158

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

Joly 17, 1914.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR PRIVATE OWNERS’
WACONS.

The Railway Clearing House has issued the following
addendum to the standard specifications and drawings
relating to private owners’ wagons :—

The railway companies of Great Britain and Ireland
hereby inform private wagon owners, builders, and others
concerned, of the following alterations in, and additions to,
the standard specifications and drawings for the construction
of private owners’ wagon :—

Wagons fitted with spring buffers and drawgear other
than standard.—Wagons which are not fitted with con-
tinuous drawgear must, after December 31, 1914, be fitted
with longitudinal tie rods connecting the headstocks at the
drawbar plates, as follows : When the drawgear pulls from
the headstock and two tie rods are used, the diameter of
the rods must be not less than 1| in.; when the drawgear
pulls behind the cross-bearers and two tie rods are used, the
diameter of the rods must be not less than f in.

Also when repaired or second-hand laminated draw
springs are used they must be in good repair, and have a
carrying power of not less than 5j tons when compressed
within f in. of being straight. In the case of second-hand
spiral or volute draw springs they must give a resistance
of not less than 7 tons when compressed 1J in.

Malleable cast iron for cases and sleeves of self-contained
buffers.—Malleable cast iron will be accepted for the cases
and sleeves of self-contained buffers for new wagons,
provided it complies with the following specification :—

The castings to be well annealed, sound, clean md free
from blow holes, and to be to the entire satisfaction of
the inspector. Each casting to stand being dropped, with-
out sign of injury, from a height of from 9 ft. to 15 ft., at
the discretion of the inspector, on to an iron or steel slab
of not less than 1| in. in thickness. The casting to be
afterwards subjected to such hammering tests as the
inspector may consider necessary to prove the soundness and
efficiency of the casting for the intended service. Two test
pieces to be taken, one of which to be subjected to tensile
test, and must show not less than 18 tons per sq. in., with
an elongation of not less than 41 per cent, on a length
of 3 in.; the other test piece is to stand bending cold
through an angle of 90 degs. over a radius of 1 in.
without sign of injury. The inspector may, at his discre-
tion, select articles and test them to destruction with a
view to ascertaining the fitness of the castings for the service
intended.

Conversion of dead-buffered wagons. — No converted
wagons will be accepted for registration after December 31,
1914.

Re-tyring old 8 and 10 ton wheels.—Old 8 and 10 ton
wheels having axles with journal centres less than 6 ft. 6 in.
may be re-tyred and used under 8 and 10 ton reconstructed
or converted wagons, provided they are in a fair state of
repair and have rims of not less than the following
dimensions when re-tyred :—

Visible width. Thickness.

Eight-ton wagon..........	2T% in. ... | in.

Ten-ton wagon............ 2| „	... f „

Thickness of tyres on tread.—(i) No tyre must be turned
below 1| in. on the tread; (ii) for tyres of 15 ton wagons
and upwards the minimum running thickness on tread to
be l|in., and the minimum thickness on tread to which
they may be turned If in.

Drawbar cradles.—The ends of drawbar cradles for
wagons fitted with self-contained buffers must be increased
from 1| in. to 2 in. in thickness.

Buffing-spring buckles.—Buffing-spring buckles to be
made from the solid, or forged from class “ B ” steel,
25 to 32 tons tensile, and the pins of tyre steel quality 42
to 48 tons, with mild steel cotter 1| in. by fin. As an
alternative they may be forged in suitable dies, either
wholly of mild weldable steel, or, if made by the method
shown on Standard Drawing 185, the sides to be of mild
weldable steel and U-pieces of grade A iron. Buckles must
withstand a pull of not less than 65 tons.

Wagons fitted with pin lever brakes.—Wagons fitted with
pin lever brakes, the pins of which fall below 6 in. from
the rail level when in their lowest possible position, will
not be accepted after December 31, 1914.

Tyres, axles and springs.—Private owners will be required
to work to British Standards Committee Revised Specifica-
tion No. 24 for tyres, axles and springs.

