July 31, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

269

the issue is at par, but the actual price which allottees will
pay is 18s. per share, the last call of 5s. per share being
payable in February next being reduced to 3s. by the deduc-
tion of a commission of 10 per cent, on the par value of the
shares. Very good progress is being made at this colliery,
where there was again a record output last week of 1,500
tons, which was 120 tons in excess of the previous week; and
it is confidently anticipated that the output will be increased
week by week until it reaches 3,000 tons, but to achieve this
it will, of course, be necessary to instal additional plant,
machinery and railway sidings. With regard to the Snow-
down Hard, the development work is progressing satisfac-
torily, and the inset at the pit bottom has now been
practically completed. The sinking of the second shaft
down to this seam has not yet commenced, as everything
depends upon the issue above referred to, and, in addition,
it will be necessary to re-arrange the inset to the Beresford
level in No. 3 pit for the purpose of drawing coal from this
pit instead of No. 2, so that sinking can be proceeded with
in the latter shaft.

Dean Forest.

Mining Education.

The Gloucestershire County Council commenced mining
classes in the Forest of Dean over 15 years ago, which have
grown into a highly successful and progressive institution.
In the session 1913-14 classes were carried on in four centres
at the principal points of the industry, with a roll of 114
students, and though many of these men had to work in the
late shifts, that is to say, from 2 to 10 p.m., and 10 p.m. to
6 a.m., which excluded them from attending the classes, an
average of 96 were in attendance, and 11 only failed to
make up half-time according to the Education’s Board’s
standard of registration. The examination of the classes
was recently conducted by Mr. Donald M. D. Stuart, of
Bristol, who reported that the examination papers, which
embraced the 12 subjects of the official syllabus, were fully
answered by the students, and furnished schedules of the
relative capabilities of the students with proficiency of the
classes in each subject; also indicating the most capable
men for the scholarship competitions, which were held on
the 4th inst., and upon which the principal scholarship of
£100 per year for two years’ study at Lancashire collieries,
and attendance at the Wigan School of Mines, where 12
travelling scholarships of £5 each will be awarded. Last
year the winners of the travelling scholarships united, and
were conducted by the lecturer (Mr. J. J. Joynes) in a
week’s inspection of the Kent coalfield and collieries, where
they were afforded every facility for acquiring practical
knowledge of the mining operations of that district. In
addition to the scholarships, a considerable number of the
students attended the examinations held for certificates of
deputies and firemen, and obtained this qualification. In
summarising the results of the session, the examiner
reported that the classes maintained a high efficiency, and
the elementary class would supply the advanced with a
large addition for next session. He draws attention to the
meritorious and successful work accomplished in the classes,
and advises extension of the work by increasing the. scholar-
ships to allow more than one for continued training at
collieries and in the School of Mines.

Somerset and Bristol.

Mining Education—Another Bristol Pit Closed Temporarily.

The 23rd annual prize distribution in connection with the
Somerset Mining Instruction Committee took place on
Thursday, 24th inst. Mr. F. B. Beauchamp (president),
who presided, said that as the mining industry contributed
a large share to the taxation of Somerset, the county
authority ought to be very generous with the funds they
voted for instructing the miners who attended the classes,
for most of the mining officials in the county at the present
time were men who at some time or another had passed
through the classes and obtained certificates. The diffi-
culties in the Somerset coalfields never decreased, and they
must ever strive to improve home labour and make the
conditions less difficult to the workmen employed. Out of
4,000 miners in Somerset, only 90 were attending the
instruction classes, which was not a very large percentage,
and he asked that every endeavour should be made to
increase the attendance of the classes, which were providing
such valuable instruction.

The gloom which has hung over the Bristol coalfield for
some weeks through the sudden closing down of several pits,
by which some 2,000 men were deprived of their living, has
been increased by the announcement that another pit, the
South Liberty, giving employment to a large number of
men on the south side of the city, is to be closed for repairs
from August 1 to 10.

Scotland.

The Fife Prosecution: Heavy Fines.

