October 2, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

*735

for 40 years. After the Micklefield explosion in 1896 Mr.
Routledge was one of the first to descend the shaft, 39 men
being got out alive and 64 dead. For services rendered at
that time the Micklefield Coal Company presented him with
a magnificent brass timepiece. His successor at Garforth
is his son, Mr. Robert Routledge, junr.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Accident at an Ashton Colliery—Messrs. Pearson and
Knowles.

A notice has been issued by Messrs. John Speakman and
Sons, of the Bedford Collieries, Leigh, stating that owing
to the war it is impossible to say how long the collieries
will keep on working, and urging the necessity for employees
to be as careful and economical as possible.

Messrs. William Ramsden and Sons, of the Shakerley
Collieries, Tyldesley, are assisting the dependants of
employees who have gone on active service according to the
circumstances of each case.

Messrs. Ackers, Whitley and Company, of the Plank Lane
Collieries, near Leigh, are allowing 5s. per week to the
wives of their employees who are assisting their country,
and 6d. for each child. In special cases the firm are also
making allowances to dependants of single men. About 150
men have left the Plank Lane Collieries for active service.

The Tyldesley Coal Company Limited are subscribing 10s.
per week per man to the local relief funds, and they have
left the investigation of the cases to the local relief com-
mittee. The object is to enable more deserving cases to
receive an increased benefit by the money being pooled. In
all, some 45 or 46 employees of the Tyldesley Coal Company
■ Limited have enlisted.

Close upon 300 employees of Messrs. Fletcher, Burrows
and Company Limited, of the Atherton Collieries, have
enlisted. The firm are allowing £1 per week for married
men, and 10s. a week for single men’s dependants.

Improvements and extensions are to be carried out to
the gas making plant at Lord Ellesmere’s Brackley Col-
lieries, Greenheyes. His lordship supplies the urban town-
ship of Little Hulton with gas.

Some 300 employees of the Astley and Tyldesley Coal Com-
pany Limited have enlisted in the Territorials and Regular
Forces. Weekly allowances are being paid to workmen’s
families in cases where the circumstances call for assist-
ance.

Over 100 miners and other workers employed at the
Pilkington Colliery Company’s new Astley Green collieries
have joined the Colours in various capacities. The employers
are paying 5s. per week to the wives and 6d. per child. The
cases of single men’s dependants are being dealt with on
their merits.

The Leigh Board of Guardians have accepted the tender
of Messrs. Fletcher, Burrows and Company Limited for
coal at 14s. 4d. per ton, and for slack at 10s. 5d. or 11s. 6d.
(washed). At a meeting of the Board last week the clerk
reported that the Local Government Board had ratified the
decision of the Guardians to grant increased prices to the
workhouse contractors in cases where it was proved that the
contractor had had to pay an enhanced price owing to the
war.

A colliery cage accident, in which 11 men were more or
less injured took place on the 23rd ult. in the Wigan coal-
field. The first batch of men for the night shift were being
lowered down the No. 1 pit of the Long Lane Colliery,
Ashton-in-Makerfield, which is owned by the Garswood Coal
and Iron Company Limited, when the cage, as it was near-
ing the bottom of the shaft, gathered speed and crashed on
to the scaffolding, the result being that the ascending cage
rushed above the catches on the surface and into the head-
gear. A rescue party at once descended the shaft, and
found that 11 men in the descending cage had met with
various injuries.

The 41st annual general meeting of the Pearson and
Knowles Coal and Iron Company Limited was held at War-
rington on Tuesday. Sir J. Harmood Banner, M.P. (chair-
man of the board), who presided, said that in consequence of
the present circumstances they were making a prudent dis-
tribution out of the profits and were increasing their reserves.
The past year had been an anxious one. The coal trade
showed a considerable increase in receipts for coal sold at
all their collieries. The increase of wages and cost of
material required for the purpose of the collieries more than
absorbed that increase, and left the collieries with a con-
siderably less profit than in the previous year—in fact, coal
sales last year represented an increase of ,£18,893, whilst
wages were £26,131 up, and the cost of materials £1,488,
leaving a decreased profit of, roughly, £10,000. The chair-
man stated that the total number of men employed last
year was 10,465, and the wages paid £772,355. Mr. John
J. Blecky said that the probable and almost certain result
of the war would be, on a reasonable estimate, to reduce
Germany’s exports of iron and steel by at least one-half,
or by 3,000,000 tons, which would give Great Britain and
America the opportunity of increasing their export by some-
thing like 50 per cent. The result of such a change it was
impossible to calculate, but it must add enormously to their
prosperity. The actual imports into Great Britain itself,
mainly from Germany, of the commodities made in the com-
pany’s own works, and of which they were the largest pro-
ducers in the country—that was to say, iron bars, hoops
and strips, wire rods and finished wire — were last year
421,000 tons, or three times the whole production of the
Pearson and Knowles works, which totalled 140,000 tons
of these specialities. He remembered the 1870 war, and
what resulted from it; the effect of this war must be incal-
culably greater. It was agreed to place £5.000 at the dis-
posal of the directors for the purpose of assisting the families
of employees serving their country.

