1491

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

June 26, 1914.

COAL, IRON AND ENGINEERING COMPANIES.

REPORTS AND DIVIDENDS.

Allen (Edgar) and Company Limited.—The directors have
recommended a dividend of 10 per cent, and a bonus of 2J
per cent, per annum on the ordinary shares for the year
ended March 31.

Anglo-Westphalian Kent Coalfield Limited.—The report
for the two months ended December 31 last states that con-
sultations have been had with the company’s geological
advisers as to the points at which further borings should be
put down, with the result that a new boring was commenced
late last month. Favourable terms have been agreed to
with a company having identical interests in neighbouring
areas with a view to the saving of cost in proving land over
which the company hold options for leases. In regard to
the Chislet Colliery area, operations have commenced, and
the work is being pushed on as rapidly as possible.

Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works Limited.—Dividend
of 3 per cent (making 5 per cent, for the year) on the called
up preference and ordinary share capital for the half-year to
April 9.

Canadian Car and Foundry Company Limited.—The
directors have declared the usual quarterly dividend of If
per cent, on the preference shares.

Davis (D.) and Sons Limited.—The directors intimate
that a call of 2s. 6d. per share on the new ordinary £1
shares will be payable on July 1 next, making the amount
paid up 17s. 6d. per share.

Dinnington Main Coal Company Limited.—The directors
report a gross profit of £79,355 for the year, and after deduct-
ing depreciation and interest, the net profit is .£66,109. The
disposable balance is £68,079. They recommend that
£20,000 be placed to reserve to meet calls on shares taken in
the Firbeck Main Collieries Limited; that a further dividend
be paid on 275,000 ordinary shares at 4 per cent., making
9 per cent, for the year, and on account of arrears of divi-
dend on 261,022 ordinary shares at 8J per cent., carrying
forward £14,892. Under the articles of association, the ordi-
nary shares are entitled to a cumulative dividend of 10 per
cent, in priority to the deferred shares. The directors recom-
mend that the dividend for the last financial year be declared
at 9 per cent, per annum, and that a further 8J per cent, be
credited to the arrears of dividend on the ordinary shares
required to make up 10 per cent, per annum. The directors
have subscribed the sum of £50,000 in a new company, called
the Firbeck Main Collieries Limited, which has been formed
under the auspices of the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Com-
pany Limited. The whole of the area will be workable from
the existing pits without further capital expenditure, and
will prolong the life of the Dinnington Main Colliery nearly
20 years. Since the last annual meeting Lord Aberconway
has resigned his seat on the board, and the vacancy has been
filled by the appointment of Sir Henry Norman, M.P.

Glencoe (Natal) Collieries Company Limited.—Dividend
of 2| per cent. (6d. per share) for the half-year ending
June 30.

Head, Wrightson and Company Limited.—The trading
profits for the year ended April 30 were £60,051, and £2,599
was brought forward. Debenture interest absorbs £6,750,
and directors’ fees £1,000. A dividend of 7J per cent, is
proposed on the ordinary shares, free of income-tax, adding
£10,000 to the reserve, £10,000 to the depreciation fund,
and £1,000 to the workmen’s compensation fund, writing
£5,246 off patents, and carrying forward £2,756.

Hydro - Electric Power and Metallurgical Company
Limited.—An extraordinary general meeting will be held at
Melbourne (Australia) on 29th inst. to consider extraordinary
resolutions to ratify an agreement between the Government
of Tasmania and the company for the sale of the company’s
hydro-electric works.

Maltby Main Colliery Company Limited.—The report for
the year to March 31 last states that the gross profit is
£15,285, which, after deducting interest and depreciation,
is reduced to £3,378. It is proposed to add this sum to the
balance of £6,234 brought forward, and to carry the whole
amount of £9,613 to next year’s accounts. The increase in
the production of coal has been retarded by the scarcity of
men, in spite of the rapid erection of houses. The colliery
is capable of raising at least 50 per cent, more coal than is
at present being got as soon as the necessary number of
men can be procured. The company has taken on long
leases 562 houses, 71 more are being built, and arrangements
have been made for the erection of a further 131. Property
in Stainton has been purchased, comprising 277 acres of
land and minerals. Sixty coke ovens, with by-product
recovery plant, have been erected, and will be started shortly.