In Dunfermline Sheriff Court last week, Sheriff
Umpherston delivered his judgment in the case against the
Fife Coal Company’s officials, heard recently in the court.
In the first case the respondents were Henry Rowan, certifi-
cated colliery manager, Cowdenbeath, and district agent of
the Fife Coal Company; George Shearer Christie, colliery
manager, Cowdenbeath, and James Dempster, under-
manager, Cowdenbeath, and the complaint was that between
February 16 and March 19, in No. 10 Pit, Cowdenbeath,
they neglected to have constantly produced an adequate
amount of ventilation to dilute and render harmless inflam-
mable and noxious gases to such an extent that all roads,
levels and workings should be in a fit state for working
and passing thereon, in consequence of which an explosion
took place and Sinclair M‘Leod and William Miller, two
brushers, received burning injuries. In this case the sheriff
decides that it had been clearly proved that on March 19
this heading was not sufficiently ventilated, and he thinks
the condition as proved to have existed on March 19 must
be held to have been due to the falls of March 6 and 18.
But the accused had shown that the ventilation was inter-
rupted in consequence of an accident, and that no persons
were employed in the heading while the ventilation was
proved to have been inadequate, except such persons as it
was necessary to employ for the purpose of doing something
which would restore the previously existing state of
ventilation. Tn other words they had proved what was
necessary under section 29 (1), proviso (5), of the statute
to take them outwith the liability imposed for failure to
provide adequate ventilation. He therefore found them
not guilty. The next case, which related to Nos. 1 and 2
Mossbeath pits, the respondents were Henry Rowan, agent ;
John Spence, colliery manager, Cowdenbeath; and Alex-
ander Perman Thomson, undermanager. The complaints
alleged a large number of contraventions of the Coal Mines
Act. The manager and undermanager pleaded guilty to

the fourth, seventh and ninth charges as amended, which
dealt with the provision of and attention to refuge holes,
provision of stop-blocks and signals. Quoad ultra they
pleaded not guilty. The agent pleaded not guilty.
Evidence was led with regard to the third, sixth and
eleventh charges. The third charge was of neglect to have
sufficient space between tubs and the side of the road next
them in sidings containing two lines of rails, and the sheriff
found the cases specified in the complaint to be all proved
(with the exception of the siding at the top of No. 2 main
brae in the Diamond Seam in No. 1 Pit). In that instance
the description of the siding intended appeared to be
incorrect. The substantial defence to this charge came to
be that although the sidings contained two sets of rails,
and although tubs were coupled and uncoupled there,
and although rakes of tubs stood parallel and opposite the
one to the other at those sidings, coupling and uncoupling
was not done when the rakes were standing opposite one
another. His Honour was not satisfied that that defence
was made out in fact; but in any case the statute said
only, that in all places where sets of tubs were coupled or
uncoupled there should be a clear space of at least two feet
between the tubs and the side nearest to them.
(Section 43 (3).) The sixth charge set forth a number of
cases in which ponies are alleged to have been rubbing
themselves or their harness against the roof. He found
all these proved (with the exception of the pony “ Bob ” in
the level horse road of the Fourteen feet seam in No. 1 Pit).
The evidence for the defence on this charge, he said was
very unsatisfactory, and showed a distinct want of candour
on the part of several of the witnesses. The contraventions
are of sections 45 (2) of the Act. The eleventh charge, as
amended, was that the stable in Brown’s level of the
Diamond Seam in No. 1 Pit for the horse “ Dick ” was
not ventilated with intake air as required by Schedule III.
3 of this Act. This stable wTas ventilated with air which
had already ventilated coal faces, and which would ventilate
the other faces before reaching the upcast shaft. The
contention of the prosecutor was that air ceased to be intake
air when it reached the first working place in the first
working face. The contention of the accused was that air
continued to be intake air until it had reached the last
working place of the last working face. The contention of
the prosecutor was that air in a pit was not necessarily
either intake air or return air; that the air along and
between the work faces had received no statutory descrip-
tion. His Honour was of opinion that the “ intake air ”
mentioned in Schedule III. 3 meant air which had not yet
reached any of the working faces. The Act contemplated
the existence of main intake airways leading from a shaft
and also intake airways leading from a main intake airway
to a ventilating district. It also contemplated the existence
of main return airways leading to a shaft, and return
airways leading from a ventilating district to a main return
airway. The statute always referred to an intake airway
or a return airway as leading to or from a ventilating
district as a single unit. It never referred to any airway
as being intake to one face and return from another. And
if that was so, intake air must mean air which had not
yet reached any working faces in the district which it
ventilated. He therefore found the manager and under-
manager guilty of charges three, six and 11.

