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REPORT 
 
 ON THK 
 
 Iff 
 
 CAPE BRETON. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY Y. HIND, M. A. 
 
 (Geologist to the Canadian Red River Expedition of 1857.— In charge of tlie Assiniboine and 
 Saskatchewan Expedition of 1858.— Author of Narrative of the Canadian Expedi- 
 tions to the North West.— Explorations in the Interior of the Labrador 
 . Peninsula.— Report on the Geology of New Brunswick, 
 
 &c.— Reports on Waverley and Sherbrooke Gold 
 Districts, &c.) 
 
 HALIFAX : 
 NOVA SCOTIA PRINTING COMPANY." 
 1871. 
 
* « 
 
 • • • # 
 
 ' • • ■ • 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 1. The Sydney Coal Field. 
 
 2. Character of the present Submarine Works, 
 
 3. Roof between Main Seam and Loyd's Cove Seam. 
 
 4. Roof between Loyd's Cove Seam and Cranberry Head 
 
 Seam. 
 
 5. Thickness of the Strata. 
 
 6. Ventilation at the Sydney Colliery. 
 
 7. Mode of Mining the Coal at the Sydney Colliery. 
 
 8. Drainage. 
 
 9. Available Coal from the Main Seam of the Sydney 
 
 Colliery. 
 
 10. Coal Cutting Machinery. 
 
 1 1. ' Character of the Sydney Coal. 
 
 12. Railway and Loading Ground. 
 
 13. Conclusion. 
 
REPORT ON THE SYDNEY COLLIERY. 
 
 I. — THE SYDNEY COAL FIELD. 
 
 Contrasted with the disturbed and faulted coal fields 
 of Great Britain, the Sydney measures display remarkable 
 uniformity and great regularity in structure. The disloca- 
 tions appear to be almost exclusively limited to the deep 
 inlets and bays on the coast, which all have a roughly parallel 
 direction towards the North East by East. 
 
 The Great Bras d*Or, Little Bras d'Or, Spanish Bay, 
 (Sydney Harbour), Indian Bay, Glace Bay, and Cow Bay, all 
 appear to mark the course of up-throw or down-throw faults ; 
 but the intervening spaces are, as far as known, free from any 
 important disturbances. In this respect the Sydney measures 
 differ in a marked degree from those of Pictou, where great 
 cross faults are met with. 
 
 Perfect regularity appears to exist in the measures 
 between the Little Bras d'Or and Sydney Harbour to the 
 north and south of the Sydney Colliery ; the average inclina- 
 tion or dip is not more than seven degrees, and towards the 
 east, north-east, (N. 6oE. ; see Plan and. Section.) 
 
 The thickness of the coal measures between their base 
 at Stubbard's Point, Sydney Harbour, and Cranberry Head, 
 is 1, 860 feet, the horizontal distance between these points 
 being about 5,000 yards. The whole of this section has been 
 carefully measured by Mr. Richard Brown, and the details are 
 given in the Proceedings of the Geological Society of Lon- 
 
6 Report on the 
 
 don for 1849. ^^ analysis of 367 distinct beds gives the 
 following result : — 
 
 Feet. Inches. 
 Arenaceous and Argillaceous Shales 1127 3 
 
 Underclays 99 6 
 
 Sandstones 562 o 
 
 Coal 37 o 
 
 Bituminous Shales 26 5 
 
 Carbonaceous Shales 3 3 
 
 Limestones , 3 11 
 
 Conglomerate o 8 
 
 Total feet i860 o 
 
 The thirty-seven feet of coal is made up of thirty-one 
 seams ; and of these Mr. Brown states that four only are 
 of sufficient thickness to be worked profitably. These are : — 
 
 Feet. Inches. 
 No. I . — Indian Cove Seam, (No. Ill) 4 8 
 
 No. 2. — Main Coal 6 o 
 
 No. 3. — Lloyd's Cove Seam 5 o 
 
 No. 4. — Cranberry Head Top Seam 3 8 
 
 Since Mr. Brown's paper was written, it has been ascer- 
 tained that the seams thicken towards the north ; hence it 
 may arise that some of the beds of coal enumerated in his 
 section, and then considered too thin to be profitably worked, 
 will in their northerly extension become of considerable 
 economic value. 
 
 Three of the seams mentioned in the foregoing list have 
 been worked by the General Mining Association ; viz., the 
 Indian Cove Seam, the Main Coal, and Lloyd's Cove Seam. 
 In consequence of the superior quality of the Main Coal, the 
 other two seams have been abandoned for some years and the 
 works concentrated on the Main Coal, from which upwards of 
 one hundred thousand tons have been excavated during the 
 past year. 
 
 The Colliery of the General Mining Association, which 
 lies to the south and south-west of the Sydney Colliery, gives 
 employment to about five hundred officers, men, and boys ; 
 and having exhausted a considerable portion of the land area, 
 
Sydney Colliery. 7 
 
 its works for some years past have been extended under the 
 sea on both sides of the Cranberry Headland. The Sub- 
 marine Works in Lloyd's Cove now occupy over thirty acres, 
 and stretch upwards of a third of a mile under the sea, and 
 those on the opposite coast cover twenty-four acres under the 
 sea, and are expanding in a northerly and north-easterly 
 direction. The quantity of coal raised from the Submarine 
 workings in 1870 amounted to 66,224 tons. 
 
 2. — CHARACTER OF PRESENT SUBMARINE WORKS. 
 
