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THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

April 24, 1914.

Valley, and going west from Holly Bank they had a
chain of boreholes ending at Claverley, where the coal
was supposed to be absent. They were thinking of
going 3 or 4 miles further to the west nearer to their
eastern outcrop, and it was rather a point whether the
coal measures were there or not. Dr. Newell Arber, in
a recent paper, held that the Welsh borderland coalfields
had no connection with Cannock Chase or the East
Worcestershire coalfields at all. The probabilities, in
the speaker’s own mind, were that all those boreholes
and the one that they were proposing would bear this
out.

Mr. H. W. Hughes said he did not feel that he could
do anything except express his admiration for the
enormous patience and perseverance that had been
shown in carrying out that work. With regard to its
effect on the expansion of the coalfields in that locality
it was rather too early to express an opinion, and
they could only surmise. He was very much interested
in the question of using high-pressure compressed air,
especially as in America and Germany something
like 1,500 lb. was being employed very successfully for
certain purposes. It certainly had great advantages,
and probably when used under the right conditions it was
exceptionally economical. In future it was likely to
prove a strong rival to electricity.

The President said it was his duty to propose a very
hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Forrest for that most
interesting paper. It was an able paper descriptive of
a very .important piece of development work. They had
the pleasure of listening at their last meeting to a paper
by Mr. Clark, junior, of a very similar character, and,
followed as it was by a similar paper by Mr. Forrest,
these two contributions added very materially to the
practical knowledge at their disposal.

Mr. D. E. Parry said he seconded the vote with very
great pleasure. It was an enterprise which in its way
was quite unique as far as that district was concerned.
They had practically a pit within a pit; and although
Mr. Forrest had had very great difficulties in driving
for coal at a depth of 800 yards.below the surface, he
had overcome those difficulties, and they must heartily
congratulate him on his success. At the same time,
when a seam dipped as it probably did to the west
at an angle of 1 in 4, it did not seem that all the
difficulties had been overcome.

The resolution was adopted with acclamation.

Mr. Norman Forrest, acknowledging the vote of
thanks, said that the preparation of a paper on a subject
like that had been a matter of great interest and
pleasure because the subject, as had been said, was
unique. Mr. Clark had mentioned the very strong rocks
that they were so very fortunate to find. He (Mr.
Forrest) did not think anybody would have liked to
undertake to have made that enginehouse pit-top on the
pit bank unless the rock had been very strong. It would
have meant a very serious and expensive undertaking to
have carried out that work in a marl pit. They were
very fortunate in reaching a point just approaching the
sinking where they got a fault. This brought in the
sandstones, and the sandstones stuck to them all the time
that they were engaged on the pit head. The only trouble
they had at all was just above the pulleys. With regard
to Mr. Cockin’s question as to the Etruria marls, he had
an opportunity of seeing the drifts at Aldridge, and he
believed Mr. Stobbs also saw them, and he thought they
were generally agreed that the appearance of the two
marls on both sides coincided. The fossils that they
found were very indefinite, but they were imprints of
leaves and plants in the marl. They were very much
spoiled in some cases by the faults in the marl, but
the fact of their occurring in both places led them
to believe that the marls were the same as in the
Essington brickyard. It was only an inference, they
were not prepared to say that those fossils exactly
correlated, but he thought the inference was a fair one
that the two formations were practically the same.
As to Mr. Cockin’s question with regard to where
the fault ran after it left Holly Bank, his answer was
that they did not know. Replying to Mr. Thacker’s
question as to the distance of the main winding shaft
No. 15 from the sinking pit by their haulage road, the
distance was 2,300 yards. As to Mr. Thacker’s enquiry
whether there was any water in the sinking, there was
no water in the red measures, which extended 160 yards
down. In the coal measures the rocks gave off water, but
nothing to hurt; it all came out in the stuff, and assisted
generally in sinking the bottom. With regard to the
old question of electricity versus compressed air, he
agreed with what Mr. Brindley said—that higher
pressures could be used with advantage—and they
had considered the question of using higher pres-
sure ; but he was not prepared to say that they
were following through Mr. Brindley’s scheme
of taking compressed air from one engine to another.
They would have to do a good deal of thinking
before they decided to go as far as that. But he did
believe in higher pressure and bigger pipes than were
often installed at collieries. Mr. Brindley was quite
right in saying that the pipes they had put in were not
taken down in 50-yard lengths. They were screwed
pipes with flanges about every 50 yards. They screwed
them together, then rolled them all in position and
coupled them up. In reply to Mr. Russ as to the total
area proved by Holly Bank and at Four Ashes, it was a
speculation. They were prepared to speculate, but he
did not think they could lay down any fixed rule. He
did not think there were any other data. A shaft cost
nothing in upkeep, which was a very great point. They
were driving a road at present which might or might

not require upkeep—he meant in the way of repairing.
A road had to be renewed every now and then, and he
still favoured the idea of a shaft as saving the constant
trouble of repairing. Mr. Parry had mentioned the
obstacles underground, but mining engineers always
had some obstacles to contend with, and they had got to
get round them somehow.

