of laterite, the difficulty has been little felt; but at Lagos, owing to the alluvial nature of the soil in the neighbourhood of the Lagos lagoons, not a single hard stone the size of a marble could be found until over 50 miles from the coast; consequently all the ballast, amounting to over 2,000 tons per mile, had to be railed from near Abeokuta. Upon the Gold Coast the difficulty has been even greater, as ballast has been essential to the road which traverses a country subject to heavy rainfall, densely forested, and with a soft clay soil. Rock or gravel, however, was reported as very difficult to find in convenient positions near the railway and where it could be economically extracted. Hard rock does not often occur at a less depth than 50 to 100 ft., as is shown by some mining shafts, and such a depth is of course prohibitive for ballast purposes. It was necessary to adopt the

Over-carriage of materials, damage to the same, and the loss of ships carrying large consignments of railway materials, have added greatly to the difficulty of providing the materials in proper time and order, especially as it has only been possible to ship small quantities in each steamer in order not to congest the wharves and piers available, or to hamper the shipping company's landing arrangements.

At Sierra Leone the wharf accommodation is extremely limited, though the harbour is otherwise good. At Lagos it is necessary to tranship all cargo at Forcados, some 150 miles beyond Lagos, into branch boats, which return and cross the Lagos Bar. On the Gold Coast at Sekondi all materials have had to be discharged into surf boats and lighters in the open roadstead. The lighterage is in the hands of Messrs. Elder, Dempster and Co., and small consignments have been necessary to prevent delay to the steamers or congestion of the lighterage plant.

It should be understood that none of the railways have been undertaken as a whole, the work having been carried out in each case tentatively by sections, an interval frequently occurring between the completion of one section and the authorisation of the next, and in all cases the authorisation of the work by sections has rendered impossible an organisation suitable for the rapid construction of the whole. cautious policy has no doubt been the wisest for each colony to adopt, but has been detrimental to an ever-increasing rate of progress, which would have been realised if from 120 to 220 miles of railway had been undertaken at a time.

This

The influences militating against rapid progress of railway construction in West Africa are, the want of landing facilities, sickness of staff, and absence of continuity of control due to climate, excessive rainfail, and the physical obstruction of the dense tropical fest rendering survey very slow and requiring heavy labour in clearing, and by the necessity for carrying on the entire work and conveying all the materials from one base.

Mining Records.

MINING

The output of coal in Queensland for 1903 amounted to 507,801 tons, valued at £164,768, being the largest yet recorded with the exception of 1901, when the figures were 539,172 tons, value £180,877.

Statistics issued by the German Iron and Steel Institute show that last year's production of pig iron was the highest on record, the output of all classes amounting to 10,103,941 tons, as compared with 10,085,634 tons in 1903. Coal, lignite, coke, and briquettes showed a large increase over 1903, the former advancing from 116,664,376 tons in 1903 to 120,694,098 tons in 1904,

The twentieth United States Geological Surveys annual report on the mineral resources of the country, containing the statistics for the year 1903, is now available, and shows that the total value of their mineral production exceeded $1,000,000,000. The exact figures were $1,419,721,569, as compared with $1,260,509,738 in 1902-a gain of 1263 per cent. The value of American iron ore in 1903 was $344,350,000; the value of the coal, $503,724,381.

Goid Mining in Peru.

The mineral wealth of Peru has frequently been the subject of comment in PAGE'S WEEKLY. In a recent number of the Mining Magazine, Mr. Enrique Lavoza calls attention to the wide distribution of gold in that country. As to the hydraulic method of mining, with giants and sluices, which have been so much employed, he says that the most important of the new installations is that of San Antonio de Poto, which in 1903 produced an output of 222,169 lb. In the near future, the hydraulic method will probably convert this neighbourhood into one of the world's principal centres of production. The sands of all the rivers of the eastern slope of the Cordillera carry gold in enormous quantities. During the period of jow water, the natives are accustomed to pave the dry river beds with stones; during the high water the rivers cover these stones, depositing particles of gold in the interstices, and when the period of low water returns the Indians collect many ounces of gold nuggets. The production obtained by this rudimentary method in 1903 reached 631008 lb. troy.

Mica Production.