 The General Mining Association, as already stated, have 
 extended their works over an area of thirty-two acres under 
 Lloyd's Cove, and about twenty-four acres under the ocean, 
 between Cranberry Head and Black Point. The extraordi- 
 nary dryness of these Submarine Works shows conclusively 
 the impermeable character of the roof; for, on the Lloyd's 
 Cove side of the Peninsula, at a distance of one-third of a 
 mile under the sea, the mine is dry ; there is no accumulation 
 of drainage water, and the walls of the drift are not wet. 
 Evaporation, heightened by the temperature (about sixty-four 
 degrees), and the ventilating current of air, suffice to keep the 
 mine comparatively dry. There are no indications of faults 
 or regular displacements of the strata, although slight and 
 wholly unimportant irregularities in the seam are met with in 
 three or four places, and on lines roughly parallel to one 
 another. These irregularities consist of narrow depressions 
 in the seam (nips), and a corresponding bulging out on each 
 side of the nip. 
 
 The roof is in some few places fragile to the extent of 
 the thickness oT the bed of shale (from two to six feet), which 
 immediately overlies the coal, and sometimes it is found 
 advisable to support the shaly roof for a few square yards, or 
 remove it until the strong, persistent Sandstone, twenty-four 
 feet thick, is exposed to view. 
 
 The floor of the Main Seam is an underclay, eight feet 
 thick. No evidence of creeps have yet been observed in the 
 mines of the General Mining Association, notwithstanding 
 
8 Report on the 
 
 the coa'. is partially worked out, according to the pillar-and- 
 board system, over an area covering considerably more than a 
 square mile. 
 
 3. — ROOF BETWEEN MAIN SEAM AND LLOYDS COVE SEAM. 
 
 Immediately above the Main Seam is an Argillaceous 
 Shale, varying in thickness from two to six feet. This is 
 overlaid by a massive bed of strong Sandstone twenty-four 
 feet in thickness. Succeeding the Sandstone, alternating 
 beds of Argillaceous, Arenaceous, and Bituminous Shale, 
 occupy a vertical height of seventy-two feet, and are over- 
 laid by another bed of strong Sandstone twenty-one feet 
 thick, Ninety-seven feet of Shales and Sandstones follow, 
 which are capped by a Sandstone bed forty-seven feet in 
 thickness. Succeeding this Sandstone are one hundred and 
 forty-two feet of alternating Sha'es and Sandstones, in which 
 some of the arenaceous beds attain a thickness of ten and 
 fourteen feet, — the whole being surmounted by a bed of 
 strong Sandstone thirty-one feet thick. An intervening 
 breadth of thirty-seven feet of Shales is followed by another 
 thick bed of strong Sandstone, measuring forty-one feet, 
 above which are two hundred and nine feet of Shales and 
 Sandstones, on which the Lloyd's Cove Searn, five feet in 
 thickness, rests. The entire thickness of the strata between 
 the Main Seam and the Lloyd's Cove Seam is seven hundred 
 and twenty-three feet, in which are no less than seven massive 
 beds of Sandstone having the following thicknesses respec- 
 tively : — 
 
 1st 24 feet. 
 
 and 21 " 
 
 3rd 47 " 
 
 4th 10 " 
 
 5th X4 " 
 
 6th 31 " 
 
 7th 41 " 
 
 Total 188 feet. 
 
 The following is a tabulated resjim^ of the beds forming 
 
Sydney Colliery. 9 
 
 the roof between the Main Seam and the Lloyd's Cove 
 Seam*, in ascending order: — 
 
 Thickness. 
 
 Main Seam 6 feet. 
 
 Shale 2 to 6 feet. 
 
 Sandstone 24 feet. 
 
 Shales 72 " 
 
 Sandstone 21 " 
 
 Shales and Sandstones 97 " 
 
 Sandstone 47 " 
 
 Shales and Sandstones 142 " 
 
 Sandstone 31 " 
 
 Shales 37 " 
 
 Sandstone 41 " 
 
 Shales and Sandstones 209 *' 
 
 Lloyd's Cove Seam 5 " 
 
 Total thickness of intervening strata... 723 feet. 
 
 4. — ROOF BETWEEN LLOYD's COVE SEAM AND CRANBERRV 
 
 HEAD SEAM. 
 
 The roof of the Lloyd's Cove Seam is an Argillaceous 
 Shale seven feet nine inches thick. It is succeeded by Sand- 
 stone seven feet ten inches in thickness, which is overlaid by 
 twenty feet of Shales and underclays capped by thirteen feet 
 of strong Sandstone. Twenty-five feet nine inches of Shale 
 and Sandstone succeed, followed by a bed of Sandstone ten 
 feet thick. A mass of alternating Argillaceous Shales and 
 Sandstones one hundred and ninety-five feet in thickness 
 intervene between the Cranberry Head Seam, three feet eight 
 inches thick. The whole may be tabulated as follows, in 
 ascending order: — 
 
 T/iickncss. 
 
 Lloyd's Cove Seam 5 feet 
 
 Argillaceous Shale 7 " 9 inches. 
 
 Sandstone 7 "10 " 
 
 Shales and Underclaj's 20 " o " 
 
 Strong Sandstone 13 " o " 
 
 Shale and Sandstone 25 " 9 " 
 
 * For details showing the thickness and character of each bed of Shale and 
 Sandstone, see the admirable section by Richard Brown, Esq., in the Pro- 
 ceedings of the Geological Society of London, for the year 1849. 
 
lo Report on the 
 
 Thickness. 
 
 Sandstone lo feet o incaes. 
 
 Argillaceous Shales and Sandstunes 195 " o " 
 
 Craniierry IIeai) Skam 3 " S " 
 
 Total thickness of roof between Lloyd's Cove Seam 
 
 and Cranberry Head Scam 279 feet 4 inches. 
 
 5. — THICKNESS OF THE STRATA. 
 
 The following table shows the thickness at right angles 
 to the dip (seven degrees N. 60 E.), between the Main Scam, 
 Lloyd's Cove Seam, and Cranberry Head Scam : — 
 
 Main Seam o feet. 
 
