January 23, 1914. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 197 A strike of London coal porters and carmen for an increase in wages has taken place. Some 7,000 men are said to be involved. The Northumberland Miners’ Council on Saturday last decided that it should be left to each individual colliery to make the best endeavour to put an end to the three-shift system in the county. The executive committee of the National Federa- tion of Colliery Enginemen have approved the introduction in Parliament of a Bill providing that a workman should not be within the surface premises of any mine for the purpose of his work more than eight hours during any 24 hours, except for the purpose of rendering assistance in the event of accident or dealing with any emergency or exceptional work. The London coal trade during the present week has been seriously interfered with by a strike <.of loaders and carmen. The demand is very strong, and colliery prices have been withdrawn. On the Tyne and Wear the prompt market is dull, but forward business is fairly active. Throughout Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Midlands trade is very busy, although South Yorkshire hards are somewhat easy on forward account. At Cardiff, tonnage is scarce and prices are weak. Trade in Scotland is brisk. A meeting of the South Wales Institute of Engineers will be held at Cardiff next Thursday, when the new president, Mr. Henry T. Wales, will deliver his inaugural address. The annual dinner takes place in the evening. __________________________ COM- EXPORTS m 1913 From a statistical standpoint the returns of exports for the past year leave something to be desired, however delectable they may be from every other point of view. In 1912 the figures were seriously affected by the great strike, and this renders any comparison between the two years, as regards either the volume of shipments or the declared values, altogether illusory. Nevertheless, by going back to the years preceding 1912, we are able to appreciate the progress made during 1913; in other words, the increment of tonnage in 1913 over 1911 is close upon 9J millions, giving a mean annual increase of 4f millions—a rate which has not been exceeded since 1907. This seems to show that the period of stable equilibrium, foreseen by the Royal Commission on Coal Supplies as likely to precede the interminable era of gradual decline, is still a vision of the future. An internal examination of the trade, moreover, gives few indications of its arrival. The Advance oe the Humber. In 1913 all the export districts shared in the general recovery, but somewhat unequally, as will be seen from the table given below :— Exports of Coal to Foreign Countries from the Various Districts in the United Kingdom. 1911. 1912. 1913. *rom Tons. Tons. Tons. Bristol Channel ports... 25,199,786...26,125,744...29,875,916 North-western ports ... 711,703... 674,234... 751,819 North-eastern ports ... 21,716.027...20,851,308...23,023,810 Humber ports _________ 6,264,063... 6,769,356... 8,883,353 Other ports on east coast 325,179... 321,590... 424,536 Other English ports ... 197... 340... 3,487 East Scotland......... 8,243,321... 7,795,518... 8,253,023 Ireland................ 2,138,990... 1,906,914... 2,184,174 Total............ 64,599,266...64,445,004...73,400,118 Exports of Coal, Coke and Manufactured Fuel by Months. 1913. 1912. ________ _______ _______ Tons. s. d. Tons. s. d. January ...... 6,374,152...13 7*5... 5,683,978... 12 0’4 February ...... 5,822,925...13 8T... 5,784,404... 12 6’0 March ......... 5,831,324...13 98... 1,655,145...13 8*2 First quarter ... 18,028,401...13 8 4...13,123,527...12 5’4 April........... 6,605,214...14 1’6... 1,527,508...13 1*9 May ........... 6,147,614... 14 1’6... 6,629,247... 13 1*4 June ........... 6,266,908...14 3’0 .. 5,916,432... 12 2T Second quarter.. 19,019,736... 14 2’1...14,073,187...12 8’7 July ........... 7,275,630... 14 0*8... 7,319,789... 12 5’4 August......... 6,072,863...13 11'6... 6,729,653... 12 7’5 September .... 6,501,578...14 0T... 6,300,611...12 8’4 Third quarter ... 19,850,071...14 0 3...20,350,053... 12 7T October......... 7,059,928..: 14 03... 7,058,442... 12 9’7 November....... 6,202,798...14 0’5... 6,465,071... 12 11‘2 December....... 6,526,307... 14 0*8... 5,966,177...13 2'5 Fourth quarter 19,789,033... 14 0 6...19,489,690...12 117 Twelve months 76,687,241... 13 11-9...67,036,457...12 8*4 Exports of Coal, Coke, and Patent Fuel According to Description. _________________ ________ ______ Average Average Quantity. value Quantity, value per ton. per ton. Coal:— Tons. s. d. Tons. s. d. Anthracite.... 2,547,712... 16 0’9... 2,976,389...15 11’4 Steam ........ 46,539,983... 12 11*0...53,619,022... 14 1*3 Gas .......... 10,559,845... 10 8’8... 11,527,586... 12 4*9 Household .... 1,639,571...11 11*4... 1.769,719...13 1*8 Other sorts.... 3,157,893... 10 11’4... 3,507,402... 12 5'7 Large ......... 36,369,844... 14 3*2...41,251,141...15 5'0 Thro,-and-thro> 13,247,902... 10 8'8.. .14,722,546... 12 4T Small ......... 14,827,258... 10 0 1...17,426,431...11 3'3 Total and average ... 64,445,004... 12 6 8...73,400,118...13 9'8 Coke............. 1,026,021...16 87... 1,233,936...18 7'4 Manufactured fuel 1,565,432... 15 8'8... 2,053,187... 17 4*3 Total fuel ex- ported and average .... 67,036,457... 12 8'4...76,687,241...13 11'9 Coal shipped in bunkers ....... 18,291,370... — ...21,031,507... — It will be observed, when a comparison is made with 1911, that the shipments of Scottish coal have increased but slightly. On the other hand, exports from the Humber ports have risen phenomenally, and this district now takes the third place, formerly occupied by the East of Scotland. This may be attributed not only to the enlarged output from the new pits in South Yorkshire, most of which is destined for oversea consumption, but also to the increased facilities now provided at Immingham. There is also a satisfactory increase from South Wales and the North of England, the advantage lying rather with the former. European Markets. Turning now to the destination of exports, the outstanding feature is the increased volume of fuel sent to Russia, very little short of two million tons, or 50 per cent. This follows upon an increase of 600,000 tons in 1912, and may be ascribed to the coal famine that has been created in that country by the scarcity of