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- 64 VICTORIA ILLUSTRATED.
THE VANCOUVER ISLAND MINES.
THE WELLINGTON COLLIERIES.
The Wellington Mines are at the present being actively worked, and that town looks even more prosperous than before the unpleasantness of
last summer. The demand for the well-known Wellington coal is as great as ever it was, the output being only governed by the facilities
for transportation. Operations are being conducted after the old established and reliable methods, and the mining community hereabouts
appears to be happy and contented. Of late the town has been very much improved, and numerous additions have been made to the list of
individual property owners, while the company's houses are occupied by thrifty and eligible tenants. The company's store has been
transferred to Mr. Cooke, formerly of Victoria, and on the townsite reserve Mr. J. B. L. Jones has opened a shop for the sale of general
goods.
At No. 5 shaft some 100 men are employed, the result of whose labors is about 450 tons a day. The ventilating apparatus is capable of
supplying 125,000 cubic feet of air per minute. Recently a new feature developed itself in one slope in which the miners were working. A
most promising seam, from seven to ten feet thick, was struck, which runs in an altogether different direction. A shaft now takes the place
of the old slope, and its working is extremely satisfactory to the company, as well as to the pit boss, Mr. Jones. This shaft is the only
one at the colliery which is directly connected with the main line of the railway to Victoria, and in consequence it supplies the demand
which comes from that city. New and most effective haulage machinery and apparatus have been put down the new slope. The shaft is about
300 feet deep, and works over an area of about two miles. The mine is divided into five sections, known as the Slope Diagonal, the East
Side, the West Side, the Heading and the New Strike. Mining is here carried on on the pillar and stall system, except on the slope, where
the Longworth method is in vogue.
No. 4 has recently received a considerable amount of new machinery, including a pair of coupled direct tacking engines. The mine produces
an average of 550 tons per day, and employs 200 men. Workings cover a very considerable area, and the ordinary height of the seam is seven
feet, and the pillar and stall plan is the one upon which the mine is operated. James Sharp is the pit boss, and the ventilation of his men
is supplied by extra large fans, producing 130,000 cubic feet of air per minute.
The newest shaft, No. 6, is down 300 feet, a magnificent seam of coal having been reached about two years ago. The output is in the vicinity
of 450 tons per day, in the production of which about 180 men are employed, under the direction of Mr. Andrew Bryden. As in the other mines,
the ventilation is of the best. The shaft is being rapidly developed in all directions, and it is expected very shortly to turn out not less
than 700 tons per day. It is regarded as being the greatest shaft in the district, and preparations are being made to work it to its fullest
capacity. On the west side of it the pillar and stall system is employed, and on the other side the men work on the Longworth plan.
Most of the coal produced at Wellington is sent over the company's own line to Departure Bay, where they have three shipping wharves, at
which the largest ocean vessels, some of them carrying 5,000 tons, are loaded and dispatched to all parts of the world, the shipping
accommodations being the very best on the coast. A new shaft is being sunk for the company by Mr. James Haggart, between Departure Bay and
Wellington, to what is known to be a large and extensive seam, which is expected to be reached about the New Year, and will add materially
to the output of the company.
Mr. John Bryden is general manager and Mr. Alexander Sharp, mine superintendent.
EAST WELLINGTON COLLIERIES.
Situated at East Wellington, about four miles from Nanaimo, are the East Wellington Collieries, the property of the East Wellington Coal
Company of San Francisco ; Mr. Wm. S. Chandler is the superintendent. Having given the details of the other principal mines in this
vicinity it will be only necessary to add that the output of these mines is similar to the others and that they are worked upon a modern
basis ; the coal is of a similar quality, and the mines are paying handsomely and sup-porting a very considerable population at this point.
HOTEL DALLAS.
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