752

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

Apeil 3, 1914.

The encouraging attitude of colliery managers towards
ambulance students was referred to in laudatory terms.

The annual meeting of the Staffordshire Education
Committee was held at Stafford on Saturday. The
director reported that the Cannock Chase Colliery Com-
pany Limited offered a mining scholarship of £60 per
annum for three years at the Birmingham University,
the holder to be selected from students of the Chase
Town Mining Institute; the first such scholarship to be
awarded after the examinations this month. Arrange-
ments submitted by Mr. Charlton for ambulance
classes at the following centres were approved, viz.:—
Brereton, Chase Town, Dudley, Essington, Great
Wyrley, Hednesford, Norton Canes, Old Hill, Tipton,
Upper Gornal, and Walsall. Mr. Charlton was
authorised to arrange for the conduct of a special
class at Dudley for members of rescue brigades, subject
to the director being satisfied that the work of such a
class would not duplicate that being done by the
collieries. Surveying classes are to be conducted at
Hednesford, Chase Town, and Walsall.

The annual meeting of Stanley Brothers Limited was
held at Nuneaton, on Friday. Col. H. S. Murray, who
presided, in moving the adoption of the report, said the
slackness of the miners by inattention to work had been
the most serious matter for them. He disliked many
accusations against any class, and what he said was only
applicable to a certain percentage of their men. It was
this percentage which destroyed every thing. Unless
they got a colliery working with its full complement of
men, turning out a full tonnage of coal, the general
expenses were so heavy that it was impossible to make
any appreciable profit. Another reason had been
trouble which had been experienced at the Bedworth
Colliery. In the autumn they had a fire which swallowed
up all the money which they made in the spring.

Judgment was delivered at the Birmingham Assizes
on Tuesday in a case brought by Mr. Wm. E. Price and
his son, Mr. T. S. Price, against four proprietors of the
Portobello Colliery, Bilston, to recover damages for
alleged breach of agreement. The defendants agreed
to join the former plaintiff in acquiring the colliery,
which was closed down in 1878 owing to water, and
under the agreement Mr. W. E. Price was to be manager
at a salary of £2 per week until the expenses of reopening
were repaid, after which he was to have one-fifth share
in the concern. The agreement also provided that
Mr. T. S. Price was to be appointed engineer at £1 13s.
per week, and that any gross misconduct on the part of
either of the plaintiffs should entitle the defendants to
give 14? days’ notice to terminate the appointment;
while, if the colliery was not being worked properly, a
four weeks’ notice was decided upon. A few months
after the appointments were made, another engineer
was engaged superior to the plaintiffs, who afterwards
received notices of dismissal. The defendants con-
tended that the mine was not properly laid out,
that a larger pump ought to have been installed, and
that Mr. W. E. Price had acted contrary to instructions.
Mr. Justice Pickford, in giving judgment, pointed out
that during the progress of working the colliery diffi-
culties were encountered which were exaggerated by the
plaintiffs and minimised by the defendants. Up to
December 31,1912, defendants had provided £888, and
in addition there were accounts owing. On August 30,
1913, defendants pointed out to plaintiffs that the
colliery was being run at a loss, and at the same time
they sent a four weeks’ notice of dismissal. Subsequently
it was urged by defendants that Mr. W. E. Price had
failed to observe the covenants of the agreement, but, in
the opinion of Mr. Justice Pickford, there was no such
failure as would justify the dismissal or termination of
the agreement, but there was reasonable grounds for
defendants to come to the conclusion that, from the
imperfect accounts kept, the colliery was not being
worked at a profit. Judgment was given for defendants,
but without costs.

