present working at Killingworth,
Gosforth, Walbottle and Towneley Collieries. This dyke, although called
the Ninety-fathom Dyke, varies where it is put through at the western
extremity, and at east and west Towneley Collieries it is in some places
less than sixty fathoms, but it increases as it inclines eastward, as is
proved at Gosforth and Shiremoor, where it is put through and is found
about double that depth. It still inclines deeper eastward, probably at ^
180 fathoms at the Church Pit at Earsdon, from thence it runs into the
sea at Cullercoats, where, in consequence of its great depth, a piece of
strata of limestone is thrown down next the surface, which is the only
piece of limestone on the north side of the Main Dyke. These three
patches form altogether 92| square miles, and will be found in Chapters
XII. and XXIV. The above patches are all chequered or shaded dark on
the map, except one portion which is given in Chapter XII. as under
the sea, opposite Seaham and Ryhope, and extending two miles into the
sea by nine in breadth, thus making eighteen square miles. The coal
here may probably be very valuable when obtained. On " Sundry
Sorts," there is one of the four patches alluded to (twenty-one miles), also
chequered Hack, which will be found south of the Hett Dyke on the
Five-quarter seam pits, and which work a coal as good as the Hutton
seam for quality and hardness. These twenty-one miles, when added to
other eight miles, taken at other places, in patches that may be left, will
make 47 J square miles; and these, added to 92\ square miles, make
altogether a total of 140 square miles of what may be termed House-
hold Coal.
Collieries in the Household District.
North of the Main Dyke.—Earsdon (Church Pit), Holywell
(east), Holywell (west), Burradon, Backworth, Backworth A. Pit,
Killingworth, Gosforth, Coxlodge, Kenton, Walbottle, Towneley, and
part of Stella Freehold.
267
North of the Hett Dyke and South of the Wear.—
Haswell, South Hetton, Murton, Lyon's Hetton, Elemore, Downe's
Eppleton, North Hetton, Hazard, Dun well, Moorsley, Low Grange,
Kepier Grange, Seaton, Seaham, Haswell, Houghton-le-Spring, Ryhope
(new winning), Pensher, Whitfield, Newbottle, Plane Pit, Meadow's,
Rainton, Alexandrina, Resolution, Hunter's House, Pittington, Broom-
side, Old Elvet, Old Durham, Arbour House, Cocken, Fox-hole, George
Pit, Whitehouse Brass-side, Sherburn, Sherburn House, Framwellgate
Moor, Acorn Close, Sacriston, Nettlesworth, Waldridge, Edmondsley,
Kepier, Belmont, Heugh Hall, Shincliffe, Croxdale, Whitwell, Lud-
worth, and Littletown Pit, where salt water was found while sinking
to the Main coal seam.
South of the Hett Dyke.—Shotton, Thornley, Castle Eden
(Attempt Pit), Wingate Grange, Trimdon, Trimdon Grange, Clarence
Hetton, West Hetton, Crow Trees, Heugh Hall, Cassop Moor, and
Kelloe.
The Black Boy, or Tees Wallsend.—Black Boy, Coundon
Leasingthorne, Westerton, Adelaide, Deanery, Coppycrook, Eldon, Little
Chilton, and Ferry Hill.
The Fourth and Last Section is called the "Coking* Coal
District," the produce of which is used for coking, gas, and iron manu-
factories. It is described in Chapter XXIV, in three sections, viz,:—
The Tyne, the Derwent, and the Wear, and consist jointly of 168J
square miles. The Wear portion consists of 84| square miles, and is
bounded by Durham and the River Wear to Whitwell, Byer's Green,
the Butterknowle Dyke north of Westerton Pit, St. Andrew's Auckland,
West Auckland, St. Helen's Auckland, Etherley, Witton Park, Witton-
le-Wear, the western outcrop of the coal-field to the river Browney,
thence between Cornsey, Hamsteads, opposite Lanchester, by way of
Ash to Witton Gilbert to Durham, including Brandon and Brancepeth
Parks in the centre. The second, the Derwent portion, is 62J square
miles, and may be called the Marley Hill, Tanfield, and Beamish
Pontop Pike District. It is bounded by Witton Gilbert, near Durham,
by the river Browney a mile south of Lanchester, to the outcrop of the
coal seams, thence a mile south of the Stanhope and Tyne Railway;
also northward, by way of the outcrop west of Conside Iron Works to
the river Derwent, continuing down the Derwent between Gibside and
Axwell Park to the river Tyne, north of Swalwell and Whickham, south
268
of Benwell Colliery, then onward to Norwood near Gateshead, by way
of Derwent Crook, Lamesley, Chester-le-Street, Burnopnat Colliery to
Witton-le-Wear. The third, the Tyne portion, consists of 21| square
miles, and is divided by the rivers Derwent and the Tyne, and continues
at Blaydon, Stella, Ryton, Newburn, Heddon Banks, Walbottle,
Throckley, Wylam, Horsleywood, Ovingham, Chopwell, Eltringham,
and Mickley. This district, however, may be termed the Mickley,
Wylam, Towneley, Stella, Blaydon, and the Chopwell Coking District,
the Main Dyke going through the centre of it, making one-half to the
north and the other to the south. The southern portion at Blaydon
and Stella is where the peculiarly good gas coal seam is found in patches
lying above the Towneley seam.
In the above brief explanation, it will be perceived that 714 square
miles are accounted for, including forty square miles under the sea,
which, when taken as the estimate connected with these districts,
produces available coals for the market. It will, however, be seen, by
reference to Chapter XII., that the area is 705 square miles, but with
the forty or fifty miles under the sea, will make a total of 755 square
miles; still, out of this quantity, in consequence of only one coal seam,
and that thin, next to the western outcrop of the coal formation, there is
not apparently more square miles available for useful purposes, taking
into account the average prices for coals for the last twenty years, than
what I have previously estimated. It is, however, possible that some
of the lower seams may continue farther south to the upper limestone,
and also at the outcrop of red sandstone, as shown on the map, from
Sedgefield and South Wingate to Hartlepool. The boundaries thus
described are nearly about the same as described by previous writers on
the subject; but I consider them more carefully measured as regards the
coal of little account to the outcrop, and other places that may never be
available.