North Wales.

Owing to the closing of the Phoenix Colliery, Lees wood,
near Mold, announced last week, about 500 men have been
thrown out of employment, but already a large number of
them have found employment at the Bromfield Colliery,
Mold, and in the Wrexham coalfield. It is also understood
that a large colliery in the Northop district is about to be
closed.

Notts and Derbyshire.

The Sheepbridge Company : Lord Aberconway on Trade
Prospects.

Some important remarks were made by Lord Aberconway
on Monday at the annual meeting of the Sheepbridge Coal
and Iron Company Limited on the effect of the war upon the
coal trade. His lordship said he was afraid that the outlook
in the Midland coal trade was depressing. The Baltic was
closed, so that no coal could go to Russia that way. None
could go to Germany, Sweden, or Belgium—all were practi-

cally closed markets. Turning to the New World, they
found a very bad state of finance in all the South American
States. In Brazil, Argentine, and Chili, although the
markets were not dead, they were not in a very healthy con-
dition. They used to send a great deal of coal to Chili in
ships that brought back nitrates for Germany. Of course,
the nitrate trade with Germany was dead, and, therefore,
the Chilians could not afford to pay the freights for coal from
this country. It only showed how one thing led to another,
and how the war was depressing the coal trade above all
others in the country. On the other hand, they had a very
good customer in Italy, and her demands would increase,
because she must get all her coal from us instead of from
Germany. The same remark applied to France. The
French coal output was, of course, seriously affected by
the war, and we should have a very good market there.
Mr. Frederick Fowler (chairman) dealt with the progress
of the company, in proposing the zadoption of the annual
report. He said the total profit for the past year was about
10 per cent, less than that of the preceding 12 months—
£217,000, as compared with £244,000. Trade began to
decline about the autumn of last year, but the fall had not
been very rapid. The effect of legislation, the fact that
more men had absented themselves from work than usual,
and the general increase of materials, had all tended to
raise the cost of coal getting for some years past. At Maltby
they still had a difficulty in regard to men. They could not
get sufficient to work the colliery to its full capacity. The
war had also interfered with them. Above 200 of their
men had joined the Colours. This, of course, meant a
reduction of the amount of coal that could be got from the
pits. The war would continue to seriously interfere with
them. They were, however, working from two to three days
a week, and he thought they were likely to continue doing
so. At the new Rossington pit, of which they were joint
owners with Messrs. John Brown and Company, one shaft
was down 560 yds. They hoped to reach the coal at about
870 to 900 yds. At Firbeck, where they had leased about
9,000 acres, they were endeavouring to arrange for the build-
ing of a branch railway to the pit. They could not do very
much until they had got that. They had not, so far, been
able to arrange with either the Great Northern or the Great
Central Company, but, failing that, they intended to pro-
vide the branch themselves by means of a light railway
Order, which they were now, in fact, preparing to submit to
Parliament. Although they were only part owners of Fir-
beck, the colliery would be managed by them, as were all
those of which they were part owners. Part of the coal
taken under the Firbeck lease would be worked by the
Dinnington Company.

Kent.

Reports which have appeared in the Press to the effect that
the winding of coal at Snowdown Colliery might be sus-
pended entirely within the next few days are absolutely
unfounded. Enquiries in official quarters show that the
rumour probably arose as a result of a fortnight’s notice
having been given the surfacemen at the colliery. This has
been done entirely in connection with a re-organisation of
the surface working. The colliers are in no way affected.
The output of the colliery is still rather under 1,500 tons a
week. A meeting of the Snowdown debenture holders was
held this week (Wednesday) in London to consider the sug-
gestion of the management that the payment of the deben-
ture interest should be suspended for 12 months, that is,
the amount due on August 1 this year should not become
payable until the same date next year.

