February 13, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

365

him, but it was contended on behalf of the defendant
that the No. 1 pit was not a mine, but that No. 1 pit and
No. 2 pit with the seams connected therewith constituted
the mine which was referred to in sections 13 and 14 of
the Act of 1887. “ If this contention is correct,” said
the chairman, “it follows that the complainant, who
received 87 votes at the meeting on December 31, 1913,
has not been duly appointed a checkweigher by a
majority of the persons employed in the Nos. 1 and 2
pits who are paid according to the weight of mineral
gotten by them. The case therefore turns on the
meaning of the word ‘ mine ’ in the Acts of 1887 and
1911. By section 13 of the Act of 1887 the persons
who are employed in a mine and are paid by weight are
entitled to station a checkweigher at each place
appointed for weighing. By section 14 the majority of
persons employed in a mine and who are paid by weight
may appoint a checkweigher. It is admitted that if the
two shafts are one mine, no notice has been given to
divide them into separate mines under section 25 of the
Act of 1911. By section 36 of the Act of 1911
there must be at least two shafts in every mine with
which every seam for the time being at work in the mine
shall have a separate communication.” The definition
of “ mine ” in section 122 did not, the chairman added,
throw any light on the question at issue. He pointed
out that by section 126 of the Act of 1911, proviso (e)
it is enacted that expressions, m the unrepealed sections
(which include sections 13 and 14) of the Act of 1887
have the same meaning as in the Act of 1911. “ Section
36 therefore seems conclusive,” the chairman added,
“ that the whole of the seams worked at the Maypole
Colliery are one mine, and this seems to be the view of
the Home Secretary and his advisers, for in granting
his consent to the prosecution he speaks of the defen-
dant ‘as the agent or manager of the Maypole (Nos. 1
and 2) mine,’ not mines. The same remark applied to
the list of mines prepared by his Majesty’s Inspector of
Mines, 1912, which, on page 209, under the common
name of ‘ mine,’ gives the two pits as one mine, and not
as two mines.” “ This also,” the chairman said, “was
the view of Mr. Justice Sutton in the case of Thorpe v.
Davies, which, although decided before the Act of 1911,
was a decision on the sections of the Act of 1887 which
were now in question, and the meaning of the word
‘ mine ’ as it was to be gathered from the Act of
1911 seemed to strengthen the reasons of Mr. Justice
Sutton for construing the word ‘ mine ’ as he construed it
in that case. The chairman proceeded to read from the
judgment of Mr. Justice Sutton in the case referred to.
The colliery to which that action related was known as
the Fryston Colliery, at which two seams of coal were
worked, the upper and lower seams, respectively known
as the Warren House seam and the Beeston seam, the
latter being some hundreds of feet below the former. A
meeting was held of the coal workers in both seams to
elect two checkweighers by ballot, a man named
Molyneux and the defendant in that case being elected
checkweigher for both seams. The main dispute
between the parties in the case was as to the meaning
of the word “ mine ” as used in the Acts of 1887 and
1905, and in particular in section 13 of the former Act,
the plaintiff contending that the Warren House seam
was itself a mine. Mr. Justice Sutton said he thought
the word “ mine ” as used throughout the Acts of 1887
and 1905 included the seams of coal which were in part
opened, whether one or more, and, assuming this to be
correct, he thought the word “ mine,” as used in
section 13, must be used in the same sense. “ In a
a case like the present,” added Mr. Justice Sutton,
referring to the case of Thorpe v. Davies, with which
he was dealing, “it may be desirable that the coal
workers in one seam, paid by weight of the mineral
gotten by them, should have the right of electing a
checkweigher for that seam, and that the similar coal
workers in another seam should not have the right of
voting at such election, but, if so, an amendment of
section 13 is necessary.” After referring to this case,
the chaHman announced the decision of the Wigan
magistrates, “ his,” he said in conclusion, “ being the
view arrived at by the court after carefully considering
the arguments addressed to them on both sides, they
have come to the conclusion that the prosecution have
not made out their case, and the summons must be
dismissed with costs.” The magistrates agreed to state
a case.

