April 30, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

927

Cleveland.

The Export of Foundry Pig.

An important meeting of Cleveland ironmasters was held
at Middlesbrough on Friday last, to consider the situation
arising from the prohibition of the export of foundry pig
iron to neutral countries, except under Government licences.
The effect of the prohibition has been to almost entirely
suspend business in foundry iron with Scandinavia and
Italy. A number of applications have been made for
licences, but only one or two have been granted. It is
impossible under the circumstances with any certainty to fix
boats for cargoes to neutral countries. It is difficult for iron
masters and merchants to understand the reason for the
prohibition order, as Germany has very large stocks of
foundry iron, and much more than she can use, and needs
no supplies from Great Britain. It was stated that the
embargo is bein^ seriously felt at Glasgow, not a single
Glasgow application for a licence having been entertained.
The meeting decided to invite the Scottish iron masters to
co-operate with the Cleveland iron masters in the formation
of a deputation to seek an interview with the authorities in
London.

Cumberland.

An explosion of gas occurred on Monday at the Brayton
Domain Collieries, No. 4 Pit, Aspatria, Cumberland. Fortu-
nately, there was no loss of life, but eight men were severely
burned. The explosion was confined to a small area of the
pit, and not much damage was done to the workings. The
injured men were speedily brought to the surface.

Between 20 and 30 Belgians have arrived at Workington,
many of them being miners, who will be given employment
at the local collieries.

Mr. J. Webster, of Great Broughton, has retired from the
position of under-manager at Buckhill Colliery owing to
ill-health, after a long period of faithful service in the Aller-
dale Coal Company’s employment.

In future Ceag electric safety lamps will be used at the
Buckhill Colliery instead of oil lamps.

Yorkshire.

Important Railway Scheme—Shaft Accident at Barley Hall
Colliery—Record Winding at Maltby—Electric Power.

The Worksop and Bawtry Railway Bill, which is now
under consideration by a Committee of the House of
Commons, is of considerable interest to those associated
with the coalfield of South Yorkshire, as it win link up some
important new collieries. The new line covered by the Bill
will be 14 miles long, and will serve new pits about to be
sunk, and which will be situated between the termini of the
line. Lord Aberconway and others interested in the develop-
ment of the new collieries, are the promoters of the railway.
The latter will particularly serve the new colliery which is
to be at Firbeck, and which, it is estimated, will have an
output of one million tons per annum, and will employ
between 2,000 and 3,000 miners. The railway will shorten
the route from this pit to Sheffield, also to the East Coast
ports and to London. The promoters have secured an area
of the Barnsley seam to the extent of 9,000 acres.

The housing difficulty still continues to be fairly acute in
the South Yorkshire colliery districts. Efforts are being
made in various directions to supply the shortage. At the
annual meeting of the Womb well Council just held, it was
stated the Council had a housing scheme which would provide
70 new abodes in Wombwell itself, and 30 in Jump and
Hemingfield. Prospective sites had been visited. Mexboro’
is also experiencing the housing difficulty, and the matter
has once again been referred to at the meeting of the Urban
District Council. The sanitary inspector reported that four
cases of overcrowding were dealt with last , month. The
Bentley housing scheme is proving a great success, and the
Doncaster Corporation are also doing what they can to cope
with the difficulty.

Some miners had an exciting experience last week in the
Barley Hall Colliery of Messrs. Newton, Chambers and
Company Limited. When the first draft of men were being
lowered on the morning shift a conductor broke. The cage
was at this time a considerable distance down the shaft, and
the men were left suspended in this position for over an
hour. Eventually they were brought to the surface by
means of ropes and ladders, and were found to be none the
worse for their experience. Work had to be suspended for
the day, and the men who had finished the night shift, and
were waiting to be drawn out of the colliery, had to return
through the workings, and leave through another outlet.

A record in coal output was last week established at the
Maltby Main Colliery. The output was 11,000 tons, which
is held to be a very creditable performance, seeing there are
250 fewer men at work in consequence of the war.

