December 11, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1233

a couple of months, and then quite a lot wanted doing
whereas if they had been properly looked after from the
beginning there would have been no trouble. He could
mention cases in Lancashire where they had worked for
fourteen months without the positive plate being
changed. Cost of upkeep was an essential point. At
Hickleton, where 3,000 lamps were in use, it was 0'45d.
pei’ lamp per week. At the Normanton collieries of
Messrs. Briggs, Son and Company, with 4,500 lamps,
it was IJd. per lamp per week, after adding 10 per cent,
for depreciation. The figures of the Wallsend and
Hebburn people were :—At Wallsend 0’25d., atHebburn
0'37d., at Rising Sun 0'43d. Labour was not included
in any of the cases he had mentioned, Messrs. Briggs
made anaddition for depreciation of lOper cent. The accu-
mulators were given out gradually, and other parts also,
so that they were constantly being replaced. The
period covered was in Messrs. Briggs’s case 18 months,
and with the Wallsend and Hebburn Company six
months. Mr. Hargreaves’ figures were correct.

The Chairman said he had a considerable number cP
electric lamps in use, and the best figure he had got was
41 d. per lamp per week for upkeep, repairs, and labour
in attending to them. He did not put it forward as a
good figure; it was the actual working cost over 54
weeks with about 160 lamps. In other cases he got
worse figures. He had no doubt that as time went on
it would be possible to improve on that.

Prof. Dixon asked how many lamps were out of
commission at any particular time.

The Chairman replied that there might be a score
or so; they were repaired and put into order as quickly
as possible. Bulbs cost LJd. per week per lamp. He
did not know whether before the war the members
knew the extent to which those bulbs were made in
Germany, but they were aware of it now because the
bulbs now obtainable were much less satisfactory.
However, he expected that English manufacturers
would soon make that good, as they were doing
in other directions, by supplying bulbs of equal
quality. He was quite of the opinion that the electric
lamp of the present day gave a better light in the pit
than the ordinary flame lamp. He had not tried the
latest developments of the latter type, but he bad
experimented with the hope of finding the real thing
in the electric lamps. But he knew what the colliers
said. Once they were given the electric lamp they
found it gave a better light, and they did not wish to
go back to the old lamp. Nobody had mentioned one
point in which the electric lamp was clearly superior.
In a hot face the ordinary flame lamp became hot, the
electric lamp kept cool, and did not use up the air in
the pit to the same extent.

LANCASHIRE, NORTH WALES AND IRELAND
MINES INSPECTION DIVISION.

Mr. Nicholson's Appointment.

The Secretary of State gives notice that on the retire-
ment on the 9th inst. of Mr. John Gerrard, one of H.M.
inspectors of mines, the present Liverpool and North

Photo]

[James Bacon and Sons.

Mr. A. D. Nicholson.

Wales, and Manchester and Ireland mines inspection
districts will be amalgamated to form the Lancashire,
North Wales and Ireland Mines Inspection Division.

Mr. A. D. Nicholson, the inspector now in charge of
the Liverpool and North Wales District, has been
appointed to be divisional inspector in charge of the
new division.

Mr. Nicholson’s address for the present will continue
to be at Elmsley-road, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, (tele-
graphic address : “ Inspecting, Liverpool,” and telephone
number, Mossley Hill, 81), but he will eventually be
stationed at Manchester-, and notice of his address there
will be given in due course.

Mr. Nicholson’s promotion has been rapid. He was
born on July 24, 1864, and commenced serving his
apprenticeship as a mining engineer in 1880, at Eldon
Collieries, under Mr. Eenwick Darling, passing through
the usual routine stages, and obtaining his manager’s
certificate in July 1887, at Darlington. During the
above period he spent three years at the Durham
College of Science, obtaining an entrance exhibition
and scholarships. There he obtained the Freire Marreco
medal and prize for chemistry, various prizes in geology,
and also the degree of Associate in Science, with first-
class honours in geology. Continuing at Eldon
Collieries as assistant manager until March 1891, he
was then appointed under-manager at Elemore Colliery,
belonging to the Hetton Coal Company Limited, and
was afterwards transferred to their Eppleton Colliery.
In 1897 he obtained first-class honours in mining and
bronze medal, being fourth in the examination through-
out England.

In September 1897 Mr. Nicholson was appointed
an assistant inspector of mines after competitive
examination, and stationed at Carlisle in the Newcastle
district, under the late John L. Hedley. He was after-
wards transferred to Newcastle, but in June 1910 he
was appointed a senior inspector, and succeeded Mr.
Bain as inspector in charge of the Durham district in
November of the same year. On June 1, 1913, he was
transferred to the Liverpool and North Wales district,
on the succession of Mr. J. R. R. Wilson to the
N orthern D i vision.