The thirty-second annual general meeting of the
Manchester Goal Exchange took place last week. In
the absence of Mr. James Roscoe, through indisposition,
the chair was taken by Mr. John Tomlinson, who acted
as president 18 years ago. The annual report, submitted
by the secretary, Mr. T. W. Sowerbutts, showed that
the committee had to report satisfactory progress
during the past year. The attention of members was
also drawn to the by-law providing that the hours of
High ’Change should be from one to four o’clock. The
committe had lost the services of two valued members
by the deaths of Mr. Thomas Thrutchley (president,
1912) and Col. George Pearson (president, 1904).
Messrs. Freeman, Hughes and Moorfield, who retired
from the committee, were eligible for re-election, and
had been nominated along with the retiring president,
and five other members. The balance-sheet also showed
a flourishing state of affairs, and for the first time since
its inception three or four years ago, there was a profit
to record on the receipts from the cafe.—On the motion
of Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. John Parry, of Hyde, was
unanimously elected president for the ensuing year and
presented with an emblem to wear during his year of
office, and also the key of the strong room at the Safe
Deposit. Mr. Parry thanked the members for the
honour which they had conferred upon him, and in the
course of his remarks said that the merchants had been
rather maligned by the London Press during the recent
labour troubles in that centre. During the past three
years colliery owners had advanced prices more rapidly
to them than they themselves had advanced them to the

public; and he thought that if the men took the advice
of certain newspapers and started “ on their own,” they
would sood find out their mistake.—Mr. Edward Peek,
of Featherstone, was unanimously elected vice-president;
and on the motions of Mr. John G. Freeman, of
Barnsley, and Mr. A. E. Pricker, Manchester, votes of
thanks were heartily passed to Mr. Roscoe and the
committee for their services during the past year. Mr.
Ralph Peters, of Astley, for 35 years treasurer, was
again unanimously elected to that position. The ballot
for the committee resulted in the election of the
following gentlemen :—Messrs. Fred W. Hughes (Man-
vers Main Collieries Limited), Manchester; James
Roscoe, J.P., Worsley; Wm. Hy. Moorfield (John
Scowcroft and Co. Limited), Wigan; John G. Freeman
(Mitchell Main Colliery Company Limited), Barnsley;
and Wm. B. Miller (New Moss Colliery Limited),
Davenport.

There was a very good attendance at the annual
meeting of the Manchester Branch of the Coal Trades
Benevolent Association. Mr. 0. R. Pilkington occupied
the chair, and was supported by Messrs. Miles F.
Burrows, James Roscoe, J.P., F. W. Hughes, Ralph
Peters, and members of the committee. The report for
1913 showed that very satisfactory progress had been
made, the receipts being about £30 more than the
previous year, and £25 higher than 1911. Mr. 0. R.
Pilkington was re-elected president, and Sir William
Scott Barrett and Messrs. F. W. Hughes, Ralph Peters,
and James Roscoe, vice-presidents for the ensuing year.
The popular hon. secretary, Mr. R. T. Mallalieu, was
again elected to that office.

Yorkshire.

Treatment of Gob Fires—Hull Traders and the Railways.
—The Housing Question—“ Oaks ” Memorial.

