Coal Sled with Capacity of About 150 kg of Coal
January 1965

Sura no Sekisairyo Hyakugojukkiro Kurai
[Coal Sled with Capacity of About 150 kg of Coal]
38.1 x 54.3 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink

Text at the Bottom Right
In the middle of the Meiji era (1868-1912), the ceilings of levels (kanekata) mining thin coal seams became low. There were no spaces to install platforms for moving coal from coal sleds (sura) into mine cars. Entrances from these levels to ascending coalfaces were widened by digging out their floors. Coal was temporarily gathered at several locations (kabudashi or ryutan) in the levels before it was loaded into mine cars. Workers brought down a few mine cars from landings (makitate) to fill them with coal after a mine-car-load or a few mine-car-loads of coal was gathered. Bamboo winnows (ebu) and four-bladed rakes (ganzume) were used to gather and scoop up coal.
Where the inclination of the haulage way was 12 to 13 degrees, it was dangerous for miners to tow their suras with their back to them, and they towed their suras by facing forward and wrapping their towing ropes around their buttocks. They used their arms to control the direction of their suras. A sura could carry about 150 kg of coal. Wooden ladders (koro) were not often used at coal mines because they were expensive.

Text at the Top Left
At coal pits run by Mr. Aso, the edges of mine cars were lined with large formations of coal in order to load as much coal as possible inside the walls of coal. If a pit worker did not use such a loading method, 20 % of his/her wages were deducted. A mine car had the capacity of 24 to 28 sai (approximately 0.67 to 0. 78 cubic meter or 0.54 to 0.63 ton of coal). The capacity of mine cars were different, depending on the pit.

Lyrics of "Gotton Bushi" Song
Onna nagaramo Takiyasha-hime wa
Shichiju goriki gama no jutsu.
Gotton!

Though she is a woman,
Takiyasha-hime can do the work of 75 people,
with her toad magic.
Gotton (Clang)! (Interjected chant)


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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