The Pontefract West Riding magistrates were occupied
for nearly three hours on Saturday last hearing a claim
brought by Harry Lumb, check weighman in the Castle seam
of the Glasshoughton Colliery, to recover from William
Corbett, William H. Grant, and Charles Bromley, miners
working therein, lOd. each as their fortnightly contributions
towards his remuneration. Plaintiff was appointed to his
post in 1912, but a month ago the miners of the seam, by a
ballot which yielded 148 votes to 8, gave him a fortnight’s
notice to terminate the engagement, and elected another
man in his place. In the meantime, however, the check-
weigh funds of the three seams which comprise the coal
workings had been amalgamated into one, and plaintiff,
claiming that a ballot of the whole of the 800 miners was
consequently necessary before his removal could be legally
demanded, refused to give way, and continued in possession
of his box, whereupon defendants and others refused to pay
their usual contributions. Mr. Gichard, for defendants, con-
tended that on the resumption of work under new agreements
after a strike 12 months ago, a new ballot was essential to
plaintiff’s re-appointment, and in its absence, plaintiff was
expressly debarred by section 14 (1) of the Mines Act from
recovering his remuneration. The Bench, after a brief
retirement, gave judgment for plaintiff, and, at Mr.
Gichard’s request, agreed to state a case on the legal point.

A Select Committee of the House of Lords, under the
presidency of Lord Hylton, has had before them the Bill
promoted by the Yorkshire Electric Power Company, the
object of which is to empower the company to supply
electricity for lighting in certain parts of their area, as well
as for power. The Bill was opposed by, amongst others, the
Corporations of Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Hudders-
field, and Leeds, by several gas companies, and by the

Great Northern Railway Company. Giving evidence, Mr.
Lupton, chairman of the promoting company, said at present
a person taking power supply from the company could light
his premises by electricity, but a person who did not use
power could not light. Having regard to colliery develop-
ment, particularly in the Doncaster district, there was a
need for houses. The supply of electricity to these houses
would be of great advantage for lighting purposes, and it
would obviate the smoke nuisance. The colliers had no
means of lighting their houses.—Mr. Bradley Woodhouse,
engineer of the promoting company, said that the area
affected comprised the new coalfields that were being
developed. The output of the Yorkshire coalfields was 43.
million tons a year, and that was being rapidly extended.
The company now supplied 36 collieries with electric power.
They anticipated a great increase in the demand for their
power in this district of Yorkshire. The difficulty of some
of the local authorities was that the density of the population
was not sufficient to enable them to deal with power and
light requirements. The population, though sparse in such
districts, was mainly collected near the collieries, and if they
supplied the collieries they could also supply the small
houses. It would not be possible to set up a separate
undertaking to supply the houses at a cheap rate.—The Com-
mittee decided that, as regards clauses 12, 13, and 13c, the
Bill could not proceed. These clauses relate to powers to be
exercised within scheduled districts, and to the terms of
purchase by local authorities.—Counsel for the promoters
thereupon intimated that the other portions of the Bill were
not of sufficient importance to justify the expense of con-
tinuing the Bill, and they therefore withdrew the Bill.

Lancashire and Cheshire.

It was reported at a meeting of the Bury Corporation
Electricity Committee last week that while excavations were
being carried out in connection with the extension of the
electricity works at Chamber Hall, a seam of coal had been
discovered, and a considerable number of tons of coal had
been obtained and used at the works.

The widows and other dependants of the men who lost
their lives in the Pretoria Pit disaster have been granted an
advance of 2s. per week.

North Wales.

Mr. Joseph Garner, an official at the Hafod Colliery,
Ruabon, and teacher of mining at Rhos and Buckley evening
classes, who has just received his certificate for competency
in mining, as a result of the examination held at Wigan,
received several presentations as marks of appreciation. The
members of his Rhos mining class presented him with an
enlarged portrait of himself; his Buckley class, a fountain
pen; his fellow firemen at the colliery, a marble timepiece
and vases; and his Sunday school scholars at the Penuel
Baptist Church, a Bible, concordance, and inkstand. Mr.
D. H. F. Mathews, H.M. inspector of mines, bore testimony
to the qualifications of Mr. Garner; and also presented the
certificates which had been gained by the pupils of Mr.
Garner’s class, in connection with the Denbighshire Educa-
tion Committee

Notts and Derbyshire.

Midland Relief Fund—Nottingham and Coal Prices—V.C. for
a Mansfield Collier.

