192

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

January 22, 1915.

A new branch, the 32nd, of the Northern Under-Managers
and Colliery Officials’ Association has been formed at
Wheatley Hill, and the following officers have been elected :
President, Mr. J. Walton; secretary, Mr. T. Fletcher;
treasurer, Mr. N. Thornton; and representative to council,
Mr. N. White. In the past eight months 17 new branches
of the association have been formed.

At last week’s meeting of the Biver Tyne Commission, the
Docks Committee reported that the quantity of coal (cargo
and bunker) shipped from the Tyne in December was
1,028,854 tons, as compared with 1,708,919 tons in December
1913. The figures for the year 1914 were :—Coal (cargo
and bunkers), 17,154,470 tons, as against 19,992,270 tons in
1913; the aggregate of coal and coke being 17,513,074 tons,
as compared with 20,299,955 tons in the year 1913.

At Durham County Court on Tuesday of this week, Judge
Bonsey gave judgment in the compensation claim preferred
by the widow of Jos. Bobt. Flood, a miner, against the
owners of Burnhope Colliery. His Honour stated that Flood
died on June 15. He had gone to work apparently well,
and was warned by a witness that the place was unsafe, as
the coal had been nearly worked out. Fifteen minutes later
he was found lying about 13 ft. from the working place, and
about 8 ft. from the coal face, with his tools beside him.
He was unconscious, and died almost immediately. It was
contended for the applicant that the man had become
alarmed, and had rushed away from the place, and that in
consequence of that excitement haemorrhage of the brain
ensued, and caused death. His Honour, however, thought
that it was a case in which a man with a diseased condition
of tlie arteries might have died without any particular strain
or exertion. That being so, Mrs. Flood had failed to
establish her case.

Of the 700 men required from, the St. John Ambulance
Brigade by the Royal Naval Division for their field ambu-
lance, 20 men from the Ashington Coal Company’s Corps
have been accepted. Mr. F. L. Booth, corps superinten-
dent, has been appointed district superintendent for
Northumberland, and Corps Superintendent H. S. Hunter,
of Ellington, has been promoted to fill the vacancy thus
caused.

It is expected that the new coke ovens at Shotton Colliery,
which have been built to the order of the Horden Collieries
Limited, at a cost of T300,000, will be started next week.
Employment will be found for several hundred men.

Cumberland.

The Solvay Ironworks.

At the monthly meeting of the Maryport Urban District
Council on Monday evening, an interesting discussion took
place concerning the Solvay Ironworks, Maryport, which
have been standing idle for the past 12 months. A report
had been current in the town during the past few days to
the effect that the works are likely to start again. The
West Cumberland iron trade at the present time is in a
flourishing condition, and the view was expressed that there
is no reason why the Solvay Ironworks should be closed
when all the other iron smelting districts were booming.
The chairman (Mr. J. Maughan, J.P.) said he was given to
understand there was a scarcity of labour, and of coke as
well.

Yorkshire.

Trackless Trams—Railway Developments.

Trackless trams do not appear to be in favour in the
Maltby Colliery area. The members of the local Parish
Council have now unanimously decided to support the
Rotherham Corporation in their proposal to substitute a
system of rail cars for the present trackless trolley vehicles,
and the chairman and clerk have been appointed to give
evidence when the proposed Bill comes before Parliament.
It will be remembered that when the extension of the Don-
caster Corporation tramways was projected, two or three
years ago, to the Woodlands model village in one direction,
and the Edlington colliery village.in another, a great deal
was heard about trackless trams, and the authorities were
urged to consider their claims. But the Corporation would
have nothing to do with them, and decided upon the ordinary
fixed rail system. The extensions referred to upon this
system are now all but complete.

A combination of Poor Law Unions in South Yorkshire are
proposing to purchase the Fryston Hall estate for the pur-
poses of a home for feeble-minded. But the presence of coal
underneath the estate is now causing some misgiving. This
led to a discussion at a recent meeting of the Ecclesall
Board of Guardians. A report was submitted dealing with
the seams of coal under the estate. In view of the suitability
of the latter, and of the fact that the Local Government
Board raised no objection to the purchase of it on account of
the coal, it was felt the committee would be justified in
giving their sanction to the matter going forward. The
coal under the estate was reported to be of varying thick-
ness, about 21ft. 9 in. in the aggregate, in six seams, at a
distance below the surface of from 616 ft. to 1,875 ft. It
was pointed out it would be hardly possible in the area in
question to get a site that had not coal underneath it, and
that it was not as if the site was in Staffordshire, where
coal was found at a depth of 40 ft., and houses subsided in
consequence. So the matter will go forward.

