July 24, 1914

Supplement to THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

vii

for firemen’s certificates were held by the approved
authorities—the Heriot Watt College, Edinburgh, and
the Royal Technical College, Glasgow—in various parts
of the division. The number of successful candidates
was 1,987, and number of candidates who failed was 159.

The search of workmen is well carried out, and has
resulted in a large number of woikmen being found with
matches, cigarettes, pipes, &c., in their possession.

Approved types of safety lamps and glasses are
gradually being installed. There has been some
difficulty in getting supplies owing to the large demand
being made upon the manufacturers.

A large amount of work has been done in the mines
throughout the division in order to provide the space
between tubs, or between tubs and the sides of the
roads in places where sets of trains consisting of three
or more tubs are coupled or uncoupled, but cases where
the provisions of section 43 (3) have not been complied
with are constantly being brought to notice. The
fact that under the proviso in section 43 (3) (6) of the
Act, where compliance with the requirements of this
subsection would necessitate the removal of arching or
other masonry work, or where sets or trains of tubs are
coupled or uncoupled at the face or at the pass-by next
the face, other provisions for securing safety may be
substituted by the regulations of the mine, and a special
regulation setting forth “other provisions ” which are
to be taken must be submitted to the Secretary of State,
does not appear to have been realised, as in cases where
it was stated the proviso was being taken advantage of no
such special regulation has been submitted by the owners
until the necessity of doing so has been pointed out to
them. In the same way the owners have not realised,
in many instances, that the onus rests on them of
satisfying the Secretary of State that a district will be
worked out within three years from the commencement
of the Act, in order to be exempt from the requirements
of section 43 (3). In a prosecution under this subsection,
the agent for the accused pleaded the district would be
worked out before July 1, 1915, and argued that the
onus rested on the Secretary of State, through the
inspectors, of satisfying himself this was so. The
Sheriff Substitute, however, decided that the owner
must satisfy the Secretary of State, and found the
agent and manager guilty of a contravention of the
subsection in question.

Section 53 (2), requiring the constant attendance of
banksmen and onsetters, is complied with, but some
difficulty has arisen through managers seeking to
authorise considerable numbers of persons in a shift to
give signals. Some of the persons appointed to act as
banksmen are mere boys, and could not be looked upon
as competent persons.

Winding enginemen’s hours are, on the whole, satis-
factory. When the regulations first came into force
the particulars of a considerable number of cases were
received where the managers and officials of the
Enginemen’s Association differed as to the require-
ments of the regulations, and they were all satisfactorily
adjusted.

Prescribed books are being used, and are generally
well kept, but the entries made in them are rarely
satisfactory, as the reports are not full and detailed.
Firemen especially appear to be under the impression
that if a defect is discovered and put right there is no
necessity to mention it in their reports, and that the
word “ good ” is a sufficient description of the condition
of the ventilation in their district.

Mr. McArthur, the inspector of horses, reports that
from the date of his duties to December 31 last he
made 259 inspections and examined 2,734 horses; out
of the number 48 were found to be aged, decrepit and
unfit for work, and were withdrawn from the mines
and humanely destroyed. The horses and ponies
generally speaking are well treated and kept in good
condition, and it was only necessary to report two cases
of neglect or ill-treatment to the Procurator-fiscals
during the yaar. In a few mines the attention of the
management has been called to horses being over-
worked, but on a second inspection being made it has
always been found that matters have been rectified in
this respect. Horses have also been found in one or
two instances to be worked 16 hours without rest, but
on the matter being taken up with the owners the
practice of working the animals a double shift has
ceased. At four mines of the 245 visited during the
year the horsekeepers were found to be careless and
incompetent, and they were replaced by other men.
The requirements of clause 3 of Schedule III., that all
stables in use shall be separated from any road used
for travelling or haulage of minerals, had caused con-
siderable alterations and additions to be made to the
stables. In order to provide the necessary separation,
partitions of brick or strong wood have in some instances
been put up between the stables and road, and in others
new stables have been built in roads where there is no
haulage or travelling. Stables, before the new provisions
came into operation, were often scattered over a large
area of the workings, and it was impossible to ventilate
all of them with intake air. This was a difficult matter
to deal with. It has. however, already been dealt with
in a great many cases by changing the direction of the
ventilation, removing the stables, or by providing stables
for all the horses at the bottom of the downcast shaft.
Horse haulage roads are, as a rule, in good order. At
mines where the seams are thin, and ponies are used for
drawing from the faces, cases of roofing have been
found, but in no cases have serious injuries been caused
to the animals. Many of the owners at first adopted
the wire type of eye-guard for their horses and ponies,
but in practice they proved to be unsatisfactory and
dangerous owing to the wires breaking. A type made
of nothing but leather has also been used and found to
be satisfactory in dry mines. In wet mines, and
especially where water drops from the roof, the leather
becomes soft and spongy and falls over the animal’s
eyes. The most satisfactory eye-guard under all condi-

tions is one made of malleable steel strands, which do
not break. It is strong, light, gives good protection,
and does not impede the horse's sight. On the whole, Mr.
Walker is glad to be able to report that the provisions
of Schedule III. have been satisfactorily carried out.
The following particulars relate to horses used under-
ground in the mines:—Number used, 5,744. Number
died (exclusive of those required to be destroyed): From
injury by accident, 56; from disease, 56. Number
required to be destroyed: In consequence of injury, 158;
in consequence of disease, 76 (27 from old age). Number
of cases of injury or ill-treatment reported to manager
(exclusive of cases already included): Injury, 402; ill-
treatment, 9.

