July 2, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

19

the country markets. If they could sell their coal for two
or three shillings more in the country they would naturally
go to the merchants and say, “ It is time you raised your
price in London; we can do so much better with the coal
in the country.” Speaking as a wholesale merchant,
witness said he did not like the sliding scale. Last year,
with one very big colliery, from whom they had bought for
many years, witness laid down the rule that they would
not buy except at a fixed price, but the colliery absolutely
refused to agree. Eventually they had to accept the sliding
scale, and climbed down.

Witness said only an infinitesimal amount of household
coal came to London nowadays. He did not think that
much coal which in the ordinary way would be classed as
industrial coal was going into domestic consumption during
the present time. The collieries could not afford to screen
gas coal and put it into house coal. Prices would depend
on the railway companies a good deal. A big railway, for
instance, during the last few days, had made a fairly big
contract for the next few months for Durham coal into truck
at the pit. That was a practically unheard-of thing for
them. The Scotch railways were coming down as far as
Northumberland to get coal because they could not get suffi-
cient in Scotland. That condition of things was brought
about very largely by the heavy demand from Norway and
Sweden. Witness said his firm did most of their trade by
contract, but as to the house portion of the trade they had
not bought so much under contract as they used to do. The
percentage of contract trade, as far as Cockerell’s were con-
cerned, would be three-quarters as a rule; and, this last
year, about a half.

As to whether the coal owners were justified in reserving
a free margin when they had not executed their contracts,
witness said he thought, in justice, they ought to be treated
pro rata all the way through. As a rule, a colliery owner
sold largely under contract to make sure of his pits being
worked regularly, and played with the balance to make his
profit. - Cory’s did altogether about 7 million tons, and
Bickett’s did altogether about 2} million tons of trade per
year. In London, he thought they did the biggest propor-
tion of any one firm. Of course, he was eliminating all the
public institutions, and breweries, and factories in London.
Taking into account the abnormal conditions, Mr. Greig did
not think prices were unreasonable. The retail trade was
dependent on the weather; people in the summer took
practically nothing at all; thus merchants had their horses
standing idle. Then, under the police regulations, they
could only deliver before 9 o’clock in the morning, and after
6 at night in certain areas, and if they had no other business
like an electric company or a brewery, where they could
utilise their horses in the middle of the day, they were
standing still, so that they had to bracket the two busi-
nesses together. Most of the merchants lost money in the
summer. If merchants had not been compelled to pick up
their stocks in the early part of the war, they would have
been able to keep them for the winter, which was the idea
of stacking; and they would not have had the same trouble
as they had had. With regard to the apportionment of the
9s. rise in prices, witness put Is. 6d. to the coal owner, Is.
to truck hire, and 2s. for increase of distribution per ton,
whilst wages were about Id. a ton extra.

As to the possibility of regulating prices, witness said he
had put forward suggestions last year that did not fructify.
He suggested that the Government might care to com-
mandeer his companies and regulate the supply. It was
not with the view of destroying competition. He believed
that if one had been bold enough then, and could have con-
tracted and bought coal, it would have been all right.

Witness said the sliding-scale rule applied to Derbyshire
and Nottinghamshire, but when they came to Warwick-
shire they sold at fixed prices summer and winter, but the
majority of house coal came from Derbyshire and Notting-
hamshire. In Yorkshire he did not think they sold in that
way, but not very much of that coal came up to London.
The localities—Huddersfield, Bradford, and all those towns
—were getting so big, that the house coal was more or less
sold up there. None of the coal which used to control the
market from Durham comes now.

Witness mentioned that in the William Cory and Son
amalgamation in 1896 they made it a special feature that
they took over no mining risk at all. They never under-
took to wipe away the middleman’s profits.

Mr. Greig said they could not get ships to carry coal from
Durham to London. He could do with 10,000 tons a week
more coal in London alone if he could only get steamers.
As to the feasibility of one or two merchants bringing about
a rise in prices, witness pointed out that they would not
sacrifice their own individual opinions against any good
reason to put the price up. It depended a great deal on the
circumstances which brought about a rise. He could assure
the Committee that it was to the merchants’ interests to
keep prices fairly level and fairly low. The lower the coal
was the greater the consumption, and it helped the factories.
It all helped so long as they could make a standard rate of
profit. The lower prices were better from their point of
view—not, of course, from the collieries’ point of view.
Cory’s trade in London would be about 5,000,000 tons, out
of a total of about 16,000,000; and Rickett’s 1,000,000. Of
course, he was taking a big area—as far as Croydon and
Redhill. They owned 7,000 trucks, but they had to rely on
the tailway companies and collieries for a great number.
Of course, just then neither the collieries’ trucks nor railway
trucks were available to any extent. The railway companies
were not asking more than the usual rate, but some collieries
had; some of them had gone up to 3s., where Is. was the
price before. It was the usual contract that the merchant
should supply railway trucks or his own trucks. In their
distribution they had been short of men, but not horses.
Only on the previous Saturday they had 13 horses at
St. Pancras standing idle because there was no coal brought
in by the rail. Their horses were too heavy for Government
purposes. They could do more deliveries now if they had
more coal to deliver.

