610 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. March 20, 1913. have on the demand for Ruhr coal, that market has been showing a progressive buying tendency, without the exten- sive offers of English coal being successful in gaining ground at the expense of German fuel. Both Holland and northern France continue to take large consignments, and the traffic to northern Germany maintains undiminished activity. The rise in prices on 1st prox. may account for considerable purchases in advance, and possibly this may check business later; but if the political atmosphere becomes clearer, and the industrial world is able to breathe more freely, there is no fear of any interruption of business. In the meantime the Syndicate is taking over far more than the full partici- pation figures. Business in South Germany has become more active, and in some kinds the supplies have proved insufficient, so that the already small stocks have had to be drawn upon still further. The coke market also continues satisfactory, the demand for blastfurnace and foundry coke being sufficient to absorb the entire output, though small grades are quieter. Coal Market in South Germany.—For the time of year, nearly all kinds of house fuel are still in very active request. Though the winter has not been severe, the early start of cold weather increased the consumption, so that the winter stocks laid by in autumn were prematurely exhausted and had to be replenished. This is particularly the case with broken coke for central heating, the orders for which are still coming in so largely that they cannot be filled without delays. Enquiries for large bituminous nuts are also on a satisfactory level, and both lignite briquettes and gas coke are growing scarce. The extra large delivery specifications sent in by industrial consumers indicate the intention of getting in as much of the outstanding balances on old contracts as possible. Supplies of Ruhr coal have increased, and, the Maine having been closed to traffic, more shipments were available for the Upper Rhine. Coke Prices in Berlin.—The Coke Convention has fixed the following prices for coke for industrial and central heating purposes, from April 1 to August 31 next, the figures in brackets being for the winter months:—Large gas coke, 15’50 marks (15 50 marks) per ton delivered; broken coke, 16 marks (17 marks) ; Westphalian, Mansfeld, Hammonia and Lubeck coke for smelting, 18 marks (19 marks)|; Lower Silesian smelting coke, 17’50 marks (18’50 marks). Output of Fuel in 1912.—The following table shows the production, according to district, of coal, lignite, coke and briquettes in Germany during 1912:— State and district. Coal. Lignite. Coke. Coal briquettes. Lignite briquettes. Prussia:— Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Breslau 1912 47,272,579 2,188,731 2,925,968 481,179 470,979 Halle aS 1912 10,219 46,545,817 121,134 i 78,688 10,407,233 Claus th al 1912 896,711 1,130,801 85,051 79,822 151,831 Dortmund 1912 100,186,405 — 22,134,184 4,547,410 — Bonn 1912 18,901,886 17,610,739 3,717 825 85,505 5,023,358 i Total, Prussia 1912 167,267,860 67,476,088 28,984,162 5,272,604 16,053,401 Tot .1 1911 151,496,548 60,594,195 25,252,589 4,935,760 14,197,001 Bavaria 1912 790,685 1,699,746 — — — Do 1911 762,270 1,541,983 — — — Saxony 1912 5,478,641 5,331,890 62,321 61,047 1,123,008 Do 1911 5,420.877 4,324,854 62,244 55,228 953,385 Alsace-Lorraine 1912 3,557,731 — 94,587 — — Do. 1911 3,051,311 — 90,275 — — Other States 1912 — 7,831,859 — — 1,881,641 Do. 1911 11,266 7,055,757 — — 1,686,293 Total, Germany 1912 177,094,917 82,339,583 29,141,070 5,333,651 19.05^,050 Total 1911 160,742,272 74,516,789 25,405,108 4,990,988 16,836,679 Russia. A St. Petersburg telegram states that in the Duma Com- mittee, on Monday, during a discussion of the deficiency of fuel in Russia, the Government declared that it did not itself intend to work the naphtha lands, but proposed to lease certain of them to the State railways, and also to a few private railways which had expressed a wish to obtain naphtha on their own account. The Ministry of Marine was considering the possibility of making use of the naphtha lands for the needs of the Navy, while the Ministry of Commerce had already taken measures with the object of leasing all available naphtha grounds by April 28 to the highest bidders in case a further deficiency of coal should arise. The Government also had a plan by which all railways having their termini on the coast of the Baltic or the Black Sea should be supplied with coal from abroad, so that the Russian coal in the possession of the railway companies or already ordered by them should be available for private industries. The Government further proposed to attempt to place Siberian coal on the market in European Russia. Important extensions at the model mining village of the Woodlands, near