liquid fuel. Exports to France have increased by more than 2| million tons, but we have here to note the fact that a short strike in the North of France has assisted the total, and Germany has more than maintained the ground gained during the British strike in 1912. In Germany itself we have only just regained the position we held in 1911, and in the Netherlands—a sort of back-door to the Father- land—we have actually lost ground. Exports to Belgium are up by half-a-million tons, as against a decline in 1912 of 200,000 tons. In that year exports to Italy fell by only 40,000 tons, and last year we gained 470,000 tons. Other increases, as compared with 1912, in the European markets are as follow :•— Sweden, 450,000 tons ; Norway, 100,000 tons ; Denmark, 250,000 tons ; Portugal, 150,000 tons ; Spain, 260,000 tons ; Austria-Hungary, 320,000 tons ; Greece, 120,000 tons ; Egypt, 240,000 tons. It may be remarked that in 1912 our trade with Sweden, Norway, Portugal and Spain actually increased ; to Austria-Hungary 230,000 tons less were sent. As a corollary to the above, the German returns are of interest. In this case it is impossible to go further than the month of November, but it may be noted that the exports of coal in the eleven months increased by 3,275,397 tons, or over 10 per cent., while the coke exports increased in the same ratio. Oversea Markets. Let us take now a rather less distasteful subject— our distant markets. Here again the returns are rather unequal. To Brazil we sent 250,000 tons more than in 1912, and to the Argentine 300,000 tons more, but in Chili we barely retained our position, whilst to Uruguay we have sent 150,000 tons less. To British India, Hong Kong and the French dependencies shipments have increased materially, but, speaking generally, there is no great change, and in some markets, such as Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Sierra Leone, Aden, Ceylon, Canada, Bermudas, the Falkland Islands, the Azores, Madeira, Portu- guese West Africa, Italian East Africa and Japan, the returns are actually down. As regards the bulk of trade, these markets may take second rank, but it is not altogether cheerful reading. It is remarkable that, in a year in which shipping has been exceptionally busy, our exports to coaling stations like the Canaries and the Azores show no increase, and that this tendency is also observable in the more distant entrepots. The opening of the Panama Canal, in these circumstances, must naturally cause concern. In the United States, last year, still greater attention has been paid to the possibilities of foreign markets, and many of the largest firms have sent agents far and wide with the object of cultivating trade. The returns for the year give little sign of this stimulated interest, but that it will make itself felt in the near future, not only in South America and the Far East, but also in South Europe, is manifest. In the 10 months ended with October, the exports of American coal amounted to 15,543,656 tons, as against 12,395,776 tons in the same period of 1912. Much of this is due to increased shipments to Canada—a market closed to British coal—but the 240,000 tons sent to Brazil and 161,000 tons sent to the Argentine represent practically new business. It is in our bunker trade, however, that the competition of American coal is most greatly to be feared. _________________________ No more damaging criticism of the Self- policy of specification that has been contained embarked upon by the Home Office Rescue in relation to rescue apparatus and Apparatus, some other things could have been conceived than the report just made by Dr. Haldane to the Doncaster Coalowners’ Committee. Notwithstanding the very guarded terms in which the Royal Commission on Mines reported on the subject, the industry has by Act of Parliament been compelled to instal and use appliances that have instinctively excited suspicion amongst the most experienced mining engineers. As the Home Office declined to accept the oppor- tunity provided for them by the Scottish coalowners to save their face, and to admit—temporarily at least —the smoke helmet and hose attachment as fulfilling the requirements, they must incur the full weight of this criticism. Most searching it is. Dr. Haldane has not indulged in terms that are beyond the under- standing of anyone connected with mining, and he has proved by experiments, some of them almost dangerously dramatic, that defects or weaknesses were present in each of the apparatus tested. il Some of these defects,” he says, “ seemed to be remediable by taking special precautions in use, or by modifica- tions in construction. Other defects seemed to be of a more radical kind.” For an account of all the defects which were found to be present in one or all of the apparatus, we must refer the reader to another page. There are one or two points, however, that stand out conspicuously. The helmet appliances were all found to leak, and Dr. Haldane considers that many of the deaths that have occurred must be attributed to this cause. Again, the injectors were found to be inadequate for the purpose for which they are intended, and the purifiers failed in lasting power. It is clear, from simply reading the account of the experiments, that a man may, under existing conditions, lose his life without any warning or premonitory symptoms. When we duly consider the weight of Dr. Haldane’s words, that ‘‘every weak point in an apparatus is sure to appear during actual use underground,” the full gravity of the matter cannot be obscured. Apart from the critical aspect, this report has exceptional value on account of the clear exposition which Dr. Haldane gives of the physiological problems involved. Manufacturers in their zeal for pre-eminence— excellent in its way—are rather prone to belittle any criticism which conflicts immediately with the sale of their products. Such an attitude is foolish in the extreme, because it is only from criticism derived from experience, well sifted and considered, that perfection—and in this case safety—can come. A few weeks ago we reproduced the report of an authentic American Commission on resuscitation from electric shock, in which certain well-known mechanical devices for restoring respiration are subj ected to almost merciless criticism. Dr. Haldane’s report on the self-contained breathing appliance is