October 9, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

183

is still deeper. It is hoped that when the new pit is work-
ing from 1,000 to 1,500 tons of coal will be drawn to bank
each day. The plant which is to be erected is to be of the
most up-to-date description. Electricity will play a large
part therein. Sinking operations are to be commenced at
once.

At the Local Government Board enquiry held at Harra-
. ton Colliery into the application of the Chester-le-Street
Rural District Council to borrow £26,250 for the erection
of 100 houses, it was stated that, up to about 20 years, the
Durham coal owners used to build houses for their work-
men, but since then they had given up the practice, and
had left the provision of houses to private enterprise.
Unfortunately, private enterprise had not responded, and it
was necessary for the local authorities to take the matter up.
In Harraton there were 133 houses which ought to be closed,
but w’ere not, because there were no other houses to which
the unhoused people could go. Mr. G. W. Minto, manager
of the local colliery, said there were at present between 600
and 700 men employed at the colliery, and, in addition, 120
had enlisted. He was shorthanded at the pit owing to the
scarcity of houses, and could give more employment if there
were more houses. There was no opposition to the appli-
cation.

The Newcastle coroner’s jury, deciding last week that the
death of Jas. Chandler, 27, stoneman, who died from burns
sustained as a result of an explosion at Crofton Mill pit,
Bly th, on July 5, was due to accident, expressed the opinion
that John Geo. Irving, the chargeman, had not satisfactorily
discharged his duties. Irving admitted, in reply to a ques-
tion by Mr. Wm. Weir, president of the Northumberland
Miners’ Association, who attended the inquest, that he was
hurried in his examination of the place that night, because
he wanted to get the men started.

Mr. Utrick A. Ritson, the well-known Durham coal owner,
who is connected with Burnhope, South Pon top, and Preston
collieries, and has many other commercial interests on
Tyneside, has five sons in the Army. The first is Lieut.-Col.
Ritson, provisional commandant of the Commercial Battalion
of the Northumberland Fusiliers. The second is Major John
R. Ritson, second in command of the 8th Batt. Durham
Light Infantry, who will, it is stated, take command when
that regiment goes to the front, Col. W. C. Blackett having
been medically advised that he must not go abroad. Then
there is Capt. Gerald R. Ritson, of the Inniskilling
Dragoons, who has just recovered from a serious operation.
This officer was wTith the British polo team in their succesful
tour of America last year. He is at present at Aidershot,
but expects to proceed to the front shortly. Another son is
Capt. C. W. Ritson, now serving in Central Africa as major
in command of a camel corps. Mr. Ritson’s fifth son, Mr.
U. A. Ritson, junr., has now joined the Lothian Horse as a
trooper, and is training with that regiment at Haddington.

About six acres of a wood at Acklington are stated to have
been leased by the local authorities—Broomhill and Newburgh
—with a view to a supply of mining timber being obtained
therefrom.

The 26th branch of the Northern Colliery Under-Managers’
and Colliery Officials’ Association—which is still less than
two years old—has just been formed at Sacriston, at a
meeting at which Mr. Robert Nuttall, general secretary,
explained the association’s objects.

Mr. John Belcher, treasurer of the Littleburn lodge of the
Durham Miners’ Association, who has been appointed
inspector under the National Insurance Act for the North-
umberland and Durham Miners’ Permanent Relief Fund,
has been presented by the workmen of Littleburn Colliery
with an inscribed umbrella and a purse of gold.

Robert Grainger Smith, who was charged at Darlington
on Tuesday with having stolen £1,162, the moneys of Messrs.
Pease and Partners Limited, was remanded. It appears
that Smith was a clerk and relief cashier, and that it was
part of his duty to put up the pay for one of the collieries.
He was arrested in London, and pleaded guilty.

At Sunderland Police Court on Tuesday, Lawrence Smith
was charged with having stolen coal from one of the coal
spouts at Lamb ton Drops, Sunderland. Evidence was called
to show that early in the morning the prisoner had
approached the coal spouts in a boat sufficiently large to hold
about a ton of coal. He stepped on to the quay, and began
to shovel coal into the boat, when he wTas arrested. Mr. W.
H. Bell, who appeared for the owners of the coal, the Lamb-
ton and Hetton Collieries Limited, said that for some time
past the company had been losing enormous amounts of
coal by this practice. Smith was sent to gaol for a month.

