398

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

February 19, 1915.

Redmayne said Nos. 4 and 5 were advance signals, he ,
must have meant action -signals. The speaker only
knew of one advance signal, so far as he understood the
code, and that was “ Men.” As to not being able to
get electricians, he 'Suggested that these could be
obtained if Mr. Merivale was prepared to pay. Any
amateur electrician could devise some means of
releasing if he desired.

A vote of thanks to Mr. Davis and Mr. Ashby was
adopted, on the motion of the President.

The Ralph Gas Detector.

Mr. Geo. J. Ralph’s paper on “A Portable Electrical
Gas Detecting Device for Use with Miners’ Lamps ”
was open for further discussion.

Prof. Henry Louis expressed the hope that the dis-
-cussion would remain open for some time, as he had
received an apparatus from Mr. Ralph, and would make
experiments on it in the near future, and report the
results. ,

. The Chairman gave that assurance.

Hydraulic Stowing.

Mr. B. C. Gullachsen’s paper on “Hydraulic
Stowing in the Gold Mines of the Witwatersrand ” was
further discussed.

The Chairman remarked that the subject was one of
great importance, and that, it seemed to him, its
importance would be greater in the near future than it
had been in the past. Up till now, the necessity for
such stowing had not arisen in this country to any great
extent, but it was quite clear that the necessity would
arise in the future, particularly in the deep collieries on
the east coast of Durham, and those which were being
sunk in the Doncaster district. So far as he could see
from the paper, the cost of stowing was something
about Is. per ton. He took it, therefore, that a cubic
yard of that material would fill up a cubic yard of space
in the mine which, roughly, had contained a ton of
coal. The subject was one to which mining engineers
in this country would, he was sure, devote more
attention. •

A number of written contributions to the discussion
were taken as read.

.Replying on the discussion, Mr. Gullachsen said he
was pleased to hear from Mr. J. D. Paton that a start
had been made with hydraulic stowing in Great
Britain, and felt sure that, at many collieries, the
system could be used to advantage. The chief diffi-
culty in the way of its successful adoption would, no
doubt, be ' the scarcity of suitable and inexpensive
filling material. The presence of large pit heaps was
hardly sufficient to warrant the expense entailed by the
installation of a hydraulic stowing plant. If such
stowing were carried on to any large extent, the pit
heaps would soon become exhausted. In Germany,
where suitable surface deposits were not conveniently
situated near the mines, the filling material was often
conveyed to the colliery in trucks from a distance of
several miles. All sorts of filling w^ere also used—■
broken bricks from old buildings, ash, and slag heaps.
At one mine he had seen molten slag run direct from,
the furnaces into water. The sudden immersion caused
the slag to disintegrate and form a very good filling
material, which, however, had the great objection that
it gave off considerable heat when deposited in the mine
workings. No doubt there were several of the coalfields
in Great Britain which contained alluvial deposits
suitable for filling material. In Durham he had seen
gravel quarries quite near to collieries, the gravel from
which would make excellent filling material. He
desired to take that opportunity of supporting Mr.
Paton’s appeal for a committee of investigation.
Colliery owners who had had to pay thousands of
pounds for surface damage would, he felt sure, be
well repaid by assisting such an investigation. The
cry of “But consider the extra cost” was too often
heard, but the same cry had been heard in connection
with nearly every innovation in mining. He thanked
Mr. Gibson for drawing attention to the fact that it
was essential that every hydraulic stowing installation
should be provided with a good telephone system. In
the event of a burst pipb, broken barrier, or a choked
pipe line, it was very necessary to be able to communi-
cate with the surface immediately, and to have the
supply of filling material stopped. Regarding Mr.
Selby’s table of costs, he was surprised to find them so
high, being an average cost for the eight mines men-
tioned of just about Is. 3|d. per ton. What was
included in that cost? The table did not inform him,
but he imagined that it included not only the actual
running cost, but also the cost of upkeep of plant, repairs,
stores, amortisation, etc. It would be noted that the
Robinson Mine delivered through its plant to the
Robinson Deep Mine about 100,000 tons of sand at a
charge of Id. per ton, and that Mr. Selby remarked that
the Id. per ton was sufficient to save the actual running
cost of that sand to the Robinson tip. In the dis-
cussion on Mr. Paton’s paper on “ Modern Develop-
ments in Hydraulic Stowing,” read before the Man-
chester Geological and Mining Society, Mr. Ollerenshaw
mentioned that he did hand-packing at considerably less
cost than 6d. per ton, and that in one district the cost
worked out at only 4d. per ton on the coal got. It
occurred to the speaker that perhaps there was a mis-
understanding in some people’s minds as to what was
implied by the cost of hydraulic stowing. It was not
the cost per ton of the coal or ore got, but the cost per
ton of filling material lowered into the mines. In a
mine where hydraulic stowing was employed it would

