Above a carbide lamp.
The item to the left is a steel measuring tape supplied to a mines official (Overman) made by Chesterman of Sheffield.
Carbide lamps were also used in early mining. There were two main types of these. One, the smaller of them, could be attached to the miners cap. There were also larger ones as in the photograph above that were designed to hang on a spike in a piece of timber or any convenient place. They held water which was allowed to drip onto a substance called Calcium Carbide, a mixture of lime and coke which is fused together and gave off acetylene gas at a small jet, this gave a very white light. The smaller lamp could be lit with a flint and wheel which was attached to the reflector of the lamp. This reflector enhanced the light considerably. The cap lamp was usually made of brass, while the larger type were mainly galvanized iron.
