782

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

October 9, 1914.

Notes from the Coalfields.

[Local Correspondence.]

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

A Million and a-half Sterling of Indebtedness to Cardiff—
Financial Aid to Coal Shippers : Government Action
Suggested — Miners and Recruiting Difficulties — New
Mineral Agent for the Extensive Bute Properties—
Record Membership of Miners' Federation—Canadian
Supplies of Pitwood—Ten per cent. Enlistment from
Fernhill—Tin-plate Prospects.

It is a striking fact that close upon a million and a-half is
the total of indebtedness by Continental buyers to Cardiff
merchants. An early statement that the total was one
million has been questioned, but Mr. T. E. Watson, presi-
dent of the Chamber of Commerce, puts the total at a higher
figure. He addressed the Chamber a few days ago, and
moved a resolution asking the Government to make arrange-
ments whereby bankers would grant overdrafts against pre-
moratorium debts due from the Continent, the desire being
to obviate what the Chamber consider disastrous conse-
quences which might ensue at the end of the moratorium.

Mr. Watson said that since the outbreak of the war there
had been great difficulty on the Continent in getting bills on
London with which to make remittances. Continental firms
were unwilling to draw on their London clients, because bills
already drawn and accepted had not been duly met at
maturity. In addition to the moratorium, non-payments
are due to failure in receiving funds which ought to have
been sent from the Continent to meet those bills. The
Government had agreed to advance to accepting houses the
funds due to them from the Continent for meeting these
acceptances, so far as the non-receipt of funds had been
caused by the war, and not to require repayment until after
the conclusion of the war, the advance to carry interest at
the rate of 2 per cent, above bank rate.

Thus the Cardiff coal shipper who had been able to draw
on his foreign customer, and had received an accepted bill
for the amount of his invoice, had been assisted by the
Government, but the shipper who had sold coal to the Con-
tinent on open account had had no such assistance, and
could only set off against the debts due to him, which the
war had prevented him from receiving, the right given him
by the moratorium of refusing to pay his own debts. The
protection hitherto given in the moratorium would end on
November 4; and it would be manifestly unfair if such
exporters were not offered similar assistance to that which
was given to the accepting houses. To meet this difficulty
the Chancellor of the Exchequer had suggested that bankers
and traders should devise a scheme, the Government being
willing to consider the question of covering the banks against
a portion of any loss they might incur through making
advances against debts due from the foreign customers of
their clients.

The scheme which the council of the Chamber suggested
was, he said, that each trader who required assistance should
give his banker a statement of the pre-moratorium amounts
due to him, which the war had prevented him from encash-
ing, and that the bankers should make advance to the trader
against such amounts, the Government assisting the traders
to obtain this advance, just as they had assisted the accept-
ing houses. A discussion followed Mr. Watson’s speech,
and cordial appreciation was manifested of the way in which
he had dealt with the matter.

The Chamber also dealt with the question of the claims
by British traders upon enemies’ vessels which had been
seized, there being a number of cases of bona fide claims
for coal and other supplies. Sir Clifford Cory had brought
the matter before Parliament, and there now seemed a
probability that the Government would consider a claim
of any British suppliers to a foreign ship that has been
seized, the debts to be paid out of the proceeds of the seizure.
In form, this could be done only as a matter of grace, but
the result is, none the less, satisfactory to the British
creditor.

The visits of the Prime Minister and of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer to Cardiff have directed special attention
to the recruiting efforts in the colliery districts, and there
is keen interest in the new project that, although close upon
40,000 men have already been enrolled, yet another numeri-
cal equivalent of an army corps should be raised in the
Principality. The drill squads of miners are very favourably
commented upon by observers; for although the Welsh
miner does not show well in point of stature, he is lithe and
wiry, and the physical exercises develop a first-class man
for enduring hardship in the field.

Success in recruiting will, however, depend very much
upon the treatment of dependants in the matter of money
allowances; and it is very important that dissatisfaction on
this point should be promptly allayed. What is desired
are larger grants, Government administration of relief funds,
freedom from inquisitorial methods of injudicious voluntary
workers, and payment through the Post Office.

One of the features of the recruiting meeting addressed
by the Prime Minister at Cardiff on Friday last week was the
speech by Mr. T. Richards, M.P., secretary of the Miners’
Federation, and much favourable comment has followed its
publication. He said that men of the Federation already
were, in their thousands, ready to do their duty. Those men
braved dangers every day of their lives, as great as did the
soldiers on the battlefield, for they were killed by hundreds
and wounded by thousands every year in producing coal.