At Newcastle Police Court on Tuesday, Thomas Hartley
Seed, a coal exporter, residing at Gosforth, was charged on
remand, under the Defence of the Realm Act, of having
unlawfully endeavoured and attempted to trade with the
enemy, contrary to the Statute 4 and 5, George V., Chap. 87.
The chairman (Mr. John McKay) said the defendant would
be remanded for a week, and he would be allowed bail, him-
self in £500, and two sureties of £250 each. So far as
documents were concerned, the defence would be granted
facilities to inspect them.

At the recent examination of members of the Clara Vale
Colliery Division of the St. John Ambulance Association, 44
candidates presented themselves, and 43 passed. Twenty-
five members of the local ambulance corps have gone to
assist the Army.

Cumberland.

Colliery at Broughton Moor to be Closed.

Mr. W. Hillary, lately an overman at the Brayton
Domain Colliery, near Aspatria, who has obtained an
appointment in a coal mining enterprise under the Nigerian
Government, has been presented by the officials of the
colliery with a handsome dressing case. Mr. I. Rothery,
under-manager at No. 5 pit, Brayton, made the presentation.

A disastrous fire occurred at the works of the Whitehaven
Haematite Iron Company Limited early on Friday morning
last week, when the large storehouse and timekeeper’s office
was completely destroyed.

It is stated that the Bertha Colliery, near Broughton Moor,
the property of the Flimby and Broughton Moor Colliery
Company, will be closed down at the end of this week. Two
or three of the smaller seams were stopped some months ago,
and although it was known that the pit was fast work-
ing out, it was fully expected that it might run till Christ-
mas. The reason for the sudden stoppage is said to be
owing to the fact that in some parts faulty ground has been
reached, and some of the seams have worked out. About

200 men and boys will be thrown out of employment. This
will be a serious blow for the village of Dearham, as the
majority of the miners employed have come from that dis-
trict.

The imports at the Senhouse Dock, Maryport, last week
included 4,000 tons of iron ore from Borman for the Work-
ington Iron and Steel Company; a cargo of tin-plates for
Messrs. Hudson, Scott and Sons, Carlisle; and a consign-
ment of pit props from Polmadie, for the local collieries.
About 2,000 tons of creosote oil was shipped for New York
from the new works at the head of the Senhouse Dock.

Yorkshire.

The Yorkshire Battalions — Important Local Government
Board Enquiries—Timbering After Falls.

It looks, after all, very much as if the Miners’ Battalion
of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, which is being
raised by the West Yorkshire Coal Owners’ Association, will
be the only battalion composed of miners pure and simple
to be raised in Yorkshire for the front. This is surely some-
what of a satire in a county where the mining employees
run into such very high figures. But it must not be taken
altogether as a reflection upon the miner, for long before the
idea of mining battalions was mooted, the men of the various
Yorkshire collieries had enlisted in large numbers in all
branches of the Army, and in the ranks of the King’s Own
Yorkshire Light Infantry the whole of the pits of South
Yorkshire will be found to be represented in force. What
the West Yorkshire Miners’ Battalion is mostly in need of
is retired Army non-commissioned officers, for which a
request is now being issued. The terms are liberal. The
West Yorkshire Coal Owners’ Association have promised to
give these men, upon appointment, and in addition to Army
pay, a bounty varying from £10 to £5, according to certi-
ficates of efficiency, and are also guaranteeing that their
wives and dependants will be well looked after during
separation, and that suitable employment shall be found
at the conclusion of the war.

As to the suggested Colliery Battalion for Doncaster, it
is no use disguising the fact that it is falling flat. After
the excellent recruiting meeting at Brodsworth, which was
addressed by Lord Halifax, Col. Somerville (the chief
recruiting officer for Doncaster), Mr. Charles Thellusson,
of Brodsworth Hall, and others, there seemed every pros-
pect of the men required being forthcoming. Almost imme-
diately the War Office raised the standard of recruiting,
and for this and other reasons there has been a falling off
in enlistments in the Doncaster coalfield area. Last week
a rumour was prevalent that Col. Somerville was only will-
ing now to enlist men for the Doncaster Colliery Battalion,
but when asked by our correspondent if such was the case,
he stated the rumour was absurd, and pointed out that men
were being enlisted for any regiment they chose. The
whole of the Yorkshire Light Infantry battalions were now,
he said, quite full, so much so that they had been able to
give 800 men away to another battalion. The raising of
the standard was purposely done to check the influx, as
accommodation, equipment, and uniforms were not ready.

