454

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

February 26, 1915.

of the whole neighbourhood, it was decided to erect a steam-
driven power plant on the banks of the Tyne at Dunston.
This station, which has a frontage to the river of about
900 ft., was put into service some three and a-half years
ago, and formed the subject of a detailed illustrated article
which appeared in the issue of the Colliery Guardian for
July 7, 1911. The Dunston station generates three-phase
current at a periodicity of 40 complete cycles, and a normal
voltage of 6,000 volts. The steam pressure is 2001b. per
sq. in., and the steam is superheated, the total temperature
being practically 570 degs. Fahr. The main generating
units at present consist of two A.E.G-. sets, each of 10,500-
horse power, and a Brown-Boveri set of 9,000-horse power,
all three running at 1,200 revolutions per minute. The
station was originally laid out to accommodate eventually
six generating units, each of 10,000-horse power continuous
capacity and 13,000 maximum capacity, or a total capacity
of about 70,000-horse power. In connection with the present
extension scheme, an agreement was entered into with the
Teams By-Product Coke Company Limited to purchase the
available supply of gas from a large battery of Otto-
Hiigensitock coke ovens, distant 1J miles from the Dunston
power station. This gas is led along the North-Eastern
Bail way Company’s Dunston branch in a 16 in. welded steel
pipe, supplied by Messrs. Stewarts and Lloyds Limited.
The joints were welded in situ by the acetylene process. The
boiler house extensions comprise a steel frame building,
sheeted in with corrugated iron, 114 ft. long by 75 ft. wide,
and two steel chimneys. There are two coal fired water
tube boilers, each capable of producing continuously
30,0001b. of steam per hour, with the necessary furnace and
fixtures, ailso stokers and superheaters. In addition, there
are four gas fired water tube boilers, each capable of dealing
continuously with 57,000 cu. ft. of gas per hour, built in two
batteries, with the necessary flue fixtures of same, inclusive
of gas burner and superheaters. The fuel economisers, one
for each boiler, have automatic tube scrapers and flues and
dampers, also soot cleaning gear. Induced draught fans,
direct coupled to electric motors, deal with the products of
combustion from two gas fired boilers and one coal fired
boiler. There are two feed pumps, each capable of dealing
with 200,0001b. of water per hour at 1901b. to the sq. in.
boiler pressure. The coal handling plant is of the gravity
bucket conveyor type, and capable of feeding the coal into
the overhead bunkers at the rate of 40 tons per hour. The
plant is suitable for receiving coal from two hoppers of
25 tons capacity, each traversed by a railway truck. The
overhead bunkers have a capacity of 950 tons. All the
boiler house plant and buildings were contracted for by
Messrs. Babcock and Wilcox Limited, and the whole of these
buildings were placed on a 6 ft. 6 in. reinforced concrete
raft, supported on 376 40 ft. pitch pine piles, which work
was executed by Messrs. Robt. McAlpine and Sons Limited,
of Glasgow. The engine room plant extensions consist of
a 12,000 kw. turbo-alternator, with direct-coupled exciter,
the turbine being of Messrs. Richardsons, Westgarth and
Company Limited manufacture, and the alternator by
Messrs. Brown, Boveri and Company Limited, of Baden,
Switzerland. The surface condensing plant consists of a
Contraflo surface condenser, capable of dealing with
141,6001b. of steam per hour. The turbine is of the
impulse reaction type, designed to run at a speed of 1,200
revolutions per minute with steam at a pressure of 190 lb.
per sq. in., and at a temperature of 600 degs. Eahr., and
with a vacuum of 0-9 in. mercury. Though the normal
and most economical load is 12,000 kw., the machine is
capable of 50 per cent, overload. The alternator has a
normal capacity of 12,000 kw. at a power factor of 0-7
lagging and 5,750 volts, 40 periods. It will, however, take
overloads up to 13,200 kw. steady and 15,000 kw. for 60
minutes, equivalent to 21,400 k.v.a. The necessary con-
densing plant has also been supplied by Messrs. Richardsons,
Westgarth and Company Limited, and the whole of the
installation has been built and started up under the super-
vision of Messrs. Merz and McLellan, of Newcastile-on-
Tyine and Westminster, the consulting engineers to the
Newcastle-on-Tyne Electric Supply Company Limited.

The large orders thrown on the Newcastle coal market
recently have resulted in the announcement that two
Northumbrian collieries are to be re-opened. Choppington
Colliery, which has been closed since the commencement of
the war, is to re-commence work on Monday next. Full
time is to be worked, but only a part of the pit is to re-start.
In normal times the colliery employs between 600 and 700
men. Netherton Howard Pit, which closed down in
September, is also to be re-opened. Between 400 and 500
men are usually employed here.

