796 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. April 9, 1914. turBed areas and at greater depths may disclose more favourable results. Mr. G. S. Mallock, of the Canadian Geological Survey, has also spent some time in the coalfield, and he likewise finds that the earlier estimates have been rather too roseate. Some excellent analyses have been obtained, how- ever, and the construction of a railway will add an asset of no mean value to the actual resources of the province. Turning now to the Peace Biver district, the latest report is that made by Mr. C. F. J. Galloway for the Mines Department in 1912. The particulars which he gives show that, although the seams are thin, the coal is of very high grade and of good steam- raising qualities; the measures are regular, and the ash content is low. Railways from the south are already heading for this district, which seems to present many attractions for the colonist, large portions consisting of rich virgin prairie. Probably the Peace River coal will find its principal outlet in the interior, for consumption on railways and other analogous purposes. It seems to be certain, however, that British Columbia is exceptionally rich in coal; Dr. Dowling places the probable reserve at 73,874,942,000 tons, and the coals of Vancouver Island and the Crow’s Nest region already possess a proved reputation ; to the north of Crow’s Nest is the great undeveloped Elk river coalfield, where the seams aggregate in some places 182 ft. in thickness. There are other areas still further north, on the Bulkley, Telkwa and Zymoetz rivers, near the line of the new Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, east of Hazelton, that are being gradually developed, and there are many other coalfields which are only waiting for the railway and the demand. In Queen Charlotte Island is found cretaceous coal of almost every grade, and these deposits also are attracting the attention of the rer. THE THREE SHIFT SYSTEM NORTHUMBERLAND. Lord Willoughby de Broke’s Bill. The text of the Bill introducel by Lord Willoughby de Broke in the House of Lords to “ restrict work in coalmines to certain hours of the day/’ has just been issued. It is as follows:— 1. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, no workman shall be below ground in a coal mine for the purpose of the work of getting, hauling, drawing, or raising coal, or of going to or from such work between the hours of six at night and three on the following morning. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, in every coal mine the haulage of coal below ground and the raising of coal to the surface shall absolutely cease for a continuous period Of at least twelve hours in every consecutive twenty-four hours. (3) No boy shall be below ground in a coal mine for any purpose on any day before the hour of six in the morning. (4) No contravention of the foregoing provisions shall be deemed to take place in the case of any workman who is below ground, or in the case of any work done, for the purpose of repairs or of removing stone, or for any other purpose prescribed by the Secretary of State as being merely ancillary to the getting, hauling, or raising of coal, or for the purpose of rendering assistance in the event of accident, or for meeting any danger or apprehended danger, or for dealing with an emergency or work uncompleted through unforeseen circumstances which require to be dealt with without interruption in order to avoid serious interference with ordinary work in the mine or in any district of the mine. (5) The owner, agent, or manager of every mine shall fix the time at which the period of twelve hours referred to in subsection 2 of this section is to commence and to be completed, and shall post and keep posted at the pithead a conspicuous notice of the times so fixed, and shall make all arrangements for raising the men before the commencement of such period. (6) The proviso to subsection four of section one of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1908 (relating to the temporary extension of time in the case of an accident interfering with the raising or lowering of workmen) and subsection five of that section shall apply to the provisions of this Act as if the same were expressly re-enacted and incorporated herein. 