Meanwhile a splendid battalion is being raised by Barns-
ley, and it need scarcely be said that the backbone of this
is being supplied by the miners. At the time of writing 700
men had been enrolled towards the 1,100 required to consti-
tute the Barnsley Battalion of the 5th Yorks and Lancaste?
Regiment. The Public Hall has of late been the centre of
animated scenes, and meetings have not only been held here,
but in the district as well. A notably successful gathering
at Royston was addressed by Earl Wharncliffe and Sir Jos.
Walton, Bart., M.P. Mr. C. C. Ellison, managing director
of the local colliery company, made a strong appeal to the
men to give their services, and it was stated men were enlist-
ing in large numbers from Cud worth, Royston, and other
places. The Yorkshire Miners’ Association is not behind-
hand in urging the patriotic spirit, and Mr. S. Roebuck, the
assistant secretary of the organisation, and the miners’ can-
didate for Doncaster Division at the next Parliamentary
election, has been speaking at some of the meetings. It
looks as if Pontefract and Barnsley are going to eclipse
Doncaster in this connection.

Three Local Government Board enquiries, all associated
with colliery development, have taken place in the district
during the last few days. At Kiveton Park, Mr. A. W.
Brightmore, D.Sc., M.Inst.C.E., enquired into the applica-
tion of the Rural Council to borrow £3,200 for additional
sewage disposal works for Kiveton and Wales, and sewage
works at Harthill and Woodhall. At Bolton and Doncaster,
where the housing difficulties exist, enquiries associated
with this problem have been held. The Bolton enquiry was
of an important character, and was conducted by Mr. C. H.
Eyles, F.S.I. It related to the application of the Urban
Council to borrow £71,000 for the purchase of land upon
which to erect houses and shops, and for the provision of
sewers and street works at Goldthorpe and Bolton. The
attention of the inspector was drawn to the urgent need for
dwelling houses for the miners, in view of the new colliery
at Barmboro, and the extensions that had been made of
the existing coal mines in the district. The Wath Main
Colliery were proposing to erect a considerable number of
houses in the Bolton portion of the district. The position
of each of the sites was stated to be admirable, and within
reasonable distance of the collieries of Hickleton Main,
Dearne Valley, Houghton Main, Manvers Main, Barmboro
Wath Main, and Goldthorpe Main. There was no oppo-
sition to the scheme.

The Doncaster housing enquiry was also conducted by
Mr. Eyles. It will be recalled that one of the conditions
to the granting of borough extensions was that the Cor-
poration should erect not less than 50 houses within three
months of the passing of the Act. The town clerk stated
that the housing accommodation in Doncaster was now much
better than in 1911, as not only had the railway works been
completed, but the colliery companies had taken up the
question of housing the main bulk of their employees, and
so had considerably relieved the pressure upon the Borough
of Doncaster. The Corporation had provisionally decided to
erect 102 houses. There was no opposition at the enquiry,
and the scheme will doubtless go through.

A discussion took place at an inquest at Denaby last week
on a dataller named John Hughes (42), as to whether tem-
porary protection against a second fall should have been
made by men who were removing a first fall, as five yards
of roof under which they were working was unsupported all
through the night. It appeared deceased and others were
clearing away a heavy fall in Denaby pit, where a large
stone weighing three tons came down on him. He was
removed to hospital, but died. Two deputies cleared up the

point before referred to by stating it was impracticable and
impossible to put up protection to prevent a second fall until
the first fall had been cleared. H.M. inspector (Mr. H.
Hudspeth), however, disagreed, and urged that in view of
the many cases of men being killed by second falls, some
protection should have been put up. The Coroner remarked
that falls of roof were a most frequent form of accident,
and nobody seemed to get any nearer stopping them. The
jury returned a verdict of “ Accidental death,” and
exonerated the night deputy from all blame.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

It is officially announced that about £10,000 will be
required to *equip Lord Ellesmere's Worsley Hall, which he
has offered as a military hospital, with 150 beds, with
medical, surgical, and nursing appliances and personnel
and to maintain the hospital for 12 months free of charge
to the nation. Up to the beginning of this week close upon
£6,000 had been subscribed towards the equipment, and
further appeals for support are being issued by the Red
Cross Society.

At Standish last week, Miss Hilda Dean, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Dean, The Grove, Standish, was married to
Mr. Harold J. Whitehead, third son of the Rev. R. White-
head, Rector of Bootle, Cumberland, and amongst the pre:
sents received were a canteen of cutlery from the employees
of the Clock Face Colliery, Wigan Coal and Iron Company,
and a silver salver, spirit kettle, and entree dish from the
employees of the Standish Collieries.

Notts and Derbyshire.

A New Type of Goods Locomotive.