 Lloyd's Cove Seam 723 " 
 
 Cranberry Head Seam 279 " 
 
 Thickness of Strata at right angles to dip between Main 
 
 Seam and Cranberry Head Seam 1,002 " 
 
 Including the thickness of the Seams 1,016 *' 
 
 Depth of a vertical shaft from the Cranberry Head Seam to 
 
 the bottom of the Main Seam 1,023 feet. 
 
 In the absence of dislocations, and with a roof nowhere 
 less than seven hundred and fifty feet in thickness, and 
 composed of numerous thick bands of strong Sandstone 
 between beds of Arenaceous Shale, the influx of sea water 
 becomes almost impossible, and explains the reason why the 
 Submarine workings of the General Mining Association are 
 so unusually dry. Of course it is understood that the drain- 
 age waters from the old works to the rise are kept back by 
 barriers, the lowest one being sixty feet in thickness. 
 
 6. — VENTILATION IN THE SYDNEY COLLIERY. 
 
 The furnace is used by the General Mining Association 
 as a means of ventilation. The recent improvements in fans, 
 and their application, to a large extent, in Europe, make it a 
 matter for consideration whether their introduction in the 
 Sydney Colliery would not be attended with considerable 
 advantage. Their great capacity, economy and safety, and the 
 capabilities they possess to ventilate remote workings, will 
 probably ensure their adoption in this Colliery. The utmost 
 
Sydney Colliery. II 
 
 limit of the Sydney Colliery, on the direct line of dip, is not 
 more than three miles, and submarine works have already been 
 carried nearly to that distance in England. At right angles to 
 the dip the limits of the Colliery considerably exceed two 
 miles ; but, as stated on the best engineering authority in 
 England*, the fan machines are capable of ventilating as deep 
 as mining is ever likely to be prosecuted, and their capacity 
 for horizontal work is far in excess of any requirements likely 
 to be made in the present generation. 
 
 The economical advantages of mechanical ventilation have 
 been recently discussed in a paper read before the North of 
 England's Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, by 
 Mr. D. P. Morison. 
 
 The results are stated to be as follows : — 
 
 I St.- -A saving in the consumption of fuel, in most cases, 
 from 40 to 80 per cent, in favour of mechanical ventilation. 
 
 2. — The inapplicability of the furnace system to satisfy 
 the demand on the occurrence of sudden emergencies. 
 
 3. — Economy in the wear and tear of plant. 
 
 Among the various fan machines for ventilating, Mr. 
 Morison expressed himself in favour of Guibal's, the one 
 most in use in England and the Continent of Europe. 
 
 7. — MODE OF MINING THE COAL IN THE SYDNEY COLLIERY. 
 
 In planning the works for this Colliery, regard will be 
 had to all surrounding and collateral conditions. Among the 
 most important of these are the established character of the 
 coal in the market, and the impossibility of committing the 
 error, which in some instances has been fatal, of sending 
 into the market at the outset " crop coal." It is well known 
 that great injury has been done to the mining interests of the 
 Northern Cape Breton coal-field by sending into the market 
 coal from so near the crop of the seams, that all the impurities, 
 accompanied by the deterioration which results from exposure 
 to atmospheric influences, characterized the first samples. A 
 desire to obtain quick returns has for a long period greatly 
 
 * Sir W. Armstrong. 
 
12 Report on the 
 
 damaged some of the Collieries in Cape Breton, and the crop 
 coal thus sold has fixed for a time the character of a Colliery 
 greatly to the loss of the owners*. 
 
 The plan adopted by the General Mining Association in 
 their Submarine Works, is that of the Bord and Pillar. 
 Experience in England shows that this plan is the safest. In 
 the diagrams representing the method of working the Sydney 
 Colliery, the liord and Pillar system is shown. The remark- 
 able regularity of the measures, as far as known, seems to 
 leave no doubt that the coal can be worked uniformly to the 
 rise, as represented on the plan ; this is the most economical 
 method, and although with a proper barrier, hereafter noticed, 
 there is no reason to apprehend any trouble from water, yet 
 by working to the rise, the introduction of self-acting inclines 
 will considerably economize labour. 
 
 8. — DRAINAGE. 
 
 The barrier indicated on the plan is 200 feet broad. Its 
 object is to cut off all the drainage waters from the land, and 
 from possible future workings south of the limits of the 
 
 ♦ In other cases searas have fallen into disrepute on account of either igno- 
 rance of the peculiar characters of different parts of the seam, or when these are 
 known, of carelessness in separating the good from the indiflferent portions. 
 The main scam of the Sydney Mines is generally very uniform in quality, so 
 that the precautions necessary in some seams in northern Cape Breton do not 
 apply here. It is a significant fact, however, that with every desire to send the 
 best (jualities of coal into the market, yet, from a want of that information which 
 a chemical analysis would supply, consumers have been supplied with coal 
 unsuitable to their special requirements. There is, for instance, in the Sydney 
 Coal P'icld, a scam long celebrated for its adaptation to produce illuminating gas 
 of e.\ceilent quality. Experience showed that while its properties were very 
 favourably spoken of by one class of consumers, others complained of the 
 amount of sulphur it contained. Analysis showed that a portion of the seam 
 was almost free from sulphur, while other portions above and below contained a 
 considerable but not unusual proportion of this detrimental substance. It is 
 probiible also that in this seam the amount oi sulphur is variable in different 
 parts horizontally as well as vertically. 
 
 In 1S66 Mr. Rutherford drew attention to this injudicious practice in his 
 Official Report for that year. 
 
 Pillar working. — The facility with wuich the coal has been reached in all 
 
Sydney Colliery. 13 
 
 Colliery. The only breaks in this barrier will be those of the 
 Main Dip Road from the Kngine Pit at Honar Head, and at 
 some future time for air shafts to the north and south of the 
 Engine Pit, as the workings extend in those directions. 
 
