May 16, 1913.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1013

NELSON'S PATENT LONGWALL COAL
CONVEYOR

By T. Campbell Fitters.

One of the most important considerations in the
longwall method of working coal in thin seams is
the means of transporting the coal along the face,
between the gateways, and to meet this difficulty several
conveyors have been put on the market, most of which,
however, are operated by either an electrical or com-
pressed air motor, which is more or less objectionable
on account both of heavy first cost and maintenance,
and the trouble involved in shifting electric cables,
or lengthening air pipes, as the face advances, and it is
undoubtedly for these reasons that conveyors in long-
wall faces have not been adopted to the extent that the
advantage of cheapening the cost of production by their
use would lead one to expect.

The writer some time ago described a hand-operated
conveyor designed by Messrs. Cummings and Gardiner
(see Colliery Guardian, July 28, 1911), in which the
floor of the conveyor consisted of an endless chain belt,
working over sprocket wheels or drums at each end for
the purpose of readily discharging the coal into the tub,
and whilst this conveyor is perfectly satisfactory in
operation, there is, of course, the wear and tear upon the
links and sprocket wheels, which must be maintained,
and a broken link in the chain will throw the conveyor
out of commission until it is repaired.

In order to reduce the number of working parts as
much as possible, Mr. Nelson, of the Wallsend and
Hebburn Coal Company, has designed and patented the
conveyor appearing in the accompanying illustration,

from spilling when closed. This door forms a butt
against which the filler can throw his coals without fear
of it falling on to the road and thus losing coal, and
perhaps derailing the conveyor. The goaf side of the
carriage is fitted with movable side plates, which are
shaped—being deeper at the forward end, and tapering
off to nothing at the back end—to suit the inclination
of the carriage. Hence the carriage is deeper at the
front end than the back. After the coal is filled into
the conveyor, the main rope is wound on the drum,
pulling on the scraper, but owing to the inertia of the
coal and the door at the end being closed, the whole
carriage is pulled along to the gateway until its front
end is directly over the tub placed below to be filled.

To prevent any movement of the carriage during
discharging, the operator knocks over a small sneck,
attached to the rails, which fixes the conveyor in position,
then changing his handle from the main drum spindle
to the small pinion spindle, the pin of the door being
pulled out, he scrapes off the coal into the tub, after
which the door is closed; the handle is shifted on to the
tail rope drum and the scraper drawn back until it
comes against the steps on the channel bars, when the
carriage commences to move back on its way to be
refilled.

The construction is particularly simple and strong, and
there is absolutely nothing to get out of order, so that
the necessity for sending a mechanic down the pit to
put anything right—which so often happens with all
power-driven conveyors, the whole face being at a stand-
still meanwhile—is entirely obviated. The conveyor has
now been at work some months at one of the Hebburn
and Wallsend collieries, and has given every satisfac-

156,821 tons. Other collieries (various classes of coal),
498,728 tons.

In 1911, 4,290 persons were engaged in coalmines.
There were 14 fatalities, giving a death-rate per 1,000
employed of 3 26.

The output of the State mines declined by 26,665
tons, this being due to the approaching exhaustion of
the two operating collieries. Provision, however, has
been made to meet the requirements of the market by
the laying-down of a new colliery—namely, the Port
Elizabeth No. 2 mine—situated at Seven-mile Creek,
beyond Runaga. The profit on the working for the
year ended March 31, 1912 (£96 9s. 9d.) was less than in
the previous year, principally owing to the higher cost
of production. The briquette factory at Westport,
which for about three years was worked in conjunction
with the Seddonville Colliery, was closed during 1911
owing to the high cost of manufacture.

During 1911, 188,068 tons of coal were imported,
nearly all of which came from New South Wales, and
223,918 tons were exported, 145,107 tons going to the
United Kingdom, and 31,347 tons to New South Wales.

Partnership Dissolved.—The London Gazette announces
the dissolution of the following partnership:—C. Hyde,
F. E. Hyde and A. Hyde, brassfounders, Jenner-street,
Wolverhampton, under the style of Hyde and Sons, so far
concerns A. Hyde.

Salford Coal Contracts.—At a meeting of the Salford
Town Council last week, Councillor Hampson referred to a
resolution of the gas committee that offers should be invited
for the supply of gas coal and cannel. He said he had
asked previously why offers should be invited and not

Nelson’s Patent Hand Coal Conveyor.

