Mine Pumping in Agricola's Time and LaterMulthauf, Robert P.
History
Mine Pumping in Agricola's Time and Later
Multhauf, Robert P.
Mine pumps -- History; Mining machinery -- History
Figure 2 shows two shaft-houses covering pumps driven by
Stangenkunsten. The source of power, hidden by the curious "log
cabin" at the right, was probably a waterwheel. I have not found
evidence that the Stangenkunst was used to operate bucket hoists, as
appears to be the case here. It will be noticed that the above and
below ground portions of these illustrations do not correlate
precisely. This coin, like the others, shows miners doing various
things familiar from Agricola--divining, digging, carrying, and
operating windlasses.
Figure 3 exhibits the principal advantage of the Stangenkunst, in
its utilization to connect a waterwheel located in a valley stream
to driven machinery on the mountain some distance above. The
lute-playing girl (Lautenspielerin) refers to the Lautental mine. A
Stangenkunst (fig. 7) existed here as recently as 1930.
The mines shown in figures 1-3 are in the Harz region.
Figures 4 and 5 show the St. Anna mine in the Erzgebirge, near
Freiberg, as illustrated on a medal in the Brunswick museum.
Prominent in figure 4 is an aqueduct, one function of which is to
supply a waterwheel in the house below, which in turn delivers power
through the Stangenkunst to two open shafts. The reverse (fig. 5),
an unusually fine view of the inner workings of a mine, shows, above
ground, a typical horse whim driving a bucket windlass. Below ground
is shown a crank-driven piston pump typical of those driven by
Stangenkunst. In this case, however, it is driven by an underground
vertical treadmill.
[Illustration: Figure 3.--BRUNSWICK SILVER 4 TALER, Ernst August, 1685.
(_U. S. National Museum, Paul A. Straub coll.; Smithsonian photo
43334-A._)]
[Illustration: Figure 4.--MEDAL, 1690, SHOWING ST. ANNA MINE, near
Freiberg. (_Photo courtesy of Stadtisches Museum, Braunschweig._)]
[Illustration: Figure 5.--REVERSE OF MEDAL shown in figure 4. (_Photo
courtesy of Stadtisches Museum, Braunschweig._)]
The resemblance of the German term for bag (Bulge) to the Latin term for
bucket (bulga) instead of the Latin term for bag (canalis), and the
presence of buckets (Kuebeln), bags (Bulgen), pockets (Taschen), or cans
(Kannen) as components of three of Agricola's four categories of hauling
machines are reasons enough for the apparent superfluity of German
names, if not for his decision to avoid the use of German names. But it
should also be noted that the names sometimes refer to a pump and its
prime mover considered as a single machine. Such is the case with the
Kehrrad, a bucket windlass driven by a reversible waterwheel which
Agricola describes as his largest hauling machine.[10]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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