There is likely to be some difficulty in obtaining the
requisite number of men to work the pits, because work at
the Northumberland collieries has improved greatly during
the past two or three months. The difficulty will probably
be overcome, however, by the withdrawal of men, who
previously worked at Choppington and Netherton Howard,
from various other pits at which they have found work.
This will, undoubtedly, result in even better working at the
remainder of the collieries.

It is announced that Messrs. Pease and Partners’ St.
Helen’s Colliery, near Bishop Auckland, is to be closed
down. For some time past, it has been expected that the
management would be obliged to take this step, owing to
the increasing difficulties of working. Between 500 and. 600
men and boys are at present employed at the pit, but it is
probable that those engaged on the by-product plant will be
retained, as the firm intends to supply the ovens with coal
from the neighbouring Eldon Colliery of the company.

The Lambton and Hetton Collieries Company has agreed
to give to the 12 aged miners’ homes to be erected in the
Hetton district 'all the bricks required for the buildings.
The workmen have between £1,500 and ,£1,600 in hand, and
it is proposed to commence building in April on a site pur-
chased from Mr. Bowes Lyon. It has been decided to open
12 similar homes at Ebchester on April 17. Twelve houses
at Seaham are to be opened on March 6, when it is hoped
Dr. John Wilson, M.P., who appears to be slowly recover-
ing from a long and severe illness, will be able to be present
to perform the opening ceremony.

The Seaham Harbour Dock Company, the shareholders in
which are now mourning the death of their chairman, the
Marquis of Londonderry, reports that 835,000 tons of coal
were shipped from Seaham Harbour last half-year, and that
the company made a profit of £11,005 0s. 4d.

Mr. C. W. C. Henderson, of The Riding, near Hexham,
chairman of the Consett Iron Company Limited, and a
large colliery proprietor, who died recently, left unsettled
estate of the gross value of £68,732 14s. 10d., with net
personalty £28,442 Is. He bequeathed his wealth to his
wife and family.

Mr. J. W. Charlton, of Western Hill, Durham, one of
H.M. assistant, inspectors of mines, has received an impor-
tant appointment at Liverpool.

At Moorsley last Saturday, Mr. Chas. Maughan, who,
after having been chief engineer under the North Hetton
Coal Company for 13 years, is now leaving the district, was
presented by workmen and other friends with a gold watch,
suitably inscribed, and a purse of gold, together with a
gold brooch for his wife.

Yorkshire.

Mining Research at Leeds University.

Some interesting topics are dealt with in the annual report
of Sir W. E. Garforth, chairman of the Mining Advisory
Committee of the Leeds University, on the Department of
Mining. He states that although the teaching and inspect-
ing work necessarily occupies a great deal of the time of
the department’s small staff, it has been found possible to
devote attention to scientific research, the importance of
which, in relation to mining, cannot be over-estimated.
Investigations have been conducted by members of the staff
and advanced students which it is hoped will prove of prac-
tical value to the industry. The report significantly adds
that “ there is a very wide scope for the further development
of this side of the department’s work.” The work done in
the county has been handsomely recognised by Government
inspectors, who commented as follows :—“As a rule the
practical experience possessed by mining teachers is not
sufficiently or properly balanced by scientific training to
enable them to apply their practical knowledge to the best
advantage in teaching. The course of instruction in the
Leeds University is intended to strengthen this side of the
teaching, and the mining teachers who can conveniently get
to Leeds are strongly urged to take advantage of the
course.” The fine equipment of the department is of value
not only in instruction of students and prosecution of research,
but, the report points out, also in connection with problems
arising in the industry generally. For example, the safety
lamps recovered after several recent colliery explosions have
been tested in explosive air currents of high velocity, and
reports on these tests have been made at the subsequent
enquiries. Analyses have also been regularly made during
the past two years of the samples of mine air collected in
the north—this in accordance with the provisions of the
Coal Mines Act, 1911, as to standards of ventilation for
the safe working of collieries. As one of the immediate
results of the war may possibly be a shortage or interrup-
tion of timber supplies to Britain from sources hitherto avail-
able, the use of colonial timber and the possible use of sub-
stitutes for timber are engaging the attention of colliery
managers. “ In this connection,” Sir W. E. Garforth says,
“ the staff of the department, in conjunction with members
of the industry, are making experiments, for which facilities
and the use of a specially designed 500-ton hydraulic press
were kindly offered by a member of the Mining Committee.”
The report also mentions that there is reason to think that
colliery proprietors are realising more and more fully the
value of the assistance which trained men are able to give
in the application of scientific principles to mining processes
and all that is incidental to them. The number of students,
states the report, tends to increase, but not rapidly. It has
been noted with satisfaction that recently there has been a
tendency for degree students to remain in the department
for a fourth year for the purpose of conducting research.
There is also a growing need for well-qualified men in over-
seas portions of the British Empire, and former students of
the department have obtained responsible positions in India,
South Africa, Canada, and Nigeria. The following are the
numbers of students in the mining department in the past
three sessions :—53 in 1911-12; 48 in 1912-13; 59 in 1913-14.

