Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1374236

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1 correction by Phil.Rickard - Show corrections

Thc Ipswich Coal Mines.

'Tby buri sFEOiAr. minino retoiiter.]

Ipswich aud coal have boen synonymous for years, but up to the present time, judging from the aspect bf tho town, certainly ndvautage' has not,boen tuketi of tho treasures which lie buried beneath tho simdstoue, which, if energetically, nnd systematically developed, should kave.caused the place long since to have become a populous and flourishing mining centre.' It is the same " old Limestone" as'of yore,'expanded somewhat it is true, but yet (as I was, on, several occasions informed) about one-half too largo for the busi- ness of tho place.'. However, that is the concern of its inhabitants-! and,! if they are satisfied to depend upon tho trade pecruing from the Govern- ment workshops 'and the agricultural produc- tions of tho district;: perhaps ¦' it would be con- sidered out of place for a1 stranger to comment uppn.it..,,,vi . ,.; : .,: -,:.:.:.,;,,,.:,/,;:¦.; ;..n7.U"i . ;JMy business at,.the.mines: consisted:chieflycin collecting information regarding the present workings, blit I also made; a - point: of jascertniu ing the feeling of the miners with. regpeOtato, the aprjoiutniont of a mining inspector..: Except iu one or two cases, the mines are. held by men with limited means, who: aro. nob in a position to develop thom upon a ; large and: correspondingly profitable scaloliiln.most instances the mines aro rented, the lessees payiug:eithei\ft stated, sum per annum' or ii royaltyrupon the coal'obtained. The principal-mine in the district is--? _.--.?.-.

.THE,.TIVOLI ;1II!>'E,:

or rather minesi'foV thereKretwpbf theni, named respectivelyjthe old and the.new. .Accompanied by the manager (Mr. lArchibald),' I inspected the underground .and: surface workings of both.-.j lu the former tliora are" forty-five-'' men employed, each mau workiug below'receiyiug 4s. per ton for the coal ho obtains. .J Tbo'peani ia.ubout 4ft. 6in. thick, which "ia divided by n' layer"'of waste about two feet from .tho .bottom of the.seam. This',"af ter 1)Diiig' broken down by theminers, Hhs to' be''picked, and tte, coal; pent?'{ o'the'surface clean and"fit for 'the market;1 Before describing the wb'f king'sj:perhaps;I had .better -state that 'lill thG.'cpaiiri thia neighborhood; although bf a very good'quality1, 'yet, on account of its friable nature, will riot bear'much-knocking about. ?'. Each time it is handled the pieces, .break, up' and' crumblo, und consequently large"? quantities. of what is termed slack, or, small coal, accumulates. This is a great drawback, because it is, comparatively speaking, unfit for^exportation. Not so, how- ever, with the coal in the neighborhood of But; danna , mines,,, which is pf a harder nature thai that upon' ibo north-side of the Bremer; It ii, about ten years since the Tivoli mine was opened ] Several! years' previous : to-: that the seauj had' been ¦' operated lipori, but, although tht coal.,was tbeu worth £1 per, ton,-it'1 proved ni; unprofitable investment, and for some yea3 afterward's" it remained idle. From the~moutl of the pit or tunnel, down the iucliue'to the eui of the face, the seam has beeu worked for a di ¦ tance'of '600 yards. Levels haye been :takeua at right angles to the tunnel at every fifty yard ; these'extend'about 400 yards east and'west, t is in' tho!!' rooms" in theso. leyela'that the minfts are now working. To provide sufficient veutiV tion, two furnaces,- connected' with shafts leadig to the surfaco, are kept constantly buruing|;):tip heat causes;theiair, after descending the tuniel or downcast,to circulate through the wok- ing?, from .whence,, .it,. nscehda ? the '" slift

abovo tho 'furnaces.-1 This 'is tho wble theory of ventilation?-that ti, to provide br the return current! after it has1 descended he downcast; and if this method were in ovry mine carried out in a. proper, manner,, and theiir not.allowod to escape, except through the pvqer channel or<,air-course, thero would be-uoneeij sity for.i ;tho appointment of <a. Govornnant inspector. >; The method: adopted by the miers -to brenk downthe coal has beeu so often descrbed