Continuing, the sheriff said the complaint against the
agent raised a separate question which was one of import-
ance, but not of great difficulty. It seemed to him
impossible to draw a line between the duties of agent and
manager so as to say that duties specially imposed by the
statute on a manager were therefore outwith the scope of
an agent’s duties. The agent was superior to the manager,
but his duties were also those of management, as was
shown by section 102 (1) (a). He was, in fact, in the same
position as an owner would be who personally con-
trolled and supervised the management of his mine.
Now in the case of all the three charges on which evidence
had been led against the agent, the obligation was imposed
by the statute on the owner of the mine. Further, they
all referred to matters which had continued in a condition
of non-compliance for some time, and the fact of non-
compliance must in each case have been observable to any
person capable of managing a mine in the course of an
ordinary visit of inspection. The facts proved in exculpa-
tion were these :—The agent had control of five mines,
including 10 pits. His duties involved a good deal of office
work, and he had attended to correspondence with lhe head
office at Leven and others. He distributed abstracts of the
statute and regulations to the pit officials, and impressed
on them the necessity of complying with their provisions.
He received reports, written and verbal, from the managers,
met them, and discussed questions requiring consideration in
their pits. Complaints from H.M. inspector were passed on
to him from the head office, and he discussed them with
the managers, and impressed on them the necessity of
remedying the matters complained of. He received reports
as to the progress made with regard to these matters of
complaint, and accepted them without personal inspection.
He circularised managers on subjects which seemed to him
to require special attention, and addressed letters to
managers with reference to any matters in their pits which
he thought required immediate remedy. He made frequent
visits underground in one of the pits in which special diffi-
culties had occurred, and other pits were visited under-
ground when there were matters to be considered which
seemed to him important enough to require personal inspec-
tion. The present manager of Mossbeath pits was appointed
on November 15, 1913. At that time it was known to the
agent that in many respects these pits did not comply with
the requirements of the Coal Mines Act of 1911. Further,
special difficulties emerged—a fire on the surface, flooding
at the pit bottom, and a creep on the shaft—which called
for immediate and careful consideration. Yet the agent
was never underground in these pits from the time when
this manager was appointed till six or eight weeks after
receipt of the letter of detailed complaints from H.M.
inspector, which was dated February 9, 1914. He discussed
these complaints with the manager, accepted the manager’s
explanations and assurances, and wrote accordingly in reply
on February 13, without taking any other steps then or
subsequently to satisfy himself by personal inspection that
the subjects of the complaints were being attended to. The
statute required that the agent should prove that he took
all reasonable means to the best of his power for enforcing
the provisions of preventing non-compliance with the statute.
The word “ reasonable ” must be construed with reference to
some standard. His Honour did not think it could mean
“ reasonable having regard to multiplicity of duties imposed
on him by his employers.” It must mean that the agent
must have taken such means as a reasonable owner con-

trolling and supervising the management of his own mine
would take in the circumstances. And he was clearly of
opinion that the means taken for preventing non-compliance
with the particular provisions of the statute comprised in
the three charges, viz., width of sidings, height of horse
roads, and position of stables, did not come up to this
standard. He therefore found the agent guilty of these
three charges.

Mr. David Connel suggested that a modified penalty
be imposed because the matters he had been found guilty of
were matters of detail in the pit, which would necessitate
constant supervision underground. The Sheriff said that
was just the very argument which he had used in his judg-
ment—that he could not accept that the reasonableness of the
supervision was to be decided according to the amount of
work the agent had to do at other pits. The fines which he
would inflict were these :—On Thomson, £31 for six charges;
on Spence, £70 on six charges; and on Rowan, £45 on three
charges.