The ^aggregate cost of the new railway between Worksop
and Bawtry, and which will link up some important
collieries, is estimated at T214,259. The distance works out,''
roughly speaking, at 14. miles. The railway has been
divided into seven sections for engineering purposes. It is
estimated that JT0,000 alone will be required for the
erection of stations in connection with the new railway.

A course of 10 lectures on gas testing and air measurement
will be held at the Sheffield University on Saturday after-
noons, commencing January 23, at 2 p.m.

A large number of officials and workmen met at Wath-
upon-Dearne on Saturday, on the occasion of a presentation
to Mr. Lawford S. T. Thomson, late manager at the Manvers
Main Collieries, who has received an important appointment
under the Hickleton Main Company. Mr. T. Baker made
the presentation, which consisted of a silver tea and coffee
service and a massive silver tray. Miss Thomson was also
presented with a writing bureau.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Siding Charges : A Question of Jurisdiction — Colliery and
Seioage Scheme—Pit Water : Heavy Claims for Stream
Pollution.

In connection with the sewage scheme at Ince, near
Wigan, Mr. Eames, of the Pearson and Knowles Coal and
Iron Company Limited, has asked the District Council for
an agreement indemnifying the company against any claim
for damage to the new works as a result of mining opera-
tions, and an agreement has been prepared.

Eleven Englishmen have left their employment at a

colliery in the South of Russia to enlist in the British Army,
and intended to join the Colours together in Manchester
this week. Among the number is Mr. Wm. Cartwright,
manager of the Russian Colliery, and formerly employed at
the Hindley Collieries of Messrs. Crompton and Shawcross.

The interesting announcement was made last week that
the committee of the Manchester Coal Exchange had decided
to make the following war donations :—Prince of Wales’s
Relief Fund, T100; Red Cross Fund, T100; Belgian Relief
Fund, T50.

Judge Sturges, at the Blackburn County Court last week,
had before him a case in which the London and North-
Western Railway Company claimed T1 11s. from George
Duerden, coal merchant, of Brunswick-street, Blackburn,
for siding rent and shunting charges of wagons stopped for
repairs at Wigan between 1908 and 1913. Mr. H. T. Tait,
for the company, stated that all the wagons running over the
company’s lines were periodically examined, and if any
were found to be defective they were stopped, and shunted
into the “ crippled wagon siding.” The owner was advised,
and he could either have the wagons repaired by the com-
pany or by an outside firm. If a wagon remained in the
siding beyond three days a small charge per day was made
for shunting and rent. A statement setting forth the
charges and regulations governing private owners’ wagons
was sent out some time ago. On behalf of defendant, Mr.
Leigh contended that the case came within section 10 of
the Railway and Canal Traffic Act of 1888, and that there-
fore the county court had no jurisdiction, the proper tribunal
being the Railway and Canal Commissioners. From the
outset the defendant had refused to pay the charges, holding
that not only were the charges unreasonable in themselves,
but that the company had no right to impose them. That,
it was submitted, involved a question or dispute as to the
legality of the charges, and the question, therefore, was one
for the Commissioners. Mr. Tait argued that the charge
was for accommodation and service, and not for merchandise,
and that the company were entitled to make the charge, and
also that the county court had power to determine the
matter. Mr. Leigh said that prior to 1908 the company
examined the wagons in exactly the same way, but no
charges were made. Defendant contended that the charges
were an equivalent to an increase in the tonnage rate, and
when the latter was alleged it was for the company to prove
that it was a reasonable increase, and the proper tribunal
before which the parties should go was the Commissioners.
In evidence, the defendant said he had never seen a copy of
the regulations governing private owners’ wagons which
had been sent out by the railway company. Judge Sturges,
in finding that he had no jurisdiction in the matter, ancl
that the question was one for the Railway and Canal Com-
missioners, stated that under part 4 of the London and
North-Western Railway Company’s Rates and Charges
Order Confirmation Act, 1891, the company had a right to a
reasonable sum in case of accommodation or service provided
by the company at the desire of the customer. In this case,
however, the accommodation was not provided at the defen-
dant’s request. On the contrary, the defendant objected to
the charges, and also alleged that the trucks were not out
of repair. What the company did was doubtless necessi-
tated by the public safety, and he therefore thought it
unfortunate for the company and the public that he had to
give his present decision. It appeared to him clear that
under section 5 the company could charge over and above
the tonnage rate for certain extra work for the convenience
of the trader, and could charge a reasonable sum for the
detention of wagons out of repair, but in the event of a
dispute the matter must go to arbitration and not to the
county court.