THE GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN COAL
AND IRON TRADES.

We give below further extracts from German
periodicals that have reached us, showing the course of
the coal trade in Germany and Austria during the first
three months of the war period :—

English and German Supplies of Pitwood During the War.

According to Jiingst, in Gliickauf, Germany is more
independent than England as regards the supply of pit-
wood. during the war, the large home forests being able
to furnish all but about 6 per cent, of the total require-
ments in. this respect. Total imports into Germany in
1913 were 237,765 tons, of which 159,014 tons were from
Austria-Hungary, and 74,887 from Russia. The only
consumption figures available are those for Upper
Silesia, where the consumption in 1913 amounted to
970,302 cu. m., equivalent to 0’0222 cu.m, per ton of
coal raised. In the Ruhr district the local conditions
necessitate a larger consumption of timber per ton
raised, and, according to an estimate by Wolff,
amounted in 1913 to 3,299,000 cu.m., being 0-0288 cu.m,
per ton. In the Saar district the expenditure on pit-
wood is known, but not the quantity, the cost of timber
per ton of coal raised being 0-73 mk., whilst in the
State collieries at Zabrze the cost is 0'61 mk., and at
Recklinghausen 0’90 mk. Since the. cost per ton of
coal is approximately the same at the collieries of the
Harpener Company as in the Saar district, the quantity
of timber used by the former may serve as a basis for
calculating the consumption for all Germany. Accord-
ingly, the consumption is estimated to be :—Ruhr dis-
trict, 3,299,000 cu. m.; Upper Silesia, 980,302 cu. m.;
Saar, 374,5/3 cu. m.; other coal districts, 591,350 cu. m.,
or, in the aggregate, 5,235,225 cu. m. Nearly the whole
of the imported timber is used in Upper Silesia. Thus,
in 1912, out of a total of 271,253 tons of imported pit-
wood, 254,782 tons went to that district, including
126,037 tons from Galicia, 71,166 tons from Poland,
29,548 tons from other parts of Austria, and 23,391 tons
from Russia. This imported timber amounts to about
27 per cent, of the whole consumption in the district,
but even assuming that the entire supply from abroad
were to be stopped in consequence of the war, the
industry would not be greatly affected, the output of
coal having diminished in a still "greater proportion by
the calling up of miners to the Colours. Except in the
event of a breakdown of the railway system, the other
coal districts should have an ample supply of timber.

The conditions in Great Britain are very different,
the imports of pit timber being about 15 times as great
as those into Germany. Moreover, the coal output is
about 52 per cent, higher, and although the better con-
dition of the roof in British collieries makes the consump-
tion of pitwood much smaller than is the ease of
Germany, the home production of pit timber forms
only a small fraction of the imported quantity. The
small home supply is due to the relatively small area
under afforestation, namely, only 884,000 hectares (of
2-4 acres), as compared with over 14 million hectares in
Germany.

German Labour Market in October.

The official German report on the state of the labour
market announces that the improvement which set in
in nearly all branches of industry in September con-
tinued during October, especially in those connected
with the supply of war material. The building trade
alone showed no general improvement — partly on
account of the bad weather. Unemployment statistics
indicate a considerable reduction in the number of trade
union hands out of work; in fact, to about one-half of
the figures for August. Reports from Silesia, Pomer-
ania, Hesse-Nassau, Hamburg, and Wurtemberg show
a considerable improvement; and in Brandenburg-Berlin
the situation was, in part, even more favourable than
during the same period of last year. Satisfactory reports
have been received from the Rhineland and Westphalia,
and there was plenty of employment open in Saxony

and Anhalt. In Schleswig-Holstein the position was
quite as good as in September, both the iron and ship-
building industries being more, or less busy, with good
employment in the food and clothing industries.

Coal Market in South Germany.