In addition to the foregoing, the plan further exhibits the position of
the Cleveland Iron Ore District and Alum Works, south of the river Tees
and Redcar, at Roseberry Topping and other places. A little farther
south than what is included in the map, there are other districts of iron
ore, which are now taken up and worked extensively, and brought to the
Tjne by Messrs. Charles Palmer and Co. in iron-screw steamers. The
other coking coal districts on the Tyne, Wear, and Derwent, having
large iron-ore districts of a valuable nature, are west of Wolsingham
and Stanhope Vale) farther east are the Consett Iron Works. At
269
Barnard Castle iron-ore is found, and, also, a little at South Wingate,
where the coal seam cuts out into the clay. There is, also, another iron
district, north of the Tyne, near to Bellingham and Reedsdale; besides
large new districts in Yorkshire (taken by Baring Brothers), extending
from Roseberry Topping towards Leeds.
Collieries in the Coking Coal District.
Tyne.—Wylam, Horsley Fell (landsale), Prudhoe Main, Throckley,
Mickley, Towneley (west), Towneley (east), Glebe, Stella Freehold,
Hedley (landsale), Shibdon, Blaydon Main, Cowen's Pit, Carr's Docken-
dale, Garesfield, Chopwell, and Crawcrook.
Derwent.—Norwood, Team, Armstrong's Landsale, at or near an
abandoned pit (Whickham), Marley Hill, Andrew's House, Crook Banks,
Kibblesworth, Burnopfield, Crook Bank, Lintz Hall, East Tanfield,
Urpeth, Ouston, Beamish, Stanley (east), Stanley (west), South Tanfield,
Twizell, Craghead, Burnopflat, Cresswell, Brooms, Greencroft, Crook
Hall, Stokesley, Conside Pits, Pontop, Dipton, Shieldrow, Harelaw,
Tanfield Moor, Tanfield Lea, Medomsley, Old Medomsley, and Acorn
Close.
Wear.—Brandon Old Colliery, Hedley Hope, Thornley, White
Lea, North Roddey Moor, Roddey Moor, Jobb's Hill, Pease's West,
Bowden Close, Brancepeth, Wellington, Whitworth, Byer's Green,
Newfield, Hunwick, Old Park, Sunny Brow, North Bitchburn, Mary-
hill Green, Buckburn, Whitfield, Woodifield, Elm-park, Witton Park,
Old Witton, Old Etherley, Gatherthrone's, Lawton, Cow-close, Copley
Bent, Butterknowle, Land's, Norwood, Little Gordon, Gordon, Norlees,
West Auckland, St. Helen's Auckland, Woodhouse Close, Woodhouse,
and Cockfield.
The Spital Tongues Colliery is a little way north of Newcastle, and
has been worked by shafts sunk from the surface to the High Main coal
seam, which is a short way beneath the surface, which is apparent from
several surface falls observable in crossing the turnpike, and at other
places on the Town Moor. This colliery, after struggling through for
upwards of twenty years, has at length come into the hands of Edward
Richardson, Esq., who is at present working it very prosperously. It may,
however, be remarked, that its situation affords a cheap natural transit
to shipping places on the Tyne, below the New Quay at Newcastle, by
the aid of a tunnel under the Town Moor, used as a railway to convey
the coals, by a fixed engine, from the pit to the shipping places alluded
to. At about eight fathoms in this shaft the metal coal is one foot four
270
inches in thickness; the three-quarter seam is two feet nine inches.
The Low Main seam, which has a hand of stone varying from three
inches to three feet, is three feet and upwards in places, making in all
four feet six inches. The Beaumont or Towneley Seam is not sunk; but
at the North Elswick Pit adjoining, it was about three feet six inches.
The Brockwell or lower seam is not yet sunk to. Adjoining the Spital
Tongues Colliery are Fenham and the two Elswicks on the north side of
the Tyne, opposite Norwood and the Teams on the south side of the
river; on the west it adjoins Benwell, Fawdon, and Wideopen Colleries,
but latterly these three colleries have been doing little or next to nothing,
Benwell Colliery, on the north side of the Tyne, is situate about two
miles above Newcastle Bridge. Before it stopped working, it was
wrought in the low seams to the south side of the river, and east of the
mouth of the Derwent; but as these seams were thin, they were soon
abandoned. At Swalwell, a little farther south, and near Wickham,
where a pit was sunk by T. C. Gibson and Co., the same thing occurred,
in consequence of various troubles and dykes met with, therefore the pit
was abandoned. The Heworth Dyke may be near to this pit, as it appears
spilt into several troubles, pointing in a direction to the Holborn Dyke,
running from Stella to Ryton, and to Crawcrook; but between Swalwell
and Whickham, in this district, there is an upper seam of coal now being1
worked by Joseph Armstrong and Co., for fireclay and coal. This part
formerly supplied coals, as early as any district, to London, which were
carted to craft on the river Tyne, to be shipped at Shields, for the use of
the palace of the King. The cost of carting was Gd. per cart; the charge
for the crafts on the river was 12d. per chaldron, and the freight 12d.,
making altogether 2s. 6d. per chaldron delivered at the King's palace in
London. Similar difficulties as those alluded to, in laid in pits, appear
to have existed at Blaydon Haugh, and to the west of the Derwent, where
numerous bore-holes were put down centuries ago; but even in this low
district, where the Heworth Dyke seems to come in the shape of a sandy
formation, called a wash, there has been no temptation held out to sink
many pits, neither a mile above the Derwent nor in the low grounds. At
Shibdon a pit was worked about seventy years ago, which was lately re-
opened by G. H. Ramsay, Esq., who has pumped the water out of the old
workings, as well as at the workings westward of Blaydon arfd Stella.