Father Iron and Steel Company Limited.—After paying
interest on debentures, the profit for the year to May 31 last
amounts to £4,581, which, together with £2,915 brought for-
ward, amounts to £7,496. The directors recommend a divi-
dend at the rate of 7J per cent, per annum, free of income-
tax, write off for depreciation £1,000, and transfer to reserve
fund £1,000, leaving a balance of £2,496 to be carried to
next year’s account. The sum of £1,023 has been expended
during the year in additional machinery, which has been
charged to capital account, and £329 has been expended in
improving the sanitary arrangements in connection with the
house property.

Natal Navigation Collieries and Estate Company Limited.
—Dividend of 3| per cent. (9d. per share) for half-year to
June 30.

Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company Limited.—Interim
dividend of 5 per cent. (Is. per share), less tax.

Siemens Brothers and Company Limited.—The directors
recommend a dividend of 5 per cent, for the year, placing
£5,000 to a buildings reserve, and carrying £17,196 forward.

Snowdown Colliery Limited.—Directors report for period
from June 30, 1912, to March 31 last, that when they were
appointed a year ago the company was raising about 800 tons
of coal per week from Beresford seam at 1,500 ft. This coal
is rather friable, and makes a large percentage of slack.
Directors therefore decided to sink to a lower seam, which
borings at Barfreston showed to be of a harder type. At
end of February, when No. 2 pit had been sunk and bricked
to 1,744 ft., for financial reasons sinking was altogether sus-
pended in that shaft, and coal winding restricted to one
shift, while sinking of No. 3 was pushed on. In December
last a seam of coal was met with at 1,898 ft., and another in
January at 1,961ft. These, though harder than the Beres-
ford seam, were not so much better as to induce the directors
to work them at present. They therefore decided to sink to
what is known as the 4 ft. 7 in. seam of the Barfreston sec-
tion. This policy has been completely justified by results,
for on May 18, at 2,236 ft., a seam of bright hard coal was

struck, practical tests of which have proved it to be of
splendid quality. This seam will be known as the Snow-
down hard. Nothing now remains but to provide the neces-
sary capital to sink the other shaft to this seam, and to
equip the colliery for raising from 1,500 to 2,000 tons a day.
Estimates are being made of amount required to sink No. 2
shaft to same depth as No. 3, and to put the colliery in
position to raise from 1,500 to 2,000 tons of coal per day
from Beresford and Snowdown hard seams. This will neces-
sitate a considerable addition to working plant, as well as a
large amount of liquid cash to provide for about six weeks’
book debts and current expenses. These estimates will be
submitted to shareholders at an early date, together with
particulars of proposed arrangements for providing the addi-
tional capital. It will not be necessary to increase the
present authorised capital, as there still remains to be issued
£29,830 of existing debentures and £88,958 of the 10 per
cent, preferred ordinary shares, which will be more than
sufficient for all requirements. Thus the colliery can be
established on thoroughly up-to-date lines upon a total raised
capital in debentures and shares of £350,000. The South-
Eastern and Chatham Railway, by special arrangement,
have opened a station at the colliery.