A discussion on section 31 (3) of the Coal Mines
Regulation Act, 1911, took place at a meeting of the
North Staffordshire branch of the National Association
of Colliery Managers, at Stoke, on Monday evening.
The president, Mr. A. M. Henshaw, said the clause left
much to be desired as to its actual meaning, but he
assumed that a volume of 50 to 75 per cent, of the
normal current would meet the exigencies contemplated
by the clause. The fact that the law now required that
the air-current should be capable of reversal seemed to
have given the impression to some officials that it would
be wise to do so under all sorts of circumstances, whereas
it was probably one of the last things to resort to. In
cases of gob fire in the workings, it was conceivable that
reversal might have the effect in certain cases of pre-
venting access of firedamp to the seat of the fire or of
carrying the fumes away from the workmen ; but here,
again, it was necessary carefully to consider all the
features of the case, the conditions, and the possible
effects. Amongst the points raised was the question of
the interpretation which should be placed on the word
“ adequate,” and whether it related to the volume of the
air or the means provided for carrying out the reversal.
The desirability or otherwise of testing the reversal
arrangements was also discussed, and several members
emphasised the danger of doing so when any suspicion
of gob fire existed in the pit. Another point raised was
as to whether the reversal should apply merely to the
shafts and main roads or to the whole of the workings.

Dean Forest.

A Winding Accident.

Mr. J. W. Guise, coroner, Dean Forest, and a jury
occupied the afternoon on Monday, the 23rd ult., con-
sidering the circumstances of the death, which occurred
on Friday, the 20th ult., of Fred Ward, a collier,
employed by Lydney and Crump Meadow Colliery
Company, at their house coal mine at Cinderford, it

following a pit cage accident. Henry Morgan^ the
colliery banksman, stated that the second “ bond ” of
men to go down the shaft on the morning of the 20th
was deceased and five other employees. Witness saw
that before deceased could properly enter the cage it
began to descend, and Ward was injured. Witness
said he had given no signal to ohe banksman to “ lower.”
He was much surprised.that .the cage was started on
the journey before he had given the signal. He
could not recall a similar occurrence. Seeing some-
thing was wrong, he shouted, and the cage was
pulled back to bank, and deceased liberated.
Walter Parsons, the engineman, assured the jury he
heard the familiar “ down,” and thereupon started the
cage. He admitted he could not now recall whose voice
it was he heard. Witness said that owing to the noise
going on, sometimes he could not hear the signal dis-
tinctly. Mr. J os. Hale, the colliery manager, in his evidence,
described the signalling arrangements. He admitted
that certain keps required by the Act of Parliament
for the cage to rest on were not provided, and promised
that the requirements of the statute should be respected.
The company had spent thousands of pounds endeavour-
ing to meet the requirements of the law.—After the
jury had consulted in private, they returned the following
verdict: That the cause of death was as stated by the
doctor ; that the deceased met his death by being
crushed between the cage and the sides of the shaft,
through the former being lowered prematurely; that
there was not sufficient evidence to show whether or not
the driver did receive the signal; that there was evidence
of neglect on the part of the management in not providing
the necessary signals between the banksman and the
winding engine driver, and also for not providing keps
for the cage to stand on at the top of the shaft.

Scotland.

Electric Winding at Pumpherston—The Price of Coal
and Colliery Costs—The Housing Question.

On Saturday last, upwards of 50 members, repre-
senting the East and West of Scotland branches of the
Association of Mining Electrical Engineers, accepted an
invitation kindly extended by the Pumpherston Oil
Company Limited to visit Breich pit, where there has
been installed one of the latest type of electric winders.
The visitors, on reaching Livingstone station, were
driven in motor cars to the pit, which is some few
miles distant. There they were met by Mr. James
Caldwell, sen., manager of the mines, Mr. Matthew
Caldwell, engineer, and other officials of the company,
and shown over the plant both on the surface and
below ground. The winder, which is of the Siemens-
Ilgner type, has been working for fully a year, and
so far has given eminently satisfactory results.
Presently it is working at little more than half load, and
it is anticipated that the results will be even more satis-
factory when the winder is loaded to its full capacity.
The visitors were impressed with the entire absence of
noise in the winding engine house, and with the smooth
and easy manner with which the winding equipment
responded to the control. The control gear is of the
latest type, and embodies all the most recent safety
requirements of the Home Office. Another noticeable
piece of apparatus was the visual and audible signalling
apparatus which have recently been fitted up in com-
pliance with the requirements.