 The Sydney Coal is remarkably free from fire-damp (Car- 
 buretted Hydrogen). By this expression it must not be 
 supposed that there is no fire-damp, or that miners can work 
 at all times with impunity. It is rather to be understood 
 that with ordinary precautions no accidents are to be feared 
 from the presence of this gas. A perusal of the Inspector's 
 Reports sufficiently establish this point.* In speaking of the 
 Sydney Mines, the Inspector says : — " Carburetted Hydrogen 
 is found in the mines, but not to any extent." Some acci- 
 dents have occurred from local explosions of the gas in old 
 workings, but in all cases these have been traced to great 
 want of caution on the part of the sufferers. 
 
 the districts, as compared with other mining countries in which, from the exhaustion 
 of the seams near the crop, expensive sinkings become necessary to reach the 
 underlying coal, and consequently great skill and carefulness are required in pro- 
 perly opening out the mine ; this freedom from an expensive preliminary outlay, 
 instead of enabling an effective winning of large tract of coal to be made before com- 
 mencing the regular working thereof, seems to have engendered an indifference to 
 future operations, and allowed the desire for an immediate profit to supersede the 
 necessity of a judicious arrangement of the mode of working. To this cause I 
 attribute the short distance from the crop, to which in most of the mines the 
 workings are confined ; and the adoption of a system by which as much of the 
 seam as possible is taken away in the first working and the pillars are reduced to 
 a minimum of strength for the purposes of support. The injudiciousness of this 
 system cannot be too strongly urged. The introduction into the market of coal 
 worked so close to the crop must have operated prejudiciously — and I have 
 reason to believe that it has — to the interests of the mine owner ; and the con- 
 tinuance of the scale of pillarage, which has, I think, from the preceding cause 
 been too generally adopted, will be fraught with consequences of a more serious 
 character. For, although with the present limited extent of workings and the 
 absence of pressure in consequence of the proximity of the coal to the surface, 
 the pillars may be sufficient to keep the mine open to ventilation or other pur- 
 poses, yet if unaltered where the overlying strata are very much thicker and 
 heavier, their inability to support will in no long time be exhibited to the serious 
 detriment of all concerned. For this reason I have felt it my duty to recommend 
 an increased size of pillars as the workings extend to the dip, with a view to 
 their subsequent entire removal. 
 
 * See page 42 — Report of the Chief Commissioner of Mines, i866. 
 
14 Report on the 
 
 9.— AVAILABLE COAL FROM THE MAIN SEAM OF THE SYDNEY 
 
 COLLIERY. 
 
 The average thickness of the Main Seam is six feet ; it 
 varies by two or three inches in long distances, being some- 
 times in excess and sometimes in defect of that average. It 
 has been already stated that, at rare intervals, "nips" have 
 been observed in the mine of the General Mining Associa- 
 tion, squeezing the coal over a narrow space, and causing it to 
 bulge at the outskirts of the "nip." An important " nip" of 
 this description occurs two-and-a-half miles west of the 
 Queen's Pit, and about one-and-a-half miles south from the 
 Engine Pit of the Sydney Colliery; this "nip" was at first 
 thought to be a small fault, but the continuation of the out- 
 crop of the seam, in its regular course to the north, makes it 
 more than probable that it is a local " nip." In estimating 
 the quantity of available coal, the average of six feet is 
 assumed. 
 
 Considering one cubic yard to represent one ton, the 
 amount of coal contained in each square mile of the Main 
 Seam is equal to 6,195,2000 tons. In the first workings of 
 the Sydney Colliery, the proportion of rooms to pillars is 
 assumed at one to two, or one-third available coal in the 
 rooms and two-thirds to remain standing in the pillars. 
 
 With this ratio existing between the Bords and Pillars, 
 the quantity of available coal per square mile from the Main 
 Seam would be two million and sixty-five thousand tons 
 (2,065,000.) A radius of one mile from the Engine Pit 
 would command three million two hundred and forty thousand 
 tons, leaving six million four hundred and eighty thousand 
 tons standing as pillars. 
 
 It will be observed that this calculation is based on the 
 very unusual proportion of one-third available coal and two- 
 thirds in pillars. In consequence of the Colliery being 
 Submarine, the proportion left standing in pillars must con- 
 siderably exceed the pillaring in ordinary works of the kind, 
 but there is every reason to suppose that a considerably larger 
 
Sydney Colliery. 15 
 
 amount may be withdrawn than the ratio given above. One- 
 half the coal left in pillars would leave for extraction : — 
 
 In one square mile — Available coal 3,097,600 tons. 
 
 " " In pillars 3,097,600 " 
 
 In a radius of one mile from Engine Pit — Available coal. 4,860,000 " 
 
 ' " In pillars 4,860,000 " 
 
 Total main coal on the property 91,000,000 tons. 
 
 Deducting the barrier, the superficial area of the coal in 
 the Main Seam within the limits of the Sydney Colliery, 
 exceeds twelve square miles. A considerable proportion of 
 this large area will be worked from Cranberry Head, on the 
 same system as indicated for Bonar Head. (See plan). It is 
 impossible to enter into details respecting the best mode of 
 mining the coal in the Cranberry Head Section. It is not 
 probable that attempts will be made to win the coal there for 
 many years to come, and, in the interval, the works of the 
 General Mining Association will have exhausted a large por- 
 tion of the coal belonging to that corporation, and the future 
 operations of the Sydney Colliery will depend upon the nature 
 of the works carried on by the General Mining Association 
 in the Cranberry Head District. In case the proprietors of 
 the Sydney Colliery were to commence works for mining the 
 coal in the Cranberry Head Section, the plan of operations 
 would be identical with those at Bonar Head, for all the 
 conditions are similar. The roof, the dip, the seam of coal, 
 all present the same physical outlines, and, as far as known, 
 exactly similar conditions of occurrence. 
 
