1236

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

December 11, 1914.

bear a more favourable relation to the coal tonnage mined
than in the past. Of course, there is a danger in all this,
i.e., if the economy fashion is pushed too far, viz., lest
safety of life in working the mines should be sacrificed to
the exigencies of the moment.

Kent.

Progress at the Dover Colliery.

Mr. H. J. Wroe, who has been manager of Tilmanstone
Colliery for some years past, has been appointed manager
of Snowdown Colliery, near Adisham. Mr. Wroe was
responsible for the latter part of the sinking of Tilmanstone
Colliery through some very difficult ground. Mr. Wroe’s
appointment to Snowdown Colliery is in connection with
the deeper sinkings to be undertaken at that colliery.

At Shakespeare Colliery (Kent Collieries Limited), Dover,
progress of the most satisfactory character continues to be
made in regard to the connection of the two pits and pre-
parations for opening out and working the seam of hard coal.

Most of the colliers who were employed at the Tilman-
stone Colliery, which closed down last week, have already
proceeded north, the great majority going to Yorkshire,
where they anticipate they can get work. Only a small
proportion of the men, mostly those who live in Dover, are
remaining, in the hope of Tilmanstone re-opening at an early
date.

Following on last week’s meetings at Dover of Kent Coal
Concessions Limited, Guilford Colliery Limited, and Inter-
mediate Equipments Limited, the creditors of these concerns
to the amount of over 4T00 have now received requests to
approve the holding up of payment of their debts until six
months after the termination of the war. Proxies are to be
returnable by Monday next, and the matter will then be put
before meetings of the creditors.

Scotland.

Pits Flooded — Rescue Apparatus — Railway Rates to the
Ports.

On the occasion of his transference to Hallside and Newton
Collieries, Cambuslang, as manager, Mr. James Johnston
has been presented with a gold watch, and a gold amethyst
brooch and silver coffee set for his wife, by the workmen and
officials employed by Messrs. James Dunlop and Company.
Mr. Johnston has succeeded Mr. Samuel Anderson at New-
ton Colliery.

At a meeting of the Scottish branch of the National Asso-
ciation of Colliery Managers, held in Glasgow on Saturday
last, discussion was resumed on the papers previously con-
tributed by Mr. John McLuckie, Larkhall, on “ Mine
Management Past and Present,” and by Mr. David Archi-
bald, Lassodie, on “ Conserving Pitwood.”

Mr. James Curley, a native of Cambuslang, has been
appointed agent and manager to the Oxcroft Colliery Com-
pany Limited, near Chesterfield. Previous to crossing the
border, Mr. Curley was a prominent figure in Scottish
mining circles. His last official post in Scotland was as
manager of the Carron Company’s Craigend Colliery, Stir-
lingshire, and prior to that he managed collieries at Kelty,
Coalburn, and Cambuslang.

Very severe floods have recently been experienced in parts
of Scotland. At Gateside Colliery, Sanquhar, one day last
week, when the morning shift of about 170 men were wait-
ing in the bottom to ascend the shaft, about four cages had
been raised when a burn which flows near the colliery over-
flowed, and the water rushed down the shaft, carrying part
of the woodwork along with it. Fortunately, the colliery
has an inlet in the shape of an ingoing eye, and the men
were thus able to get to the surface. Work was completely
suspended, the second shift being unable to go down.
Towards evening the rush of water had been secured, and
the powerful pumps were able to cope with the flood.

