40

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

January 1, 1915.

good character, the fine would have been much heavier. It
appeared that defendant was a licensed shot-firer at Easing-
ton Colliery. Under the Order, it was an offence to fire two
shots simultaneously. In order to save time and trouble,
defendant had two holes bored about 4 ft. apart, into which
he inserted cartridges to which detonators were attached.
He then connected them with the battery, and fired. Being
under the impression that both charges had exploded, when
the fumes had died away a man went in to clear the
broken stone. It was then discovered that only one charge
had exploded, the other being found, with the detonator
attached, by the man clearing up. There was great danger
of any workman driving his pick into it, and, apart from
that, there was the risk that the cartridge might have gone
to bank in the coal, and found its way into someone’s house.
Pleading guilty, the defendant said he had been 42 years in
the mine, and had never had a complaint against him before.

somewhat curious explanation of the non-reporting of
an accident was given at an inquest held at South Shields
last week, touching the death of Thos. Wm. Bobson, 45, a
miner, employed at Whitburn Colliery, who had, it was
alleged, died from a poisoned hand due to a “ bat ” he had
received from some top coal whilst at work. Deceased’s
“ marrow ” stated that the hand was swollen as the result
of the injury, but that deceased, who had joined the Tyne-
side Irish Brigade, did not report the accident because he
expected to be called up to join his battalion. Deceased
informed witness also that the military authorities advised
him not to go on the funds. The jury found that death was
due to septic poisoning, but that there was insufficient
evidence as to its cause.

As a mark of respect, in view of the bereavement of Mr.
Thomas Taylor, the members of the Minimum Wage Board
in connection with the Northumberland coal trade, on
Wednesday adjourned their meeting at Newcastle until
January 15. Votes of sympathy were also extended to the
relatives and friends of the late Capt. Everard Lamb, killed
in action, and of the late Mr. C. W. C. Henderson, both
members of the Board.

The following awards have been made by the trustees of
the Carnegie Hero Fund, each for attempting to rescue a
fellow workman from asphyxiation by gas :—John Barker,
overman, Easington Colliery, an honorary certificate and
£20; Hugh McGforrighan, hewer, certificate and £10; Ernest
Moody and Thomas McManners, £5.

Mr. Aaron Walton, a member of the executive committee
of the Northumberland Miners’ Association, has applied for
and been offered a commission in Lord Kitchener’s Army.
He is an ex-Buskin College student.

Cumberland.

Boring Operations near Broughton.

Boring operations which have been in progress at the
Buckhill Colliery, near Broughton, have been brought to a
successful conclusion, and a new seam of coal, 1ft. 10 in. in
thickness, has been discovered at a depth of eight fathoms
below the present lowest level. The coal, which is said to
have a good spread, is of first-class quality. The colliery
belongs to the Allerdale Coal Company.

The hewers employed in the low side of the low bottom
level at the Buckhill Colliery, Great Broughton, were on
Thursday morning last week unable to proceed to their
working places, owing to the workings being flooded. The
water was issuing from the borehole of the new seam which
has recently been discovered, in such a quantity, and with
such force, that the pumping machinery was unable to cope
with it.

Mr. Lloyd Thompson, of Hamsterley Collieries, County
Durham, has been appointed by the Flimby and Broughton
Moor Coal and Firebrick Company to succeed Mr. Andrew
Kerr as manager of their collieries in the Flimby and
Broughton Moor districts. Mr. Thompson, who is the eldest
son of Mr. Wm. Thompson, Stone House, Broughton Moor,
served his apprenticeship under the company.

Yorkshire.

Housing at Dinnington Main—Belgian Refugees in the
Mines.

The first Barnsley battalion of the New Army left
a few’ days ago for Silkstone Camp, and received a hearty
send off. The battalion is 1,250 strong, presents a fine
appearance, and looks like being a most serviceable body of
men. The prospects of raising a complete second battalion
are said to be very good.

Some alarm was occasioned recently by an outbreak of
fire at the Bullcroft Colliery, near Doncaster, but fortunately
it did not prove very serious. The Doncaster Fire Brigade
received a summons, and dashed out on the new motor fire
engine, covering the distance of six miles in very short time.
They found the colliery lamp room and store room on fire,
and that the flames were being well kept in check through
the efforts of the men at the pit. The brigade took the
matter in hand, and soon completely subdued the flames.
The damage was not very extensive, though it will probably
run into three figures. The origin of the fire has not
transpired.

