Coal Resources of the Newcastle District, NSW, Australia 1889(The Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company)

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from a series of articles published in the Newcastle Morning Herald covering the period 26th September, 1889 to 21st November, 1889

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THE NEWCASTLE COLLIERIES
THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS
[No I]
The Newcastle Wallsend Mine

(By Atramentous)

Published 21st October, 1889

During the year 1860 the now famous Newcastle-Wallsend Company, whose colliery is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere commenced operations on some seven or eight hundred acres of land to the southward of the present town of Wallsend, about eight and a half miles from the port of Newcastle. The capital of the company was £100,000 in 10,000 shares of £10 each, and for some years after it was formed its path was beset with innumerable difficulties and impediments. During the first year of its existence a general strike took place among the miners of the district, but, notwithstanding this, the output of the company reached 43,273 tons. In 1862, that amount was increased to 124,218 tons, from the three pits now known A.B. and C. In the meantime the company succeeded in purchasing the well known Weller's grant of 8,000 acres, thus increasing their estate to nearly 9,000 acres. This immense parcel of land, which is the exclusive property of the company, extends from Cockle Creek to Hexham, and is the largest coal-mining estate in the colony. From the day the company secured that land it had a successful and rapid development, and the shares which at times were exceedingly low, increased in value, until at the present hour they are quoted at £46 each. Besides this a great portion of the paid-up capital has been returned. Soon after the commencement of the company they succeeded in obtaining from the Government the right to erect steam cranes on the Newcastle wharves. These were the first steam cranes erected for the shipment of coal in Newcastle.

The Government subsequently erected others; but objections being raised by other Companies to the Wallsend Company having exclusive right to ship by the cranes erected by them, the Government purchased them at valuation. At the present time the company have seven and a-half miles of haulage to the dyke, four miles of the railway being their own, and three the property of the Government, who haul the coal at a fixed standard price per ton. In the year 1878 the company, wishing to increased their output and develop another portion of their estate, drove No. 1 tunnel into the hill on the Newcastle side of Wallsend, and opened out the mine on such a scale as to enable them to increase their output until it was the largest of any colliery in Australia. The working by means of a tunnel proving advantageous, the company in 1884 opened out another and concentrated the works, ceasing to raise coal at B Pit, which is now used principally for pumping purposes. Should, however, increased trade render it necessary, work could be resumed with but little outlay or delay at B Pit.

A glance at the statistics of the company shows that in the year 1886 no less than 483,884 tons, valued at £240,000, were won, while in 1887 it stood at the enormous quantity of 491,498 tons, valued at £247,595. Last year, however, the output had decreased to 372,743 tons, but that result was due to the great strike which closed this and nearly all the collieries in the Newcastle district for three months. The two tunnels are capable, when in full and constant work, of sending out half a million tons annually, and despite the dull times the outlook for the present is exceedingly bright. For the six months ending June 30th, 257,378 tons were won, and the amount which is certainly enormous, exceeds all previous records, except 1887. For the five weeks ending September 28th, the amount raised was 39,883 tons, and there is every probability that at the end of the year the company's output will be over 400,000 tons. The number of men employed by the company underground is 1070, while 180 men and boys find employment on the surface. At the present time the innermost workings are one mile and a half from the mouth of the tunnel, but are still some five miles from the end of the estate.

The system of hauling out the full skips, and sending in the empty ones from the tunnel is so complete and on such a huge scale as to deserve a special article in itself. In the place of the endless wire rope which obtains in the majority of the collieries in the district, the company have what is known as the tail rope system, by which forty skips in one train are continually being pulled out.

Three powerful engines do the work of hauling from No. 1 tunnel, while at the other the work is accomplished by one, the aggregate power of the four being equal to over 1200 horses. The screening and loading the coal on to the waggons is, perhaps, one of the most interesting sights at the colliery, and when it is considered that over 2000 tons are treated every day, some idea of the work entailed may be formed. It may be stated, the colliery buildings are erected in a gully, and as the skips are hauled from the tunnel, they are some 15 or 20 feet above the level of the railway when stopped in the screening sheds. Here they are quickly capsized, the contents rushing into the sloping iron bars which lead to the hopper waggons below. The bars are three quarters of an inch apart, thus allowing the small coal to run through, while the round or large coal passes over into the waggons. When one set is filled they are drawn away by a locomotive to the port, while another set takes it place under the screens. At the mouth of No. 1 tunnel there are eight of these screens, while five more suffice for No. 2. The small coal, when it is not in demand, is stored in a huge timber box-like structure, known to miners as a hopper, which is capable of holding 2000 tons. Owing to a recent arrangement entered into by the miners and the management whereby the small coal is brought out of the pit in place of being deposited into the vacant places, the company are erecting a second hopper similar to the first.

