Supplement to THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. July 24, 1914. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ XVI stone dust is eventually carried right in to the coal face, there is not much the matter in the long run, though the place where the coal dust is in most need of treatment is inbye, where the presence of gas is probable, and where the blasting is carried on, and for this reason the system should be reversed by thoroughly stone dusting inbye first and then working outwards towards the pit bottom. The ignition of coal dust near the pit bottom is a comparatively remote possibility, unless blasting is done or the bursting of high-pressure electric apparatus takes place. Such cases could be effectively guarded against by efficient cleaning and thorough stone dusting in the immediate vicinity of such places. The circular issued to mine owners by the Home Office on January 17 last year, recommending the pro- posals of the Explosions in Mines Committee as regards the use of incombustible dust as a means of preventing coal dust explosions, again reminds those colliery owners who have hitherto thought it unnecessary to adopt such simple means in order to guard against repeated calamities in coal-dusty mines. At a recent meeting of the Midland Institute held in Doncaster, the president referred to the stone dusting of mines as a cheap premium against disaster, and if this became thoroughly realised by all colliery owners, there would be little difficulty in rendering all such mines considerably safer than they are at the present time, where a system of thorough watering is impracticable on account of the friable nature of the strata. Explosives Used.—The total quantity of explosives used was 1,994,6511b.; 4,418,815 shots were fired, of which 3,591,095 were fired by electricity and 557,720 by fuse. Of the 5,847 missed shots reported, 4,752 were fired by electricity. Safety Lamps.—The number of safety lamps in use was 228,769, being an increase of 9,776 as compared with the preceding year., It will be noticed that the number of portable electric lamps now in use is 25,004, as com- pared with 4,608 in 1912, 922 in 1911, and 69 in 1910. Of the total number 86,688 were fitted with a single gauze and 117,077 with double gauzes; 202,892 were shielded. The method of locking was as follows :— Lead rivet, 134,241; magnetic, 78,450; screw, 16,000; other, 78. The kind of illuminant was :—Colza or colza and petroleum, 131,942; petroleum, 21,735; volatile spirit, 35,485; electricity, 25,004; other, 14,603. Electricity in Mines.—Electricity was in use at 320 mines, the following summary showing the aggregate horse-power:—Surface: Winding, 1,204; ventilation, 7,027; haulage, 2,663; coal washing or screening, 19,704^; miscellaneous, 25,356j—total, 55,954$. Under- ground : Haulage, 27,055; pumping, 13,691|; portable machinery, 8,131^; miscellaneous, 2,367$:—total, 51,245$. Eight Hours Act.—A few complaints were received during the year about men being employed below ground longer than the statutory period. All such communications were attended to, and when it was found that any complaint was well founded, steps were taken to get the matter remedied. As the number of men employed below ground either increases or decreases, the time approved for the lowering and for the raising of the workers requires to be revised from time to time, and, accordingly, during the year it was found necessary to issue, quite a number of statements of approval in order that the carrying-out of the Act in this respect might be complied with. On the whole, the Act has been well complied with both by officials and workmen. Rescue and Aid.—In addition to the already existing central rescue stations at Tankersley, Altofts and Wath in Yorkshire, and Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, other stations have been built at Rotherham, Wakefield, Doncaster, Brierley and Barnsley, in Yorkshire. The stations projected for Chesterfield and Ilkeston, in Derbyshire, to provide for the mines in the southern part of the division beyond the ten mile radius of Mansfield have not been erected. The attention of the advisory committee of the Notts and Derbyshire coalowners’ rescue station has been more than once directed to the delay, and the necessity for proceeding with the work in order to comply with the regulations as to rescue and aid. It is now stated that the plans are being prepared for both the Chesterfield and Ilkeston stations, and that arrangements are to be made at both stations to house permanent teams. Good work continues to be done by the Yorkshire Collieries Ambulance League, which is maintained by subscriptions of both colliery owners and a few royalty owners. There is much room for similar work in the counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The competitions for the Wood Shield attracted 107 entries, as compared with 97 in the preceding year. IY.—Lancashire, North Wales and Ireland Division. a.—Manchester and Ireland District. Mr. Gerrard reports that Mr. J. C. Roscamp resigned early in 1913. Every mine has had at least one under- ground inspection, some mines many. Persons Employed.—The following table shows the number of persons employed :— Persons employed. f-------a--------Above No. of Below Above ground. and Co nty. mines, ground. (---------*----below Males. Males. ffround' N. and E. Lancashire... Ireland: — 214... 39,780... 10,666... 941 .. . 51,387 Antrim . 1.. 6 .. 1... — .. 7 Kilkenny . 7... . 