At a largely attended meeting of the Scottish branch of
the National Association of Colliery Managers, held in the
Royal Technical College, Glasgow, on Saturday evening last,
Mr. Richard McPhee, Bothwell, the president in the chair,
a critical discussion took place with regard to recent
improvements which have been effected on rescue apparatus
for use in mines. The discussion arose as the outcome of a
practical paper read by Mr. Joseph Parker, principal of the
Fife Mining School, on ‘‘A New Self-Contained Rescue
Apparatus.” Mr. Robert Wilson, Giffnock, said the serious
responsibility . which rested on managers and owners in
regard to the use of rescue apparatus in mines had hardly
been realised as yet. The fact, however, that a number of
valuable lives had been lost through the use of the apparatus,
while so far only one life had been saved by it in this country,
showed how all-important was the question. This addi-
tional responsibility of providing self-contained rescue
apparatus had been forced upon the industry. It had been
placed upon them not because the owners and managers in
Scotland believed such drastic measures were necessary,
but as a result of certain unfortunate accidents in England.
The smoke helmet, as was well known, had given rise to a
considerable amount of controversy. Some Government
officials held that the helmet was of little or no use in
rescue work, while there.were, on the other hand, those who
firmly maintained that it was both safe and reliable. Per-
sonally, he thought the fact that Capt. Stevenson, of the
Fife Rescue Station, had been able to prove he could go into
a gallery filled with smoke, and draw what air he required
through 200 ft. of tubing, without any assistance from an
air pump or bellows, spoke volumes for the safe and speedy
action of the device. Such an appliance as that was surely
worthy of the attention it had at last received from the
Home Office in being placed on the Permitted List. Mr. J.
M. Thomson, Glasgow, observed that this question had
undoubtedly opened up a big field for controversy. The
subject had been before them now for a considerable period,
but the apparatus at the present moment was little different
from what it was at first. It was true that there might be
a little modification here and there, but the detail, gener-
ally speaking, was substantially the same. To his mind it
was regrettable that the tangible results hitherto achieved
through the medium of rescue apparatus were distinctly
disappointing. At the same time, he had to congratulate
Mr. Parker, of the Fife Mining School, and Capt. Steven-
son, of the Fife Rescue Station, on the efforts they had
made to improve the rescue apparatus in Fifeshire. Per-
sonally, he wished they could arrange for yet another for-
ward step, and that was to have the valve which had been
introduced automatically operated, instead of being manipu-
lated by hand as at present. Mr. Joseph Parker, replying
to the discussion, said the experiments had proved to Capt.

Stevenson and himself the imperative necessity of depart-
ing from the principle of the automatic arrangement. Quite
frankly he had to confess that it was with reluctance they
had come to that conclusion. Further discussion on the
paper was adjourned.

Following upon the deputations who recently presented
their views to the Board of Trade on the subject of cheaper
railway facilities for the transit of goods from Grangemouth
and Bo’ness to ports on the East and West Coasts, certain
negotiations were entered into between the Board and the
Scottish railway companies concerned with the object, o'
inducing the latter to deal with the question themselves
without the intervention of the authorities. These negotia-
tions failed of their purpose. Consequently the Board of
Trade has now referred the whole matter to the Railway
Executive Committee for its consideration and report. The
decision, which will be announced shortly, will, it is
expected, concede reduced rates between the towns on the
upper Forth and Leith, Granton, and Glasgow, and pro-
bably also Ardrossan.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

SCOTTISH JUSTICIARY APPEAL COURT.
December 7.

Before the Lord Justice-General and Lords Dundas and
Anderson.

Home Secretary’s Consent to Prosecution.

J. P. Stevenson v. W. H. Roger.—In this case James
Pollock Stevenson, Procurator-Fiscal, Kilmarnock, appealed
against a decision of Sheriff-substitute J. A. T. Robertson
at Kilmarnock, in a prosecution under the Coal Mines
Regulation Act, 1911. In the sheriff court there William
Houston Roger, Dreghorn, was charged at the instance of
the appellant, with consent of the Home Secretary, with
two contraventions of section 75 of the Act, in connection
with the use of safety lamps, which were said to be
not of the type approved of by the Home Secretary.
In the course of the evidence for the prosecution the
following letter, addressed to the Lord Advocate, was pro-
duced and founded on:—“Home Office, Whitehall, May 22,
1914. My Lord, I have the honour by direction of the
Secretary of State to send you herewith copies of a letter
from Mr. W. Walker, H.M. inspector of mines for the
Scotland Division . . . reporting serious contraventions
of . the Coal Mines Act, 1911, and the General Regulations
under the Act, at the Montgomeryfield Colliery, Ayrshire,
and to request that you will be so good as to cause pro-
ceedings to be instituted against the manager for the
offence named in Mr. Walker’s letter.” The letter was
signed by a Home Office official. It is provided by
section 102 (5) of the Act that “ no prosecution shall be'
instituted against the owner, agent, manager, or under-
manager of a mine for any offence under this Act, not
committed personally by such owner, agent, manager, or
under-manager, which can be prosecuted before a court of
summary jurisdiction except by an inspector or with the
consent in writing of the Secretary of State.” Sheriff-
substitute Robertson found the charge not proved, holding
that the document produced was not a consent in writing of
the Secretary of State.

