268

THE*JCOLLIERY GUARDIAN.

July 31, 1914.

committee proposes, if necessary, to carry the matter to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. J. Adair, general
secretary, has prepared a statement showing that out of
749 people in the Durham homes, 415 under 70 years of
age do not receive pension, 309 receive the full amount
of 5s. per week, 11 receive 4s., five 3s., four 2s., and five
over 70 years of age nothing at all, owing to the amount
calculated as rent allowances being added to their incomes.
The reduced pensions are partly due to the same cause. Mr.
Adair points out that it would cost only £5,150 16s. per
annum to pay the full pensions of 5s. per week to the 25
persons affected.

The death of Mr. Jopling, of Leadgate, at the great
age of 79 years, removes one of the oldest working miners
in North-West Durham. Deceased was working right up
to the day of his death. Whilst acting as keeker for the
East Pontop Coal Company, Mr. Jopling walked from
Leadgate to East Castle, a distance of over two miles, and
never lost a day’s work during 45 years.

Mr. John Robson, who was overman at the Sherburn
Colliery (Lady Durham Pit) for 38 years has just resigned.
Mr. Robson is a native of the Sherburn district, and started
work 60 years ago when ten years of age.

The Hazard and Moorsley pits of the North Hetton Coal
Company have been working very slack recently, and that
is probably the origin of the rumour that the collieries will
shortly change hands.

Mr. John G-. Weeks, who recently retired from the
position of agent for the Bedlington Coal Company, referred
in strong terms, when speaking at Bedlington last week,
to the mining legislation of recent years. Much of the
legislation, he said, was of no practical use or benefit, and
only served to worry those whose attention could be more
usefully engaged in the safe and economical working of
the pits. Besides, it increased the cost of supplying coal
to the public, who persisted in sending cranks and faddists
to make laws on matters on which they were hopelessly
ignorant. It might be retorted that safety was the object,
but, so far as he could judge, the result of the legislation
during the past seven years had been to increase the cost.
He instanced the Compensation Act, which had increased
the cost by 200 per cent., and declared that it encouraged
more frequent claims and extended their duration to the
detriment of character. It was more than time that a
vigorous effort should be made to check the growing
tendency of vesting authority in London officials ignorant of
local conditions.

About 190 miners employed at Dunston Colliery were
paid off last week-end, owing to the heavy expenses attached
to the working of the Five-quarter seam and to the depres-
sion in trade. The management hopes, however, to find
other working places for from 40 to 50 of these men.

At Newcastle on Tuesday, W. L. Scott was charged
under the Merchandise Marks Act with applying a false
trade description, namely, “ West Tyne coking small coal,”
to a certain shipment of coal, and further with unlawfully
selling the same with the false description. Scott, it was
stated, was the Newcastle agent of Messrs. Capel and Com-
pany, of Paris. Capels sold to the firm of Comptoir Char-
bonniers Maritimes, of Antwerp, 18,000 to 20,000 tons of
coal, which was to be Durham coking smalls of a quality
meeting a certain analysis as to agglutination. Scott
selected the coals, and delivered them to the Antwerp firm.
The s.s. “ Martha Russ ” was loaded with 2,900 tons of
coal of eight sorts. It was alleged that the eighth sort con-
sisted of 405 tons, and was described as ‘‘ West Tyne coking
small coals.” This coal did not come from anywhere near
West Tyne, and was not coking coal at all. It was mixed
with the cargo, and made the other coal unsatisfactory, and
the whole was rejected. The 405 tons had been traced as
coming from a pit heap at Haswell, Durham, where it had
been 18 years. It never had been coking coal, but was
originally small gas coal. It had no agglutinative power.
Defendant said he mixed the coal after obtaining an analysis
of the Haswell product, and he thought the mixture would
be satisfactory. The bench found the charge of applying a
false description proved, and imposed a fine of £20, and
£25 costs. The other case was dismissed.

Messrs. Pease and Partners are seriously considering a
proposal to instal at their Bankfoot Works, Crook, a central
tar distilling plant, capable of further refinement, and which
will be able to deal with the products of the coke yards of
the other local collieries, such as Stanley, Roddymoor,
Bowden Close, Eldon, St. Helens, and presumably from
Waterhouses.

Cumberland.

The Outlook at Frizington—Closing of Watergate Colliery.

