May 21, 1915. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1071 APPROVED SAFETY LAMPS. In pursuance of section 33 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, the Home Secretary has made an Order approving two new types of safety lamps, until further order, for use in all mines 'to which the Act applies, subject in each case to the conditions specified in the schedule. The Order may be cited as “ The Safety Lamps Order of April 22, 1915.” Flame Safety Lamps Approved for General Use. Best's Excelsior Lamp A7o. 4. This lamp, the general design of which is shown in fig. 1, is a modification of Best’s Excelsior Lamp No. 1,* with the following variations :— (1) The Bonnet and Crown are of the type shown in fig. 1. Air outlet holes are provided under the crown Fig. 1.—Best’s Excelsior L'amp No. 4. iii such a position that the lower edges of the holes are not below the top of the outer gauze. Air inlet holes are also provided of a total area not exceeding Isq. in. The gauzes are protected from a horizontal current by a securely fastened baffle plate, as shown in fig. 1. The bonnet-ring may be provided with a. shut-off ring. (2) A pivoted electric torch, lit by a primary dry cell, may be attached to the bonnet; provided that the cover of the battery case is securely soldered on, that the protecting glass is securely fastened, and forms a flame- tight joint with the case, and that the push switch is flametight.' (3) The Gauzes may be of copper in the case of lamps used for surveying purposes. The lamp must have been made at the works of Messrs. Best’s Safety Lamps Limited, at Providence Works, Park-lane Mills, Leeds, Yorkshire. Patterson and Company's Safety Lamp, Type B.l Fig. 2.—Patterson’s Type B7 Lamp. This lamp, the general design of which is shown in fig. 2, is a modification ’ of Patterson and Company’s Lamp, Type B.l,| with the following variations :— (1) The dimensions of the gauzes are as follow :— Internal dimensions. Outer gauze. Inner gauze. Height from shoulder of base ring _______ 3|in. ± i in. ... 3 % in. ± |in. Diameter at top_____ 2 in. ± I in ... 1# in. ±|in. Diameter at bottom .. 2 in ±' | in. ... 1| in. ± j in. ______________________________________________________ * See Colliery Guardian, September 12, 1913, p. 524. f See Colliery Guardian, August 8, 1913, p. 269.; and September 26, 1913, p. 643. + 0 mm. - 1 mm. ± i mm. 57 mm. 67 mm. 57—67 + 0 mm. — 1 mm. ± i mm. 60 mm. 57—60 (2) The lamp may be hiade to take glasses of the following dimensions :— External diameter ............ Height _____....................... Size mark..................... and External diameter ................. Height ....................... Size mark______..............:___ (3) The oil vessel may be fitted with a flat | in. to J in. burner, with or without a porcelain cone, and with or without an electric ignition device. (4) The lamp may be fitted with a magnetic lock, namely,’a vertical iron bolt (held in position by a spiral spring) working within a chamber with a closed end, as shown in fig. 2, and so constructed that the bolt can be withdrawn only by means of a powerful electro- magnet. . The lamp must have been made»at the works of Messrs. Patterson and Company, at Trafalgar-street, Newcastle-on-Tyne. _____________________________________________________ LETTERS TO THE EDITORS. _____ _____________________________________________ The Editors are not responsible either for the statements made, or the opinions expressed by correspondents. All communications must be authenticated by the name and address of the sender, whether for publication or not. No notice can be taken of anonymous communications. As replies to questions are only given by way of published answers to correspondents, and not by letter, stamped addressed envelopes are not required to be sent. ____________________________________________________ COAL PRICES AMD MINERS’ WAGES. Sirs,—There has been a good -deal of nonsense written to the papers recently anent coal prices by people who have no knowledge of the actual position. The result is that the “ man in the street ” has got the impression that colliery owners are making fabulous profits. This is quite a fallacy. It is well known that coal prices did not advance until the beginning of January this year. It is also an absolute fact that the average selling price as regards the Yorkshire collieries has not advanced more than 4d. per ton for the first quarter of 1915, as against the fourth quarter of 1914. This advance does not by any means cover the increase which has taken place in the cost of production (labour and material) since the commencement of the war. It will therefore be seen that there must be many colliery owners who,, in place of making . huge. profits, are actually in a worse position than they were prior to the war. ■ . Negotiations are now on foot to grant the miners a war bonus, ostensibly to cover the increased cost of living; there can be no objection to this, provided that only men who work assiduously are allowed to parti- cipate. There is, however,. a certain proportion of miners who will neither fight for their country or work as they might do for their country’s good; in other words, there is a proportion of “ slackers.” The effect of these slackers is that many ' pits are regularly averaging 20 to 25 per cent, of absentees daily; result, increased cost of production, and less coal for consump- tion. If a war bonus is granted to men of this type, it will simply ' represent a premium to increased indifference on their part. It should be definitely stipu- lated that any man who is physically able to follow his- employment shall not participate in the benefits of any war bonus unless he is prepared to assist the welfare of his country in this time of need by working full time. Barnslev, Carbonicus. May 14, 1915. _____________________ DANGER AND THE LAW. Sirs,—Your remarks on the above subject last week are apt, but capable of further extension. That a mines inspector should distinguish between a question of danger and a question of law may seem curious, but such a distinction is real and common. Danger is the existence of some phenomenon that causes injury and loss. Law specifies the use of certain acts, forms, and things to reduce risks generally, and sometimes to prevent danger as well. But sometimes danger is not the view point of the law. Thus, until a cage becomes without control of the rope, there is no danger; at the moment a rope breaks, danger enters the question; the cage is then a dangerous place, with injury as a result of men being in danger. A shaftman works in a risky position or