Loading bars in tank wagons.—Tank wagons which are
not fitted with loading bars will not be accepted after
May 31, 1915.

Combined pin and tooth brake rack.—Wagons “ at home ”
on the Rhymney and Taff Vale companies’ lines must be
fitted with a combined pin and tooth brake rack.

Double brakes.—Attention is again called to the Preven-
tion of Accidents Rules, dated November 7, 1911, made by
the Board of Trade in pursuance of Railway Employment
(Prevention of Accidents) Act, 1900, in respect of fitting
wagons with double brakes.

Grease, Oil, Brasses, and White Metal for Use in Axle
Boxes.

The following are the specifications for grease, oil,
brasses and white metal for use in axle-boxes to which
private owners will be required to work :—

Axle-box grease.—The grease is to be an emulsified
mixture of water, soda soap, neutral tallow or other suitable
fat, with or without mineral oil. It must be free from
resin, lime, gypsum, or other mineral matter, and must
contain not more than 50 per cent, of water. The grease
is to be made by preparing a solution of soap in water,
adding the melted fat and mineral oil, running the mixture
into a shallow pan and stirring until it commences to set.
The grease must be of uniform consistency, and when placed
in a cup made of wire gauze, having twenty meshes to the
linear inch, and slowly raised in temperature, must melt and
run through the gauze completely, without separation of
its constitutents, between the temperatures of 110 degs. and
130 degs. Fahr. The following ar
greases :—

Per cent.

analyses	of suitable
Per cent.	Per cent.
15	.	..	39
36	.	—
24	.	..	18
25	..	43
		
100	.	.. 100

Tallow or other fat.	23

Mineral oil .......... 9

Dry soda soap ....... 18

Water ............... 50

Lubricating oil.—The oil to be either a pure mineral
lubricating oil, or a mixture of the latter with a non-drying
animal or vegetable oil. It must be free from suspended
matter, water, acid or alkali, resin, and resin oil, and from
soap or other artificial thickening agent.

Specific gravity at 60 degs. Fahr.... Not to exceed 0’925.
Flashing point (close test)...... Not below 350 degs F.

Efflux time from Redwood's visco- 120 to 270 seconds.

meter at 120 degs. Fahr.

Cold test.......................... Must	remain fluid at

20 degs. Fahr.

Brasses.—Brass bearings to be an alloy of copper, tin
and zinc, in the following proportions :—Copper, 84 to 88
per cent.; tin, 10 to 12 per cent.; zinc, 2 to 4 per cent.

White metal.—White metal to be an alloy of copper, tin,
antimony and lead in the following proportions :—Copper,
6 per cent. ; tin, 60 per cent.; antimony, 12 per cent.; lead,
22 per cent.

PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—July 9.

Colliery Stallmen and Income-Tax.

Major Bowden asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if
he had received information that four Derbyshire miners
were taken to Derby Gaol for the non-payment of claims for
income-tax. Probably owing to the fact that they did not
understand the complicated forms which had to be filled in,
these men were assessed as stallholders and contractors at
the full amount paid them by the proprietors of the collieries,
no allowance being made by the Commissioners for wages
paid to assistants and other expenses connected with their
work.

Mr. Montagu said he was making enquiries.

National Insurance (Unemployment) : A Yorkshire Case.

Major Bowden asked the President of the Board of Trade
if he was aware that the proprietors of the Waleswood Col-
lieries, near Sheffield, had been compelled by the Insurance
Commissioners to pay arrears of contributions under Part
II. of the National Insurance Act in respect to surface work-
men and engineering staff at the Waleswood Colliery; if so,
were such contributions not paid at the time they became
payable by reason of the staff having at that time been
incorrectly informed by the Insurance Commissioners that
they were not insurable under Part II. of the National Insur-
ance Act; if not, why were such contributions not paid at
the time they became payable: and were the proprietors of
the colliery now entitled to deduct from current and future
wages of the men any, and, if so, what sums in respect of
such arrears which the proprietors had been compelled to
pay.