never be found necessary to stow the entire area from
which the coal had been extracted, . but just those
portions where support was most required, the same as
was done in the case of hand packing. As an example
of the difference in these two costs, he cited the
Robinson, Gold Mine, where 51,320 tons of filling
material were stowed during six months, an average of
3,553 tons per month, at an average cost of ll’8d. per
ton. During 'that period the average output of the
mine would be in the neighbourhood of 45,000 tons per
month; thus the cost per ton on the mine’s output
would be 2'24d. per ton.

A vote of thanks to Mr. Gullachsen was accorded, on
the motion of the Chairman.

Friction of Winding Ropes.

Mr. H. W. G. Halbaum contributed a paper on “ The
Lateral Friction of Winding Ropes,” an abstract of
which is given elsewhere in this issue.

Several written contributions to the discussion were
announced to have been read.

Prof. Louis pointed out what he regarded as an
important and fundamental error in. Mr. Halbaum’s
argument. If there were a drum, with the rope wound
fully on it and unwinding as the cage descended,
obviously as it unwound each coil would press against
the adjacent coil, and there would be friction until they
got to that point where the coils were pulling away
from each other. - It was an axiom that “ where you
have no pressure, you have no friction.” It appeared
to him, therefore, that they only had friction for half
the wind.

Mr. G. W. Westgarth stated that, in laying out new
winding arrangements, it was most desirable that the
lateral angle should be arranged for the , adoption of
such a rope that its weight would bear an economical
relationship to its useful load. At a certain colliery
two locked coil ropes, each 860 yds. in length, 5 in. in
circumference, and weighing 7 tons 7 cwt., were
replaced by two ropes of another type, of the same
length and size, which' weighed 5. tons 5 cwt. each, so
that the maximum load on each rope was reduced by
2 tons 2 ’cwt. It was not suggested that the breaking
strains, of these ropes were the same in each case, nor
was it thought necessary, because, for every ton in the
reduction of' the load, the breaking strain could be
reduced by eight to 10 times, according to the factor
of safety required. With regard to the method of
allowing the. rope to mount and coil upon itself during
the latter half of the wind for the purpose of reducing
the lateral angle, there were several examples of that
Hiethod in use where the damage to the rope was not
sufficient to prevent highly satisfactory results being
obtained. In that connection he quoted the paper
read by Mr. Hugh Bramwell before the South Wales
Institute of Engineers.

The customary vote of thanks was accorded to Mr.
Halbaum.

‘ A mine signalling apparatus was exhibited and
demonstrated by the Sterling Telephone and Electric
Company Limited at the -close of the meeting.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE.

COURT OF APPEAL.—February 16.

Before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Justice Swinfen
Eady, and Mr. Justice Bray.

Thin Seam Owners and the Minimum Wage.