2. Section four of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1908 (which relates to the suspension of that Act in event of emergency), and section six of the same Act (which relates to provisions for securing compliance with that Act) shall apply to the provisions of this Act in like manner as if those sections were herein re-enacted and in terms made applicable to this Act. 3. —(1) If any person contravenes or fails to comply with, or permits any person to contravene or fail to comply with, any provision of this Act he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, and in the event of any such contravention or non-compliance by any person whomsoever, the owner, agent and manager of the mine shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, unless he proved that he had taken all reasonable means to prevent the contravention or non- compliance. Provided that a workman shall not be guilty of an offence under this Act in the case of any failure to return to the surface so as to comply with any provisions of this Act if he proves that without default on his part he was prevented from returning to the surface owing to means not being available for the purpose. (2) A person guilty of an offence under this Act shall in respect of each offence be liable, on summary conviction, if he is the owner, agent, or manager of the mine, to a fine not exceeding two pounds and in any other case to a fine not exceeding ten shillings. 4. In this Act the expression “ workman” has the same meaning as in the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1908; all other expressions have the same meaning as in the Coal Mines Act, 1911. 5. —(1) This Act shall apply to all mines in the county of Northumberland to which the Coal Mines Act, 1911, applies. (2) This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, and may be cited as the Coal Mines Act, 1914. INDIA! AND COLONIAL NOTES. India. East India Railway.—The report of the Eist India Rail- way shows that in the half-year enled with September last 5,153,762 tons of coal were carried, as against 5,049,917 tons in the corresponding half of the previous year ; the receipts, however, were lower. Deducting the quantities required for the undertaking, 4,620,229 tons of coal and coke were conveyed, as against 4,602,404 ton^, the falling-off in revenue being Rs. 6,91,592. For foreign railways 897,129 tons were carried, as against 1,031,967 tons, and for the use of the public 3,723,100 tons, as against 3,570,437 tons. Nearly the whole of the falling off in receipts was in the upward coal traffic, which shows a decrease of 24,930 tons in the weight carried, and of Rs. 6,43,268 in the receipts. The decrease in the upward traffic is entirely due to the smaller requirements of foreign railways owing to slackness of traffic; the quantity carried upwards for the public having been much larger than in the corresponding period of 1912. The fluctuation in the downward traffic is unimportant. With a smaller demand for export owing to higher steamer freights there was a large increase in the despatches to stations near Calcutta to meet local require- ments, which accounted for the increase in the quantity carried, while the somewhat shorter lead caused the falling off in the receipts. The average earnings of the coal traffic per ton per mile, both up and down, were 2 24 pies (say 0 186 of a penny), against 2 18 pies (say 0 181 of a penny) in 1912, while the average distance carried was 278£ miles, a decrease of 23 miles on the distance carried in the corresponding period of 1912. The quantities of coal exported from Calcutta by sea during the half-year ended September 30 amounted to 1,421,869 tons, as against 1,606,530 tons in 1912. Of the coal exported, the East Indian Railway carried 1,036,028 tons in the half-year, against 1,133,869 tons in the corresponding period of 1912. The net out-turn of coal at the company’s collieries during the half-year ended September 30, 1913, was 343,938 tons (of which 283,341 tons were steam coal), raised at a cost of Rs. 1-9-1 per ton at the pit’s mouth. The quantity of steam coal, including coal purchased, consumed by the undertaking was 399,565 tons, at an average cost of Rs. 2-3-9 per ton exclusive of distribution; against 374,735 tons, at an average cost of Rs. 2-5-2 per ton in the half-year ended September 30, 1912. Africa. The production of coal in the South African Union during January was as follows :— No. of Coal Average value Province. collieries Sold. per ton pit’s producing. mouth. Short tons. s. d. fi?ransvaal 29 ... 389,505 ... 4 6 46 Cape - 9 ... 4,056 ... 11 6’46 Orange Free State ... 5 ... 59,414 ... 5 8’97 Natal .... 20 ... 204,970 ... 6 665 Total 63 657,945 — In the aggregate, 811,417 tons were mined, of which 133,898 tons were sorted out as waste. Canada. Newfoundland Coal.