Before Shibdon Pit was drowned out, the workings were progressing
northward in the coal seams ; but the gravel bed, with large feeders of
water, which, it was said, were cut into, caused the pit at length to be
271
given up. While, however, the works were going on southward under
the rising ground towards Winlaton, the coal seam was of good and fine
quality, was free from water, and more regular towards the Chopwell estate
or coal mines belonging the Crown, at present worked by the Gares-
field owners, with the Marquis of Bute, close to Chopwell, instead of
the Winlaton lordship, which they abandoned some years ago. The
surface was found uneven and a little covered in, and the seams being
so near together they often got emaciated by creeps, so that they were
only partially worked. West of Shibdon is Blaydon, and also part of
Stella freehold on the south side of the Main Dyke, both of which were
formerly worked, but they were abandoned. They have, however, been
re-opened by Joseph Cowen, Esq., Blaydon, and the Stella Coal Com-
pany. High and Low Elswick, Benwell, Old Montague Main, near
Bell's Close, are also on the south side of the Main Dyke, and of them
it be said, that in consequence of the price of coals having been much
higher than formerly, all parties interested in them were moving again
to resume working. On the north side of the Main Dyke, and also north
of the Tyne, are Walbottle, Throckley, and Wylam Colleries, all at
work; but Throckley, at present, is only a landsale. Then farther
south-west, and on the south side of the Tyne, there are East and West
Towneley, Ryton Glebe, the latter nearly worked off; and adjoining
these are Crawcrook, Prudhoe Main, and Mickley Colleries, but among
this lot Prudhoe Main is abandoned. The district on the south side of
the Tyne is divided by the Main Dyke, and on the north side of it is
Towneley Pit, the Main Coal seam of which is at a depth of thirty-six
fathoms from the surface; but in the stratification before we come to this
seam, we have seams of coal which may be the same as that which lies
above the Main Coal below Newcastle, to Wallsend and Percy Main,
&c. Chapter VII. fully describes the seams below these. There are
five or six less in number of seams on the south than on the north side,
in consequence of the Main Dyke throwing the seams up to the south
side.
THE THICKNESS
OF
THE DIFFERENT WORKABLE SEAMS,
AtfD THE
STRATA UNDER THE COAL-FIELD, NEAR THE TYNE,
IN NORTHUMBERLAND.
As there are many pits now laid in and abandoned, in the coal-field
of Northumberland, and the north shore of coaly Tyne, the good
household seams having- been worked out, the sections of the coal strata
in and near the same district may be worthy of notice. Commencing at
Whitley Colliery, both sides of the Main Dyke, near the sea at Tyne-
mouth, from their last working seam (the Low Main) a boring was put
down in 1818, as follows :—
Ft, In. Ft. In.
At 1\ fathoms ... Coal ......... Oil
37 do. ... Coal .........0 10
Band .........0 6
Coal .........0 9i
- 2 n
46 do. ... Coal .........1 0£
Band .........0 8£
Coal .........0 5f
- 2 2f
50 do. ... Coal ......... 2 2*
To 53 fath. 5 ft. Of in., and left off boring.
At Burdon Main Colliery, near the west end of North Shields, which is now
working as a landsale, the High Main, a good household coal seam, is—
At 62 fathoms ...Coal .........2 1\
Band .........0 3|
Coal .........3 0
--5 11
273
Ft. In. Ft. In.
73 fathoms ... Metal Coal seam...... 2 8
91 do. ... Yard Coal seam—
Coal......... l q
Band.........0 2
Coal.........0 11
Gray metal...... 0 9
Coal.........0 5
Gray metal...... 0 6
Coal.......2 10
- 7 1
98£ do. ... Bensham seam—
Coal......... 2 7
Splint.........0 2
Coal......... 19
- 4 6
123 do, ... Low Main Coal seam-
Coal......... 1 8
Band.........0 2*
Coal.........0 10
Bluestone ...... 0 3
Coal.........2 6J
- 5 0
Leaving the coast at Whitley pits, we find a succession of abandoned
collieries at Percy Main,* Wailsend, Heaton, Walker, St. Anthony's,
St. Lawrence, High and Low Elswick, Benwell, Fenham, Wideopen,
Fawdon, Callerton, Montague Estate adjoining Throckley Old Colliery,
and Heddon Banks, bordering upon the Close House and Rift Estates.
In the latter two the good coal seams have not been found, but at Wylam
Colliery and Horsleywood, the lowest workable seam, the Brockwell,
runs out to the day. The results of each must be so well known to most
of the members of this Institute that it is not necessary to do more than
give a few of the sections of the coal seams in each royalty. The above
collieries, which have been abandoned, are, some of them, filling with
* At or near Percy Main is the dip of the Northumberland Coal-field, as from
thence east towards the sea the strata begins to rise. Ryhope royalties, belonging
to the Haswell Coal Company, form the dip of the Durham Coal-field, where the
proposed pit to the Hutton seam will be 1,700 feet; consequently, if the lowest
seam be in the "Brockwell," it ought to be at 2,000 feet; and, in that case, it
would be 1,900 feet or so below the level of the sea. Near the other extremity of
the coal-field, west of Towneley, at Chopwell Colliery, the Brockwell seam is 260
feet below the surface, the surface being upwards of 400 feet above the level of the
sea. At this point, in a pit at Chopwell, the Brockwell seam is upwards of 100
feet above the sea level, and where there is a borehole made below the Brockwell,
nearly 300 feet, no workable seams are found. Although the four coal seams in
this western part prove thin, yet they are workable and of fine quality ; whereas,
in the eastern district, all the facts ascertained go to prove the reverse, and that
very little good or workable coal is below the Hutton seam,
Vol. II,—-August, 1854. m m
274
water, which in time may rise to the pit's mouth, and also extend into
the workings of adjacent pits.
Among the many sinkings and borings with which I have been kindly
favoured by Thos. Emerson Forster, Esq., I give one in particular—
at Backworth—which is more in detail than any of the others, thinking
that it is one of importance to the members of this Institute and the
Coal Trade, as having been made so long ago that it is now only partially
known. It is the deepest boring below the workable seams from the
Low Main coal, and is near the deepest part of the coal basin near the
Tyne and the sea coast in Northumberland,
Ft. In. Ft. In,
At Backworth B Pit, at 52 fathoms, or 312 feet, to the
High Main coal seam......... 6 0
Gray metal ... ... ... ... 0 2
Foul coal......... ......... 19
Gray metal ... .<< ,..... ... 0 5
Ground coal ...............2 5
- 4 9
At 92 fathoms, or 552 feet, the Bensham seam—
Coal ..................2 3
Blackstone ...............0 6
Coal ............... ... 1 3
- 4 0
At 106 fathoms, or 636 feet, sunk to the Low Main seam—
Cannel coal (jet) ............02
Splint ..................0 3
Coal ...... .......2 1±
- 2 6J
Fath. Ft. In.