The housing scheme at Dinnington appears to have been
dropped for the present. At the monthly meeting of the
Kiveton Bark Council, a resolution was moved and seconded
that the Council take steps to abate the overcrowding at
Dinnington by providing a housing scheme. It was pointed
out that at present there is much overcrowding, which is
undesirable on both sanitary and moral grounds. Mr. A.'
Thompson, however, stated that very shortly plans will be
presented for another 60 houses at Dinnington, and that
more adjoining*land is about to be purchased. There would,
he said, always be some congestion in a colliery village, and
there was no overcrowding at present to any extent. The
resolution was lost, there being four votes to five against, so
for the present the project is dropped.

There is believed to be a great deal of shebeening in the
colliery villages around Doncaster, and last week another
case was brought to Court, it being alleged that beer was
being sold to the pit sinkers of Bossington without a licence.
The case was clearly proved against a labourer and his wife,
and both were fined 40s. and costs, the beer found upon the
premises being confiscated.

Although several of the Belgian refugees have found work
in the collieries of the neighbourhood of Doncaster, it appears
unlikely that they will be able to continue their employment
except under certain circumstances. The Home Office, it
seems, do not deem it desirable that the men should work
underground unless there is an interpreter with them, or
someone able to speak their own language, and, failing this,
it is feared their labour will have to be withdrawn from the
mines, or, at all events, from the underground portion of
them.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Price of Gas Increased—Shortage of Labour.

With the commencement of January the scales of allow-
ances to the wives and dependants of employees who have
joined the Colours have been revised and reduced by various
colliery firms in South and South-East Lancashire. The
expenditure in this direction amounted, in some cases, to
quite £200 per week.

The Salford Corporation Gas Committee have decided to
increase the price of gas 3d. per 1,000 cu. ft. The reason
given for the .advance is the continued high price of coal and
the decreased demand for the residual products. The
increase operates not only in the borough of Salford, but in
the adjoining industrial districts of Swinton, Bendlebury,
Walkden, Eccles, Batricroft, and Irlam.

Additional working places are being opened out in the
Victoria Colliery, Deane, near Bolton, and colliers have been
advertised for. There is now a distinct scarcity of miners
and other workers at certain collieries in Bolton and adjoin-
ing localities, and, as a result, inconvenience is being caused
in some cases.

North Wales.

It has been decided, owing to adverse circumstances, to
close the Bromfield Colliery. This will affect about 700
employees. It had been decided to close the colliery a few
weeks ago, but it was afterwards announced, following an
offer by the men to concede one day per month, to continue
working until further notice, subject to 24 hours’ notice on
each side.

Notts and Derbyshire.

The Trent Navigation Scheme.

The scheme for deepening the bed of the Biver Trent from
Newark to Nottingham, with a view to making the latter
place an important trade distributing centre for the Mid-
lands, and which is estimated to cost £150,000, again came
up for consideration at a special meeting of the Nottingham
City Council on Wednesday, December 30. After a debate,
which at times took quite a lively turn, a resolution to
promote in the present session of Parliament a Bill for
improving the navigation of the Trent between Newark and
Nottingham was approved by an overwhelming majority; 41
members voted for the Bill, three against, and seven remained
neutral. Coun. A. B. Atkey, the chairman of the special
committee which has had charge of the scheme, in moving
the resolution, doubted whether any scheme of this magni-
tude had ever been backed by so great a measure of public
sympathy and support, and he mentioned the conscientious
painstaking support, extending over a period of 35 years,
rendered by the Notts and Derbyshire Traders’ Association.

Kent.

. The Dover Colliery—Power Company and Poor Rates.