The marriage last week of Miss Violet Rosa Markham,
sister of Sir Arthur B. Markham, M.P., to Major J.
Carruthers, R.F.A., was a matter of interest in Yorkshire
coalfield circles, in which the bride’s father is so well
known. The bride, too, was particularly well known in
the Doncaster district for the great interest she took in
the Woodlands model village and the life of its inhabitants
there. She was a frequent speaker at social gatherings at
the village.

At a meeting of the Brodsworth Main Colliery Company
on Monday, it was decided, “ in view of the very outrageous
prices which are being talked of for coal, that this colliery,
together with the Hickleton Main Colliery, the Bullcroft
Main Colliery, and the Oxcroft Main Colliery, should not
sell at a price exceeding 15s. per ton at the pit for any
description of coal.” The four above-mentioned collieries
represent an output of upwards of four million tons per
year. The directors of the Brodsworth Company consider
that, under such circumstances as the country is at present
passing through, no advantage should be taken by any
industry whatever to inflict additional costs on the public.
This price (15s. per ton), it is pointed out, would not be
much more than 2s. per ton advance on prices which were
current for coal before the commencement of the war.
Brodsworth and the three other collieries are under the
same directional management, and the directors include Sir
Arthur B. Markham, M.P., Mr. R. Armitage, M.P., Mr.
C. E. Rhodes, and Mr. H. Westlake.

At the Hull County Court recently, before Deputy-Judge
Alexander, Messrs. Mairchbank and Bainbridge, colliery
agents, and Bob Hobson, lighter owner, were sued jointly
by Messrs. W. S. Flowerday and Sons, keel owners, for
the payment of £29 demurrage. Mr. Rowan Hamilton
(instructed by Mr. Pearlman) appeared for the plaintiffs,
and Dr. Eric Jackson represented the defendants. The
claim originally was £40 12s. lid., but Mr. Hamilton
explained that £11 12s. lid., the freight, had been paid
into court. Plaintiffs, he continued, owned two keels, the
“ Atlas ” and the “ Cyprus,” and they were engaged to
carry coal from Aldwarke Colliery to the Premier Oil
Extracting Mills, Hull, in September last. Plaintiffs
asserted that when they asked the foreman to accept such
delivery they were told that the coal would not be required
that week or the next, that there were four other vessels
waiting in the Queen’s Dock at Hull, and that if the vessels
went to the mills they would be in the way. Capt.
Wilkinson, plaintiffs’ master, was further told that they
could not unload the vessels ; there were other vessels wait-
ing their turn, and some had been waiting three weeks.
Being given to understand that Hobson was only the agent
of Messrs. Marchbank and Bainbridge, Capt. Wilkinson
visited the offices of that firm, and was told that when he
was wanted he would be sent for. After being in Hull for

a week, and seeing no opportunity of getting rid of the
cargo, he served demurrage notices on the defendants. The
keels arrived at Hull on September 8. The “ Cyprus ” was
detained until September 30 . before she was ordered to
discharge, and the “Atlas ” until October 28. Demurrage
at 10s. per day was claimed by the plaintiffs—17 days for
the “ Cyprus ” and 41 for the “Atlas.” The judge gave a
verdict against Messrs. Marchbank and Bainbridge, and
dismissed suit against Hobson with costs.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

Dispute Over a Mining Lease—The Hulton Pollution Case.