In the Chancery Court at Manchester on Wednesday,
Vice-Chancellor Stewart-Smith, K.C., began the hearing of
a case in which the plaintiffs were the Laburnum Spinning
Company Limited and five other firms of spinners, manu-
facturers, or dyers, and the defendants were the Hulton
Colliery Company Limited. Mr. Cunliffe, K.C., and Mr.
Radford appeared for the plaintiffs, and the defendants were
represented by Mr. Atkinson, K.C., Mr. Roberts, and Mr.
Higson. In opening the case, Mr. Cunliffe stated that the
Carr Brook, which was also known by other names, flowed
through the districts of Westhoughton, Little Hulton,
Atherton, and Leigh. Prior to 1901 it was used for water-
ing cattle, fish were found in it, and many mills and works,
among which were those of the six plaintiffs, found it of
very great value as yielding water fit for use in industrial
processes. About 1901 the defendants began the sinking of the
Pretoria Pit. In the course of these operations they came
across water of a quality deleterious to machinery, and they
allowed this to drain into the Carr Brook, with the result
that complaints were made, and legal proceedings insti-
tuted. A settlement was come to, but afterwards the com-
plaints were renewed, the present action was begun, and on
July 1, 1913, it came before the Court. The position then
was that.the defendants said, as regarded water coming
from the School pit, and that it was no worse than it was in
1891, and they had acquired a prescriptive right. They
admitted the water from the Pretoria pit was bad, but they
said they 'were putting in plant to treat it, which would
remove all the cause of complaint. It was arranged that
they should have the opportunity of showing what it could
do. Experience proved that while it removed some evils, it
substituted others; the chemical processes, though they
changed the character of the water, did not make it fit for
use in boilers and other machinery. His Honour had now
to decide whether the plaintiffs were entitled to an injunc-
tion in respect of the present condition of the water. Claims
had been made by the plaintiffs for damages up to the trial
in July 1913 amounting to T10,000. Mr. J. H. Stephen,
mining engineer, said he had known the stream all his life,
had surveyed it, and inspected it on various occasions. It
was very variable in its flow. The water coming from the
defendants’ collieries contained iron and other solids, and
it had deposited on the beds and banks a stuff of a deep
red colour. There were various sources of pollution; one
was the shale heaps containing salts of calcium, magnesium,
etc., which percolated through the soil into the brook. A
highly polluted water was found in the Yard mine, which
drained through to the Pretoria pit. The water in the
Plodder was also bad. Purifying tanks had been installed,
and a treatment with chemicals was adopted which, if
carried out regularly and satisfactorily, would remove solids
in suspension and certain salts, but it was deficient in other
respects. Every day there passed into the brook about a
quarter of a ton of salt and two tons of sodium sulphate.
The witness explained in detail how the impurities affected
the boilers, some forming incrustations and choking the
valves and pipes, while others corroded the metal. The trial
of the action was adjourned till Thursday, and will be con-
tinued for several days.

The Midlands.

Miners' Battalion for Cannock Chase—Traffic Congestion in
Warwickshire and Staffordshire.

The Cannock Chase coalfield has been the subject of
scathing denunciation as regards the scarcity of recruits, and
it has been strongly advocated that the formation of a
miners’ battalion or of companies of miners would probably
solve the difficulty, as practically the whole of the miners, in
that district are inhabitants of villages, and it has been
pointed out that a communal battalion would have consider-
ably greater attractions than being drafted amongst
strangers. It is an admitted fact that villagers are par-
ticularly sensible to remaining amongst acquaintances. In
order to ascertain the state of the men, the following has
been issued by Mr. S. Sopwith, agent of the Cannock Chase
Colliery :—“ It is proposed that a miners’ battalion, com-
posed of miners and colliery workers from this district, be
formed for service with the Colours. It is thought that
many men of military age who are hanging back would
welcome the opportunity of serving in a body, instead of
being assigned to regiments where all are strangers. It is
necessary that the feeling of the men should be known at
once; you are therefore asked to fill in the attached form,
and to hand same, when detached, to your fireman or
departmental office, as the case may be, not later than
Tuesday next, 19th inst.”