Much attention is paid to the ventilation of the colliery, and many thousands of pounds have been spent to make it up to the requirements of the miners. The main source of supply is obtained by a Guibal fan 40ft. in diameter and 12ft. across, which is by far the largest in the colonies. For some years the A.A. Company had the only one of these ingenious contrivances in the district, but their efficiency is fast bringing them into common use. The fan at Wallsend is capable of supplying 200,000 cubic feet of air per minute, and is one of the sights of the colliery. Besides this, each tunnel is supplied with 100,000 cubic feet of air per minute by two furnaces placed at the mouth of air shafts. Very little fire-damp or sulphuretted hydrogen gas, it is understood, has ever been encountered in the Wallsend mine, while the encroachment of black-damp, which invariably accumulates in old workings, is prevented by the free use of stoppings of brick-work over the entrances. A vast amount of coke is made in the ovens adjacent to the colliery, and a most complete system of electric signalling to all parts of the mine is most successfully carried on.

The trade of the Wallsend Company is chiefly foreign, a great amount of its coal going to California, where it has gained an enviable name. A large quantity is also sent annually to South America, India and other places, where it is equally well-known. At the present time there are 630 steel hopper waggons, besides others in use, having an aggregate capacity of 5700 tons. Among the intended improvements shortly to be made at this remarkable colliery is a pair of two thirty-inch cylinder engines to work on the first motion. They are now on the way from Britain, and on arrival will be placed at No 1 tunnel for the purpose of increasing the speed in hauling out the loaded skips.

The seam worked in the colliery is the well-known Borehole, but is known in the vicinity as the Wallsend seam. It is about 8ft. in thickness and is very free from faults, lies regularly, and dips about 1 in 60 south-west and south. The seam, however, is supposed to deteriorate as it extends south of the site of the tunnels, which by the way are known to some as the Dark Creek adits.

The works at the colliery were carried out from 1860 under the management of Mr J.Y. Neilson until his death in May 1889. Mr Alexander Ross, Junr., who had been in the employ of the company from 1861 to 1878, when he was appointed as colliery manager of the Newcastle Coal-mining Company, succeeded Mr Neilson as colliery manager, and entered on his duties in August, 1889, The head office of the company is in Sydney, Mr F.W. Binney being Secretary; the local office being under Mr H.R. Cross, who acts as shipping manager.