General Regulations.—The steps taken to carry out
General Regulation 30, as a rule, do not appear to be
satisfactory. The manager by it is required to appoint
a competent person or persons to keep a correct record
of the number of persons going below ground and
returning from below ground daily, and all that has
been done, in many cases, to meet this is to require the
banksman and onsetter to keep a record in chalk. At
safety-lamp pits it was urged some reliance was put
upon the number of safety lamps issued and returned,
but as at these pits the lamps are delivered at the cabin
all at one time, and they are put to one side until they
are cleaned, it may not be known until near the end of
the next shift, when the lamps have been put on the
stands opposite the numbers, that a man has not come
out of the pit, even when the person may not be
identified owing to lamps having been changed during
the shift. Something in the shape of tokens or tallies
should be used, and the manipulation of them, either
by taking them off or hanging them on boards,
should not be left to the men themselves. Mr. Walker
has been asked to approve certain systems, but the only
one he has approved so far is the following:—“Every
person before descending the shaft shall apply at an
office, or other place appointed by the manager, for a
token bearing a number, and such token shall be given
to him by a person authorised in writing by the manager.
The number of the token and the name of the person
receiving it shall forthwith be entered in a book to be
kept for the purpose. On receiving the token the
person receiving it shall take it to the top of the shaft,
and before entering the cage show it to the pitheadman,
and no person without such a token shall be allowed to
enter the cage. On reaching the bottom or other part
of the shaft, each person shall deliver his token to the
bottomer or other person appointed by the manager,
who shall, as the persons ascend, re-issue the tokens to
them before they enter the cage. On reaching the
surface each person shall take his own token to the
office, or place appointed by the manager, and deliver it
to the person authorised in writing by the manager, who
shall see it is placed at once on a number board, and
also enter in the book kept for the purpose the fact that
the person has returned to the surface.” Where safety
lamps are in use, a token or tally should be handed in in
exchange for the lamp at the beginning, and exchanged
for the lamp at the end, of the shift.

At some mines which are worked by a succession of
shifts it has been found that the firemen for the same
section in the different shifts have not conferred with
each other, and from the hour their respective shifts
terminated and began it was impossible for them to do
so. General Regulation 103 (Telephones) is gradually
being complied with. Some difficulty has arisen in
getting a supply of the necessary apparatus. Where the
telephones have been installed the management have
found that they are a great convenience for purposes
other than safety.

Sanitary conveniences have already been put in at
many mines, but there are still some where the neces-
sary receptacles have not been received, although
ordered from the makers for some considerable time.

No provision of baths at pithead has yet been made,
but it is the intention of the owners of one colliery, at
least, to make such provision in the immediate future.

The Explosives in Coal Mines Orders are now fairly
well observed. Some difference of opinion as to the
requirements of section 1 (e) (i.) and (ii.) of the Order of
September 1, 1913, exists, and managers generally claim
a great deal of latitude in regard to who are “ other
authorised persons ” in section 1 (e) (ii.), and they have
given, in some cases, nearly all the miners authorisa-
tions to have detonators, and provided them with locked
boxes in which to keep the detonators issued to them at
the beginning of a shift. In consequence of this pro-
cedure an accident occurred at Auchenbegg Colliery,
near Coalburn, by which a fireman was killed and an
under-manager, two firemen, a miner and a roads man
injured. In Mr. Walker’s opinion the requirements of
the section are quite clear. In mines in which a per-
mitted explosive is not required to be used the detonators
can only be issued to officials, and such officials are only
allowed to give them to the persons firing shots when
they are about to be used for the charging of a shot-
hole—that is, when a hole has been or is being bored.
Many of the managers, however, appear to think that it
is legal for the official to issue the detonators to the
fireman at the shaft bottom at the beginning of the
shift, and, in order to get a legal decision on the ques-
tion, the circumstances of the accident at Auchenbegg
Colliery formed the basis of legal proceedings against
the manager and under-manager.

Mr. Walker fears that in safety-lamp pits the require-
ments of Clause 6 (f) (ii.) and (iii.) as to the examination
for gas and coal dust are not so thoroughly carried out
as they should be. As regards the workmen it is
difficult, owing to its being impossible to supervise every
operation, to enforce the provisions respecting the
marking the direction of the shot-hole, stemming with
non-inflammable material, keeping naked lights away
from explosives, and stopping away from a place in
which there is a miss-fired shot for the prescribed period;
where the miners and brushers fire their own shots there

is always considerable difficulty after an accident to find
out the exact time they have kept away from a miss-fire.