Mr. Robert T. Rees, of Aberdare, has been appointed
mineral agent to the Bute Estate and chief agent of the
collieries. Mr. Rees is a son of the late Mr. D. Rees, part-
proprietor of the Waun Wyllt and Lletty Shenkin collieries.
He was formerly mineral agent for Mr. Moore Gwyn at
Duffryn Neath, and has also been associated with the Mey-
rick and-other mineral estates. He was assistant agent for
the Senghenydd Collieries for some time, and for several
years past has been mining assistant to the late Lord
Merthyr for the Bute Collieries. Mr. Rees has been secre-
tary and examiner of the South Wales Board for certificates
of competency under the Coal Mines Acts.

The Federation auditors have presented their report to
the miners’ executive, covering a period of six months, and
they state that notwithstanding the war, the Federation has
maintained its position, the first six months of this year
showing the highest membership yet reported—159,100.

In the course of an interview with a Press representative,
Mr. Obed Smith (Canadian Emigration Office in London)

expressed the opinion that there was every prospect of open-
ing up a trade in pit props between Canada and Great
Britain. The Dominion had vast quantities of a wood
specially suitable for the purpose called tamarac; a hard
wood, easily worked, at present utilised as pit props in the
Canadian mines. Mr. Smith did not think that the cost of
freight to the United Kingdom would be so high as to prove
prohibitive. ,

At a meeting of the Fernhill Collieries Company, it was
stated that 10 per cent, of the workmen had volunteered for
Kitchener’s Army; and Mr. D. A. Thomas, the chairman,
said the effect of that on the present year’s operations would
be prejudicial. The heavy loss of workmen would lead, he
was afraid, to an increase in the cost of production, but it
was a matter over which the directors had no control. They
had a very favourable property, and were in a position to
pay 16 per cent., but in the exceptional circumstances it
was thought desirable to conserve their resources and
restrict the dividend to 10 per cent. Mr. J. W. Beynon.
who also spoke at the meeting, said that practically all the
collieries in South Wales had promised to pay their men
going to the front 10s. per week.

Addressing a recruiting meeting at Pentre on Friday last
week, Mr. W. Abraham, M.P. (“ Mabon ”), urged his
hearers not to forget how the poor Belgian miners died—an
agonising death, locked in the bowels of the earth by the
German horde. What would they think in Wales if a
great German army came to the Rhondda, and, scouring the
district, caught the second shift underground, and sealed
down the pits? Men who could do such things were fiends.

One of those romances of the pulpit that are not uncommon
among Welsh miners is associated with the opening of a
new Congregational Church at Palmer’s Green, London,
for the minister (Rev. N. Richards, B.D.) was a lad in the
Tredegar mine, commencing at 12 years of age, and con-
tinuing at work till he was 20. He is now 35, and during
five years in the temporary building at Palmer’s Green his
church roll has increased from 74 to nearly 400 members.

Mr. David Howells, who has been under-manager at the
Ffaldau Collieries, Pontycwmmer, has been appointed
manager at the Tirdonkin Collieries, Swansea.

Mr. Tudor Davies, formerly manager at Abercynon, has
been appointed agent for Guest, Keen and Company's Col-
lieries, Dowlais, and he was the recipient of a presentation
at Abercynon Workmen’s Hall on Thursday last week. Mrs.
Davies shared the presentation, which took the form of a
silver tea and coffee service, clock, candelabra, etc., the
presentation being made by the officials and workmen of
the Dowlais-Cardiff Colliery.

Business was stopped on Cardiff Exchange whilst a pre-
sentation was made, the three commissionaires on “ the
floor ’■’ having been called up for active service—one to the
Navy and the others as drill sergeants. The presentation
was impromptu, being arranged in a few minutes, and took
the form of Smoker’s outfits.

A review of conditions and prospects in the tin-plate indus-
try shows that hope may reasonably be entertained as to the
future. The boom of 1911 which led to so large an addition
of mills had' its natural effect in over-production, and the
outbreak of war sadly disorganised the efforts made to adjust
supply and demand. Sales to Germany having ceased, and
exports to certain neutral countries being practically extin-
guished, manufacturers are doubly hurt through losing the
supplies of cheap German steel; but endeavour is now made
to prepare for the future, when resumption of ordinary busi-
ness will be supplemented by requirements to make good
the lost time in some degree—and those tin-plate concerns
which have their own steel mills will also reap advantage
from the demand for all steel products to replace the wastage
of war.