The King v. His Honour Judge Amphlett.—This was
an appeal arising out of the claim made by the Thin Seam
Coal Owners of the West Yorkshire coalfield to make certain
representations before the local District Wages Board, of
which Judge Amphlett is chairman. They asserted that
their application to the Board upon the subject of the wages
in the thin seam pits had not been heard and determined by*
the Board and Judge Amphlett as chairman.

Mr. Branson, representing the Treasury, recalled the fact
that the case was heard on February 10 by the Ring’s
Bench Divisional Court, who made an order for a mandamus
against Judge Amphlett to hear and determine the applica-
tion. The order was to lie for 14 days in the Crown Office,
to give the parties time to see if they would appeal. In the
interval the men and masters had patriotically arranged to
compound their differences for the time, and they now asked
that the order should be allowed to continue to 'lie at the
Crown Office during the war.

The Court granted the application. The right to appeal
against the finding of the Divisional Court is now extended
until one month after the declaration of peace.

Dutch Imports and Exports of Coal in 1914.—During the
last quarter of 1914 the imports of coal into Holland
amounted to 1,754,469 tons (3,527,746 tons in 1913), of
which 251,384 tons (452,959 tons) were from Great Britain,
1,490,075 tons (3,008,987 tons) from Germany, and 13,010
tons (65,800 tons) from Belgium. For the whole year the
total coal imports were 11,281,782 tons (13,712,527 tons in
1913), a deficit of 2,430,745 tons, including 1,716,090 tons
(2,003,535 tons) from England, a deficit of 287,445 tons, and
9,400,645 tons (11,436,828 tons) from Germany, a deficit of
2,036,164 tons^ and 159,782 tons (269,866 tons) from
Belgium, a deficit of 110,084 tons. The exports for the
final quarter were 163,272 tons (1,373,908 tons), including
107,768 tons (202,437 tons) to Germany, 54,519 tons
(267,450 tons) to Belgium, and nil (236,897 tons) to France.
Exports for the whole year, 3,746,502 tons (5,106,287 tons),
a deficit of 1,359,785 tons. Of this quantity, 859,263 tons
(1,102,102 tons) were sent to Germany, a deficit of 242,839
tons, 605,746 tons (1,051,409 tons) to Belgium, a deficit of
445,663 tons, and 746,490 tons (867,865 tons) to France, a
deficit of 121,375 tons.

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 and iron trades in Germany and Austria:—

The Coal and Iron Market in Upper Silesia.

Although the war has withdrawn about 40 per cent, of
the miners, the coal market showed a not inconsiderable
improvement in January. The restrictions on traffic
were to a great extent removed, thus enabling the output
to be increased, and 'at the same time a considerable
proportion of the accumulated stocks at the pits to be
despatched, the supply of wagons being larger and more
regular. In fact, the deliveries rose to about 70 per
cent, of the figures of normal times. The demand
continues very active, and great care is devoted to
keeping the various gasworks well supplied. Before the
war many of these works obtained a large portion of
their supply from England, and now that this source
has been cut off they have to secure a substitute. Whilst
most of the gas coal is being obtained from Westphalia,
there is still a large opening for Silesian coal.. There is
also some difficulty in supplying the demand for coking
coals, the cokeries desiring to have their normal supplies,
in spite of the necessarily diminished output. Coke is
in such active request that the cokeries are doing, all
they can to keep up the output and satisfy their
customers, stocks being practically exhausted in conse-
quence of the scarcity of coal in December. The blast
furnaces are the chief buyers of large coke; and any
surplus is taken over readily by other consumers, along
with cubes and nuts. Small coke has also sold well,
and there are no important stocks anywhere. Pig iron
was much firmer than in the previous month, the
demand for war material being so great that all the
furnaces are trying to increase their output, whilst some
of them have been able to relieve the tension of the
market out of the stocks left over from last year.

Conventions in the Iron Industry.

