1084

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

May 15, 1914.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE.

CHANCERY DIVISION.

April 29.

Before Mr. Justice Joyce.

Average Clause in Lease.

Trustees of the late P. Rees v. Lord Merthyr of
Senghenydd. — This action, relating to royalties on coal
under a lease of the mineral rights of the farm of Cwmeldeg,
Eglwysilan, Glamorgan, was brought by the trustees of the
late Mr. Philip Rees against Lord Merthyr. The trustees
had taken out the summons in order to have his lordship’s
decision on the construction of the lease in respect of two
points. Firstly, whether certain coal upon which a royalty
was payable for the purpose of an average clause was to be
calculated as coal bearing royalty so as to enable the lessee
to obtain a remission of royalties under a clause- reducing
the royalties if more than a certain quantity of coal was
worked. Secondly, whether the lessees were entitled to have
it taken into consideration by the lessors if the total royalty
did not in any year exceed £600. The lease in question,
which was for 99 years, was dated October 4, 1889, and the
term ran from January 1886. Material clauses were to the
effect that the lessee should pay to the lessors during the
term, subject to the provisions as to rents, wayleaves, etc.,
for royalties, the following sums : For every ton of large
coal, 9d.; for every ton of small coal, 5d.; and for every ton
of iron and iron stone, 6d. There was a proviso to the effect
that whenever the aggregate amount of royalties reserved on
coal, iron stone, etc., gotten out of the seams and veins in
question should exceed £600 for any year, then in 'every
such case the royalties of 9d. and 5d. on large and small
coal respectively should be reduced to 8d. and 4d. respec-
tively, unless by reason of such reduction the aggregate
amount should be reduced below £600, in which case the sum
should be reduced to £600 only. The plaintiffs’ contention
was that the excess amount of coal allowed under the average
clause for the purpose of making up the deficiency in any
preceding year ought not to be taken into account for the
purpose of arriving at the aggregate amount; and, secondly,
that the lessee was not entitled to a reduction of royalties
unless the amount actually receivable by the lessors amounted
to £600 or upward in any one year.

Without calling upon counsel for Lord Merthyr, the judge
said it was plain that the words in the lease “ aggregate
amount for any one year of the royalties hereinbefore
reserved ” meant the aggregate amount of royalties herein-
before reserved without reference to the average clause.

He gave judgment for Lord Merthyr, with costs.

RAILWAY AND CANAL COMMISSION.—May 4.

Before Mr. Justice Bankes, Mr. A. E. Gathorne-Hardy,
and Sir James Woodhouse.

Increased Railway Rates : Legality of Notices.

British Portland Cement Manufacturers Limited and
Charles Nelson and Company Limited v. Great Eastern
Railway Company, Midland Railway Company, and London
and North-Western Railway Company.—The Court delivered
its reserved judgment in this case. The applicants asked
that certain notices which the respondents had published as
to increases in rates should be declared irregular, and that
the increases should be declared illegal and unreasonable. A
similar application was made by Messrs. Christopher Thomas
and Brothers Limited and Messrs. C. H. Parsons and
Brother Limited against the Midland Railway Company
and the Great Western Railway Company, and the two
applications were heard together. The railway companies
had issued notices stating generally that they intended to
increase their rates, subject to the statutory maxima, by Id.
in the case of each rate not exceeding Is., and proportionately
in the case of other rates. The traders objected to the notices
on the ground that as a trader was entitled to know the exact
amount that he was to be charged the companies ought to
have specified the new rate to be charged in each individual
case; and also on the ground that as the new rates had not
been published in the rate books they could not be enforced.
These objections were disposed of as preliminary issues; the
substantial question whether the proposed increases were
reasonable or not remaining to be decided hereafter.

Mr. Justice Bankes, in his judgment, discussed section 14
of the Regulation of Railways Act, 1873, and section 33
(6) and section 34 of the Act of 1888. Confusion was intro-
duced by the phrase, “ subject to the statutory maxima,”
but in his opinion there was no substance in any of the objec-
tions. Section 33 (6) was wide enough to include an increase
of all rates generally; and if, as was contended, the Order
of the Board of Trade of January 1889 limited the section it
was ultra vires. As to the mention of each increased rate
individually, quite apart from the impracticability of that,
he saw no legal obligation on the companies to do so. As
to the allegation that confusion was introduced by the words
“ subject to the statutory maxima,” he thought that those
words were merely a reassuring intimation to traders that
there was no intention to exceed the maxima, and the notice
was perfectly clear as to what the companies really intended
to do. It was further contended that no rate was shown in
the book within the meaning of the statute if the trader
had to make a calculation of any kind to find out exactly what
the rate was. He could accept that contention if a compli-
cated calculation was required, but here he thought the
course adopted did clearly show what the intended increases
would be. In his opinion, therefore, the preliminary objec-
tions failed on every point.