Tredegar Iron and Coal Company Limited.—The report
of the directors for the year ended March 31st last states
that the total coal" output of the Tredegar, Oakdale, and
Markham collieries was 2,279,657 tons. The working of the
Oakdale Company for the past year has enabled the direc-
tors to wipe off the amount standing to the debit of that
company’s profit and loss account, and to leave a sum to the
credit of that account. Coal was first worked at the Mark-
ham Steam Coal Colliery in June 1913, and during the
period covered by this report 39,710 tons were raised. The
present output is 700 tons per day, and is rapidly increasing.
The equipment of this colliery is now practically completed.
The profit for the past year was £155,383 12s. 7d., and
adding the amount brought forward from previous year of
£19,583 9s. 5d., the total is £174,967 2s. Deducting balance
of interest on loans and debentures, £7,511 2s. 4d., the
divisible profit remaining is £167,455 19s. 8d. This the
directors recommend should be appropriated as follows :—
Depreciation, £10,000; carry to reserve, £40,000; dividend
of 10 per cent, free of income-tax, on the “ A ” and “ B ”
shares, of which 5 per cent, was paid in December last,
£82,433 10s.; bonus of 24 per cent., £20,608 7s. 6d.; carry
forward, £14,414 2s. 2d.

White (J. G.) and Company Limited.—The report shows a
net profit on the year’s trading of £70,387. A further
£15,000 is allocated out of profits to the general reserve,
making this reserve now £135,000. The directors again
recommend a dividend of 12 per cent, per annum on both
classes of shares, and, in addition, an extra dividend of 10s.
per share on the ordinary shares. The balance to the credit
of profit and loss, after bringing in £22,903 16s; 5d. from
the previous account, deducting the interim dividend paid
on the preference and ordinary shares at January 1, 1914,
is-£73,786. This sum the directors recommend should be
dealt with in the following manner :—In payment of a divi-
dend of 6 per cent., less income-tax, on the cumulative pre-
ference shares for the half-year to February 28 (making 12
per cent, for the year), £9,000; in payment of a dividend
of 6 per cent., less income-tax, on the ordinary shares for
the half-year to February 28 (making 12 per cent, for the
year), £3,000; in payment of an extra dividend of 10s. per
share, less income-tax, on the ordinary share capital for the
year to February 28, £25,000; to general reserve, £15,000;
to be carried forward, £21,786.

NEW COMPANIES.

Andcole and Turner Limited.—Registered office, Queen
Anne’s-chambers, Broadway, Westminster, S.W. Regis-
tered June 15. To transact or carry on all kinds.of agency
business, and in particular in relation to the electrical indus-
try, and to carry on business of electricians, electrical and
mechanical engineers, etc. Nominal capital, £100 in £1
shares. Directors and subscribers (33 shares each) :—H.
W. Anderton, 24, Oakhill-court, Putney, S.W., engineer;
H. Coleman, 9, Cowley-mansions, S.W., engineer; W. F.
Turner, 78, Honeywell-road, Wandsworth Common, S.W.,
engineer. Qualification of directors, £30.

Ceniza Maintenance Syndicate Limited.—Registered June
17. To acquire mines, mining rights, auriferous land and
concessions, and to work, develop, carry out, exercise, and
turn to account the same, and to form and promote com-
panies for the purpose of purchasing and working same, and
to carry on business of miners, metallurgists, bankers,
financiers, promoters, carriers of goods, merchandise, etc.
Nominal capital, £3,500 in Is. shares. Minimum sub-
scription, seven shares. Directors :—H. D. Bluett, 58,
Lombard-street, E.C., gentleman; H. E. White, 36,
Northolme-road, Highbury Park, N., gentleman. Qualifica-
tion of directors (other than first directors), 500 shares.

Goal Distillers Limited.—Private company. Registered
office, 124, Chancery-lane, W.C. Registered June 16. To
purchase or otherwise acquire and work any interests in any
patents, brevets d’invention, etc., in relation to the produc-
tion, treatment, extraction, distillation, manufacture,
storage, application, distribution, and use of oil, petrol,
residuals, or any other product from coal, etc. Nominal
capital, £7,850 in 7,000 Is. ordinary shares and 7,500 £1
preference shares. Directors : G. E. Hodgkinson, 124,
Chancerv-lane, W.C., solicitor; A. Turner, 10 and 11, Wal-
brook, E.C., solicitor; W. W. White, 125, High Holborn,
W.C., engineer. Qualification of directors, £100.

