870

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

October 23, 1914

Ambulance Work.

Mr. Simpson regrets to report that owing to the
absence of the hon. secretary of the central committee
on a year’s leave the progress made in ambulance work
has not been equal to that of former years. Many col-
liery managers, however, have interested themselves in
the instruction of their subordinate staff, and much valu-
able training was effected, but the lectures did not result
in examinations being held.

Now that the general body of managers and assis-
tants has been trained in “ first aid ” the central com-
mittee have decided to extend instruction to deputy
overmen, sirdars, fitters, and peons at recognised
centres. On the return of the hon. secretary in
November a network of centres covering the Jharia,
Raniganj, and Giridih coalfields was organised in such a
manner as to bring the classes within easy reach of the
staff of nearly every colliery. There are 202 students
attending the classes, and their numbers will be largely
augmented in the immediate future. Out of 27 candi-
dates who sat for the examination, 24 obtained junior
certificates and l&rge metal badges bearing the device
of the St. John Ambulance Association. This result
is most encouraging, for it has disclosed the fact that
there are competent men in the coalfields who can give
the working classes instruction in their own language

Mining Education.

Mr. E. H. Roberton, the Professor of Mining at Sibpur
College, Calcutta, has reported that of the four students
studying the second year’s course in mining, two were
successful in gaining their diplomas at the examination
held in March 1913, while of the 12 students who began
studying Course I., six sat for examination, and five
qualified for promotion to Course II. It may be
interesting to record that the special student who was
mentioned last year as being the only one left of four
who joined the college without scholarships, the other
three having been compelled to relinquish their studies
owing to pecuniary difficulties, is acquitting himself
well. It is to be hoped that the abahdoned “ special
scholarships ” will be renewed, so as to give an oppor-
tunity to those who can take advantage of it, as this
student has done, but who have not the pecuniary means
to take out a whole-time course of technical education.

One meeting of the Mining Educational Advisory
Board was hold during the year. A new centre at
Raniganj was opened early in the year. The lecturers
for the sessions. 1911-12 report that there were 360
names on the registers. This is an increase of 38 per
cent, on the numbers for the previous session. The
average attendance at each lecture was 20 students.

In the last annual report reference was made to a
proposal for the removal of the Mining Department of
Sibpur College, Calcutta, and its incorporation into a
mining and technical institute at one of the coal mining
centres. A comprehensive scheme has since been drawn
out and submitted to Government. The proposed site
for the building is at Dhanbaid, close to the Jharia
coalfield.

BY-PRODUCT COKE-OVEN TESTS.

In a discussion before the Illinois Gas Association
recently, Mr. W. E. Hartmann (says the Gas World) sub-
mitted the subjoined record of tests carried out on six
by-product ovens by the Maryland Steel Company, at
Sparrows Point, by competent investigators and under
inspection by several prominent gas engineers. The results
will be interesting to gas engineers here, as well as to
readers concerned in coke-oven practice.

The ovens used were each of 15 tons capacity per charge.
They were regenerative ovens with vertical heating flues.
The coking tests referred to were made with gas coals
coking in 20 hours ; while the ovens had been designed and
built to handle coal of lower volatile content in shorter
coking periods. The average width of the oven chamber
was 19 in., which is a greater width than is desirable for a
gas oven, when the quality of the gas and the yields of tar
and ammonia are of more importance than the coke.

Among the coals used were first-class West Virginia and
first-class Pittsburg coals, both well-known gas coals. The
following tabulated data are the average results : —

Analyses of coals used :—	West Va.	Pittsburg.
Volatile matter 		37’34 per cent...	. 35’19 per cent.
Fixed carbon 		55’97	. 56’76
Ash 		6’69	. 8’05
• Duration of tests 		5 days	12 days.
Coking time	.	  Yields	20 hours	20 hours.
Gas per lb. dry coal 		5’37 cu. ft. ..	. 5’28 cu. ft.
Tar per ton dry coal	  Ammonia: as sulphate per	13’88 gallons ..	. 13’73 gallons
ton 		25 001b	. 21’98 lb.
Ammonia: as NH3 gas ... Coke (dry) per cent, of dry	6’25 lb.	. 6’24 lb.
coal 	  Analyses of gas :—	68 per cent...	. 68’8 percent.
CO2 		1’5 percent...	1’3 percent.
O 		0’85	• 0’9
Ill		4’3	• 3’5
CO 		6’95	• 6’8
CH4		31’65	• 31’0
H 		49’30	. 51’5
N 		5’45	„	. 5’0
Heating value of gas 	  Candle-power (tested on	620 B.Th.U...	. 602 B.Th.U.
Sugg D burner) 		16’67 candles ..	. 16’08 candles.

Quality of coke. Analyses:—

A^h .................... 10’00	per cent.... 11*7 percent.

Fixed carbon ........... 87’05	„	... 86’8	„

Volatile combustible .... 2’95	,,	... 1’5	,,

Shatter test:—

On 2 in. after four drops ...	59 per cent. 58 per cent.