Mr. Gathorne-Hardy and Sir James Woodhouse delivered
judgment to the same effect.

Shipments of Bunker Coals.—The quantity of coal, etc.,
shipped for the use of steamers engaged in the foreign trade
during April amounted to 1,624,282 tons, as against
1,795,946 tons in April 1913, and 842,068 tons in April 1912.
The aggregate quantity so shipped during the first four
months of the present year was 6,659,730 tons, as compared
with 6,747,177 tons and 4,893,370 tons in the corresponding
periods respectively of 1913 and 1912.

Grimsby Coal Exports.—The exports from Grimsby were :
Foreign: To Ahus, 2,510 tons; Christiania, 3,710; Copen-
hagen, 1,056; Dieppe, 1,022; Esbjerg, 407; Gothenburg,
5,007; Hamburg, 877; Helsingfors, 1,006; Kallundborg,
1,205; Korsor, 695; Malmo, 1,553; Pernau, 969; Riga,
1,284; Rotterdam, 498; Sodertelje, 1,596; Solvesborg, 445;
and Trondhjem, 1,733—total, 25,573. Coastal : To London,
102 tons.. During the corresponding week last year the
figures were : Foreign, 25,774 tons ; coastal, 1,801.

MINING AND OTHER NOTES.

The concluding sitting of the Baltic and White Sea Con-
ference took place on Wednesday, 6th inst., the principal
subject discussed being the capture of private property at
sea during war time. Resolutions were passed ^condemning
the right of belligerents to capture and detain neutral
vessels carrying merchandise not used exclusively for war-
like purposes. Mr. W. J. Noble was re-elected president,
and it was decided to hold the next conference at Brussels.

A conference took place in London on Friday of last week
between the Scottish, Midland, and North of England steel
manufacturers. Questions affecting prices and foreign com-
petition were discussed, but the proceedings were conducted
in private. It is understood, however, that the conference
agreed to reduce the export prices of steel plates by 10s.
per ton.

The President of the Local Government Board has
appointed a Departmental Committee “ to consider the pre-
sent state of law with regard to the pollution of the air by
smoke and other noxious vapours, and its administration, and
to advise what steps are desirable and practicable with a
view to diminishing the evils still arising from such pollu-
tion.” The committee will consist of : The Right Hon.
Russell Rea, M.P. (chairman), Lord Newton, Col. H.
Hughes, C.B. (Sheffield), Sir Aston Webb (the eminent
architect), Capt. H. R. Sankey, Mr. H. Brevitt (town clerk
of Wolverhampton), Prof. J. B. Cohen (who is professor of
chemistry at Leeds University), Mr. J. F. Maccabe (an
inspector under the Local Government Board for Ireland),
Mr. Duncomb Sells (general manager of the Machinery
Users’ Association), Mr. E. D. Simon (chairman of the
Manchester Smoke Abatement League), Mr. P. C. Simmons
(a member of the London County Council), Bailie W. B.
Smith (a member of the Glasgow Corporation), Mr. R. H.
Stutchbury (a principal clerk of the Local Government
Board), Mr. Christopher Turner; Mr. E. A. Faunch, of the
Local Government Board, will act as secretary.

Giving evidence before the Railway Commission on
Friday, Mr. Emil Davies (chairman of the Railway Nation-
alisation Society) said he was of the opinion that the
nationalisation of the British railways wmuld be advan-
tageous to the country. In every European country where
the railways were worked by the State, he remarked, there
was one uniform charge over the whole system; but in the
United Kingdom there was no uniformity, and all that could
be stated in advance on any railway journey was that the
third-class fare would not exceed Id. per mile. Mr. Davies
also declared that the nationalisation of railways meant
uniformity of rolling stock, which was only possible under
one controlling department, uniform time-tables, and a con-
siderable decrease in goods rates. He admitted that the
profits earned by the State railways were not as large as
those obtained by the private companies in this country, but
contended that in many cases the accommodation provided
for the passengers was superior upon the State railways to
that on the privately-owned systems in Great Britain and
America. He was not in favour of the State taking over
docks and harbours as well as the railways, as, in his
opinion, it was not the function of a railway company to
run docks. He estimated that to nationalise the railways
in this country at 25 years’ purchase it would be necessary
to issue 3 per cent, stock of the value of £973,000,000. This
would mean that the State would issue stock bearing interest
of £32,000,000, and acouire property bringing in a profit of
£52,000,000, He estimated that the nationalisation of the
railways would result in a saving of £10,000,000 a year in
working expenses, as there was such tremendous waste
going on nowT.

