September 18, 1914. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN 625 Shipments of coal from the Hampton Roads ports, Lambert’s Point, Sewall’s Point and Newport News, during August broke all records, aggregating 1,108,539 tons. For the month 251,000 tons of cargo and bunker coal were shipped from Norfolk, of which 207,706 tons were cargo and 43,294 tons bunkers, and 43 vessels cleared for foreign ports with coal cargoes. Exports for August were as follow :—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 26,785; Cristobel, Panama, 19,638 ; Kingston, 11,711 ; Buenos Ayres,* 11,404 ; St. Lucia, 13,725; Genoa, 10,602 tons; Piraeus, Greece, 10,392 tons; Lisbon, Portugal,*12,091; Porto Ferrajo, Ela, Italy, 7,663 ; Las Palmas, 7,070 ; Stockholm, Sweden, 8,617 ; Gibraltar, 7,059; Toulon, France, 768; Coronel, 5,719; Curacao, 5,075 ; Aalesund, Norway, 5,742 ; La Plata, 4,013 ; Havana, 4,393 ; Naples, 4,906 ; Callao, 2,478 ; Bahia-Blanca, 4,565; Santos, 5,411; Leghorn, 3,880; St. Georges, 1,893; Manaos, 1,567 ; Santiago, 1,514; Para, 1,510; Pernambuco, 1,167; Iquique, 1,000; Maranham, 237; Ceara, 211. The following table gives exports of bituminous coal from the United States for three years ending June 30, 1911, 1912 and 1913, showing destination:— Exported to 1911. 1912. 1913. Europe:— Austria-Hungary 17,161 ... 26,226 64,754 Azores and Madeira Isis. — ... 16,433 — Belgium 22 ... — — France 37,864 ... 43,222 16,140 Germany 116 ... 319 6,730. Gibraltar — ... 5,3u8 5,320 Italy 194,015 ... 276,467 ... 332,264 Malta, Gozo, &c — ... 5,623 — Netherlands 95 ... 4,000 245 Spain 4,860 ... 16,027 50,260 United Kingdom-Englnd. — ... 11,280 — North America: — Bermuda 14,559 ... 10,099 8,808 British Honduras 590 ... 1,313 826 Canada 5 3 627,968 ...10,671,982 ...11,981,443 Central American States :— Costa Rica 47,434 ... 37,552 39,-26 Guatemala 14,938 ... 16,-05 17,646 Honduras 4,576 ... 4,688 6,846 Nicaragua 2,047 ... 3,020 1,<42 Panama 506,979 ... 511,802 ... 483,884 Salvador 16 ... • 210 45 Greenland — ... 554 . — Mexico 619,447 ... 314,712 . 7. 443,884 Miquelon, Langley, &c. 50 ... — — Newfndlnd. & Labrador 5,498 ... 9,783 . 26,683 West Indies—British :— Barbados 55,430 ... 79,455 . 70,739 Jamaica 44,721 ... 70,953 . 56,132 Trin. and Tobago 66,704 ... 121,482 . 85,866 Other British 106,590 ... 150,072 . .. 124,819 Cuba 945,394 ... 1,121,580 . .. 1,273,945 Danish 104,396 ... 140,479 . .. 105,093 Dutch 31,980 ... 35,028 . 62,305 French 69,914 ... 72,062 . 70,815 Haiti 4,480 ... 4,065 . 8,488 Santo Domingo 14,594 ... 8,839 . 8,366 South America:— Argentina.... 34,929 ... 156,792 38,834 Brazil 64,295 ... 307,125 . .. 234,368 Chile 26,688 ... 29,751 . 112,<67 Colombia 1,920 ... 3,427 . 3,958 Ecuador 21,664 ... ' 17,652 . 18,305 British Guiana 9,750 ... 15,687 . 11,200 Dutch Guiana 2,574 ... 6,452 . 5,485 French Guiana 1,292 ... 299 . 191 Peru 19,446 ... 39 . 9,2U9 Uruguay — ... 40,265 . 4,400 Venezuela 374 ... 2,671 . 3,351 Asia: — Japan 4,750 ... 6,605 . — Russia in Asia 1 ... 7 . — Oceania:— Philippine Islands 48,213 ... 5 .. 53,353 Africa:— British West Africa 3,000 ... 7,520 .. — British South Africa ... — . — 6,201 Canary Islands — 49,512 ” — French Africa 55,770 ... 10/,498 .. .’ 132,548 German Africa — ... 1,493 .. — Portuguese Africa Turkey in Africa, Egypt — ... 14,802 .. — — ... 121,275 .. : 96,627 Tripoli — ... 5,110 .. — Total 11,839,099 ...14,709,847 .. .16,083,101 Recapitulation. Europe 251,133 . .. 404,905 . 475,713 North America 11,290,300 . ..13,415,965 . ..14,877,291 South America 182,932 . .. 580,160 . .. 441,368 Asia 4,751 . 6,612 . — Oceania 48,213 . 5 . " 53,353 Africa 58,770 . ..’ 302,200 . .. 235,376 The Western Mail this week publishes the account of a short interview with Mr. D. A. Thomas. “ I have always said,” observed Mr. Thomas, “ that I am more afraid of the United States than of Germany.” Hull Coal Exports.—The official return of the exports of coal from Hull for the week ending Tuesday, September 8, 1914, is as follows:—Amsterdam, 965 tons; Archangel, 2,732; Bandholm, 2,162; Bergen, '3; Christiania, 1,224; Drontheim, 424; Fredericia, 809; Gefle, 1,742; Halmstadt, 925; Hudiksvall, 1,232; Helsingborg, 1,993; Leghorn, 3,533; Norrkoping, 1,662; Nexo, 850; Norrsundet, 1,623; Rotter- dam, 10,133; Stockholm, 6,217—total, 38,229 tons. Corre- sponding period September 1913—total, 71,308 tons. Explosion at Crofton Colliery.