ABSTRACT
Lying at the foundation of all the economic activities of the area, and affording a greater volume of employment than any other, the coal and iron industries necessarily claim special and detailed attention. Over the greater part of the field the mechanical equipment was in a very backward state. In the larger pits the organization of the workers resembled the system practised in the mining industry generally and in many other local trades. In some collieries atmospheric engines were still used for driving the winding-gear; others worked with inefficient beam-engines; and in the small units a horse supplied the power. In the former not only was the small unit ubiquitous, but the productive process often was divided among a multitude of firms. The self-interest of the typical mine owner coincided with a most inefficient and wasteful method of operation; for the system resulted in large quantities of coal being crushed or flooded in abandoned workings.
