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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 1997-10 > 0877902431


From: "DAVID HUNTER" <>
Subject: Coal Miners
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 97 21:33:19 UT


Suzanne
Their were two kinds of engine keepers.The first being the man responsible
for the Winding Engine which raised and lowered the cages in the shafts which
were vertical. In most cases I would expect him to be designated as a "Winding
Engineman".Because they were winding men in these cages they had to be
certificated as I described in my last post. The man who controlled the bell
system at the pit top which advised the Winding Engineman that it was safe to
move the cage was called the "Banksman". The man who loaded the cage with men
and tubs or hutches as they were sometimes called, which carried coal,
supplies and other materials was called the "Onsetter" . If the entrance to
the mine was an inclined adit or drift then a haulage engine would be placed
at the entrance and an endless wire rope would reach to the bottom of the adit
or in some cases only a single rope. These systems would lower the empty tubs
to the bottom and pull the full tubs to the top.From the bottom of the
vertical shaft or from the bottom of the adit a system of further haulage
engines would reach out all through the mine workings so that trains of these
tubs could bring out the coal and take in the timber required for roof
supports. Each one of these haulage engines required a man to operate them.
They mostly did not involve the transport of men,when they did they were
called "manriders", so the driver or keeper of these haulage engines could be
appointed by the Manager of the mine. In large Collieries their were many of
these engines driving rope systems, some extending several miles in length and
the engines were of considerable size. I suspect your engine keeper would be
responsible for one of them.
David Hunter

Researching
HUNTER SCT> VA USA,HOLMAN>CNW UK
MILLER CO DWN NI,CORSTORPHINE SCT
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