At Hamilton Sheriff Court on Monday, James Millar,
colliery manager, Springhill-road, Stane, was charged with
having on June 25, in the premises belonging to Kepplehill
Coal Company registered in respondent’s name for keeping
mixed explosives, kept a quantity of explosives in excess of
the amount allowed by law. He pleaded guilty, and was
fined by Sheriff Shennan £2 or 10 days’ imprisonment.
Patrick Devlin, brusher, Park-street, Motherwell, admitted
having failed at the end of his shift in Coursington Colliery,
Motherwell,’ on June 30 to return at once certain explosives
to the place of storage. He was fined £1 or five days’
imprisonment.

Much uneasiness is felt in the Kilsyth district regarding
the shutting down of the Nethercroy Colliery, belonging to
the Carron Company Limited. A few hundreds of men
belonging to Kilsyth, Cumbernauld, Banton, Croy, and dis-
trict were employed at the colliery. The coal seams worked
by the company at Nethercroy have, it seems, been so diffi-
cult to get at, and the oncost so heavy, that it has been
found impossible to work them at a profit.

THE FREIGHT MARKET.

The amount of business done in the outward freight
market this week has been below the average, a circum-
stance attributable to the general quietness of industry, and,
to some extent, to the marine engineers’ strike. On the
North-East Coast coasting business is just a shade firmer,
at from 3s. to 3s. IJd. to London from the Tyne, with Ham-
burg steady at 3s. 3d. The Bay is substantially steady, at
5s. 6d. to Bordeaux. The Baltic is firmer, at from 5s. to
5s. l|d. to Cronstadt. The Mediterranean is unchanged,
at from 7s. 3d. to 7s. 6d. to Genoa. At South Wales busi-
ness is slow. Mediterranean rates are firmer. Those for
the River Plate are steady. The shorter trades are strong,
with a good enquiry on Admiralty account. At the Clyde
business is quiet, and rates are easy. The Humber market
is dull, with both merchants and owners holding off pending
developments in the European crisis. Homeward, business
is being checked by the outbreak of hostilities. The Black
Sea has an improving market, and rates are hardening
appreciably. The American market is mainly busy with
grain boats, and rates are steady; timber figures are firmer,
whilst cotton freights are inactive. Australia is very dull.
Northern Pacific ports are firm. The East Indies are
moderately busy, with a good enquiry from the rice ports.
The Mediterranean and ore trades are nominally steady, as
is also the Baltic. The River Plate is quiet, with only a
few fixtures mentioned.

Tyne to Aberdeen, 800, 2s. 9d.; Bordeaux, 3,000, 5s. 6d.;

2,400,	5s. Sd., from Dunston; Boulogne, 2,100, 3s. 10|d.;
600, 4s. 9d.; Braila, 3,000, 12s., coke; Bilbao, 2,300, 6s. 6d.,
250; Cronstadt, 4,000, 5s.; 4,400, 5s. Ijd.; 2,200, 5s. l|d.;
Copenhagen, 2,100, 4s. 6d.; Galatz, 3,000, 12s., coke; Genoa,
4,800, 7s. 3d.; 6,000, 7s. 3d.; 4,000, 7s. 6d. ; Honfleur, 1,000,
4s. 9d.; Hamburg, 2,100, 3s. 6d., from Dunston; 1,500,
3s. 3d.; 1,100, 4s., from Elswick; 2,000, 3s. 6d.; Las
Palmas, 2,600, 7s. 3d., early August; 6,500, 7s. 3d.; 6,500,
7s.; Lubeck, 3,000, 4s. 9d.; London, 3,000, 3s.; 2,800,
3s. l^d.; 2,500, 3s.; Marseilles, 6,000, 6s. 9d.; 3,800, 7s. 3d. ;
Messina, 4,500, 8s. 6d.; 2,000, 8s. 3d.; North Norway, 1,000,
5s.; Piraeus, 5,000, 7s. 6d.; 3,700, 7s. 3d., August 1; Rotter-
dam, 2,000, 3s. IJd.; 2,000, 3s. 3d., 900, 7d.; St. Nazaire,

2.400,	5s. 6d., from Dunston; 3,000, 5s. 3d.; 3,500, 5s. 7|d.,
Trignac terms, from Dunston; Syra, 3,700, 7s. 3d., August
1; 5,000, 7s. 6d.; St. Petersburg, 2,800, 5s. 3d.; 2,800, 5s.;
Sulina, 3,000, 12s., coke; Teneriffe, 2,600, 7s. 3d., early
August; Uddevalla, 1,500, 5s. 6d.; Wismar, 2,300, 4s. 9d.;
Zea, 5,000, 7s. 6d.; 3,700, 7s. 3d., August 1.