Total sinking .....< ... 107 2 5
Bored ............ 99 1 0
206 3 5 or 1239 feet 5 inched
The sinking to the Low Main coal seam, as above—
106 fathoms, or 636 feet... Seam ...... 0 0
153 do. or 918 feet... Coal ...... 0 7
160 do. or 960 feet... Coal ... ... 0 5
164 do. or 984 feet... Coal...... 0 9
166 do. or 996 feet... Coal ...... 0 11
176 do. or 1056 feet... Coal ... ... 0 8
190 do. or 1160 feet... Coal and stone
Tender coal ... 0 8
Good coal ... 1 8
- 2 4
204 do. or 1224 feet... Coal ... ... 1 3
Sunk to 206 fathoms 3 feet 5 inches, and left off boring in bluestonev
275
Ft In. Ft. In.
Seetion, Bigge's Main A Pit—
At 94| fathoms, the High Main coal seam ... 6 0
100 do. the Metal coal seam ...... 2 6
104 do. the Stone coal seam ...... 0 6
114| do. the Yard coal seam
Coal ............1 2
Band ............0 7
Coal ............1 3
- 3 0
124 do. the Bensham seam ...... 2 6
138^ do. the Six-quarter coal seam—
144 do. Coal ............1 0
Band ............0 6
Coal ............1 8
- 3 2
144 do. the Five-quarter coal seam ... 3 1
156 do. the Low Main coal seam
Coal ............0 2
Band ............0 8
Coal ............0 4
- 1 2
177-2- do. the Beaumont or Towneley coal seam
Coal ............2 5
Stone ............2 4
Coal ............0 4
- 5 1
187 a- do. Engine main seam-
Coal ...... ...... 0 4
Stone ............1 8
Coal ............3 0
- 5 0
Left off at 193 fathoms 1.0 inches, but I could not get the date of this deep boring.
Benton Pit at 78 fathoms, the High Main coal seam is the same as at Heaton, viz.—
Coal, (good) ...............6 6
Thill ..................0 6
Bottom coal, (coarse) ............1 2
- 8 2
Farther to Low Main, 52 fathoms, and a section at 700 yards from Benton Pit shaft,
to the north, is as follows—
Top coal, (good)...............0 10£
Band ..................0 3f
Good coal ...............1 9f
Clay band ...............0 6
Good coal..................0 6|
Scarry coal ...............0 1\
Band ..................0 5
Good coal ...............0 4£
Gray thill band...............1 H
Coarse coal ..............." 0 4£ ^
276
This Low Main seam is now working, and is improving as the explorings go
northward.
At 53 fathoms the Yard coal seam is as follows—
Ft. In. Ft. In.
Coal ..................0 3
Band ..................0 3
Coal ..................2 0
- 2 6
There is neither Five-quarter nor Six-quarter seams.
At 64 fathoms the Low Main coal seam is as follows—
Splint ..................0 3
Coal ..................5 1
Slatey coal or badger............0 7
- 5 11
At Cowpen Colliery (in the Bishop of Durham's Royalty), at 115 fathoms, the
Low Main seam, north of the river Blyth, is as follows—
Gray coal..................0 5
Good coal..................4 6
Foul coal..................0 5
- 5 4
Here the Yard coal seam is ......... 3 4
The Cowpen Maudlin seam ......... 4 3
The High Main coal seam ......... 5 0
The Gray seam, or seams, as it is full of bands 5 6
At Seghill Colliery the Gray seam is with
many bands of stone............ 7 0
This seam at Cramlington is with a number of
bands.................. 7 0
At North Seaton, in the Parish of Woodhorn, at a bore-hole now going forward,
within one mile of Newbiggen, on the north side of the river Camboise—
At 73 fathoms, the Yard coal is ...... 3 8
This is only one fathom higher laid than the Yard coal at Cowpen.
In Willington Colliery, Bigge's Main Pit, at 140 fathoms, the Bensham seam
is as follows—
Jet (cast back in working) .........0 1^
Good top coal ...............2 1£
Splint (cast back in working).........0 3
Good bottom coal ............2 2\
--4 8*
This shows no very favourable section of the deeper strata, except in
the first or worked off High Main coal seam, other sections show where
the Low Main coal seam is good. Other seams that have been good in
the same district are often so altered, at short distances, as to make a
serious change, which is the case in Durham as well as in Northumber-
land. So far as we are able to see, or have penetrated, the lower coal
seams that are good, are under, in most cases, parts of the western coal-
277
field, but they do not appear so in the eastern field, near the sea, where
they lie much deeper. The same may be said of the good Hutton seam,
where it lies deep over a large area of the eastern part of the Durham
Coal-field, independent of the small portion south of the Hett Dyke,
next to where the good Five-quarter seam is found only of small extent
of area, thus lessening the workable area of the best coal seams.
At Killingworth Colliery—
Fthms. Ft. In.
The High Main coal seam is.........115 or 690 feet and 7 0
The Metal coal seam is ...............122 and 3 0
The Yard coal seam is ...............128 and 3 10
The Bensham coal seam is .........134 and 5 4
Below which search has been made to the extent of 180 feet, but at that
depth no Low Main seam was met with. The Metal coal and the Yard
coal seams are entire and unworked, and the Bensham coal seam is only
slightly wrought.
At Burradon Pit, which lies about a mile to the north of Killing-
worth, the Low Main seam puts in. Its thickness there is about three
feet six inches, and it increases in thickness towards the north and east.
At Backworth the Low Main is only two feet four inches, and were a
line drawn from Burradon to Backworth it would about show where the
steam coal is workable north of it. The gray seams are not in at
Killingworth, and are thin in places at Burradon.
The Metal coal seam at Burradon is three feet thick, and the Yard
coal seam is two feet ten inches, neither of which have been wrought.
Particular districts have certain thicknesses of coal, and the lower
coal seams do not extend over the whole area.