The President of the Board of Trade said the employers
in this case had been required to pay arrears of contributions
in accordance with the umpire’s decisions. So far as he was
aware, the question whether these contributions were pay-
able was not previously raised, either by the employer or
by the workmen, and no statement that the contributions
were not payable was made by or on behalf of the Board of
Trade. As regards the last part of the question, so far as
he was aware, an employer on paying up arrears of contri-
butions w’as entitled to recover the workman’s share thereof
by deductions in reasonable instalments from the workman’s
wages. This right of recovery would be considerably limited
by the amending Bill now before Parliament.

Irish Peat.

Mr. Ginnell asked whether a return of peat bogs would
be granted.

Mr. Btrrell said anv return on the lines suggested would
involve a great deal of labour and much expense, and would
take a long time to prepare. He did not think that any
useful purpose would be served by the compilation of such
a return.

Mr. Ginnell then asked the Vice-President of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he had made himself
acnuainted with the opinions of peat fuel experts in Russia,
Germany. Sweden, Norway, and Canada that Irish peat was
superior to theirs for the manufacture of fuel, seeing that
this manufacture, nevertheless, paid in those countries:
whether there was any reason known to the Department
why it should not do so in Ireland: whether he would pro-
cure and make available in Ireland a statement of the
process of pulping, whereby peat was, without pressure,
rendered harder than oak; and whether the Department was
prepared to procure a competent instructor in the manufac-
ture of peat fuel, on being satisfied with a practical scheme
for that purpose.

Mr. T. W. Russell said the Department were not at
present prepared to express an opinion as tn whether or not
a peat fuel industry could be successfullv established in
Ireland, the conditions there beinsf very different from those
of the countries referred to by the hon. member.

July 13.

Mining Disasters : Proposed International Conference.

Lord H. Cavendish-Bentinck asked whether the Govern-
ment. in view of the number of mining disasters which had
occurred in the last few vears. culminating in the one at
Senghenydd. would take immediate steps to summon an
international conference to collect the knowledge so far
obtained among the mining nations of the world in refer-
ence to the causes and preventive measures for explosions
in mines, and to consider what further progress could be
made.

The Home Secretary, who replied, said the Government
had had under consideration a nronosal to a similar effect
which had been made by the United States Government,
and they had expressed their willingness to summon a
conference with a view to securing fuller interchange of
views, and co-oneration between the mining departments and
experimental stations of the different countries in regard to
questions of safety in mines. It would be more useful, how-
ever, that the conference should take nlace when the impor-
tant investigations which the Home Office had been carrying
on for some time into the question of explosions in mines
were completed, and he had accordingly suggested that the

conference should take place next year. He added that the
committee which was conducting the Home Office investi-
gations kept itself informed of the work which was being
done in the chief experimental stations abroad, and the
results of its own work had been made available in the five
full reports which the Home Office had already published.

Super-Tax and Mineral Rights Duty.

In debate in committee on the Finance Bill, Mr. Worth-
ington Evans moved an amendment to clause 3 (1) to deduct
amounts paid for undeveloped land duty and mineral rights
duty before arriving at the taxable income.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said he could not see
his way to accept the amendment. He refused to consider
the mineral rights duty as being in the same position as
income-tax, regarding it rather as one of the land taxes.
It was a contribution made by the owners of the mineral
rights in respect of the income from land. Where every
other interest in land was contributing heavily to local
expenditure they were contributing nothing. They might
have a colliery proprietor paying about 5s., 6s., or 7s. in
respect of what he had risked his capital on, while the
owner of the mineral rights was only contributing Is. There-
fore he did not think there was any case for deducting either
of these taxes before arriving at the super-tax, which was
not a separate tax, but purely a graduation of the income-
tax. If anything was to be deducted at all from the super-
tax payer, then the income-tax payer, too, ought to be in a
position to make a deduction.

Mr. James Hope pointed out that a man working the
minerals direct was developing the natural resources of his
property, and developing them to the public advantage. It
was a burden which he could not get rid of. He could not,
like the owner of undeveloped land who was supposed to be
able to sell it, sell the rights and re-invest the money. He
was doiniL the very thing it was proposed that he should be
taxed to do. He was getting a legitimate income, yet if he
went over the £3.000 margin they were taxing him on that
part of his income no less than three times over.