Up to and including December 31 last, nine managers’
certificates were endorsed as surveyors, and two certifi-
cates, the applications for which were received at the
latter part of 1912, were given under the Order, dated
February 27, 1912, prescribing the qualifications of
surveyors for the purposes of sections 20 and 21 of the
Coal Mines Act, 1911.

Shotfiring and Explosives Used.—There is an increase
of 541,825 lb. of explosives used and of 1,332,367 in the
number of shots fired as compared with the previous
year. The average quantity of explosives used per shot
is 10’4 oz., and the total quantity of mineral raised and
explosives used gives an average of 4 28 tons per shot.
The estimated number of missed shots from the figures
given in the annual returns is as follows :—By electric
firing 1,404 out of 1,664,405 shots, by fuse 5,714 out of
9,061,656 shots, otherwise 498 out of 362,984 shots. Of
the estimated number of shots fired there were fired by
electricity 1,664,405, by fuse 9,061,656, by squibs 362,984
—total 11,089,045. In all 7,262,970 lb. of explosives were
used.

Safety Lamps.—There is an increase of 3,233 in the
number of safety lamps used compared with the
preceding year. The total was 37,991. The method
of locking was:—Lead rivets 11,065, magnetic 12,506,
screws 13,859, other 561. The kind of illuminant was:—
Colza or colza and petroleum 9,449, petroleum 5,803,
volatile spirit 21,444, electricity 1,160, other illuminant
135. Of the above 22,410 were lit by opening ; 14,481
by electricity ; and 1,100 by internal relighters.

Electricity in Mines.—A summary is given in the
following table of the horse-power in use during the
year for various purposes in and about the mines in
the different counties in the division, and also the

increase and decrease of horse-	■power used as	compared
with the previous year.	Total for	Total for
	1913.	1912.
No. of mines 				319 .	290
Surface:—		
Winding 				2,208 .	..	1,666
Ventilation				4,607| .	..	2,363|
Haulage 				3,0124 .	..	2,527
Coal washing or screening ..			6,611| •	5,513
Miscellaneous 		.......	9,809 .	..	6,944|
Total				26,278^ .	.. 19,014
Underground:—		
Haulage 				26,533^ .	.. 22,813i
Pumping 				43,393f .	.. 36,1431
Portable machinery				20 628 .	.. 17,367
Miscellaneous				2,806 .	.. 3,018f
Total				93,361| .	.. 79,343
Gross total 		119,6391 .	.. 98,357

Of total horse-power 39,096J-horse power were used
in Lanark, 28,25IJ-horse power in Fife, 13,532|-horse
power in Edinburgh, and ll,310J-horse power in
Linlithgow.

Coal Mines (Eight Hours) Act, 1908.—The Act, not-
withstanding the great handicap under which it has
been administered, owing to the judgment of the
Justiciary Court of Appeal in the case of Roger v.
Stevenson, has worked fairly satisfactorily. In some
cases persons have been kept under ground beyond the
period of eight hours, plus the time approved by the
inspector for lowering and raising a shift, and the
management have pointed out that so long as the period
between the last man in a shift descending and the first
ascending does not exceed eight hours, all the other
men can be kept below ground any length of time. At
present, if the owners were inclined, and the workmen
would allow them to take full advantage of the judgment
in question, the Act in Scotland would be a dead letter.
At the majority of mines no attempt has been made to
act otherwise than in accordance with what was
believed to be the requirements of the statute before
this decision was given by the Appeal Court. Twenty-
eight complaints have been received that men were
being kept longer underground than the period fixed by
the Act, or of working more than one shift during
24 hours. Their investigation often disclosed the fact
that the purposes for which the men were detained
were legal, under section 1 (2) of the Act, whereas in
others it was found that the management were straining
the meaning of the subsection, to make it cover cases
which it was not the intention of the Legislature to
include.

Rescue Stations.—In addition to the Central Rescue
Station at Cowdenbeath, which was erected by the
owners of collieries in the counties of Fife and Clack-
mannan, before the Rescue and Aid Order required the
provision of such stations, an up-to-date rescue station
has been completed and put into active operation at
Kilmarnock by the Ayrshire Coal Owners’ Association.
A sub-station is also being erected, and is almost
completed in connection with Auchinleck. After the
disaster at Gadder Colliery in August last, Messrs. The
Carron Co., the owners, had a brigade of five men
trained at the Cowdenbeath Rescue Station and has,
since that time, maintained it, and at three other
collieries self-contained breathing apparatus and galleries
for the training of men in an irrespirable atmosphere
have been provided; of these two were in Lanarkshire
and one in Renfrewshire, and in Mid and East Lothian
negotiations are pending between the majority of the
owners and the Heriot-Watt College for the provision
of a gallery in property belonging to them, and also the
necessary self-contained apparatus, but, in the mean-
time, several sets of apparatus have been installed at
the pits, but only at one of them has proper training
been instituted, and a gallery erected, so that in the
event of a serious accident necessitating the use of self-
contained apparatus they would have to draw upon the
Cowdenbeath and Kilmarnock stations for men trained
in their use. The land has been acquired and the plans