It is to be noted that the galvanised sheet trade, which
has had so phenomenal a growth in South Wales in recent
years, labours at the present moment under special diffi-
culties created by the war, with the natural consequence that
to a certain extent the home coal trade is also unfavourably
affected. Part of the difficulties arise from the scarcity and
high price of spelter, which was largely manufactured in
Germany; and, as to this, it may be mentioned that special
efforts are being made to bring about the manufacture of
this requisite in South Wales itself. Another difficulty is
financial, and further hindrance has arisen because of the
derangement of shipping at the present time. ’ The trade,
however, is reviving, both sheet mills and galvanising plant
coming into operation more fully; and in view of the very
heavy sales which the termination of the war will bring
about—galvanised sheets being in heavy demand for tem-
porary structures—it is almost certain that manufacturers
will, as far as possible, lay up stocks so as to be ready for
the pressure by buyers.

Northumberland and Durham.

Aerial Ropeway for Coke Transport—Miners' Ingratitude—
Coal Reached at Acomb—Proposed Taxation of Incomes
—Lord Londonderry and the Durham Pitman—Develop-
ments at Craghead—The Housing Question.

There has just recently been completed at the Marley Hill
Colliery, County Durham, belonging to Messrs. John Bowes
and Partners Limited, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, an installa-
tion for transporting # coke manufactured at a large battery
of patent by-product ovens to a storage ground. The total
length of the line is about 1,590 ft., and there is a rising
gradient of 19 ft. to negotiate. The installation consists of
a bi-cable ropeway with continuous automatic traffic, a
loading station, a double line over the storage ground, and
an automatic return station at the terminus. The depot has
a length of 1,315 ft., and railway tracks are provided on its
longitudinal side for taking up and rehandling the coke.
The plant comprises a carrying rope, or the runway for the
cars on the open track, and a traction rope in continuous
motion to propel the cars which are firmly attached to it.
The coupling apparatus is automatic, and has undertype
rope clip, and is used as a carriage. The special feature
of this apparatus is that it presses the clip together by its
own weight, the hanger of the car being fitted to rotate on
a so-called coupling roller, which closes the clip firmly by
a system of leverage. The heavier the load, the more effec-
tive is the clipping action, and it is not possible for the
traction rope to slip, a feature of importance in rising
gradients, which can be negotiated up to an incline of
45 degs. with ease and safety. Apart from this, no adjust-
ment of the clips is necessary should the ropes vary in
thickness, as they adapt themselves automatically to the
diameter of the rope. On the open track the carrying ropes

for the outward journey, as well as those for the return trip,
are borne on four supports of steel construction. The ropes
are supported by special shoes, which are fitted to rotate
on the supports, and allow the carrying ropes to shift longi-
tudinally on the occurrence of differences in the sag. The
carrying ropes are anchored in the loading station,.and are
provided in the automatic return station with a tension
appliance, which compensates the changes in the length of
the ropes. The loading station is so arranged that the coke,
which is brought from the battery by means of a conveyor,
falls into a hopper, and can be transferred by means of
escape gates to the ropeway cars, the buckets of which have
a capacity of 28 cu. ft. For the runway, double-headed
rails are provided, which commence behind the entrance of
the carrying rope in the station. The ropes are deflected
towards the anchorage by so-called deflection shoes, by
means of which the cars are transferred from the rope to
the rails. Behind the tension appliances the coupling points
are situated. These are guides constructed of bent angle
iron, by which the coupling rollers of the ropeway cars are
automatically raised when running on to them. The result
of this is that the clip is opened, thus enabling the traction
rope to couple automatically on running into the station.
As soon as the coupling or uncoupling process is completed,
the coupling rollers leave the guide rails, and the clip is
again closed under the action of the weight of the car. The
drive and the tension appliance for the traction rope are also
located in the loading station. The power of a motor is
transferred by means of belt transmission on to a rope
sheave, round which the traction rope is laid. The tension
appliance for the traction rope consists of a sheave fitted
in a movable slide, and which can move up and down a
weight hanging on an extra pliable rope, the result being
that, the rope is kept always at a uniform tension. The
automatic return station ensures a completely automatic
transference of the ropeway cars from the outward line on
to the return line. For this purpose the traction rope is laid
over a grooved sheave, against which the apparatus presses
by reason of the rope tension, and is thus carried along the
curve. The travelling track again consists of double-headed
rails. The carrying ropes are deflected to the rear by the
deflection shoes, and connected by couplings with pliable
tension ropes running over rollers, carrying at their other
end the carrying rope tension weight. The wires of the
end and intermediate couplings are not welded together, but
are held in the coupling sockets by means of rings and
wedges. The two socket halves on the rope end which are
to be connected are combined by an intermediate piece with
right and left threads. The capacity of the line is 30 tons.
The coke is automatically unloaded on the open line over the
depot by means of a movable disengaging device suspended
from the carrying rope.

