Pit-Cage Dangers.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 3, 27 March 1914, Page 1

Pit-Cage Dangers.

The British Government and colliery proprietors generally have long been troubled with the very serious problem of how to prevent loss of life by a pit-cage breaking from the rope connected with the headgear at the pitbrow. Fatal accidents of the kind have been innumerable, miners being hurled to certain death at the bottom of the shaft with only an instant’s warning. Some time ago a Commission was appointed to report on the subject, Mr Robert Smillie, chairman of the .Miners’ Federation, bein''- at the head of it. This Commission had under consideration the selection of an invention which could satistorily remedy the trouble. Numerous contrivances were viewed. Now, • however, it appears that a true solution has bee n found, for the invention of a young collier of eighteen, named Jack Yates, of Sutton, St. Helens, has received the approval of Mr Redmayne, the Chief Inspector of Mines; of Mr Robert Smillie himself; and of other experts on the subject. Young Yates is now twenty years of age, but his invention was created about two years ago, and since then the model in various makes has been subjected to every conceivable test with complete success. Young Yates has been greatly helped in this work by his copatentee, Mr C. Heyes, a practical engineer and collier, to whose encouragement the inventor owes much. It is a curious fact, in reference to accidents to pit-cages within the last twenty-five years, that there has been only one recorded instance of a rope breaking on a descending cage. With that exception all the accidents have been associated witli the ascending cage, the reason in all probability being the extra tension on the rope by upward poll. As in the cases of hotel and office lifts, a colliery cage runs up and down the shaft on steel guiding rods, and inventors ha. ve at various times tried to apply brakes to the cage, so as to arrest the progress down the shaft by suddenly stopping it dn the guiding rods. It lias been found, however, that ■a too sudden stoppage of a falling cage Was as dangerous to the miners as an actual smash up at the bottom of the pit ; hence the difficulty, which young Yates invention'now overcomes. The contrivance, a remarkable instance of inventive genius, is called “ The Patent Cage Arrester and Lift : Clip.” Each cage is proprovided with four clips or locks, all attached quite simply to the over head rope, and in the event of this rope breaking the locks begin to grip the guiding rods, and the cage at once begins to lose its momentum, until it is eventually held quite rigid and safe after a run of only a few yds. (in mid-shaft if necessary). Then, as colliery winding engines do not always, maintain a perfectly taut rope, the invention allows for a “ play ”, of rope of at least four feet, which is the maximum admitted by experts as possible. The patent which, by the way, readily grips greased steel rods, and arrests a cago without leaving a kink or mark of any kind on the “guides”, has not only gone through all its tests in model, but has been successfully tried in an ordinary colliery shaft subsequently to the suggestion by Mr Redmayne. It has since been applied to a large elevator lilt at the St. Helens Corporation Gaswor ks, and it is anticipated that its use will become general for collery cages and lifts in large buildings. Patents inccnnection with it have been taken out in several countries.