The report of Kent Collieries Limited, proprietors of the
Shakespeare Colliery, Dover, has just been issued, and
carries information respecting the affairs of the company
up to September 30. It states that since the last general
meeting, No. 3 shaft has been sunk 221ft., to a depth of
1,630 ft. At 1,604 ft. it was arranged that pumping plant
should be installed in case water should be struck, when the
seam was reached at 1,620 ft. That seam, which has been
passed through, is about 2 ft. in thickness, the coal being
of excellent quality, with every indication that it could be
worked economically and profitably. It is considerably
harder than that passed through at the 1,275 ft. level.
Analysis has shown it to be of excellent quality, specially
suitable for gas making, and comparing favourably in this
respect with the best Durham coal. It also possesses good
coking qualities, and seems specially suitable for producing
a high-class coke for metallurgical purposes. The report
also states that the water and debris have been removed
from No. 2 shaft, and the lining of that shaft is being
completed. In the intervening period since the time covered
by this report, our correspondent learns that the two shafts
have been connected up, and the working of the coal seam
will be commenced early in January.

The balance-sheet shows that the purchase of the Shake-
speare Colliery and incidental costs amounted to £230,080,
works expenditure has amounted to £310,843, general
administration has cost £52,394, debenture interest £48,636,
stores and materials in hand are valued at £6,795, sundry
debtors for calls owe £2,455, expenses of preference share
issues, underwriting, etc., have been £16,618, cash at bank
and in hand is £2,498. On the other side, the total of
£670,320 is comprised of capital issues, debentures, amount
due to Channel Collieries Trust (£153,495), liability to
debenture holders £24,101, and sundry creditors £12,154.
The directors announce that they have been in negotiation
with the Channel Collieries Trust for the provision of further
funds, and a meeting is to be called as soon as possible to
submit proposals.

In an action at Dover County Betty Sessions by the
Overseers of Eythorne parish against the South-East Kent
Electric Bower Company for £58 6s. 8d. poor rate, the
secretary of the company asked for time for payment. He
stated the power company had been taken over by the East
Kent Colliery Company, and the reconstruction scheme had
not been carried through owing to the war. In reply to the
Bench, he said the colliery company was in the hands of a
receiver, who claimed the power station (situated on the
colliery area) some two months ago. Eventually payment
of the* rate by £20 a month was agreed to.

The Ebbsfleet Coal Company, in their annual report,
state their accounts cannot be submitted owing to difficulties
resulting from the war. At the annual meeting only the
election of directors and formal business will be carried out.
Negotiations for developing a section of the syndicate’s area
on terms which would have put them in a strong financial
position, the directors state, have been stopped owing to the
war, and they are now trying to come to an agreement for
an extension of mineral options.

Scotland.

New Rescue Station at Edinburgh—Interesting Schemes for
Dealing with Compensation Cases — Blantyre and
Udston Relief Funds—Ayrshire Pit Flooded—Prosecu-
tion at Dunfermline : The Meaning of “ Immediately.”

At a meeting of the governors of the “ George Heriot’s
Trust,” held in Edinburgh, Mr. Michael McCormick was
unanimously appointed chief instructor at the new rescue

station being formed in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh, in
connection with the mining department of the Heriot-Watt
College. Until 15 months ago Mr. McCormick was a colliery
manager in Ayrshire, and at that time, when the Ayrshire coal
masters erected and equipped a rescue station in Kilmarnock,
he was selected for the post of instructor. It is interesting
to note that Mr. McCormick was for four weeks engaged in
South Wales as a member of the exploring party after the
explosion at the Universal Colliery, Senghenydd. The
rescue station at the Heriot-Watt College will be under , the
supervision of Mr. Henry Briggs, chief lecturer and head
of the mining department.

Coal masters all over Scotland will be interested in the
movement which is on foot to curtail the outlays involved
in litigation under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Both
the miners’ unions and the various coal owners’ associations
throughout the country have felt for some time past that
there is much unnecessary leakage of expenditure consequent
on the claims which are contested under the Act. The idea
now is to form an investigation board, representative of
both workmen and coal owners, which will critically adjudi-
cate upon all claims for compensation. The proposals go
further even than that, for it is suggested that there should
be some common insurance fund amongst the owners, out of
which legitimate claims could be met. It is felt that if the
miners themselves were interested in this scheme, it would
be the best possible deterrent to malingering and bogus
applications hitherto established. If nice legal points arose,
as of necessity they would, the investigation committee could
submit the wihole facts to an arbiter, and here, again, it is
thought there would be a considerable economy. So far as
can be ascertained, the miners’ union representatives are
distinctly enamoured of the scheme, and they are disposed
to go the length of appointing full-time legal advisers, who
shall be attached to the union’s permanent staff. They
believe such an arrangement would be both economical and
preferable to adhering to the present practice of handing
the cases over to private legal firms.