The Court decided that it was not necessary to prove by
evidence that the Lord-Advocate had the consent of the
Home Secretary to prosecute, and remitted to the Sheriff-
substitute to proceed, finding no expenses due to either
party.

The Lord Justice-General said : This is not a case in
which I think evidence was required of the consent in
writing of the Home Secretary to this prosecution. It is
in my opinion quite sufficient if the Lord Advocate or his
representatives, either in this court or in one of the inferior
judicatories, states to the Court that the Lord Advocate
has the consent of the Home Secretary for the prosecution
and no evidence need be given. Evidence in my opinion
is incompetent. But if I had been of a different opinion,
if I had thought that evidence was necessary, then in my
opinion the letter produced from the Home Office would
be adequate.

The other judges concurred.

Hull Coal Exports.—The official return of the exports of
coal from Hull to foreign countries for the week ending
Tuesday, December 1, is as follows:—Ahus, 471 tons;
Buenos Ayres, 3,221; Bergen, 4; Copenhagen, 448; Chris-
tiania, 252; Dunkirk, 991; Gothenburg, 1,296; Gefle, 2,669;
Genoa, 2,979; Reykjavik, 1,025; Rouen, 2,848; Simbrisham,
957; Stocka, 786; Tuborg, 1,154; Varborg, 1,168 — total,
20,179 tons. The above figures do not include bunker coal,
shipments for the use of the British Admiralty, nor the
Allies’ Governments. Corresponding week last year,
112,078 tons.

Grimsby Coal Exports. — Returns for the week ending
December 4, show that the coal exported from Grimsby con-
sisted of the following shipments :—Foreign : To Ahus,
2,021; Esbjerg, 596; Copenhagen, 905; Gefle, 1,574; Dieppe,
653; Gothenburg, 2,631; Karribaksmindi, 561; Kolding,
1,691; Malmo, 78; Nexo, 663; Odense, 576; Randers, 2,474;
Rotterdam, 521; and Skive, 733 tons. Coastwise : To
Gravesend, 1,908; Ramsgate, 650. A total of 15,677
tons foreign, and 840 tons coastwise, against 29,105 tons
foreign and 805 tons coastwise during the corresponding
week last year.

North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical
Engineers.—A general meeting of the members of the North
of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers
will be held in the Wood Memorial Hall, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, at 2 o’clock, to-morrow (Saturday). The following
papers will be open for discussion :—“ A Portable Electrical
Gas Detecting Device for Use with Miners' Lamps,” by
Mr. George J.’ Ralph; “ Notes on Coal Mining in the State
of Illinois, U.S.A.,” by Mr. Samuel Dean; “Hydraulic
Stowing in the Gold Mines of the Witwatersrand,” by Mr.
B. C. Gullachsen. The following papers will be read or
taken as read :—“ The Maikop Oilfield, South Russia,” by
Mr. William Calder; “The Killingwo’rth Colliery (New
South Wales) Explosion,” by Mr. Janies Ashworth; “ Coal
Mining in the State of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.,” by Mr.
Samuel Dean.

TRADE AND THE WAR.

Swedish Order for American Coals—Lord Moulton on the
Dye Industry—Australian Coal for the German Cruisers.

The Swedish State Railways have invited tenders from
America for a total quantity of 130,000 tons of coals, to be
delivered January to March, 1915. This is the first time
American coal has been allowed to compete for the Swedish
State requirements.

The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce have decided to
support the action of the Birmingham Chamber in urging
consideration by the Government of the case of manufac-
turers and merchants who have sustained losses in respect
of cargo shipped before the outbreak of the war in vessels
subsequently captured or sunk by the enemy. Such cargo
might have been shipped to the subject of an enemy
country, to the subject of an allied country, or the subject
of a neutral country. As the Birmingham Chamber pointed
out, whatever conditions might have been provided for in
the contracts as to the proprietorial interests in the cargo
from the time of shipment, it is inevitable that in almost
every case the entire loss will fall on the consignor, viz.,
the British manufacturer or merchant.