Doncaster, are foreshadowed. At present the whole of the village, numbering about 1,000 houses—all belonging to the Brodsworth Colliery Company—are on one side of the road only. But on the other side of the road building operations are about to commence, a start being made with a long line of shops, for which plans have already been passed by the Doncaster Rural District Council. These shops will be 17 in number. Further houses also are to be erected as required. PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—March 18. Miners’ Baths—Rescue Work—Pit Ponies. In Committee on Supply, on a motion to reduce the Home Office vote, there was a long discussion, in the course of which several questions affecting mines were raised. In the first place, Mr. Morrell alluded to section 77 of the Coal Mines Act, providing for accommodation and facilities for baths and for the drying of clothes. In November last, he said, a large association of his own constituents, the Burnley Miners’ Association, took a ballot under the section, and decided to have washing accommodation provided for them, and were prepared to undertake to pay half the cost. They then wrote to the Home Office to ask what was the next step. They received a letter from the Home Office to say that the question of what was sufficient and suitable accommodation for the purpose of section 77 had not yet been determined—the letter was dated December 9, 1912— and the section could not be put into operation until the matter was determined. The letter added that a Com- mittee had been appointed to consider the question and was now making enquiries. This seemed a most extraordinary case of neglect and delay on the part of the Home Office* Two years after ;the Act had been passed, and nine months after it had come into operation, the Home Office was still considering how section 77 of it could be put into opera- tion. Mr. Duncan Millar raised a question as to the provision of rescue and ambulance appliances, and asserted that in many quarters very little attention had been paid to the terms of the Order issued under the Act of 1910. The Order had now been in force for nearly a year, and the owners had had ample time in which to make their arrangements. He should like to urge upon the Home Secretary the necessity for taking immediate action in the Scottish coalfields. Although pro- vision was made in the east of Scotland by the setting up of rescue stations in Fife, there had been practically nothing done to carry out the provisions of the Act in Lanarkshire and in the western coalfields. In the districts referred to he thought it would be necessary to secure that the provisions of the Order were carried, out by providing in each mine apparatus which had been tested of the most modern type to meet the case. He trusted that the Home Secretary would see that not only are smoke helmets provided which were regarded by many authorities as insufficient, but also the later and more up-to-date breathing apparatus in a form for full equipment at each of the mines in the district. Mr. Duncan Millar also referred to the hydraulic stowage system, and asked the Home Secretary for an assurance that he would do all he could to encourage its adoption. Mr. Butcher referred to the inspection of pit ponies in mines, and urged that, having regard to the number of mines in the United Kingdom, the number of inspectors appointed was inadequate for the purpose, the number being six. He asked how many mines the inspectors had been able to inspect since the date of their appointment, and whether they were making reports to the inspector of the district or to the Home Office as to the results of their examinations. It appeared essentially important that these reports should be published, because, supposing that they had a mine which was admirably conducted, where the ponies were well treated and the regulations were strictly observed, it was only fair and right to the owners of that mine that the report, if it were satisfactory in every respect, should be made public.' If, on the other hand, there were mines where the ponies, notwithstanding the Act, were ill- treated, where the regulations were not observed, it was also right that the pressure of public opinion, as well as the action of the Home Office, should be brought to bear upon those owners in order to ensure better compliance with the desires of the House and the provisions of the Act of Parliament. Mr. Whitehouse also drew attention to the great delay that had taken place in putting iinto operation the pro- visions as to bathing accommodation. He said he spoke as the representative of a Scottish mining constituency, and the matter was even more urgent in Scotland than in England, because of the conditions of housing accommoda- tion in the mining districts of Scotland. He submitted that tfie introduction of