July 9, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

71

ordinary heavy plate, 150 mk.; constructional plate,
157-50 mk.; boiler plate, 165 mk.; fine plate, 180 mk.;
hoop iron, 160mk.; open hearth hoop iron, 180mk.;
rolled wire, 140 mk.

Proposed New Union in the German Iron Industry.

At a recent meeting of the German Steel Makers, the
suitability of the proposed Steel Federation as an organi-
sation for improving the condition of the iron industry
was admitted. The question of participation, however,
proved a thorny matter, for, while the representatives
of about a score of makers agreed to accept the output
during 12 selected months in the years 1912-14 as the
basis of allotment, 18 decided against this proposal, 10
reserved their decision, and 60 works have taken no part
in the negotiations, amongst them being Haniel und
Lueg, Oberbilker Stahlwerke, Gewerkschaft Deutscher
Kaiser, Thyssen, the Hoesch Works, the Hiistener
Gewerkschaft, Mannesmannrohrenwerke, etc.

German Consignments of Coal to Italy in April.

The total consignments vid the St. Gothard Railway
amounted to 84,421 tons, as compared with 26,656 tons
in April last year—an increase of 216-71 per cent. Of
these, 33,804 tons (15,044 tons) were from the Ruhr,
13,162 tons (9,456 tons) from the Saar, 2,910 tons (570
tons) from Aachen, 4,455 tons (675 tons) from Loth-
ringen, and 29,395 tons (866 tons) from harbours on
the Upper Rhine.

Fuel Traffic on the Rhine-Herne Canal in May.

The total consignments of coal, coke, and briquettes
in the direction of Ruhrort amounted to 196,438 tons
(184,395 tons in April), 26,942 tons (21,739 tons) coming
from Arenberg-Prosper, 26,859 tons (30,702 tons) from
Bottrop, 25,394 tons (21,192 tons) from Mathias Stinnes,
1,980 tons (4,195 tons) from Nordstern, 23,716 tons
(39,965 tons) from Bismarck; 23,806 tons (15,450 tons)
from Wanne-West, 17,608 tons (21,228 tons) from
Friedrich der Grosse, 15,960 tons (6,667 tons) from
Konig Ludwig, 10,543 tons (9,668 tons) from Concordia,
5,821 tons (4,130 tons) from Achenbach, and 12,758 tons
(5,945 tons) for Dortmund.

Coal Syndicate Report for May.

Total coal raised, 5,826,965 tons (8,403,543 tons in
May 1914), or 242,790 tons (336,142 tons) per working
day. Calculated distribution, 4,836,629 tons (6,643,026
tons), being 201,526 tons (265,721 tons) per working day,
or 68-60 per cent. (90-51 per cent.) of the participation.
Total coal distribution of the syndicated pits, 6,162,123
tons (8,425,419 tons), or 256,755 tons (337,017 tons) per
working day. Deliveries, including local sales, miners’
house coal, and supplies to pits’ own iron works :—Coal,
3,455,170 tons (5,787,438 tons), or 143,965 tons (231,498
tons) per working day; coke, 1,508,321 tons (1,461,710
tons), or 48,656 tons (47,152 tons) per working day;
briquettes, 319,705 tons (376,566 tons), or 13,321 tons
(15,062 tons) per working day. The collieries which
have a sales agreement with the syndicate produced
396,373 tons (518,701 tons), and had a total coal dis-
tribution of 364,617 tons (488,336 tons), of which 150,563
tons (200,813 tons) were for account of the syndicate.
Total coke distribution, 104,782 tons (157,848 tons), of
which 67,580 tons (104,545 tons) w’ere for syndicate;
total distribution of briquettes, 2,721 tons (ni7), 2,720
tons (nil) being for account of the syndicate. During
the first 10 months of the war the total coal raised under
the syndicate was 57,126,045 tons (82,107,632 tons), a
deficit of 24,981,587 tons, or 30-43 per cent.; calculated
distribution, 44,030,286 tons (63,807,718 tons), a deficit
of 19,777,432 tons, or 31 per cent.; total coal distribu-
tion by the syndicated pits, 57,380,478 tons (81,138,824
tons),'a deficit of 23,758,246 tons, or 29-28 per cent.

Deliveries by the Steel Works Union in May.

The final figures issued by the Steel Works Union for
May show the deliveries to be 288,566 tons in weight of
raw steel, as compared with 306,115 tons in April, and
552,872 tons in May of last year. This total was made
up as follows :—Semi-manufactured steel, 62,002 tons
(131,378 tons in May 1914); railway material, 142,207
tons (231,072 tons); sections, 84,357 tons '190,422 tons).
For the first five months of the year the production of
semi-manufactured steel was 346,892 tons (695,880
tons), a deficit of 348,988 tons; in railway material,
727,183 tons (1,062,493 tons), a deficit of 335,310 tons;
and in sections, 394,087 tons (805,587 tons), a deficit
of 411,500 tons; total, 1,468,163 tons (2,563,960 tons),
a deficit of 1,095,798 tons.