The mining outlook in the Frizington district is just now
not very encouraging. All the employees at the Lonsdale
mines, who should have completed their engagements on
Saturday, have been put on day to day notice. It is stated
that although extraordinary efforts have lately been made,
there has been little success. This mine has done much
for the prosperity of Frizington, and these adverse circum-
stances have been learnt with regret. The Lonsdale Mining
Company have encountered many difficulties. Something
like 20 years ago it was common talk that the mine was
played out, but facts proved the opposite, as a fine deposit
of ore was found, which eventually justified sinking another
shaft, and. installing new plant, with a splendid output of
the best iron ore.

The closing of Watergate Colliery will greatly intensify
the depression in the Maryport district. The pit, it is
stated, was losing money, and the management asked for
a 10 per cent, reduction in wages, and an additional output
of half-a-ton per man per day. The men declined to accept
the reduced wages, and asserted that the low output was
owing to the condition of the roads. So the pit was closed.
The stoppage of the colliery has naturally affected the com-
pany’s coke ovens at Risehow. Small coal brought from
Whitehaven could not be used for coking, because both sur-
face hands and platelayers who were asked to deal with
it refused to do so. It may be added that the coal was not
brought from Whitehaven because of the dispute, but in
the ordinary course of business, it being the custom of the
Flimby Colliery Company to purchase small coal from White-
haven for coking purposes. It is to be hoped, in the best
interests of local trade, that a settlement may soon be
effected.

Last week Mr. John Rothery, of Whitehaven, late under-
manager of William Pit, who is retiring from the office to
take up a position as shipping agent for the Whitehaven
Colliery Company, was presented with a beautiful box of
cutlery and a set of carvers and steel in suitable case by
the officials of the colliery.

Yorkshire.

The Non-Removal of Props—Further Colliery Developments
Mooted—Firbeck Main Colliery—New Shaft at Frickley
—Bridging the Trent.

Notwithstanding the infliction of fines and penalties, week
by week, in the Doncaster West Riding Police Court, there
seems to be no diminution in the number of offences in the
various collieries around. While these show a great deal
of variety, the most common seem to be the taking of
matches down the mine, and the neglect to set or remove
props, as required by the rules. A market collier named
Robert Chadwick, of Denaby, who was before the court
last Saturday, at the instance of the Denaby and Cadeby
Colliery Company, was soundly rated by the bench, and
was told by the magistrates it was a wonder he w&s not
in the cemetery instead of in the court, if that was the
way he conducted himself. He might, they said, have
been killed a hundred times over, and they were surprised
at the management keeping him. It was explained, his
duty was to set props. He pretended to set them, but they
were only just stuck in, and were quite loose. He also
had to remove props. Instead of removing the row furthest
into the goaf, he removed an intervening row, his object
being to bury the props at the back, or leave the job for
other men to do. His action had endangered the life of
everybody. Forty shillings and costs or one month, was
the penalty imposed by the bench.

Notwithstanding the advance in development of the coal-
field around Doncaster, and the number of new pits which
are being sunk, there are rumours that the near future
will witness the launching out of still further enterprise
to the south of the town, in the Retford direction, and below
that still further into Nottinghamshire. Quite recently this
neighbourhood was declared by a high authority to be
full of possibilities, and the land comprised in it was stated
to be amongst the most valuable in England. The new
German undertaking at Harworth is in the direction indi-
cated, but if report speaks truly other pits may be
confidently looked for at no distant date.

Meanwhile preparations for sinking the Firbeck Main
Colliery are proceeding. This will be situated in the
Wallingwells estate of Sir Archibald White, near Worksop,
and will be connected up with the Great Central Railway,
for which purpose the land has lately been surveyed.
Joining the main line near Shireoaks, the railway will come
out in North Carlton, connecting up this old village with
the outside world. The old town of Worksop is expecting
to benefit materially by the project. Shireoaks is likely
to be the junction for the line.

Developments at the Frickley Colliery are indicated by
a. statement made at a meeting at South Elmsall last week.
It was reported that a new shaft is to be sunk at the
colliery, also that further developments at South Kirkby
Colliery, in the same neighbourhood, will mean the employ-
ment of an additional 200 men. These arguments were
used to stimulate the Hemsworth Rural District Council
to further action over the housing question. It was shown
that in the parish there are nearly 300 lodgers, also 95
houses accommodating two families a piece. It was
resolved to recommend the council to erect 60 more houses
in the parish for working miners. The position was clearly
shown by the statement of the Rector of Hemsworth, who
said that out of a dozen marriages he had lately solemnised,
only one couple had a house of their own to go to. He had
been told there were 50 houses in Hemsworth which ought
to be condemned, but in his opinion there might be 500.