Mj-. H. F. Smithson read a paper dealing with the gob
fire which broke out in the Haigh Moor seam of the
Allerton By water Collieries, near Castleford, Yorkshire,
in September last, to the members of the Yorkshire
Branch of the National Association of Colliery
Managers, at Wakefield, on Saturday. Mr. Smithson
considered that a gob fire in a West Yorkshire colliery
was so unique an occurrence as to require bringing
before the notice of those engaged in mining in the dis-
trict. The gob fire referred to broke out in workings
which had been abandoned about 10 months, and it was
discovered that there was a small current of fresh air
leaking to the seat of the fire from the main intake
airway about 60 yards away. The method of working
was the ordinary longwall advancing, the gates being
30 yards apart, and the coal being obtained at this par-
ticular place end on. The gate packs were 3 yards wide,
the width of the gate roads 7 ft., and, in addition, where
necessary, 2-yard goaf packs had been built 6 yards from
the corner of the gate pack. The system of packing, or
rather the failure of it, was apparently one of the chief
contributory factors in bringing about the gob fire,
though probably the most important mistake of all was
the leaving of a rib of coal up against the face, about
10 yards in length. This rib had been left nearly 4 yards
thick, owing to the fact that the roof above was shattered,
and was extremely difficult to keep up. Mr. Smithson
described how a heading was driven slightly at an
angle, so as to cut off the seat of the fire and prevent it
from spreading. When the heading had been driven
for a length of just over 30 ft., the end of the rib was
proved by finding the goaf, and the coal face being
then quite cold, the road was stopped and the task of
getting at the fire itself at the right hand side com-
menced. A cavity of about 6 yards by 8 yards was got
out, and the officials found a fresh side at the left side
of the heading. Another small heading was pushed
forward at right angles to the first heading, to cut
directly into this fire, but it was found that the men
were following a break, and that the fire was in front of
them also, eating its way along the break. The hole
was filled in with sand, and the men returned to the
intake and started in a fresh heading, approximately
parallel with the first one, only 6 yards higher up. The
men succeeded in reaching the break first, and cut off
the fire. They then proceeded with the task of getting
out the solid pillar, the heart of which was red-hot,
lying between the two parallel headings.

The shipowners and coal shippers at Hull and the
other Humber ports have taken strong exception to the
new charges proposed by the railway and dock companies
for the mixing of coal when bunkering. It is proposed
to charge Id. per ton up to 8 tons and Id. per ton for
quantities beyond, with additional charges when more
than two sorts are mixed. A deputation has waited
upon the representatives of the railway companies, but
without obtaining thus far a modification. The North-
Eastern, Hull and Barnsley, Great Central, and Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire railway companies are acting, in
concert in the matter, all ports on the Humber being
similarly treated.

At the annual meeting of the Humber Coal Exporters’
nd Shippers’ Association, held this week, Mr. E. J.
Adderley (Messrs. Wm. Cory and Son Limited) was
re-elected chairman for the ensuing year; and Mr. R.
Moorby (Anglo-Continental Coal Association) was
reappointed vice-chairman.

An important proposal has been made by Mr. Joseph
Hewitt, president of the newly-formed Barnsley and
District Colliery Owners’ Association. Discussing the
proposal to establish a joint district board at a recent
meeting, Mr. Hewitt alluded to the objects of the
association. For some time considerable developments
had been going on in the Doncaster district, and large
pits had been opened out to work the Barnsley seam.
As regards those pits, they had to concede the fact that
the coal got in the Barnsley bed in the Doncaster dis-
trict and beyond was not—and no one pretended that it