Ah



which shows a conveyor in situ on a longwall face. It
consists of a long carriage constructed with two side
channel bars with a plate bottom mounted upon four
wheels running on rails laid the length of the face, and
continued over the gateway to form a bridge. The rear
end, it will be noticed, is set higher upon the wheels
than the front end, so that the floor of the conveyor is
at an inclination, the purpose of this being to aid the
coals to slide off into the coal tub below the front end.
The carriage is propelled backwards and forwards along
the face by a main and tail rope, the end of which is
attached to the respective drums, these being worked by
means of an ordinary hand winch by a strong youth. The
ropes, however, are not attached directly to the carriage
but to a scraper, a detail of which is shown in the
small drawing, from which it will be seen to consist of a
crossbar attached to end casings which each contain four
rollers, these being made to fit exactly between the
flanges of the channel bars forming the sides of the
carriage. Any pull on the ropes, therefore, will cause
the scraper to move backward or forward, according to
whether the tail rope or main rope be wound on the
drum. A stop is fitted to the back end of each of the
side channels of the carriage, thus limiting the travel of
the scraper, and after the latter comes against these
stops, it follows that any further pull will move the
carriage. This is what happens when it is required to
run the empty conveyor along the face for refilling with
coal.

At the front end of the conveyor is a swing door
secured by means of a pin which prevents any coal

tion, enabling the output of the face to be very
considerably enhanced at less cost, whilst the men have
been able to earn better wages. Consequently it is
satisfactory to both owners and men.

COALMINING IN NEW ZEALAND.

According to the official returns for 1911, minerals
valued at £3,492,362 were raised in New Zealand during
that year. The output of coal was 2,066,073 tons,
higher than any previous year with the exception of
1910, when 2,197,362 tons were gotten ; 1,218,693 tons
were produced in the West Coast district, 449,508 tons
in the Southern district, and 397,872 tons in the Northern
district. The comparative tonnage of the various
classes of coal, &c., was as follows:—Bituminous and
semi-bituminous, 1,495,709 tons ( — 137,352 tons); pitch
coal, 4,411 tons ( — 1,657 tons); brown coal, 601,093 tons
(+6,098 tons); lignite, 102,212 tons (+ 1,622 tons). Up
to date 33,297,621 tons have been raised from New
Zealand collieries. New collieries are now being opened
out in the Grey and Waikato coalfields, and the existing
mines enlarged in order to cope with the increased
demand for bituminous and semi-bituminous coal. The
outputs of the various collieries in 1911 were as follows:
—Brown coal: Taupiri, 252,262 tons; Kaitangata,
134,129 tons ; Nightcaps, 64,250 tons. Bituminous
coal—Westport Coal Company (Millerton), 299,642
tons; do. (Denniston), 323,368 tons ; Westport-Stockton,
87,236 tons; State coalmines (Seddonville), 60,045 tons ;
do. (Point Elizabeth, No. 1), 188,892 tons; Blackball

tenders, and he had received the reply that it was assumed
that if they advertised for tenders the lowest tender must
necessarily be accepted, but if they asked for offers the
committee would be in a position to negotiate. Councillor
Hampson submitted that they were not entitled to advertise
for offers if they differed from tenders, because by so doing
they would be violating a standing order. He contended
that the principle of negotiations, as distinguished from a
straightforward acceptance of a tender, where the lowest
tender was accepted, assuming that the quality of the goods
supplied was what was required, was disastrous to commer-
cial competition. He had been told by large coalowners
of considerable repute that they would have neither part
nor lot in the system now proposed, and that they would
not submit offers because they knew the offers or tenders
would be manipulated subsequently, and that they would
have to submit higher prices in order to reduce them later.
The chairman of the committee concerned justified this
system, on the ground that there was a coal ring in existence
to keep up the prices. He challenged the chairman to justify
his statement, and he challenged him to submit the matter
to a committee of enquiry, and to allow the whole question
to be investigated. He moved that the whole matter be
referred back, and appealed to the Council to carry the
amendment, because he wanted a greater area of choice—
he wanted free and fair competition, open and straight-
forward tendering, and justice to be done to the Corporation
and to the coal industry.—Aid. Phillips (chairman of the
gas committee) said the question for them to decide was,
Were they going to have the business conducted in the best
interests of the ratepayers of Salford, or were they going to
throw away their money and put it into the hands of the
coalowners ?—Upon a vote being taken, the amendment that
the matter be referred back was defeated by 23 votes to 15.