facilities for bathing in connection with Scottish mines would be a reform immediately followed by very beneficial results indeed. He also pleaded for the application of pressure to secure compliance with the Rescue Order. Mr. McKenna, in his reply, said he much regretted the delay which had taken place in making headway with the provisions of the Act of 1911 in regard to washing accom- modation. The circumstances, however, were these : The Act had not passed until the end of 1911. A Committee was appointed early last year, and on that Committee were serving Mr. Pickering, the chief inspector, who was, unhap- pily, killed at the great Yorkshire accident, and another member, Mr. Smillie, had many other engagements, and the work of that Committee must necessarily fit in with Mr. Smillie’s other work. It had also been necessary for another inspector to be appointed in the place of Mr. Pickering, and for the Committee to visit France, Germany and Belgium. All this had necessarily taken time, but he hoped that the report would be presented very shortly, and as soon as the report was presented he would take care to see that the regulations were provided at the earliest possible moment. In regard to the question of rescue apparatus, the Home Secretary had made a statement earlier in the day. He said the returns called for from mineowners under the Mines (Rescue and Aid) Order had now been tabulated, and they showed that in some counties the progress made was far from satisfactory. The Order had now been in force for nearly a year, and the owners had had ample time in which to make their arrangements; and unless he received an assurance from them that energetic steps would be taken at once to secure full compliance with the Order at an early date, it would be necessary to take legal proceedings to enforce the Order. - Mr. McKenna added that where owners had no sufficient excuse for delay they proposed to send out a circular at once to the effect that, unless a definite undertaking was given that immediate steps will be taken to secure full compliance with the Order at an early date, legal proceedings would be necessary. The question of hydraulic stowage was now being considered by the Committee on spontaneous combustion in mines. With regard to the inspection of pit ponies, the annual reports of the inspectors would, like other annual reports, be published, but the weekly and daily reports were confi- dential. Mr. McKenna said he had had some communica- tions with one of the inspectors appointed in South Wales, and had received a report from him in which he stated that he was extremely glad that the appointment had been made, and he found that there was a great deal to be done, and he would be able to do a great deal of good looking after the ponies. It was, however, too early to make any general statement of the work. A Barnsley Main Fatality. Mr. Wadsworth asked the Home Secretary if he was aware that at the inquest on an accident at the Barnsley Main Colliery it was stated by Keensmith, miner, working at the colliery, that he inspected the working place on behalf of the men, and, in his opinion, a bar should have been set before the accident, and it would have prevented the fatality; that the props he saw in the working place were not suitable owing to the excessive length; that there were no flat bars in the working place; and that the said complaints had been made previously to the under-manager about unsuitable timber, particularly round bars, being sent into the pit; and, seeing that the jury, on returning a verdict of accidental death, expressed the opinion that flat bars should be used in the future in such places, would he say what action he now proposes to take ? Mr. McKenna said he was advised that if a bar had been set the accident might not have taken place, but the fall which caused the accident was due to a slip or smooth parting in the roof which, unfortunately, was not noticed beforehand. The management had undertaken to see that bars were both provided and used in the future, and at a recent inspection the inspector found that both flat and round bars were being supplied to and used by the miners The management denied that complaints had been made about the timber. A £24,398 Coal Contract.—Judgment was given last week by Mr. Justice Pickford, in the King’s Bench Division, in an action in which the Chemin de Fer de Paris & Orleans sued John A. Scott, trading as John Scott and Co., Newcastle-on- Tyne, for damages for non-delivery of a large quantity of coal for use on the plaintiffs’railway in France. Defendant did not appear. Mr. F. Ceves, Cardiff, agent for the plaintiffs, explained that in consequence of the breach of contract by the defendant, the plaintiffs had to buy coal against the deficiencies. His lordship gave judgment in favour of the plaintiffs for £24,398 and costs.