Die Castings Limited. — Private company. Registered
office, 195, Strand, London, W.C. Registered June 17. To
acquire and take over the undertakings of the P. A. T.
Syphon Company Limited (1911), and carry on business of
mechanical engineers, brass founders, electrical engineers,
etc. Nominal capital, £2,250 in 15,000 3s. shares. Direc-
tors :—A. J. Faulding, 195, Strand, W.C., director of a
public company; A. E. Parke, Kylnclough Withnell, near
Chorley, paper manufacturer; E. Fox Slade, 7, Martin’s-
lane, E.C., director of a public company; J. J. Horne, 195,
Strand, W.C., director of a public company. Remuneration
of directors, £100 per annum divisible.

Georgian Company Limited.—Private company. Regis-
tered June 16. To acquire by purchase, lease, or other-
wise, lands, buildings, hereditaments of any tenure situate
in England or Wales, and turn same to account. To carry
on business of builders and contractors, house, estate, and
land agents, colliery proprietors, winners of minerals, etc.,
ship owners, etc. Nominal capital, £30,000 in 3,000 £10
shares. Subscribers (one share each) :—Charles Ed. Evans,
56, Mount Stuart-square, Cardiff, colliery proprietor; Arthur
Alexander Doorley, 21, Merchants’ Exchange-buildings,
Cardiff, colliery manager.

Haematite Ore Concentrates Limited.—Registered office,
81, Cannon-street, E.C. Registered June 16. To enter
into an agreement with W. M. F. Schneider, giving the
company (1) the right to acquire from Fried. Krupp Aktien
Gesellschaft Grusonwerk, the use of the Ullrich patent
electric magnetic separator for the concentration of iron; (2)
the rights to purchase the dumps and waste ores now lying
at the Park Mines, near Barrow-in-Furness, with the right
to acquire a piece of land for the erection of the necessary
buildings for the plant, the right of ingress and egress over
the sidings of the Barrow Hsematite Steel Company Limited,
etc. To carry on business of washers, dressers, concen-
trators, and briquetters of iron, etc. Nominal capital,
£70,000 in 45,000 £1 preferred ordinary shares and 25,000
£1 ordinary shares. Minimum subscription, £7. Direc-
tors :—Sir Douglas Fox, 56, Moorgate-street, E.C., con-
sulting civil engineer; Thomas William Ward, Endcliffe
Vale House, Sheffield, merchant; Wm. M. F. Schneider,
81, Cannon-street, E.C., engineer. Qualification of direc-
tors, £100 (other than first directors).

Macaulay, Hosie and Company Limited. — Private com-
pany. Registered June 16. To acquire and carry nn busi-
ness of engineers now carried on by Charles Augustus
Macaulay and John Hosie at the Ely Engineering Works,
Pontyclun, Glamorgan, as Macaulay, Hosie and Company;
and carry on business as mechanical engineers, iron founders,
and manufacturers of colliery trams, colliery tools, etc,
builders and repairers of railway wagons, brick makers,
stone workers, machinery makers, etc. Nominal capital,
£5,000 in £1 shares. Permanent directors :—C. A.
Macaulay, of Crwys Hotel, Cardiff, retired engineer; John
Hosie, 54, Wyeverne-road, Cardiff, engineer.

Newdigate Colliery (1914) Limited. — Registered office,
Newdigate Colliery, Bedworth, near Nuneaton. Registered
June 15. To enter into agreement for acquiring the colliery
and premises known as Newdigate Colliery, and to carry on
business of colliery and mine owners or proprietors, makers
or manufacturers of and dealers in coal, coke, gas, bricks,
tiles, pipes, iron, cement, etc. Nominal capital, £100,000 in
£1 shares. Minimum subscription, £7. Directors :—M.
Deacon, Whatstandwell, Derbyshire, mining engineer
(debenture director); E. Howl, Trindle House, Dudley,
engineer; G. A. Lewis, Derby, mining engineer; C. D.
Miller, Coundon Court, Coventry, coal owner; A. Smith, 3,
Newhall-street, Birmingham, mining engineer (debenture
director); F. E. Varley, Maidenhead, Berks, gentleman
(debenture director). Qualification of directors (other than
a debenture director, who shall not require any qualification),
£1.000.