At Burradon Colliery, which was part leased from Killingworth Colliery Owners,
the Low Main coal seam is at 140 fathoms, or 840 feet—
Ft. In. Ft. In.
Jet (which is cast back in working)...... 0 4
Top coal (good)...............3 0
Band ..................0 1
Bottom Coal '...............1 8
--5 1
Weetslet Royalty.—About 800 yards west of Burradon Pit, the Low Main seam is—
Jet.....................0 3
Top coal (good) ... ... ... ... ••• 3 5
Parting ..................0 0
Bottom coal (good) ............1 10
- 5 6
278
From where what is called the Monkton seam, near the surface about Hebburn
Colliery, at
Ft. In. Ft. In.
112 fathoms, the High Main coal ...... 5 6
120 do. the Metal coal.........0 0
133 do. the Gray seam or seams, with
stone bands.........7 0
Not in the strata at Burradon, or thin in places where
found, and not in at Killingworth—
143 fathoms, the Yard coal seam ...... 3 0
156 do. the Bensham seam ...... 0 0
The Five-Quarter and the Six-
Quarter ............0 0
The Low Main coal ...... 5 0
- 20 6
The Metal coal, Gray seam or seams, Yard coal, Bensham, the Five-Quarter,
and the Six-Quarter are not in the strata at Burradon, or they are only thin in
places where found ; they are not in at Killingworth.
At West Cramlington Colliery the depth to the High Main coal seam is nine
fathoms, and the seam is—
Coal ...................0 5
Blackstone and coal ............1 10
Gray metal ...............3 3
Coal ..................0 11
Band.................. 0 3
Good Coal..................2 11
- 9 7
At 26 fathoms a seam is found as follows—
Coal, strong and coarse............3 8
Band ...... ...... ...... 0 1
Coal ..................2 0
Splint coal ...............0 4
Coal ..................0 3
- 6 4
At 31 fathoms a seam is found as follows—
Coal ...................0 6
Band ..................0 3
Coal. ..................0 7
- 1 4
The limestone formation north of the Tyne is on at Tynemouth
Priory, and also at one place north of the Main Dyke, at Cullercoats.
On the south of the Tyne, it is at a quarry between St. Hilda's Pit and
Westoe, at 20 fathoms; but, a short way westward, the limestone is
not on the surface as at St. Hilda's or Harton Collieries. At Monkwear-
mouth it is found at 34 fathoms, and will be found deeper, at the
279
Ryhope new winning-, south of the Wear, between Monkwearmouth,
Seaton, and Seaham new pits, as the limestone at these places is 58J
fathoms. At Murton Pit, two miles farther south, where the sand
under the limestone was so difficult to sink through, it is still of greater
thickness. Farther south, and at Castle Eden, south of the Hett Dyke,
it is 97 fathoms $ and at Shotton and South Wingate it is somewhat less
in dip; but, at Hartlepool Docks, a bore-hole was put down at 80
fathoms before it reached the magnesian limestone.
Depths of various Pits to Five-Quarter Seam on the
Wear.—The Haswell Colliery Pits 90 fathoms, Shotton 125, Thornley
84J, Wingate Grange 74, Castle Eden 119, Coxhoe 34, and South
Wingate (to Main coal) 116 ; the above are sunk through the magnesian
limestone. Little Chilton 37, Newbottle 84, Pittington 40, Sherburn
Hill 38, Pontop 31, Black Boy 25, and Adelaide 37|.
The High Main Coal Seam North of the Tyne.—Percy
Main 133| fathoms, Hebburn working to N. 131, Killingworth 115,
Wallsend 111, Burradon 80, Tyne Main working to 33, Backworth 32J,
Seaton Delaval 32, St. Lawrence 34|, Hartley 24, and Earsdon 12.
At Norwood pit, south of the Tyne and near the sea, a little above
the level of the Tyne, the Beaumont seam is at 42 fathoms deep;
Marley Hill Colliery, on the high ground at Busty Bank seam, is at 72
fathoms; Burnopfield, high ground, Main coal is at 48 fathoms; and
farther on to Busty Bank at 42 fathoms; Pontop Colliery, on the high
ground, to the Main coal seam, is 62 fathoms, and to Busty Bank it is
42 fathoms farther.
PKOPOSED MODEL OF THE COAL DISTBICT.
In Chapter XIV. I briefly alluded to the propriety of preparing* a
Model of the District, as being more useful than the numerous sections
required to show the entire coal-field, on account of the number of
different stratifications and coal seams and the various dykes being-
difficult to understand, especially by strangers ; and I would here further
suggest, that such a model could, with great propriety, be commenced
by the Institute itself at little cost, much of the labour being already
performed and in their possession. I am well aware that it is only in its
infancy as regards information, but from the amount of talent within it,
and the practical experience of its members, I am very sanguine as to
such a model being completed in first-rate style, and no doubt it would
be invaluable to the coal-trade generally. Another point is, that a model
of this description would, in its results, be some return for the liberality
displayed by the coalowners, in not only furnishing our Society with the
present handsome and commodious suite of rooms to transact the business
of the Institute, but in every other way tending to promote its interests.
After due consideration, I am of opinion, that there is no better plan for
the construction of such a model than what I have proposed in Chapter
XIV., which is by having plugs to represent the old shafts closed; hollow
tin or glass tubes for the working pits; and the sections of the bore-holes
figured on plugs or scantlings of a flat shape, thus | i l j [ |. Then, as a
means of improving it, the ordnance survey now in progress might be
made use of to facilitate the work. I understand that the ordnance
survey for the rural districts, Durham for instance, is intended to be
of the lineal measure of the ground, and for towns, 10 inches per square
mile, therefore,, a model six inches per square mile, is equal 25 by 10,
but according to the ordnance scale it would be less, or have to be
increased to the above. The levels of the pit top and bore-holes may
easily be determined by representing the sections of the pit as well as
the level of the top of it above the sea, or by a few sets from the u bench
281
marks/' which are always pretty closely placed over the entire face of
the country, while the "contour lines" would exactly show the nature of
the undulations on the surface. This model may be so constructed as to
allow any part of it to be lifted up, so that it could be seen from under-
neath, or in blocks of a mile square, so that each district, or royalty of
each coalowner, could be easily seen and examined entire, or in parts.