 10. — COAL-CUTTING MACHINERY, 
 
 The commencement of a new Colliery of the first class in 
 Cape Breton, where no old associations or prejudices interfere 
 with the introduction of the best artifices and means to attain 
 the end in view, which modern science and experience 
 suggest, affords the best opportunities for working with the 
 utmost economy in all particulars. 
 
 Many of the objections to the general use of coal-cutting 
 machinery are to be traced to prejudice, and opposing inter- 
 ests. Ample proof exists that simple and effectual coal- 
 cutting machines are now in operation in Europe, which will 
 
1 6 Report on the 
 
 effect a saving of fully one-half in getting out the coal. The 
 saving is of a threefold character* : — 
 
 I St. — Safety, by avoiding the use of gunpowder. 
 2nd. — The less amount of slack obtained. 
 3rd. — The saving in labour and time. 
 
 The Grafton Jones' coal-getting machine is described as 
 " pushing coal out of the solid, without any holing or natural 
 breaks in the seam, at Keverton Park Colliery, in South 
 Yorkshire. The seam is five feet thick, and the coal is very 
 hard ; but by the use of the hydraulic wedge, blocks are got 
 four yards long and four feet wide — each about eight tons 
 weight — at one application of the machine."! 
 
 The getting out and underground storage of large masses 
 of coal are of the utmost importance in the climate of Cape 
 Breton. The Government Inspector has called special atten- 
 tion to the great loss which ensues from the accumulation of 
 coal above ground during the winter months, and its deteriora- 
 tion from exposure to the severities of the climate of Cape 
 Breton during the inclement season of the year. So great 
 has been this deterioration, that in some instances the In- 
 spector estimated that not much more than fifty per cent of large 
 coal had been obtained from this heap in some of the mines. 
 The Inspector's remarks and suggestions are contained in the 
 subjoined foot-note$. 
 
 * See a paper read before the North of England Institute of Mining and 
 Mechanical Engineers — Glasgow Meeting — by Mr. Arnold Luplon, on " Grafton 
 Jones' Coal-getting Machine." 
 
 t Nature — page 346, Aug, 25th, 1870. 
 
 t Storage of Coal. — It may perhaps seem premature to cry " waste " at 
 so early a stage of mining as the very recent development of the mineral re- 
 sources of this country implies ; but, at a time when attention is being directed 
 in England to the exhaustion of her coal supplies, and the consequent necessity 
 of economising them by every available means, it cannot, I think, be considered 
 inopportune to direct attention to a source of waste which may with care, to 
 some extent, be lessened. 
 
 In many of the Collieries the greater part of the slack made in working is 
 separated from the large Coal by riddling, and thrown aside in the mine. The 
 proportion thus taken out varies from five to twenty per cent. This slack is 
 
Sydney Colliery. t7 
 
 1 I. — CHARACTER OF THE SYDNEY COAL. 
 
 " The character of the coal of the Sydney Mines has been 
 well known in the market since the commencement of opera- 
 tions by the General Mining Association, in 1827. It is 
 
 seldom removed, and has therefore largely accumulated. It is reasonable to 
 suppose that if it could be sold even at a very small profit, it would not be left in 
 the mine ; and it is thus treated to avoid expense of depositing it on the surface, 
 and the combustion that would probably occur if a large quantity were heaped 
 together. By attention to the peculiarity of each seam, and the manner in which 
 the miner performs his work, the proportion of slack made in the ordinary 
 course of working may be reduced, and the loss of merchantable coal from this 
 cause be diminished. But there is another source of loss to which, inasmuch as 
 it affects the revenue to a much greater extent, I wish to draw attention. I 
 allude to the large stores of coal that are formed during the winter months. 
 The suspension of shipment for a period of from three to four months necessi- 
 tates the adoption of one of two courses : either the Colliery must be stopped, 
 or be continued at work and the coal brought out and stored on the surface. 
 It must be evident: that in the former case both employers and workmen would 
 be subject to much inconvenience and loss : the workmen would be obliged to 
 seek other means of employment, and the mine owner would be unprepared to 
 commence operations on an adequate scale when the shipping was resumed. 
 For this reason the latter course is adopted, and the consequence is a deteriora- 
 tion of the coal from exposure, and the production of a large proportion of slack 
 both from this cause and from the breakage in putting down and relifting. To 
 such an extent does this take place, that I have reason to believe that in some 
 instances the produce of large coal from the heap has not much exceeded fifty 
 per cent. When it is remembered that a large percentage has already been taken 
 out in the mine, and that the coal brought to the surface is with respect to size in 
 nearly a merchantable state, the loss of revenue from this cause must be ap- 
 parent. Impressed with the importance of obviating this as much as possible, I 
 have endeavored to induce the adoption of some means by which this loss may be 
 reduced to a minimum, and I am hopeful that as the interests of the mine owner 
 are seriously affected by so small a yield of saleable coal, they will readily adopt 
 any practicable scheme for realizing so desirable a result. This would, I con» 
 ceive, be to a considerable extent accomplished by an extension of the power of 
 production by a judicious laying out of the mine, and the formation during the 
 winter of a number of working places, together with the opening of more shafts 
 or other means of bringing the coal to the surface. With such a provision much 
 of the coal might be stored under ground and be raised as required without 
 interrupting the ordinary working of the Colliery. The injury to that portion 
 which would be sent out of the mine would also be very much less if suitable 
 erections were made for protecting it from the weather. There are details of 
 arrangement in carrying this out which it is unnecessary to state here ; I make the 
 suggestion with the hope of drawing the attention of owners and managers to the 
 importance of devising some means of lessening a loss by which the interests of 
 all are effected." Inspector's Report^ 1866. 
 
»» 
 
 Report on the 
 
 esteemed very highly as a domestic coal, and is in much 
 demand for Marine steam purposes."* 
 
 In the year 1842, Professor Johnson made a series of 
 elaborate experiments on the Sydney and other Nova Scotian 
 coals for the United States Government. 
 