—In the Speech from the Throne at the recent opening of the Newfoundland Twenty-third General Assembly, reference was made to the increasing cost of coal. It was stated that the Newfoundland Government had decided to make a further effort to determine whether coal deposits were commercially workable, and had invited Prof. Dunstan (Director of the Imperial Institute at London) to visit the country and thoroughly examine its carboniferous areas, and this he had promised to do early this season. Besides undertaking this duty it was also expected that he would study the possibilities of Newfound- land’s oil shale, of which extensive deposits exist near the line of railway now being built to Bonne Bay. PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE. HOUSE OF COMMONS—April 6. The Rescue Regulations. Mr. Duncan Millar asked the Home Secretary if he could state whether the revised Regulations under section 85 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, dealing with the provision of rescue apparatus at all mines, had now been adjusted; whether any arrangement was come to between the mineowners and the representatives of the miners as to their amended form ; and whether the Regulations would now secure that self-contained breathing apparatus would be made available for immediate use at every coalmine in case of emergency, whatever might be the number of men employed in the mine. Mr. McKenna said: I have been in communication both with the Owners’ Association and the Miners’ Federation, with a view to agreeing to the terms of the new Regulations before formally proposing them under the Act, and hope that the matter, which has had to be referred to the com- mittees of those two bodies, will be settled this week. Except in the case of a few small mines which are exempt, the Regulations will make the provision of self-contained apparatus, either at the mine or at the central station to which the mine is affiliated, compulsory in all cases. OBITUARY. The death has occurred at Bridlington of Mr. Richard Fosdick, who has long been well known in E ist Yorkshire coal trade circles. His death has removed an active figure from the coal exporting trade of Htill and G oole. Mr. Fosdick was the owner of the Hemsworth-Fit z william Collieries until the concern was sold to the South Kirby Colliery Company, when Mr. Fosdick devoted his attention to exporting, in which business he built up an extensive connection in Germany, Belgium and France. From his business in Goole, which was established in 1880, he extended in 1907 to Hull. Mr. Fosdick retired from business in October 1913, and went to reside at Bridlington. He leaves a widow and family. The death took place at his residence, at Hill Top, Walkden, near Manchester, on Saturday night, April 4, of Mr. William Blower (58), a well-known colliery con- tractor. He had helped to sink many mines and carried out other important colliery works not only in the Walkden district, but also at Plank Lane, near Wigan. The death is announced of Mr. Henry Rawcliffe, of West Kirby, near Liverpool, at the age of 73 years. Deceased, who was well known in public life, was for over 40 years connected with the Wigan Iron and Coal Company, and was their agent for Ireland. Sir Richard Mottram, J.P., died at his home, Beech House, Pendleton, Salford, on Saturday. Deceased was a member of the Iron and Steel Institute, and a director of Galloways Limited. The Centralisation of Mining Relief.—The first meeting of the committee that has been appointed to consider the desirability of establishing a national fund for mining disasters was held at the Mansion House, London, recently, the Lord Mayor presiding, and there being present Sir T. Ratcliffe-Ellis and Mr. Reginald Guthrie, representing the Mining Association of Great Britain ; Mr. R. Smillie, Mr. W. E. Harvey, M.P., Mr. W. Brace, M.P., and Mr. Thomas Ashton, representing the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain ; Mr. James Darlington, Mr. George Booth, and Mr. J. B. Stubbs, representing the Central Association of the Miners’ Permanent Relief Funds ; Aid. Morgan Thomas, ex-Lord Mayor of Cardiff, and Aid. F. Geen, ex-mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, representing trustees of special disaster funds ; and the Official Trustee (Mr. C. J. Stewart). At the outset Mr. W. J. Needle was requested to act as hon. secretary to the committee.—A lengthy discussion took place, and the Lord Mayor invited the committee to decide upon the principle and advisability of such a fund. Further discussion followed on these points, and finally Mr. W. E. Harvey, M.P., proposed and Mr. J. B. Stubbs seconded the following resolution :—“ That this committee is of the opinion that a central fund for the purpose of assisting the dependents of persons who lose their lives by accidents in mines should be established, and considers that the surpluses, if any, remaining in the funds raised for previous colliery disasters should be transferred to this central fund, and directs that an appeal be made to the trustees of such funds on the lines suggested in this reso- lution.” This resolution was carried nem. con. Another meeting of the committee will be held, when the replies of the trustees have been received.