The principal royalties are of great extent, and if the engineers con-
nected with them would be kind enough to furnish the proper sections
I could easily obtain the smaller royalties (such as Belmont and others),
and dove-tail them in from J. W. T. Bell's maps and other sources, and
so make up the whole required for the model.
In addition to what I have already stated, I will give, by way of
making a beginning with the model, a few sections out of the many
mining records at present in my possession, principally in the western
district, which lie at a great height above the level of the sea. The
surface of the eastern district near the sea is more uniform, and as many
members are well able to supply other records of levels, underground
workings and dykes, the model once commenced might be made pretty
accurate. The next point for consideration is the collecting throughout
the districts, or sections of pits in royalties and bore-holes, and planning
them on one uniform scale at one datum line, such for instance as the
half-tide level of the sea, or the line half way between spring and neap
tides, or the high water mark at ordinary spring tides which may suit
best of all. After the sections are recorded, a tracing of the main faults
in each district might follow, omitting the smaller ones, called hitches, of
a certain magnitude, but such tracings to possess the rates of inclination
of the strata figured upon them, and the course indicated by lines thus:—
When once these data are obtained and settled, the remaining part
of the model would be only mechanical and easily constructed,* but the
whole of it should be entrusted to the hands of a first-rate and skilful
workman.
* The model might be made of gutta percha and other materials, at first in
blocks, then glass would perhaps be better in consequence of its transparency.
Vol. II.—August, 1854. n n
282
The following is a list of the levels above the datum line zero on
Middlesbro' tidal gauge, at different roads and railway stations, &c.
Perhaps the better way for marking would be to take the Government
sea mark level, which is so many feet below the mark fixed upon at the
Coal Trade Office, Neville's Hall, Collingwood Street, but as I possess
the levels from Middlesbro' I subjoin a part of them as follows :—
Ft. In.
Middlesbro' Dock Platform ............... 25 6
Say Hartlepool, Seaham, and Stockton ......... 34 1
Middlesbro' Branch Junction with Stockton and Darlington
Railway ......... ............ 46 5
Redcar ........................ 25 6
Ormesby Beck and Road to Guisbro' to the Dock Branch at
Middlesbro' ... "......... ......... 27 0
Yarm Station ..................... 98 8
Fighting Cocks, near Yarm Station............155 8
Darlington.....................170 6
Brusselton Engine ......... ... ... ... 495 6
Etherley Engine..................... 575 3
Haggerleazes Branch Junction......... ... 358 1
Junction with Stockton and Darlington at Shildon ... 386 6
Bishop Auckland Turnpike ............... 327 8
Wear Valley Junction.................. 322 0
Wear and Darlington Junction ... ... ...... 495 5
Crook Station .....................510 5
Auckland and Weardale Railway, near Crook ...... 495 5
Top of Summerside Incline Plane ............ 970 5
Turnpike to Wolsingham ............... 1032 5
Stanhope and Tyne Railway Junction at Waskerley ... 1167 5
Meeting Slack's Engine ...............1315 5
Park Head Wheel House ............... 1640 0
Wether Hill Engine .................. 1445 5
Crowley Engine.....................1123 0
Bilton Stanhope Quarry ............... 796 0
Junction with Auckland and Weardale ......... 322 4
Witton Turnpike .................. 329 7
Road from Wolsingham to Hamsterley ......... 456 9
Terminus at Frosterley, where the carboniferous limestone
that lies under the coal seam comes to the surface ... 571 4
The above elevations are on the following railways :—Stockton and
Darlington, Bishop Auckland and Weardale, Wear and Derwent, Stan-
hope and Tyne, Wear Valley, Middlesbro' and Redcar, and the High
Level Bridge at Newcastle.
These levels have been taken and proved by Mr. J. W. T. Bell, C.E.,
283
general surveyor of estates and mines, Newcastle, and for which I think
the Society ought to feel much indebted to that gentleman, as well as
for several other valuable plans of the royalties in the counties of Dur-
ham and Northumberland which he has published. Another plan, to
complete the series of six, is just finished by Mr. Bell, but it is not yet
published, which contains the western coal district of Durham and
Northumberland.
Note.—Since the author concluded his remarks about the coal-fields of the
world, information has been brought by Capt. Inglefield, who was sent out to the
Arctic Regions in search of the missing expeditions of Sir John Franklin and
Capts. Collinson and M'Lure, of the discovery of a valuable deposit of coal, of
anthracite quality, on the island of Disco, in the latitude of 75°. This discovery
will enable whale fishers to boil down the blubber on the spot, and bring the oil
itself to their respective countries.
ALPHABETICAL LIST
OF
PITS IN DUKHAM AND NOKTHUMBEKLAND,
KNOWN BY THE NAMES OF
THE TYNE, WEAR, DERWENT, TEES, HARTLEPOOL, SEAHAM,
SUNDERLAND, HARTLEY, BLYTH, AND WARKWORTH.
By T. Y. HALL.
WORKING PITS.
1 Antrim Adelaide, Lady Londonderry
2 Alexandrina, Lady Londonderry
3 Arbour House, Earl of Durham
4 Adelaide Shildon, J. Pease
5 Acorn Close or Charlaw, E. R.
6 Auckland West, Bolckow & Vaughan
7 Andrew's House, J. Bowes & Co.
8 Allerdean, Eighton Moor, W. W. B.
9 Ashington, Harrison, Carr, & Co.
10 Broomside, Lady Londonderry
11 Brasside, Earl of Durham
12 Belmont, Bell & Co.
13 Black Boy, or Tees W.E., Nicholas
Wood & Co.