At the 32nd annual meeting of the Midland District
Miners’ Fatal Accident Relief Society at Derby on Tuesday,
it was reported that since the formation of the organisation
646 widows and 1,361 children had received benefits, the
numbers now on the funds being 313 and 428 respectively,
as compared with 296 and 388 a year ago. During the 31
years the sum of £10,500 had been paid in funeral allow-
ances and legacies to the widows and representatives of
1,021 deceased members, and over £107,000 in weekly allow-
ances to widows and orphans. The deaths from accidents
among the members last year numbered 55, making a rate
of 1-248 per 1,000 members at risk, which was in excess of
the society’s average annual experience to the date of the
last quinquennial valuation in December 1912. The year’s
income amounted to £12,994, comprising £9,733 in members’
contributions, and £3,261 in. interest on investments, the
total being £712 in excess of that for the previous year. The
expenditure was £8,619, there being an increase of £637 in
annuities to widows and orphans, and of £87 in funeral
allowances. The bank balance at the present time amounted
to £5,691, as compared with £675 a year ago, this large
sum being held for the purpose of making an investment in
the next War Loan. It was estimated that from 5,000 to
6,000 members were now serving with the Colours, leaving
41,381 in the society. The Duke of Devonshire was
re-elected as president, and the Duke of Portland, the Duke
of Rutland, Earl Carnarvon, Lord Middleton, and Mr. E.
S. W. Sitwell were re-appointed vice-presidents. Mr. J.
Stratford Dugdale, who assisted in the formation of the
society, and was one of the vice-presidents, wrote intimating
that from causes arising out of the war he was unable to
continue his annual subscription of five guineas. A vote of
condolence was passed with the family of the late Sir Charles
Seely, who had annually subscribed £20 to the society during
a period of 21 years.

In reply to a resolution passed by the Nottingham and
District Trades’ Council, protesting against the high prices
charged for coal, and mentioning in some cases that the
rates have advanced as much as 9s. per ton compared with
normal times, Major W. Eaton Walker, managing director
of the Clifton Colliery, Nottingham, asserts that coal can
be bought in Nottingham cheaper than in any. other city in
the Midlands, if not in England. “ The colliery prices in
the Nottingham district,” he says, “ are lower than any I
know of in other towns of the same size. The winter prices
here are only 2s. to 3s. higher than the winter prices of
last year. The advance in house coal in Nottingham is 2s.,
and that on steam 3s. Outsiders—I mean London and other
places—are only being asked about 5s. a ton more than last
year. The cost of production warrants an increased price
of 3s., or even more, but the collieries in this district, with-
out any landsale at all, agreed t.hat the prices should not be
increased more than 2s. and 3s. How the 9s. is arrived at
I cannot say. Anyone can see the winter price lists of this
year and last year. If the 9s. is quoted from another dis-
trict, then I cannot say anything about it; but I certainly
do not know where it is obtained from.” Major Walker
added that he did not believe merchants were imposing
increases in addition to those imposed by the collieries. He
considered that merchants should be satisfied with the
increased prices fixed by the collieries.

A fitting civic recognition of the heroism of Lance-Corpl.
Fuller, the Mansfield soldier, and formerly a miner, to whom
last week was awarded the Victoria Cross, was accorded
by the Mansfield Town Council at its meeting on Friday,
April 23. The Mayor read a letter from Sir Arthur B.
Markham, M.P. for the division, in which he promised £100
towards the raising of a fund for a proposed memorial to
commemorate the deed of this gallant miner. Mr. J. P.
Houfton, managing director of the Bolsover Colliery Com-
pany, who seconded the Mayor’s motion, said as one who
was connected with Mansfield Colliery, at which Lance-
Corpl. Fuller worked for nearly four years, he wished to
say how proud they who were connected with the ownership
of the colliery were, and how proud also were the men who
were working at the same colliery.

The Midlands.

The position as regards the fuel supply does not improve.
All classes of manufacturers are having to pay exceedingly
high prices for their coal and coke, and so far there seems
small prospect of a break. Current figures for iron works
coal are 15s. and 16s. per ton, steam fuel 12s. 6d. to 14s. 6d.
—both delivered by canal—and hard furnace coke for the
blastfurnaces 27s. 6d. to 30s. per ton. Other raw materials
are wrought iron scrap as a mixture for the puddling fur-
naces 70s. per ton, pottery mine 30s., etc.

Kent.

More about Kent Colliery Finance.