In the Chancery Court at Manchester on Tuesday, the
Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Stewart Smith, K.C., was asked to
decide a dispute between the Diggles Estate Company
Limited and the West Leigh Colliery Company Limited,
in connection with a lease of land and minerals. Both
companies have their registered offices in Leigh.—Mr. Roby
(who appeared for the estate company) said his clients had
entered into a contract to grant to the West Leigh Colliery
Company a renewal of a former lease for the working of the
coal under the surface of their estate. One of the terms
was that the colliery company were not to be responsible
for surface damage. Naturally, his clients required the
colliery company to take a lease of the surface also for a
period, expiring when the coal was worked out. For some
reason which he could not understand, the colliery company
were insisting that the rent should temporarily cease if, as
a result of the mining operations, the surface became water-
logged or flooded.—Mr. Roberts (on behalf of the respon-
dents) argued that they were entitled to the clause upon the
basis of an agreement made between the parties in
September 1912. The lessors had agreed to give a lease
which would carry with it the right to let down the surface
and injure buildings.—The Vice-Chancellor decided against
the colliery company, who were ordered to pay the costs of
the proceedings.

On Monday last the Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery
Court, Mr. Stewart Smith, K.C., heard the closing speech
on behalf of the plaintiffs in the action brought by the
Laburnum Spinning Company Limited and five other firms
against the Hulton Colliery Company Limited, for an
injunction and damages in respect of the pollution of the
Carr Brook.—Mr. Cunliffe, K.C., said the question for the
Court to consider was whether the defendants had infringed
the rights of the plaintiffs by discharging water into the
brook from (a) the Pretoria pit, (6) the School and Deep
Arley pits. The order made on July 1, 1913, amounted to
an admission that the stream was being polluted, and the
admission extended not only to the Pretoria water, but also
to that coming from the School and Deep Arley pits. There-
fore, if there had been no change for the better in the interval
the position was that the colliery company were committing
a wrong which entitled the plaintiffs to an injunction. With
regard to the School and Deep Arley, the defendants rested
their case upon the assertion that the present state of things
was not now materially different from that which prevailed in
1891. That assertion he did not admit; it was refuted by
the evidence of witnesses, who had been able to compare the
appearance of the water at those periods. He submitted
that the claim to a prescriptive right based on user during
the 20 years from 1891 failed. Counsel dealt with the sug-
gestion that his clients were acting harshly, and said there
was no reason to suppose that an adverse decision would
lead to the closing of the mine. It was incredible that the
defendants would not be able to devise some other method
of disposing of the water. Indeed, if the effluent had the
qualities ascribed to it by one witness, it might even be
made use of for medicinal purposes. Less heroic methods
might ■ also be employed with probably more satisfactory
results.—-At the close of the speech the Vice-Chancellor
reserved judgment.

At the No. 2 Westhoughton Pit belonging to the West-
houghton Coal and Cannel Company, ascending and descend-
ing cages, occupied by workmen, collided on Friday last,
with the result that two men in the ascending cage were
thrown out and fell to the bottom, a distance of 100 yds.
Both men were killed.

Notts and Derbyshire.

Opposition to the Trent Scheme.

It was reported at a meeting of the Midland branch of
the National Association of Colliery Managers at the
University College, Nottingham, on Saturday, February 13,
that Mr. J. Edgar Jones had been transferred to that branch
from the North Wales branch. Mr. Jones, who attended
the meeting, and was welcomed by the branch president
(Mr. James Strachan), has succeeded Mr. A. Hodgkinson
as manager at the Wollaton Colliery, near Nottingham.

The time has now’ expired in the House of Commons for
presenting petitions to be heard in opposition to the Bill
promoted by the Nottingham Corporation for power to make
the River Trent navigable between Newark and Nottingham.
Only seven petitions will, unless previously settled with,
appear before the Select Committee to which the Bill will
in due course be referred. These include the four railways
in the city, viz., the Midland, the Great Northern, the Great
Central, and the London and North-Western; the Newark
Navigation Commissioners, the Trent Navigation Company,
and a petition signed by a number of traders, owners of
property, and ratepayers in Nottingham.

The Midlands.

Electric Safety Lamps and Nystagmus.

A meeting of the North Staffordshire branch of the
National Association of Colliery Managers was held last
week at the Mining School, Stoke, Mr. J. R. L. Allot!
(president) in the chair. A paper on “A .Year’s Experience
with the Ceag Miner’s Electric Lamp ” was read by Mr.
Caleb Johnson, of Longton. He said when the lamps were
first installed at the colliery, a little difficulty arose in per-
suading some of the men, and especially the older and more
conservative, to take kindly to the lamp, but, the only objec-
tion being the additional weight, it was soon overcome, and
to-day he was of opinion that another lib. in weight, or
even more, might be added without objection from the
miners, thereby giving facilities to increase the illuminating
power of the lamp. He was of opinion that the introduction
of a lamp with greater illuminating power tended to reduce
the number of nystagmus cases. During 1913, at their
colliery, they had a number of persons afflicted with this