A Glossary of Terms Used in Coal Mining

🔖 This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1883 edition. Excerpt: ... top of an upcast shaft to carry off the smoke, &c, and to increase the ventilating current. 2. (D.) A basin or natural swamp in a coal seam, often running several hundred yards in length. Lumberings (D.). Bumps over old workings. Lumps (S. S.). Coal of largest size by one. Lurry. 1. (Y.) A tram to which an endless rope is attached, fixed at the inbye end of the plane, forming part of an appliance for taking up the slack rope. See Fig. 93. Fig. 93. 2. A movable platform on wheels, the top of which is made on a level with the bank (1) or surface. It is run over the mouth of a pit-shaft for a bowk to be lowered down upon when reaching the pit top. Lye (S.). A siding for tubs in a mine. Lypes (S.). Irregularities in the roof indicating danger from falls. M. Machine A weighbridge or weighing machine upon which wagons, trams, carts, &c, are weighed, either with or without their loads of coals, &c Machine-man. One who weighs coals, &c, and keeps an account of the number of tubs sent to bank (1). Machine Wall. The face at which a coal-cutting machine works. Maiden Field or Ground. A coalfield, &c, which has not been tapped. Main Door. See Bearing Door. Main Board-gate (Y.). The heading which is driven to the rise of the shaft. It is usual to make it larger in sectional area than an ordinary board-gate. See a, Fig. 9 Bank-work. Main Engine (N.). The surface pumping engine, usually of the Cornish type. Main Road. The principal underground way in a district along which the produce of the mine is conveyed to the shafts, generally forming the main intake air course of each district. Main Rope. A system of underground haulage in which the weight of the empty tubs is sufficient to draw the rope inbye. Main Suit (B.). A heavy spring...