was—of a quality equal to the coal in the Barnsley
district. Further, the coals in their district other than
the Barnsley bed, were of a distinctive type, and far
richer than coals obtained in any other part of England.
It was essential that that superiority of fuel should be
maintained not only for the purpose of the collieries,
but for the purpose of the markets and the purpose of
the community in which they were situated. If they
looked backward they would find that Barnsley origi-
nated the excellent name which had got its distinction
in all the markets of the world. Barnsley started
an association which by encroachments drifted and
drifted into an association called the South Yorkshire
Association. By reason of the extension of that
Association to include coals which could not by any
means be classed in the same category as the coals in
the immediate vicinity of Barnsley, the Association had
become a name which intrinsically did not represent
what Barnsley, and what Barnsley district coals really
were. That being the fact, they must look jealously
upon those collieries which were arrogating to them-
selves under the shelter of the South Yorkshire Associa-
tion certificates, the value of the coal which really
belonged to Barnsley and district. When they followed
that up they had to consider a far more serious question,
even than the value of the coal. Up to now there had
been a trade association called the South Yorkshire
Coal Trade Association for the purpose of regulating
the prices at which coal should be sold to certain con-
tracting parties. Certain persons connected with that
Association had sold below the price agreed upon, and
then went to their meeting to get absolution by pro-
posing a reduction of price. But despite inducements,
the Barnsley collieries, by being loyal to their neighbours,
had for a considerable length of time suffered in this
respect. Last month an arrangement was made at a
certain meeting whereby a certain price should be
quoted, then instead of adhering to that price and
meaning what they said, the price was reduced Is. per
ton, leaving the price of coal at the same figure as last
year; whereas the next thing they heard of was an
increase of 6d. in the minimum wage. The result was
that one had no confidence in associations of that descrip-
tion. It would be said—and probably said truly—that the
Doncaster pits had taken lower prices because their
coal had not the same calorific properties as the coal
in the Barnsley district, but these pits at Doncaster
also had to their credit the advantage of a very large
output, in some cases as much as 24,000 or 25,000 tons a
week, and that necessarily reduced their establishment
charges and costs. While the Barnsley pits with their
increased costs had to compete at the same minimum
wage with Doncaster and other district pits they must
be hampered considerably in the markets. In order
that this state of things might be remedied the Barnsley
Colliery Owners’ Association endeavoured to get a
differentiation between the Barnsley district and that
of their collieries, so that other pits with better
conditions who could get them in the markets
should have put upon them a minimum wage of
an increased amount, thus making competition fair.
Continuing, Mr. Hewlett said the principle upon which
the Barnsley and District Colliery Owners’ Association
was established had been proved to be correct, and he
proposed that steps be taken to form a trade association
for the Barnsley and districts collieries, so that the
Barnsley district association could give a certificate to
the effect that coal from this or that colliery was
Barnsley Association “hards,” or whatever it might be.
Their coal would then become a greater factor in the
market, and they would be able to compete on better
terms than under the South Yorkshire Association’s
certificate of “ South Yorkshire Association hards,” and
thus the best interests of the collieries in the district
might be maintained, and the prosperity of their town
and. district continued. The proposal was unanimously
adopted.

Dedicating a new church at Edlington Colliery village,
near Doncaster, recently, the Archbishop of York
administered what most people will consider to be
a well-deserved rebuke to local authorities for their
laxity in regard to town-planning opportunities. He
said: “ I have had my disappointments about this
district in which we live. One great disappointment of
my life will be there was so little far-seeing citizenship
in this place, that three or four years ago a great scheme
of town planning was not adopted for this area that
might have made Doncaster live as a word of honour and
praise among future generations of mining people. My
disappointment is that so little has been done, and I see
the opportunity vanishing month by month.” In the
course of his sermon, the Archbishop said that was the
third church he had dedicated in the new coalfield
around Doncaster, and that afternoon he had received
the cheerful intelligence that through the generosity of
one of their large colliery proprietors another church
would soon be begun. The Archbishop’s statement as
to a fourth church referred to a generous gift by
Messrs. Barber, Walker and Co., of the Bentley
Colliery, which became known on Monday. Not only
have the firm presented a site for a church for the
miners they employ, but they have also made a gift of
£1,000 down, and promised still further assistance.

It is due to the generosity of the late Mr. S. J.
Cooper of Mount Vernon, Barnsley, who in former days
was interested in coalmining, that a lasting memorial
which was unveiled last week has been erected to the
memory of the brave volunteers who were killed cn the
occasion of the dreadful explosion at the Oaks Colliery,
Barnsley, on December 12, 1866, when 361 lives were
lost. Outstanding amongst the band of heroes is the
name of Mr. Parkin Jeffcock, who, at the time of the
explosion, was a partner with the well-known mining
engineer, Mr. Woodhouse at Derby, whose services
were engaged by the owners of the Oaks Colliery.
The memorial stands on a commanding site on the
Doncaster-road, within sight of the ill-fated colliery. It