Mr. J. C. Forrest said he might just reply to
Mr. Cockin’s remark as to the nature of the fossils that
were found. They hoped in a subsequent paper to be
able to say what those fossils were and to give them
their proper geological name. With regard to the
direction of the fault, although he could not speak
precisely, it was safe to say that, approximately, the
fault ran north and south, and he had no doubt that, if
Mr. Cockin would go far enough in his northern country,
he might depend on meeting with it. Mr. Russ had
asked the question how far that proof would help him.
Well, he feared it would not help him much on the
Billingsley side of the country. There it was a totally
distinct proposition, and it was clear that between
Holly Bank and Shropshire there was a very con-
siderable area of ground of which they knew very little.
He bad been told there was an anticlinal or Silurian
bank, or something of that sort, between the two, but it
was impossible to say; but anybody who thought that
between them and Shropshire it was all coal was
making a vast mistake. They were simply driving to
see what they had got. They were not assuming anything
either way, and when they investigated it they would be
very pleased to tell them what they had found. If they
asked him whether it went across to Shropshire, on the
whole, he did not think it did. The ground had been
tested to some extent. The Four Ashes borehole
proved coal; the Claverley borehole bad failed to find
coal. His own opinion was that between Holly Bank and
Shropshire there was a large area of coal, but it
was not all coal, and what the depth would be
goodness only knew. The proof would, no doubt,
be built up in time. That was how they got their
knowledge of new coalfields; the knowledge had to be
built up, and the thing was seldom done at once. He
gathered from what Mr. Clark said, and from some of the
speeches, there was an idea in the meeting that the coal
measures they had reached were still dipping 1 in 4.
That was a mistaken idea which he did not mean to
convey. The measures had gradually flattened out, so
that substantially they were not inclined more than
1 in 10. For practical purposes that was level, and
they did not anticipate any difficulty.

This concluded the proceedings.

REPORT 0^ THE SE^GHEIYDD EXPLOSION.

Tne Home Office issued last night a Blue Book [Cd. 7346]
containing reports upon the explosion which occurred at
the Senghenydd Colliery on October 14 last, by Mr. R. A. 8.
Redmayne, Chief Inspector of Mines (Commissioner), and
by the assessors, Mr. Evan Williams, chairman of the South
Wales and Monmouthshire Coalowners’ Association, and Mr.
Robert S mil lie, president of the Miners’ Federation of Great
Britain. The explosion ultimately caused the loss of
440 lives.

In his summary of conclusions and recommendations Mr.
Redmayne expresses his belief that “ There is strong
probability of the explosion having originated on the
Mafeking incline, and that it was preceded by an occurrence
similar to that which took place further outbye in the
Mafeking return in 1910—namely, by heavy falls liberating
a large volume of gas.” The (i only apparent means of
ignition would be sparks from the electric signalling appa-
ratus, or from rocks brought down by the fall.” Mr.
Redmayne says undoubtedly electrical signalling was being
used in a part of the mine in which there was likely to be
inflammable gas in quantity sufficient to be indicative of
danger. It is all the more astonishing that the manage-
ment should have faced the risk that the sparks produced
might have ignited gas in view of the Bed was Colliery
explosion, which was proved beyond reasonable doubt to
have been caused by the sparks from an electric bell.
Describing the rescue operations, Mr. Redmayne doubts
whether it would have been possible to have saved, any of
the persons in the Pretoria, Mafeking, Kimberley and
Ladysmith districts. But he inclines to the belief that if
rescue apparatus had been kept at the colliery, and men
equipped with breathing apparatus and carrying with them
a lighter form of apparatus had at once penetrated the West
York by the return and the Bottanic district a few more
lives might have been saved. He is convinced that had there
been available an adequate water supply, and had brigades of
rescuers attacked the three fires (i.e., at the two cross-cuts
and that on the Main West Level) simultaneously, the fires
might have been extinguished in a comparatively short
time. In respect of the presence of coaldust the mine was
not in a satisfactory condition. Commenting on the small
force developed! in the explosion, he says he attributes this
to the fact that the dust contained a high percentage of
incombustible matter. Under the heading of “ Firemen’s
Reports,” Mr. Redmayne states that he regards the system
of reporting followed by the firemen at this and other
collieries as unsatisfactory, in that it was not sufficiently
definite to enable one to judge of the actual state of the
working places. He quotes other breaches of the general
regulations, and argues that some of the districts were
too large. Referring to breaches of the Coal Mines Act,
1911, and regulations under the Act, Mr. Redmayne says:—
“I have alluded in the body of the report to several
breaches of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, and the regulations
made under that Act—namely, failure to provide means for
the immediate reversal of the air [breach of section 31 (3)],
failure to measure the air in each ventilating district, at, or
as near as practicable to, a point 100 yards back from the
first working place at the working face which the air enters
[breach of General Regulation 77 (c)], failure to record the
measurements of the air current in a book in the
form prescribed by the Secretary of State, and omission of
manager and under-manager to countersign [breach of
section 24 (1) and (2)], failure by persons on whom