Witness considered that if the demand could be stopped,
it would have an effect on the home market. A good bit
of house coal was sent to Belgium and Russia in the Baltic
season, but a lot of coal like Northumberland, Hartleys’
could be utilised for the cheaper qualities of house coal.

Reverting to the sliding-scale system, witness said that
would cover about the middle qualities; what they called
the Silkstone and Derby brights. Those were the qualities
which come under the sliding scale. The very best coals
which come from Yorkshire sell outright, and the cheaper
coals from Leicestershire and Warwickshire are at fixed
prices. The poorer classes were the most particular about
the quality of coal. They would not buy the cheaper coal.
The coal sold on trolleys was mostly the Derby brights. It
was extraordinary, but the poorer the class the better coal

they bought, within limits, of course. That was because
it was more easy to light.

With regard to the fixing of prices, witness said he had
never heard of the merchants sitting round a table. Very
frequently they drift into Messrs. Cory’s room; anyone could
walk in or out. There was no invitation or any attempt
to make a ring. He had often heard the question about the
ring, and he had always said if there was any ring to main-
tain the retail prices, they must be exceptionally bad busi-
ness men, because, taking Pickett's business, since they
had had it they had not I per cent, on the shares, and for
several years had to pass the dividend altogether. The Coal
Merchants’ Society had nothing whatever to do with it
except as individual merchants. As to the London market
pool price, two or three times a week best Hettons were
quoted at such and such a figure, but who put it in witness
did not know; practically none of this coal came. There
was no coal in the pool at all. That trade had been entirely
altered, because the founders of witness’s business had
established derricks. The only coal that came up regularly
now was Sharlston. If they had a cargo of Sharlston coal
brought up on speculation from the colliery it was sold by
the whole cargo. That was the merchant’s business; he
bought it and split it up. They had to unload it, barge it
to wharf and screen it, because it had 10 per cent, of small
coal. It was screened at the collieries, but the fact of
shipping it broke it another 30 or 10 per cent. Wholesale
merchants buying large bulks from the colliery, and dis-
tributing it in small quantities to the other merchants, were
called factors. There was an old Society of Factors, and
they had some funds, he believed, but they had no very
special duties. They were a sort of corporation, and
nominate two members to the Meters Committee. He
thought the term was only a little more aristocratic name
for a coal merchant. Two or three of his colleagues on the
board of Cory’s were members of the Coal Factors’ Society.

As to the distinctive grades of coal, witness said there was
no substitute for a Derby bright, for instance; but when
they came to a kitchen coal, the Hartley coal was very
similar to the kitchen coal from the Midlands. In York-
shire, where they worked the hard and soft seams together,
part being soft and the other hard, if they were shipping
abroad sometimes they shipped it promiscuously in the

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summer time without any detriment to the coal at all. The
Midland coal was a standardised coal — house and
steam. If the trade in steam coal in the Midlands was
more busy, and the prices they got were better, they would
mix some of the coal for steam purposes.

(To be continued.)

L.C.C. and Colliery Supplies. — A week ago the L.C.C.
Contracts Committee promised in due course to report on the
tenders which had been received for the direct supply of
coal from collieries. Over 21,000 tons were advertised for,
and now the Committee states that tenders were received
from 26 colliery proprietors and agents. The Committee
does not report the tenders which have been accepted, but
has circulated such information privately to the members of
the Council. The report mentions that in each case the cost
of railway freight will be paid by the Council direct to the
railway company concerned. Arrangements have been made
for the provision of railway depot accommodation at Maiden-
lane (L. & N. W. Railway), Wandsworth-road (Midland
Railway), and Tulse Hill (L. B. & S. C. Railway), and for
the hire of a number of wagons in which to convey to the
depots any of the coal which is not conveyed in colliery
wagons. — When the report came before the L.C.C. on
Tuesday, Mr. Smallwood declared that the prices were from
5s. to 10s. a ton in excess of those a year ago, thus dis-
proving the statement made by Mr. Parsons, the chairman
of the Contracts and Stores Committee a week ago, that it
would be found that the increase in prices of coal direct was
not excessive. The tenders from colliery owners, which had
been circulated to the members, proved conclusively that the
owners and not the coal merchants were taking unfair advan-
tage of the present situation. In the case of Donisthorpe
coal, the new price was 16s. a ton, as against 10s. a year ago.
Wallsend was 18s. 6d., as against 12s. in some cases; and
some Welsh coal was 22s., as against Ils. 3d. Mr. Kingsley
Wood said it would have been better if the Committee had
waited for the promised Government intervention before
making the new contracts. Mr. Percy Harris, deputy -
chairman, said the Council could do nothing in the matter
now, because the contracts had been made by the Com-
mittee which a few months ago had been authorised to do so.
Mr. Parsons, chairman of the Stores Committee, said in most
of the contracts a clause had been inserted for reductions to
be made if Government intervention resulted in the fixing
of lower prices. He now agreed that his previous assertion
that the whole blame was on the coal merchants was not
justified, for owners and merchants seemed equally respon-
sible. The report was duly passed.

