November 6, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

985

system of ventilation at the colliery as being “ very good
and practical.” The magistrates, in view of the conflict of
testimony, dismissed the case. The other summonses were
adjourned sine die.

A verdict that “ deceased shot himself with a revolver
while of unsound mind,” was last week returned at the
inquest on Samuel Stainton (60), manager of the Mount
Vernon Pit, Worsboro’, and who resided at Barnsley. The
evidence showed deceased had been depressed lately. His
accounts at the colliery were in perfect order.

The steamei “ Peebles,” of the Sutherland Steamship
Company, has earned the distinction of carrying the largest
cargo of coal that has been shipped from the Tyne to London.
A 5,000 ton cargo has previously held the record, but the
“ Peebles ” left Dunston with 7,500 tons on board. The
“Peebles” is to run regularly between London and the Tyne,
on this class of work, and her appearance will doubtless
have no little effect on the collier trade, probably by intro-
ducing a larger class of collier than is now being used.

Lieut.-Col. Blackett, the well-known Northern mining
expert, and past-president of the North of England Institute
of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, has been entrusted
with the work of recruiting for the Reserve Battalion of
the 8th Battalion Durham Light Infantry. Speaking at a
meeting at Durham,-he said he wanted 1,000 men in the
Durham district, and he had no doubt he would get them.
Although the gallant colonel is sorely disappointed at not
being able to remain with his old battalion, which has been
accepted for active service, he will have the satisfaction of
knowing that his place has been filled by a worthy successor
in Col. John Turnbull, of Chester-le-Street. Col. Turnbull,
who distinguished himself in the Boer War, is one of the
best known solicitors in the North, being particularly pro-
minent in mining prosecutions.

On the representation of H.M. inspector of mines regard-
ing a dangerous unprotected coal drift near Longhorsley, the
Morpeth Rural District Council has made an order on the
owner to have the drift fenced and protected.

Following on the closing of the Newburgh Colliery comes
the announcement that the owners of Pegswood Colliery
have given their 500 employees 14 days’ notice that the pit
there will be closed. This hardly comes as a great surprise,
inasmuch as the pit has been working exceedingly slackly
during the past three months, and the miners there have
been largely dependent on the out-of-work benefits of the
Northumberland Miners’ Association for their subsistence.

Much sympathy will be manifested with Mr. M. W.
Parrington, past-president of the North of England Institute
of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, and agent for the
Wearmouth Coal Company, who has received an intimation
from the War Office that his son, Trooper George Bramwell
Parrington, of the Northumberland Hussars, Imperial Yeo-
manry, has been killed in action. Young Mr. Parrington
was well known in the North Country as a very able
cricketer. .

Cumberland.

Trolley Locomotives in Metalliferous Mines.

On Monday at Hackthorpe, the Greenside Mining Com-
pany, Patterdale, and Mr. W. H. Borlase, the manager,
were charged with offences against the Metalliferous Mines
Regulation Act, 1872, by using an electric locomotive with
overhead wires without the written consent of the Home
Secretary. Mr. J. R. R. Wilson, the district inspector of
mines, Newcastle, prosecuted. Mr. Hope Brown, of White-
haven, who defended, took the objection that the notices had
never been received by the defendants. He also submitted
that there was nothing in the Act to show that it was an
offence to use such a system of haulage as the electric loco-
motive in question without the written consent of the Secre-
tary of State. Mr. Wilson said the stipulation was dis-
tinctly made in the Act. The rules were issued and sent to
the Greenside. Mining Company on September 7, 1912. To
the special rules therein imposed the company might have
objected, but none were received, with the result that they
came into force in 21 days. On October 23, nearly a month
afterwards, Mr. Nicholson, then the inspector in charge of
the district, informed the company that the rules were in
force, and signed two copies of the rules, one of which he
sent to the company. Attention was afterwards drawn to
the fact that the overhead cables were being used, but the
company took no action. Mr. Brown said he was informed
that the rules were never received, and under the circum-
stances the prosecution could not succeed. At any rate, the
rules were not received at the time stated.—Mr. Wilson :
Do you mean that you never received them at all?—Mr.
Brown : Yes. I admit that on or about October 23 a copy
of the rules was s.ent, signed by Mr. Nicholson, but that was
at a time when our opportunity of objecting to them was
past. They were sent to us with an intimation that they
were established. The Bench upheld the objection, but Mr.
Brown’s application for costs was not allowed. It was
intimated that the Home Office would revive the case.

