Man-engine or movable ladder adopted in Cornish mines. The movable ladder was powered by the steam engine at the pithead and moved with the regular stroke of the engine. The miners moved alternately from footholds on left and right in the pause at the end of each stroke. Before the installation of man-engines, it could take men more than an hour to climb down vertical ladders to reach the working level. From Underground Life: or, Mines and Miners by Louis Simonin (London, 1869). Wood engraving.