Note.—The coke made from these coals in ovens 19 in.
wide was not expected to be suitable for blast furnaces ; but
it is interesting to note that the Maryland Steel Company
were able to use the coke in blast furnaces, though not
without some complaints.

The authenticity of the above test data, and the accuracy
and thorough reliability of the tests, can be readily
demonstrated.

SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE AND WAR-
WICKSHIRE INSTITUTE OF MINING
ENGINEERS.

Annual Meeting.

The 47th annual general meeting of the above insti-
tute was held at the University, Edmund-street,
Birmingham, on Monday, October 19, the President
(Prof. J. Cadman) in the chair.

The following gentleman was elected a member :—
Mr. Harry A. Mundle, Brereton Collieries, Rugeley.

The annual report of the council and the treasurer’s
account and balance-sheet and the capital fund balance-
sheet were presented and adopted.

In their report the council state that the position of
the institute continues satisfactory. There are the
same number of members on the roll as last year, viz.,
158. During the year one member, Prof. J. H.
Poynting, has died, five have resigned, three have been
struck off for non-payment of subscription, and nine new
members have been elected. A letter of congratulation
was sent to Sir Richard Redmayne, K.C.B., a past
president of the institute, on the honour of knighthood
being conferred upon him. The financial position of
the institute continues to improve, the receipts for the
year being .£294 10s. 9d., whilst the expenditure for the
same period amounted to £227 14s. 5d. The actual net
balance on the year’s working is £59 6s. 4d., a result
considerably in excess of last year. During the past
year five council and five general meetings have been
held, all at Birmingham. The constitution of the Insti-
tution of Mining Engineers for the present remains
unchanged. The application for a Royal Charter has
been made to the Privy Council, and is being favourably
considered, but will probably be delayed on account of
pressure of business owing to the war. The capital
fund of £15,000 has been fully subscribed, and the
amount apportioned to be raised by this institute, viz.,
£593, has been paid over to the fund, and a vote of
thanks to this institute has been passed by the institu-
tion council. The thanks of the council and institute
are especially due to the Coal Owners’ Association, of
Cannock Chase, South Staffordshire, and Warwickshire,
for their generous donations to this fund.

The scrutineers’ report shows that the following
gentlemen have been elected :—President, Mr. G. M.
Cockin’, vice-president, Mr. Langford Ridsdale; new
members of council, Messrs. F. B. Clark, G. Fenn,
N. Forrest, L. Holland, and L. T. Linley.

Tribute to Retiring President.

Prof. Cadman said that it was now his pleasing duty
to call upon the new president, Mr. Cockin, to occupy
the chair. He himself left the chair with a certain
amount of reluctance, for his occupancy of* it had been
a great pleasure. At the same time, he knew that it
would be filled in a very much better manner by the
gentleman who was now to occupy it.

Mr. Cockin, on taking the chair, said that his first
duty was to propose a very’sincere and hearty vote of
thanks to Prof. Cadman for the service he had rendered
to that institute as its president during the past two
years. Prof. Cadman had been a very acceptable, useful
and courteous president. They were all proud of the
work Dr. Cadman had done in the mining world, and
were grateful to him for the great light that he had
thrown upon many of the problems in which they were
concerned, especially in regard to life-saving appliances
for mines, the great dust problem, and the effect of
temperatures in deep mines. All these matters had
been worked at by Prof. Cadman with a strenuousness
and activity that had placed him in the front rank of
those who were working in the scientific and mining
world. They also remembered that Dr. Cadman occu-
pied a very important position in the Birmingham
University, and was doing a great work for the training
of the future generation of mining engineers. He took
it that Dr. Cadman’s view was that although he was
most actively supporting all those schemes of mining
classes which had been instituted by the county councils
—and which were doing admirable work—these classes
were to be regarded as stepping stones to that fuller
scientific education which could only be obtained at
the University. Personally he felt very great reluctance
to occupy a chair which had been held by a man so
distinguished, but he counted upon the help of the
members, and would do the best he could to fill the
position worthily and usefully.

Mr. A. Sopwith, in seconding the vote, said he was
sure that they were all very well satisfied with the work
done by Dr. Cadman as their president, and they were
very grateful to him for the great services he had
rendered to the institute.

Prof. Caoman, in replv to the vote of thanks, said that
whatever he had been able to do for the institute had
been a pleasure and a great privilege. As a matter of
fact, had it not been for the services of the council and
the valuable assistance of their secretary, Mr. Douglas
Smith, he was afraid the work would have fallen into
terrible disorder. During pait of the year he was com-
pelled to be abroad on a Government mission, so that

he had not been able to give all the attention which
he would have liked to give to the work of the institute,
but whatever he had done had given him considerable
pleasure to do, for his interest was in the institute,
and always would be.

Presidential Address.

