GOOD STEAM COAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17110, 15 March 1919, Page 11

GOOD STEAM COAL.

WHERE IT COMES FrJOM. A COAL TOWN IN THE SKY. . bt wnx UWSON. The coalminers on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand are in two groups—those' near Westport and those of which Greyraouth is the port. Concerning either of these, or of the conditions under which the miners engaged in them do their work, the general public of the country is profoundly ignorant. The popular opinion appears to be that the mines closely adjoin the wharves. Perhaps it is with a vague idea of seeing coal swung from the pit-mouth into the steamers' holds that the visitor to Westport first takes a walk along the excellently appointed wharves of that port. Though he does not see anything resembling a coalmine in their vicinity, he will see coal shipped in a most up-to-date manner from the trucks which have brought it from the mines. A heavy crane has attached, to its lengthy chain a square frame, from which four 'chains and hooks depend. These are hooked into strong steel eyes on the upper edge of the truck and the body of the truck is lifted clear of its wheels and' swung out above the colliers' hatches. There two men inock away some holding pins and the bottom of the truck opens downward in two hinged sections, allowing the coal to shoot into the hold, where the trimmers store it in a proper manner, while the truck body is replaced on its wheels. Each truck holds 8£ tons of coal, and the weight of the truck is about four tons. As the striug of empties is drawn away from the wharves, the obvious query which occurs is;— " Where are the mines?" And the answers may be given by a townsman, with a sweep of his arm towards the hills that lie to the 'north-east-ward of Westport, miles away across the wide expanse of level pakihi— mineral lands. The mines are up"on that range there, 2000 ft above tße railways. That is whore Denniston, and Millerton, and Stockton are. The coal comes down inclines to the railway. These trucks here are taken up the Denniston incline to be filled. At Granity, Ngakawau. and Seddonville they are filled on the level track from the tubs that bring the coal down the ropeways." Access to Denniston. Although the mines are all in the hills, and far back from the skyline, too, the railway sticks to the level land. • Therefore, to reach the mining towns, one must leave the railway at the station nearest the foot of the inclines and find other means of conveyance to reach tho heights. Denniston is the best off in this matter, in having the daily motor mail-car from Waimangaroa, a station nine miles out. From the station the car climbs by a seven-mile zig-zag road, which makes one I of the most enjoyable of motor drives, as the view of sea and coastline opens out before the eye. And Denniston is reached almost abruptly onco the a est of the tableland is reached. The formation of the land is of sandstone, making for a bare, bleakness of appearance. As far tho eye can see there are only sandstone ridges visible. But the town itself, though equally devoid of ornament, and containing many unpainted houses, is clean and more than interesting. Its extreme edge is right in the ridge, and from below it makes a silhouette which terminates in a tall, smoking chimney and a long-legged tip-head. From this precipitous place a grey streak may be seen down the hillside. This is the incline down and up which run the big railway coal trucks. Towards this interesting ' place the visitor to Denniston is taken to see the coal go out to the world from the heights. This is the Westport Coal Company's territory, and the coal which is going out is Coalbrookdale, taken from the Iron Bridge. Wareatea, Wareatea Extended, Cascade, and Callan's Creek mines. A ropeway, leading for several miles and with several functioning lines, brings the coal over long distances, in tubs ■ containing , about 12cwt each, which run on rails and are carried 'onward and onward at a slowpace by an endless rope, to which they are shackled with removable chains. Getting the Goal from Mine. As each of these little waggons rumbles into the top floor of the hu.<;e discharging bins, a lad knocks the shuckles oS and removes from one end of the tub a metal disc on a string. This is the number of the miner who has filled it. Then the tub is steadied on to a weighbridge, and as it rolls slowly across the bridge, the j lad calls out tho number. Inside the ' weights office a huge pointer tells the I weight in cwts on a broad dial Two men, seated opposite to this dial, write down in separate ledgers the number of the miner, and the weight' of coal in the tub. One of these recorders represents the company and the other the men. The entries of each are a check on the other. From this stage the tub gathers impetus, and finally is hurled upside down over, an opening which lets the coal fall into bins below, from which it is sorted' and screened and carried along to where the big railway trucks stand, looking like | objects which have wandered far from their native heath. It is a sight wel.l worth watching to see these loaded waggons dash down a grade •varying from 1 in 1 to 1J in I—"plumb and a nit over" as this incline has been graphically described. Each loaded truck in its descent brings upward an empty one of the same kincL There is an endless rope, the upper end of which! is wound lound a heavy, powerful hydraulio brakedrum. When the loaded truck is ready it is attached to the cable and given a push It rolls steadily towards the brink, tips forward slightly as it takes a preliminary plunge, and gathers speed. Then it reaches the part that is " plumb and a bit over." The coal slithers forward and is caught on the lip of the truck, ami the f ace becomes a cracker. In the meantime, halfway down the ascent, where there is i less steep place, an empty waggon whioh has just been attached to the cable—this incline is worked in two sections— to show intense animation. It rushes upwards, swerves into, a switch, where the downward hurtling waggon whizzes past I it. The up-bound truck looms larger with I great rapidity, and presently comes up the I steepest place like an express train at an ' astonishing pace, which sends it clear on to the level truck under the loading ' shoots. And another loaded one goes down, and another empty comes up as soon as the preceding ones have been cleared and hooked on to the lower rope and taken down to the branch railway at Conn's Creek, from where it in time reaches the Westport Wharf. The thing which constantly interests the stranger in Denniston, while he remains in the part of the town which is on the verge, is the strange outlook one has from, I door and window, from the ends of the streets and from any vantage point whereon he may be standing. Always he looks out upon a blue mistiness, though which, like a distant thing, far, far below him is the sea and the pakihi lands and the everyday places w{iere the world wags on. Often Denniston is swathed in mist, and the impression then must be stranger still. The sense of aloofness from the world must be intensified very much.