—A remarkable statement was made by John George Irving, a chargeman, in explain- ing the cause of the gas explosion at Crofton Colliery, at an inquest held this week on the body of Janies Henry Unwin, one of the victims. Another man, John Chailoner, also died. Irving was seriously injured, and although the explo- sion occurred 11 weeks ago, he was only now able to attend the inquest. He declared that the safety lamp he carried ignited the gas and caused the explosion. When he held it to the roof to test for the presence of gas he saw a flame go through the lamp and into his face. There was a sudden flash all round. He went to the bottom, and was enveloped in flame. James Jones, colliery overman, who examined the area after the explosion, suggested that the gas had been ignited by an open lamp carried by Unwin. The jury, in finding that Unwin died from shock caused by burns, added the opinion that the explosion was caused by Unwin's open lamp, and they recommended the management to allow more time for official inspection. TRADE AND THE WAR. Traders and the Moratorium—Afforestation Schemes— German Foreign Investments—Trading with the Enemy—A Clearing House for Enemy Debts—Govern- ment and the Railways. In connection with the scheme which the Board of Trade have initiated for assisting British manufac- turers and traders to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by the war for securing trade formerly in the hands of German and Austrian or Hungarian rivals, the following further information has been received by cable from H.M. Consul-General at Shanghai (September 8):— “ Business may be said to be more or less at a standstill. The situation is governed by the export trade, which is held up ; and money is tight principally on account of this stagnation. The Germans are accepting export cargo which is being deposited in godowns, but Chinese sellers are at "present without payment. This fact will undoubtedly react in favour of British interests.” The following was the value of the coal tar products imported into the United States during the 12 months ended with June:—Aniline salts (free), 70,931 dols.; aniline salts (dutiable), 151,797 dols.; colour or dyes (dutiable), 7,241,406 dols.; dead or creosote oil (free), 3,839,062 dols.; all other (free), 510,350 dols.; all other (dutiable), 1,126,400 dols. Imports from Germany accounted for 5,965,537 dols.; those from Switzerland for 707,333 dols.; those from the United Kingdom for 239,480 dols.; and those from all other countries for 329,100 dols. In addition to the permanent exhibition of samples promoted by the Board of Trade to assist British business men in the effort to capture German and Austrian trade, the Board has decided to arrange a series of “ exchange meetings,” at which manufacturers and wholesale dealers will be able to inspect samples of the goods in which both are interested and compare notes. At these meetings wholesalers will have the opportunity of showing British manufacturers samples of products which they have hitherto bought from Germany or Austria, and the manu- facturers will be able to show what articles they can produce in this country. The meetings will be held at Wakefield House, 30 and 32, Cheapside, E.C. One of the trades to be dealt with is that of electrical apparatus and appliances. The value of Germany’s exports in this trade in 1912 was =£8,034,000. The dates of these “exchange meetings ” will be announced very shortly. Sir W. H. Stephenson, presiding at the annual meeting of Walter Scott Limited, held in Newcastle recently, said before the war their Leeds steel works were severely handi- capped by German competition, goods being rushed in shillings less than they could produce them for. Now they had more than 30,000 tons of steel goods ordered, or nearly three times as much as last year at this time. The Development Commissioners are prepared, within the limits of the funds available, and subject to Treasury sanction, to recommend advances to the Board of Agricul- ture for Scotland for approved schemes of afforestation of land leased from private owners. The Commissioners hope that landowners will be willing to lease land for afforesta- tion to the Board on the principle that no return is to be paid for the use of the land until the proceeds of the afforestation accrue, and that then the proceeds shall be divided between the landowner or his representatives and the Board according to the proportion which the rental value of the land bears to the sum required for the afforesta- tion. Preference will be given to offers of land based on the above principle, but the Commissioners are willing in exceptional cases to agree that land should be leased on the basis of paying annually to the owner a rent approxi- mately equal to his present annual returns from the land, in which case the whole proceeds will pertain to the development fund. The Prize Court again sat on