At the Gorton Works, Manchester, of the Great Central
Railway Company, there is nearing completion the first of a
new type of powerful locomotive which has been specially
designed for working the heavy mineral traffic from the
North Nottingham coalfields to the ports of Immingham and
Grimsby. The engines will be fitted with two-wheeled
leading bogie, six coupled wheels, and a four-wheeled trailing
bogie. The leading and trailing bogie wheels will each be
3 ft., and the coupled wheels 5 ft. 1 in. diameter, spread over
a total wheel base of 37 ft. 6 in. There will be inside
cylinders 21 in. diameter by 26 in. stroke, having 10 in.
diameter inside admission piston valves driven by link
motion and rocking shafts. The boiler barrel, the centre
line of which will be pitched 8 ft. 11 in. from the rail level,
will have a maximum outside diameter of 5 ft. 3 in., and a
length of 12 ft. 3 in., whilst the firebox will be 8 ft. 6 in.
in length outside. There will be 157 tubes, each Ij in. out-
side diameter, and a Robinson superheater of 24 elements,
If in. diameter, the large tubes containing the elements
having an outside diameter of 5| in. The heating surface
of the tubes will be 1,390 sq. ft., and of the firebox 157 sq. ft.
—a total of 1,547 sq. ft. of inside surface. The grate area
will be 26 sq.ft., and the boiler working pressure 1801b.
The service for which these engines are primarily designed
will consist of a daily return trip of 160 miles, and in order
to avoid terminal delays this type has been decided upon,
as it will operate equally well either end first, and unusually
large tank and bunker spaces have been provided for. The
total length over buffers is 46 ft. 4| in., and the total weight
of the engine in working order will be no less than 95 tons,
of which 60 tons will be on the coupled wheels. The
bunkers will accommodate five tons of coal, and there will
be space for 3,000 galls, of water in the side tanks. The
boiler, cylinders, and working parts are inter-changeable
with various classes of the latest type of express passenger
and goods locomotives of the Great Central Railway Com-
pany. The engines will be fitted with water pick-up scoops
and automatic steam brakes acting on all the coupled wheels,
as well as on those of the trailing bogie, and they will also
be fitted with the necessary ejector and train heating
apparatus, so that when necessary the engines will be
utilised for working local or excursion passenger traffic, and,
ample provision is made in the pony truck and bogie to ensure
easy running round curves of as little as five chains radius.

Mr. J. Strachan, of Stanton Hill (president) was in the
chair at the meeting of the Midland branch of the National
Association of Colliery Managers at the University College,
Nottingham, on Saturday afternoon. In reference to the
resolution, which had been passed at the previous meeting
of the branch, concerning the use of explosives in mines,
the general secretary of the association (Mr. G. A. Lewis,
Derby) wrote stating that the president and himself had had
an interview at the Home Office, during which thev pointed
out the object desired by the resolution. In addition, he
mentioned that the Mining Association was also taking u-
the matter. Mr. Strachan and the branch secretary (Mr.
R. Laverick, Nottingham) gave a report of the general
council meeting which was held at Manchester on Sept. 30.
They stated that the question of a defence fund, which was
submitted by the Midland branch, was considered at length.
It was, however, pointed out that in any case where a
branch council thought the case of a member should be
defended by the association, the present arrangement of the
emergency committee was quite sufficient in that it could be
called together at very short notice, and a meeting held in
the district of the member concerned. On the invitation of
Mr. J. T. Todd, general manager of the Blackwell Colliery
Company (an ex-president of the Midland branch), sup-
ported by the branch president and secretary, the council
decided to hold the annual meeting of the association at
Nottingham. The secretary reported that grants had been
made by the Education Committees of the Notts and Derby-
shire County Councils towards the expenses of higher
mining lectures, and on the proposition of Mr. H. R.
Watson, Codnor, seconded by Mr. C. J. Turton, East
Kirkby, a committee was empowered to make the necessary
arrangements. The president made an interesting state-
ment regarding a visual shaft signalling apparatus, which
was working very satisfactorily at three or four local col-
lieries, and he was invited to exhibit a model of the apparatus
and explain the working of the same at the next meeting.

Following on the closing of the Norwood Pit, Killamarsh,
belonging to the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company, comes
the news of the probable closing of Bond's Main Colliery,
owned by the Staveley Company, in the near future. The
Calow Main shaft of the same colliery was not re-opened after
the coal strike, and many men were thrown out of employ-
ment; and the news affecting Bond’s Main has created a
feeling of uneasiness and anxiety in the district. It is
satisfactory, however, to hear that work will be found for
the bulk of the men elsewhere. The new pit which the
Staveley Company are sinking at Palterton will absorb a
good deal of the labour if employment can be found to tide
over the interval.