THE WORTHINGTON ROTO-DRUM

PUMP.

The Worthington Roto-drum dry vacuum pumps and
blowers, one of which is illustrated herewith, operate
upon the well-known principle of the rotating eccentric
drum fitted with sliding plates or pistons, which open
and close by the rotation of the drum.

This principle has been known and applied for many
years, but, in the forms hitherto manufactured, it has
not been suitable for the high speed of revolution
required to enable the pump to be direct-coupled to
an electric motor. The simple form and small dimen-
sions of this new design of vacuum pump or blower is
well indicated by the illustration, which shows a com-
bined unit of vacuum pump and motor capable of
handling 20,000 eu. ft. of free air per hour when
running at a speed of 700 revolutions per minute.

The machine consists of a cylindrical body or casing,
having the inlet and outlet branches located on opposite
sides. Since the compression of air, or other gas, at
high speed generates considerable heat, a water jacket
is provided, having connections arranged for the inlet
and outlet of the necessary cooling water. The sliding
plates or pistons are carried by a revolving drum
arranged within the cylindrical easing, and set with its
centre eccentric to the centre of the casing. The sliding
plates are made from the finest tempered and polished
saw steel. In order to reduce friction to a minimum
and permit of high speed of revolution, the sliding
plates are not permitted to rub upon the inside of the
casing, but are carried by hardened and ground steel
running rings. This constitutes one of the essential
features of the machine, and is of vital importance in
overcoming the difficult problem of successfully com-
bating friction losses and overheating, which are fre-
quent sources of trouble and annoyance in machines of
this class. In the Worthington machine the steel
carrier rings are arranged to float, so that no rubbing

friction is set up at this point. The steel driving shaft
is carried upon ball journal bearings located in the end
covers, and the packing necessary on the driving end
(to prevent air leakage) has been specially designed to
be as nearly frictionless as possible.

The Roto-drum pump is suitable for use as a dry
vacuum pump for any service to which reciprocating
machines are at present applied. Among other uses
may be mentioned the evacuation of close chambers
for any industrial purpose to any desired degree of
vacuum, and for exhausting gas from retorts, charging
centrifugal or reciprocating pumps of large capacity
where the use of footvalves is impracticable, etc., and
on a closed systetn will maintain a vacuum of 28 in.,
with the barometer at 30 in. The pump may be used
in series when a very high vacuum is essential.

An important feature is, that in cases where only a
partial vacuum is required a regulator can be fitted, so
that the specified vacuum will never be exceeded, no
matter how long the machine is kept in motion.

As a blower the Roto-drum pump is applicable to all
uses commonly served by reciprocating or rotary
machines, such as compressed air heaters for smelting,
annealing and other furnaces.

The machines, which are made by the Worthington
Pump Company Limited, of India House, Kingsway,
W.C., are constructed in 10 standard sizes for vacuums
ranging from 2 to 9-75 B.H.P., and capacities from
2,450 to 15,250 cu. ft. per hour at suction pressure.

The Du Pont Magazine states that one ingenious con-
tractor placed “ the dynamite to be thawed on shelves
around the sides of a small building about 10 ft. square,
with double walls, in the middle of which was an oil stove.
A thermometer was placed at a convenient point in the
room, and a man was instructed to stay in the thaw house
continually while the oil stove was burning to watch the
thermometer and turn down the wick when the temperature
rose above 80 degs. Fahr. To ensure the faithful perform-
ances of his duties, he was locked in the room by the foreman
of the blasting gang, and had, therefore, every incentive to
keep the temperature at a safe point, as he had no opportunity
to evade his responsibility.”