The amendment was negatived.

Fuel for the Navy.

July 15.

Mr. Edgar Jones asked the First Lord of the Admiralty
(1) whether he would state the particulars of the prizes he
proposed to offer tn inventors of improved processes for the
distillation of oil from coal: (2) whether he would arrange a
svstem of research scholarships tenable at the mining school
of the South Wales University College and other mining
schools for purposes of research in the distillation and
analytic classification of the various kinds of coal to be
found in the United Kingdom; (3) whether he would arrange
for a scientific enquiry as to the oil vielding properties of
the various classes of coal within the United Kingdom; and
(4) whether he would build and maintain a suitable experi-
mental plant for the distillation of oil from coal, or subscribe
to the shares of a syndicate formed for that purpose, on
similar lines to the investment in the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company.

Mr. Churchill said there were a number of considera-
tions involved besides the question of research, and many
other important interests were affected in addition to those
of the Admiralty. The research side and the best methods
of stimulating research would receive the fullest considera-
tion. An Admiralty Departmental Committee had already
been appointed to take up the consideration of various ques-
tions relating to oil supply. Certain definite proposals for
enquiry in relation to the possibility of oil extraction from
coal would be referred to that committee for early considera-
tion, and in the meantime he was unable to state in detail
what steps would ultimately be taken.

Mr. E. Jones then asked the First Lord of the Admiralty
whether he would publish papers containing information in
the possession of the Admiralty as to the use of oil fuel by
foreign navies, and as to the processes being worked in
foreign countries for the distillation of oil from coal.

Mr. Churchhill said a good deal of information on the sub-
ject of the use of oil fuel bv foreign navies had appeared in
the Press, and he feared that he could not usefully or pro-
perly supplement it. The Admiralty were not aware that
any processes were being worked commercially in foreign
countries for the distillation of oil from coal. No doubt some
processes were being worked experimentally, and as far as
he knew they were the same or much the same as those in
England which the Admiralty had under observation. He
added that it was not always advisable or convenient to
publish reports received as to what foreign countries were
doing. As to the question of price, they had to consider that
a new habit of industrv must be created, and that there
should be a market in this countrv for the by-products.

Mr. E. Jones asked the First Lord of the Admiralty
whether he would make enquiries and issue a report as to
the number of men now involved in sunplving Admiralty
coal who would be displaced should the whole of the fleet be
eventuallv equipned for burning oil instead of coal: and
whether he would agree to the setting up of a committee to
enquire and retort as to the economic effect upon coal prices,
wa^es, and labour conditions of such a displacement.

Mr. Churchill repeated that coal must continue to be
the principal combustible in his Majesty’s naw for some
time to come. If therefore the contingency referred to in
the first nart of the question ever arose it could onlv be
at some distant date. The average demand of the Admir-
alty upon the best classes of Welsh steam coal was less than
one-tenth of the total output, and even supposing this small
proportion were to suffer any diminution it was obviously
impossible to estimate now what would be the circum-
stances of the coal supnly. prices, wages, labour, and other
conditions at some unknown distant date. If the Admir-
altv demand for the small proportion of the coal were to
undergo gradual diminution, there were no grounds for
assuming that the excellent coal of South Wales would not
find a market.

The Clayton Bill which has been passed by the United
States House of Representatives, amongst other things,
seeks to make it unlawful “ for the owner, operator, or trans-
porter of the product or products of any mine, oil or gas
well, reduction works, refinery, or hydro-electric plant pro-
ducing coal, oil, gas or hydro-electric energy, or for any
person controlling the products thereof, engaged in selling
such product in commerce to refuse arbitrarily to sell such
product to a responsible person, firm or corporation who
applies to purchase such product for use. consumption or
re-sale within the United States or any territory thereof, or
the district of Columbia or any insular possession or other
place under the jurisdiction of the United States.”

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