The newly-elected President (Mr. G. M. Cockin) then
delivered his presidential address. This was in the
nature of a retrospect. Mr. Cockin recalled that, the
institute owed its origin to the exertions of the late Mr.
Henry Johnson, of Dudley, who early in life turned his
attention to the study of geology. He was appointed
secretary to the Dudley and Midland Geological
Society, and became an enthusiastic collector of Silurian
and coal measure fossils. One of his finds—a starfish—
was examined and named by Salter Eucladia Johnsoni,
in honour of the discoverer. The whole of Mr. John-
son’s valuable collection of silurian fossils was ulti-
mately bought by the trustees of the Natural History
Museum at South Kensington.

Mr. Cockin, continuing, said :—It was in consequence of
a paper read by Mr. Johnson before the British Association
for the Advancement of Science at their Birmingham meet-
ing on September 9, 1865, on the “ Extension and Duration
of the South Staffordshire Coalfield,” that the Sandwell Park
sinking was undertaken, as a result of which the Thick coal
seam was found on the eastern side of the Boundary fault op
May 28, 1874. This was followed by the discovery of the
same seam at the Hamstead Colliery in 1880. Mr. Johnson
will also be remembered for the important part which he
took in introducing the South Staffordshire drainage scheme
in 1872, with which undertaking he was identified for many
years. For some time he had the idea of starting an asso-
ciation of mine agents, but it was not until March 28, 1867,
that he succeeded in obtaining a certificate of incorporation,
and the Associated Corporation of Mine Agents of South
Staffordshire and East Worcestershire came into being, with
Mr. Johnson as secretary, and a membership of 228. Meet-
ings were held at Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall, and
Birmingham. It was at a meeting held in the Swan Hotel,
Wolverhampton, on March 3, 1869, that it was decided to
alter the name and constitution of the association, and it
became the South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire
Institute of Mining Engineers. Mr. Johnson continued to
act as secretary until January 25, 1875, when he was suc-
ceeded by Mr. Alexander Smith. Shortly after Mr. Smith’s
appointment the publication of the Transactions commenced.

The President said the institute had shown its activity
and usefulness in many directions. »Amongst others-
might be mentioned the encouragement it had afforded
to the establishment of mining classes, first at the
Mason College, and afterwards at the University of Bir-
mingham. One important result of this connection
might be mentioned, viz., the formation of a committee,
following the deplorable disaster at Hamstead Colliery
in 1908, to institute local rescue stations for the district.

Mr. Cockin next discussed some recent developments
in the coalfields. He said :—

During the past two years some very important explora-
tory work has taken place in the Midlands, with a view to
the discovery of additional areas of unwrought coal. The
proofs established at Aldridge and Walsall Wood collieries
beyond the Eastern Boundary fault, although not imme-
diately successful, reflect the greatest credit on the enter-
prise of those concerned. Such proofs add to our knowledge
of the coalfield, and the light thrown upon the existing
geological conditions enables us to draw inferences which
may have important results in the future. The remarkably
successful piece of engineering work carried out at Holly
Bank Colliery to prove the Western Boundary fault fortu-
nately met with the success which it deserved, and it is to be
hoped will lead to the opening out of large areas of virgin
coal. It was no small feat to sink a shaft 14 ft. in diameter,
at a depth of 460 yds. underground, to an additional depth
of 347 yds. at a distance of 1,200 yds. from the pit bottom.

Then at the extreme north of the coalfield the No. 3 bore-
hole on Sir Charles M. Wolseley's estate affords further
evidence of the continuance of the coal seams up to that
point and in the direction of the North Staffordshire coal-
field. This will doubtless lead to further proofs being made,
and must have an influence on colliery extensions in the
future.

In various localities the erection of new plant is in pro-
gress for the development of large areas inside the coalfield
that are at present untouched.

In Warwickshire great extensions of the coalfield are
taking place towards Coventry. But between the two coal-
fields of South Staffordshire and Warwickshire lie the vastly
greater areas of concealed coalfields, the margin of which
has only yet been probed. The possibility of coal being
found at workable depths under these areas depends very
largely upon whether the denudation of the coal measures
previous to the deposition of the triassic rocks was of sufficient
magnitude to remove the bulk of the upper barren coal
measures, so as to bring the productive coal measures into
close proximity to the base of the trias.

Discussing the prevailing conditions in the industry,
the President said the outstanding feature in the coal
trade in recent years was the great increase that had
taken place in the cost of working, and the consequent
rise in prices. For some time past costs had consis-
tently mounted up, and it seemed impossible in existing
circumstances that the days of cheap coal could ever
return. And, as other industries had passed through
more or less similar experiences, a general rise had taken
place in all kinds of colliery stores and material. Other
effects had followed as a natural consequence, namely,
a tendency on behalf of the workers to do less work and
to work shorter time. Thus they found a steady dimi-
nution in the average output per man employed. In
new coalfields where plant was erected to deal with very
large outputs, and where circumstances were favourable
for concentration of work, this extra burden was not
felt so much; but in an old coalfield, where the best
seams were becoming exhausted, where the working
faces were in many cases far from the pit bottom, and
where it was impossible for obvious reasons to make
costly alterations, the consequences were very serious.

It became, therefore, of vital importance that all pos-
sible means should be taken to lessen costs by increased