The difficulty of satisfying consumers’ requirements
has not diminished during the last few weeks; and,
in fact, the increased demand for both industrial and
house coal has rendered the situation more acute. Many
buyers are evidently trying to get more coal in than
they actually need, for fear of a stoppage of the supply;
and dealers, who are aware of this, are opposing the
practice, in the interests of their other clients, more
especially since the available quantities — of washed
nuts in particular—are not illimitable, but rather make
economy desirable. There is great need of some
arrangement to induce consumers, to make up their
stocks with other than their ordinary grades of fuel, and
thus relieve the pressure, the stock of washed nuts, for
example, being very low, and the supplies coming for-
ward being relatively small. The administration of the
Saar collieries has recently advised its merchant
customers that only about 50 per cent, of the usual
quantities can be delivered; and has insisted on the
condition that only existing customers shall be supplied.
In house fuel, the only kind of which there is enough
to fill all orders is large broken coke, whereas the supply
of ILL is short. The difficulty in procuring house coals,
especially No. III. nuts, is increasing; but consumers
are slowly becoming reconciled to using through-and-
through coal instead. Anthracite is particularly scarce
since the stocks on the Upper Rhine were exhausted.
As far as possible ovoid briquettes are being used in
substitution for anthracite nuts II., and nuts I. and III.
are being taken, though far less suitable for stoves.
The sales of broken gas coke are satisfactory, and there
is an ample supply; and a large business is being done
in browm-eoal briquettes, though consignments are not
coming forward too promptly. The anticipated
shortage in the supply of railway trucks has not
occurred, and there has been little obstruction to railway
traffic by reason of the war. On the river, however,
low water and fog have been a source of delay.

Payment of Dividends, etc., in German Companies to
Enemy Shareholders.

With a view to preventing dividends and debenture
interest reaching the hands of enemy owners of the
stock, the Kolnischer Zeitung reports a proposal that all
dividend and interest warrants presented for payment
should be accompanied by an affidavit that the payee is
a German or neutral. To enable this to be done legally,
an immediate ordinance of the Federal Council is neces-
sary, since the time is approaching when dividends up
to June 30 last will fall due. It is stated, however
that German bankers are already declining to pay over
dividends, etc., to persons known to be alien enemies,
and are requiring, in the case of warrants presented
from abroad, a statutory declaration of nationality by the
owner, though this measure affords no guarantee that
the person sending in the warrants is not an alien
enemy.

Recent Company Reports.

■J. Pohlig A.G., Cologne.—The board has decided—
unless the military situation has become more unfavour-
able by December 23, the date of the general meeting—
to recommend a dividend of 6 per cent. In addi-
tion to the provision of large reserves, intended particu-
larly to cover accounts due from enemy countries,
305,749 mk. (260,103 mk.) have been written off. The
net profits amount to 375,125 mk. (189,355 mk.), in
addition to which is a forward balance of 222,399 mk.
from last year; and it is proposed to carry 304,232 mk.
to new account.

Phonix A.G. f. Bergbau und Hilttenbetreib, Horde.—
The dividend has been reduced from the 15 per cent,
originally proposed to 10 per cent.

Georgs-Marien Bergwerks und Hiittenverein A.G.,
Osnabriick.—Trading profit 7,423,361 mk. (7,647,583).
General expenses 1,748,221 mk. (1,666,710 mk.); loan
interest 740,899 mk. (736,321 mk.); upkeep of works
894,160 mk. Out of the net profit of 2,360,714 mk.
(2,629,789 mk.), 550,000 mk. are being placed to war
reserve, 620,200 mk. to preference share redemption
fund, and '372,120 mk. (434,140 mk.) distributed as a
6 per cent. (7 per cent.) dividend.

Rombacher Hiittenwerke, Rombach. — The annual
statement of .accounts does not give such full details as
usual, no mention being made of the amount written
off on ordinary account (.3,903,761 mk. last year). The
net profit (including 537,097 mk. brought forward) of
7,693,838 mk. is about 1-2 million mk. below that of
1913. The extraordinary writing off is reduced from
II million mk. to one million mk., and last year one
million mk. were set aside for enlargements and recon-
struction of works. The dividend is 5 per cent. (10 per
cent), and the funds (about three million mk.) result-
ing from this reduction, and the one mentioned above,
are to be placed to a special war reserve.

Diisseldorfer Eisen- und Draht-Industrie, Diisseldorf.
—Trading profit 1,289,089 mk. (1,568,224 mk.). net
profit 299,023 mk. (540,683 mk.), of which 264,000 mk.
are absorbed by the 51 per cent, dividend.

Lothringer Hiittenverein Aumet z-Fried e, Brussels.
—The figures of the balance sheet have now been issued,
and show a total surplus of 14,110.106 mk.
(15,991,116 mk.), the gross profit being 13,031,190 mk.
(14,864,113 mk.), of which 8,467,961 mk. (8.189,766 mk.)
have been written off, leaving a net profit of
8,013,733 mk. (10.039.724 mk.). Reserves and benefi-
cent objects absorb 850,000 mk. (1,050,000 mk.), divi-
dend—6 per cent.—3,480,000 mk., and special war
reserve two million mk.. the balance, 1.214.128 mk.
(1,215,831 mk.) being carried forward. During the
previous three years the dividend was 12 per cent.