Though mica is an exceedingly widely distributed mineral, the occurrences of commercial value are exceptional. Out of seven varieties three only have a commercial value, their relative importance being

NOTES.

that of the order in which they are named-Muscovite or potash-alumina-mica, Phlogopite or magnesiamica, and Biotite or iron-magnesia-alumina-mica. Different varieties of Muscovite are distinguished by their colour, and are as follows: ruby, obtained from Bengal, Nellore, the Nilgris, and Brazil; brown obtained from German East Africa; yellow, obtained from Bengal; green, obtained from Nellore, German East Africa, and Brazil; and white obtained from Bengal. Phlogopite is obtained from India, Ceylon, Canada and Brazil. Mica occurs in veins and ordinary mining methods are employed in working it; overhead stoping however, is advocated, as in this case the mica is recovered undamaged by wet. The imports into this country in 1902 were 1,068 tons, and in the succeding year 1,011 tons, with an average value of £68 and £87 per ton respectively, while the United States for the same years took 878 and 802 tons.

Endless Rope Haulage in India.

The last annual report of the Chief Inspector of Mines in India, states that endless rope haulage is installed at three colleries, viz., (1) at Warora, in the Central Provinces; (2) at Jamadoba, in the Jherria coal-field; (3) at Raniganj. At Warora the tubs are hauled up an incline to the pit bottom only, and are taken up the pit in cages. At Jamadoba the tubs are hauled right up two of the main inclines to the surface and on to the screens. This installation is quite new, and it will be interesting to see how it compares with the usual main rope haulage out of inclines, (1) with regard to the comparative cost, and (2) with regard to the comparative amount of coal which can be raised at one incline per day. It is possible that the endless rope may prove to be the best method of dealing with a large output from one incline. The endless ropes haul out of the side levels as well as up the inclines, the branch being worked off the main rope by clutch gearing. And there are also two landings or attaching points in the No. 4 incline. The tubs are attached to the ropes by means of a simple and effective clip that automatically releases the tubs at the ends of the inclines. The inclination of the seam is I in 8, rope speed two miles an hour, and the plough steel wire ropes are 2 in. in circumference. The driving pulleys are the Thorncliffe clip type, 8 ft. diameter. In the inclines, self acting stop-blocks have been, or are being, fixed at intervals of 50 ft. to arrest any runaway full tub that has from any cause become detached from the ropes.

the mechanical and electrical engineering department of the University College of Nottingham, was born at Burt, near Londonderry, December 28th, 1858. He was educated at the Academical Institution, Londonderry, at the Magee College, Derry, and in 1876 he matriculated at Queen's College, Belfast. After two years of study in the Faculté des Sciences, University of Geneva, he completed the three years' course in civil and mechanical engineering at Belfast.

In 1881 he graduated as Bachelor of Engineering, civil and mechanical. At this degree examination he secured first place in the Queen's University of Ireland in the engineering subjects, and also in mathematical physics, chemistry, geology and mineralogy. He was awarded firstclass honours, with the gold medal and first Peel prize, and subsequently the senate of the university conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master in Engineering.

After graduation, Mr. Rcbinson was engaged in practical engineering work in Ireland. In 1882 he became assistant to Professor Perry, in London. Before the City and Guilds of London Technical College, Finsbury, was opened in 1883, he was appointed chief assistant in the department of Mechanical Engineering and applied Mathematics. At the end of about two years he resigned his post for the purpose of gaining more experience in practical engineering, and again entered the service of Professors Ayrton and Perry, who, at that time, were carrying on a large practice as consulting and manufacturing engineers. During 1886, with the same object in view, he was engaged by Messrs. Latimer-Clark, Latimer-Clark, Forde, and Taylor, where he had experience in the manufacture, testing, and laying of submarine telegraphic cables. He went on the West African cablelaying expedition, and assisted in the super

and testing the cable after its completion.

In January, 1887, Mr. Robinson returned to the staff of the City and Guilds of London Technical College as senior demonstrator and lecturer under Professor Silvanus P. Thompson. in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics.

In July, 1890, he was appointed to the position he now holds as professor of engineering at the University College, Nottingham. He has charge of all the engineering classes of the College, and has arranged systematic courses of instruction in the workshops, laboratories, and drawing office.

In 1890 Professor Robinson published "Gas and Petroleum Engines"- a wellknown text-book on the internal combustion engine. engine. He was amongst the first to see in the modern form of petroleum oil engine a handy self-contained and economical prime mover. In 1891 he was awarded a silver medal by the Society of Arts for his lecture giving some of the results of his early researches on the Uses of Petroleum in Prime Movers "; and at the Society's request he delivered a course of Cantor lectures on the same subject early in 1892. Professor Robinson has devoted special attention to the development of different types of the internal combustion engine, and has tested and reported on many gas and oil engines. petrol engines for motor-cars, gas producers, steam boilers, dynamos, and electric light and power installations. He is often consulted on special questions concerning internal combustion motors by engineers in England, Europe and America.

Professor W. Robinson is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, and a Fellow of the Physical Society of London.