German Pig Iron Output in May.

The report of the German Iron and Steel Makers’
Association gives the total pig iron output in the
Customs Union during May as 985,968 tons (938,679
tons in April), this total being composed of :—Foundry
pig, 219,040 tons (210,488 tons); Bessemer pig, 16,965
tons (14,426 tons); basic pig, 600,752 tons (564,381
tons (14,426 tons); basic pig, 600,752 tons (564,381 tons);
steel iron and spiegeleisen, 121,959 tons (125,203 tons);
puddling pig, 27,252 tons (24,361 tons). The output in
the chief producing centres was :—Rhenish-Westphalia,
426,268 tons (410,054 tons); Siegerland, Wetzlar, and
Hesse-Nassau, 63,437 tons (63,665 tons); Silesia, 68,457
tons*(64,368 tons); North Germanv, 18,867 tons (18,753
tons); Mid-Germany, 33,156 tons"(30,702 tons); South
Germany and Thuringia, 147,731 tons (143,510 tons);
Luxemburg, 140,606 tons (125,432 tons). As compared
with May last year (1,607,193 tons), the output shows
a deficit of 621,225 tons.

Fuel Traffic in Ruhr Harbours During May.

Total shipments of coal, coke, and briquettes to
Coblenz and places higher up the river, 539,646 tons
(870,391 tons), a deficit of 330,745 tons: to places below
Coblenz, 18,261 tons (29,478 tons), a deficit of 11,217
tons; to Holland, 136,392 tons (824,956 tons), a deficit
of 688,564 tons; to Belgium, 45,082 tons (494,360 tons),
a deficit of 449,278 tons; to France, nil (60,834 tons); to

other destinations, 12,144 tons (34,723 tons), a deficit of
22,579 tons. Total shipments from the Duisburg-
Ruhrort harbours, 604,172 tons (2,020,823 tons); Rhein-
preussen, 70,099 tons (119,990 tons); Schwelgern,
23,034 tons (81,876 tons); Walsum, 54,220 tons (92,047
tons)—total, 751,525 tons (2,314,742 tons), a deficit of
1,563,217 tons. For the first five months of the year the
shipments were 3,876,418 tons (8,624,692 tons), a deficit
of 4,748,274 tons.

TRADE AND THE WAR.

The American export trade continues to expand, but a
rise in ocean freights is exerting a refraining influence.
Curiously enough, the domestic demand for soft coal shows a
weakening tendency. Prices of Pocahontas and New River
rule 2'65 dols. to 2’80 dols. f.o.b. Hampton Roads and
Georges Creek, 2’85 dols. to 2’95 dols. f.o.b. Baltimore.
Representative freights are as follow :—Philadelphia to
Baltimore, 9’60 dols.; West Coast of Italy, 10’08 dols.; River
Plate, 8’40 dols. to 8’64 dols.; Valparaiso, 6’75 doL. to 7’00
dels.; Piraeus, 10’80 dols.