We fear that the Northumberland miners are occasionally
lacking in compassionateness. They have voted against the
special council meeting’s recommendation to make the
retiring president, Mr. Joseph English, an allowance of 30s.
per week. The result is that Mr. English, who is over 60
years of age, is being “ scrapped ” in straitened circum-
stances, and, with his physical and mental vigour consider-
ably lessened by comparison with what they were in the old
days when he was a strenuous champion of the miners, his
chances of obtaining remunerative employment are not very
bright. The miners, we are afraid, are visiting on Mr.
English the punishment for alleged remissness in discharge
of his duties, due, not to Mr. English’s lack of will to do the
work, but to natural causes which prevented his ability being
equal to his desire.

The Tynedale Coal Company, which has for several years
been engaged in driving a drift north-west from Acomb
Village, has at last reached coal. The operation has been
big and costly, and much satisfaction is expected. Con-
siderable developments are now hoped for.

When the Darlington Guardians discussed last Monday a
proposal from the Pontefract Union that all incomes exceed-
ing 30s. per week should be taxed to provide for persons
injured in the service of the country, the clerk stated that
the resolution appeared to have been drafted by the York-
shire Miners’ Association. Mr. Crooks, who moved in sup-
port of the principle of the proposal, thought 30s. too low
a figure at which to start taxing. Mr. T. Bates, on the
other hand, said there were men in Darlington who, earn-
ing only 24s. weekly, had volunteered to give what assist-
ance they could in maintaining the dependants of those witlf
the Colours. The figure of 30s. had been fixed by a miners’
association who presumably knew what was a reasonable
amount on which to settle. The proposal was supported in
its entirety.

The Marquess of Londonderry, K.G., A.D.C., Hon.
Colonel of the Regiment, made an informal inspection last
Monday of the recruits to the 3rd Northumbrian (County of
Durham) Reserve Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery
(Territorials), men drawn, nearly all, from the Londonderry
collieries. Addressing them, he said he rejoiced to hear that
something like 350 men had joined that brigade from his
collieries. He was proud to claim them as employees. He
had had experience of the Durham pitmen. He knew their
courage and heroism. He had seen them, when great col-
liery disasters had taken place, risking their lives, risking
everything, to rescue their fellow men. If there were heroic
men in the country, there was none more heroic than the
Durham pitman. Many men who had won the Victoria
Cross thoroughly deserved it, but none deserved it more
than those who risked their lives for their fellow men in
the pit. Therefore, he said, this heroic body of men, who
knew no fear, men whose courage it was impossible to
exaggerate, were the men England would look up to to
stand by her; and she would not look in vain. He con-
gratulated Major Clough on the smartness of the men, and
said he would do his utmost to assist them and their wives
and families. Major Clough, replying, said he was sure
his lordship’s address would give immense encouragement to
the brigade to go on recruiting. He hoped to have the full
complement of men by the end of the week.

Important developments are projected at Craghead by the
Hedley Coal Company. At present some 1,400 men and
boys are employed at the pits there, and the paybill amounts
to over £3,000 per fortnight. The coal drawing capacity of
the colliery, it is stated, amounts to 1,900 tons per day.
The company, however, intends to sink another pit to the
Busty and Brockwell seams. There are five shafts opening
into the colliery—the Edward pit, the Thomas, pit, the
Oswald pit, the Willie pit, and the George pit—but the two
latter are not now used. The greater part of the coal royalty
lies south and south-west of Craghead. The Busty seam,
into which the new pit will work, is below the Hutton seam,
at a distance of more than 170 yds. The Brockwell seam