 His analysis of the Main Seam is as follows : 
 
 PROF. JOHNSON, 1842. 
 
 Moisture 3.125 
 
 Volatile combustible matter S3.810 
 
 Fixed Carbon 67.570 
 
 A^h 5-495 
 
 100.000 
 PROF. HOW, IN 1861. 
 
 Moisture and Volatile Combs, matter 31-87 
 
 Mixed Carbon 64.59 
 
 A§b--t!-r.-..-r. ■'■ • 3-54 
 
 100.00 
 
 Specific gravity /. i'34<' 
 
 Evaporative power 8.87 
 
 A recent analysis of a vertical section of the Main Seam 
 by Dr. How for the General Mining Association gives the 
 Ibllowing resultsf: 
 
 COMPOSITION OF AVERAGE SAMPLES OP THE WHOLE SEAM 
 
 OF COAL. 
 
 BY MEDIUM COKING. 
 
 Moisture , 3.04 
 
 Volatile combustible matter 31-14 
 
 Fixed carbon 61.50 
 
 Ash (reddish Inrown) , 4.32 
 
 100.00 
 
 Coke per cent 65.82 
 
 Theoretical evaporative power 8.45 lb. 
 
 BY FAST COKING. 
 
 Total volat&e matters 37'4^ 
 
 Coke 62.52 
 
 loo.ou 
 Theoretical evaporative power 7.98 lb. 
 
 * How i Mineralogy of Nova Scotia, 1868. 
 t From a Report on Sydney Co?d, by Henry How, D. C. L., Professor erf 
 Chemistry in the UniversiSty of King's College, Windsor, N. S. 
 
Sydney Colliery. 19 
 
 BY SLOW COKING. 
 
 Total volatile matters 29.70 
 
 Coke 70.30 
 
 100.00 
 
 Theoretical evaporative power 9.06 It 
 
 Mean coke per cent 66.2t 
 
 Mean theoretical evaporative power 8.49 lb. . 
 
 Ash per cent 4.32 : 
 
 Sulphur per cent I.24 
 
 Specific Gravity of average samples 1.30 
 
 Calculated weight of one cubic foot, unbroken 81.10 lb. 
 
 •• " " " •• broken 54.50 lb. 
 
 Space lor one ton, 2240 lb., on stowage ("Economic Weight").4i. 10 cubic ft' 
 
 COMPOSITION OF ASH. 
 
 Sand and clay 29.57 
 
 Peroxide of iron 51-53 
 
 Alumina 4.84 
 
 Sulphate of lime 10.98 
 
 L4me 3.05 
 
 Magnesia '\ 
 
 Phosphoric acid, decided traces T 
 
 Manganese, traces ? 
 
 Chlorine, traces j 
 
 " The details above given explain the well known high 
 favour- in which this Coal has been held for upwards of forty 
 years for domestic use, and also for steam producing by those 
 who have employed it carefully." 
 
 In i860 the Inspector reported, "It may be interesting 
 to know that a cargo of 450 tons of this Coal was shipped by 
 order of the French Government to Brest 
 
 The Director of Naval Construction at Brest reports the 
 result of the trials made upon it to the Minister of Marine, as 
 follows : — The trials of the Nova Scotia coal by La Perdrix 
 show that, like Newcastle coals, it ignites easily, and produces 
 a long, lively flame, little coloured. It swells a little in the 
 fire and does not clog the bars. It gives but little clinker, 
 and is not very brittle. 
 
 The steam power is little inferior to that of Cardiff coal 
 and equals that of Newcastle. It is a fine coal and completely 
 assimiable to that of Newcastle ?" 
 
 The whole number of calls of steamers, including French, 
 
20 Report on the 
 
 English and American men-of-war for coals that year was 
 sixty six*. 
 
 At the present juncture this evidence of the steam pro- 
 ducing capabilities of the Sydney Coal from the Main Seam 
 is very important, in consequence of the gradual introduction 
 of Coal as fuel for Locomotives. 
 
 The experiments conducted under the supervision of the 
 late Mr. Hartley, Mining Engineer to the Geological Survey 
 of the Dominion, show conclusively that the steam coals of 
 Nova Scotia are well adapted not only for Marine but also 
 locomotive use. This fact has long been known with regard 
 to the Sydney Main Seam as appears from the foregoing quo- 
 tations from the Director of Naval Construction at Brest, and 
 the constant use of this coal on war and other steamers. 
 Its extension to the Pictou coals will draw attention to the 
 one question which remains, namely, the cost at which the 
 Sydney coal can be delivered at certain points compared with 
 the Pictou coals. 
 
 The construction of the Furnace both of steamers and 
 locomotives, and doubtless in all application of Coals of the 
 Newcastle or Sydney class, is of immense importance in order 
 to obtain the greatest efTect. In a series of trials recently 
 made at Portsmouth with new and old Furnaces on board 
 vessels of the Royal Navy, the following remarkable results 
 were obtained : — 
 
 FIRST TRIAL. 
 
 New furnace. Old furnace. 
 
 Smoke 1.55 4:^5 
 
 Coal burnt per hour — 2,940 lbs. 3,294 lbs. 
 
 Producing — 
 
 Ash 23.14 32.75 
 
 Soot 2.82 5.16 
 
 Clinker 3508 25.00 
 
 SECOND TRIAL. 
 
 Coal burnt per hour 2,912 3»397'3 
 
 Producing — 
 
 Ash 17.73 24.34 
 
 Soot 1.94 4,06 
 
 Clinker 31.0 40.6 
 
 ♦Quoted by Dr. How, Mineralogy of Nova Scotia, page 31. 
 t Circular of the Coal Trade Association of Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1869-70. 
 