Tilmanstone Colliery is still raising about 1,500 tons of
coal weekly, and a certain amount of the coal is being sold
from retail depots in various parts of East Kent at 22s. 6d.
per ton. There appears every probability during the
coming winter that the call for the Kentish coal for house-
hold and other purposes will be considerably heavier than
in the past, as the quantities of north country and other coal
arriving are much smaller. The Dover Corporation coal
import tax shows a reduction of some hundreds of pounds
compared with the same period last year, which is the best
indication possible of the shortage of imported coal.

Dean Forest.

Mining Education Programme.

At a meeting of the Gloucestershire Education Committee
on Saturday last, Sir Francis Brain reported on behalf of
the Mining Sub-Committee that mining classes would be
held during the coming session at the following places in
the Forest of Dean :—Five Acres (near Coleford), Lydbrook,
Cinderford, and Pillowell. The classes in the Pillowell
centre would be taken by the assistant instructors, Messrs.
Hooper and Cooper (advanced and elementary respectively).
Sir Francis also stated that the mining scholarship for 1914
had been awarded to Mr. William Oakey, of Cinderford,
who was second on the list at the competitive examination.
The candidate who headed the list was unable to accept the
scholarship. Twelve travelling grants had been awarded as
usual to enable the recipients to visit collieries in other
parts of the country, but in consequence of the present
unsettled conditions the tour had been postponed until a
later time. Dr. Wertheimer reported that the work of
the mining classes held in Bristol during the 1913-14 session
had gone on very satisfactorily, and the attendance was
good.

Scotland.

The Pitwood Problem — The Use of Composite Props—
Rescue Work in Fife—Improvements in the “ Weg ”
Apparatus.

Owing to the European crisis, the council of the National
Association of Colliery Managers recommended that the
annual dinner should be abandoned this year. That recom-
mendation has been endorsed by the members.

In mining circles throughout Scotland anxiety is being
occasioned over the shortage of pit props. The problem
which has arisen was discussed at considerable length at a
meeting of the Scottish branch of the National Association
of Colliery Managers held in Dunfermline on Saturday last.
The subject was introduced by Mr. David Archibald, colliery
manager, Lassodie, who, in the course of a paper on “ The
Conserving of Prop Wood,” said that the present crisis in
the shortage of prop wood should give afforestation schemes
in the British Isles new life, especially if these were prac-
ticable propositions, financially and otherwise. He felt cer-
tain that all owners who had timber on their estates would
rise to the occasion and would assist the collieries to get
over the difficulties which had arisen. The main point
which they as colliery managers had to keep before them
was to see that the available supplies were made to go as
far as possible. While the withdrawal of timber from many
seams worked by longwall did not pay, they would require
now, irrespective of cost, to recover all the prop wood pos-

sible from longwall faces and abandoned roadways. That
was being forced upon them by the scarcity of pit props
and the higher prices which were being charged them for
the material. It seemed to him to be a point worth consider-
ing that greater attention should be given to the introduc-
tion of machine mining in seams from 4 ft. and upwards.
As a matter of fact, if the same energy was shown in regard
to thick seams as had been devoted so successfully to thin
seams, machine undercutting would probably be more gener-
ally applied. He believed that the use of composite props
and circular girders had not been very extensive in Scot-
land, although it had been suggested to him that the officials
at Newbattle Colliery in the Lothians had more experience
of the utility and serviceableness of these than any group
of officials in the country. Then at Arniston Colliery,
experience in the use of composite props had been acquired,
while at the Mary Pit in Fife circular girders had been
extensively used. If such material as wrought iron, tubes,
old railway and tramcar rails, girders, etc., were found
suitable as composite props, then a trial should be given to
them on a large scale. In that way it might be possible to
tide the nation over its present economic and industrial
trials.