The action of the Board of Trade in relation to the control
of coal prices was adversely commented upon by Mr. Maurice
Deacon (chairman and managing director), who presided
over the annual meeting of the shareholders of the Dinning-
ton Main Coal Company Limited, held at Sheffield last week.
In moving the adoption of the report, the chairman said the
gross profit was £44,756, as against .£79,355 in 1914, and the
net profit, after deducting depreciation and interest, was
£31,717, as against £66,109, the available sum being
£39,734, as against £68,779 a year ago. On the credit side
their stocks were considerably higher, being £11,924, as
against £6,260. This was mainly due to the large stock of
timber which it was found desirable to secure, in view of the
scarcity of timber and the probability of still greater scarcity
owing to the war, and also, to some extent, to the
accumulation of certain by-product stocks, sulphate of
ammonia mainly, and tar from the by-product works, which
were not in working order 12 months ago. The royalties
paid in advance for coal worked were slightly higher. The
fact that the year was not so good as the previous one was
due to several reasons. First of all, there was a sharp fall
in the price of coal in the spring of 1914, and that very
seriously affected the selling price for the whole of the year,
because they had to make contracts in the spring to cover the
ensuing 12 months. The low selling prices continued until
the end of the year, and in the beginning of 1915, when
prices were higher, they were not able to avail themselves
of them because of their contracts, which extended into 1915,
and some of which were not yet expired. Another cause of
the less satisfactory results was the decrease in output, which
was entirely due to the large number of men who had joined
the Forces. They had sent to the war no fewer than 683
men, representing 27 per cent, of the total number employed
prior to the war. Some of the items which had caused a
wider gap between the working cost and the selling price
might be taken as follow :—Five per cent, increase in wages,
costing the company no less than £12,000; .increased price of
material due to the war, costing something like £7,000; and
war relief, costing about £2,000; whilst rates and taxes were
no less than £3,000 higher than the previous year. There-
fore, they had been handicapped to the extent of about
£24,000 by the special burdens that had come upon them,
all due either to the war or to the increased wages and
increased cost of material. In that respect it must be borne
in mind that all collieries were working under very special
burdens at the present time, compared with the conditions
some few years ago. They had the new Mines Regulation
Act, which was costing them at Dinnington not less than
£6,000 a year. They had additional compensation, which
amounted to something like £5,000 a year, and National
Insurance, which amounted to £1,000 a year. Those three
items were all additional burdens of recent years. The
increase of £24,000, owing to the circumstances named,
represented no less than 8 per cent, dividend on the ordinary
share capital of the company. How they were going to be
affected in the future it was exceedingly difficult to say,
beyond the fact that now they had had fixed upon them a
war bonus of 15| per cent, on the gross wages of every man
working for the company, which was equivalent to 25J per
cent, on the 1888 basis upon which wages had always been
calculated in the past. That was a terrible handicap, that
was going to show itself in the most serious manner in the
cost of the current year. In addition to that, they were con-
tinuing to lose their men. Their output was being greatly
reduced, not at a very rapid rate it was true, but whereas
they had got as much as 3,400 tons in one day, at the present
time they were only getting from 2,300 to 2,400 tons. That
operated very seriously on standing charges, which remained
more or less the same whether the output was large or small.
All those things, together with the high cost of material,
which was still going up—timber had risen to an enormous
figure—were going to render the cost of working in the
current year considerably greater than in the past year.
Perhaps it would be said that they were going to get a great
deal more money for coal. They would like to do so, no
doubt, but there again they were met by a proposal of the
Board of Trade that they should limit the price which they
could obtain in the ordinary course of business. Therefore,
whilst they had the heavy cost of the war bonus thrust upon
them, they were not to be allowed a free hand in selling their
coal at prices which would leave them a very satisfactory
profit. They were hemmed in on all sides, and however they
were going to get out of it all he really could not suggest to
them that day. All he could say was that he hoped the
Board of Trade would be brought to see that those increases
in the working cost were real and serious matters, and that
it would not be right or fair, or in the interests of the com-
pany, that with a stroke of the pen they should say they
should not charge more than so much extra for their coal.
They had got that to face, and although they would be able,
at any rate, to maintain the profits that they had made
during the past year, it was only reasonable that at special
times they should obtain a little higher profit than they were
able to obtain in the ordinary course of things, and in a
period of bad trade. It appeared to be lost sight of by the
public, to a very large extent, that for years and years
collieries continued working at extremely small profits, many
at a loss, and then when the time came, in a year or two,
when they were able to get a higher price for their coal,
they were begrudged the price which they were reasonably
entitled to in the conditions of the market. On the same
day, Mr. Deacon presided over the annual meeting of the
Maltby Main Colliery Company Limited, and pointed out
how that company had also been adversely affected by the

shortage of labour and the increase in cost of working. He
mentioned also that notwithstanding there were fewer men,
the number of absentees had increased from 14 per cent, to
20 per cent.

The directors of Messrs. G. and J. Weir, engineers, have
intimated to the Armaments Committee their willingness to
place their large Glasgow works at the Government’s disposal
as a nucleus for a national shell factory. When existing
contracts are concluded the firm will manufacture shells at
net cost, and, moreover, Messrs. Weir will hand over all
profits from existing shell contracts for Red Cross relief
purposes.

The council of the Chemical Society, in pursuance of the
desire of the fellows to assist the Government, has issued a
letter to the fellows, in which it is stated that the council
has constituted itself a consultative body, which will meet at
frequent intervals to consider, organise, and utilise all sug-
gestions and inventions which may be communicated to it,
and will report on them to the proper authorities. The
president and council invite the fellows of their own and
kindred societies to forward, in strict confidence, suggestions
and inventions for consideration. Any such suggestions
should be addressed to the council at Burlington House, W.
In order that the council may know on whom it can rely for
help, and the nature of the services each fellow can render,
each recipient of the letter is asked to state on a form attached
his age, in what branch of work he considers he can prove
of most use in assisting the country; what facilities he has
for work in the way of laboratory accommodation; the
number of hours per day he has available for the services
of the country; whether he is prepared to offer his services
free, and, if so, to what extent.