317... 104... — .. 421 Leitrim 2... 12 .. 3... — .. 15 Queens’s County . 3.. 90... 38... — .. 128 Roscommon . 4„ 81... 15... — .. 96 Tipperary . 2 . 49... 19... — .. .. ' 68 Tyrone . 3... 21... 14... — .. 35 Total (Ireland) . 22... 576... 194... — .. 770 Output of Mineral.—The following shows the output of mineral in North and East Lancashire :— Quantity Value at the Total Mineral. (statute mine per ton. value, tons). s. d. £ Coal............... 11,289,296 ... 10 7'04 ... 5,975,728 Fireclay........... 125,201 ... — ... 22,844 Brick shale ....... 25,510 ... — ... 3,464 Iron pyrites ....... 547 ... — .... 178 Sandstone......... 1,846 ... — 138 Total .......... 11,442,400 ... — ... 6,002,352 The output of coal per person employed below ground was 283*79 statute tons, above and below ground 219'69 statute tons. The quantity of coal raised was 873,122 tons more than in the previous year. The value is 9'93d. per ton more. The next table shows the coal cut by machinery :— Number driven by Statute tons cut by Description. < Elec- tricity. Com- pressed air. c ~ Elec- tricity. Com- pressed air. Lancashire. Disc—Diamond 3 .. . 24 ... 22,361 . .. 180,884 Gillott — . 19 ... — .. 129,964 Crescent — . 3 ... — 6,635 Bar—Pick-quick 4 .. . 12 ... 26,762 .7 . 47,996 Chain—Hopkinson 4 ... 3 ... 58,090 .. . 17,728 Percussive—Sisk ol — . 109 ... — . 121,555 Hardy .... — . 25 ... — .. 30,884 Ingersoll . — .. 1 ... — 340 11 .. . 196 ... 107,213 .. . 535,986 Ireland. Bar—Pick-quick 2 .. — 1,130 .. — Fifteen conveyors were at work at the coal face, and 33 iron tubs without wheels drawn along face. The machines were at work in 41 mines. The Crescents only worked about two months. Some of the Siskols perform the useful work of cutting out “ stables ” for the disc machines. The output of mineral in Ireland was as under :— Antrim ....... Kilkenny ...... Leitrim ....... Queers....... Roscommon.... Tipperary ...... Tyrone ....... Coal. Statute Value. tons. £ 500 ... 250 48,082* ... 31,840 1,500 ... 750 13,919* ... 7,552 10,065 ... 6,103 8,215* ... 4,003 240 ... _______ 96 _______ 82,521 ... 50,654 * Anthracite. Fireclay. f a Statute Value. tons. £ ... — ... — • 3,360*.7 588 lll» — ... 3,360 .. 588 The total quantity of coal raised was 82,521 tons, of which 70,216 tons were anthracite, a decrease compared with the previous year of 7,786 tons. The output per person employed underground was 143'26 tons, the out- put per person employed under and above ground was 107'17 tons. Accidents.—In North and East Lancashire there were 49 fatal accidents, causing 51 deaths. Of this number, 41 accidents causing 43 deaths occurred underground; eight fatal accidents occurred on the surface, causing eight deaths. In the previous year there were 51 acci- dents, causing 52 deaths. Briefly noticing the fatalities, there occurred, from falls of side four accidents, causing four deaths; from falls of roof, 14 accidents causing 15 deaths; within shafts, three accidents causing three deaths. From miscellaneous causes underground, there were 20 accidents causing 21 deaths; of these there was one accident with explosives, two from ropes or chains breaking, 13 causing 14 deaths, in which men were run over or crushed by trams and tubs, two other haulage accidents, one by machinery, and one by falling from a shock. On the surface, there were two fatal accidents caused by machinery, one on a railway, and five men were killed from miscellaneous causes; one while wheeling slack on a plank, one by being scalded, one while taking down old screens, one by falling from a beam in the engine house, and one when wheeling bricks on a plank. In Ireland there was no fatality. The following list classifies the fatal and non-fatal acci- dents :— Non-fatal All non-fatal Fatal accidents accidents acci- reported disabling for dents. to more than inspector.* 7 days. Place and cause. Q fl 45 O T h ' ® 03 Lancashire. qq Explosions of firedamp or coal dust .........— . 197. 112... 3... 1... 21... 104... 118.. . 2,802... 2,815 1... 15... 15 107.. . 5,138... 5,143 Falls in mine ......... 18 .. Shaft accidents ....... 3... Miscellaneous under- ground.............. 20... Total underground... 41... 43... 217... 226... 7,955... 7,973 On surface......... 8... 8... 22... 22... 546... 547 Gross total in 1913 ... Total in 1912 49.. . 51.. 51.. . 52 ... . 239... 248... . 224... 230... 8.501.. . 7.795.. . 8,520 7,809 Ireland. Explosions of firedamp or coaldust Falls in mine — — ’ 3.’.’ 4*" 10’.’.’. 10 Shaft accidents — — _ 1... 1 Miscellaneous under- ground — — . 4... 4... 34... 34 ■ ■ III —1 ■ — ■ — I 1 ■■■ ■ ■ Total underground... — — 7... 8... 45... 45 On surface — — .. — ... — ... 6... 6 . — 1 ■! 1 I Gross total in 1913 ... — — 7... 8... 51... 51 Total in 1912 — — 5... 6... 60... 