responsible duties are imposed with respect to the
ventilation underground to record the reading of the
barometer immediately before going into the mine
and after coming out of the mine [breach of
section 71 (2)], and failure to remove, as far as practicable,
coaldust from the roof and sides [breach of section 62 (3)].
Farther breaches of the Coal Mmes Act, 1911, referred to
in the body of the report are section 34 (1) (iii.), page 9, sec-
tion 64 (1), page 11, and in respect of General Regulations 60,
page 12. Some of these breaches, compared with those to
which I have already given especial prominence, may
appear trivial,, but taken in the aggregate they point to a
disquieting laxity in the management of the mine.” He
thinks that a modification of Regulation 137 is desirable so
as to exclude from its operation such signal wires and
signalling apparatus as are in use in virtue of the regula-
tion of the code of 1905. It should be made clear that
signalling apparatus should be treated in the future
as all other apparatus is treated, and that all open
visible sparks should be avoided where gas may occur.
Mr. SmiHie, while agreeing with the main body of
the report, adds a memorandum dealing with certain
points which, he thinks, contributed a higher death-
roll than might otherwise have been recorded. Mr.
Evan Williams’ report expresses his disagreement with
Mr. Redmayne’s report in greater or less degree upon
several material points. He concludes: I am of opinion
that the explosion was not consequent upon any breach
of the Act or Regulations, nor due to any lack of
precaution of a kind not required by law, other than
that which may be attached to the position of the
re-lighting station, and while there were some contra-
ventions of the statute they were all, with the exception of
the failure to complete the means for immediately reversing
the ventilation, of the nature of neglect to comply with
formalities of no importance in themselves.”

The report will be dealt with at greater length in next
week’s Colliery Guardian.

BOTG AW OTHER MTES>

The Umpire (Unemployment Insurance) has decided
that contributions under Part II. of the National Insurance
Act are payable in respect of workmen employed by
colliery companies and engaged wholly or mainly in the
repair of steam boilers at collieries, but that contributions
are not payable in respect of workmen engaged in the
upkeep of fires or drying brickwork at new coke ovens.

The goods and mineral traffic receipts of 19 of the
principal railways in the United Kingdom in the first
quarter of the year amounted to £15,482,445 or .£166,986
more than in the corresponding period of last year.

The four tentative “ anti-trust ” measures have been
embodied in one Bill just introduced into the United States
House of Representatives, and referred to the Judiciary
Committee, which began the hearings thereon on the 16th
inst. The Bill modifies certain restrictive features which
were first proposed, but contains others more drastic than
the original. The holding company prohibition does not
now apply to subsidiaries representing the legitimate growth
of corporations. Provisions concerning interlocking direc-
torates apply only to banks whose resources exceed
2,500,000 dols., but they are broadened so as to prohibit
such relations between private banks and trustees in all
cities whose population exceeds 100,000, which is intended
apparently to break up such relations in the case of big
bankers, particularly in New York. A new feature likely
to encounter vigorous labour opposition gives legal status
to union labour as now organised, but does not exempt it,
or a voluntary farmers’ association, from “ anti-trust law ”
prosecutions; unions have been demanding straight-out
exemption. The Bill applies the principle of personal guilt
to all unlawful offences, but does not attempt to define
what constitutes monopoly.

The ninth annual general meeting of the Baltic and
White Sea Conference is to be held at the Whitehall Rooms
on May 6 and 7. Mr. W. J. Noble will deliver the presi-
dential address, and among the questions on the agenda
are those of the delay in settlement of freight accounts in
British ports, arbitration tribunals for the Baltcon Charter,
and capture at sea.

The attention of the engineers of the world is being more
and more drawn to the programme of the International
Engineering Congress, which is to be held in San Francisco,
California, in 1915. The interest which has been aroused
in foreign countries is shown by the fact that at the present
time there have been received enrolments and subscriptions
from 42 such countries. It is furthermore to ba noted that
of the present total enrolment, approximately 25 per cent,
is from countries other than the United States. The
number of subscriptions from the members of the five
national engineering societies of the United States under
whose auspices and control the Congress is being held is,
however, not so gratifying. The percentage of the total
membership of these five societies represented by the
subscription list is only 3*7, and thia, although each
individual member of these societies has received circular
information and data concerning the congress, and has been
urged to send in his subscription promptly. Full informa-
tion concerning the congress may be obtained by addressing
the committee of management as follows:—International
Engineering Congress, 1915, Foxcroft - building, San
Francisco, California, U.S.A.

The Executive Committee of the Miners’ Federation of
Great Britain have decided to make a grant of £52 10s. to
the National Institution of the Blind for the provision of
Braille literature.