The Cadzow Coal Company have bought the Wester
Gartshore Colliery, Dumbartonshire, from the family of
Wallace of Solsgirth.

The annual meeting of shareholders of the United
Collieries Limited was held at Glasgow on the 25th ult.,
Mr. Montague F. Maclean, the chairman, presiding.—
The chairman, in moving approval of the report, said
that the National Health Insurance amounted to close
upon £5,000 for the year, and represented |d. per ton on
the output. Investments in other companies were
increased by £3,000, due to their acquiring a colliery
known as Greenhill, which bordered on their Cleland
royalty, and which it was anticipated would enable them
advantageously to develop that coalfield. Turning to
what was really justifiable comment upon the increase
in the price of coal, at the recent meeting of the Cale-
donian Railway Company, the chairman stated that his
company’s coal had cost last year 2s. lid. per ton more
than in 1911. As theUnited Collieries supplied a consider-
able quantity of the Caledonian Company’s requirements,
they accepted the figures as being practically applicable
to their own contract prices, and perhaps it would be
interesting to know where the difference of 2s. lid. had
gone. So far as they were concerned, Is. 3d. of the
2s. lid. represented additional wages. Timber and stores
absorbed an additional 2d.; rents and royalties, Id.;
maintenance (including material and labour), 2d.; expen-
diture to comply with the New Mines Act, fd.; National
Insurance, |d. The actual increase in the cost of produc-
tion was Is. ll*63d., or, say, 2s., which left a difference of
lid. To this had to be added the average profit in 1911,
which was 2Jd. per ton, so that Is. l|d. represented the
net profit per ton upon this particular contract. The
railway companies not only must have benefited by
considerably increased traffics, but they were also
obtaining higher rates upon every ton of coal carried,
not to mention demurrage and siding rent charges
upon wagons. So there were some compensatory
advantages, let them hope, for the increased cost of coal.
He, however, went further and told them that the
average profit upon their total output last year was
almost exactly Is. per ton, without any deduction for
depreciation. There were, doubtless, many fortunate
collieries which had made more ; but there would also
be many which had made less, and, if a general average
could be struck, he would be surprised if the profit per
ton exceeded an all-round figure of a shilling. He was
afraid that the colossal profits of coalowners existed

only in the imagination of miners’ leaders and con-
sumers, whose experience of the trade was confined to
the retail price of house coal, which always appeared to
be rather out of proportion to the price at the pit-
mouth, and yet there was reason to believe that the lot
of the coal merchant was not a particularly happy
one. Regarding the future, there were indications
of a fall in the trade barometer. One thing seemed
certain, and that was that it was almost impossible to
conceive that the price of coal could ever again be as low
as it had been at times during the past ten years. There
were so many factors conspiring against this possibility
—legislation, increased cost of all materials and
machinery, and, most important of all, the modern
tendency, by no means confined to miners, towards less
work and more pay. The report was adopted.

The members of the Royal Commission on Housing
(Scotland) resumed their sittings in Edinburgh, on the
24th ult., for the purpose of hearing evidence in con-
nection with the housing of miners. The witnesses who
appeared before the Commission were Mr. J. T. Forgie,
Mr. D. M. Mowat, and Mr. A. M’Cosh, jun., representing
Lanarkshire Coalowners’ Association; Mr. William
Stevenson, works manager, Auchinlea Colliery Company,
Clelland, and Mr. John Paul, general manager, Loch-
gelly Coal Company. On the following day the repre-
sentatives of the Lanarkshire Miners’ County Union
were examined.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Trustees have awarded
Alexander Aitken, machineman, an honorary certificate
and books and instruments to the value of £10 for
having, at considerable risk to himself, descended to the
lower workings of No. 3 pit, Jawcraig Colliery,
Slamannan, with the object of warning 16 miners of
their danger, due to an inflow of moss which he had
observed at one of the higher workings.