From time to time the question as to the number of
wagons belonging to private owners crops up. At the Royal
Commission on Accidents to Railway Servants, in 1899, the
chairman of the Association of Private Owners of Railway
Rolling Stock said that the number of private-owned wagons
was about 550,000, and that this figure was, in his opinion,
a low estimate. In Sir Arthur Yorke’s memorandum to the
Railway Safety Appliances Committee, he said, under date
August 8, 1907, that the following figures had been obtained
and might be taken as approximately correct :—Railway
companies’ wagons 750,000, private owners’ wagons 650,000.
The Railway Gazette suggests that a fresh census be taken;
but care should be exercised that there is no duplication in
the returns and wagons counted twice over at sidings where
two companies have connections. Accurate information, it
is pointed out, is very desirable for several reasons, e.g., so
as to get statistics as to the percentage of failures in private
and railway-owned wagons; for possible use in the forth-
coming enquiry into accidents to railway servants; to get
an idea as to what it would cost the companies to buy up all
the wagons of private owners.

In 1912 the South Suburban Gas Company were prohibited
from dealing with residual products other than those pro-
duced at their own works; this year they have endeavoured
to obtain the benefit of the recent judgment of the joint
committee. The Select Committee, however, have limited
the purchase of residuals from other undertakings to 33 per
cent, of the quantity produced on the company’s own works.

On Saturday last, at the annual meeting of the South
Wales branch of the Association of Mining Electrical Engi-
neers, Mr. Sydney F. Walker was presented with a testi-
monial, in the shape of a handsome gold watch, by the
members of the branch, “ as a token of their esteem and
respect ” in connection with his presidency for the four first
years of the existence of the association. The watch bears
an engraving to the above effect, and was presented by the
president of the branch, Mr. Godfrey Williams, of Aber
Pergwm.

The number of large coal washing plants on the Baum
system of “ first wash, then classify,” which has grown so
rapidly during the last few years, is being still further
augmented by the plants which we have recently mentioned.
In addition to the two big installations recently mentioned
by us, Messrs. Simon-Carves Limited, of Manchester, have
also received orders from the New Silkstone and Haigh
Moor Coal Company Limited, Yorkshire, for a plant to deal
with 100 tons per hour; and from the Manor-Powis Coal
Company Limited, near Glasgow, 80 tons per hour. The
plant for the former colliery will be their second Baum
plant.

The annual May lecture of the Institute of Metals was
delivered by Prof. E. Heyn, of Berlin, on the evening of
Tuesday, the 12th inst., at the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir Henry J. Oram,
K.C.B., F.R.S., president of the Institute of Metals, being
m the chair. Prof. Heyn said that it was a well-known
fact that the welfare and convenience of modern mankind

was, to a very considerable extent, influenced by the achieve-
ment of the engineer. People admired his work and were
daily confiding life and health to his creations. But only
few were conscious of the fact that engineering work was,
to a great amount, dependent on the possibility of manufac-
turing sound materials fit for the purpose and of keeping
them sound in the course of the manifold processes that
these materials required to go through until they were
assembled into the admirable engineering structures pre-
senting themselves to the public eye. Certain structural
members might fail even without being subjected to stresses
in service. Some articles made out of brass when exposed
to atmospheric influences underwent an alteration to such
an extent that they might be crumbled between the fingers.
Similar phenomena could be stated in structural members
made out of other metals and alloys when they were manu-
factured under unfavourable conditions, which lead to serious
internal strains. The author said that he had made a
special study of the phenomena connected with internal
strains, investigating their causes, and devising a method
for measuring their amount. In his lecture the author
dealt specially with the internal strains produced by cold
working of metals (cold drawing, cold rolling, cold hammer-
ing, etc.). He showed that by these operations
under unfavourable conditions internal strains might be
set up in structural members which came close to their
resisting power, so that even trifling additional strains
caused by external forces or other circumstances (scratching
of the surface, unequal heating or cooling, slight corrosion
by certain agents which were contained in the atmosphere or
by certain paints) might lead to unforeseen fracture. He
discussed the means for removing or diminishing such
dangerous internal strains, and illustrated his lecture by
numerous examples taken from the domain of practical
engineering.

The President of the Board of Trade, on the recommenda-
tion of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Intelligence,
has appointed Mr. T. M. Ainscough a special commissioner
to enquire into the conditions and prospects of British trade
in China. Firms desirous of communicating with Mr.
Ainscough on the subject of his mission should address
letters to him, care of the Commercial Intelligence branch
of the Board of Trade, 73, Basinghall-street, London, E.C.
Mr. Ainscough will leave England before the end of the
present month.

A committee has been appointed by the Treasury to
consider whether any, and if so what, steps might be taken
with a view to regularising the total demand for labour from
year to year, and in different seasons by adjusting the dis-
tribution of public work conducted or given out by Govern-
ment Departments and local authorities with reference to
the state of employment in the particular trades from time to
time.

