The driving machinery is fitted with drums 10 feet in diameter; at the mine the rope simply passes round a 10-foot drum. Two hundred and fifty iron buckets, each with a capacity of 2 cwt. of coal, are fitted with a patent hanger and box-head, by means of which all jolting, when passing over the supports, is avoided. This tramway has been transporting, during eight months, about 120 tons of coal per day, and no accident or stoppage has occurred.
WIRE RAILWAY AT THE HARWOOD COAL MINES, BRITISH COLUMBIA.
Many other tramways of the same nature have been recently put in operation in various parts of the world, as, for instance, in Mauritius, where they have been successfully applied to the carriage of sugar-cane; also in New Zealand, where they are used for carrying manganese ore.
ESTIMATE OF COAL.
This means of conveyance is certainly a very practical and inexpensive one; it does away with railroad material, engines, engineers, the consumption of coal, etc., and may be applied over the deepest ravines, where it would almost be an impossibility to build a railroad, unless a bridge were built, at enormous expense and labor. Let us conclude this article by giving the following estimate, in round numbers, of the world’s present annual production of coal. It is taken from various sources, and may be considered approximately correct.
| Tons. | Per cent. | |
|---|---|---|
| Great Britain, | 127,016,747 | 46.4 |
| United States, | 50,512,000 | 18.4 |
| Germany, | 45,335,741 | 16.5 |
| France, | 17,400,000 | 6.4 |
| Belgium, | 17,000,000 | 6.2 |
| Austria and Hungary, | 11,000,000 | 4.0 |
| Russia, | 1,200,000 | 0.5 |
| Spain, | 570,000 | 0.2 |
| Portugal, | 18,000 | —— |
| Nova Scotia, | 1,051,567 | 0.4 |
| Australia, | 1,000,000 | 0.4 |
| India, | 500,000 | 0.2 |
| Other countries, | 1,000,000 | 0.4 |
| ————— | —— | |
| 273,704,055 | 100.0 |