Sydney Colliery. 21 
 
 "From these trials it appears that the new Furnaces ex- 
 hibited a saving upon the old, of 14.28 i>er cent, in fuel, an 
 increase of 7.56 per cent, in horse power, anc^ a positive gain 
 in the consumption of smoke, of 21.84 P^"^ cent. 
 
 The general introduction of Coal for locomotive use is not 
 far distant, it is now used more or less on the Nova Scotia 
 lines, and it is found to be more economical in several ways 
 than wood. (Vide Mr. Hartley's Report page 41-42.) 
 
 12. — RAILWAY AND LOADING GROUND. 
 
 The length of Railway constructed by the General Mining 
 Association from the New Winning to the Loading Ground 
 at North Sydney is about four miles. The distance from the 
 Engine Pit of the Sydney colliery to the Loading Ground at 
 North Sydney is about 5^ miles, but in case the mouth of the 
 Little Bras D'or should be selected at the Loading Ground 
 the distance would be about two miles only. In view however 
 of the great advantages possessed by Sydney Harbour it is 
 probable that the Loading Ground will be situated on some 
 convenient part of this safe, capacious and well-known ship- 
 ping place. 
 
 A narrow guage Railway similar to many now constructed 
 for Mining purposes in Europe will amply suffice for all the 
 requirements of the Colliery even supposing the yearly out- 
 put reaches 200,000 tons. Stationary engines are now 
 employed for similar purposes in Europe and are more econo- 
 mical than locomotives. 
 
 • 13. — CONCLUSION. 
 
 Bearing in view that the physical features of the country, 
 the capabilities of the harbour, the regularity of the measures, 
 and the exceptional quality of the coal, are all of a highly 
 favourable character, it is sufficiently evident that all the 
 elements for the establishment of a first-class Colliery exist at 
 unusually low cost for preliminary work. The subsequent and 
 not less important items connected with the underground 
 operations are under complete control, as far as such opera- 
 
it Report on the 
 
 tions can be predicated, and may be briefly enumerated 
 under the following heads : — 
 
 I. — Ventilation. — By means of Guibals, or other approved 
 machines. 
 
 II. — Drainage. — By the preservation of a barrier 200 feet 
 broad at the outset, to cut off the water from the rise ; 
 thereby reducing the pumping service to a minimum. 
 
 III. — Storage or Coal. — By the use of Coal-cutting 
 machines to take out the coal in large blocks and store 
 it underground during the season of suspended naviga- 
 tion. 
 
 IV. — Getting the Coal. — By means of Coal cutting ma- 
 chines, in order to economize labour, time, and loss in 
 slack, as well as to ensure safety. 
 
 It is not unreasonable to state that by the adoption of 
 
 these artifices the cost of a ton of Coal from the Sydney 
 
 Colliery, placed on board a vessel at the loading ground, will 
 
 fall considerably below the cost at which a ton of Coal of 
 
 equal quality has ever been shipped either in Nova Scotia or 
 
 Cape Breton. 
 
 HENRY Y. HIND, M. A., 
 
 Geologist. 
 Windsor, January, 1871. 
 
 AN ACT 
 
 TO INCORPORATE THE SYDNEY COAL MINING CO. 
 
 I. Be it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Assembly as follows : 
 Robert Boak, the younger, Peter Ross, Joseph J. Northup, H. E. Ross, and 
 John B. Campbell, their associates, successors and assigns, are hereby constituted 
 a body politic and corporate by the name of the Sydney Coal Mining Company, 
 for the purpose of opening and working coal mines in the Island of Cape Breton, 
 or elsewhere in the Province of Nova Scotia, and manufacturing coal oil and 
 other substances from coal, and trading in the products of such mines or manu> 
 bctures, and transacting business connected with the purposes aforesaid, or any 
 of them, to purchase, take, or lease or otherwise acquire any lands or other 
 property, and to construct and make such railways, tramways or other roads as 
 may be deemed necessary for the transportation of the products of mines worked . 
 
Sydney Colliery. 23 
 
 By the Company, and of other articles to and from such mines ; and to purchase, 
 or hire, construct, build, or erect all such wharves, docks and piers, mills, houses, 
 buildings and machinery as may from time to time appear expedient, and to do 
 all other matters and thmgs which the Company may deem incidental or condu- 
 pive to those objects or any of them. 
 
 2. The capital stock of the Company shall be two hundred thousand do'iars, 
 divided into shares of ten dollars eacn, which shall \» personal property, trans- 
 missible and assienable as such, and the Company shall have power to mcrease 
 their capital stock to one million dollars by the issue of new shares ; but the 
 Company shall not go into operation until twenty-five per cent, of the capital 
 Mock shall have been actually paid in. 
 
 ■^. The first meeting of^ the Company shall be held at such time and place 
 in this Province as the above corporators, or any three of them, shall determine, 
 and of which public notice shall be given in one or more newspapers, published 
 in the city of Halifax, in this Province, at least twenty days previous to such 
 meeting, and continued to the date thereof, at whicn, or at any subsequent 
 inerting, the Company may be organized by the election of not les& than three 
 Pirectors, and of otner necessary officers ; and the Shareholders present in 
 
 Ctrson, or by proxy, shall have power to organize the Company, establish bye< 
 ws, and elect all necessary officers. 
 
 4. No member of the Corporation shall be liable in his pierson or separate 
 tstate for the liabilities of the Company to a greater amount in the whole than 
 the amount of stock held by him, deducting therefrom the amount actually paid 
 to the Company on account of such stock, unless he shall have rendered himself 
 liable for a greater sum, by becomins surety for the debts of the Company ; hut 
 no Shareholder, who may nave transferred his interest in the stock of the Com- 
 pany, shall cease to be liable for any contracts of the Company entered into 
 Defore the date of such transfer, so as any action in respect of such liability shall 
 bo brought within six months after such transfer. 
 