14 Backworth, Waldie & Co.
15 Bedlington Pits, Davison
16 Broomhill, Burdon & Co.
17 Buckburn
18 Butterknowle and Copley Bent
19 Bitchburn South, S. & L.
20 Bitchburn North, H. Stobart & Co.
21 Byer's Green, Robson & Jackson
22 Bitchburn New, Muschamp
23 Brancepeth, Straker & Love
24 Bowden Close, Joseph Pease
25 Burnopfield, John Bowes & Co.
26 Burnopflat, S. & Fletcher
27 Bebside New Pit
28 Blaydon Main, J. Cowen
29 Brandon, Joseph Pease
30 Blaydon, G. H. Ramsay
31 Beamish, Joicey
32 Burradon, Carr & Co.
33 Burdon Main, Hope
34 Barrington Pits, Longridge
35 Bowburn, R. & J.
36 Black Prince Pit, Attwood
37 Cassop Moor, Philipson
38 Cassop, Philipson
39 Clarence Hetton, R. & J.
40 Crowtrees do., do.
41 Cowpen, Carr & Co.
42 Cramlington Pits, L. P. & Co.
43 Cresswell, Anfield Plain, E. R.
44 Crook Hall, Consett I. Works
45 Castle Eden Pit, Richardson & Co.
46 Crookbank, J. Bowes & Co.
47 Craghead, Hedley
48 Coxhoe, R. & J.
49 Coxhoe West, Do.
50 Crawford & Co.'s, Fence Houses,
A. B. Z. Pits, resumed
51 Conside
52 Conside Pits, Iron Co.
53 Chilton, Little, R. & J.
54 Castle Pit, E. Richardson
55 Coxlodge, see Fawdon
Coundon, T.W.E., N. W. & Co.
56 Derwent, E. Richardson
285
57 Delight Pit, E. Richardson
58 Dipton, do.
59 Deanery, J. Pease
60 Dunwell, North Hetton
61 Eppleton Hetton Pits
62 Elemore Hetton Pits
63 Elswick Old Pit
64 Elswick Low do.
65 Earsdon, Taylor
66 Edmondsley, Tyzack
67 Etherley, New, Bolckow & Vaughan
68 Etherley, Old, H. Stobart
69 Eldon, J. Pease
70 Eden, E. Richardson
71 Elm Park, J. Pease
72 Felling Pit, Carr & Co.
73 Friar's Goose, Losh & Co.
74 Framwellgate Moor, Green
75 Fenham Old Pit
76 Garesfield Co., Chopwell
77 Greencroft, J. Bowes & Co.
78 Gordon, Old & Little
79 Gordon West Old Pit
80 Grange Low, North Hetton Co.
81 Gosforth & Coxlodge
82 Grange, Kepier, North Hetton Co.
83 Hartley, Carr & Co.
84 Heaton, Dalton & Co.
85 Hebburn, Easton & Co.
86 Heworth, Anderson, & Co.
87 Harton, N. Wood & Co.
88 Holywell West, J. L. & Co.
89 Holywell East, do.
90 Harraton, Bell & Co.
91 Heugh Hall, do.
92 Heugh Hall, R. & J.
93 Holmside, Hedley
94 Hedley Hope, J. Pease
95 Hetton West, R. & J.
96 Hetton South Pits
97 Hetton North, Hazard Pit
98 Hunwick Pit, R. & J.
99 Houghton-le-Spring, Earl of Dur-
ham
100 Hetton Lyon's Pits
101 Haswell Pits, do. Co.
102 Jobshill, J. Pease
103 Kibblesworth, J. Bowes & Co.
104 Killingworth, do.
105 Kelloe, So. Hetton, R. & J.
106 Kepier, Dixon
107 Ludworth, Thornley Co.
108 Leasingthorne, T.W.E., N. W. & Co
109 Little Town, Earl of Durham
110 Lumley, Bell & Co.
111 Lady Durham Pit, Earl Durham
112 Lady Seaham Pit, L. Londonderry
113 Marley Hill Pits, J. B. & Co.
114 Mickley, by dayhole drift from
surface, C. & Cuthbert
115 Morpeth Banks Old Pit
116 Mount Moor, J. B. & Co.
117 Medomsley, E. Richardson
118 Marshall Green, Skinner
119 Murton, or Dalton-le-Dale, South
Hetton
120 Moorsley, North Hetton
121 Monkwearmouth Pits
122 Meadow, Lady Londonderry
123 Medomsley Old, J. R.
124 Netherton Pits, Birkinshaw
125 Nettlesworth, G. Elliott
126 Newbottle, Earl of Durham
127 Norwood Old Pit, J. Bowes & Co.
128 Old Durham, Lady Londonderry
129 Oxclose, G. Elliott & Co.
130 Ouston, Hunt & Co.
131 Oakwellgate, Easton & Co.
132 Pelton Moor, G. & Co.
133 Pontop, J. Bowes & Co.
134 Pensher, Lady Londonderry
135 Pittington, Lady Londonderry
136 Peareth Old Pit, J. B. & Co.
137 Radcliffe Pit
138 Roddymoor West Pits, J. P.
139 Roddymoor East, do.
140 Rainton Pits, Lady Londonderry
141 Resolution Pit, do.
142 Seaton, Hetton & Earl Durham
143 Seaham, Lady Londonderry
144 South Hetton Pits
145 Sherburn, Earl of Durham
146 Sherburn House, Earl of Durham
147 Shotton Grange, Haswell Company
148 Shincliffe, Bell & Co.
149 Shadforth, Earl of Durham
150 South Moor, Bell & Co.
151 Seaton Burn, J. B. & Co.
152 Seaton D Pits, J. L. & Co.
153 Seghill Pits, Carr & Co.
154 Spital Tongues, E. R.
155 Shield Row, Bell & Co.
156 Springwell, J. Bowes & Co.
157 Sacriston, W. H. Bell
158 Sunny Brow, S. & L.
159 St. Helens, J. Pease
160 Stanley East, D. Burn & Co.
161 Stanley West, Joicey
162 Trimdon Grange, Forster's, South
Hetton
163 Trimdon, Thornley Co.
164 Thistleflat, J. Pease
286
165 Tanfield East, Joicey
166 Thornley, Towlaw, Attwood & Go.
167 Tyne Main, Losh & Co.
168 Towlaw L. S. Pits, Attwood
169 Twizell, Joicey
170 Tanfield Moor, Joicey
171 Tanfield Lea, Joicey
172 Towneley West, Stella Coal Co.
173 Tanfield South, Joicey
174 Thornley Coal Company's Pits
175 Towneley Stella Coal Company,
Freehold
176 Towneley's Glebe Pit, do.
177 Towneley East, Emma Pit, do.
178 Usworth, G. Elliott & Co.
179 Urpeth, Hunt & Co.
180 Wingate South, Seymour & Co.
181 Washington, Mounsey & Co.
182 West Cramlington Pits, Waldie
& Co.