Lord Moulton presided at a meeting of the Royal
Society of Arts, London, last week, when an address was
delivered by Mr. W. R. Ormandy on “ Britain and Germany
in Relation to the Chemical Trade.” In the course of his
introductory remarks Lord Moulton said that the realisa-
tion of the manner in which Germany had outstripped this
country in chemical industries was cause for great national
humiliation. The fact was that chemistry had opened up,
especially some 50 years ago, a domain of industrial wealth
which he could only compare to the domain opened up
when steam power was first invented, and to his great
sorrow he could come to no other conclusion than that it
was either from our being too well off, or from sluggishness
of intellect, or from the fact that the capital of the country
had passed into the hands of people who were unwilling
either to learn or to think that England had abstained
almost entirely from attempting to reap the rich harvest
that was opened to the industrial world in organic
chemistry. He did not believe that England after this
war could survive as a great industrial nation if it did not
correct this fault, if it did not make an effort to take its
place, and that a foremost place, in the world of industry
in chemistry as well as in other industries.

As a result of the stoppage by the Germans of Swedish
timber vessels, the timber is now to be transported vid
Norway to Trondhjem, and thence it will be shipped to
England.

According to a message to the Aftonbladet, exports of
coal, coke, and briquettes from Germany are expected to be
prohibited very shortly. The Swedish coal merchants and
consumers are already taking the necessary steps to meet
the situation.

There is reason to believe, says the Manche>ter Guardian,
that the German cruisers in the Pacific which have hitherto
eluded capture have been able to continue afloat since the
commencement of the war largely by means of Australian
coal. It is known that a number of German colliers left
the port of Newcastle in New South Wales the day before
war was declared, with large cargoes of coal from the
northern collieries. A large trade is done between Newcastle
and the west coast of South America, and it is believed
that a substantial quantity of New South Wales coal was
diverted from its ostensible destinations in this direction.
Australian coal exported to Manila was, it is now known, used
by the “Emden.” The Federal Government has now
prohibited the export of coal from Australia, except by
permit from the Minister. These permits are granted, in
the case of South America and Manila, only subject to a
heavy bond and bank guarantees that certificates will be
produced within four months that the coal has been
delivered to approved consignees at the port of discharge.
In the case of North America export is absolutely prohibited,
and in the case of Java and Singapore it is conditionally
permitted. The coal owners are naturally somewhat
disturbed by these restrictions, but there is no doubt that
the action of the Government was justified in view of the
reports which had been received.

As there has been some misapprehension with regard to
the insurance against war risks of cargo carried in Govern-
ment transports, the Board of Trade give notice that any
private cargo which may be carried in Government
transports can be insured against war risks at the Govern-
ment War Risks Insurance Office, 33, King William-street,
London, E.C.

The Board of Trade announces that all questions relating
to the purchase and export of food supplies, munitions of
war, and field equipment, for the French, Belgian, Russian
and Serbian Governments, are now dealt with by the
International Commission for the Purchase of Supplies
(Commission International de Ravitaillement). The
executive office of this Commission, and the offices of the
French, Belgian, and Serbian Delegates thereon, are at
India House, Kingsway, W.C., while the offices of the
Russian Delegates are temporarily at 192, Cromwell-road,
S.W. Application for permission to export goods the
export of which from the United Kingdom is prohibited,
should, if such goods are required by the Allied Govern-
ments or their accredited agents, be addressed in writing
to the Commission. The Commission will only consider
such applications if they are accompanied by documentary
evidence as to their official origin. Applications which are
unsupported by such evidence, or applications in respect of
goods which are ordered by private firms for purely
industrial purposes, must be made in the ordinary manner
to the Commissioners of Customs and Excise, Lower
Thames-street, E.C. Having granted permission to export,
the Commission will make the necessary arrangements
direct with the Customs authorities for the clearance of
the goods, upon receiving from the manufacturer or
merchant at least 48 hours’ notice of each shipment, together
with the following particulars :—(1) Nature and quantity
of goods to be shipped ; (2) name and address of consignor;
(3) name and address of consignee; (4) port and approxi-
mate date of shipment; (5) ship or line by which shipment
is to be made; (6) port of discharge; (7) marks on
packages, if any.

France has prohibited the export of chrome, iron and
copper ores, among other commodities.

The exportation of Welsh coal has been prohibited from
British India except in such quantities as may be sufficient
for bunker requirements.