It is expected that the new bridge over the River Trent,
which will serve the dual purpose of a road and rail bridge,
and will carry the bulk of the heavy mineral traffic tc the
seaboard, will be completed early next year. The opening
ceremony will mark a revolution in road traffic as well as
greatly improved facilities by rail. The antiquated system
of crossing the River Trent by boat, or of making a long
detour by Gainsborough, has now to be followed, but that
will become a thing of the past.

A public enquiry was held last week by the Light Railway
Commissioners at Bolton-on-Dearne, into the application
of the Joint Urban District Councils of Wath, Wombwell,
Bolton, and Thurnscoe, for reconsideration of sections 13
and 14 of the scheme for light railways, with which it is
proposed to link up the populous mining area between
Mexboro and Barnsley. It was stated that since the last
enquiry there had been considerable development along the
route. They wanted to bring the line to Goldthorpe, Bolton
and Wath, so that people could get to Wath and on to
Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley. Since the last
enquiry the Wath Main Colliery had purchased 56 acres for
housing their workers, and it was proposed to put 750 houses
there. The Bolton Council were erecting 310 houses, and
the link from Bolton to Wath was very essential. A census
of those on the road between Wath and Wath railway
station showed 25,349 pedestrians per week. The railway
system was declared to be totally inadequate, and the
population of the four promoting districts was represented
to have increased from 27,455 in 1901 to 48,500 in 1914.
At Wath Main Colliery sinking operations had been com-
menced to the Parkgate seam, and they would soon require
1,500 more men. Evidence was given by Mr. G. H.
Ashwin, of Wath Main Colliery, who said 180 of their men
lived at Bolton. This was the first he had heard of the
proposal to build 750 houses, but it had been proposed to
put up 100. He did not think a collier would take a car
for a distance of 2,000 yds., though, he admitted, they
sometimes had to walk 3| miles to their work underground.
As a colliery company they did not want the scheme
because it could not help them with their men, and they
did not think it could pay. The enquiry lasted eight hours,
and the result will be made known in due course.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Mines to be Unwatered at Hay dock—An Eight Hours Case.

It is stated that Messrs. Richard Evans and Company,
who own extensive collieries in the Haydock, Golborne, and
Edge Green districts, have decided to take immediate steps
to re-open three of their collieries, which have not been
worked for a long time owing to being flooded.

An important case was heard at the St. Helens County
Petty Sessions, on Tuesday, when Thomas Cook, manager
of the new coal mines at Sutton Manor, Bold, was sum-
moned on nine charges of keeping workmen in the coal
mine for more than eight hours, and for failing to enter
workmen in a register. Mr. Paxton prosecuted for Mr.
Nicholson, the mines inspector, and said that there was
no dispute about the facts, but the cases raised certain very
important issues under the Eight Hours Act of 1908. The
fact seemed to be that the manager had a difficulty in

securing a staff of men to work all the coal cutting machines
in the mine. Their staff was short, and some of the men
were kept working double shifts at the coal cutting
machines. Mr. Murray, assistant inspector, said that on
May 19 he called to see Mr. Cook and told him that com-
plaints had been received about the pit. He asked for the
register under the Eight Hours Act. Witness said that on
May 6 there was no entry in the register to show that John
Platt had been working overtime. He went down the pit
and saw the fireman’s book, which showed that Platt had
worked from 10 p.m. on May 5 to 10 a.m. on May 6. On
May 9 he found that Robert Sexton and William Sole had
worked 21 hours continuously, and on May 16 they worked
16 hours continuously. Mr. Cook, the manager, giving
evidence, said that the men in question were skilled artizans
and not colliers, and that he was justified in keeping them
at work longer than the eight hours in order to make it
safer for the other men. The magistrates imposed a fine
of £1 and costs for each of the five cases of employing the
men over hours. A conviction of 5s. and 10s. costs in one
case was recorded with respect to the charge of not keeping
a proper register.

North Wales.

Mr. Peter Williams, general manager of the Brymbo Steel
Works, near Wrexham, will shortly take up the position of
geneial manager of the Normanby Hall Steel Works, Scun-
thorpe. Mr. Williams, who will retain his seat on the
board of directors of the Brymbo works, will be succeeded
there as general manager by Mr. J. S. Hollings.

Notts and Derbyshire.

Lamp Room Fire at Langwith—Nystagmus and Insanity.