183 Willington, Durham, S. & L.
184 Wylam East, J. B. Blackett, M.P.
185 Waldridge, Sowerby & Co.
186 West Hetton, Robson & Jackson
187 Whitworth, Surtees & Co.
188 Woodifield, Bolckow & Vaughan
189 Whitfield, do.
190 Witton Park and Witton, Kirsip
191 Woodhouse Close, J. Pease
192 Whitwell, Ogden
193 Wingate Grange, Lord Howdon
194 Whitelee, New Grahamsley, Bolc-
kow and Vaughan
195 Westerton, T.W.E., N. Wood & Co.
196 Whitehouse, Bell & Co.
197 Walker, Lambert & Co.
PITS FOB LANDSALE PURPOSES.
1 Acklington
2 Armstrong's Pit, Whickham
3 Benwell, Lister
4 Benwell, Carr
5 Bewick's Mickley
6 Cocken Cars Dockendale
7 Callerton, Forster
8 Cockfield Fell
9 Coundon, T.W.E., N. Wood & Co.
10 Eltringham
11 Elvet, T. Crawford
12 Hedley and Hedley Fell
13 Horsley Colliery
14 Howlish, T.W.E., N. Wood & Co.
15 Ingoe
16 Kyo, Bucknock Stella Grand Lease
17 Longhirst
18 Lanchester
19 Mickley
20 Prestwick
21 Prudhoe, Johnson
22 Paddock, Myers
23 Stormont, King Pit
24 Throckley, Stephenson
25 Towneley B. Pit, R. Simpson
26 Widdrington
27 Winlaton
OLD PITS LAID IN AND NEW PITS SINKING.
1 Benwell Old Pit
2 Bishop Middleham do.
3 Brusselton Bank Top New, Bolckow
and Vaughan
4 Bell's Close, Montague, Carr
5 Biddick, attempted Pits
6 Brunton Old Pit, J. B. & Co.
7 Blaydon Haugh trial bore holes.
So far as the writer's experience
has gone, trials here have been
attended with no good results to
projectors
8 Brooms
9 Coxlodge Old Pit
10 Crawcrook Fields Pit
11 Chilton, Little, Borehole, a work-
able lower seam at 130 fathoms,
R. & J.
12 Coppy Crook Old Pit
13 Callerton. Relaid Fawdon old rail-
way, and after a short time
abandoned it and also the col-
liery
14 Cornforth Old Pit
15 Chilton, near Rushyford Mason,
where the coal runs into the
sandy gravel
16 Castle Eden, attempted Pits
17 Chatershaugh. Drowned out by the
river overflowing its banks, 1771.
Lately re-opened and abandoned,
but not until after working out
of their limits
18 Crawcrook. Worked out of its
limits into Stella Grand Lease
19 Derwent Crook, J, B. & Co.
287
20 Fawdon, with a railway, formerly
to below Tyne bridge, afterwards
to Bell's Close above bridge, next
with half chaldron waggons again
below bridge, then laid in
21 Ferry Hill Old Pit, T.W.E., N.
Wood & Co.
22 GarmondswayOldPit, South Hetton
23 Hartford, Cramlington New
24 Hepscott N. Pit, W. Hunter
25 Hetton-le-hole. Attempted by J.
Lyons, but never got through
the quicksand
26 Hedgefield Water Pits, Stella Coal
Co., where the Tyne overflowed
and let the water into Towneley
Stargate pit workings
27 Ivaston Old Pit, J. & R.
28 Jarrow, N. Wood & Co.
29 King's Meadows Old Pit. Now in
the centre of the river Tyne,
opposite Norwood south, and
Elswick estate on the north.
This estate was in connection
formerly with the King's Mea-
dows (now an island"), which yet
pays rates to Elswick Township
30 Lintz New Pit, London Co.
31 Morpeth Old Pits
32 Mount Moor, J. B. & Co.
33 Manor Wallsend Old Pit
34 Mickley Hill Top. This pit was
sunk in Wrightson's royalty,
instead of Humble's, as intended
and expected
35 Norlees Old Pit
36 Percy Main Old Pit
37 Prudhoe Main, or Wylam South Pit.
Worked out of its limits into
SteUa G. L.
38 Ryhope (intended pits), Haswell
Company
39 Roman Road Old Pit (at the out-
crop) near Blagdon. Worked
1000 years ago. King Ethelbert's
Queen travelled over this pack-
horse road at two miles per hour.
Queen Victoria travelled over
the same place, from London to
Balmoral, by rail, in Sept. 1854,
at the rate of sixty miles per
hour
40 Seaton North Borehole
41 Stella Coal Company, Hedgefield
water pit
42 St. Lawrence Old Pit
43 St. Anthony's Old Pit
44 Sheriff Hill Old Pit
45 St. Hilda Old Pit, N. W. & Co.
46 Shire Moor Old Pit
47 Shildon Lodge New Pit
48 Seaton Delaval. Several pits sunk
upon a very thin steam coal seam,
but it is now working in a bed
5£ feet in thickness. This col-
liery is ventilated by a powerful
steam force from high pressure
boilers under-ground, and has
been so for many years past
49 Stargate Towneley Stella Coal Com-
pany
50 Team Old Pit
51 Togston
52 Thrislington Old Pit
53 Towneley A. Pit, Stella Coal Com-
pany, Old Pit
54 Towneley C. Pit, Stella Coal Com-
pany, Old Pit
55 Wylam A. Pit. The Tyne overflowed
its banks in 1771, and filled it
with water, which was after-
wards pumped out, and it is still
working coal
56 Whitley Old Pit
57 Wideopen Old Pit
58 Walker. When in danger of being
stopped was assisted by lessors
59 Williamson's, Rev. —., Burnopflat,
resumed again by his assistance
60 Wallsend, out of its limits into
Willington Pit, off work. May
perhaps be resumed again here-
after, by lessor's assistance.