After a long discussion of the proposed re-construction
scheme of the East Kent Colliery Company Limited, the
shareholders appointed an advisory committee to obtain
independent expert and legal opinion, to consult with the
directors and receiver, and to advise an adjourned meeting
of the shareholders to be held on May 12. The advisory
committee consists of Messrs. H. J. Johnstone, J. Bell-
Beatty, J. J. Clarke, G. Thomas, Close, and Greig. Under
the proposed re-construction, the shareholders would be
liable for a call of 2s. on each share. In the meantime, the
company’s colliery, at Tilmanstone is being kept pumped,
so that coal getting operations could be re-commenced at
once, if thought advisable. Mr. J. R. Clarke (chairman of
Snowdown Colliery Company) states that if the Tilman-
stone Colliery were working at the present time, and only
raising 2,000 tons of coal weekly (1,000 tons less than the
best output of the colliery), a profit of £500 weekly would be
earned on present prices.

Mr. Justice Astbury on Tuesday heard the petition of the
East Kent Contract and Financial Company Limited, to
sanction a scheme of arrangement with those of its unsecured
creditors whose debts amounted to £100 and upwards.—Mt.
Jenkins, K.C., for the company, said it was one of a group
of seven companies connected with Kent coal business. They
had had a chequered career, but were now under the control
of persons who had put money into them. The scheme had
been adopted by the’ allied companies; but with the excep-
tion of the Intermediate Equipments Limited, the other
companies would probably not present petitions, because he
was instructed that the consents of their shareholders had
been obtained. The scheme provided for the raising of
money to pay the unsecured creditors, and to do certain
urgent mining work by four of the allied companies, of
which the Contract and Financial Company was not one, by
the issue of bonds. Of these bonds £75,000 had already
been taken up, and there would be no difficulty in raising
the whole issue. At a meeting of the unsecured creditors
of the company whose debts were £100 and more, creditors
for £72,038 were represented, and they al! voted in favour
of the scheme. The total unsecured creditors amounted to
something over £150,000, the smaller creditors amounting to
£2,302. What the company really asked for was a mora-
torium during the war and for six months after its termina-
tion.—His lordship sanctioned the scheme. The similar
scheme of Intermediate Equipments Limited was also
sanctioned.

Scotland.

Home Office Prosecution at Glasgow—Fire at Dysart—The
Price of Gas Goal.

In Glasgow Sheriff Court on the 21st inst., the Farme
Coal Company Limited, Glasgow, and their manager, Mr.
Alexander Anderson, Rutherglen, were charged at the
instance of Mr. J. N. Hart, Procurator-Fiscal, with consent
of the Home Secretary, with 15 alleged contraventions of
the Coal Mines Act, 1911, and relative General Regulations.
Three of the charges were withdrawn, and the respondent
Mr. Anderson pleaded guilty to a charge that they had failed
to have the apparatus used for raising and lowering persons
to' or from the surface of the mine by the principal shaft
provided wTith an effective automatic contrivance to prevent
overwinding. A plea of not guilty was tendered with
respect to the remaining counts. Sheriff Lee found com-
plaints relating to the provision of protecting bushes and
the provision of efficient means of telephonic communication
not proved, but convicted on the remaining 10 charges, and
imposed a penalty of £32 on the company, and fined the
manager £16.

At a meeting of the West of Scotland branch of the Asso-
ciation of Mining Electrical Engineers held on Wednesday
evening, office-bearers were elected for the ensuing session
as follow :—President, Mr. A. B. Muirhead (Lenzie); vice-
presidents, Messrs. J. B. Thomson (Hamilton) and H. A.
McGuffie (Glasgow); secretary, Mr. D. Landale Frew
(Glasgow); treasurer, Mr. C. E. Hart (Glasgow); auditor,
Mr. Archibald Smellie, colliery manager, New Gumnock.

A fire which broke out in the underground workings of
the Lady Blanche Pit, Dysart, fully a week ago, still con-
tinues, despite all the efforts of the management to have the
affected area built off.

At a meeting of the Edinburgh and Leith Corporations’
Gas Commissioners on Monday, a report by Messrs. W. R.
Herring and A. Masterton, the consulting engineer and
manager, was submitted with regard to the tenders for coal.
It was stated in the report that : “ The position of the coal
market in Scotland is at present determined exclusively by
the demand for export coal, and fancy prices are being asked
and accepted for delivery over the current year. The posi-
tion of the coal trade is so speculative that we hesitate to
advise the Commissioners to refrain entirely from purchasing
some coal at the moment, as circumstances may develop to
prevent our buying anything like the quantities required.
We are therefore reluctantly compelled to put before you a
modified list, which will average an increased price of 9s.
per ton over last year’s rates for the same class of coal.”
The report was adopted.