Yorkshire.

Aliens Released for Shaft Sinking—New Pit for Hoyland
—Civilian Guards for the Coalfield—Progress at Hat-
field Main.

Although most of the Germans engaged in shaft freezing
operations at collieries in the Doncaster district have now
been interned under the latest orders of the Government,
some concessions have been made. It is reported that all
the alien element have been taken from the Thorne Moor-
ends Colliery of Messrs. Pease and Partners save four, who,
if rumour speaks correctly, have been left in order that the
work may not be brought to a standstill, in which case a
large number of English employees would be displaced. Be
this as it may, there are plenty of people in the Doncaster
district who think that not a single German should be at
large under any pretext whatever, who would also like to
see the wives of all aliens interned, and Germans who have
taken out naturalisation papers as well.

The Thorncliffe Coal and Iron Company have decided
upon the sinking of a new pit shaft at Skiers Spring, Hoy-
land, and have applied to the local Urban Council for per-
mission to erect an overhead electric cable of 3,000 volts
across the main road at Hoyland Common, so that opera-
tions may be pushed forward at once.

It is felt that at the numerous collieries of South York-
shire, there must be thousands of men who, while too old
to enlist, or unable to do so probably through some slight
physical defect, are, nevertheless, capable of service for
home defence. Thus the idea of forming civilian guards

corps is becoming a popular one. It has already been put
into practice at some collieries, and is being contemplated
at others. So far as the Doncaster district is concerned,
Bentley has taken the lead, and has a corps the present
numerical strength of which is between 200 and 300, this
being formed at a meeting presided over by Mr. R. Clive,
the local agent of Messrs. Barber, Walker and Company,
and who is also chairman of the Bentley Urban District
Council. In connection with this corps, it is hoped to estab-
lish a covered in range for rifle shooting at the Bentley New
Colliery village. If every colliery in Yorkshire forms a
similar corps of those ineligible for enlistment, a very large
body of men would be raised.

The latest reports concerning the sinking of Hatfield Main
Colliery, near Doncaster, are that excellent progress is being
made. M. Albert Francois, the contractor for the work,
who is a Belgian, is at present on the Continent. At No. 1
shaft a depth of over 240 yds. has been sunk, and the water
difficulties have been entirely surmounted. It is hoped by-
Christmas that 300 yds. depth will have been attained in
this shaft. The second shaft is only 60 yds. down. It is
hoped before long the water difficulties here will have been
overcome. The permanent surface plant will be erected in
the new year, and steps will shortly be taken in regard to
the erection of the new village, for which land has been
secured. When completed the pit will be one of the largest
in the district, and will be linked up with the main line to
Hull and Grimsby near Stainforth Station, so that it will
be well served for export and other purposes.

There was a large gathering of railwaymen associated
with the mineral department of the Great Northern Railway
at Doncaster, and also with the coal trade, at the Red Lion
Hotel last week, when handsome presentations were made to
Mr. Charles Croxall, to mark his retirement after 50 years’
service with the Great Northern Railway. From his friends
at the Doncaster collieries, the travelling representatives of
private coal firms, wagon companies, and the various railway
companies with whom he was constantly in touch, Mr.
Croxall received a purse of gold and a chiming clock. Mr.
C. Collinson, secretary of the Yorkshire Coal and Coke
Trades’ Wagon Representatives, presented a case of pipes.
Mr. Croxall started his career in the mineral department
of the Great Northern Railway in October 1864, and
worked his way up to the position of travelling inspector.
His 50 years’ service has all been in the Doncaster district,
and he has served under three Great Northern Railway
mineral managers—Messrs. Wm. Newton, J. W. Brooks,
and the present mineral manager, Mr. J. W. Morton.

