Epitome of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the condition of all mines in Great Britain to which the provisions of the Act 23 & 24 Vict. cap. 155 do not apply, with reference to the health and safety of persons employed in such mines / presented to both houses of Paliament by command of Her Majesty.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Mines
Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Epitome of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the condition of all mines in Great Britain to which the provisions of the Act 23 & 24 Vict. cap. 155 do not apply, with reference to the health and safety of persons employed in such mines / presented to both houses of Paliament by command of Her Majesty. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    33/302 (page 33)
    (B.)—MODE OF AC( • wise, I have no doubt, woiild have died; we also use it instead of a capstan, as it saves much expense in taking Jown and putting up our pumps. We have to employ, perhaps from 18 to '20 men at the capstan, and it would take at least live hours to change the pump, to take it down and put it up, and we do it now in an hour and a half without the men. Xotc to 971(5.—The wire rope now in use was putoiiin July 18o7, and for the five years previous to that date the cost of chain, kibbles, &c., used was 1,1-12/. Is. 2il. ; estimated costs of repaii'ing shafts, stands, &c., 304/.; smith's cost for ditto, at 50s. ])er month, 150L : total ],592/. Ic-!. '2d. For the five years ending July, 1802, the cost of the wire ropes, skips, &c., had been 773/. lOj!. 1(7.; repairs of shaft 25/. ; depreciation of stock, &c., 75Z.: total 873/. 10s. 1(7. During the former five years the ore sold amoimted to 20,836 tons ; and during the latter five years it amounted to 21,56-i tons. In addition to these results which were so much in favour of the new system, he ])ut the number of men drawn up l)y the wire rope and skips at 40 per diem, or 1,300 per month, which he calcndated as equal to 780 tons per annum, or nearly 4,000 tons for the five 3'ears. Capt. James Pope. 9875. (Mr. Holland.) The greater the underlie, the greater the advantage of the skip ?—I should say so. 98b3. 7vi'HtZ((//.) How do you like it?—I like it very well, it is much easier than climbing. 9884. {Mr. HolUiud.) Do you consider it quite safe there ?— It appears to be safe as there has been no accident. 9885. Did yon see any cause of danger H—No. Capt. Joseph Cock. 9964. {Chainnrai.) Do you think that the skips could be made for the ])urpose of taking the men up and down ^—It could bo done ; but I should not advise it. 9965. Why should you not advise it?—For two reasons : first, I consider that no chain nor rope which might be attached to the wym, is adequate to the work, for safety ; and secondly, I fancy that the men would be too impatient, and W(nild go in too many, as there would be no agent to protect or detect them in going up, and even if the rope be strong enough they might have their limbs broken by coming in contact with some timber or ground in coming up. 9969. Do you think that the men woidd prefer the skip to the ladders ?—I think not. 9970. Not if they were allowed to go up in the skip ? —I never heard of any in our mine who felt any inclina- tion to do so. I never knew a single man to come up in that way yet. 9971. What weight do you haul up by the skip?— The skip is 7 ewt., and the stuff is somewhere about 12 cwt.; that makes from 19 to 20 cwt. 9972. Su])posing that four men came up in a skip, what would they weigh ?—Clothes and all, we will say perhaps If cwt. to a man. 9973. Would not a rope which was strong enough to haul up the material be strong .enough to haul up the men ?—I have known a full skip to come to grass, say with a ton, and I have known the same chain to part in going down empty with the 7 cwt. 9974. Have you^ver used a wire rope ?—No, 9975. With a chain everything depends on one link ; one link is the strength of the chain ?—Of course. 9976. If you could get a rope as to which there was no chance of its breaking, and if it did break the skip i^SS AND EGRESS. would not go to the bottom, would you not advise the (B. c.) Skip. use of it?—I do not know where we could get that. 9977. You have never seen it ?—I have heard of ropes and cables being very strong, to hold, as it has been said, the world, but they have parted. 9978. Did you ever hear of a catch in the skip, so that if the rope broke it could not go down ?—Yes. 9979. Have you ever seen it ?—I have seen it and have seen it slip the catch. It is not a safe way in any manner, I should say. I would not recommend that. 9980. You would not use it yourself?—I should not like to do so. 9981. You would prefer climbing the ladders ?—I would rather do it. ^ ■ 9982. What height of ladders would you climb sooner than go up in a skip ?—Any length of any mine in this neighbourhood, to any depth; say 300 fathoms, for instance. Capt. Zachaeias Williams. ^ 11.908. [Mr. St. Auhyn.) Do you consider that the kibble is better to bring up with in the right-down shafts ?—No, I think that the skip is best with working guides, and a very good plan that is. 11.909. Have you ever brought up any men in the skip ?—No. 11.910. Do you not approve of it ?—No, Mr. William Goddan. 12.136. (Chairman.) For drawing your stufiF do you use a kibble or a skiji ?—At the western mine we use a skip and at the eastern mine a kibble. 12.137. Which is the most economical ?—The skip. 12.138. Why then is it not introduced in the other mine ?—Because it is a perpendicular shaft and skips are not necessary. A trial shaft is sunk in the course of the lode 80 fathoms. 12.139. (3Ir. Holland.) How much is the underlie ?— About 20 inches in a fathom ; the other shaft is perpen- dicular. 12.140. You have a skip in the mider lie shaft, and a kibble in the perpendicular shaft ?—Yes. 12.141. (ChainiMu.) Is there any reason why the skip should not be ])ut into the perpendicular shaft if you had guide rods ?—None whatever. 12.142. And if it was cheaper it might be advisable to do it ?—Yes, the skip is best. 12.143. You consider that the skip is the cheapest and best ?—Yes, and the safest. 12.144. Do you use chain orwirerojie?—A chain at the western mine, and the same at the eastern mine, but we have a wire rope to put in at the eastern mine when we think that the chain is getting poor. 12.145. You think that a wire rope will answer ?— Yes, with a large sheave. 12.146. (Mr. Holland.) You do not lift your men in the skip ?—No. 12.147. Would you like to do it ?—No. 12.148. Why ?—It is a very easy road as it is. 12,149..I suppose that they get up in ten minutes, do they not ?—Yes, in about that. Mr. Joseph Matthews. 18.877. (Chairman.) Do you draw by kibble or skip ? —By skip (both). 18.878. With guide rods?—^We have no guides, but there is a rail all the way. The men are not allowed on any account to go up and down by the rail. (C.)—VENTILATION. Mr. James Bakkell. 864. (Chairman.) Have you found in other mines that the ventilation was bad ?—I have found in other mines a natural ventilation ; but ours is an artificial one, as we are obliged to pump our own air. 924. (Mr. A. Bruce.) Would you put the whole expense of the apparatus at from lOZ. to 12Z. ?—The apparatus, I think, would not cost so much ; the cost of ei-ection would depend upon the situation, how far it was put down from the shaft. Mr. Thomas Trevelyan. 1119. (Chairman.) I suppose there are other mines in which you find that the ventilation is not so good as in your own mine ?—^Yes. I have seen mines which are not so well ventilated, and it is impossible to keep all mines perfectly ventilated at every point. 1120. You mean that when they are driving an end away from the shaft the ventilation must be bad ?—Yes. Sometimes objects are to be accomplished, and points to be proved, before we can bring down the ventilation (C.) Ventila- tion. E