A fire broke out on Saturday night at the Langwith
Colliery lamp cabin. The Welbeck Fire Brigade played on
the flames for some time before they were extinguished.
The origin of the fire is unknown, but it is stated that a
fire had been used in the building during Saturday. In the
cabin were stored some 1,400 safety lamps, used in connec-
tion with the working of the colliery, and it is stated that
over 1,000 were damaged by the fire, and the windows of
the cabin were also broken.

The Mallein test to which 95 ponies employed in the Top
Hard seam—the lower seam by the way—in the Gedling
pit were subjected, has revealed the fact that three animals
were affected with glanders. These ponies were in the
seam far below the High Hazel, that in which the scourge
originally manifested itself, and had not at any time come
in contact with the others. Their destruction was immedi-
ately carried out, and their stables have been thoroughly
disinfected. No case of reaction has been discovered in the
23 animals remaining of the 63 engaged in the High Hazel
seam, though the tests have been frequently repeated.

The questions whether a miner’s lunacy was due to
nystagmus was debated in a compensation case heard by
Judge Macpherson at Chesterfield on Monday, by reference
from the Burton-on-Trent County Court. The applicant
was William Wyatt, miner, and the respondents were the
Moira Colliery Company, near Burton-on-Trent. As Wyatt
was of unsound mind, the action was brought in the name
of William Buckley, as best friend. It was stated that
Wyatt worked for the respondent company for 23 years, and
on October 9, 1911, he was certified by Dr. Parkhill as
suffering from nystagmus in a serious form. The man’s
condition remained normal for some time, but after being
out of work for six months he worried so much that his
mind became deranged, and at the end of last year he was
removed to the county asylum, where he was still confined.
It was submitted that the man’s condition was due entirely
to nystagmus. That disease, counsel contended, affected the
nerves, and if it did not actually produce paralysis of the
insane, nystagmus was a predisposing cause. Mr. William
Smith, president of the South Derbyshire Miners’ Union,
said he had known depression to follow nystagmus,
especially in men who were conscientious and honest and
wanted to get back to work. Another witness, Samuel
Boswell, Church Gresley, admitted that probably 40 per
cent, of working miners were afflicted with nystagmus. In
the pit where he was employed nystagmus cases had been
very common since safety lamps were enforced. When
candles were in use, nystagmus was very rare. Dr. S. J.
Parkhill, Church Gresley, said depression was an accompani-
ment of nystagmus, but he had formed no opinion as to
the extent to which nystagmus was responsible for paralysis
of the insane. Dr. J. Court (Staveley), who examined
Wyatt, on March 5 last, said he found no trace of
nystagmus. The man was suffering from paralytic insanity,
and although witness expressed the opinion that nervous
depression might produce general paralysis of the insane,
he admitted that out of the thousands of cases of nystagmus
he had never known such a case. He examined Wyatt
carefully and found no trace that the man had suffered
from any other disease than nystagmus. Dr. Evan Powell,
chief medical officer at the Nottingham Mental Hospital,
and Dr. F. Shufflebotham, Newcastle-under-Lyme, corro-
borated. The latter said the paralytic insanity was part of
the severe mental depression following upon nystagmus.
His Honour made an award in favour of the respondents,
with costs, observing that the applicant had failed to
establish any connection between nystagmus as an exciting
cause, and the man’s present condition.

The Midlands.

New Sinking at West Cannock.

Within the next few days the work of sinking the two
new shafts at Brindley Heath, Hednesford, for the West
Cannock Colliery Company, will be commenced. For
months the preliminary operations have been going on,
several hundred men having been engaged in clearing away
thousands of trees, levelling large gravel mounds, and laying
down metals along which to haul the necessary machinery
for the sinking. The contract for the sinking of the shafts
has just been given to Mr. Frederick Piggott, of Caerphilly,
Glamorgan. The work is to be started upon almost imme-
diately, and the sinking proceeding at the rate of nine or
10 yds. a day, coal is expected to be reached within nine
months. The West Cannock Colliery has the prospect of
the longest life of any colliery in the Cannock Chase dis-
trict. After more than 40 years’ operations nothing like
half the coal has yet been touched. The West Cannock
seams reach out nearly half-way to Rugeley, and in that
particular direction have not been worked more than 200 yds.
beyond Hednesford railway station.

Kent.

Progress at Snowdown.

The Snowdown Colliery are offering to shareholders and
debenture holders of that company 30,000 preferred ordinary
shares under attractive conditions. The nominal price of