In the discussion which followed, the president (Mr.
Richard McPhee, Bothwell) said it behoved colliery
managers to exercise the most rigid economy. At the same
time, he desired to appeal to the mines inspectors to
co-operate as much as possible with the managers of col-
lieries in securing such economy. Mr. David Beveridge,
Kelty, remarked that in his opinion girders as a substitute
for timber would come in ordinary circumstances to be
rather costly. On the other hand, old tramway rails lasted
almost three times as long as wood, and in the end it was
possible to effect a saving by using these. Hitherto colliery
managers in Scotland had not placed too much confidence in
home-grown timber. Since the present war arose, however,
he had been using it very extensively, and he was bound to
admit, once he saw it at the face and in the roads, that his
faith in its utility and serviceableness was growing. If it
should happen that it might be 1916 ere they got foreign
wood, then proprietors of plantations were afforded a rare
opportunity to show their patriotism by selling their trees
ar a reasonable figure. Mr. John McLuckie, Larkhall,
remarked that while proprietors of plantations were at the
present time disinclined to sell their trees at reasonable
prices, he believed that would eventually right itself when
pressure and force of circumstances were brought to bear
on them. Mr. James Kirkpatrick, Uddingston, observed
that no class of material was more extravagantly used in
coal pits than was timber. His view was that, in some
instances, an inexpensive substitute could be obtained for
prop wood, while a great deal more could be done than was
presently attempted in the direction of recovering timber
which had been used. Mr. J. Carson gave an interesting
outline of the composite props in use at Newbattle Colliery
in the Lothians. The arrangement, he added, had proved
distinctly satisfactory, and he predicted they would be able
in a short time to dispense entirely with prop wood in the
collieries there. The majority of those present were very
much impressed with the scheme of composite props
described by Mr. Carson, and as its general adoption
appeared to possess very great possibilities at this time, it
was agreed to communicate with the proprietors of New-
battle Colliery, requesting that the members of the associa-
tion should have an early opportunity of visiting the pits
there, and seeing the scheme in operation.

At a largely attended meeting of the Scottish branch of
the National Association of Colliery Managers held in Dun-
fermline on Saturday, Mr. Joseph Parker, B.Sc., Principal of
the Fife Mining School, Cowdenbeath, read an interesting
paper on “ An Account of Some Attempts to Improve Rescue
Apparatus.” Mr. Parker explained that at the rescue
station at Cowdenbeath, which had been erected voluntarily
by the Fife and Clackmannan Coal Owners’ Association, the
“ Weg ” self-contained apparatus had been adopted, and
for the past four years there had been a steadily sustained
effort to train men to undergo severe tests of endurance, and
to subject the “ Weg ” to thorough tests of its reliability.
These tests had from time to time revealed defects and sug-
gested improvements, which had been effected, and in its
improved form the apparatus had borne the test of experi-
ence so well that men experienced in its use could, with
confidence, undertake some important rescue operations. The
“ Weg ” used a half-mask from which there passed upwards
and over the head an inhaling and exhaling tube and a
tube for conveying the supply of oxygen to the half-mask.
Difficulties experienced in preventing leakage at the half-
mask, and from painful pressure of the half-mask on the
nose, led Capt. Stevenson, who was in charge of the station,
to experiment in the construction of an improved half-mask,
and some success had attended his efforts in that direction.
He had a half-mask constructed, which avoided the narrow
head-tubes and the “ Weg ” mask, and substituted instead
large flexible rubber tubes which passed over the shoulders.
This mask was much easier to fit closely over the face, and
it reduced the resistance to breathing by eliminating some
frictional resistances. The problem, however, was not quite
solved yet. Probably if each man had a half-mask made
specially for himself, the solution would be much simplified,
although it would still present some difficulties. The pro-
duction of a fairly satisfactory half-mask led Capt. Steven
son into rather an important side issue, viz., the improve-
ment of the smoke helmet. He coupled up hose-pipes to the
half-mask, and from experiment he found that he could go
into the gallery when filled with smoke, and could draw what
air he required through 200 ft. of tubing without any resist-
ance from an air pipe or bellows. This result he further
improved by the introduction of an air-bag on the inhaling
tube, so that he introduced a greatly improved apparatus of
this form more than a year ago. Thereafter Mr. Parker
described minutely an invention of his own which was
intended to improve the “ Weg ” automatic valve, so as to
regulate the supply of oxygen in accordance with certain
desired requirements. Although they had not been able to
secure absolutely constant deliveries of oxygen under all
circumstances from a given nozzle, they believed they had
been able to achieve what was a practical success, since the,
supply could be easily adjusted at will, and small errors in
the volume delivered assumed but little practical importance.
The discussion on the paper was adjourned till next meeting.

The engine house and washing machine at the Dalkeith
Colliery at Smeaton, about two miles east of Dalkeith, were
considerably damaged as the result of a fire which occurred
last week. The Dalkeith Fire Brigade attended, and the
Edinburgh Fire Station also sent a motor engine and men.
The loss will amount to about £600, and is met by insurance.
The colliery is the property of Messrs. A. G. Moore and
Company, Glasgow.