THE IRISH COAL TRADE.

Thursday, July 8.

Dublin.

There is little or no change in the position since last week,
business still being unusually good, although the quantities
of coal being bought are chiefly for future use, as far as
householders are concerned. Prices generally remain
unaltered, as follow:—Best Orrell, 34s. per ton; Hulton
Arley, 33s.; best Wigan, 32s.; best Whitehaven, 32s.;
Pemberton Wigan, 31s.; kitchen nuts, 30s.; best slack, 26 s.
—all less Is. per ton discount. Scotch steam coal, from 28s.
to 29s. per ton; certain classes up to £2 2s. per ton. At the
Wolfhill Collieries, Queen’s County, the present price of
round coal at the pit is 25s. per ton; and culm, all prices
from 3s. 4d. to 10s. per ton. The malting season now being
out, none of the large coal from these pits is being sold, but is
going through the smaller coal, the mixture making good
round household coal. With a view of testing Irish coal in
some of the inland and southern public institutions, several
wagon loads have been ordered both from these collieries
and from the Castlecomer and Kildare pits, and, if found
satisfactory, further orders will be placed. The coaling
vessels arriving in this port during the past week amounted
to 50, as compared with 70 the week previously, chiefly from
Cardiff, Ayr, Garston, Preston, Partington, Newport,
Glasgow, Irvine, Ellesmere Port, Point of ♦ Aire, Maryport,
Manchester, and Campbeltown. The total quantity of coal
discharged upon the quays was 23,905 tons, as against
26,593 tons the previous week. A tender for the South
Union contract has been accepted at 29s. 6d. per ton.

Belfast.

Country consumers continue to purchase supplies rather
extensively, more particularly of house coal, although this
branch of the trade does not usually begin to show signs of
activity until about September. A scarcity of railway
wagons is causing delay in the carrying out of orders over
the Great Northern system, this being a complaint of long
standing. Business locally continues to be quiet, and mer-
chants hold fairly good stocks. Current prices of house coals
are as follow :—Best Arley, 36s. per ton; Orrell nuts, 35s.;
Scotch house coal, 32s.; Orrell slack, 32s. per ton delivered.
There is some additional business on contract account, and
prices of steam coals remain subject to alteration. Coal-
laden vessels arriving during the week were chiefly from
Whitehaven, Workington, Ellesmere Uort, Ayr, Garston,
Ardrossan, Manchester, Silloth, Troon, Partington, West
Bank, Maryport, Irvine, Glasgow, and Preston.

THE TIH-PLATE TRADE.

Liverpool.

Enquiries have fallen off during the past few days, and it
looks as if buyers have satisfied their present requirements.
The tone of the market is quietly firm, however, and no
material reduction in prices can be expected while labour is
so scarce, and costs of production so high. Parcels have
been booked this week at 19s. for I C 14 x 20, and 19s. l|d.
to 19s. 3d. basis for odd sizes, but makers’ quotations
generally may be called :—Coke tins : I C 14 x 20 (112 sh.
108 lb.), 19s. per box; I C 28 x 20 (112 sh. 216 lb.), 38s. 6d.
to 39s.; I C 28 x 20 (56 sh. 1081b.), 19s. 7|d. to 19s. 9d.;
I C 14 x 181 (124 sh. 1101b.), 19s. 3d. per box nominal;
IC 14 x 191 (120 sh. 1101b.), 19s. 3d.: IC 20 x 10
(225 sh. 156 lb.), 27s. 6d.; I C squares and odd sizes, 19s. 3d.
to 19s. 6d. basis. Charcoals rule firm, at 21s. 6d. basis and
upwards, according to tinning. Ternes are steady, at round
34s. 6d. to 35s. per box of I C 28 x 20. Coke wasters are
in steady demand, with quotations firm, as follow : C W 14x
20, 18s. 6d. per box; C W 28 x 20, 37s. 6d.; C W 14 x 181,
18s. 9d.; CW 20 x 10, 26s. 6d.; all f.o.b. Wales, less
4 per cent.

The Vickers Company have offered to their workers in all
their factories a generous scheme, having a threefold advan-
tage—encouragement to thrift, incentive to good time-
keeping, and participation by the worker in the War Loan.
The workers are asked to give a written authority to the
wages office in each department for the deduction each week,
from now until the end of November next, of any amount
of their weekly wage, which must not be less than 5 per
cent, of their wages, or a fixed weekly sum equal to or in
excess of 5 per cent. For this amount the firm will credit
the worker with a subscription to the War Loan of a corre-
sponding amount. Workers complying with this condition
are to get a bonus from the firm at the end of each month
as an addition to their subscription to the War Loan, the
amount being equal to 2| per cent of the wage earned in
that particular period,