the 11th and 16th inst. The most important case was that of the “Marie Glaeser,” which was condemned and ordered to be sold. The President decided against the locus st ndi of neutral mortgagees. Sir Francis Oppenheimer, who was British Commercial Attache at Frankfurt-on-Main, forwarded to the Board of Trade before the outbreak of war information regarding the efforts made to increase German trade and industry abroad. According to his statement German manufacturers, merchants and shippers interested in the same markets combined to form special societies for nursing those markets. The societies had the moral support of the highest official quarters in Germany. A union was formed by the societies so that the members could benefit from each other’s experience. This showed how the necessity of an increased export trade was officially and privately recognised and how it was made the object of special care. Independently, vast sums of German capital were constantly being invested in industrial settlements abroad, including coal mines in the United Kingdom. The reclamation of the waste lands of South Staffordshire, with a view to providing employment, was advocated by Mr. John R. Cooper, ex-Town Clerk of Walsall, in the course of an address at Birmingham. Mr. Cooper said there were about 14,600 acres of waste land consisting largely of pit mounds and mining areas. That such a scheme was practicable had been demonstrated by the action of many local authorities in South Staffordshire and by the Midland Reafforestation Association. A resolution was passed urging upon the Association of Midland Local Authorities the desirability of making representation to the Development Commissioners in favour of action being taken by them by grants of money to local authorities or by the acquisition of suitable waste lands, thus providing employment for persons thrown out of work owing to Kie war, and increasing the national food supply by bringing such waste lands into a condition fit for cultivation. Charters have been fixed up from New South Wales to Singapore on the basis of Ils. 6d. The Trading with the Enemy Bill was passed on Monday with amendments. At the outset Mr. Samuel Roberts moved to omit the whole of the first clause on the ground that the Bill should apply to companies carrying on business in this country whose boards were entirely composed of Germans, and which had been established for the express purpose of undermining British trade. Clause 1 was carried, but at the instance of the Attorney-General an amendment was carried enabling the Board of Trade to inspect the accounts of a company which has anything like a predominantly hostile composition, not only where the directorate or share capital is predominantly German, but also where the share capital is held on behalf of persons satisfying that condition. This, he said, would prevent the transfer of shares to nominees. By a further amendment the powers of the Board of Trade were extended to “ persons,” in addition to ‘£ firms ” and “ companies.” The Attorney-General, in order to meet the point raised by Mr. Roberts, moved also an important amendment to clause 3, which involved practically the redrafting of the clause. The clause as it now stands gives the Board of. Trade power to appoint a controller of a firm or company in cases where (a) an offence has been committed or is likely to be committed under the Act; or (6) the control or management had been or was likely to be so affected by the state of war as to prejudice the effective continuance of its trade or business—these measures being limited to cases in which it is to the public interest that the businesses should be carried on. The Attorney-General thought it would be very short-sighted policy to close down all such businesses arbitrarily; it would cause unemployment, greatly embarrass other branches of trade, and would lead to reprisals. Such power would not be exercised on the mere information of biassed or jealous competitors. Apart from that, it was necessary that subsidiary industries, which had been necessary in order to maintain our great staple industries, should be kept going. The clause also gave power, if necessary, to enable the controller to borrow money, create charges on property in priority of existing charges, in exceptional cases, after a special application to the Court. On Wednesday the House of Commons agreed to insert an amendment of the Lords, giving the Court power to direct how and by whom the costs of any proceedings, and the remuneration, charges, and expenses of the controller should be borne, and power, if it thinks fit, to charge such costs on the property of the