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The History & Coal Resources of Newcastle from 1830 - 1889 from a series of articles published in the Newcastle Morning Herald covering the period 26th September, 1889 to 21st November, 1889 Back to main Coal Mines page THE NEWCASTLE COLLIERIES THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS [No I] The Newcastle Wallsend Mine (By Atramentous)
Published 21st October, 1889 During the year 1860 the now famous Newcastle-Wallsend Company, whose colliery is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere commenced operations on some seven or eight hundred acres of land to the southward of the present town of Wallsend, about eight and a half miles from the port of Newcastle. The capital of the company was £100,000 in 10,000 shares of £10 each, and for some years after it was formed its path was beset with innumerable difficulties and impediments. During the first year of its existence a general strike took place among the miners of the district, but, notwithstanding this, the output of the company reached 43,273 tons. In 1862, that amount was increased to 124,218 tons, from the three pits now known A.B. and C. In the meantime the company succeeded in purchasing the well known Weller's grant of 8,000 acres, thus increasing their estate to nearly 9,000 acres. This immense parcel of land, which is the exclusive property of the company, extends from Cockle Creek to Hexham, and is the largest coal-mining estate in the colony. From the day the company secured that land it had a successful and rapid development, and the shares which at times were exceedingly low, increased in value, until at the present hour they are quoted at £46 each. Besides this a great portion of the paid-up capital has been returned. Soon after the commencement of the company they succeeded in obtaining from the Government the right to erect steam cranes on the Newcastle wharves. These were the first steam cranes erected for the shipment of coal in Newcastle. The Government subsequently erected others; but objections being raised by other Companies to the Wallsend Company having exclusive right to ship by the cranes erected by them, the Government purchased them at valuation. At the present time the company have seven and a-half miles of haulage to the dyke, four miles of the railway being their own, and three the property of the Government, who haul the coal at a fixed standard price per ton. In the year 1878 the company, wishing to increased their output and develop another portion of their estate, drove No. 1 tunnel into the hill on the Newcastle side of Wallsend, and opened out the mine on such a scale as to enable them to increase their output until it was the largest of any colliery in Australia. The working by means of a tunnel proving advantageous, the company in 1884 opened out another and concentrated the works, ceasing to raise coal at B Pit, which is now used principally for pumping purposes. Should, however, increased trade render it necessary, work could be resumed with but little outlay or delay at B Pit. A glance at the statistics of the company shows that in the year 1886 no less than 483,884 tons, valued at £240,000, were won, while in 1887 it stood at the enormous quantity of 491,498 tons, valued at £247,595. Last year, however, the output had decreased to 372,743 tons, but that result was due to the great strike which closed this and nearly all the collieries in the Newcastle district for three months. The two tunnels are capable, when in full and constant work, of sending out half a million tons annually, and despite the dull times the outlook for the present is exceedingly bright. For the six months ending June 30th, 257,378 tons were won, and the amount which is certainly enormous, exceeds all previous records, except 1887. For the five weeks ending September 28th, the amount raised was 39,883 tons, and there is every probability that at the end of the year the company's output will be over 400,000 tons. The number of men employed by the company underground is 1070, while 180 men and boys find employment on the surface. At the present time the innermost workings are one mile and a half from the mouth of the tunnel, but are still some five miles from the end of the estate. The system of hauling out the full skips, and sending in the empty ones from the tunnel is so complete and on such a huge scale as to deserve a special article in itself. In the place of the endless wire rope which obtains in the majority of the collieries in the district, the company have what is known as the tail rope system, by which forty skips in one train are continually being pulled out.	Three powerful engines do the work of hauling from No. 1 tunnel, while at the other the work is accomplished by one, the aggregate power of the four being equal to over 1200 horses. The screening and loading the coal on to the waggons is, perhaps, one of the most interesting sights at the colliery, and when it is considered that over 2000 tons are treated every day, some idea of the work entailed may be formed. It may be stated, the colliery buildings are erected in a gully, and as the skips are hauled from the tunnel, they are some 15 or 20 feet above the level of the railway when stopped in the screening sheds. Here they are quickly capsized, the contents rushing into the sloping iron bars which lead to the hopper waggons below. The bars are three quarters of an inch apart, thus allowing the small coal to run through, while the round or large coal passes over into the waggons. When one set is filled they are drawn away by a locomotive to the port, while another set takes it place under the screens. At the mouth of No. 1 tunnel there are eight of these screens, while five more suffice for No. 2. The small coal, when it is not in demand, is stored in a huge timber box-like structure, known to miners as a hopper, which is capable of holding 2000 tons. Owing to a recent arrangement entered into by the miners and the management whereby the small coal is brought out of the pit in place of being deposited into the vacant places, the company are erecting a second hopper similar to the first. Much attention is paid to the ventilation of the colliery, and many thousands of pounds have been spent to make it up to the requirements of the miners. The main source of supply is obtained by a Guibal fan 40ft. in diameter and 12ft. across, which is by far the largest in the colonies. For some years the A.A. Company had the only one of these ingenious contrivances in the district, but their efficiency is fast bringing them into common use. The fan at Wallsend is capable of supplying 200,000 cubic feet of air per minute, and is one of the sights of the colliery. Besides this, each tunnel is supplied with 100,000 cubic feet of air per minute by two furnaces placed at the mouth of air shafts. Very little fire-damp or sulphuretted hydrogen gas, it is understood, has ever been encountered in the Wallsend mine, while the encroachment of black-damp, which invariably accumulates in old workings, is prevented by the free use of stoppings of brick-work over the entrances. A vast amount of coke is made in the ovens adjacent to the colliery, and a most complete system of electric signalling to all parts of the mine is most successfully carried on. The trade of the Wallsend Company is chiefly foreign, a great amount of its coal going to California, where it has gained an enviable name. A large quantity is also sent annually to South America, India and other places, where it is equally well-known. At the present time there are 630 steel hopper waggons, besides others in use, having an aggregate capacity of 5700 tons. Among the intended improvements shortly to be made at this remarkable colliery is a pair of two thirty-inch cylinder engines to work on the first motion. They are now on the way from Britain, and on arrival will be placed at No 1 tunnel for the purpose of increasing the speed in hauling out the loaded skips. The seam worked in the colliery is the well-known Borehole, but is known in the vicinity as the Wallsend seam. It is about 8ft. in thickness and is very free from faults, lies regularly, and dips about 1 in 60 south-west and south. The seam, however, is supposed to deteriorate as it extends south of the site of the tunnels, which by the way are known to some as the Dark Creek adits. The works at the colliery were carried out from 1860 under the management of Mr J.Y. Neilson until his death in May 1889. Mr Alexander Ross, Junr., who had been in the employ of the company from 1861 to 1878, when he was appointed as colliery manager of the Newcastle Coal-mining Company, succeeded Mr Neilson as colliery manager, and entered on his duties in August, 1889, The head office of the company is in Sydney, Mr F.W. Binney being Secretary; the local office being under Mr H.R. Cross, who acts as shipping manager.
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