Two men were injured in a gas explosion which
occurred on Saturday at Broomhouse Colliery, near
Glasgow.

Prof. James Geikie presided at the ninth ordinary
meeting of the Royal Society, held recently at
Edinburgh. A chemical examination of the organic
matter in oil shales, by Mr. J. B. Robertson, was com-
municated by Dr. J. S. Flett, F.R.S. It was stated that
a series of complete analyses of Scottish oil shales
showed that the ratio of carbon to hydrogen was
uniformly lower in coals, and had a definite relation to
the yield of oil when the shales were distilled. The
analysis supported the conclusion that the oil-yielding
substance in the shales was derived from plants, but
was not exactly similar to the organic matter of coals.
Mr. James A. S. Watson, B.Sc., communicated a note
on the atmospheric electrical potential gradient in
industrial districts, in which the authors investigated
the effect of smoke and products of combustion on the
atmospheric potential gradient of Leeds.

By the courtesy of Messrs. William Baird and Co., a
party of over 100 Ayrshire mining students visited that
firm’s collieries at Mossblown and Prestwick recently.
The outstanding feature of the visit to the colliery was
the inspection and explanation of the mixed-pressure
turbine plant for the generation of electric power to
supply the new colliery at Prestwick. Previous to the
introduction of this plant the exhaust steam from three
sets of winding engines and several smaller engines
escaped at atmospheric pressure, the engines being non-
condensing. This exhaust steam is now centralised at a
collector, which blows off at about 21b. above atmo-
spheric pressure. Immediately the collector is charged a
by-pass valve opens automatically and the exhaust from
the engines passes direct to the low-pressure turbines.
The collector is then in a position to bridge over the short
gaps which occur owing to the intermittent operation of
the winding plant. Its capacity for this is regarded as
being 500 kw. for a period of 45 seconds. Should the
supply of exhaust steam fail for a longer period than
that, another valve opens automatically and allows
live steam from the boilers to flow direct to the
turbines at a reduced pressure. The turbine plant is of
the mixed-pressure type, running at 3,000 revolutions
per minute, and is coupled direct to a 500-kw. three-
phase electric generator. This plant is duplicated, in
order to provide against emergencies. The electric
power so generated is transmitted to the Prestwick
Colliery, about a mile and a-half distant, and, as the
entire plant is operated electrically, this may be
described fairly as a smokeless colliery. A feature of
special interest was the electric winding plant, which is
designed on the Thury principle.

In view of his appointment as manager of a colliery
in Ayrshire, Mr. Alexander Walker has received a
handsome testimonial from the workmen and officials
at Queenslie Colliery, Shettlestoji/ Mr. Walker was
presented with a marble clock and side ornaments,
while Mrs. Walker was gifted with a beautiful cake
basket.

Mr. Walter Kirkwood, under-manager in Messrs.
Watsons’ Motherwell collieries, who has been appointed
manager at Climpy Colliery, Wilsontown, was enter-
tained on Saturday evening by his friends in Motherwell.
In the course of the evening Mr. Kirkwood was pre-
sented, in the name of the subscribers, with an eight-day
clock, a gold bracelet for Mrs. Kirkwood, and a gold
watch to each of his two daughters.

Manchester Geological;andMiningJSociety:—An ordinary
meeting of the members of the Manchester Geological and
Mining Society will be held at 5, John Dalton-street, Man-
chester, on Tuesday, April 7, 1914, at 4 p.m. The following
papers will be read:—“ Deepening a Shaft by a Rise Method/’
by Mr. Hugh Brookiehurst Pilkington; and “ Safety Air Doors
for Coalmines." by Mr. James Ashworth. The council will
meet on the same day at 3.15 p.m.