Cardiff to Alexandria, 5,000, 7s. 6d.; 5,000, 7s. 3d., Aug.;
6,000, 7s. 6d.; 5,500, 7s. 3d.; Alicante, 2,500, 7s. 9d.; Aya-
monte, 1,300, 8s. 3d.; Aguilas, 1,300, 9s. 9d. ; Ancona, 4,600,
8s. 3d., 500; Bermuda, 3,500, 7s., end July, Admiralty;
Brest, 1,600, 4s. 6d.; 650, 4s. 6d.; Bordeaux, 1,500, 7 fr.,
500; 3,100, 7 fr., end July; 2,000, 7 fr.; Brindisi, 6,500,
7s. 3d., 600, end July; 5,000, 7s. 6d., early August; Civita
Vecchia, 5,000, 7s. 6d.; 3,000, coal 8s. 3d., fuel 9s.; Caen,
1,650, 4s. 6d.; Carthagena, 2,500, 7s. 9d.; Chatham, 2,400,
2s. 9d., Admiralty; Cronstadt, 5,000, 5s.; 2,000, 5s. 7|d.;
3,500, 5s. 3d.; Christiania, 800, 5s. 6d.; Cromarty, 2,300,
4s. 3d.; Calais, 2,200, 4s. 4|d.; 3,300, 4s. 3d.; Colombo,
4,000, 10s. 6d., August 8; 6,000, 10s. 6d.; Devonport, 2,400,
2s. 3d., Admiralty; 3,800, 2s. 6d., Admiralty; Djibouti,
3,300, 10s., end July; Fecamp, 550, 4s. 4jd.; Gibraltar,

3.200,	3s. 9d., end July, Admiralty; 4,200, 3s. 9d., f.d.;
Genoa, 4,500, 7s., August 6; 5,800, 7s. ; 5,300, 6s. 9d., 700;

5.200,	7s.; Haiffa, 5,000, 9s.; Honfleur, 1,400, 4s. Cd.;
Havre, 2,800, 4s.; 1,400, 3s. 10£d.; Kustendje, 5,300, 7s. 3d.,
August 1; 5,000, 7s. 7|d.; Las Palmas, 4,500, 7s.; 6,200,
7s. 3d., end July; 6,000, 7s.: 3,500, 7s., August 10; 5,500,
7s., August 10; Leghorn, 3,900, 7s. 6d., uOO, August 3;

5.200,	7s. 6d., 500, August 1; 3.900, 7s. ; 5.200, 7s.; Malta,

5.400,	5s. 4Jd., Admiralty; Madeira, 2,800, 7s. 3d., end
July ; Marseilles, 4,800, 84 fr.; 5.000, 8 37^ Ir.; 4,500, 8| fr.;
Nieudiep. 1,300, 4s. 6d.: Nantes, 2,700. 6|fr., August 3;
Naples, 3,800, 7s. 6d., 500, August 3; 5,200, 7s. 6d., 500,
August 1; 3,900, 7s.; 5,200, 7s.; Oporto, 900, 7s.; Piranis,
3,500, 7s. 9d.: 4.600, 7s. 9d.; 6,300, 7s. 6d., August 1-10;

1.200,	7s. 6d.: Port Said, 4,500, 7s. 3d.; 5.400, 7s., early
August; 6,600, 7s.; 4,800. 7s. 6d., 800; Portland, 3.800,
2s. 71d., Admiralty; 2,400. 2s. 4£d., Admiralty; Portsmouth,

2.400,	2s. 4^d.. Admiralty; 3,800, 2s. 7Jd., Admiralty; Punta
Arenas and Gregorv Bav. 16s. 6d.; Rio de Janeiro, 5,800,
13s., 300, August 3; River Plate, 4,200, 15s., August 8;
Rochelle, 1,700, 6^ fr.; Rouen, 1,500, 4b. 7}d. ; Salamis,
4,600, 7s. 9d.; 6,300, 7b. 6d., August 1-10; Sheerness, 2,400,