class of work, but there is no danger till the man or his scaffold slips. The law ignores both the risks and the dangers in these cases. A thing is safe when no danger is apparent, and is not dangerous till the moment that danger arises. Either an official invents, requisitions, or orders things to safeguard against the danger moment; if he fails to do so, General Rule 38 tells him to get “ proper appliances . . . for ensuring safety.” The absurdity of using unguarded cages becomes apparent at once, if looked at from the view point of danger, but it is not yet generally fashionable to do so. Your defence of the manager mentioned will be appreciated. It is difficult to imagine that any law, or lawyer’s opinion, should be allowed to override the results of a manager’s proper tests. When a manager has sympathetically and properly tried a means or method of safety, his opinion should stand for himself, and exonerate him. Of course, the lawyer might insist that he should try or invent better things, but sometimes this is not easy. The whole thing shows that officials cannot always expect a charitable view at inquests and enquiries. The best thing is a cautious search for and consideration of real dangers, and then a cautious-boldness in devising or getting any means of direct safety, for* the danger moment can be relied on to turn up at an unexpected time. A. Hanley. Bristol, May 15, 1915. ___________________________ BOOK NOTICES. The South Wales Coalfield : Part III. By Henry K. Jordan, F.G.S. The South Wales Institute of Engineers, Park-place, Cardiff; 1915. Price, £2 2s. By the issue of this paper, Mr. Henry K. Jordan completes his valuable monograph of the South Wales coalfield, embodying the work of 46 years of the author’s life. In the course of his investigations, Mr. Jordan has encountered a number of difficult problems, and the solutions which he offers are the result of patient and careful research, which alone would entitle them to be regarded as authoritative, so far as present knowledge permits. The author hopes that the infor- mation he has brought together in this memoir will prove of assistance and value to future workers. We think this hope is certain of fulfilment, and the abun- dant details of the coal seams supplied in this mono- graph cannot fail to be regarded as a standard of reference by all who are now or will be hereafter engaged in their exploitation. The present part must be regarded as largely supple- menting Parts I. and II. The first portion deals with the anthracite area, and the remaining pages deal with certain new information obtained by the important shafts sunk in Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire since the publication of Part I. in 1908. This additional evidence affords valuable information respecting the structure of the coalfield, and will be found indispen- sable not only to geological students, but to practical workers. In several cases these new sinkings strengthen materially Mr. Jordan’s views as opposed to the conclusions of the Geological Survey respecting certain of the correlations in the anthracite area. Mr. Jordan’s arguments are clear and convincing, and his peculiar opportunities for obtaining the latest informa- tion place him in an exceptionally strong position, which, we believe, the Survey will be among the first to recognise, as they have already done in regard to much of his previous work. In connection with Part III. of this memoir, there is issued a series of maps and sections, both in the text and separately on a scale commensurate with the elaborate drawings accompanying the previous parts. The large drawings, mounted on canvas, and encased in a cardboard cylindrical tube, include a large coloured horizontal section across the Carmarthenshire coalfield, a map of the anthracite area on the six-inch scale, and three sheets of vertical sections showing the various sinkings throughout the coalfield during the past six years. It is difficult, in the brief space of this review, either to convey an adequate impression of Mr. Jordan’s pains- taking work, or to name amongst so many points of outstanding importance any single feature of greater ‘interest than the resit. Our own impression.in reading this work has resulted in the conclusion that, notwith- standing some points of difference between the author and the Survey, there is, on the whole, a most remark- able agreement between them upon what we may call, the larger issues. The mining engineer will be most struck with the careful details of measurements by which the author works out his correlations. The student of geology will be equally attracted by the evidence adduced to establish the conditions of deposi- tion of the strata, and the extent of denudation of the higher measures. We can only repeat here that Part III. of this memoir is of no less value than the preceding portions. The South Wales Institute has spared, no expense in its publication, and has not been slow to recognise the undoubted fact that a permanent record has thus been made of the author’s life work, which is here given to all to.consult without money, or price, or still better to possess. _______________________________ Partnerships Dissolved.—The London Gazette announces the dissolution of the following partnerships C. L. Budd, W. C. Bond, and J. A. Amschel, metal brokers and mer- chants, at Gracechurch-street, E.C., under the style of Vivian Younger and Bond, so far as J. A. Amschel is con- cerned; E. W. Bungeroth, W. G. Bungeroth, and C. H. Bungeroth, carrying on business as engineers, at Binns- road, Liverpool, under the style of Williams, Bungeroth and Company, so far as concerns W. G. Bungeroth; A. D. Mathews and C. E. Timings, fender manufacturers, brass- founders, and art metal workers, at Cambridge-street Works, Cambridge-street, Birmingham, under the style of Mathews and Timings; J. Hartley and W. Hartley, screw bolt manufacturers, at Lane Bridge, Burnley, under the style of Hartley and Baldwin; W. D. Farrar and A. Dickinson, coal and coke . merchants, at Cirencester, Gloucester, under the style of Farrar and Dickinson; E. E. W. Berrington and G. N. Watney, civil engineers, under the style of Berrington, Son and Watney, at Prudential- chambers, Lichfield-street, Wolverhampton, Stafford, and Victoria-street, Westminster; Mary Isabella Chapman and G. A. James, coal merchants, at Whitefield, under the style of John F. Street; J. E. Hibbert, J. C. Pearson,, and J. Pearson, iron, steel, coal, and coke merchants, at Gomersal, York, and King-street, Leeds, under the style of Hibbert, Pearson and Company, so far as concerns J. E. Hibbert.