The important subject of “ Power Factor and its Improve-
ment ” was discussed by the Yorkshire branch of the Asso-
ciation of Mining Electrical Engineers at their meeting at
Leeds last Saturday. It was introduced in a paper by Mr.
L. G. F. Routledge. The paper served a practical purpose
in bringing before the members some particulars of the
various compensating devices in use at the present time,
the operation of which is by destroying the magnetic and
electrostatic fields which exist in connection yfith electric
circuits, and thus liberating the disturnal power which some
fields absorb. The most prolific cause of low power factor,
in the opinion of the writer, is induction motors, and he
• urged the importance of installing motors of the same
voltage as the voltage generated—without the intervention
of step-down transformers. What should be aimed at, he
said, in discussing the various remedial measures, is to
correct the low power factor as nearly as possible at its
source, and for this purpose it would seem that the future
lies with the static condenser and the phase advancer. The
former, he showed, “ easily holds the field as regards cost.”
It was decided, in view of the satisfactory attendance of
members, to continue the meetings of the branch, and not
to follow the example of other branches by discontinuing
them during the war.

At. last week’s meeting of the Doncaster Town Council,
the Education Committee reported having considered ten-
ders for the supply of coal to the various schools of the
borough for the year ending September 30, 1915. The
tender of Messrs. Beevers Limited was accepted, as follows :
Best South Yorkshire hard steam coal, from Earl Fitz-
william’s Elsecar Colliery, 15s. 6d. per ton delivered; best
London brights house coal, from Maltby Main Colliery, 15s.
per ton delivered; best South Yorkshire double screened
nuts, also from Maltby Main Colliery, 13s. per ton
delivered.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Important tunnelling operations are now in progress at
Lord Ellesmere’s ^Bridgewater collieries, Walkden, near
Manchester. One of the tunnels is about 20 ft. in height
and over 1,700 yds. in length. Communications are being
made between his lordship’s Linnyshaw, Bridgewater, and
Mosley Common collieries. Linnyshaw and Mosley Com-
mon pits are nearly three miles apart.

Notts and Derbyshire.

•The new colliery at Warsop is now making rapid pro-
gress. A seam of coal has been reached at a depth of some
600 yds. This seam will not be worked at present, but one
at a lower depth. Up-to-date “ plant ” is being laid down
to deal with a large output. Cottage building in the village
is still progressing, and between 200 and 300 have been
erected or are in course of erection. A branch line from
Warsop Station is completed to deal with the traffic.

Kent.

Kent Coal Concessions' Finance—The Anglo-Westphalian
Companies.

The boring by the Channel Collieries Trust at Swingate,
near Dover, is being continued, and some satisfactory seams
have been passed through. It is believed that as the bore
is taken deeper even better seams will be proved.

At the Kent Coal Concessions Company’s adjourned meet-
ing nearly 100 of the largest shareholders in the colliery
companies attended, and after hearing the statement of Mr.
Dewrance, the chairman of the shareholders’ committee,
they expressed their full approval of the scheme, and their
intention to support it. Briefly, the scheme put before the
meeting was to issue £100,000 in registered bonds carrying
interest at 6 per cent. This money would be called up as
required, and it is possible only £70,000 will be needed, in
which case only that amount would be called for. This

capital is necessary to carry on the work of the various com-
panies until the end of the war, and also to sink one of
the existing pit shafts through to the base of the coal
measures, which is considered the only thing that will afford
convincing proof to colliery proprietors such as the share-
holders’ committee hope to interest in the coalfield. The
new bonds are to be redeemable at the end of 18 months, or
six months after the cessation of the war, at a premium of
25 per cent.

The inspections carried out under the direction of the
military authorities of various coal boring and colliery sites
in Kent where Germans have been engaged are stated to
have proved quite satisfactory, and that there is no sign of
anything having been done that is not in connection with
actual coal exploration and coal getting operations. The
Anglo-Westphalian Kent Coal Company, which is operating
in the district around Canterbury, have been considering
the question of an alteration of title, in view of the present
natural feeling against the Germans. It is proposed by the
directors to change the name of the parent company to the
North Kent Coalfield, whilst their colliery now being sunk
near Canterbury is to be known as the Chislet Colliery. It
is asserted that only a comparatively small percentage of
the capital is held by Germans. The directors of the Anglo-
Westphalian (Chislet) Kent Colliery include only one gentle-
man bearing a foreign name, Mr. W. Peritz, whose address
is, however, given as Barton Fields, Canterbury. The others
are directors of various English colliery and railway com-
panies, viz., Mi. A. Woolley Hart, Mr. Jos’eph Shaw, K.C.,
Sir J. Prescott Hewett, Mr. Chas. B. Clarke, and Mr. W.
Mewburn.