61 * and f See footnotes on page iii. The death rate from accidents per 1,000 persons employed in Lancashire was : underground, 0'925; above ground, 1'450; under and above ground, 1'007. The death rate in Lancashire per million tons raised was for underground workers, 0'262; under and above ground, 0'221. The number of tons per death underground was 262,541; under and above ground, 221,358. The num- ber of persons employed underground per life lost was 925; underground and above ground 969. The following shows the hours of the shift in which the accidents happened in North and East Lancashire (underground) :—In the first hour, five fatal, 30 non- fatal; in the second hour, eight fatal, 32 non-fatal; in the third hour, five fatal, 34 non-fatal; in the fourth hour, one fatal, 21 non-fatal; in the fifth hour, seven fatal, 24 non-fatal; in the sixth hour, five fatal, 33 non- fatal; in the seventh hour, eight fatal, 25 non-fatal; in the eighth hour, two fatal, 17 non-fatal; in the ninth hour, one non-fatal; in the eleventh hour, one non-fatal. The hour of shift in which the greatest number of acci- dents occurred is seen from the above to be the second hour. Four fatalities resulted from falls of side, four less than the previous year. All were from the face of the work- ing places. In three of the cases the men were standing near to the fall, using short picks, so that they could not get away when the fall came; in one case, deceased found insecurity and sent for timber to support, yet remained there whilst the timber was being brought and was completely covered by the fall. From falls of roof there were 14 accidents causing 15 deaths, seven deaths less than in the previous year. Seven occurred at the face of the working places, five on roads whilst repairing, three on roads while otherwise working or passing. Two of these occurred when plucking loose stone after shots. One was from a pot hole. In one case a single prop under a large stone was canted out. Two men were killed by a very large fall from a slip running along one side of the road; the props were pushed out, letting down seven large bars and a steel girder. At the face, four of the falls were from clearly defined slips, in one case there was no support, in another three props were required to be set, in another 6 ft. from the face there was no support; in one case the man was preparing to set a bar, in another the man was drawing props using a short hammer—he had a Sylvester close at hand. There were three shaft accidents, causing three deaths, two more than in the previous year. In one case the managing owner fell from the top of the shaft to the bottom, 180 ft.; he stood on the iron plates waiting to go down, and there were marks on the plates point- ing to his having slipped. There was no fence, although he had been warned that a fence was necessary. In one case, part way down the shaft, deceased, a pit carpenter, was erecting woodwork to enable a balance rope to be used; when stepping from a beam 12 in. wide on to a girder 8 in. wide to get into the hoppit to go to the surface, he missed his footing and slipped through the space of 18 in. between the beam and the girder, falling 600 ft. In the other case, deceased was foolishly holding up the lattice gate for men to enter the cage, when the engineman raised the cage, which took up deceased crushing him against a bearer. He would pro- bably have let go before being taken up had he not been anxious to stop a man who was stepping into the cage. Two things contributed to this accident, deceased ought to have secured the gate by the catch, but he thought it unnecessary to do so for a moment only; and a fatal arrangement made between the engineman and the hooker-on, outside the code of signals established, which dispensed with the usual signals when men used the lower deck, which was occasionally done after the bulk of the men had ascended. There were 20 miscellaneous underground accidents causing 21 deaths, four more deaths than in the previous year. Seventeen of these accidents, causing 18 deaths, were haulage accidents. There is a large increase in the number of these accidents, which may be due largely to the high pressure under w’hich work is carried on to get out the coal in the prescribed time. There was one fatality from explosives; a stone w*as projected from a roof shot; deceased; a fireman, 60 years of age, stood in direct line with the shot, 22 yds. distant, with absolutely no shelter. There was one fatal accident to a coal cutter attendant; the coal cutter was an electric bar machine, with the bar revolving; the man put his foot on the oily head of the bar to step across it, his foot slipped, the bar caught his clothing, his leg was fractured and torn, and death followed amputation. Of the underground haulage accidents two persons were killed and three injured while illegally riding, and two injured by going in front instead of behind tubs while moving them by hand on inclined roads. On the surface there were eight accidents causing eight deaths—five more than in the previous yea?. Two accidents were in connection with machinery; in one case deceased was oiling the machinery in motion, working the screens, before coal drawing commenced; it was not his work at all, another man having been appointed to do it. The other accident was in connec- tion with a large air-compressing plant made by Fraser and Chalmers; the attendant, work at the pit having finished, wanted to move the fly-wheel round to get to the cataract pump; he vras using a bar provided; taking hold of the bar he pressed it, when the fly-wheel kicked back, driving the bar upward; it caught the man’s head, fracturing the jaw; there must have been some air pressure in the air cylinder, though the attendants thought all the taps had been opened. It seems desirable that some more efficient method of moving the fly-wheel should have been provided. There was one accident on railways, while wagons were being moved; deceased was either going under the buffers to uncouple or he stumbled; he fell with his neck on the rail, and the wagon wheels passed over his neck, cutting off his head. Although it was dusk he was without a light, his lamp and uncoupling pole were on the engine,