 5. The Directors of the Company may receive lands, mines, buildings, 
 wharves, machinery, mining rights or privileges, or any interest therein, respect- 
 ively, in payment for stock subscribed for, or of any instalment or instalments 
 due thereon ; but subject, nevertheless, to such conditions as to valuation, or 
 acceptance of the same or otherwise, as may be imposed by the bye-laws of the 
 Company. 
 
 6. The transfer of shares in the Company shall be valid and efiectual, for 
 all purposes, from the time such transfer is made, and entered in the books of 
 the Company. 
 
 7. A list of the Stockholders of the Company and of the number of Shares 
 held by «ach of them, on the first days of May and November in each year, 
 certified under the hands of the President and Secretary, shall be filed in th« 
 months of May and November in each year, with the Registrar of Deeds of the 
 County or District where the principal works of the Company are situated in this 
 Province, such certificate to contain the names of the Stockholders, and the 
 number of Shares held by each of them respectively, on the first day of the month 
 in which such certificate is filed ; and it shall not be necessary to file any other 
 certificate of transfer or copy thereof. 
 
 8. The meetings of the Company shall be held at such place in this Pro- 
 vince as the Directors may appoint ; and the Company, through their Directors 
 or otherwise, shall appoint a recognized Manager or Agent, resident in this 
 Province, service on whom of all process notices and other documents shall be 
 held to be sufficient service on the Company, and the name and address of such 
 Agent shall be filed with the Registrars of Deeds for the County of Halifax, and 
 for the County or District where the principal works of the Company are situated 
 in this Province. In default of such appointment, or in case of the absence or 
 death of such Agent, pipp^s^ notices qi]q ^ocmjnents ipay be served on any officer 
 or employee of th4.v<Vi]P?i^i ((r.^/dlr wa{it«f ^s*tA:'t ffTicsr or employee may be 
 posted on some prtqc3]}^.{jml4'^d.^ ^^ ^^^^P^?^; «nd|such service or posting 
 shall be deemed a sufficient service on the Co'mpany. 
 
 9. Whenevorit «hali;l>Q *>tetessA*v Jn^t^e pOn^tsirattcnr or maintenance of 
 the works of the't^oAil^a^yAthdt th^'^dng^y jshbpld t^ invested with land* 
 
i% Sydney Colliery^ 
 
 conticirous thcrrto, and no agreement can he made for the j)iirchase thereof, it 
 Hhnll l)c lawful for the iJirectors to apply by |>ctiti<)n, with a plan annexed, to any 
 enu of the Judges of the Supreme Court, setting forth the nature and situation of 
 the lands required, the names of the owners or occupiers thereof, and praying a 
 conveyance of the same to the Company, whereupon such Judge, being satisfied 
 that the lands arc rcciuircd, and arc not more extensive than may be reasonably 
 necessary, shall appoint a time and place for the consideration of such petition, 
 and shall direct a proper notice in writing to be served upon the owners or 
 occupiers of the lane's, if in the Province, and to be published for one month in 
 at least two newspapers published in Halifax, and also in one newspaper (if any) 
 of the County wnere the lands lie, reciuiring them to attend at such time and 
 place personally or by Attorney; and tne Judge shall require the Directors to 
 nominate one appraiser, and such owners to unite in naming one appraiser ; and 
 the Judge shall nominate a third appraiser, but in case such owners do not at- 
 tend, or shall neglect or refuse, or cannot agree to make such nomination, the 
 Judge shall, on proof of such publication or service of such notice, nominate two 
 appraisers, and shall, by order in writing, direct such three appraisers to value 
 the lands so required, and the appraisers having first subscrioed an affidavit in 
 writing, to be sworn to before a Justice of the I'cacc, and annexed to such order, 
 to the effect that they will faithfully make such appraisement, shall, with all 
 convenient speed, proceed to and appraise such land, and shall make such ap- 
 praisement in writing, and return it under the hands of the appraisers, or a 
 majority of them, with such order and affidavit, to a Judge, who may confirm, 
 modify, alter or reject such appraisement, or direct an appraisement de novo ; 
 and the Company, upon tendering or paying the amount of the appraised value, 
 as finally confirmed, and the expenses of the owners on snch appraisement to the 
 owners, or, in case of dispate, to such parties as the Court or a Judge shall direct, 
 and registering such order, affidavit, appraisement and confirmation in the office 
 of the Registrar of Deeds for the County or District in which such lands lie, who 
 is hereby required to register the same, shall be considered the owners of such 
 lands. 
 
 10. It shall be lawful for the Company to make or construct railways or 
 tramways over and across any railroads or tramroads, and over any river, brook 
 or stream, subject, nevertheless, in such cases, to regulations to be made by the 
 Court of Sessions, to ensure the safety of the inhabitants and their property. 
 
 11. The Company may proceed either alone or with any other Company to 
 render navigable any harbors, lakes or rivers, by deepening, widening or extend- 
 ing the channels, or by opening a new channel or channels. They may erect 
 piers, breakwaters and shipping places for coal upon any lands owned by the 
 Company, or acquired, as herein provided, or upon any lands of the Crown, in 
 respect of which permission shall be granted by the Governor in Council, in and 
 about the shores of such harbors, lakes or rivers. The portions of such harbors, 
 lakes or rivers thus rendered navigable shall be open and free for the use of all 
 ships, vessels and boats, and to all persons desirous of using the same for trading 
 purposes, subject to such tolls and regulations at such rates as shall be fixed by 
 the Company, and approved by the Sessions of the Connty. 
 
 12. The books and accounts of the Company shall at all times be open to 
 the examination of such persons as the Governor in Council shall appoint to 
 inspect the same. 
 
 13. This Act shall cease and determine if effective works shall not be 
 commenced and continued under it within two years from the date of its passing. 
 
 t « I '.«'•• i . -. » » • • • ' < • •• ■ • • t 
 
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