Smith, Petersen and Company Limited. — Private com-
pany. Registered office, 87, Bute-street, Cardiff. Regis-
tered June 16. To carry into effect an agreement, dated
June 15, 1914, between Morten Smith Petersen and Edgar
Guy de Mattos and John Ernest Leonard Cooper for the
purposes of acquiring the business now carried on as Smith
Petersen and Company, to carry on business as ship brokers,
shin owners, coaling agents, ship chandlers, to buy and sell
coal, iron, ore, grain, timber, etc. Nominal capital, £2.000
in £1 shares. Directors :—M. S. Petersen, E. Guy de
Mattos, Harold Augustus de Mattos. Qualification of
directors, £250.

United States Railless Electric Traction Company Limited.
—Private company. Registered June 13. To carry on in
the United States of North America or elsewhere the busi-
ness of engineers, electricians, suppliers of electricity and
gas for the purpose of light, heat, or motive power of a gas
and electric traction power company in all its branches. To
supply wagons, locomotives, rolling stock, cables, wires,
railway and tramway plant for sale or rental. Nominal
capital, £1,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers :—Alick D.
Gibbons, West Cliff. Bembridge, Isle of Wight, baronet (50
shares): Herbert H. Bathurst, Finsbury-navement House,
E.C., secretary to a public company (one share).

This list of new comnanies is taken from the Daily
Rpaifiter specially compiled bv Messrs. Jordan and Sons
Limited, company registration agents. Chancery-lane, E.C.

M. Taffanel in America.—M. J. Taffanel. director of the
experiment station at Lievin. has just paid a visit to the
United States as a guest of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. M.
Taffanel’s studies at Pittsburg and Bruceton were inter-
runted by the news of the disaster at the Eccles Mine. West
Virginia, to which he went with Mr. Rice for an investiga-
tion. In response to enonirv, he said he had come to
America with the purpose of studying in collaboration with
the Bureau of Mines some questions concerning the danger
of coal dust and the means of prevention of this danger. He
said the tests which had been interrupted bv the disaster at
Commentry would be continued in another abandoned French
mine at Montevico. He said the experimental comparison of
the Lievin and Bruceton results was doubly important, as it
gave a confirmation of the Lievin results under the real con-
ditions of the mine. He added :—“ Coal dust is a very diffi-
cult problem of international interest. All countries which
have undertaken to minimise this great danger must unite
their efforts for succeeding as best and as soon as possible.”

Coal Values. — An interesting letter on this subject has
been sent to the Times by Mr. John Rees, harbour superin-
tendent, Llanelly. He savs that some vears ago he carried
out a lengthy and exhaustive series of tests upon the values
of various South Wales and Monmouthshire coals. Thev
consisted of the theoretical estimation of calorific values, and
a series of locomotive runs. Whilst the. practical values
obtained tallied roughly with the calorific ones estimated
theoretical!v, it was found that several other things, in
particular the phvsical state, or texture, as it were, of the
coal, had a material bearing upon results. The tests were
extended to mixtures of coal, and with very interesting
results. In the main the conclusions were something as
follows :—(1) The well-known steam coals of South Wales
and Monmouthshire, of high calorific power, and opening out
m the fire-box with a cauliflower appearance, were the best
all round; (2) that best had a margin above what was needed
for the work, and this could not be regulated otherwise; (3^
lower grade coals did the work all right, but with an increased
consumption: (4) mixtures, in varying quantities of different
coals, gave excellent results. Mr. Rees adds :—“ It would
thus annarentlv pay to consider the economy of using a mix-
ture of coals (found out by experiment) adapted to a par-
ticular form of work, the increased consumption, as compared
nrith that of the best, being more than compensated for bv
the lower cost of the mixture. The high prices of the best
South Wales steam coals have probably brought this home
to Continental users, the margin of profit being widened at
the moment, as you point out, by the low freights ruling.”