that'doubtlessi your renders are tolerably _f mi liar with the mode of procedure Porthoifor ination of those who aro - not, I may briefly tate that a cutting ia made iu tho bottom of tho ram, aud the lippor part forced down by inseting wedges above. Sometimes a pretty largo cuting is made, and tho upper partiakopt supportdby props, which aro afterwards knocked out, dieu tim nual falls to the floor. About 70 tons day is the average output of this mine, tho mraager of which aeems to have a speciality foi- eoutiving labor-saving appliances ; nud although th first outlay must have been very considerable, et' in the long run it has no doubt added irgely to tho profits. In this mine there is an ndless wire-rope, but to describe tho full pariculars of the machinery by which it is worked would occupy too much spaco ; Buflico it to Eny^thnt the weight of tho empty trolly runnin; down tho incline of tho mine causes the trolbs,, con- taining tho coal to proceed to their de dilation without the least troublo. The c'ndlss ropo passes through a piece of iron on tip' of tho trucks, which aro placed at equal listanccs apart ; tho engine is stinted and awa; they co, without any further labor, down to the'shoots at the wharf, where, after being emptied, they aro again put on tho rope and pulled up lie - tram- way in the same manner. Previous fr thoabove method being adopted, seven drays, 'employing twenty-one horses, were engaged in conveying tho coal from the mino to the shots. Three horses only ara required now. Tho same plan of conveying tho coal down to thc shoots and bringing back the empty trollies tn, the pit by the endless ropo is in operation at loth the old and tho new mines. Altogether the:tiollies travel over one milo on tbe tramways. The expense of ge-vXing tho coal and convoying it to the shoot is a trifle over 7s. per ton, leaving a dear profit of 63. on every ton sent to tho market ,'This speaks eloquently aa to the management of the mino. There is only one furnace in the vikings at tho new mine, but this is quite adequ'.te for ventila Hon; it ia 12ft. in length, 6ft. hi,'h, and 5ft, in width. The manager intends t' improve upon this, by placing boiler-plates at a distance of 15in. from the top of the arch.so that, should should tho dreaded firedamp cw'r make its np pearance, every facility will bi afforded for its escape. After the first outlay ii'the erection of the furnace and sinking the shaft, tho whole of the workings are thoroughly ventilated at a cost .of ls. 4d. per day. The furnace con sumes 5cwt. of coal and I cwt. of slack in twenty-four hours. Tho miner? themselves attend to the fire,,' This mino ha« been opened about four years, and at present it employs thirty-five men. The output is about 50 tons daily.. Tho seam is 5ft. 6iu. thick, and has been operated upon for a distance of 250 yards from ,- (^-outcrop. Ab accidents have frequently oc-

curred already in solis of the mines upon our goldfields, through theabsence of a brake power- ful enough to stop t\e engine when the ma- chinery has got out of jear, or broken, and the cage and men in consequence have been precipi- tated down the shaft, it viii not be out of place if I describe the brake in vse at the old mine at

Tivoli. It is very simple,\and thoroughly effec-

tive. The brake is attached to the bottom of tho fly-wheel, to which tyo pieces of iron are fixed?the one horizontally leading from the brake, the other, about 6ft. in length, leads up to the platform. A lever is attnehed to the latter piece, and tbe driver has only to place his foot upon it, when tho engine is immediately stopped.

There are a number of ovens convenient to tbe old mine, nnd the fine coal is litre turned into coke. About 20 tons are turned out weekly, but if there were a greater demand the ovens are capable of burning 12 tons a day.'; '

BLOND AND WRIGHT'S MINE.

This mine is situated a short distance from Tivoli, and is worked by tho proprietors, but not on so large a scale as Tivoli; and this remark applies to all the other mines in the district. The seam has beeu worked for a distance of 120 yards down tho incline and about 40 yards on each 6ide. It is about 5ft. ';in. thick, and, like the others, it has a band «f several, inches of stone about two feet from the bottom. There is a tramway leading from thc pit's mouth to the Bremer, which is about a mile from the mine. A locomotive has been procured to convey the coal to the shoot, but through the breaking of one of the cogs it was uot working at the time of my visit. Mr. Wright informed me that, but for the breakage, it answered admirably. Pre- parations are being made for sinking a shaft on the Tivoli old seam. ? The shoots are capable of holding 200-tons of coal. There are six coke ovens at the mine, which turu out about 5 tons daily.

WATKUSTOWS MINE.

This mino is situated on -Mr. Bell's estate, and ia a short distance from tho Tivoli. The seam, which is about 3ft. Oin. through, bas been tun

j nelled for a distance of 140 yards from'the mouth ' of the pit. The shoot off tho bank of' the river

is 250 yards from tho mino.1 The coal is taken from the. pit. .by.,,'olio-horse, who draws five, truck's,' .each containing 5 cwt. , of coal,'-along the tramway to tho shoot. There aro forty banda employed,, and tho output of coal | is'abbut'50..totis. per day. It ia the intention of I the manager to eiuk another shaft, to strike'the, j seam about 80ft' from the surface, for tho pur- pose of providing a, better ventilation of tho workings.'"Ali engine of 10 horse-power-draws the coal up from the levels below.

' [We; have'been'unable to make room in tho i present issue for the whole of the report on tho

Ipswich mines; Theremainder will appear iu next week's paper, ns well as a leading article upon tlie same'aubject.?'Ed; <}.]'?

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