firm or company ‘‘in such order of priority in relation to any existing charges thereto as it thinks fit. Amongst the further countries that have prohibited the export of coal are Denmark and Greece. The Union of South Africa have given instructions that coal may be supplied for bunkering British ships or ships of a foreign nation, and that permission may be given for the export of coal destined for use in British Dominions, or by friendly nations. Coal may now be exported from the Dominion of Canada to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The exportation of coal from Canada to any places other than the United Kingdom, British possessions, the United States, Japan, France, and Russia was previously prohibited. It is stated from Newfoundland that the Legislature has passed a Bill for throwing open the Crown lands of the colony for cutting pit props to be despatched to the mother country during the war. A proposal to establish a clearing house which would deal with all debts due to or by enemy debtors or creditors was the subject of a deputation to the Treasury on Friday. The deputation was promoted by the Manufacturers’ Agents’ Association, and was received by Mr. Ramsey, on behalf of Sir John Bradbury. The proceedings were private, but it is understood the deputation’s views were sympathetically received, and they were assured the questions raised v^ere receiving consideration. The Port of London Authority, having cancelled an order which was placed in Germany, have arranged with Sir W. Arrol and Company Limited, Glasgow, to supply the steelwork and machinery for the swing bridges, dock gates, and caisson required at the Royal Albert Dock extension. A deputation of coal exporters waited upon the Treasury on Friday, composed of gentlemen from Newcastle, Glasgow, Hull, and Cardiff, who all supported the scheme pro- pounded by the Newcastle Advisory Committee for relieving the financial strain in the coal trade. This scheme was outlined by Mr. David T. Hobkirk, of Newcastle, and supported by Mr. R. M. Glover, of Newcastle, Sir Richard Mackie, of Leith, and Mr. Adderley, of Hull. It was pointed out to the Treasury that section 4 of the document issued by the Chancellor of the Exchequer does not protect the interest of coal exporters of this country, except in a very indirect manner. It was urged that where money was deposited abroad to the credit of the coal exporter, and a certificate was handed to the Government to that effect, an advance might be made to the exporter against such certificate. Sir John Bradbury informed the deputation that the question was under the consideration of the Government, and that their representations would be immediately placed before the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is hoped that as a result something will be done to remove the obstacles in the way of collecting moneys due to exporters from foreign customers, and of securing remittances from willing buyers in neutral countries, owing to the difficulty of fixing a reasonable exchange. A message from Capetown states that the German barque “ Heintz,” 86 days from Cardiff, with a cargo of coal and coke, has been captured and taken to Simon’s Bay as a prize of war. A telegram received by Lloyds states that the port of Rouen can now take coal-laden steamers for Rouen or Paris. River navigation is now free. A deputation of the Chambers of Commerce, representing the exporters and importers of London, Manchester, Liver- pool, Birmingham, and other towns, waited upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the House of Commons on Monday to lay before him their views on the moratorium. The deputation attended at the wish of the Chancellor, and their views as to whether the moratorium should be extended after October 4 showed, it is said, a wide divergence of opinion. Mr. Lloyd George, who was accompanied by Mr. Austen Chamberlain, made no Ministerial statement on the subject. The Admiralty has accepted a gift of 2,C00 tons of coal from Uitkyk Collieries, Transvaal, offered through the chairman, Capt. A. St. John Cooke, D.S.O. The Belgian Government has requested the assistance of the British Government in carrying out a scheme for the insurance of cargoes carried on Belgian vessels. It is understood that arrangements are being made by the Board of Trade whereby application for such insurances will be received at the War Risks Insurance Office, London. The insurance, which applies to cargo only, is undertaken subject mainly to the following conditions (a) that no cargo may be insured which is of enemy property or goods the transport of which is prohibited by proclamation or other-