Scotland.

Employers' Burdens in Fifeshire—Important Compensation
Case : Date of Discontinuing Allowance.

In his annual report to the Dunfermline Chamber of
Commerce last week, the secretary, Mr. W. G. D. Simpson,
stated that the Dunfermline coal trade had been badly hit
by the war. It was impossible, he remarked, to predict
what would be the position of affairs in the trade later on
in consequence of the war. Coalowners had a claim in for
reduction of wages, but in view of the declaration of war
they magnanimously postponed their claim. The majority
of the coalowners took upon themselves a further liability,
and voluntarily agreed to certain concessions in rent and
fire coal to dependants of Reservists who had been called out
to serve with H.M. Forces. In view of the state of the
trade these concessions had proved to be a very great tax on
the owners. Prior to the declaration of war the position was
becoming intolerable, and almost suicidal from an economic
point of view. The owners found that, in consequence of
recent legislation and the demands of the men, there was
little of their own business that they were allowed to
manage, and they felt that a halt must be called to the
hampering of their industry. The interference had passed
the stage of fair play, and had become absolutely aggressive.

Sheriff-Principal Fleming, in Dunfermline Sheriff Court,
has issued an interlocutor in a case which he describes as
“ of great importance.” Fred Robertson, miner, was
injured in No. 1 Lumphinnans Colliery on December 20,
1912. He was paid compensation under a recorded memor-
andum until May 23 last, when the employers alleged his
incapacity had ceased. On June 15 Robertson charged the
company for payment of two weeks’ compensation due on
June 6, and on July 2 the company suspended the charge,
and at the same time presented an application for review.
The company based their right to the course adopted by
them on the House of Lords case of Gibson v. Wishart,
and especially to Lord Shaw’s opinion in that case.
Sheriff Umpherston on July 16 last refused the suspension
on the ground that the suggestions as to what might be
done in a similar case, contained in the judgments in
Wishart’s case, was merely obiter, and that by the Court
of Session decisions it was incompetent, except in certain
exceptional cases, to suspend a charge for compensation.
This judgment has now been recalled by the Sheriff-Prin-
cipal, who points out that the workman’s contention amounts
to this, that when an employer has taken the proper steps
to have a recorded agreement reviewed the workman is
nevertheless entitled to force payment of compensation to
which it may be found ho was not entitled, and that while
no doubt the employer would in such a case have a claim
for repayment, the pecuniary value of such a claim would
in practically every case be negligible. The Sheriff-Prin-
cipal adds that while the Court of Session cases decide
clearly that a suspension by itself is incompetent as a mode
of review, they go no further, and they do not decide that
it is incompetent to suspend a charge for payment pending
the decision in competent proceedings which have been taken
to determine whether liability for them has not ceased. Such
a decision, his lordship points out, would result in an injus-
tice to the employers, which will be avoided by adopting the
course suggested by Lord Shaw, as his lordship does in this
case. The Sheriff-Principal adds : “ The Sheriff-Substitute,
in his criticism of Lord Shaw’s suggestion, seems to indicate
that it was intended to apply only to cases where total
recovery was proved. I can find no room for that distinc-
tion in anything Lord Shaw said, and I find that Lord
Atkinson dealt specifically with the two cases of total or
partial recovery, and said that on general principle they
would be dealt with in the same way.” According to
Sheriff Fleming’s decision, the law of Scotland has been
altered in respect that whereas previously an injured work-
man could enforce compensation until the date of the
Sheriff’s decision in a review action or until a memorandum
of agreement was recorded, now an employer has the right
to stop compensation allowances immediately the workman,
in his view, has recovered from his injuries.

The figures show that in 1902 only 11,300 lb. of per-
missible explosives were used in coal mining in the United
States, whereas in 1913 the quantity so used was 21,804,2851b.
The quantity of permissible explosives used in 1912
represented about 5 per cent, of the total quantity .of
explosives produced, and in 1913 6 per cent. The total
amount of explosives used for the production of coal in
1913 was 209,352,938 lb., of which about 10 per cent, was of
the permissible class as compared with 8 per cent, in
1912. The use of permissible explosives in coal mining has
had gratifying results, and few, if any, serious accidents can
be attributed directly to their use.