The annual meetings of subscribers to the Blantyre and
Udston Accident Funds were held last week at Glasgow.
Lord Brovost Dunlop presided. In the report by the
executive committee, it was stated that the question of
winding up the funds was under consideration, and that it
had been decided to get an actuarial calculation of the sum
required to fulfil the obligations of the funds to the
beneficiaries on the footing of continuing the present method
of administration, or by the purchase for each beneficiary
of an annuity corresponding to the aliment each receives
at present and payable at like intervals. A report on the
financial position of the funds by Mr. Walter Borland,
junr., consulting actuary, was also submitted. Mr. Borland
stated that there were 87 beneficiaries in receipt of a total
weekly grant of £16 16s. 6d. (equal to £874 18s. per annum)
from the Blantyre colliery accident fund, and nine
beneficiaries receiving a total weekly allowance of £2 17s. 6d.
(equal to £149 10s. per annum) from the Udston colliery
accident fund. Within the next three or four years it might
be advisable to arrange for the payment of the allowances
to the Blantyre fund beneficiaries through a suitable insur-
ance company, but he was of opinion that the fund might
be wrought with advantage under present arrangements for
three years or so yet, in view of the high mortality that is
still being experienced. With regard to the Udston fund,
it might be advisable and economical to transfer the allow-
ances to an insurance company when the allowances under
the Blantyre fund were transferred. The reports by the
committee were adopted.

An. alarming accident occurred at the Maxwell Bit, near
Dailly, Ayrshire, owned by the Killochan Coal Company,
Glasgow, on Tuesday. A small party of men working in
the dock level had just bored and fired a shot, when there
was an inrush of water from one of the workings of an
adjacent disused colliery, some workings of which have
been burning continuously for 70 years. The water filled
the dock in five minutes, and the men had an exciting
experience in making their escape. One man is missing.
Arrangements are being made to start pumping operations
at once.

Three contraventions of the Coal Mines Act were investi-
gated in Dunfermline Sheriff Court last week before Sheriff
Umpherston. James Crockett, ostler, 198, Berth-road,
Cowdenbeath, admitted having, on November 23, while
employed in the Aitken Bit, travelled on foot in a haulage
road in the Bank seam section, while the haulage was in
motion, in consequence whereof he was struck and injured
by a set of loaded tubs on the road. The Sheriff said if he
had not seen the injured man he would have imposed a very
severe fine, but he would take his injury as his punishment.

Two important prosecutions were also directed against
Alexander Gray, contractor, and Andrew Boss, pit fireman.
The contractor was charged with a contravention of Begu-
lations in respect that having discovered gas in a heading in
the Five-feet seam, North Dock, No. 1 Glencraig Colliery,
he failed to report the same immediately to the fireman.
Boss was charged with failing to fence the entrance to the
heading after the matter was reported to him. The Fiscal
stated that Gray’s duty when he found gas was to present
that difficulty to the responsible inspecting official as soon
as he could. He held that Gray technically did wrong in
sitting down and waiting for the fireman to come, instead
of immediately taking the steps necessary for the purpose.
With regard to Boss, he submitted that the fireman was
guilty of an error in supposing that by adopting some other
precautionary measure, which in certain circumstances might
perhaps be effective, he was complying with the rule which
required fencing of all approaches, so that they could not be
inadvertently entered. The Sheriff said that in the case
against Alexander Gray, it depended upon the meaning of
the word “ immediately.” It required a very special case
to escape conviction. He thought the present was possibly
such a case. From the evidence of Gray himself, he took it
that he knew where the fireman would in all probability be
about the time. He thought it was a very special case, and
found the charge not proven. In regard to the case against
Andrew Boss, it depended upon 'the meaning of the section
and its object. He found its object was to prevent the
place being inadvertently entered. Whatever Boss’s object
was, the Begulation was stated as precisely as it was possible
for words to say, “ to fence off all approaches to the place,
and to mark the place by a danger signal.” He did not
think it was complying with that section, or any other
section, to tell a man who had been working there to keep
his eye on the place. That was not his view of fencing
the approaches and marking them by a danger signal. He
thought he was bound to find the charge proven. A penalty
of £1 was imposed.