Col. Goethals, Governor of the Panama Zone, is reported
to have declared that if the channel past the Cucaracha slide
can be kept open for a few days, indicating that it is safe
for vessels to pass, he will recommend that the first ship
shall be allowed to pass through the canal within two weeks’
time.

A demonstration was given on Monday by Messrs. Oil and
Carbon Products (Limited) of the new form of plant for the
carbonisation of coal according to the Del Monte process,
which they have erected at the Thornycroft Works, Chiswick.
According to a report by Mr. W. J. Atkinson Butterfield,
who carried out a test on a sample of Ballycastle cannel
from Antrim costing 7s. a ton delivered to the retorts, the
yield per ton of cannel was 17’4 gals, of motor spirit, 17’6
gals, of heavy fuel oil, 37’5 lb. of paraffin wax, 51 lb. of
pitch, and 54J lb. of sulphate of ammonia. He states that if
motor spirit were regarded as a by-product of the process
and the other nroducts were sold at current market values,
the cost of production of the motor spirit would be less than
ljd. a gallon.

THE FREIGHT MARKET.

There has been a fair volume of business in the outward
freight market this week. At the Tyne transactions have
been hampered by the great difficulty of securing early load-
ing turns, tonnage at the staiths being very much congested.
The withdrawal of vessels resultant on the Spanish shipping
strike and the Italian lock-out appears to be having a
healthy influence on rates, especially at the North-East
Coast. Coasting rates from the Tyne, for example, have
advanced to 3s. 3d. to London, and 3s. 7|d. to Hamburg,
whilst the Baltic is being done at from 4s. lOld. to 5s. to
Cronstadt, figures which show an advance of about Is. on
those which ruled a few days ago. The Bay has St. Nazaire
at-from 5s. 3d. to 5s. 4Jd. The Mediterranean is stronger
at from 7s. 3d. to 7s. 6d. to Genoa quoted, as against from
7s. to 7s. IJd. accepted at the beginning of the week. At
South Wales chartering is fairly active, and rates for the
Mediterranean, especially for the Adriatic and Egyptian
ports, are very firm, with a scarcity of tonnage. The River
Plate is well maintained at late rates. The Bay and coast-
ing ports are tending higher. At the Clyde the enquiry is
quiet, and rates are unaltered. The Humber market is
firm, with a pronounced shortage of vessels. Homewards,
the River Plate is dull, heavy rains having prevented the
arrival at ports of grain cargoes from the interior, with the
result that several ready steamers have had to be cancelled,
and the prospects for later loading are not bright. America
is slow and weak, shippers evidently expecting an influx of
tonnage from the Plate. The Black Sea is stronger, with
loss tonnage on offer. The Mediterranean and ore ports are
steady, as is also the Baltic. Eastern and Australian busi-
ness is slow, and rates are upheld with difficulty.

Tyne to Antwerp, 1,800, 3s. 9d.; 2,000, 3s. 7Jd.; 2,000,
3s. 9d., from Dunston; Aarhuus, 1,450, 4s. 1R1. ; Algiers,
4,400, 6s., 600; Ancona, 1,900, 8s. 3d.; Boulogne, 1,600,
3s. 9d.; Bilbao, 2,400, 6s. 3d.; Brunsbuttel, 2,500, 3s. 6d.;
Carthagena, 1,000, 8s. 3d. ; 2,100, 8s. coal, 10s. coke;
Catania, 2,500, 7s. 6d., 350; Carloforte, 2,800, 8s.; Cron-
stadt, 6,200, 3s. 9d.; 4,600, 4s.; 1,700, 5s. ; 2,600, 4s. 10}d.;
Fairwater, 1,100, 4s. 3d.; Genoa, 4,800, 7s.; 4,600, 7s. 1R1.,
river loading; 6,500, 6s. 9d. reported; 4,000, 7s. l|d. ; 6,000,
7s. ; 6,000, 7s. l^d. ; Hamburg, 1,700, 3s. 71d. ; Holtenau,
1,800, 4s. 6d.; Kiel, 1,300, 4s. 41d. ; London, 2,500, 3s.;
2,500, 3s. lid.; 1,500, 3s. 3d.; Lindholm, 2,000, 3s. lOJd.,
400: Marseilles, 7,000, 6s. 9d. ; 6,500, 6s. 10R1.; Malaga,
2,000, 8s.; Memel, 1,700, 4s. l|d.: 1,800, 3s. 9d., reported;
Novorossisk and Tuapse, 4,000, 8s. 4Jd. ; Nantes, 2,500,
5s. 6d.; Norresundby, 2,000, 3s. lOJd., 400; Ostend, 1,200,
4s., from Elswick; 2,100, 3s. 9d.; Port Kunda, 1,700, 4s. 6d.;