The labour and railway truck shortage at the Warwick-
shire and Cannock Chase collieries continues unabated.
Indeed, the trouble is becoming more acute each week, and
the situation at the pits has now amounted to serious pro-
portions. Coal masters are suffering serious loss because of
the position, and, as already stated, the wagon shortage
grows rather than diminishes. The collieries on Cannock
Chase especially are utterly unable to make the necessary
deliveries, either of house or steam coal, whether for London
and other distant domestic merchant supply or for local
manufacturing needs. At the Staffordshire ironworks the
difficulty of obtaining fuel deliveries is acute. Iron manu-
facture is being carried on under great difficulties in some
of the productive centres. This week manufacturers have
told some extraordinary stories of narrow escapes from
stoppages, and of frenzied quests for fuel, with supplies by
canal and rail obtained only just in time to prevent the
furnaces going out. One result of the shortage is to send up
iron prices, particularly pig iron, which just now is
advancing altogether out of proportion to any increase in
demand only. Coal prices are also being forced up, and
domestic consumers in Warwickshire and Staffordshire are
now paying Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per ton more than three months
ago, and 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per ton above the prices ruling
12 months ago. Cases are mentioned in which, owing to
the great difficulty in getting supplies from the Warwick-
shire collieries in particular, some Warwickshire merchants,
who usually hold a stock of 5,000 tons of domestic sorts up
to March, have now exhausted their reserves, and are at
their wits’ end where to look for repletion. The London
merchants are seeking to place urgent contracts with the
Midland and Cannock Chase coalfields for quick delivery,
and they are offering very tempting figures, with the result
that the retail price of domestic coal has in the past fort-
night advanced anything from Is. 6d. to 3s. per ton. The
difficulties at the pits are the more serious, since working
staffs are being still further depleted by recruiting. How
insistent are the Government in putting in first claim to
the services of the local railways is illustrated in the circum-
stance that many of the manufacturing firms in the Staf-
fordshire and Warwickshire areas, where there are large
Government contracts in hand, have just now attached to
them a military officer, who directs the railway consign-
ment of finished goods. The coal masters have to bear the
consequent railway congestion without any means of
redress.

The general meeting of the North Staffordshire Institute
of Mining and Mechanical Engineers has been postponed
from Monday, 18th inst., to Monday, 25th inst., at 5 p.m.,
in the Central School of Science and Technology, Stoke-on-
Trent.

At a meeting at Cannock last week of the Cannock Chase
and Pelsall Miners’ Relief Fund, it was reported that the
pits of the Bloxwich Colliery Company Limited had had to
be closed because of their being flooded with water. In
these circumstances, the colliery company could not con-
tinue to supply soldiers’ dependants with allowance coal. It
was, stated that 500 men had been thrown out of work by the
closing of the colliery. One hundred new cases were’ con-
sidered by the committee, making a total of over 1,000 cases
now on the books. The last levy of the miners realised T406.

Under the auspices of the North Staffordshire branch of
the National Association of Colliery Managers, an interest-
ing lecture on rescue work in mines was given on Saturday
evening at the Mining School, Stoke, by Mr. C. Hanmer, a
miner working at the Hickleton Main Colliery, Yorkshire.
Mr. J. R. L. Allott presided.

Kent.

East Kent Re-Construction.

The East Kent Colliery re-construction scheme is reported
on good authority to be making very satisfactory progress.
It has met with approval amongst the great bulk of the
larger shareholders, and only in one direction is there oppo-
sition of any serious character to the proposals. In the
meanwhile the negotiations are proceeding, and it is con-
fidently hoped that everything will be effectively brought
into line, and the means obtained of re-opening the colliery
at Tilmanstone for full working whilst the present excellent
opportunities offer for the disposal of the coal at good prices.
It is an unfortunate thing that the colliery should be prac-
tically closed down just now, when, owing to the very hmh
prices of imported coal, the sale of the home raised article
can be made under exceptionally advantageous circum-
stances. The call for the Kentish coal amongst manu-
factories and works of various kinds in the county had
become very promising when the war made the financial
troubles of the Tilmanstone Colliery particularly acute.
Snowdown Colliery is steadily increasing its output week by
week.

At the Shakespeare Colliery (Kent Collieries Limited) the
working of the Two-feet seam of hard coal will be com-
menced within the next few days,, and the colliery, it is
anticipated, will very shortly be raising sufficient coal to at
least supply its own boilers. The saving of the coal bill
would in itself be a considerable factor, whilst the headings
are being pushed forward with a view to putting coal on the
market at the earliest possible date.