The Kolnische Zeitung reports that the projected
Conventions for bar iron, plates and pipes have been
successfully formed, the first two for the inland trade,
and the last for export as well. Endeavours are still
being made to come to an agreement for the export
business in plates. The price of bar iron has been
fixed at 112'50 mk. net, freight base Oberhausen, for the
current quarter, and at 115 mk., same conditions, for
next quarter. The prices of plates are : 120 mk. for
heavy, 122'50 mk. for constructional, and 130 mk. for
boiler plates, ex Essen-Siegen, with discount.

Iron Pipe Market.

The last few weeks have witnessed an improvement in
this market, resulting in firmer prices. The Mannesmann
works have reduced the rebate by 2 per cent.—the
second increase in rates since war began. Other makers
are following suit, as buyers’ stocks appear to be getting
low. Enquiries from neutrals are being treated with
some reserve, it being considered undesirable to supply
the enemy indirectly with pipes, &c., which might be
used as war material.

Coal Syndicate Report for December.

Total coal raised 5,661,200 tons (7,956,552 tons in
December 1913). Calculated distribution 4,469,072 tons
(6.183,209 tons). Total coal distribution of the syndicated
pits 5,839,695 tons (7,943,042 tons). Deliveries, including
local sales, miners’ house coal and supply to pits’ own
ironworks: Coal 3,622,478 tons (5,099,492 tons); coke
1,114,147 tons (1,618,124 tons); briquettes 355,843 tons
(329,604 tons). The total coal output of the pits having
a sales agreement with the Syndicate was 363,402 tons
(460,083 tons) ; total coal distribution 333,564 tons
(416,355 tons), of which 104,967 tons (168,060 tons) were
for Syndicate account. The total coke distribution was
114,519 tons (120,283 tons), of which 88,571 tons (92,356
tons) were for account of the Syndicate.

Austrian Coal Production in 1914.

Coal, 15,073,132 tons (16,466,972 tons), a decline of
1,393,840 tons, or 8'46 per cent.; coke, 2,189,913 tons
(2,584,281 tons), a deficit of 394,368 tons, or 15'26 per-
cent ; briquettes, 194,221 tons (196,212 tons), a fall of
1'01 per cent. The production was distributed as
follows : — Ostrau - Karwin 8,917,922 tons (9,388,362
tons) of coal, 2,119,990 tons (2,504,513 tons) of coke, and
30,432 tons (52,425 tons) of briquettes; Kladno, 2,439,337
tons (2,555,593 tons) of coal; Pilsen, 1,159,087 tons
(1,328,930 tons) of coal and 68,691 tons (58,986 tons) of
briquettes; Galicia, 1,399,961 tons (1,979,584 tons) of
coal; other districts 1,156,825 tons (1,214,503 tons) of
coal, 69,923 tons (79,543 tons) of coke, and 95,098 tons
(84,801 tons) of briquettes. In brown coal the output was
23,772,069 tons (27,276,759 tons), a deficit of 3,504,690
tons, br 12 85 per cent.; and in briquettes 230,642 tons
(241,887 tons) a deficit of 11,245 tons, or 4'65 per cent.
The chief producing centres were:-r-Briix-Teplitz-
Komot.au,. 16,184,729 tons (18,529,072 tons) of brown
coal; and Falkenau-Elbogen-Karlsbad, 3,507,857 tons
(4,111,717 tons) of coal and 225,580 tons (231,814 tons)
of briquettes.

The following appears in the Zeitsch/rift des Verbandes
der Bergbau - Betriebsleiter : — “ The Britannia Goal
Works Limited, in Koenigswart, has been taken over by
the Austrian Government, which has appointed a
commission to administer its affairs. The capital of
the company is 2,568,000 kronen, of which 2,183,000
kronen are owned by John R. W. Griffith, Hendersyde
Park, England.”

Ruhr Coal Market.

Except that the scarcity of coal has increased, there
has been little change in the situation as compared with
December. Consumers have to rest content with the
knowledge that in no circumstances can they expect to